Method for selecting parts of an audiovisual program and device therefor

1. A method performed by a computer of selecting parts of an audiovisual document comprising the steps of:

analyzing the audiovisual document by at least two different subdividing means, the at least two subdividing means producing two different groups of sequences extracted from the audiovisual document, wherein one of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document into hierarchical shots associated to predefined meaningful semantic units, by using a priori knowledge of a hierarchical intrinsic structure of a type of content contained in the audiovisual document;

the other of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document into sequences and indexes them according to event types of the audiovisual document;

entering at least two sequence selection criteria, each specific to one of the at least two subdividing means, wherein one of said sequence selection criteria includes at least one hierarchical shot and the other of said at least two sequence selection criteria includes elements different from the hierarchical structure of the content; and

selecting at least one sequence if at least one part of said sequence meets each of the at least two sequence selection criteria from each of the at least two different subdividing means further comprising a step for generating a satisfaction index assigned to a sequence generated by one of the subdividing means; said index being a selection criterion.

2. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; further comprising selecting a subdividing means, the selected sequences being extracted from the group of sequences produced by the selected subdividing means.

3. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; further comprising generating a summary obtained by concatenating the selected sequences, the sequences being ordered in the chronological order defined in the initial audiovisual document.

4. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; further comprising generating a summary obtained by concatenating the selected sequences, the sequences being ordered in the order defined by the entry of the selection criteria.

5. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; wherein the initial audiovisual document consists of primary and/or final documents obtained from different sources, the method further comprising a step for selecting a primary and/or final document, the subdividing means producing the groups of sequences from the selected primary and/or final document.

6. The selection method as claimed in claim 5 ; further comprising substituting a selected sequence with another sequence extracted from another primary and/or final document and having the same time window as the substituted sequence.

7. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; wherein the satisfaction index originates from the analysis of a physical quantity of the sequence, such as the sound.

8. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; wherein the satisfaction index is entered manually.

9. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; further comprising a step for displaying a graphic bar representing at least a part of the initial document according to the time and showing the position of the selected sequences.

10. The selection method as claimed in claim 1 ; further comprising: generating a satisfaction index assigned to a sequence generated by one of the subdividing means; said index being a selection criterion and

displaying at least one icon associated with the representation of a sequence showing the value of the satisfaction index associated with that sequence.

11. A device for displaying video contents comprising:

at least two different subdividing means, each subdividing means producing a group of video sequences extracted from a video or audiovisual document, wherein one of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document into hierarchical shots associated to predefined meaningful semantic units, by using a priori knowledge of a hierarchical intrinsic structure of a type of content contained in the audiovisual document;

the other of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document into sequences and indexes them according to event types of the audiovisual document;

a graphic interface comprising: at least two areas each displaying a list of selection criteria, each list of selection criteria associated with one of the two different subdividing means, wherein one of said lists of selection criteria includes at least one hierarchical shot and the other of said at least two sequence selection criteria includes elements different from the hierarchical structure of the content;

a means for selecting at least one criterion from each of the two displayed lists of selection criteria; and

an area for displaying at least one video sequence of which at least one part of said sequence meets each of the at least one selection criterion from each of the two different subdividing means further comprising means of generating a satisfaction index assigned to a sequence generated by one of the subdividing means; said index being a selection criterion.

12. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in claim 11 ; further comprising means of selecting a subdividing means, the selected sequences being extracted from the group of sequences produced by the selected subdividing means.

13. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in claim 11 ; further comprising means of generating a summary obtained by concatenating the selected sequences, the sequence being ordered in the chronological order defined in the initial audiovisual document.

14. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in claim 11 ; wherein the means of generating a satisfaction index further comprises analyzing a physical quantity of the sequence, such as the sound.

15. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in claim 11 ; wherein the means of generating a satisfaction index further comprises manually entering the index.

16. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in claim 11 ; further comprising means of displaying at least one icon associated with the representation of a sequence showing the value of the satisfaction index associated with that sequence.

17. The device for displaying video contents as claimed in of claim 11 ; further comprising means of displaying a graphic bar representing at least a part of the initial document according to the time and showing the position of the selected sequences.

18. A method of selecting parts of an audiovisual document comprising the steps of:

analyzing the audiovisual document by at least two different subdividing means, the at least two subdividing means producing two different groups of sequences extracted from the audiovisual document, wherein one of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document into hierarchical shots associated to predefined meaningful semantic units, based on a priori knowledge of a hierarchical intrinsic structure of a type of content contained in the audiovisual document, and the other of the at least two subdividing means subdivides the audiovisual document according to at least one index applied to the document;

entering at least two sequence selection criteria, each specific to one of the at least two subdividing means, wherein one of said sequence selection criteria includes at least one hierarchical shot and the other of said at least two sequence selection criteria includes said at least one index; and

selecting at least one video sequence that links the structure of the document to the at least one index of the document further comprising a step for generating a satisfaction index assigned to a sequence generated by one of the subdividing means; said index being a selection criterion.