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A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for creating visualizations of documents are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving an electronic visual, audio, or audiovisual content; generating a display for authoring a multimedia representation of the received electronic content; receiving user input, if any, through the generated display; and generating a multimedia representation of the received electronic content utilizing received user input.
1. A method comprising:
receiving an electronic visual, audio, or audiovisual content;
generating a display for authoring a multimedia representation of the received electronic content;
receiving user input, if any, through the generated display; and
generating a multimedia representation of the received electronic content utilizing received user input.
2. The method defined in
transferring the generated multimedia representation of the received electronic visual content for storage at a target device or a target storage medium.
3. The method defined in
encoding the generated multimedia representation in a scalable storage format.
4. The method defined in
5. The method of
6. The method defined in
7. The method defined in
8. The method defined in
9. The method defined in
selecting a set of one or more of the audible, visual and audiovisual electronic audiovisual composition elements for inclusion into one or more presentation channels of the multimedia representation based on the time and information content attributes.
10. The method defined in
11. The method defined in
12. The method defined in
selecting advertising content for inclusion into the one or more presentation channels of the multimedia representation based one or more of the computed information content attributes or a target device of the multimedia representation.
13. The method defined in
14. The method defined in
15. An article of manufacture having one or more recordable media with instructions thereon which, when executed by a system, cause the system to perform a method comprising:
receiving an electronic content;
generating a display for authoring a multimedia representation of the received electronic visual content;
receiving user input, if any, through the generated display; and
generating a multimedia representation of the received electronic visual content utilizing received user input.
16. The article of manufacture defined in
transferring the generated multimedia representation of the received electronic visual content for storage at a target device or a target storage medium.
17. The article of manufacture defined in
18. The article of manufacture defined in
19. The article of manufacture defined in
selecting a set of one or more of the audible, visual and audiovisual electronic audiovisual composition elements for inclusion into one or more presentation channels of the multimedia representation based on the time and information content attributes.
20. The article of manufacture defined in
21. The article of manufacture defined in
This application is related to the co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/018,231, entitled �Creating Visualizations of Documents,� filed on Dec. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/332,533, entitled �Methods for Computing a Navigation Path,� filed on Jan. 13, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled �Methods for Converting Electronic Content Descriptions� filed on ______; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled, �Methods for Authoring and Interacting with Multimedia Representations of Documents� filed on ______, assigned to the corporate assignee of the present invention.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to (copyright or mask work) protection. The (copyright or mask work) owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright or mask work) rights whatsoever.
The present invention is related to processing and presenting documents; more particularly, the present invention is related to scanning, printing, and copying a document in such a way as to have audible and/or visual information in the document identified and have audible information synthesized to play when displaying a representation of a portion of the document.
With the increased ubiquity of wireless networks, mobile work, and personal mobile devices, more people browse and view web pages, photos, and even documents using small displays and limited input peripherals. One current solution for web page viewing using small displays is to design simpler, low-graphic versions of web pages. Photo browsing problems are also partially solved by simply showing a low resolution version of photos and giving the user the ability to zoom in and scroll particular areas of each photo.
Browsing and viewing documents, on the other hand, is a much more challenging problem. Documents may be multi-page, have a much higher resolution than photos (requiring much more zooming and scrolling at the user's side in order to observe the content), and have highly distributed information (e.g., focus points on a photo may be only a few people's faces or an object in focus where a typical document may contain many focus points, such as title, authors, abstract, figures, references). The problem with viewing and browsing documents is partially solved for desktop and laptop displays by the use of document viewers and browsers, such as Adobe Acrobat (www.adobe.com) and Microsoft Word (www.microsoft.com). These allow zooming in a document, switching between document pages, and scrolling thumbnail overviews. Such highly interactive processes can be acceptable for desktop applications, but considering that mobile devices (e.g., phones and PDAs) have limited input peripherals, with limited input and smaller displays, a better solution for document browsing and viewing is needed for document browsing on these devices.
Ricoh Innovations of Menlo Park, Calif. developed a technology referred to herein as SmartNail Technology. SmartNail Technology creates an alternative image representation adapted to given display size constraints. SmartNail processing may include three steps: (1) an image analysis step to locate image segments and attach a resolution and importance attribute to them, (2) a layout determination step to select visual content in the output thumbnail, and (3) a composition step to create the final SmartNail image via cropping, scaling, and pasting of selected image segments. The input, as well as the output of SmartNail processing, is a still image. All information processed during the three steps results in static visual information. For more information, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/354,811, entitled �Reformatting Documents Using Document Analysis Information,� filed Jan. 29, 2003, published Jul. 29, 2004 (Publication No. US 2004/0146199 A1); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/435,300, entitled �Resolution Sensitive Layout of Document Regions,� filed May 9, 2003, published Jul. 29, 2004 (Publication No. US 2004/0145593 A1); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/023,142, entitled �Semantic Document Smartnails,� filed on Dec. 22, 2004, published Jun. 22, 2006 (Publication No. US 2006-0136491 A1).
Web page summarization, in general, is well-known in the prior art to provide a summary of a webpage. However, the techniques to perform web page summarization are heavily focused on text and usually does not introduce new channels (e.g., audio) that are not used in the original web page. Exceptions include where audio is used in browsing for blind people as is described below and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,808.
Maderlechner et al. discloses first surveying users for important document features, such as white space, letter height, etc and then developing an attention based document model where they automatically segment high attention regions of documents. They then highlight these regions (e.g., making these regions print darker and the other regions more transparent) to help the user browse documents more effectively. For more information, see Maderlechner et al., �Information Extraction from Document Images using Attention Based Layout Segmentation.� Proceedings of DLIA, pp. 216-219. 1999.
At least one technique in the prior art is for non-interactive picture browsing on mobile devices. This technique finds salient, face and text regions on a picture automatically and then uses zoom and pan motions on this picture to automatically provide close ups to the viewer. The method focuses on representing images such as photos, not document images. Thus, the method is image-based only, and does not involve communication of document information through an audio channel. For more information, see Wang et al., �MobiPicture�Browsing Pictures on Mobile Devices,� ACM MM'03, Berkeley, November 2003 and Fan et al., �Visual Attention Based Image Browsing on Mobile Devices,� International Conference on Multimedia and Exp. vol.1, pp. 53-56, Baltimore, Md., July 2003.
Conversion of documents to audio in the prior art mostly focuses on aiding visually impaired people. For example, Adobe provides a plug-in to Acrobat reader that synthesizes PDF documents to speech. For more information, see Adobe, PDF access for visually impaired, http://www.adobe.com/support/salesdocs/10446.htm. Guidelines are available on how to create an audiocassette from a document for blind or visually impaired people. As a general rule, information that is included in tables or picture captions is included in the audio cassette. Graphics in general should be omitted. For more information, see �Human Resources Toolbox,� Mobility International USA, 2002, www.miusa.org/publications/Hrtoolboxintro.htm. Some work has been done on developing a browser for blind and visually impaired users. One technique maps a graphical HTML document into a 3D virtual sound space environment, where non-speech auditory cures differentiate HTML documents. For more information, see Roth et al, �Auditory browser for blind and visually impaired users.� CHI'99, Pittsburgh, Pa., May 1999. In all the applications for blind or visually impaired users, the goal appears to be transforming as much information as possible into the audio channel without having necessarily constraints on the channel and giving up on the visually channel completely.
Other prior art techniques for use in conversion of messages includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,808, entitled �Wireless Delivery of Message Using Combination of Text and Voice,� issued Jun. 19, 2001. As described therein, in order for a user to receive a voicemail on a handheld device, a voicemail message is converted into a formatted audio voicemail message and formatted text message. The portion of the message that is converted to text fills the available screen on the handheld device, while the remainder of the message is set as audio.
A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for creating visualizations of documents are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving an electronic visual, audio, or audiovisual content; generating a display for authoring a multimedia representation of the received electronic content; receiving user input, if any, through the generated display; and generating a multimedia representation of the received electronic content utilizing received user input.
The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.
A method and apparatus for scanning, printing, and copying multimedia overviews of documents, referred to herein as Multimedia Thumbnails (MMNails), are described. The techniques represent multi-page documents on devices with small displays via utilizing both audio and visual channels and spatial and temporal dimensions. It can be considered an automated guided tour through the document.
In one embodiment, MMNails contain the most important visual and audible (e.g., keywords) elements of a document and present these elements in both the spatial domain and the time dimension. A MMNail may result from analyzing, selecting and synthesizing information considering constraints given by the output device (e.g., size of display, limited image rendering capability) or constraints on an application (e.g., limited time span for playing audio).
