Method for ranking and selecting events in media collections

Abstract

A method for ranking events in media collections includes designating a media collection, using a processor to cluster the media collection items into a hierarchical event structure, using the processor to identify and count visually similar sub-events within each event in the hierarchical event structure, using the processor to determine a ranking of events based on the count of sub-events within each event, and associating the determined ranking with each event in the media collection.

1 . A method for ranking events in media collections, comprising:
 designating a media collection;   using a processor to cluster the media collection items into a hierarchical event structure;   using the processor to identify and count visually similar sub-events within each event in the hierarchical event structure;   using the processor to determine a ranking of events based on the count of sub-events within each event; and   associating the determined ranking with each event in the media collection.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on the significance score of the event. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on a distribution that models the importance of an event over an elapsed time period. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on a score or distribution that models the interestingness of an event over an elapsed time period. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on metadata from social networks such as number of likes and comments. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on metadata from social networks through the analysis of user tags and comments. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ranking of events is based on the number of images in the event that have been marked by the user as being a favorite or to be used for sharing. 
     
     
         8 . A method for selecting events from media collections, comprising:
 designating a media collection;   using a processor to cluster the media collection items into a hierarchical event structure;   using the processor to identify and count visually similar sub-events within each event in the hierarchical event structure;   using the processor to determine a ranked list of events based on the count of sub-events within each event;   using the processor to calculate a target distribution that is based on the distribution of one or more event attributes of the events derived from the media collection; and   selecting events from the ranked list of events based on the calculated target distribution.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the event attribute used in the target distribution is the event class. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the event attribute used in the target distribution is the event size. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the event attribute used in the target distribution is the media type of the event. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on the significance score of the event. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on a distribution that models the importance of an event over an elapsed time period. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on scores or a distribution that models the interestingness of an event over an elapsed time period. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on metadata from social networks such as number of likes and comments. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on metadata from social networks through the analysis of user tags and comments. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the ranking of events is based on the number of images in the event that have been marked by the user as being a favorite or to be used for sharing.