Method or apparatus for sharing image data

• US 20060271593A1
• Filed: 05/23/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wilbrink, Tijs, De Mes, Arjan
• Granted Patent: US 8,566,192 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 16/587 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location

Abstract

A method and apparatus shares image data between devices in which a user can automatically search for desired data using time and geographical position data and then negotiate an exchange for any located data.

Claims

1. A method for retrieving image data comprising the steps of:

a) establishing search criteria based on time and geographical location data;

b) identifying a set of connected devices;

c) identifying from said set a device storing image data meeting said search criteria; and

d) requesting a copy of said image data from said identified device.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of requesting said image data to be transmitted to one or more given locations or receiving devices.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which if said search criteria cannot be met by any of said set of connected devices then said search criteria are modified and steps (b), (c), and (d) are repeated.

4. A method according to claim 1 in which if said search criteria cannot be met by any of said set of connected devices then said search criteria are stored to enable steps (b), (c), and (d) to be repeated when further devices become available.

5. A method according to claim 1 in which after step (a) said search criteria are stored for later use in steps (b), (c) and (d).

6. A method according to claim 1 in which step (d) includes a negotiation mechanism for obtaining said copy of said data.

7. A method according to claim 6 in which said negotiation mechanism includes a payment facility.

8. A method according to claim 1 in which said image data is in the form of a request for the supply of image data meeting said search criteria.

9. A method according to claim 8 further comprising the steps of:

e) receiving said request for the supply of image data;

f) obtaining said image data; and

g) supplying said image data to said identified device.

10. A method according to claim 1 in which step (c) includes searching one or more logs of captured image data indexed by geographical position.

11. A method according to claim 1 in which the geographical position data is absolute position data including GPS or signal triangulation data.

12. A method according to claim 1 in which the geographical position data is relative position data including data identifying one or more devices within a vicinity.

13. A method according to claim 1 in which in steps (c) and (d) said identified device is a further device, indicated by a connected device as a source of said image data.

14. An apparatus for retrieving image data comprising:

a time and geographical locating device for establishing search criteria based on time and geographical location data;

a networking module for identifying a set of connected devices;

a search engine for identifying from said set a device storing image data meeting said search criteria; and

a negotiating mechanism for requesting a copy of said image data from said identified device.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said search engine is operable to request said image data to be transmitted to one or more given locations or receiving devices.

16. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which if said search criteria cannot be met by any of said set of connected devices then said search criteria are modified and resubmitted to said search engine.

17. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which if said search criteria cannot be met by any of said set of connected devices then said search criteria are stored until further devices become available.

18. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said search criteria are stored for later use by said search engine.

19. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said negotiation mechanism includes a payment facility.

20. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said image data is in the form of a request for the supply of image data meeting said search criteria.

21. An apparatus according to claim 20 in which said search engine is further operable to receive said request for the supply of image data;

to pass said request to capture said image data to a user; and

to supply any such obtained image data to said identified device.

22. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which a time element is omitted from said search criteria.

23. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said search engine is operable to search one or more logs of captured image data indexed by geographical position.

24. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which the geographical position data is absolute position data including GPS or signal triangulation data.

25. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which the geographical position data is relative position data including data identifying one or more devices within a vicinity.

26. An apparatus according to claim 14 in which said identified device is a further device, indicated by a connected device as a source of said image data.

27. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform method steps for retrieving image data, said method steps comprising:

a) establishing search criteria based on time and geographical location data;

b) identifying a set of connected devices;

c) identifying from said set a device storing image data meeting said search criteria; and

d) requesting a copy of said image data from said identified device.