Photo-based mobile deixis system and related techniques
First Claim
1. A system to provide location awareness services comprising:
- (a) a computer network including a wireless network and a wired network;
(b) a server having a database of previously saved images and capable of searching images by comparing an image with the saved images in the database using a content based image retrieval technique;
(c) a handheld device comprising;
(i) a camera to capture an image of a location;
(ii) a mobile communication device, coupled to the camera and to the wireless network, to communicate the captured image to the server having the database of previously saved images to find similar images in the database similar with the captured image using the content based image retrieval technique; and
(iii) a user interface, coupled to the mobile communication device, to communicate to an user any resulting images and associated hyperlinks of found similar images; and
(d) a plurality of computers, each computer have a plurality of computer files in a format to display as a web page, each file including an image and associated text, each computer connected to the computer network, at least one of the computer files having an associated hyperlink, an image similar to the captured image and text describing an object in the image;
wherein the server having the database of saved images searches for additional images using a content based image retrieval technique on one of the plurality of computers when an image similar to the captured image is not found in the database on the server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile deixis device includes a camera to capture an image and a wireless handheld device, coupled to the camera and to a wireless network, to communicate the image with existing databases to find similar images. The mobile deixis device further includes a processor, coupled to the device, to process found database records related to similar images and a display to view found database records that include web pages including images. With such an arrangement, users can specify a location of interest by simply pointing a camera-equipped cellular phone at the object of interest and by searching an image database or relevant web resources, users can quickly identify good matches from several close ones to find an object of interest.
319 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system to provide location awareness services comprising:
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(a) a computer network including a wireless network and a wired network; (b) a server having a database of previously saved images and capable of searching images by comparing an image with the saved images in the database using a content based image retrieval technique; (c) a handheld device comprising; (i) a camera to capture an image of a location; (ii) a mobile communication device, coupled to the camera and to the wireless network, to communicate the captured image to the server having the database of previously saved images to find similar images in the database similar with the captured image using the content based image retrieval technique; and (iii) a user interface, coupled to the mobile communication device, to communicate to an user any resulting images and associated hyperlinks of found similar images; and (d) a plurality of computers, each computer have a plurality of computer files in a format to display as a web page, each file including an image and associated text, each computer connected to the computer network, at least one of the computer files having an associated hyperlink, an image similar to the captured image and text describing an object in the image; wherein the server having the database of saved images searches for additional images using a content based image retrieval technique on one of the plurality of computers when an image similar to the captured image is not found in the database on the server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A storage medium comprising:
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a first computer readable program code stored on the storage medium being operative to interact with a processor in a server and to communicate with a handheld device to capture an image from a camera; a second computer readable program code stored on the storage medium being operative to interact with the processor in the server having a database with image files, each file including an image, text and an associated link and to search said database of image files for a similar image similar to the captured image by comparing using a content based image retrieval technique the captured image with other images and to cause said server to provide to the handheld device an image and a hyperlink to the image file in the database having the similar image; and a third computer readable program code stored on the storage medium being operative to interact with the processor in the server to communicate with other computers having image files and to search using a content based image retrieval technique said other computers for a similar image when a similar image is not found in the database in the server and to add the similar image and an associated hyperlink when found on another computer to the database.
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18. A method for identifying a location comprising the steps of:
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(i) providing a database of images on a first computer, each image having an associated URL that includes said image and a description of the image; (ii) comparing using a content based image retrieval technique an image of an unknown location communicated to the first computer from a handheld device with images from the database of images and providing a list of images and corresponding URL of possible matching images to the handheld device; (iii) searching using a content based image retrieval technique, using the first computer, files on additional computers when a matching image is not found in the database on the first computer and adding the similar image and associated hyperlink when found on another computer to the database; and (iv) reviewing the images in the list of possible matching images until the matching image of the correct location is identified. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification