Content tagging using broadcast device information

• US 8,793,332 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2009
• Issued: 07/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Alsina, Thomas Matthieu
• Primary Examiner(s): Fan, Hua
• Application Number:
  US12/506,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20110022661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,834 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/244 Grouping and aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A number of devices co-located at a geographic location can broadcast and receive identity information. The identity information can include a unique device identifier and a device description. The identity information can be exchanged between various electronic devices using a communication link having limited transmission range. Device identifiers and corresponding device descriptions included in the tokens can be associated with content on the device receiving the tokens. The device descriptions can be used as hints for assigning labels to the devices identified by device identifiers. The labels can be associated with the content. The labeled content can be classified, organized, indexed and searched based at least in part on the labels.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

on a first device, receiving information from a plurality of second devices located within a communication range of the first device, the information comprising a plurality of identifiers, each identifier associated with one of the second devices;

creating a digital file on the first device using a digital recording device comprised within the first device, wherein the digital file comprises at least one of audio content, image content, or video content;

providing, on the first device and after creating the digital file, a plurality of user interface items for display in association with at least a portion of the digital file, each user interface item having a label and corresponding to one of the second devices, each label corresponding to an identifier of the respective second device and including an identifier of a user of the second device;

receiving a selection of one of the user interface items; and

associating the label of the selected user interface item with the digital file, including storing the label as metadata of the digital file or storing the digital file in a file directory named using the label.

2. The method of claim 1, the information further comprising a description of each of the second devices.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising acquiring a description of each of the second devices from a server using the identifier of the respective second device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises displaying a description of the corresponding second device as the label of each user interface item.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

displaying a description of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item as a prompt;

receiving an input in response to the prompt, the input comprising a nametag;

storing an association of the nametag, an identifier of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item, and the description in a device list; and

presenting the nametag as the label.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

selecting a nametag from a device list using the identifiers of the second devices, the device list comprising a collection of identifiers of devices and a collection of nametags, each nametag associated with a respective device; and

using the selected nametag as the label.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising identifying the user of the second device using content of the digital file, the nametag, and the identifiers.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying the user further comprises applying pattern recognition techniques to the content.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the user further comprises:

acquiring one or more candidate user names using the pattern recognition techniques;

cross-referencing the candidate user names using nametags in the device list; and

identifying the user using a result of the cross-referencing.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein:

acquiring one or more candidate user names further comprises assigning an identification probability to each of the acquired candidate user names, wherein the identification probability assigned to each of the acquired candidate user names represents the probability that the content comprises at least one of an image of a user or a voice of a user associated with the respective candidate user name, based on the pattern recognition techniques, wherein the pattern recognition techniques compare at least a portion of the content to pattern data associated with the respective candidate user name; and

cross-referencing the candidate user names further comprises;

comparing at least a subset of the plurality of candidate user names to each of the nametags in the device list; and

adjusting the identification probability of each of the compared candidate user names, based on the comparing.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the label of the selected user interface item to the digital file comprises assigning the digital file to a content group that is associated with a nametag.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising sharing a device list among a selected group of users, the sharing including sending the device list to the devices whose identifiers are contained in the device list.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

on a first device, receiving information from a plurality of second devices located within a communication range of the first device, the information comprising a plurality of identifiers, each identifier associated with one of the second devices;

creating a digital file on the first device using a digital recording device comprised within the first device, wherein the digital file comprises at least one of audio content, image content or video content;

providing, on the first device and after creating the digital file, a plurality of user interface items for display in association with at least a portion of the digital file, each user interface item having a label and corresponding to one of the second devices, each label corresponding to an identifier of the respective second device and including an identifier of a user of the second device;

receiving a selection of one of the user interface items; and

associating the label of the selected user interface item with the digital file, including storing the label as metadata of the digital file or storing the digital file in a file directory named using the label.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, the information further comprising a description of each of the second devices.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, the operations further comprising acquiring a description of each of the second devices from a server using the identifier of the respective second device.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises displaying a description of a corresponding second device as the label of each user interface item.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

displaying a description of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item as a prompt;

receiving an input in response to the prompt, the input comprising a nametag;

storing an association of the nametag, an identifier of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item, and the description in a device list; and

presenting the nametag as the label.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

selecting a nametag from a device list using the identifiers of the second devices, the device list comprising a collection of identifiers of devices and a collection of nametags, each nametag associated with a respective device; and

using the selected nametag as the label.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising identifying the user of the second device using content of the digital file, the nametag, and the identifiers.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein identifying the user further comprises applying pattern recognition techniques to the content.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein identifying the user further comprises:

acquiring one or more candidate user names using the pattern recognition techniques;

cross-referencing the candidate user names using nametags in the device list; and

identifying the user using a result of the cross-referencing.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein:

acquiring one or more candidate user names further comprises assigning an identification probability to each of the acquired candidate user names, wherein the identification probability assigned to each of the acquired candidate user names represents a probability that the content comprises at least one of an image of a user or a voice of a user associated with the respective candidate user name, based on the pattern recognition techniques, wherein the pattern recognition techniques compare at least a portion of the content to pattern data associated with the respective candidate user name; and

cross-referencing the candidate user names further comprises;

comparing at least a subset of the plurality of candidate user names to each of the nametags in the device list; and

adjusting the identification probability of each of the compared candidate user names, based on the comparing.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein associating the label to the digital file comprises assigning the digital file to a content group that is associated with a nametag.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, the operations further comprising sharing a device list among a selected group of users, the sharing including sending the device list to the devices whose identifiers are contained in the device list.

