Image format including affective information

• US 20030122839A1
• Filed: 12/26/2001
• Published: 07/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Fedorovskaya, Elena A., Parulski, Kenneth A., Matraszek, Tomasz A., Endrikhovski, Serguei
• Granted Patent: US 7,307,636 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/581
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

An image file for storing a digital image and information related to the digital image includes digital image data; a user identifier; and affective information which relates to the feelings or emotions of the user toward the digital image.

Claims

1. An image file for storing a digital image and information related to the digital image, including:

a) digital image data;

b) a user identifier; and

c) affective information which relates to the feelings or emotions of the user toward the digital image.

2. The image file of claim 1 wherein the affective information further specifies the time or period within a range of times that the classification was performed.

3. The image file of claim 1 wherein the affective information identifies the importance of the image.

4. The image file of claim 1 wherein the image file further includes information related to the capture device.

5. The image file of claim 1 wherein the image data is a JPEG compressed image data.

6. The image file of claim 1 wherein the digital image file includes affective information and user identifiers for a plurality of users.

7. A method for providing a retrieval scheme for stored digital images, using the image file of claim 6, comprising the steps of:

a) a retrieval user providing a user identifier;

b) using the user identifier provided by the retrieval user to select, from the plurality of affective information, the particular affective information associated with the retrieval user; and

c) using the affective information to facilitate image retrieval.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the affective information identifies the importance of the image to a plurality of users.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the affective information is used to determine the order of presentation of retrieved images.

10. The image file of claim 1 wherein the affective information is provided by monitoring the facial expression of the user.

11. The image file of claim 1 wherein the affective information is provided by monitoring the physiology of the user.

12. The image file of claim 1 wherein the affective information is provided by a user interface which enables the user to indicate important images.