Surveillance Video Timeline UI for Context-Rich Alert Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video surveillance systems lack efficient user control flows and provide inadequate context or information to users, making it difficult to navigate and understand live or saved video feeds effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that displays a user interface with a live video stream in one region and a timeline corresponding to the recorded duration in another region, allowing users to transition timelines and view subsets of video frames in response to user interactions, and a server system that encodes and transmits compressed video segments for specific time intervals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a conventional video surveillance system displays only live video feeds, then the system is simple to operate, but the user lacks adequate context or information about the videos
Solution Approach 1:
The user interface is segmented into multiple regions: a first region displaying the live video stream and a second region displaying the timeline. This segmentation allows users to simultaneously view video content and temporal context without overwhelming the interface, resolving the contradiction between providing comprehensive information and maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to the video presentation by introducing a timeline region that displays timespans corresponding to recorded duration. This transforms the traditional single-dimension video view into a two-dimensional presentation combining spatial video content with temporal context, enabling users to understand both what is happening and when it occurred.
2Loss of information
If the system displays the complete timeline for the entire recorded duration, then the user has full temporal context, but the interface becomes cluttered and harder to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and displays only the relevant portion of the timeline corresponding to the current timespan being viewed, rather than showing the entire recorded duration. This extraction principle allows the interface to present sufficient temporal context without displaying unnecessary information, maintaining clarity while providing adequate context.
Solution Approach 2:
The timeline display is dynamic and adapts to user interactions. When users navigate to different timespans, the timeline automatically adjusts to show the appropriate temporal range. This dynamic behavior ensures the interface remains manageable in complexity while continuously providing relevant temporal context.
3Productivity
If the system allows frequent timeline transitions to different timespans, then the user can navigate video content efficiently, but the system requires more complex control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The timeline serves as an intermediary control mechanism between the user and the video content. Instead of requiring complex direct manipulation of video playback, users interact with the simplified timeline representation to navigate to different timespans. This intermediary layer simplifies the control mechanism while enabling efficient video navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a simplified copy or representation of the video content in the form of a visual timeline. This timeline copy allows users to quickly scan and select timespans without having to manually scrub through the entire video, improving navigation efficiency while keeping the control mechanism simple and intuitive.
4Loss of information
If the system displays subsets of video frames during timeline transitions, then the user maintains visual context, but the system requires more processing power
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of displaying the complete video stream during timeline transitions, the system displays partial subsets of video frames that are most relevant to the transition. This partial action principle provides sufficient visual context to maintain user orientation while significantly reducing the processing power required compared to displaying full video content during transitions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method at an electronic device with a display includes: displaying a user interface having a first region and a second region; receiving, and displaying in the first region of the user interface, a live video stream of a physical environment captured by a remote video camera; displaying, in the second region, a timeline corresponding to a timespan for a first portion of a duration during which the live video stream may have been recorded; in response to receiving a user interaction to move the timespan to a second portion of the duration, transitioning the displayed timeline to a new timeline that corresponds to the timespan for the second portion, and while transitioning, displaying, in the first region, a subset of video frames representing the first and/or second portion of the duration.