25. A system comprising:

one or more computers configured to perform operations including;

on a first device, receiving information from a plurality of second devices located within a communication range of the first device, the information comprising a plurality of identifiers, each identifier associated with one of the second devices;

creating a digital file on the first device using a digital recording device comprised within the first device, wherein the digital file comprises at least one of audio content, image content or video content;

providing, on the first device and after creating the digital file, a plurality of user interface items for display in association with at least a portion of the digital file, each user interface item having a label and corresponding to one of the second devices, each label corresponding to an identifier of the respective second device and including an identifier of a user of the second device;

receiving a selection of one of the user interface items; and

associating the label of the selected user interface item with the digital file, including storing the label as metadata of the digital file or storing the digital file in a file directory named using the label.

26. The system of claim 25, the information further comprising a description of each of the second devices.

27. The system of claim 25, the operations further comprising acquiring a description of each of the second devices from a server using the identifier of the respective second device.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises displaying a description of a corresponding second device as the label of each user interface item.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

displaying a description of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item as a prompt;

receiving an input in response to the prompt, the input comprising a nametag;

storing an association of the nametag, an identifier of the second device corresponding to the selected user interface item, and the description in a device list; and

presenting the nametag as the label.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein providing the user interface items for display comprises:

selecting a nametag from a device list using the identifiers of the second devices, the device list comprising a collection of identifiers of devices and a collection of nametags, each nametag associated with a respective device; and

using the selected nametag as the label.

31. The system of claim 30, the operations further comprising identifying the user of the second device using content of the digital file, the nametag, and the identifier.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein identifying the user further comprises applying pattern recognition techniques to the content.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein identifying the user further comprises:

acquiring one or more candidate user names using the pattern recognition techniques;

cross-referencing the candidate user names using nametags in the device list; and

identifying the user using a result of the cross-referencing.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein:

acquiring one or more candidate user names further comprises assigning an identification probability to each of the acquired candidate user names, wherein the identification probability assigned to each of the acquired candidate user names represents a probability that the content comprises at least one of an image of a user or a voice of a user associated with the respective candidate user name, based on the pattern recognition techniques, wherein the pattern recognition techniques compare at least a portion of the content to pattern data associated with the respective candidate user name; and

cross-referencing the candidate user names further comprises;

comparing at least a subset of the plurality of candidate user names to each of the nametags in the device list; and

adjusting the identification probability of each of the compared candidate user names, based on the comparing.

35. The system of claim 25, wherein associating the label of the selected user interface item to the digital file comprises assigning the digital file to a content group that is associated with a nametag.

36. The system of claim 25, the operations further comprising sharing a device list among a selected group of users, the sharing including sending the device list to the devices whose identifiers are contained in the device list.

37. A mobile wireless electronic device, comprising:

an antenna configured to receive information from a plurality of second devices located within a communication range of the first device, the information comprising a plurality of identifiers, each identifier associated with one of the second devices;

a camera configured to capture at least one of image content or video content;

a memory configured to store a digital file, wherein the digital file comprises the at least one of image content or video content;

a display configured to present a plurality of user interface items in association with at least a portion of the digital file, each user interface item having a label and corresponding to one of the second devices, each label corresponding to an identifier of the respective second device and including an identifier of a user of the second device;

a user input element configured to receive a selection of one of the user interface items; and

a processor configured to associate the label of the selected user interface item with the digital file, including storing the label as metadata of the digital file or storing the digital file in a file directory named using the label.

38. The mobile wireless electronic device of claim 37,

wherein the user input element is further configured to receive user input selecting a nametag from a device list using the identifiers of the second devices, the device list comprising a collection of identifiers of devices and a collection of nametags, each nametag associated with a respective device;

and

wherein the selected nametag is used as the label.

39. The mobile wireless electronic device of claim 38, the processor further configured to identify the user of the second device using content of the digital file, the nametag, and the identifier.

40. The mobile wireless electronic device of claim 39, wherein, in identifying the user, the processor is further configured to apply pattern recognition techniques to the content, wherein the pattern recognition techniques compare at least a portion of the content to pattern data associated with the respective candidate user name.

41. The mobile wireless electronic device of claim 40, wherein, in identifying the user, the processor is further configured to:

acquire one or more candidate user names using the pattern recognition techniques;

cross-reference the candidate user names using nametags in the device list; and

identify the user using a result of the cross-referencing.

42. The mobile wireless electronic device of claim 37, wherein the user input element comprises a touchscreen integrated with the display.