System for storage and retrieval of diverse types of information obtained from different media sources which includes video, audio, and

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A method of processing information contained in different types of media, comprising the steps of:

(a) processing each and every of said different types of media by storing in memory a first, index storage file, which contains a text description of the contents of information contained in said any medium, and an identification of said first, index storage file; and

(b) for each respective medium processed in step (a), analyzing the contents of information of said respective medium, regardless of the type of the subject matter of said contents of information, for the presence of text, and generating a second, text file, that contains all text found in said medium and storing said second, text file in memory in association with said first, index storage file; and wherein

said respective medium comprises a video recording medium containing video and voice information signals associated with a video recorded activity, and a further medium containing a separate transcription of said voice information, and wherein

step (b) comprises processing said voice information signals through an automated voice recognition-to-text conversion mechanism, so as to generate a voice-converted text file, and processing said further medium containing said separate transcription of said voice information to generate a transcribed voice text file, and correlating successive words of said voice-converted text file and successive words of said transcribed voice text file to associate contents of said transcribed voice text file with said video information.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said video information contains time line information, and wherein step (b) comprises correlating said successive words of said voice-converted text file with said successive words of said transcribed voice text file to associate said time line information of said video information with said transcribed voice text file, and storing said time line information as part of said transcribed text file.

3. A method according to claim 2, further including the step (c) retrieving video information associated with a transcribed text file by searching said time line information of said transcribed text file.

4. A method of processing information supplied by way of a different types of media, comprising the steps of:

(a) for any medium of said different types of media, generating a first, index storage file, which contains information contained in said any medium, an identification of said first, index storage file and a text description of the contents of the information contained in said any medium, and storing said first, index storage file in memory; and

(b) for said any medium, analyzing said information contained therein, regardless of the type of the subject matter of said information, for the presence of text-type information, and generating a second, text file, that contains all text-type information detected to be present in the analyzed information, and storing said second, text file in memory in association with said index storage file; and

wherein said any medium comprises a video recording medium containing video and voice information signals associated with a video recorded activity, and a further medium containing a separate transcription of said voice information, and wherein

step (b) comprises processing said voice information signals through an automated voice recognition-to-text conversion mechanism, so as to generate a voice-converted text file, and processing said further medium containing said separate transcription of said voice information to generate a transcribed voice text file, and correlating successive words of said voice-converted text file and successive words of said transcribed voice text file to associate contents of said transcribed voice text file with said video information.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said video information contains time line information, and wherein step (b) comprises correlating said successive words of said voice-converted text file with said successive words of said transcribed voice text file to associate said time line information of said video information with words of said transcribed voice text file, and storing said time line information as part of said transcribed text file.

6. A method according to claim 5, further including the step (c) retrieving video information associated with a transcribed text file by searching said time line information of said transcribed text file.

7. A system for processing information supplied by way of a different types of media, comprising:

an image capture station to which said different types of media are coupled and which is operative to generate a digitized representation of information contained in any medium coupled thereto;

memory in which digitized image files are storable; and

an information processor, which is coupled with said image capture station and is operative to generate a first, index storage file, which contains information contained in said any medium, an identification of said first, index storage file, and a text description of the contents of the information contained in said any medium, and which is operative to store said index storage file in said memory, and wherein said information processor is further operative to analyze said infor