Patent attributes
A method for identifying object images in a display of a video signal, storing object identification information in an overlay directory, and extracting object information relevant to identified objects from respective information databases is disclosed. Overlay directories from several video signals and associated object information are assembled in an overlay server accessed by computers directly or through a telecommunication network. Object images are selected by users of authoring computers accessing the overlay server. An overlay directory for a video recording indicates temporal and spatial coordinates of images of selected objects, a network address of a video source providing the video recording, descriptions of the selected objects, and addresses of servers providing detailed information of the selected objects. The objects may include commercial products, services, or educational material. The disclosed method therefore may be used for advertising or general information dissemination purposes.
