METHOD FOR CREATING AND USING AFFECTIVE INFORMATION IN A DIGITAL IMAGING SYSTEM

• US 20060256382A1
• Filed: 07/11/2006
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elena A. Fedorovskaya, Kenneth A. Parulski, Serguei Endrikhovski, Tomasz A. Matraszek
• Inventors: Fedorovskaya, Elena A., Parulski, Kenneth A., Matraszek, Tomasz A., Endrikhovski, Serguei
• Granted Patent: US 7,620,270 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.180
• 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: G06F 18/24 Classification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/00 Image enhancement or restoration

Abstract

An image file for storing a still digital image and metadata related to the still digital image, the image file including digital image data representing the still digital image, and metadata that categorizes the still digital image as an important digital image, wherein the categorization uses a range of levels and the range of levels includes at least three different integer values.

Claims

1. An image file for storing a still digital image and metadata related to the still digital image, the image file comprising:

a) digital image data representing the still digital image; and

b) metadata that categorizes the still digital image as an important digital image, wherein the categorization uses a range of levels and the range of levels includes at least three different integer values.

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

3. The image file of claim 1 wherein the metadata further identifies a user that performed the categorization of the image.

4. The image file of claim 1 wherein the metadata further includes information identifying the type of device that captured the still digital image.

5. The image file of claim 1 wherein the image file is an Exif image file.

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

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

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

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

7. A method for providing a retrieval scheme for stored digital images, comprising:

a) storing a plurality of digital image files, each digital image data file including data that represents a still digital image, and metadata that rates the importance of the still digital image, wherein the rating uses a range of levels including at least three different integer values;

b) retrieving the metadata from the stored plurality of digital image files; and

c) displaying at least some of the plurality of digital image files, wherein the higher rated images are displayed first.

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

15. A computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer causes the computer to perform the steps according to claim 7.

12. A method for rating images to facilitate image retrieval, comprising:

a) storing a plurality of digital image files in a digital memory;

b) displaying some of the plurality of stored digital image files as thumbnail images on an image display device;

c) permitting a user to sequentially select thumbnail images and to select a user rating from a plurality of user ratings including at least three different integer value ratings, wherein the user rating indicates the importance of the image to the user;

d) storing the user ratings in the corresponding digital image files; and

e) using the user ratings to facilitate retrieval of at least some of the plurality of digital image files.

13. The method claimed in claim 12, wherein the digital image files are Exif image files.

14. The method claimed in claim 12, further comprising transferring the plurality of digital image files from a digital camera, prior to storing the plurality of digital image files in the digital memory.

16. A computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer causes the computer to perform the steps according to claim 12.