INTERACTIVE IMAGE SELECTION METHOD

• US 20120020576A1
• Filed: 10/03/2011
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Fund 83 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Fry, Peter Thomas, Piper, John Denis, Kiddle, Graham Robert, Muammar, Hani, Payne, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,120 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/218
• 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 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method for browsing a collection of digital images on a soft-copy display comprising: receiving a collection of digital images; interactively user selecting a digital image using a user interface; determining a plurality of subsets of the digital images, wherein each subset shares a common category with the selected digital image; and displaying the subsets of digital images on the soft-copy display, together with the selected digital image.

Claims

1. A method for browsing a collection of digital images on a soft-copy display comprising:

a) receiving a collection of digital images;

b) interactively user selecting a digital image using a user interface;

c) determining a plurality of subsets of the digital images, wherein each subset shares a common category with the selected digital image; and

d) displaying the subsets of digital images on the soft-copy display, together with the selected digital image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the common category for one of the subsets is that the digital images were captured at a similar date and time relative to the selected digital image.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the common category for one of the subsets is that the digital images were captured at a similar location relative to the selected digital image.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the common category for one of the subsets is that the digital images were contain similar semantic content relative to the selected digital image.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the common category for one of the subsets is that the digital images contain the one or more of the same persons as the selected digital image.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the common category for one of the subsets is that the digital images share a common event classification with the selected digital image.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some digital images have associated metadata, and wherein the determining of the plurality of subsets of the digital images includes analyzing the associated metadata.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein some or all of the metadata associated with a particular digital image is created by applying one or more automatic analysis algorithm to the particular digital image.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the determination of the plurality of subsets includes determining a strength value determined for each digital image, the strength value being a measure of user interest for the digital image.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the digital images sharing a particular common category with the selected digital image and having strength values above a threshold strength value are included in a particular subset.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the strength value for a digital image is determined responsive to an analysis of a contrast or a sharpness of the digital image.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the strength value for a digital image is determined responsive to a measure of user interest for the digital image.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the strength value for a digital image is determined responsive to a degree of similarity between the digital image and the selected digital image.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the display of the digital images within a subset is arranged according to the strength values determined for each multimedia asset.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein digital images having a higher strength value are displayed closer to the selected digital image.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein digital images that having a higher strength value are displayed with a larger size.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected digital image is displayed in the center of a circular region, the circular region being segmented into a plurality of directions, and wherein the subsets of digital images are each displayed in one of the directions.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected digital image is displayed in the center of a rectangular region, the rectangular region being segmented into a plurality of rectangular sectors, and wherein the subsets of digital images are each displayed in one of the rectangular sectors.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein further including displaying one or more randomly selected digital images.

20. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:

e) interactively user selecting a new digital image within one of the displayed subsets of digital images using a user interface; and

f) repeating steps c) and d) using the new digital image as the selected digital image.