Apple Inc. Patent Application US 2015/0370804 A1 - A system for intelligent media content organization and automated presentation creation through advanced object clustering and effects application.
Patent Overview
- Assignee
- Apple Inc.
- Granted
- 2015
The Challenge
The Challenge
The problem this patent addresses comes from limits in how earlier systems handled the underlying signal. Several specific gaps motivated the new approach.
- May 15, 2015 — Current continuation application No. 14/713,996 filed, leading to this publication on December 24, 2015.
- Processing Layer — One or more processors execute instructions for accessing, analyzing, and clustering media content according to sophisticated algorithms that evaluate metadata and characteristics.
- Program Storage — One or more programs stored in memory contain instructions for the complete workflow: accessing media, performing analysis, creating clusters, and assembling presentations.
Innovation
How The System Works
The patent introduces a multi-step mechanism that turns the input signal into a usable ranking output. Each step builds on the previous one.
- Innovation in Media Presentation Technology — This patent introduces a system that transforms how media presentations are created and experienced. By analyzing media content through metadata, characteristics, and related data, the system automatically creates intelligent media content object clusters...
- Hybrid Approach — The system supports a hybrid workflow where automatic assembly provides a starting point that users can then refine. The Producer module creates an initial presentation based on analysis, which users can modify by adjusting individual elements, replacing...
- December 30, 2008 — Provisional application No. 61/193,853 filed, establishing the foundational concepts for intelligent media clustering and effects application.
- June 17, 2013 — Continuation application No. 13/919,610 filed, resulting in Patent No. 9,047,255, refining the technology and addressing implementation details.
Technical Foundation
Technical Foundation
The implementation rests on a specific set of components and data structures. These are the parts the patent claims and the engineering that ties them together.
- July 8, 2009 — Full patent application No. 12/499,672 filed, expanding on the provisional application with detailed technical specifications and implementation methods.
- Core System Architecture — The system comprises one or more processors working in concert with memory that receives instructions according to a clock operating at a specific frequency. This architecture enables real-time analysis and processing of media content while maintaining...
- Core Module — Low-level data structure module representing how slideshow documents are constructed. Contains information for accurately representing documents including timing, positioning, sizing, and file management.
- Producer Module — Creates presentation look and feel, performs media content analysis, and automatically assembles slideshows. Interfaces with frameworks like QuickTime to gather thumbnail data, resolutions, and durations.
- Renderer Module — Handles display and playback, receiving data from Core and Producer modules. Interfaces with QuickTime for audio/video decoding and composer applications for rendering slides and applying filters.
- Exporter Module — Manages sharing functionality, using Renderer to export presentations to different formats. Obtains frame data and creates movie files for access and sharing through various applications.
The Process
The Process
In production, the system executes a sequence of stages from query reception to result delivery. Each stage applies one transformation to the data.
- Memory Management — Memory receives and stores instructions from processors, managing the flow of data between analysis modules, clustering engines, and presentation assembly components.
- The Clustering Process — Object clustering represents the heart of this patent's innovation. The system analyzes media content according to metadata, media characteristics, and other media-related data, then creates intelligent groupings called media content object clusters. These...
- Media Presentation Properties — Control fundamental aspects including media presentation order, thumbnail generation, layout selection, position and size parameters, z-position for 3D orientation, and base period for timing calculations.
Quality Control
Quality Control
The system includes checks that defend against edge cases, manipulation, and degraded signal. Without these, the core mechanism would be exploitable.
- Filter Management — Define filter presets, filter preset criteria, filter likelihood values, automatic filter likelihood settings, slide filter preset criteria, and slide frames criteria for sophisticated visual enhancement.
- Metadata Analysis — Examines file characteristics, encoded data, tags, XML data, and embedded information. Extracts creation time, ratings, keywords, comments, geographic data (country, state, city, longitude, latitude), and other readable or extrapolated data points.
Real-World Application
The patent shapes how the search engine behaves in production. These are the visible outcomes for users and content publishers.
- Practical Applications — This patent represents a fundamental shift in how media presentations are conceived and created. By combining intelligent analysis, automatic clustering, dynamic audio synchronization, and...
- Document Structure Framework — The system employs a sophisticated hierarchical structure where documents serve as top-level containers for all presentation elements. Each document comprises multiple layers that can be stacked...
- Intelligent Media Content Analysis — The system's analytical capabilities represent a fundamental advancement in automated presentation creation. By examining multiple dimensions of media content simultaneously, the system builds a...
What This Means for SEO
What This Means for SEO
Apple's object-clustering patent describes a media UX, but the clustering primitive it uses generalizes to how visual content is indexed and retrieved.
- Visual Entities Get Clustered Too — Image search uses similar object-clustering primitives. Images that cluster cleanly into a single object get retrieved more often than mixed-object images.
- Alt Text Names The Cluster — The text describing an image is the bridge between visual and textual clustering. Alt text that names the dominant object beats alt text that names every detail.
- Cluster Diversity Improves Galleries — When a page contains multiple images of distinct objects, the system can surface it for many object-cluster queries. Diverse imagery on a single page is a multiplier, not a dilution.