In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide a more thorough explanation of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.
Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as �processing� or �computing� or �calculating� or �determining� or �displaying� or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks. CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.
A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes read only memory (�ROM�); random access memory (�RAM�); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., earner waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.); etc.
A printing, scanning, and copying scheme is set forth below that takes visual, audible, and audiovisual elements of a received document and based on the time and information content (e.g., importance) attributes, and time, display, and application constraints, selects a combination and navigation path of the document elements. In so doing, a multimedia representation of the document may be created for transfer to a target storage medium or target device.
Referring to
With the received document, processing logic generates a print dialog box display for the authoring a multimedia representation of the received document, responsive to any of a print, copy, or scan request (processing block 102). The print request may be generated in response to the pushing of a print button display on a display (i.e. initiating printing) to send the document to a printing process. A discussion of each of printing, copying, and scanning is provided below. In one embodiment, the print dialog box includes user selectable options and an optional preview of the multimedia representation to be generated.
Processing logic then receives user input, if any, via the displayed print dialog box (processing block 103). The user input received via the print dialog box may include one or more of size and timing parameters for the multimedia thumbnail to be generated, display constraints, target output device, output media, printer settings, etc.
Upon receiving the user input, processing logic generates a multimedia representation of the received document, utilizing the received user input (processing block 104). In one embodiment, processing logic composes the multimedia representation by outputting a navigation path by which the set of one or more of the audible, visual and audiovisual document elements are processed when creating the multimedia representation. A navigation path defines how audible, visual, and audiovisual elements are presented to the user in a time dimension in a limited display area. It also defines the transitions between such elements. A navigation path may include ordering of elements with respect to start time, locations and dimensions of document elements, the duration of focus of an element, the transition type between document elements (e.g., pan, zoom, fade-in), and the duration of transitions, etc. This may include reordering the set of the audible, visual and audiovisual document elements in reading order. The generation and composition of a multimedia representation of a document, according to an embodiment, is discussed in greater detail below.
Processing logic then transfers and/or stores the generated multimedia thumbnail representation of the input document to a target (processing block 105). The target of a multimedia representation, according to embodiments discussed herein, may include a receiving device (e.g., a cellular phone, palmtop computer, other wireless handheld devices, etc.), printer driver, or storage medium (e.g., compact disc, paper, memory card, flash drive, etc.), network drive, mobile device, etc.
In one embodiment, the audible, visual and audiovisual document elements are created or obtained using an analyzer, optimizer, and synthesizer (not shown).
The analyzer receives a document and may receive metadata. Documents, as referred to herein, may include any electronic audiovisual composition. Electronic audiovisual compositions include, but are not limited to, real-time rendered documents, presentation documents, non-document images, and documents with inherent timing characteristics. For a detailed discussion of how various electronic audiovisual compositions are transformed into multimedia overviews, such as multimedia thumbnails or navigation paths, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. TBD, entitled �Method for Converting Electronic Document Descriptions,� filed TBD, published TBD. However, for ease of discussion and to avoid obscuring the present invention, all electronic audiovisual compositions will be referred to as �documents.�
In one embodiment, the metadata may include author information and creation data, text (e.g., in a pdf file format where the text may be metadata and is overlayed with the document image), an audio or video stream, URLs, publication name, date, place, access information, encryption information, image and scan resolution, MPEG-7 descriptors etc. In response to these inputs, the analyzer performs pre-processing on these inputs and generates outputs information indicative of one or more visual focus points in the document, information indicative of audible information in the document, and information indicative of audiovisual information in the document. If information extracted from a document element is indicative of visual and audible information, this element is a candidate for an audiovisual element. An application or user may determine the final selection of audiovisual element out of the set of candidates. Audible and visual information in the audiovisual element may be synchronized (or not). For example, an application may require figures in a document and their captions to be synchronized. The audible information may be information that is important in the document and/or the metadata.
In one embodiment, the analyzer comprises a document pre-processing unit, a metadata pre-processing unit, a visual focus points identifier, important audible document information identifier and an audiovisual information identifier. In one embodiment, the document pre-processing unit performs one or more of optical character recognition (OCR), layout analysis and extraction, JPEG 2000 compression and header extraction, document flow analysis, font extraction, face detection and recognition, graphics extraction, and music notes recognition, which is performed depending on the application. In one embodiment, the document pre-processing unit includes Expervision OCR software (www.expervision.com) to perform layout analysis on characters and generates bounding boxes and associated attributes, such as font size and type. In another embodiment, bounding boxes of text zones and associated attributes are generated using ScanSoft software (www.nuance.com). In another embodiment, a semantic analysis of the text zone is performed in the manner described in Aiello M, Monz, C, Todoran, L., Worring, M., �Document Understanding for a Broad Class of Documents,� International Journal on Document Analysis and Recognition (IJDAR), vol. 5(1), pp. 1-16, 2002, to determine semantic attributes such as, for example, title, heading, footer, and figure caption.
The metadata pre-processing unit may perform parsing and content gathering. For example, in one embodiment, the metadata preprocessing unit, given an author's name as metadata, extracts the author's picture from the world wide web (WWW) (which can be included in the MMNail later). In one embodiment, the metadata pre-processing unit performs XML parsing.
After pre-processing, the visual focus points identifier determines and extracts visual focus segments, while the important audible document information identifier determines and extracts important audible data and the audiovisual information identifier determines and extracts important audiovisual data.
In one embodiment, the visual focus points identifier identifies visual focus points based on OCR and layout analysis results from pre-processing unit and/or a XML parsing results from pre-processing unit.
In one embodiment, the visual focus points (VTP) identifier performs analysis techniques set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/435,300, entitled �Resolution Sensitive Layout of Document Regions,� filed May 9, 2003, published Jul. 29, 2004 (Publication No. US 2004/0145593 A1) to identify text zones and attributes (e.g., importance and resolution attributes) associated therewith. Text zones, may include a title and captions, which are interpreted as segments. In one embodiment, the visual focus points identifier determines the title and figures as well. In one embodiment, figures are segmented.
In one embodiment, the audible document information (ADI) identifier identifies audible information in response to OCR and layout analysis results from the pre-processing unit and/or XML parsing results from the pre-processing unit.
Examples of visual focus segments include figures, titles, text in large fonts, pictures with people in them, etc. Note that these visual focus points may be application dependent. Also, attributes such as resolution and saliency attributes are associated with this data. The resolution may be specified as metadata. In one embodiment, these visual focus segments are determined in the same fashion as specified in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/435,300, entitled �Resolution Sensitive Layout of Document Regions,� filed May 9, 2003, published Jul. 29, 2004 (Publication No. US 2004/0145593 A1). In another embodiment, the visual focus segments are determined in the same manner as described in Le Meur, O., Le Callet, P., Barba, D., Thoreau, D., �Performance assessment of a visual attention system entirely based on a human vision modeling,� Proceedings of ICIP 2004, Singapore, pp. 2327-2330, 2004. Saliency may depend on the type of visual segment (e.g., text with large fonts may be more important than text with small fonts, or vice versa depending on the application). The importance of these segments may be empirically determined for each application prior to MMNail generation. For example, an empirical study may find that the faces in figures and small text are the most important visual points in an application where the user assess the scan quality of a document. The salient points can also be found by using one of the document and image analysis techniques in the prior art.
Examples of audible information include titles, figure captions, keywords, and parsed meta data. Attributes, e.g., information content, relevance (saliency) and time attributes (duration after synthesizing to speech) are also attached to the audible information. Information content of audible segments may depend on its type. For example, an empirical study may show that the document title and figure captions are the most important audible information in a document for a �document summary application�.
Some attributes of VFPs and ADIs can be assigned using cross analysis. For example, the time attribute of a figure (VFP) can be assigned to be the same as the time attribute of the figure caption (ADI).
In one embodiment, the audible document information identifier performs Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TFIDF) analysis to automatically determine keywords based on frequency, such as described in Matsuo, Y., Ishizuka, M. �Keyword Extraction from a Single Document using Word Co-occurrence Statistical Information,� International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 157-169, 2004 or key paragraphs as in Fukumoto, F., Suzuki, Y., Fukumoto, J., �An Automatic Extraction of Key Paragraphs Based on Context Dependency,� Proceedings of Fifth Conference on Applied Natural Language Processing, pp. 291-298, 1997, For each keyword, the audible document information identifier computes a time attribute as being the time it takes for a synthesizer to speak that keyword.
