Real-time recommendation of album templates for online photosharing

• US 7,715,586 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2005
• Issued: 05/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Greene, David, Issa, Alfredo C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahmed; Samir A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liu; Li
• Application Number:
  US11/201,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20070064121A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,734 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 707/10
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/322 used signal is digitally coded
• 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 1/00164 at a remote location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00183 Photography assistance, e.g. displaying suggestions to the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00196 Creation of a photo-montage, e.g. photoalbum H04N1/0019 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• 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 1/34 for coin-freed systems ; Pay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3214 of a date
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3215 of a time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3264 of sound signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3266 of text or character information, e.g. text accompanying an image H04N2201/3226 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for recommending templates for electronic or online photo albums. In general, digital images are selected to form a photo album. The metadata associated with the digital images is analyzed to provide selection criteria. Using the selection criteria, one or more templates are selected from a template database as recommended templates. One of the recommended templates is selected and applied to the photo album.

Claims

1. A central node for recommending customized templates for an electronic photo album comprising:

memory;

a control system associated with the memory and adapted to;

analyze metadata associated with digital images selected to be included in a photo album to determine selection criteria where the metadata includes values that are set during capture of the digital images;

select a number of templates to provide at least one recommended template that includes a recommended background, a recommended caption, and recommended graphic art, wherein the recommendations are made based on the selection criteria that includes the values that are set during the capture of the digital images;

present preview of at least one of the number of templates including the at least one recommended template to a user at a client node;

receive a selected template from the client node, wherein the user at the client node purchases the selected template from the number of templates; and

provide the selected template to the client node for application to the photo album at the client node.

2. The central node of claim 1 wherein the control system is further adapted to analyze the metadata by performing a statistical analysis of the metadata to determine the selection criteria.

3. The central node of claim 2 wherein the selection criteria comprise a mean, mode, or median of a variable in the metadata, wherein the metadata includes a value of the variable for each of the digital images in the photo album.

4. The central node of claim 1 wherein the selection criteria comprise dates upon which the digital images were captured.

5. The central node of claim 1 wherein the selection criteria comprise times at which the digital images were captured.

6. The central node of claim 1 wherein the selection criteria comprise a location at which the digital images were captured.

7. The central node of claim 1 wherein the control system is further adapted to analyze the metadata by searching captions associated with the digital images stored in the metadata for predetermined keywords such that the selection criteria comprise keyword search results.

8. The central node of claim 7, wherein the captions include audio, where the selection is made based on the audio of the captions.

9. The central node of claim 1 wherein the control system comprises an inference engine adapted to analyze the metadata based on historical data.

10. The central node of claim 1 wherein the central node is coupled to a network and the metadata is provided from the client node to the central server via the network.

11. The central node of claim 10 wherein the digital images are stored at the client node, and the client node obtains the metadata from the digital images and provides the metadata, rather than the digital images, to the central node.

12. The central node of claim 10 wherein the control system is further adapted to provide a preview of the at least one recommended template to the client node via the network.

13. The central node of claim 12 wherein the at least one recommended template is selected and purchased as a desired template for the photo album and the control system is further adapted to receive authorization from a commerce server permitting the client node to obtain the desired template.

14. The central node of claim 12 wherein the client node is a peer node in a peer-to-peer photosharing network and the control system is further adapted to:

receive a request for the photo album via the network from a requesting party;

request the photo album from the client node via the network;

receive the photo album including template components of the desired template from the client node; and

provide the photo album including the template components to the requesting party.

15. The central node of claim 1 wherein the at least one recommended template includes a plurality of template components selected from the group consisting of:

fonts, icons, clip art, and music.

16. The central node of claim 1 wherein the digital images are stored in the memory associated with the control system, and the control system is further adapted to obtain the metadata from the digital images.

17. The central node of claim 16 wherein the control system is coupled to a network and the digital images are provided to the central node from the client node via the network.

18. The central node of claim 1 wherein a value for a flash selling is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the flash setting is used to select the number of templates.

19. The central node of claim 1 wherein a value for an ISO speed is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the ISO speed is used to select the number of templates.

20. The central node of claim 1 wherein a value for a shutter speed is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the shutter speed is used to select the number of templates.

21. A computer readable media storing software for instructing a computer to:

select a plurality of digital images to be included in a photo album;

provide metadata associated with the plurality of digital images to a central server via a network where the metadata includes values that are set during capture of the plurality of digital images;

receive a preview of a number of recommended templates that includes a recommended background, a recommended caption, and recommended graphic art for the photo album from the central server via the network, wherein the central server selects the number of recommended templates from a number of templates based on the values that are set during the capture of the plurality of digital images;

select a template from the number of recommended templates;

purchase the selected template;

obtain the selected template from the central server; and

apply the selected template to the photo album.

22. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein the software is further adapted to instruct the computer to provide the photo album including template components of the selected template to the central server in response to a request for the photo album, wherein the central server operates as a proxy server in directing the request from a requesting node to the computer and directing the photo album and the template components from the computer to the requesting node.

23. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein the software is further adapted to instruct the computer to:

receive a request for the photo album from a requesting party via the network; and

provide the photo album including template components of the selected template to the requesting party via the network in response to the request.

24. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein the software is further adapted to instruct the computer to:

upload the photo album to the central server;

wherein the central server provides the photo album including template components of the selected template to a requesting party via the network in response to a request for the photo album from the requesting party.

25. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein the software is further adapted to instruct the computer to:

conduct a purchasing transaction to purchase the selected template; and

obtain the selected template once the purchasing transaction is complete.

26. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein a value for a flash setting is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the flash setting is used to select the number of recommended templates.

27. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein a value for an ISO speed is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the ISO speed is used to select the number of recommended templates.

28. The computer readable media of claim 21 wherein a value for a shutter speed is set during capture of the digital images such that the value of the shutter speed is used to select the number of recommended templates.

29. A method of recommending templates for a photo album comprising, at a computing device:

analyzing metadata associated with digital images selected to be included in the photo album to provide selection criteria where the metadata includes values that are set by a capture device during capture of the digital images;

selecting a number of templates to provide at least one recommended template that includes a recommended background, a recommended caption, and recommended graphic art, wherein the recommendations are made based on the selection criteria that include the values that are set during the capture of the digital images;

presenting preview of at least one of the number of templates including the at least one recommended template to a user at a client node;

receiving a selected template from the client node, wherein the user at the client node purchases the selected template from the number of templates; and

providing the selected template to the client node for application to the photo album at the client node.