The present invention relates to a method and system for delivering video content, and more particularly relates to a method and system for identifying and delivering video content available via the Internet. Video content is usually provided with metadata containing information about the video content. The metadata can, for instance, indicate the time and location at which the video content was captured. In the case of a live video stream, the metadata might indicate the location from which the video is being streamed.

It is possible to identify video content on the Internet using a search engine. However, a search engine will typically only provide a basic list of identified video content. A user must then view the video content to establish whether the video content is relevant to the user's needs. This searching and subsequent viewing of video content is time consuming. Furthermore, it is difficult for a user to conduct the search quickly enough to identify different relevant live video streams of events as they occur in real-time.

Examples of real-time events that are live-streamed on the Internet include emergency situations, natural disasters, political rallies and protests. Information gathered from this live-streamed video is useful for interested parties, such as news journalists and security services, who wish to monitor the events. There is, however, at present no system in place to enable interested parties to easily find and view relevant video content.

Even if an interested party is successful in identifying relevant video content, it can be difficult and time consuming for the interested party to make use of the video content. For instance, it is a difficult and time consuming task to sift through hundreds or thousands of video clips in order to gain an overview of the events captured in the video clips. The present invention seeks to provide an improved method and system for delivering video content.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of delivering video content, the method comprising: selecting a plurality of video content packages, each video content package comprising video content, a time identifier and a location identifier, the time identifier indicating a time associated with the video content and the location identifier indicating a location associated with the video content; selecting a first time and a first location; identifying a first group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected first time and first location; selecting a second time and a second location; identifying a second group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected second time and second location; generating relational data indicating a relationship between at least one of the first and second times and the first and second locations; outputting a first set of access links to each of the video content packages in the first group of video content packages; outputting a second set of access links to each of the video content packages in the second group of video content packages; and outputting the relational data so that a user can use the relational data when considering which of the access links to access in order to view video content in the groups of video content packages.

Preferably, the plurality of video content packages comprise at least one live video stream. Conveniently, the plurality of video content packages comprises at least one archive video stream.

Advantageously, the step of outputting access links comprises overlaying the first and second sets of access links on a map at positions on the map which represent the respective first and second locations.

Preferably, the step of outputting the relational data comprises overlaying at least one path line on the map which extends between at least two related access links.

Conveniently, the step of outputting the relational data comprises displaying the access links on the map differently according to the relationship between at least one of the times and locations associated with the access links.

Advantageously, the step of outputting the relational data comprises displaying the access links on the map using differently shaped representations.

Preferably, the step of outputting the relational data comprises displaying the access links on the map using differently coloured representations.

Conveniently, the step of outputting the relational data comprises displaying a time-order indicator corresponding to each of the sets of access links on the map to indicate the temporal order of the times associated with the sets of access links.

Advantageously, the method further comprises: outputting a location hotspot alert if more than a predetermined number of video content packages are identified as comprising location identifiers that at least partly match one of the first and second selected locations. Preferably, the method further comprises: outputting a time hotspot alert if more than a predetermined number of video content packages are identified as comprising time identifiers that at least partly match one of the first and second selected times.

Conveniently, the step of generating relational data comprises detecting and storing location link data which indicates a relative difference between the first and second locations.

Advantageously, the step of generating relational data comprises detecting and storing time link data which indicates a relative difference between the first and second times.

Preferably, the time and location identifiers are stored as metadata which is provided with the video content of a video content package.

Conveniently, the method further comprises: selecting social media content which is relevant to at least one of the plurality of video content packages.

Advantageously, the method further comprises: outputting the relevant social media content with the access links to the video content packages in the group of video content packages.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided, a video content delivery system comprising: an application module which is configured to select a plurality of video content packages, each video content package comprising video content, a time identifier and a location identifier, the time identifier indicating a time associated with the video content and the location identifier indicating a location associated with the video content; a presentation module which is configured to select a first time and a first location and to identify a first group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected first time and first location, and which is configured to select a second time and a second location and to identify a second group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected second time and second location; a relationship module which is configured to generate relational data indicating a relationship between at least one of the first and second times and the first and second locations; and an output module which is configured to output: a first set of access links to each of the video content packages in the first group of video content packages; a second set of access links to each of the video content packages in the second group of video content packages; and the relational data so that a user can use the relational data when considering which of the access links to access in order to view video content in the groups of video content packages. Preferably, the application, presentation and output modules are implemented in a computing device, and wherein the output module is configured to transmit the access links to at least one client device which is configured to display the video content. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided, a method of identifying video content, the method comprising: receiving, at a client device, a user-defined time and location; communicating the user- defined time and location from the client device to a computing device; selecting, at the computing device, a plurality of video content packages, each video content package comprising video content, a time identifier and a location identifier, the time identifier indicating a time associated with the video content and the location identifier indicating a location associated with the video content; selecting, at the computing device, a first time and a first location which correspond respectively with the user-defined time and location; identifying, at the computing device, a first group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected first time and first location; selecting, at the computing device, a second time and a second location; identifying, at the computing device, a second group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected second time and second location; generating, at the computing device, relational data indicating a relationship between at least one of the first and second times and the first and second locations; outputting from the computing device to the client device a first set of access links to each of the video content packages in the first group of video content packages; outputting from the computing device to the client device a second set of access links to each of the video content packages in the second group of video content packages; and outputting from the computing device to the client device the relational data so that a user can use the relational data when considering which of the access links to access in order to view video content in the groups of video content packages.