In a similar fashion, the audible document information identifier computes time attributes for selected text zones, such as, for example, title, headings, and figure captions. Each time attribute is correlated with its corresponding segment. For example, the figure caption time attribute is also correlated with the corresponding figure segment. In one embodiment, each audible information segment also carries an information content attribute that may reflect the visual importance (based on font size and position on a page) or reading order in case of text zone, the frequency of appearance in the case of keywords, or the visual importance attribute for figures and related figure captions. In one embodiment, the information content attribute is calculated in the same way as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/435,300, entitled �Resolution Sensitive Layout of Document Regions,� filed May 9, 2003, published Jul. 29, 2004 (Publication No. US 2004/0145593 A1).
Audiodivisional document information (AVDI) is information extracted from audiovisual elements.
Thus, in one embodiment, using an electronic version of a document (not necessarily containing video or audio data) and its metadata, visual focus points (VFPs), important audible document information (ADIs), and audiovisual document information (AVDI) may be determined.
The visual focus segments, important audible information, and audiovisual information are given to the optimizer. Given the VFPs and the ADI, AVDI along with device and application constraints (e.g., display size, a time constraint), the optimizer selects the information to be included in the output representation (e.g., a multimedia thumbnail). In one embodiment, the selection is optimized to include the preferred visual and audible and audiovisual information in the output representation, where preferred information may include important information in the document, user preferred, important visual information (e.g., figures), important semantic information (e.g., title), key paragraphs (output of a semantic analysis), document context. Important information may include resolution sensitive areas of a document. The selection is based on computed time attributes and information content (e.g., importance) attributes.
The optimization of the selection of document elements for the multimedia representation generally involve spatial constraints, such as optimizing layout and size for readability and reducing spacing. In such frameworks, some information content (semantic, visual) attributes are commonly associated with document elements. In the framework described herein, in one embodiment, both the spatial presentation and time presentation are optimized. To that end, �time attributes� are associated with document elements. In the following sections, the assignment, of time attributes for audible, visual, and audiovisual document elements are explained in detail.
With respect to document elements, information content, or importance, attributes are assigned to audio, visual, and audiovisual elements. The information content attributes are computed for different document elements.
Some document elements, such as title, for example, can be assigned fixed attributes, while others, such as, for example, figures, can be assigned content dependent importance attributes.
Information content attributes are either constant for an audio or visual element or computed from their content. Different sets of information content values may be made for different tasks, such as in the cases of document understanding and browsing tasks. These are considered as application constraints.
In one embodiment, in response to visual and audible information segments and other inputs such as the display size of the output device and the time span, T, which is the duration of final multimedia thumbnail, the optimizer performs an optimization algorithm.
The main function of the optimization algorithm is to first determine how many pages can be shown to the user, given each page is to be displayed on the display for predetermined period of time (e.g., 0.5 seconds), during the time span available.
In one embodiment, the optimizer then applies a linear packing/filling order approach in a manner well-known in the art to the sorted time attributes to select which figures will be included in the multimedia thumbnail. Still-image holding is applied to the selected figures of the document. During the occupation of the visual channel by image holding, the caption is �spoken� in the audio channel. After optimization, the optimizer re-orders the selected visual, audio and audiovisual segments with respect to the reading order.
Other optimizers may be used to maximize the joined communicated information in time span L and in the visual display of constrained size. For examples of optimizer implementations, see �Methods for Computing a Navigation Path,� filed on Jan. 13, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/332,533, incorporated herein by reference.
The optimizer selects document elements to form an MMNail based on time, application, and display size constraints. An overview of one embodiment of an optimizer is presented in
In one embodiment, the optimization module 612 maximizes the total information content of the selected document elements given a time constraint (603). Let the information content of an element e be denoted by I(e), the time required to present e by t(e), the set of available document elements by E, and the target MMNail duration by T. The optimization problem is
where the optimization variables x(e) determine inclusion of elements, such that x(e)=1 means e is selected to be included in the MMNail and x(e)=0 means e is not selected.
The problem (1) is a �0-1 knapsack� problem, therefore it is a hard combinatorial optimization problem. If the constraints x(e)ε{0,1} to 0≦x(e)≦1, e ε E are relaxed, then the problem (1) becomes a linear program, and can be solved very efficiently. In fact, in this case, a solution to the linear program can be obtained by a simple algorithm such as described in R. L. Rivest, H. H. Cormen, C. E. Leiserson, Introduction to Algorithms, MIT Pres, MC-Graw-Hill, Cambridge Mass. 1997.
Let x*(e), e ε E, be a solution to the linear program. The algorithm is:
where m is the number of elements in E;
For practical purposes, approximation of the problem (1) should work quite well, as the individual elements are expected to have much shorter display time than the total MMNail duration.
The time attribute, t(e), of a document element e can be interpreted as the approximate duration that is sufficient for a user to comprehend that element. Computation of time attributes depends on the type of the document element.
The time attribute for a text document element (e.g., title) is determined to be the duration of the visual effects necessary to show the text segment to the user at a readable resolution. In experiments, text was determined to be at least 6 pixels high in order to be readable on an LCD (Apple Cinema) screen. If text is not readable once the whole document is fitted into the display area (i.e. in a thumbnail view), a zoom operation is performed. If even zooming into the text such that the entire text region still fits on the display is not sufficient for readability, then zooming into a part of the text is performed. A pan operation is carried out in order to show the user the remainder of the text. In order to compute time attributes for text elements, first the document image is down-sampled to fit the display area. Then a zoom factor Z(e) is determined as the factor that is necessary to scale the height of the smallest font in the text to the minimum readable height. Finally, the time attribute for a visual element e that contains text is computed as
where ne is number of characters in e, ZC is zoom time (in our implementation this is fixed to be 1 second), and SSC (Speech Synthesis Constant) is the average time required to play back the synthesized audio character. SSC is computed as follows.
The SSC constant may change depending on the language choice, synthesizer that is used, and the synthesizer options (female vs. male voice, accent type, talk speed, etc). Using the AT&T speech SDK (AT&T Natural Voices Speech SDK, http://www.naturalvoices.att.com/), SSC is computed to be equal to 75 ms when a female voice was used. The computation of t(e) remains the same even if an element cannot be shown with one zoom operation and both zoom and pan operations are required. In such cases, the complete presentation of the element consists of first zooming into a portion of the text, for example the first me out of a total of ne characters, and keeping the focus on the text for SSC�me seconds. Then the remainder of the time, i.e. SSC�(ne−me) is spent on the pan operation.
The time attribute for an audible text document element e, e.g. a keyword, is computed as
where SSC is the speech synthesis constant and ne is the number of characters in the document element.
For computing time attributes for figures without any captions, we make the assumption that complex figures take a longer time to comprehend. The complexity of a visual figure element e is measured by the figure entropy H(e) that is computed extracting bits from a low-bitrate layer of the JPEG2000 compressed image as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/044,420, entitled �Header-Based Processing of Images Compressed Using Multi-Scale Transforms,� filed Jan. 10, 2002, published Sep. 4, 2003 (U.S. Publication No. US 2003-0165273 A1).
Time attribute for a figure element is computed as t(e)=αH(e)/
An audiovisual element e is composed of an audio component, A(e), and a visual component, V(e). A time attribute for an audiovisual element is computed as the maximum of time attributes for its visual and audible components: t(e)=max{t(V(e)),t(A(e))), where t(V(e)) is computed as in (2) and t(A(e)) as in (3). For example, t(e) of a figure element is computed as the maximum of time required to comprehend the figure and the duration of synthesized figure caption.
An information attribute determines how much information a particular document element contains for the user. This depends on the user's viewing/browsing style, target application, and the task on hand. For example, information in the abstract could be very important if the task is to understand the document, but it may not be as important if the task is merely to determine if the document has been seen before.
Table 1 shows the percentage of users who viewed various document parts when performing the two tasks in a user study. This study gave an idea about how much users value different document elements. For example, 100% of the users read the title in the document understanding task, whereas very few users looked at the references, publication name and the date. In one embodiment, these results were used to assign information attributes to text elements. For example, in the document understanding task, the title is assigned the information value of 1.0 based on 100% viewing, and references are given the value 0.13 based on 13% viewing.
After the time and the information attributes are computed for the visual, audible, and audiovisual elements, the optimizer of
A document element e belongs to either the set of purely visual elements Ev, the set of purely audible elements Ea, or the set of synchronized audiovisual elements Eav. A Multimedia Thumbnail representation has two presentation channels, visual and audio. Purely visual elements and purely audible elements can be played simultaneously over the visual and audio channel, respectively. On the other hand, displaying a synchronized audiovisual element requires both channels. In one embodiment, the display of any synchronized audiovisual element does not coincide with the display of any purely visual or purely audible element at any time.
