System and method for exchanging images

• US 20060107297A1
• Filed: 10/14/2005
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Toyama, Kentaro, Vronay, David, Anandan, Padmanabhan
• Granted Patent: US 7,508,419 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/105
• 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: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00137 Transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00148 Storage information retrieval G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00172 directly from a still digital camera or from a storage medium mounted in a still digital camera H04N1/0018 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9201 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the video signal
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A system and method for providing a peer-to-peer photo-sharing environment. The system includes: manual and automatic photo annotation at the client; periodic client-server synchronization; an index of client photos on a central server or a photo database that is resident on the central server, which is updated by the client-server synchronization function; end-user search functionality to search the centralized index or photo database; and transmission of the relevant photos to the client via an on-line image cache. In one embodiment, one client'"'"'s new photos are automatically displayed on another client'"'"'s computer (e.g., via screen saver or another mechanism).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented process for sharing images among a plurality of clients, comprising the process actions of:

inputting images at a hosting client;

annotating said images with metadata at said hosting client;

creating a local index of said images and local database of said images at said hosting client;

synchronizing said hosting client'"'"'s local index with a master index of a central server which combines the meta data of an image among said images with meta data associated with the same image provided to the central server, said master index comprising all images available for sharing; and

providing images from said hosting client.

4. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein said process action of annotating at least one of said input images further comprises, at least one of:

annotating said image with the time it was created;

annotating said image with the location that it depicts;

annotating said image with a camera orientation when said image was captured;

annotating said image with the level of privacy associated with the image;

annotating said image with the author of the image;

annotating said image with its modification history;

annotating said image with its user rating;

annotating said image with an imputed location based on the time and location said image was created;

annotating said image with usage statistics;

annotating said image with any and all user annotations;

annotating said image with the owner of the metadata;

annotating said image with a server-provided user rating; and

annotating said image with metadata associated with the same image located in a different location.

5. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein said process action of annotating said image with the time it was created comprises at least one of:

annotating said image with a time by using a date stamp provided by a camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a time by using a time stamp provided by a Global Positioning System integrated with the camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a time that was manually input by a user.

6. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein said process action of annotating said image with the location which it depicts comprises at least one of:

annotating said image with a location by using a location stamp provided by a Global Positioning System integrated with the camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a location by using a location stamp provided deriving a location from cell site location provided by a camera integrated with the camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a location by using a name-to-geolocation translation application that provides the location said image was captured;

annotating said image with a location derived from a map indicating where said image was taking; and

annotating said image with a location that was manually input by a user.

7. The computer-implemented process of claim 6 wherein location is provided in the format of latitude and longitude.

8. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the camera orientation is provided in the format of yaw, pitch and roll.

9. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the process action of annotating the privacy level of the image comprises the process action of annotating said image with a privacy level that is manually input by the user.

10. The computer-implemented process of claim 9 wherein the privacy level that is manually input by a user further comprises the process action of selecting from a default setting of having the image accessible to only the user.

11. The computer-implemented process of claim 9 wherein the privacy level that is manually input by a user further comprises the process action of selecting from a default setting of having the image accessible to all users.

12. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the process action of annotating the image with an image modification history comprises at least one of:

annotating said image with annotation data as to how it was modified;

annotating said image with annotation data as to when it was modified;

annotating said image with annotation data as to by whom it was modified; and

annotating said image with any other modifications made to annotation data made at the time of modification.

13. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the process action of annotating the image with a server-provided user rating comprises the process action of annotating said image with an indication as to how closely said image matched a search criteria.

15. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the process action of annotating said image with usage statistics further comprises at least one of:

annotating the image with how often the image was posted to a website;

annotating the image with the times the image was posted to a website;

annotating the image with the number of times the image was emailed;

annotating the image with how relevant the image was found to be in a search; and

annotating the image as to how many times it was requested.

16. The computer-implemented process of claim 4 wherein the process action of annotating the image with an imputed location further comprises the process actions of:

identifying the time and location said image was created;

identifying other images taken close to the same time and with the same camera when said image was created;

imputing to said image the location of said other images taken at close to the same time; and

annotating said image with said imputed location.

18. The computer-implemented process of claim 1 wherein the process action of synchronizing further comprises the process actions of:

storing changes to local index and local database of said images at said hosting client in a modification log;

periodically connecting said hosting client to said central server; and

synchronizing said local index and said local database of said hosting client with said master index of said central server using said modification log.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

14. The computer-implemented process of claim 3 wherein the process action of automatically annotating an image further comprises at least one:

using face recognition techniques to identify a specific person in the image and annotating the image with an identifier for the person;

using automated vision techniques to determine whether the image depicts a natural or man-made object and annotating the image as either natural or man-made;

using pixel comparison techniques with images of known content and comparing the image to determine its content and annotating said image as to what it is; and

extracting available parameters associated with the input image and annotating the image with the available parameters.

17. (canceled)

19-40. -40. (canceled)

41. A computer-implemented process for sharing images comprising the process actions of:

inputting images at a hosting client;

annotating said images with metadata at said hosting client;

creating a local index of said images and local database of said images at said hosting client;

using said local index to provide images from said hosting client to another client or server.

42. The computer-implemented process of claim 41 wherein said process action of annotating said input image further comprises, at least one of:

annotating said image with the time it was created;

annotating said image with the location that it depicts;

annotating said image with the level of privacy associated with the image;

annotating said image with the author of the image;

annotating said image with its modification history;

annotating said image with its user rating;

annotating said image with an imputed location based on the time and location said image was created;

annotating said image with usage statistics;

annotating said image with any and all user annotations;

annotating said image with the owner of the metadata; and

annotating said image with metadata associated with the same image located in a different location.

43. The computer-implemented process of claim 42 wherein said process action of annotating said image with the location which it depicts comprises at least one of:

annotating said image with a location by using a location stamp provided by a Global Positioning System integrated with the camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a location by using a location stamp provided deriving a location from cell site location provided by a camera integrated with the camera that created the image;

annotating said image with a location by using a name-to-geolocation translation application that provides the location said image was captured;

annotating said image with a location derived from a map indicating where said image was taking; and

annotating said image with a location that was manually input by a user.

44. The computer-implemented process of claim 42 wherein the process action of annotating the image with an imputed location further comprises the process actions of:

identifying the time and location said image was created;

identifying other images taken close to the same time and with the same camera when said image was created;

imputing to said image the location of said other images taken at close to the same time with a same camera; and

annotating said image with said imputed location.

45. (canceled)

46-54. -54. (canceled)

55. A computer-implemented process for sharing images comprising the process actions of:

inputting images at a hosting client;

annotating at least one of said images with metadata at said hosting client;

creating a local index of said images and local database of said images at said hosting client;

synchronizing said hosting client'"'"'s local index with a master index of a central server, said master index comprising all images available for sharing;

synchronizing said hosting client'"'"'s local database with a master database of the central server, said master database comprising all images available for sharing; and

providing at least one of said images from said hosting client.