Systems and methods for obtaining information based on an image

Abstract

An information-providing system is disclosed. The information-providing system can include an image-receiving module that receives an image from a device, an item-selection module that identifies an item based on the received image, an information-retrieving module that retrieves information relating to the item, and a data transmitting module that transmits the retrieved information to the device, wherein the item is identified by matching one or more features of the received image with features identified from a training image associated with the item.

1 . An image analysis system comprising:
 an image-receiving module that receives an image from an external source,   a keypoint-identifying module that identifies at least one keypoint from the image,   a descriptor-generating module that generates a descriptor for each of the at least one identified keypoint,   a feature ID-generating module that generates a feature ID to each descriptor,   an item-selecting module that selects at least one item based on at least one feature ID generated by the feature ID-generating module,   a top item selecting module that selects a best-matched item from the selected at least one item, and   an information retrieving module that retrieves information relating to the best-matched item.   
     
     
         2 . The image analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the external source comprises a network. 
     
     
         3 . The image analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the keypoint-identifying module identifying the at least one keypoint from the image comprises extracting at least one Scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) feature from the image. 
     
     
         4 . The image analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the keypoint-identifying module identifying the at least one keypoint from the image comprises determining a location and orientation associated with the at least one identified keypoint. 
     
     
         5 . The image analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the descriptor-generating module generating a descriptor for each of the at least one identified keypoint comprises generating a SIFT vector for each of the at least one identified keypoint. 
     
     
         6 . The image analysis system of  claim 5 , wherein the feature ID-generating module generating a feature ID to each descriptor comprises assigning a unique feature ID to each SIFT vector. 
     
     
         7 . The image analysis system of  claim 1 , wherein the item-selecting module selecting at least one item based on at least one feature ID comprises:
 querying a database containing multiple feature IDs and items corresponding to each of the feature IDs to obtain at least one item corresponding to the at least one item, and   the top item selecting module selecting a best-matched item comprises:   determining an item with a most number of hits from the obtained at least one item as the best-matched item.   
     
     
         8 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . An information-providing system comprising:
 an image-receiving module that receives an image from a device,   an item-selection module that identifies an item based on the received image,   an information-retrieving module that retrieves information relating to the item, and   a data transmitting module that transmits the retrieved information to the device,   wherein the item is identified by matching one or more features of the received image with features identified from a training image associated with the item.   
     
     
         12 . The information-providing system of  claim 11 , comprising:
 a training image processing module that identifies one or more features from at least one training image.   
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The information-providing system of  claim 11 , comprising:
 a database for storing the features identified from the training image.   
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The information-providing system of  claim 11 , wherein the information is retrieved from the Internet. 
     
     
         17 . The information-providing system of  claim 11 , wherein the identified item is a book and the received image comprises a book cover of the book. 
     
     
         18 . The information-providing system of  claim 11 , wherein the item-selection module comprises:
 a keypoint-identifying module that identifies at least one keypoint of the received image,   a descriptor-generating module that generates a descriptor for each of the at least one keypoint,   a feature ID generating module that quantifies a descriptor to generate at least one feature ID,   an item-selecting module that selects at least one item corresponding to each of the at least one feature ID,   a hit-counting module that determines a total number of hits for each of the at least one selected item, and   a top item selection module that selects one of the at least one selected item that best matches with the received image.   
     
     
         19 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An information-providing method comprising:
 receiving an image from a device,   identifying an item based on the received image,   retrieving information relating to the item, and   transmitting the retrieved information to the device,   wherein the item is identified by matching one or more features of the received image with features identified from a training image associated with the item.   
     
     
         22 . The information-providing method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 identifying one or more features from at least one training image.   
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . The information-providing method of  claim 21 , comprising:
 storing the features identified from the training image.   
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . The information-providing method of  claim 21 , wherein retrieving the information relating to the item comprises retrieving the information related to the item from the Internet. 
     
     
         27 . The information-providing method of  claim 21 , wherein the identified item is a book and the received image comprises a book cover of the book. 
     
     
         28 . The information-providing method of  claim 21 , wherein identifying an item based on the received image comprises:
 identifying at least one keypoint of the received image,   generating a descriptor for each of the at least one keypoint,   quantifying a descriptor to generate at least one feature ID,   selecting at least one item corresponding to each of the at least one feature ID,   determining a total number of hits for each of the at least one selected item, and   selecting one of the at least one selected item that best matches with the received image.   
     
     
         29 - 31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . An information-requesting device comprising:
 a camera that captures an image of an item,   a keypoint-identifying module that identifies at least one keypoint from the image,   a descriptor-generating module that generates a descriptor for each of the at least one identified keypoint,   a feature ID-generating module that generates a feature ID to each descriptor,   a data-receiving module that receives a list of corresponding feature IDs and items from an external source,   an item look up module that identifies an item from the received list based on the at least one generated feature ID, and   an information retrieving module that retrieves information relating to the identified item.   
     
     
         33 - 35 . (canceled)