One method to produce the thumbnail consists of two stages. In the first stage, purely visual and synchronized audiovisual elements are selected to fill the video channel. This leaves the audio channel partially filled. This is illustrated in
The optimization problem of the first stage is
We solve this problem approximately using the linear programming relaxation as shown for the problem (1). The selected purely visual and synchronized audiovisual elements are placed in time in the order they occur in the document. The first stage optimization almost fills the visual channel, and fills the audio channel partially, as shown in
In the second stage, purely audio elements are selected to fill the audio channel which has separate empty time intervals. Let the total time duration to be filled in the audio channel be {circumflex over (T)}. If the selected purely audible elements have a total display time of approximately {circumflex over (T)}, it is difficult to place the elements in the audio channel because the empty time duration {circumflex over (T)} is not contiguous. Therefore a conservative approach is taken and optimization is solved for a time constraint of β{circumflex over (T)}, where βε[0,1]. Further, only a subset of purely audio elements, �α, are considered to be included in the MMNail. This subset is composed of audio elements that have a shorter duration than the average length of the separated empty intervals of the audio channel, i.e., �α={eεEα|t(e)≦γ{circumflex over (T)}/R), where γε[0,R] and R is the number of separated empty intervals. Therefore, the optimization problem of the second stage becomes
The problem is of the type (1) and it is approximately solved using the linear programming relaxation as shown earlier. In our implementation β=� and γ=1.
It is possible to formulate a one step optimization problem to choose the visual, audiovisual, and the audible elements simultaneously. In this case, the optimization problem is
where x(e), eεEα∪Ev∪Eαv, are the optimization variables. The greedy approximation described to solve the relaxed problem (1) will not work to solve this optimization problem, but the problem can be relaxed and any generic linear programming solver can be applied. The advantage of solving the two stage optimization problem is that inclusion of user or system preferences into the allocation of the audio becomes independent of the information attributes of the visual elements and allocation of the visual channel.
Note that the two stage optimization described herein gives selection of purely visual elements strict priority over that of purely audible elements. If it is desired that audible elements have priority over visual elements, the first stage of the optimization can be used to select audiovisual and purely audible elements, and the second stage is used to optimize selection of purely visual elements.
As discussed above, the optimizer receives the output from an analyzer, which includes the characterization of the visual and audible document information, and device characteristics, or one or more constraints (e.g., display size, available time span, user settings preference, and power capability of the device), and computes a combination of visual and audible information that meets the device constraints and utilizes the capacity of information deliverable through the available output visual and audio channels. In this way, the optimizer operates as a selector, or selection mechanism.
After selection, a synthesizer composes the final multimedia thumbnail. In one embodiment, the synthesizer composes the final multimedia thumbnail by executing selected multimedia processing steps determined in the optimizer. In one embodiment, the synthesizer receives a file, such as, for example, a plain text file or XML file, having the list of processing steps. In another embodiment, the list of processing steps may be sent to the synthesizer by some other means such as, for example, through socket communication or com object communication between two software modules. In yet another embodiment, the list of processing steps is passed as function parameters if both modules are in the same software. The multimedia processing steps may include the �traditional� image processing steps crop, scale, and paste, but also steps including a time component such as page flipping, pan, zoom, and speech and music synthesis.
In one embodiment, the synthesizer comprises a visual synthesizer, an audio synthesizer, and a synthesizer/composer. The synthesizer uses the visual synthesis to synthesize the selected visual information into images and a sequence of images, the audio synthesizer to synthesize audible information into speech, and then the synchronizer/composer to synchronize the two output channels (audio and visual) and compose a multimedia thumbnail. Note that the audio portion of the audiovisual element is synthesized using the same speech synthesizer used to synthesize the audible information.
In one embodiment, for the visual composition including sequences of images (without audio) such as zoom and page flipping is performed using Adobe AfterEffects, while the synchronizer/composer uses Adobe Premier. In one embodiment, the audio synthesizer uses CMU speech synthesizing software (FestVox, http://festvox.org/voicedemos.html) to create sound for the audible information.
In one embodiment, the synthesizer does not include the synchronizer/composer. In such a case, the output of the synthesizer may be output as two separate streams, one for audio and one for visual.
The outputs of the synchronizer/composer may be combined into a single file and may be separate audio and video channels.
Referring to
After receipt of document 201A by document editor/viewer module 202, and in response to a command 201B that a multimedia overview of a document be composed, document editor/viewer module 202 transmits the request and document 201A to MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Driver Interface Module 203. MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Driver Interface Module 203 displays a print dialog box at module 202 to await user input/output 201B. Through the print dialog box, user preferences are received. Such preferences may include, but are not limited to, target output device, target output media, duration of final multimedia overview, resolution of multimedia overview, as well as exemplary advanced options discussed below.
MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Driver Interface Module 203 then transmits both the document 201A and user preferences 201B to MMNail Generation Module 204. In one embodiment, MMNail Generation Module 204 includes the functions and features discussed in detail above, for composing a multimedia overview of document 201A. Optionally, a print preview command may be received by the print dialog box (not shown) presented via user I/O 201B, in which case output from MMNail Generation Module, i.e., a multimedia overview of document 201A, is displayed via document editor/viewer, print dialog box, or some other display application or device (not shown). MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Driver Interface Module 203 may then receive a print, scan, or copy request via module 202 that an MMNail be composed to represent document 201A. Whether a preview is selected or not, upon receiving a request, at module 203, that an MMNail be generated, document 201A and user preferences received via I/O 201B arc transmitted to MMNail Generation Module 204. MMNail Generation Module then composes a multimedia representation of document 201A, as described above, based on received user preferences.
In one embodiment, the final MM Nail is transmitted by MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Driver Interface Module 203 to a target 205. Note that a target may be selected by MMNail Print/Scan/Copy Drive Interface Module 203 by default, or a preferred target may be received as a user selection. Furthermore, MMNail Interface Module 203 may distribute a final MMnail to multiple targets (not shown). In one embodiment, a target of an MMNail is a cellular telephone, Blackberry, palm top computer, universal resource locator (URL), Compact Disc ROM, PDA, memory device, or other media device. Note also that target 205 need not be limited to a mobile device.
The modules, as illustrated in
Multimedia thumbnails can be seen as a different medium for the presentation of documents. In one embodiment, any document editor/viewer can print (e.g., transform) a document to an MMNail formatted multimedia representation of the original document. Furthermore, the MMNail formatted multimedia representations can be transmitted, stored on, or otherwise transferred to a storage medium of a target device. In one embodiment, the target device is a mobile device such as a cellular phone, palmtop computer, etc. During the printing processes described above, a user's selection for a target output medium, as well as, MMNail parameters are received via a printer dialog.
In one embodiment, print dialog box 320 may receive input for selection of a target output medium 322 of a final multimedia overview representative of document 312. Target output medium could be a storage location on a mobile device, local disk, or multi-function peripheral device (MFP), Furthermore, a target output can also include a URL for publishing the final multimedia overview, a printer location, etc. In one embodiment, mobile devices in Bluetooth or Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) range can be automatically detected and added to the target devices list 322 of print dialog box 320.
Target duration and spatial resolution for a multimedia overview can be specified in the interface 320 through settings options 324 in
With a scalable multimedia overview representation, as will be discussed in greater detail below, a range of durations and target resolutions may be received via print dialog box 320. In one embodiment, a user selectable option may also include whether or not to include the original document with the multimedia representation and/or transmitted together with the final multimedia overview.
Print dialog box 320 may also receive a command to display advanced settings. In one embodiment a print dialog box displays exemplary advanced settings utilized during multimedia overview composition, as illustrated in
Received user input may further include various types of metadata 336 and 338 that are included together with a multimedia overview of a document. In one embodiment, metadata includes related relevant content, text, URLs, background music, pictures, etc. In one embodiment, this metadata is received through an importing interface (not shown). In addition to specified content, another advanced option received via print dialog box 330 is a timeline that indicates when (e.g., the timeline) the specified content is presented, and in what order, in a composed multimedia overview.
Received metadata provides an indication as to what is important to present in a multimedia overview of a document, such as specific figures or textual excerpts. Received metadata further specifies the path of a story (e.g., in newspaper), as well as specifying a complete navigation path. For example slides to be included in an MMNail representation of PPT documents) for a multimedia representation.
As illustrated in
The creation of a multimedia overview may be dependent on the content selected and/or a received user's identification. For example, MMNail analyzer determines a zoom factor and a pan operation for showing the text region of a document, and to ensure the text is readable at a given resolution. Such requirements may be altered based on a particular user's identification. For example, if a particular user has vision problems, a smallest readable font size parameter used during multimedia overview composition can be set to a higher size, so that the resulting multimedia overview is personalized for the target user.
