Patent ID: 8417035

Claim:
A computer implemented method for generating cohorts using size and shape attributes of objects, the computer implemented method comprising: processing digital video data, by a video analysis engine, to identify a set of size and shape based attributes associated with a set of objects, wherein the digital video data comprises metadata describing the set of objects, and wherein a size and shape attribute comprises an attribute describing a shape associated with a portion of an object or a size measurement of the portion of the object; analyzing the set of size and shape based attributes using cohort criteria to form a result, wherein the cohort criteria specify attributes that are associated with members of a given cohort; generating a set of video based cohorts based on the result, wherein each cohort in the set of video based cohorts comprises a subset of objects from the set of objects that share at least one size and shape based attribute in common; receiving the set of video based cohorts by an inference engine; and processing the set of video based cohorts by the inference engine, wherein the inference engine processes the set of video based cohorts to generate a set of inferences, and wherein the set of inferences identifies a predicted future activity by members of the set of video based cohorts.