So that the present invention may be more readily understood, embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a video content delivery system of an embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a representation of a video content package,

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a video content delivery system of embodiment of the invention,

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an output of an embodiment of the invention, and Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an output of a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring initially to figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, a system of one embodiment of the invention comprises a hardware computing device in the form of a server 1. The server 1 is configured to perform one or more functions or processes based on instructions which are received by a processor within the server 1 . One or more instructions may be stored on a tangible computer readable medium which forms part of the server 1 . In some embodiments, the tangible computer readable medium is remote from the server 1 but may be communicatively coupled with the server 1 via a network, such as the Internet.

The server 1 is configured to communicate via a network 2, with at least one video content provider 3, at least one social media content provider 4 and at least one mapping content provider 5. The server 1 is configured to interact with the content providers 3-5, for instance via an application programming interface (API). The server 1 is configured to receive content from one or more of the content providers 3-5 via the network 2. In this embodiment at least part of the network 2 is the Internet.

The server 1 is configured to communicate via a network 6 with at least one client device 7. The following description specifies only one client device 7 but it is to be appreciated that other embodiments incorporate more than one client device. In this embodiment, at least part of the network 6 is the Internet. The client device 7 preferably incorporates a display 8 for displaying content to a user. The server 1 is configured to interact with the client device 7 and to provide content to be displayed on the display 8 of the client device 7.

Referring now to figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, the video content provider 3 is configured to provide a video content package 9 which comprises video content data 10 and metadata 1 1 . The metadata 1 1 is data which is relevant to the video content 10. In this embodiment, the metadata 1 1 comprises at least a time identifier 12 which indicates a time associated with the video content 10 and a location identifier 13 which indicates a location associated with the video content 10. The time identified by the time identifier 12 is, for instance, the time at which the video content 10 is captured. The location indicated by the location identifier 13 is, for instance, the geo-location of the place at which the video content is captured.

The video content data 10 comprises either live-streamed video of events as the events occur in real-time or archive video of events that occurred in the past.

The system of an embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

The system comprises an application module 14 which is configured to communicate with the client device 7 to receive query data from the client device 7. In this embodiment, the query data comprises a time and a location of interest to a user. The user preferably inputs the query data via a user interface provided on the client device 7.

The application module is configured to communicate with the video content provider 3, the social media content provider 4 and the mapping content provider 5.

The application module 14 receives the query data and uses the query data to select relevant video content that is available from the video content provider 3. The application module 14 preferably also uses the query data to select relevant social media content that is available from the social media content provider 4 and relevant map data that is available from the mapping content provider 5. The application module 14 is configured to select a plurality of relevant video content packages that are available from the video content provider 3. In this embodiment, each video content package comprises the video content 10 and the metadata 1 1 of the video content package 9 described above.

The application module 14 is coupled to a presentation module 15 which is configured to select a first time and a first location. The application module 14 is configured to select the first time and the first location to each substantially correspond with the time and location of interest to the user. The presentation module 15 is configured to identify a first group of video content packages from the plurality of video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that at least partly match the selected first time and first location.

In one embodiment, the presentation module 15 is configured to group video content packages which comprise time and location identifiers that match the selected first time and first location in the sense that they are different from the selected first time and first location by a predetermined amount, where the predetermined amount may be set by a user. For instance, the presentation module 15 groups video content packages with time identifiers indicating a time within 30 minutes of the selected first time and/or location identifiers that indicate locations within a distance of 5 kilometers from the selected first location.

The presentation module 15 is configured to repeat the selection and grouping process for a second time and a second location. At least one of the second time and second location is different from the respective first time and first location by a predetermined amount. In this embodiment, the predetermined amount by which the first times and locations differ from the second times and locations is set by a user. For instance, the second time is set to differ from the first time by a predetermined period of five minutes and the second location differs from the location by a predetermined distance of eight kilometers. In further embodiments, the presentation module 15 is configured to repeat the selection and grouping process for further times and locations in order to identify a plurality of groups of video content packages.

It is to be appreciated that, in embodiments of the invention, each group of video content packages may comprise only one video content package if only one video content package is selected by the presentation module 15. Once the presentation module 15 has completed the selection and grouping process for the second time and second location, the presentation module 15 will have identified first and second groups of video content packages that at least partly match the first time and first location and second time and second location.