Upon receiving a �print� request (e.g., a request to transform a document into a multimedia overview), such as by receiving selection of an �OK.� button, a multimedia thumbnail is transmitted to the selected device. During printing, a multimedia thumbnail is generated (if not already available within a file) using the methods described in �Creating Visualizations of Documents,� filed on Dec. 20, 2004, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/018,231, �Methods for Computing a Navigation Path,� filed on Jan. 13, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/332,533, and �Methods for Converting Electronic Document Descriptions.� filed on TBD, U.S. patent application Ser. No. TBD, and sent to the receiving device/medium via Bluetooth, WiFi, phone service, or by other means. The packaging and file format of a multimedia overview, according to embodiments discussed herein, are described in more detail below.
People who scan documents often re-scan the same document more than once. Multimedia thumbnails, as discussed herein, provide an improved preview of a scanned document. In one embodiment, a preview of a multimedia overview is presented on the display of a multi-function peripheral (MFP) device, such as a scanner with integrated display, copier with display, etc., so that desired scan results can be obtained more rapidly through visual inspection. In such an embodiment, the MMNail Generation Module 204 discussed above in
In one embodiment, a multimedia overview resulting from a MFP device scan of a document, would not only show the page margins that were scanned, but also automatically identify the smallest fonts or complex textures of images and zoom into those regions automatically for the user. The results, presented to a user, via the MFPs display would allow the user to determine whether or not the quality of the scan is satisfactory. In one embodiment, a multimedia overview that previews a document scan at an MFP device also shows, as a separate visual channel, the OCR results for potentially problematic document regions based on the scanned image. Thus, the results presented to the user allow the user to decide if he needs to adjust the scan settings to obtain a higher quality scan.
The results of a scan, and optionally the generated multimedia overview of the scanned document, are saved to local storage, portable storage, e-mailed to the user (with or without a multimedia thumbnail representation), etc. Several different types of MMNail representations can be generated at the scanner, for example, one that provides feedback as to potential scan problems and one suitable for content browsing to be included with the scanned document.
In one embodiment, a MFP device, including a scanner, can receive a collection of documents, documents separated, perhaps with color sheet separators, etc. The multimedia over composition process described above detects the separators, and processes the input accordingly. For example, knowing there are multiple documents in the input collection, the multimedia overview composition algorithm discussed above may include the first pages of each document, regardless of the information or content of the document.
Using multimedia overviews of documents, composed according to the discussion above, it is further possible to �copy� a multimedia overview to a cell phone (e.g., an output medium) at either an MFP device, or through the �print� process. In one embodiment, upon a receiving a user's scan of a document, a multimedia overview of the document is generated and transmitted to a target storage medium. In one embodiment, the target storage medium is a medium on the MFP device (e.g., CD, SDcard, flash drive, etc.), storage medium on a networked device, paper (multimedia overviews can be printed with our without the scanned document), VideoPaper (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/001,895, entitled �Paper-based Interface for Multimedia Information,� Jonathan J. Hull Jamey Graham, filed Nov. 19, 2001) format, or storage on a mobile device upon being transmitted via Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. In another embodiment, a multimedia overview of a document is copied to a target storage medium or target device by printing to the target.
Multimedia Representation Output with Multiple Channels
When documents are scanned, printed, or copied, according the discussion above, multiple visual and audible channels are created. As such, a multimedia overview communicates different types of information, which can be composed to be either generic or specific to a task being performed.
In one embodiment, multiple output channels result when multiple visual and audio channels are overlayed in the same spatial, and/or time space of a multimedia overview of a document. Visual presentations can be tiled in MMNail space, or have overlapping space while being displayed with differing transparency levels. Text can be overlaid or shown in a tiled representation. Audio clips can also overlap in several audio channels, for example background music and speech. Moreover, if one visual channel is more dominant than another, the less dominant channel can be supported by the audio channel. Additional channels such as device vibration, lights, etc. (based on the target storage medium for an output multimedia overview), are utilized as channels to communicate information. Multiple windows can also show different parts of a document. For example, when a multimedia overview is created for a patent, one window/channel could show drawings while the other window/channel navigates through the patent's claims.
Additionally, relevant or non-relevant advertisements can be displayed or played along with a multimedia overview utilizing available audio or visual channels, occupying portions of used channels, overlaying existing channels, etc. In one embodiment, relevant advertisement content is identified via a user identification, document content analysis, etc.
Multimedia thumbnails can be stored in various ways. Because a composed multimedia overview is a multimedia �clip�, any media file format that supports audiovisual presentation, such as MPEG-4, Windows media, Synchronized Media Integration Language (SMIL), Audio Video Interleave (AVI), Power Point Slideshow (PPS), Flash, etc. can be used to present multimedia overviews of documents in the form of multimedia thumbnails and navigation paths. Because most document and image formats enable insertion of user data to a file stream, multimedia overviews can be inserted into a document or image file in, for example, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, or any of the above mentioned compressed binary formats.
In one embodiment, a multimedia overview may be embedded in a document and encoded to contain instructions on how to render document content. The multimedia overview can contain references to file(s) for content to be rendered, such as is illustrated in
For example, and as illustrated in
Additional multimedia data, such as audio clips, video clips, text, images, and/or any other data that is not part of the document can be included as user data in one of American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text, Bitmaps, Windows Media Video, Motion Pictures Experts Group Layer 3 Audio compression, etc. However, other file formats may be used to include user data.
An object-based document image format can also be used to store the different image elements and metadata for various �presentation views.� In one embodiment, a JPEG2000 JPM file format is utilized. In such an embodiment, an entire document's content is stored in one file and separated into various page and layout objects. The multimedia overview analyzer, as discussed above, would run before creating the file to ensure that all the elements determined by the analyzer are accessible as layout objects in the JPM file.
When the visual content of audiovisual elements are represented as in �Compressed Data Image Object Feature Extraction, Ordering, and Delivery� filed on Dec. 28, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. TBD, then audio content of an audiovisual element can be added as metadata to the corresponding layout objects. This can be done in the form of an audio file, or as ASCII text, that will be synthesized into speech in the synthesis step of MMnail generation.
Audible elements are represented in metadata boxes at file or page level. Audible elements that have visual content associated with it, e.g. the text in a title, but the title image itself is not included in the element list of the MMnail, can be added as metadata to the corresponding visual content.
In one embodiment, various page collections are added to the core code-stream collection of a multimedia overview file to enable access into various presentation views (or profiles). These page collections contain pointers to layout objects that contain the MMNail-element information in a base collection. Furthermore page collections may contain metadata describing zoom/pan factors for a specific display. Specific page collections may be created for particular target devices, such as a PDA display, one for an MFP panel display, etc. Furthermore, page collections may also be created for various user profiles, device profiles, use profile (i.e. car scenario), etc.
In one embodiment, instead of having a full-resolution document content in a base collection, a reduced resolution version is used that contains all the material necessary for the additional page collections, e.g. lower resolution of a selected number of document image objects.
In one embodiment, multimedia overviews of documents are encoded in a scalable file format. The storage of multimedia overviews, as described herein, in a scalable file format results in many benefits. For example, once a multimedia overview is generated, the multimedia overview may be viewed for a few seconds, or several minutes, without having to regenerate the multimedia overview. Furthermore, scalable file formats support multiple playbacks of a multimedia overview without the need to store separate representations. Varying the playback length of a multimedia overview, without the need to create or store multiple fries, is an example of time scalability. The multimedia overview files, as discussed herein, support the following scalabilities: time scalability; spatial scalability; computation scalability (e.g., when computation resources are sparse, do not animate pages); and content scalability (e.g., show ocr results or not, play little audio or no audio, etc).
Different scalability levels can be combined as Profiles, based on target application, platform, location, etc. For example, when a person is driving, a profile for driving can be selected, where document information is communicated mostly through audio (content scalability); when they are not driving, a profile that gives more information through visual channel can be selected.
Below the MMNail optimization discussed above is further expanded upon, such that it allows time scalability, i.e. creation of MMNail representations for a set of N time constraints T1, T2, . . . , TN. In one embodiment, a goal for scalability is to ensure that elements included in a shorter MMNail with duration T1 are included in any longer MMNail with duration Tn>T1. This time scalability is achieved by iteratively solving equations (4) and (5) for decreasing time constraints as follows:
Given TN> . . . >T2>T1, for steps n=N, . . . , 1, iteratively solve
For the first stage,
is a solution of (6) in iteration n+1, and qε{v, αv}.
