Systems and methods for identifying events within video content using intelligent search query

A system for searching for one or more objects and/or events in one or more video streams, the system comprising:

• a site including one or more video cameras, each of the one or more video cameras capturing a corresponding video stream, the site including one or more memories for storing each of the one or more video streams and time-stamped metadata for each of the one or more video streams, the time-stamped metadata for each video stream identifying one or more objects and/or events occurring in the corresponding video stream as well as an identifier that uniquely identifies the corresponding video stream;
• a central hub operatively coupled to the site, the central hub configured to receive at least some of the time time-stamped metadata from the site and at least some time-stamped data provided by the one or more non-video based sources;
• the central hub including a video query engine that is configured to:
• receive a user query from a user via a user interface, wherein the user query is in a natural human language format;
• process the user query in combination with at least some of the time-stamped metadata for one or more of the one or more video streams and at least some time-stamped data provided by the one or more non-video based sources to identify an inference for the user query, wherein the inference infers a situational context under which the user query was entered;
• build a search query in a computer search language, wherein the search query is based at least in part on both the user query and the situational context inferred by the identified inference;
• apply the search query to the time-stamped metadata for each of the one or more video streams stored in the memory to search for one or more objects and/or events in the one or more video streams that match the search query;
• return a search result to the user, wherein the search result identifies one or more matching objects and/or events in the one or more video streams that match the search query, and for each matching object and/or event that matches the search query, providing a reference to the corresponding video stream stored at the site and a reference time in the corresponding video stream that includes the matching object and/or event;
• and
• the central hub downloading a video clip from the site that includes the matching object and/or event;
• and
• the user interface displaying the downloaded video clip that includes the matching object and/or event.

A method for searching for one or more objects and/or events in one or more video streams, the method comprising:

• capturing, at a remote site, one or more video streams, and storing each of the one or more video streams at the remote site;
• generating and storing at the remote site time-stamped metadata for each of the one or more video streams, the time-stamped metadata for each video stream identifying one or more objects and/or events occurring in the corresponding video stream as well as an identifier that uniquely identifies the corresponding video stream;
• a central hub receiving from the remote site at least some of the time-stamped metadata for one or more of the video streams captured at the remote site;
• receiving, at the central hub, time-stamped data provided by one or more non-video based sources;
• receiving a user query, wherein the user query is in a natural human language format;
• the central hub providing the user query to a video query engine, the video query engine:
• processing the user query in combination with at least some of the time-stamped metadata provided by one or more non-video based sources and at least some of the time-stamped metadata for one or more of the one or more video streams to identify an inference for the user query, wherein the inference infers a situational context under which the user query was entered;
• building a search query in a computer search language, wherein the search query is based at least in part on both the user query and the situational context inferred by the identified inference;
• applying the search query to the time-stamped metadata for one or more of the video streams to search for one or more objects and/or events in the one or more video streams that matches the search query;
• returning a search result to the user, wherein the search result identifies one or more matching objects and/or events in the one or more video streams that match the search query;
• the central hub downloading from the site a video clip that includes one or more of the matching objects and/or events;
• and
• displaying the downloaded video clip on a display.