Hierarchical Shared Content Index for Mixed Media Reality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems face challenges in recognizing low-quality images from mobile devices, experiencing slow recognition speeds, and struggling with distinguishing between similar document pages, leading to inaccurate results due to repeated content and similar layouts.
Innovation Solution
A Mixed Media Reality (MMR) system with hierarchical shared content indices and indexes that automate the processing of images, enabling faster and more accurate searches by using mobile devices, a pre-processing server, and an MMR matching unit to filter, preprocess, and recognize images efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional flat indexing is used for image recognition, then the system is simple to implement, but recognition speed is slow and accuracy is low when dealing with repeated content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the traditional flat index into multiple hierarchical levels: global index for overall document structure and local indexes for specific repeated content regions. This segmentation allows the system to process different parts of documents at appropriate granularity, significantly improving recognition speed for documents with repeated content while maintaining manageable complexity through modular index structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical dimension to the traditional flat indexing structure by creating multiple levels of indexes (global and local) with different scopes and granularities. This dimensional transformation enables the system to navigate from coarse-grained global matching to fine-grained local matching, resolving the contradiction between speed and complexity.
2Productivity
If image quality from mobile devices is low, then capture is easier and faster, but recognition accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary processing of low-quality images through preprocessing steps including noise reduction, enhancement, and feature extraction before recognition. By preparing images in advance with optimized preprocessing tailored to mobile device characteristics, the system maintains high capture speed while improving the quality of recognition input, thus resolving the accuracy-speed contradiction.
3Reliability
If similar document pages with repeated content are processed, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but distinction between pages becomes difficult leading to inaccurate results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating specialized local indexes that focus on distinctive features within repeated content regions. Instead of treating all content uniformly, the system identifies and indexes unique local characteristics (such as specific text patterns, layout features, or content variations) within repeated sections, enabling accurate distinction between similar pages while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments documents into distinct regions and creates separate local indexes for each, allowing the system to compare specific segments rather than entire documents. This segmentation strategy enables the system to identify subtle differences in repeated content regions while ignoring identical portions, thereby improving page distinction accuracy without sacrificing comprehensive coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for indexing and retrieval of document images in an MMR system having repeated content is described. The system provides one or more hierarchical shared content indices that produce faster and/or more accurate search results. The system is also advantageous because the number and configuration of the hierarchical shared content indices is automated, scalable and efficient for processing documents with partially repeated content. In particular, the MMR matching unit includes a hierarchical shared content index (HSCI) and associated methods of use for processing images where the MMR system includes repeated content. The present invention also includes a number of novel methods including a method for adding an image to a hierarchical shared content index; a method for deleting an image from the hierarchical shared content index, and a method for using the hierarchical shared content index for image recognition, as well as a method for combining multiple MMR indexes into a hierarchical MMR index.