For the second stage,
where βnε[0,1] in iteration n, {circumflex over (T)}n is the total time duration to be 11 lied in the audio channel in iteration n,
is a solution of (7) in iteration n+1, and �α={eεEα|t(e)≦γn{circumflex over (T)}/R}, where γnε[0,Rn] and Rn is the number of separated empty audio intervals in iteration n. In one embodiment β_n=1/2 for n=1, . . . N. A solution {xn*,xn**} to this iterative problem describes a set of time-scalable MMNail representations for time constraints T1, T2, . . . , TN, where if document element e is included in MMNail with duration constraint Tt, it is included in the MMNail with duration constraint Tn>Tt.
If, however, the monotonicity condition is not fulfilled for an element inclusion at a given time, then for each time interval T1, a page collection is stored. In this configuration, a set of time intervals T1, . . . Tn is also given.
In one embodiment, a multimedia overview file format, for a hierarchical structure, is defined by describing the appropriate scaling factors and then an animation type (e.g., zoom, page, page flipping, etc.). The hierarchical/structural definition is done, in one embodiment, using XML to define different levels of the hierarchy. Based on computation constraints, only certain hierarchy levels are executed.
One exemplary computational constraint is network bandwidth, where the constraint controls the progression, by quality, of image content when stored as JPEG2000 images. Because a multimedia overview is played within a given time limit (i.e., a default duration or user-defined duration), restricted bandwidth results in a slower speed for the display, animation, pan, zoom, etc. actions than at a �standard� bandwidth/speed. Given a bandwidth constraint, or any other computational constraint imposed on a multimedia overview, fewer bits of a JPEG2000 file are sent to display the multimedia over, in order to compensate for the slow-down effect.
In one embodiment, multimedia overviews of a document are created and stored in file formats with spatial scalability. The multimedia overview, created and stored with Spatial Scalability, supports a range of target spatial resolutions and aspect ratios of a target display device. If an original document and rendered pages are to be included with a multimedia overview, the inclusion is achieved by specifying a downsample ratio for high quality rendered images. If this is not the case, i.e., high quality images are not available, then multiple resolutions of images can be stored in a progressive format without storing images at each resolution. This is a commonly used technique for image/video representation and details on how such representations work can be found in the MPEG-4 ISO/IEC 14496-2 Standard.
Certain audio content, animations, and textual content displayed in a multimedia overview may be more useful than the other content given a certain applications. For example, while driving, audio content is more important than textual or animation content. However, when previewing a scanned document, the OCR'ed text content is more important than associated audio content. The file format discussed above supports the inclusion/omission of different audio/visual/text content in a multimedia overview presentation.
The techniques described herein may be potentially useful for a number of applications. For example, the techniques may be used for document browsing for devices, such as mobile devices and multi-function peripherals (MFPs).
For example, when performing interactive document browsing on a mobile device, the document browsing can be re-defined, for example, instead of zoom and scroll, operations may include, play, pause, fast forward, speedup, and slowdown.
In another mobile device application when performing document viewing and reviewing on mobile devices, the techniques set forth herein may be used to allow a longer version of the MMNail (e.g., 15 minutes long) to be used to provide not only an overview but also understand the content of a document. This application seems to be suitable for devices with limited imaging capabilities, but preferred audio capability, such as cell phones. After browsing and viewing a document with a mobile device, in one embodiment, the mobile device sends it to a device (e.g., an MFP) at another location to have the device perform other functions on the document (e.g., print the document).
In one MFP application, the techniques described herein may be used for document overview. For example, when a user is copying some documents at the MFP, as the pages are scanned, an automatically computed document overview may be displayed to the user, giving a person a head start in understanding the content of the document.
An image processing algorithm performing enhancement of the document image inside an MFP may detect regions of problematic quality, such as low contrast, small font, halftone screen with characteristics interfering with the scan resolution, etc. An MMNail may be displayed on the copier display (possibly without audio) in order to have the user evaluating the quality of the scanned document (i.e., the scan quality) and suggest different settings, e.g., higher contrast, higher resolution.
In a Translation Application, the language for the audio channel can be selected by the user and audible information may be presented in language of choice. In this case, the optimizer functions differently for different languages since the length of the audio would be different. That is, the optimizer results depend on the language. In one embodiment, visual document text is altered. The visual document portion can be re-rendered in a different language.
In one embodiment, the MMNail optimizations are computed on the fly, based on interactions provided by user. For example, if the user closes the audio channel, then other visual information may lead to different visual representation to accommodate this loss of information channel. In another example, if the user slows downs the visual channel (e.g., while driving a car), information delivered through the audio channel may be altered (e.g., an increased amount of content being played in the audio channel). Also, animation effects such as, for example, zoom and pan, may be available based on the computational constraints of the viewing device.
In one embodiment, the MMnails are used to assist disabled people in perceiving document information. For example, visual impaired people may want to have small text in the form of audible information. In another example, color blind people may want some information on colors in a document be available as audible information in the audio channel, e.g. words or phrased that are highlighted with color in the original document.
System 500 further comprises a random access memory (RAM), or other dynamic storage device 504 (referred to as main memory) coupled to bus 511 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 512. Main memory 504 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 512.
Computer system 500 also comprises a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device 506 coupled to bus 511 for storing static information and instructions for processor 512, and a data storage device 507, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive. Data storage device 507 is coupled to bus 511 for storing information and instructions.
Computer system 500 may further be coupled to a display device 521, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD), coupled to bus 511 for displaying information to a computer user. An alphanumeric input device 522, including alphanumeric and other keys, may also be coupled to bus 511 for communicating information and command selections to processor 512. An additional user input device is cursor control 523, such as a mouse, trackball, trackpad, stylus, or cursor direction keys, coupled to bus 511 for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 512, and for controlling cursor movement on display 521.
Another device that may be coupled to bus 511 is hard copy device 524, which may be used for printing instructions, data, or other information on a medium such as paper, film, or similar types of media. Furthermore, a sound recording and playback device, such as a speaker and/or microphone may optionally be coupled to bus 511 for audio interfacing with computer system 500. Another device that may be coupled to bus 511 is a wired/wireless communication capability 525 to communication to a phone or handheld palm device. Note that any or all of the components of system 500 and associated hardware may be used in the present invention. However, it can be appreciated that other configurations of the computer system may include some or all of the devices.
Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description, it is to be understood that any particular embodiment shown and described by way of illustration is in no way intended to be considered limiting. Therefore, references to details of various embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims which in themselves recite only those features regarded as essential to the invention.
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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Foster mom imperfect but loving
Testimony points to battle with CFS
I've had a long and somewhat tumultuous relationship with Kim Edwards, one that began in our mutual desire to have the true story of Phoenix Sinclair told. The low point in my dealings with Phoenix's former foster mother came in 2011, when I wrote a column that revealed the child lay in a grave unmarked except for a small, numbered, concrete disk.
Readers responded, as readers do, quickly and compassionately. Teddy bears, flowers and balloons were dropped off at the cemetery. A local company offered a free headstone.
Related Items
Edwards shot me this email: "what the hell is wrong with you !lady i hoper spomeone hurts you as you have hurt us you stiupid bitch thatnks for creating the shrine we did not want ! WHAT BUSINESS IT IT OF YOURS"
It was signed "peace to you," which is considerably more polite than my usual hate mail. She ordered the gravesite tributes removed. And that was that for us, until the inquiry into the little girl's death began. Edwards has attended faithfully, bearing witness to the testimony of others and waiting for a chance to give her version of truth.
What the inquiry has revealed so far is there are two child-welfare systems in this province. The first exists in officialdom, with social workers and supervisors paid to look after children in distress with supposed speed and efficiency. The second is informal and shadowy, guided by the unwritten rule that children must be protected from CFS interference at all cost.
Edwards belongs to the second camp. As she testified Wednesday at the inquiry, her contempt for CFS filled the room like a noxious gas. She said she only had contact with CFS twice in the two years Phoenix lived with her full time. One was a home visit from CFS worker Stan Williams, the second essentially a drive-by when Williams returned the child.
There is all sorts of CFS documentation that says workers called her, visited the home, sent her letters. She denied it all. The only social worker I met with was Stan Williams, she said repeatedly, and I met with him twice.
Her animosity toward the official child-welfare system resurfaced as she recalled being told by Williams she might not keep Phoenix because her home wasn't "culturally appropriate." That meant, in CFS-speak, she was not aboriginal and Phoenix was.
It's plain Edwards loved the little girl desperately, cared for her like a mother and helped provide the only home the child ever knew. You can't question her dedication to Phoenix and her unflagging, sometimes misplaced faith in Steve Sinclair, the girl's father. Edwards is the one who remembers first steps and words, talks with pride of how early Phoenix spoke in sentence fragments and recalls what a trouper the toddler was. There was nothing she wouldn't have done for Phoenix.
