Patent ID: 9684719
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: G06F,G06K

Claim:
1. A method of image data storage and retrieval, the method comprising: acquiring video image data from a plurality of cameras, the acquired video image data comprising an identifier indicative of a camera of the plurality of cameras that acquired the video image data and a time stamp of when the video image data was acquired; detecting a plurality of objects in the acquired video image data from the plurality of cameras; detecting, for each detected object, object characteristics in the acquired video image data; obtaining, for each detected object, other object characteristics from a source other than the acquired video image data; aggregating, for each detected object, (i) the object characteristics detected in the acquired video image data and (ii) at least a portion of the object characteristics obtained from a source other than the acquired video image data; storing, in a database, each detected object, each detected object's aggregated characteristics and each detected object's associated identifier; receiving search parameters and Boolean operators at a searcher engine operating on a processor, wherein the search parameters correspond to a user's estimate of an object's characteristics; querying the database for object characteristics based upon the received search parameters and Boolean operators; returning identifiers meeting the query based upon the received search parameters and Boolean operators; computing a similarity score for each returned identifier, wherein the similarity score corresponds with how closely a detected object's characteristics match the query; sorting the returned identifiers by similarity score; and refining the sorted identifiers by removing identifiers that did not originate from one or more selected cameras in the plurality of cameras during a selected period of time; and presenting the sorted and refined identifiers as images, wherein each image displays the detected object and is linked to corresponding stored video image data of the detected object.