The system further comprises a relationship module 16 which is coupled to the presentation module 15. The relationship module 16 is configured to generate relational data by detecting and storing link data from the selected first and second times and locations. The relational data comprises link data which indicates a relationship between at least one of the first and second times and the first and second locations. In one embodiment, the relationship module 16 computes a difference between at least one of the first and second times and the first and second locations. The system further comprises an output module 17 which is configured to output a first set of access links to each of the video content packages in the first group of video content packages. The output module 17 is also configured to output a second set of access links to each of the video content packages in the second group of video content packages. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the access links are in the form of Internet hyperlinks that may be selected by a user in order for the user to view the video content of the respective video content package. The output module 17 outputs the access links to the client device 7. A user can select the access links using the client device 7 to view the video content on the display 8 of the client device 7.

The output module 17 is configured to output the relational data to the client device 7 so that a user can use the relational data when considering of the access links in the first and second sets of access links to access in order to view video content in the video content packages.

In this embodiment, all of the modules 14-17 are implemented in the server 1 .

The output provided by the output module 17 of one embodiment will now be described with reference to figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

In this embodiment, the output module 17 is configured to output map data obtained from the mapping content provider 5 and to display a map 18 on the display 8 of the client device 7. The output module 17 is also preferably configured to output relevant social media content 19 in a social media content pane 20. The social media content 19 is provided by the social media content provider 4. The social media content 19 comprises, but is not limited to at least one of text, image or video content which is relevant to the events captured by the video content of the groups of video content packages. In one embodiment, the output module 17 is configured to output social media content 19 from the social media content provider 4 which is relevant to the selected times and/or locations associated with the video content.

The first and second groups of video content packages 21 , 22 are overlaid on the map 18. In this embodiment, the first and second groups of video content packages 21 , 22 are overlaid on the map 18 at positions on the map 18 which represent the geo-locations of the selected first and second locations. The access links of the first and second groups of video content packages are thus grouped into two clusters on the map 18 to indicate multiple streams of video content associated with at the first and second locations.

In this embodiment, the output module 17 outputs the relational data in the form of a path line 23 which connects the first and second groups of video content packages 21 , 22. In one embodiment, the path line 23 indicates a difference in time between the selected first and second times. In a further embodiment, where more than two groups of video content packages are identified as matching more than two selected times, multiple sets of access links to the groups of video content packages are displayed with multiple path lines connecting the sets.

The path lines preferably incorporate at least one time indicator which indicates the time sequence of the video content. This enables a user to view the events captured by the video content in the order at which events occurred.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to output the video content to the user via the display 8 of the client device 7 sequentially in the order at which the video content was captured. This enables the user to view the timeline of events captured by the video content so that the user can gain an overview of the events as they occurred.

An embodiment of the invention enables a user to find different video content that was captured exactly, and substantially at the same time and generally at the same location, and view the different video content in order to view the events that occurred from different camera angles. The system therefore enables a user to gain valuable information about an event by viewing the event from multiple camera angles.

Referring now to figure 5 of the accompanying drawings, a further embodiment is configured to output the relational data by displaying two different representations 24, 25 of the sets of access links. In this embodiment, the different identifiers correspond with a key which explains the different times represented by the different identifiers. In further embodiments, the relational data is indicated by changing the colour of the access links. For instance, one embodiment is configured to output the relational data by displaying, in the same colour, the sets of access links to video content that was captured during the same time interval. Access links to video content that was captured at a different time interval is displayed in a different colour.

Another embodiment outputs the relational data by displaying a time-order indicator 26 corresponding to each of the sets of access links to indicate the relative temporal order at which the video content was captured. The time- order indicators 26 may be output instead of or in addition to the different representation shapes and/or colours. In this embodiment, the time-order indicators are consecutive numbers but in other embodiments the time-order indicators are other consecutive indicators, such as letters or words. In a further embodiment of the invention, the output module 17 is configured to output a time or location hotspot alert if the system determines that more than a predetermined number of video content packages are identified as comprising time or location identifiers that at least partly match one of the first and second selected times or locations. The output module 17 outputs the hotspot alert to a user by transmitting a message, preferably in the form of an email or text alert, to alert the user to a concentration of relevant video content captured at a particular time or location. The predetermined number of video content packages may be selected by a user. For instance, a user may configure the system to output a hotspot alert if the system identifies more than ten video content packages associated with a particular time or location. This can be particularly useful for a news journalist wishing to identify a newsworthy event. An embodiment of the invention enables an interested party, such as a news journalist or security service to identify relevant video content of events that was captured by different cameras. The system enables the user to easily view the video content in the order at which the events occurred so that the user can gain a valuable overview of the events. The user can therefore use the video content to assemble an overall picture of the events to gain important understanding of the events for reporting or security purposes. When used in this specification and the claims, the term "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that specified features, steps or integers and included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or compounds.