Edwards had her own experiences with CFS. When she was 17, she gave birth to her first child. That little girl was apprehended for a year because, Edwards said, she was being abused by her partner. She bitterly said CFS took her baby but left her in danger. She testified the foster mother bent the rules and let Edwards visit her newborn more often than the mandated one hour a week. The worker was fired for doing so, she said. A file on her second child was opened and closed in a single day because there had been a report of violence committed by the same ex-partner.
When Edwards and former husband Rohan Stephenson applied to become a CFS "place of safety" in July 2003, Edwards did not disclose her previous CFS involvement.
"It wasn't because I was trying to hide it," she testified. "I forgot about that incident with (her daughter)."
It's a big thing to forget, but standard procedure, as Stephenson testified, was to tell CFS nothing. Lying is fair game if you get to keep the child. And they managed, even as she and Stephenson separated and she "couch surfed" while he remained in the family house with Phoenix and the rest of their children. They provided a semblance of family life to a girl whose parents either wouldn't or couldn't.
Kim Edwards can be profane, threatening and sometimes seem irrational. But she loved Phoenix without reservation. That's a flash of brightness for this dreary inquiry.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 13, 2012 A3
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Video Life sentence upheld for conviction in rooming-house fire that killed 512:44 PM 0
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About Lindor Reynolds
National Newspaper Award winner Lindor Reynolds began work at the Free Press as a 17-year-old proofreader. It was a rough introduction to the news business.
Many years later, armed with a university education and a portfolio of published work, she was hired as a Free Press columnist. During her 20-plus years on the job she has written for every section in the paper, with the exception of Business. She'll get around to them some day.
Lindor has received considerable recognition for her writing. Her awards include the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' general interest award and the North American Travel Journalists Association top prize.
Her work on Internet luring led to an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada and her coverage of the child welfare system prompted a change to Manitoba Child and Family Services Act to make the safety of children paramount.
She has earned three citations of merit for the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and has been awarded a Distinguished Alumni commendation from the University of Winnipeg. Lindor was also named a YMCA/YWCA Woman of Distinction.
She is married with four daughters. If her house was on fire and the kids and dog were safe, she'd grab her passport.
Most Popular
- City man found dead in river near Belize home
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- Liquidate Canad Inns: receiver
- Life sentence upheld for conviction in rooming-house fire that killed 5
- Crocus wants to recoup costs from Canad Inns
- Two high-profile municipal candidates in Winnipeg eye political jump
- 'Bannock Lady' faces $3,000 in tickets; vehicle seized
- Liquor strike possible for Christmas
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- Freezing rain cuts power to 3,700 hydro customers in west Winnipeg
- City man found dead in river near Belize home
- Feds warn dozens of First Nations may lose funding
- Worker killed in forklift accident in RM of Springfield
- Transgender girl's complaint goes ahead despite move
- Homeowners will have to clear windrows: city
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- Getting the word out
- Two charged with attempted murder in Rinelle Harper case
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- Tormented because of his size
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- 'Bannock Lady' faces $3,000 in tickets; vehicle seized
- Dissidents leave cabinet
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Francis T. McPherron is my husband's grandfather, but he did not know Helen, but he met her daughter, Helen Francis in Iowa at a family reunion, she married John Vesey, and lived in Bouler Co.
They had two children. Francis Albert, born in 1901, and Chauncey John born in 1904.
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Ferreira John Carroll born April 28.1900 Paget Bermuda. Lived at "Visalia" in Paget. Owned Eat shop on Reid St. as well as Princess Taxi. Married April 17,1946 to Ivy Elmina Sullivan. Had one son John Jr. and two daughters from Ivy's prev marriage. Died 1978 in Victoria BC Canada. I am his granddaughter in Victoria.
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Fugitive lip biter arrested in California
Nov 6, 2014
Jonathan E. Benedict
Oct 30, 2014
Darrell W. Cook
Oct 2, 2014
Michael Polchies
Sep 25, 2014
Home » News » Crime
Prosecutors: Drug dealing was all in the Manchester family
Prosecutors disclosed the details Wednesday in announcing the sentencing of Inez Rodriguez, 43, of Manchester in U.S. District Court in Concord.
She will serve 12 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release for distribution of oxycodone and crack-cocaine, according to a statement issued by New Hampshire U.S. Attorney John Kacavas.
Her son, Felix Fernandez, was a large-scale Percocet distributor, supplying both Rodriguez and his grandmother, Aida "Abuela" Marquez with Percocet for distribution.
Percocet was distributed from the homes of each of the three family members, prosecutors said.
The FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force and the Manchester police Special Investigation Unit headed the investigation into the network, prosecutors said.
- Police say woman stole pocketbook at Hudson Market Basket - 0
- Police say former manager of Hudson McDonald's stole $10k from restaurant - 0
- Manchester man facing two aggravated felonious sexual assault charges - 0
- State police OK to search cell phone to locate suspect who bit trooper - 0
- Police investigating death of 3-year-old girl in Nashua - 2
- Ferguson: Eyewitness testimony underscores challenge grand jury faced - 0
- Mass. man charged with kidnapping - 0
- Keene Pumpkin Festival issues to get full airing Tuesday - 1
- Driver charged after man falls off car's hood - 1
Police say hit-and-run driver was observed tossing beer cans from carREADER COMMENTS: 0
- City championship on the line Thanksgiving Day - 0
- Your Turn, NH -- Mike Moffett: Republicans can win in 2016 with Kasich at the top of the ticket - 2
- On being American: A point for reflection - 0
- Charles Arlinghaus: 'Tis the season for budget games and gimmicks - 0
- Manchester school exec contract squeaks by - 3
- Dartmouth gets 10 picks on All-Ivy team - 0
- College Roundup: Mabrey leads St. Anselm men; UNH tops BU - 0
- Claremont's Tarczewski lifts Arizona - 0
- Men's Hockey: Wildcats at their worst against RPI - 0
Police say Franklin man and woman facing charge of attempted prostitution of a minorREADER COMMENTS: 0
Pipes and plans: A chance to show up Mass.
Manchester school exec contract squeaks by
Pipes and plans: A chance to show up Mass.
Manchester school exec contract squeaks by
Your Turn, NH -- Mike Moffett: Republicans can win in 2016 with Kasich at the top of the ticket
On being American: A point for reflection
- Whom do you think bears the brunt of the blame for the mayhem this weekend in Keene?
- KSC students
- 37%
- KSC administration
- 2%
- Police
- 6%
- Visitors from out of town
- 18%
- A combination of any/all of the above
- 37%
- Total Votes: 2483


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Selected Testers for 'Dove Cream Bar'
Dear Members,
Please see the lucky testers for the 'Dove Cream Bar' by clicking here.
Congratulations to the testers and we hope you enjoy the products once they are delivered to your home.
Toluna Team
Toluna.com Essentials: Increase Your Followers
The Toluna community offers our millions of members the chance to express their opinions. In our series of "Toluna Essentials" we'll go over all the techniques you can use to get the most out of your experience with Toluna. Today, let's go over increasing your friends and followers.
As you begin your journey in the Toluna community, you'll get into the Toluna flow of behavior. Our members tend to be very friendly, and love participating in content.
Here are a few simple tips to make friends and increase your following
- Make friends by introducing yourself after voting on someone's content and let them know that you shared your opinion, just like sheilaskehill did above. Most members will return the favor, and give you a follow.
- Send a Giftie! You only have to exchange a few points to send a Giftie to a new friend. They'll appreciate it.
- Follow people. Reach out by following members that you think create great content. They'll receive a notification that you followed them, and you might just get a follow back.
By following the steps above, not only can you share and learn about the community's thoughts and viewpoints, but, like so many members, you may just create lasting friendships! So, don't be a stranger! Stop by your fellow member's profiles and introduce yourself.
For more tips & tricks, check back next Monday!
Have questions or feedback for our Toluna Essentials Series? Leave a message on our wall.
Toluna Team
Paypal Reward Update
Dear Members,
We're contacting you to announce a change of threshold with the Paypal payment on the site.
This has now been updated to a 35 Pounds voucher that can be ordered of the site for 180,000 points.
We hope this update has been helpful, and we shall have an update on Amazon vouchers for you soon.
Kind Regards,
The Toluna Team
Selected Testers for 'Teraxyl Toothpaste – Pro Electric'
Dear Members,
Please see the lucky testers for the 'Teraxyl Toothpaste – Pro Electric' by clicking here.
