IP Library Granted Patent US 10,970,588
Granted Patent B2
US 10,970,588 · App. 16/699,536 · Granted Apr 6, 2021

Recurrent deep neural network system for detecting overlays in images

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,970,588
App. No.
16/699,536
Granted
Apr 6, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

In one aspect, an example method includes a processor (1) applying a feature map network to an image to create a feature map comprising a grid of vectors characterizing at least one feature in the image and (2) applying a probability map network to the feature map to create a probability map assigning a probability to the at least one feature in the image, where the assigned probability corresponds to a likelihood that the at least one feature is an overlay. The method further includes the processor determining that the probability exceeds a threshold, and responsive to the processor determining that the probability exceeds the threshold, performing a processing action associated with the at least one feature.

Claims (70)

1. A method comprising:

a processor applying a feature map network to an image to create a feature map, wherein the feature map comprises a grid of vectors characterizing at least one feature in the image;

the processor applying a probability map network to the feature map to create a probability map assigning a probability to the at least one feature in the image, wherein the assigned probability corresponds to a likelihood that the at least one feature is an overlay;

the processor determining that the assigned probability exceeds a threshold probability value; and

responsive to the processor determining that the assigned probability exceeds the threshold probability value, the processor (i) determining compliance with an advertising requirement, (ii) performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the at least one feature, (iii) determining a channel associated with the at least one feature, (iv) determining a show associated with the at least one feature, (v) determining a hyperlink associated with the at least one feature, or (vi) accessing a hyperlinked object associated with the at least one feature.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to the processor determining that the assigned probability exceeds the threshold probability value, the processor (i) removing the at least one feature from the image or (ii) inpainting the at least one feature.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

training the feature map network prior to the processor applying the feature map network to the image.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein training the feature map network comprises generating a plurality of groundtruth masks from a corresponding plurality of training images, wherein each training image of the plurality of training images has a respective overlay.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

creating the plurality of training images by placing a plurality of overlay images onto an original image set, wherein each overlay image of the plurality of overlay images is semi-transparent or opaque.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

varying the plurality of overlay images by at least one of grayscale intensity, color hue, color value, color intensity, opacity, size, or position in the original image set.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the feature map network to the image comprises applying a plurality of convolutional layers and max-pooling layers to the image.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the image is described on a per-pixel basis using RGB values, and wherein the plurality of convolutional layers and max-pooling layers comprises the following, in order:

two convolutional 3×3 64-length layers;

a first max-pooling 2×2 layer;

two convolution 3×3 128-length layers;

a second max-pooling 2×2 layer;

three convolution 3×3 256-length layers;

a third max-pooling 2×2 layer;

three convolution 3×3 512-length layers;

a fourth max-pooling 2×2 layer; and

two convolution 1×1 4096-length layers.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the probability map network to the feature map comprises applying the following, in order:

a first LSTM across rows and a second LSTM across columns;

two fully connected layers;

two sigmoid layers; and

a multiplication layer.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to perform a set of acts comprising:

applying a feature map network to an image to create a feature map, wherein the feature map includes data characterizing a feature in the image relative to other features in the image;

applying a probability map network to the feature map to create a probability map assigning a probability to the feature in the image, wherein the assigned probability corresponds to a likelihood that the feature is an overlay;

determining that the assigned probability exceeds a threshold probability value; and

responsive to determining that the assigned probability exceeds the threshold probability value, (i) determining compliance with an advertising requirement, (ii) performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the at least one feature, (iii) determining a channel associated with the at least one feature, (iv) determining a show associated with the at least one feature, (v) determining a hyperlink associated with the at least one feature, or (vi) accessing a hyperlinked object associated with the at least one feature.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , the set of acts further comprising:

responsive to determining that the assigned probability exceeds the threshold probability value, (i) removing the at least one feature from the image or (ii) inpainting the at least one feature.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , the set of acts further comprising:

training the feature map network prior to the processor applying the feature map network to the image, wherein training the feature map network comprises generating a plurality of groundtruth masks from a corresponding plurality of training images, wherein each training image of the plurality of training images has a respective overlay.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein each groundtruth mask of the plurality of groundtruth masks is the same size as its corresponding training image, the set of acts further comprising:

setting each pixel in a respective groundtruth mask of the plurality of groundtruth masks to 1 if the pixel is overlapped by the respective overlay or to 0 if the pixel is not overlapped by the respective overlay.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , the set of acts further comprising:

creating the plurality of training images by placing a plurality of overlay images onto an original image set, wherein each overlay image of the plurality of overlay images is semi-transparent or opaque.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein applying the feature map network to the image comprises applying a plurality of convolutional layers and max-pooling layers to the image.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the image is described on a per-pixel basis using RGB values, and wherein the plurality of convolutional layers and max-pooling layers comprises the following, in order:

two convolutional 3×3 64-length layers;

a first max-pooling 2×2 layer;

two convolution 3×3 128-length layers;

a second max-pooling 2×2 layer;

three convolution 3×3 256-length layers;

a third max-pooling 2×2 layer;

three convolution 3×3 512-length layers;

a fourth max-pooling 2×2 layer; and

two convolution 1×1 4096-length layers.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein applying the probability map network to the feature map comprises applying bi-directional LSTMs with peephole connections to the feature map.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the bi-directional LSTMs with peephole connections comprises the following, in order:

a first LSTM across rows and a second LSTM across columns;

two fully connected layers;

two sigmoid layers; and

a multiplication layer.

19. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform a set of acts comprising:

training a feature map network by generating a plurality of groundtruth masks from a corresponding plurality of training images, wherein each of the plurality of training images has an overlay with at least one of a respective grayscale intensity, color hue, color value, color intensity, opacity, size, or position that differs relative to other overlays in the plurality of training images;

applying the trained feature map network to an image to create a feature map, wherein the feature map includes data characterizing a feature in the image relative to other features in the image, wherein the feature map network comprises a very deep convolutional neural network having a plurality of convolutional layers and max-pooling layers;

applying a probability map network to the feature map to create a probability map, wherein the probability map network comprises at least two recurrent layers including at least one vertical recurrent layer and at least one horizontal recurrent layer that are multiplied to provide an output indicative of a probability that the feature in the image is an overlay;

determining that the probability exceeds a threshold probability value; and

responsive to determining that the probability exceeds the threshold probability value, (i) determining compliance with an advertising requirement, (ii) performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the feature, (iii) determining a channel associated with the feature, (iv) determining a show associated with the feature, (v) determining a hyperlink associated with the feature, or (vi) accessing a hyperlinked object associated with the feature.

20. The system of claim 19 , the set of acts further comprising:

responsive to determining that the probability exceeds the threshold probability value, (i) removing the feature from the image or (ii) inpainting the feature.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE (REEL 053473 / FRAME 0001) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063603/0001 →
RELEASE (REEL 054066 / FRAME 0064) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063605/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 2, 2023
From: GRACENOTE, INC.
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 062577/0654 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PATENTS LISTED ON SCHEDULE 1 RECORDED ON 6-9-2020 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 053473 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT. Recorded Oct 7, 2020
From: A.C. NIELSEN (ARGENTINA) S.A.; A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A
Reel/Frame 054066/0064 →
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 9, 2020
From: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NIELSEN UK FINANCE I, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053473/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 29, 2019
From: HARRON, WILSON; ZHU, IRENE
To: GRACENOTE, INC.
Reel/Frame 051145/0605 →