Systems and methods for automated local story generation and curation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016328360-A1
Application number	US-201514704188-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 5, 2015
Priority date	May 5, 2015
Publication date	Nov 10, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods for automated local story generation and curation are described. In one example embodiment, a server computer receives content from client devices, and processes the content to identify content characteristics. Stories are then generated based on the characteristics of the received content, and the stories are communicated to client devices. In certain embodiments, selection at a client device of an individual piece of content within a story may further be used by the system to provide the client device with a sub-story that includes pieces of content sharing content characteristics with the characteristics of the selected image or video.

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
receiving, at a server system, a plurality of content communications comprising content from a plurality of client devices, each content communication comprising one or more pieces of content, a location associated with the each piece of the content, and a time associated with each piece of the content; processing, by the server system, each content communication from the plurality of content communications to determine a set of content characteristics for each piece of the content in the plurality of content communications; automatically generating at least a first story, wherein the first story comprises a first plurality of pieces of the content from the plurality of content communications, and wherein the first plurality of pieces of content for the first story are selected based on the set of content characteristics for each piece of the content of the first plurality of pieces of content, the set of content characteristics based on the location associated with the content and the time associated with the content; associating, by the server system, a visibility of the first story with a first visibility area associated with the location for each piece of the content of the first plurality of pieces of content; communicating the first story to a second plurality of client devices within the first visibility area; analyzing, by the server system, a second plurality of incoming content messages to determine system trends associated with the first story; and adjusting, by the server system, the visibility of the first story to a second visibility area based on the system trends.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the set of content characteristics further comprises:
a local content geolocation area;
a content time period;
one or more content quality metrics; and
one or more content categories.

3 . (canceled)

4 . (canceled)

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein first visibility area is a local geographic area, the second visibility area is a regional geographic area comprising a plurality of local geographic areas, and the first visibility area is a first local geographic area of the plurality of local geographic areas within the regional geographic area.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the second visibility area is a local geographic area, the first visibility area is a regional geographic area comprising a plurality of local geographic areas, and the second visibility area is a first local geographic area of the plurality of local geographic areas within the regional geographic area.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, from a first client device, a first client device location;
communicating at least two stories to the first client device, wherein the at least two stories comprise the first story, wherein each of the at least two stories is associated with a visibility area, and wherein the visibility area for each of the at least two stories encompasses the first client device location.

8 . The method of claim 2 further comprising, prior to generating the first story:
determining, by the server system, an baseline content receipt rate for a first set of content characteristics;
determining, by the server system, that a current content receipt rate associated with the first set of content characteristics has deviated from the baseline content receipt rate by more than a threshold amount; and
adjusting a story visibility area for the first story based on the determination that the current content receipt rate for the first set of content characteristics has deviated from the baseline content receipt rate by more than the threshold amount.

9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:
communicating the first story to a first client device based, at least in part, on a location of the first client device within the story visibility area;
receiving, at the server system from the first client device, a selection communication associated with a second piece of content of the first story;
communicating a second story comprising pieces of content sharing at least a portion of a set of content characteristics of the second piece of content; and
communicating the second story to the first client device.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the second story is generated in response to receipt of the selection communication at the server system.

11 . The method of claim 9 wherein the second story is generated and associated with the second piece of content based on content characteristics of the second piece of content prior to receipt of the selection communication.

12 . The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more content categories are determined using machine vision processes operating as part of the server system to analyze each received content communication.

13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the machine vision processes generate one or more content characteristic values for each piece of the content from a content dictionary; and
wherein the one or more content categories are determined using the content characteristic values for each piece of the content.

14 . A server system comprising:
a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to:
receive a plurality of content communications comprising content from a plurality of client devices, each content communication comprising one or more pieces of content, a location associated with the content, and a time associated with the content;
process, each content communication from the plurality of content communications using, at least in part, machine vision to determine a set of content characteristics for each piece of the content; and
automatically generate at least a first story, wherein the first story comprises a first plurality of pieces of content from the plurality of content communications, and wherein the first plurality of pieces of content for the first story are selected based on the set of content characteristics for each piece of the content of the first plurality of pieces of content, the set of content characteristics based on the location associated with the content and the time associated with the content; determine a first visibility area for the first story based on a content origin area associated with the first plurality of pieces of content; analyze a second plurality of incoming content messages to determine system trends associated with the first story; and determine a second visibility for the first story based on the system trends associated with the first story.

15 . The server system of claim 14 wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a location communication from a first client device identifying a location of the first client device;
determine that the location of the first client device is within the first visibility area; and
communicate a first story message associated with the first story to the first client device in response to the determination that the first client device is within the first visibility area

16 . The server system of claim 15 wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit an application to a first client device of the plurality of client devices prior to receiving the plurality of content communications; and
stream the first plurality of the pieces of content of the first story to the first client device in response to an input command received at a user interface of the application operating on the first client device.

17 . The server system of claim 15 wherein the input command c

Assignees

• Snapchat Inc

Inventors

• Pavlovskaia Maria
• Spiegel Evan

Classifications

• G06F40/10

  Text processing (natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40) · CPC title

• G06F40/189

  Automatic justification · CPC title

• G06F16/29

  Geographical information databases · CPC title

• G06F16/489

  using time information · CPC title

• G06F16/435

  Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles · CPC title