Congratulations to the testers and we hope you enjoy the products once they are delivered to your home.
Toluna Team
New Christmas Rewards
Dear Members,
With Father Christmas on his way, we have released some new rewards to celebrate his arrival!
We are now offering colour yourself Christmas decorations, a Christmas hat and a Christmas blanket within our large selection of rewards.
So, if you've got the Christmas bug then why not order one of these new rewards and celebrate in true festive style? Find all of these and other great rewards at our rewards centre.
Happy festivities!
The Toluna Team
Amazon Vouchers Update
Dear Members,
As some of you may have seen, Amazon vouchers are not currently available to be ordered through our website.
This can be explained; due to us wanting to make the website the best it can be for our members we make sure that all parts of it are up to date. The same goes for the rewards section; all of our rewards will go under a review process where we decide if they need changing or updating. This can happen several times in a year for certain rewards in order to assess their progress on the website.
Amazon vouchers are currently in the midst of this review process, we would like to apologise if this is an inconvenience to any of our members. We expect the vouchers to be back on the website soon!
If you can't wait, then why not check out what other vouchers you can purchase with your points at uk.toluna.com/rewards.
Have a nice week!
The Toluna Team
Selected Testers for the 'Nicols Sponge'
Dear Members,
Please see the lucky testers for the 'Nicols Sponge' by clicking here.
Congratulations to the testers and we hope you enjoy the products once they are delivered to your home.
Toluna Team
Selected Testers for 3 Products
Dear Members,
Please see the lucky testers for the "Sanex Men Deodorant" by clicking here.
And please see the lucky testers for the "Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Oil" by clicking here.
And please see the lucky testers for the "Nivea Eye Shadow (black)" by clicking here.
Congratulations to the testers and we hope you enjoy the products once they are delivered to your home.
Toluna Team
Win 15,000 points in our new Instagram Contest: Toluna Pets
Hello members,
Grab your pets; they could help you win 15,000 points in our new Instagram Contest #TolunaPets!
Entering is simple, all you need to do is:
- Follow @Toluna on Instagram
- Post a picture of your pet. If you have already posted the photo on Instagram, you must re-post the photo
- Tag your picture with the hashtag #TolunaPets
- Are you on Twitter? Follow @Toluna on Twitter and tweet us your entry tagged with the same hashtag and you could be our Twitter winner!
Remember, two winners will be selected – one from Twitter, and one from Instagram
This contest is Instagram & Twitter Exclusive. You must post your photo between November 1 and November 30 to participate.
And we're proud to announce the October Instagram contest winners of #TolunaBFF: Testadilana from the Instagram entries, and MarianaJacobini who entered via Twitter. They will each be winning 15,000 points. Congratulations!
Instagram Winner
Twitter Winner
Good luck to all of the participants!
See you soon,
The Toluna Team
*Promotion Rules: Winners will be selected at random by December 3 2014 at 5pm EST and must follow directions of the contest. The member must have a Toluna.com account or be willing to create an account to receive the points. Points will be awarded to winners within 5 days after the contest has ended and will be uploaded directly to user's accounts. The winner will be notified on their Instagram or Twitter entry that they have won. Posts must not contain any language that is obscene, insulting, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libellous, untrue, misleading or invasive of someone else's privacy. Toluna reserves the right to review all posts for content, and withhold bonus points from any user violating the rules mentioned above
Toluna.com Essentials: Rewards Center
The Toluna community offers a platform for our millions of members to express their opinions. In our series of "Toluna Essentials" we'll go over all the techniques you can use to get the most out of your experience with Toluna. Today, let's go over the Toluna Rewards Center.
You can find the Rewards Center by clicking the "Explore" menu at the top of Toluna.com and on the drop down menu you will find Rewards Center. On the top right corner you will see how many points you have to spend and you can do this in a couple different ways. You can choose from our many options for Gift Cards including Amazon, Argos, Starbucks and more. Each section will expand to show you the many rewards we offer.
Sweepstakes: You may not know that you can redeem your points for additional entries into our sweepstakes for 500 points apiece – giving you an added edge for the monthly drawing.*
In addition to our cash sweepstakes, we also offer a quarterly sweepstakes open to most countries, and tickets are only available through the Rewards Center. This quarter we are giving away the new iPhone 6 Plus! For this particular drawing, there will be 3 winners, and the member who purchases the most tickets is a guaranteed winner!
*Monthly cash sweepstakes winners are chosen through a random drawing– see official rules here
Gifties: Another option is to take a chance at winning one of our exclusive "Gifties"! Gifties are virtual gifts, which represent real products which you can send to yourself, or a friend. You exchange a small amount of points for the virtual item, and at the same time play for a chance to win the real item. The winner is determined by a computer algorithm that chooses random winners. New Gifties are added every month, and you can find out about these via announcements on our blog.
Under the Gifties section you can see all the latest winners for both Gifties and our monthly sweepstakes. Feel free to click on their profiles and congratulate them from time to time.
Have questions or feedback for our Toluna Essentials Series? Leave a message on our wall.
Toluna Team


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Idle No More Brings Native Voices, Tribal Education to the Forefront
January 23, 2013
Like many Natives and our allies across our Grandmother Earth, Unci Maka, I have joined the Idle No More movement, attending round dance gatherings, praying for Chief Theresa Spence and her supporters, sharing the stories I hear and read and perusing news and opinion pieces. Like many indigenous people, I am acutely aware that our voices in the mainstream of American, Canadian and Central and South American societies are often unheard, and that we appear silent when in fact our voices are singing out with stories of our lives. Defining this movement is our responsibility. Each of us should learn about this movement and find our own place in it. We can add our voices to songs of our relatives and allies across the earth.
Tribal Colleges in NM Seek Scholarship Eligibility
January 22, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE N.M. — Tribal colleges in New Mexico want their students to have the same eligibility for the state's lottery scholarships as students attending state colleges and universities. Tribal colleges also want the same so-called "dual credit" reimbursements that other public higher education institutions get from the state for courses that count for both high school and college credit.
NASA Aids Tribal School in Becoming Four-Year University
January 22, 2013
Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, N.M. recently transitioned from a two-year college to a four-year university thanks to funding from NASA's Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) Small Projects (MSP). In partnerships with the agency, students from Navajo Tech worked with two NASA centers in recent years supporting projects related to future space exploration.
Phil Jackson Volunteers for American Indian Fundraiser
January 22, 2013
Ever wonder what it would be like to spend a day with the Zen Master? Lakeside resident and legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson is offering a lucky fan the chance to hang out in Los Angeles and talk about his storied professional basketball career.
Sailor returns to Fort Berthold Community College to administer TREND Grant
January 17, 2013
Earlier this month, the Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) welcomed Edna Sailor as the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program-Data Coordinator. Sailor will be administering the Training for Regional Energy in North Dakota (TREND) program grant funds made available through the U.S. Department of Labor.
Tribal Colleges among featured colleges during Tribal-State Relationship Address
January 15, 2013
President Russell Mason, Jr. of the Fort Berthold Community College (FBCC) joined other presidents last Thursday, January 10, in a collaborative effort to showcase the five tribal colleges of North Dakota (ND) at the State Capitol in Bismarck.
Northwest Area Foundation and American Indian College Fund Launch Tribal College Leaders in Inn
January 14, 2013
The St. Paul-based Northwest Area Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting efforts by people, organizations, and communities to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity, has made a two-year, $1 million grant to the American Indian College Fund in support of the Tribal College Leaders in Community Innovation Project.
Red Lake Band gets $21M to build new tribal college
January 14, 2013
The Red Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota will receive more than $21 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program. Red Lake will use some of the money to build a new, 42,000-square-foot tribal college to replace an older building that has limited classroom space and create room for technology equipment.
Combining hubs of knowledge Menominee tribal, college libraries merge
January 11, 2013
There is now one hub of knowledge in Keshena following the merger of the Menominee Public Library with the College of Menominee Nation library. The college, the Menominee Tribal Legislature and the Menominee County Board of Supervisors celebrated the merger Friday with an open house and discussion of what is to come in the three-story, 19,000-square-foot S. Verna Fowler Library.
Tribal Rep Creates Scholarship, Makes Education a Priority
January 7, 2013
When he was elected in June as the District 3 representative for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, 30-year-old LeRoy Staples-Fairbanks III promised to make education a priority, and he's done just that by creating a scholarship. On December 14, he presented a check toward the first installment of the LeRoy Staples Sr. and LeRoy B. Fairbanks Scholarship Fund—named in honor of his late grandfather and his uncle, key inspirations in his life—to Leech Lake Tribal College in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/tribal-rep-creates-scholarship-makes-education-priority-146705