Broker service system to acquire location based image data

• US 9,131,167 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2011
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Regli, Markus A., Rissmann, Ruediger, Stoecklin, Marc P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Sath V
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARIKH, DAKSHESH D
• Application Number:
  US13/330,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20130155246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,359 Days
• Field of Search: 725/32, 725/53, 725/78, 725/133, 725/141, 725/153, 348/159, 348/E7.085, 386/223
• 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: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

A broker service that acquires location based image data receives a request from a requestor. The request comprises request criteria that at least include a location criterion and a time criterion for obtaining image data, which comprises at least one of a still image and a video. The broker service determines that a position indication of a first producer of a plurality of producers fulfils the location criterion at least to an extent. The plurality of producers comprises devices remote from the requestor and having capabilities of image capture and location determination. The broker service transmits an image request to the first producer. The image request corresponds to the request. The broker service receives image data from the first producer responsive to the image request. The broker service determines that the image data fulfils the time criterion. The broker service transmits the image data to the requestor.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a request from a requestor, wherein the request comprises request criteria that at least include a location criterion and a time criterion that indicates a time or time period for when to capture image data, wherein the image data comprises at least one of a still image and a video;

determining that a position indication of a first producer of a plurality of producers fulfils the location criterion at least to an extent, wherein the plurality of producers comprise devices remote from the requestor and having capabilities of image capture and location determination;

transmitting an image request to the first producer in response to determining that the position indication of the first producer fulfils the location criterion at least to an extent, wherein the image request corresponds to the request;

receiving image data from the first producer responsive to the image request;

determining that the image data was captured by the first producer in fulfilment of the time criterion; and

transmitting the image data to the requestor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving regular position indication updates from the plurality of producers, wherein the position indication blurs actual or true location of the first producer.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that a position indication of a second of the plurality of producers at least partially fulfills the location criterion;

transmitting the image request to the second producer as well as the first producer;

receiving image data from the second producer responsive to the image request;

determining that the image data from the second producer fulfills the time criterion; and

transmitting the image data from the second producer to the requestor.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

transmitting participation requests to the plurality of producers;

receiving responses to the participation requests, wherein the participation responses indicate conditions for accepting the image request, wherein the conditions include at least one of time to fulfil the image request and a minimum remuneration; and

selecting the first and the second producers based, at least in part, on the responses and the request criteria.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the request criteria also includes at least one of an object corresponding to the location criterion, an event corresponding to the location criterion, a type of image data, quality of image data, and a remuneration.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on profiles of the plurality of producers, that the plurality producers fulfil the request criteria, wherein the profiles of the plurality of producers comprise ratings of image quality, timeliness, correctness, proficiency level, and reliability in responding to requests; and

selecting the first producer from the plurality of producers based, at least in part, on the profile of the first producer relative to the other profiles.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that none of the plurality of producers fulfil the request criteria;

generating a weakened request criteria; and

transmitting the weakened request criteria to the plurality of producers.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said generating the weakened request criteria comprises at least one of expanding geographic limits corresponding to the location criterion, adjusting time bounds corresponding to the time criterion, and reducing a quality criterion for image data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said determining that the position indication of the first producer of the plurality of producers fulfils the location criterion to at least an extent comprises determining that the position indication of the first producer of the plurality of producers fulfils a weakened location criterion of the weakened request criteria, wherein the weakened location criterion corresponds to the expanded geographic limitations.

10. A computer program product for a broker service to acquire location based image data, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising a computer usable program code configured to;

regularly collect updated position indications of a plurality of producers that are subscribed to the broker server, wherein the position indication of each of the plurality of producers indicates a blurred actual position of the producer;

acquire image data capture capabilities of the plurality of producers that at least indicate whether still images or video or both can be captured;

store requestor profiles, wherein each of the requestor profiles at least indicates a location to capture image data and a time bound for when to capture the image data;

for each of the requestor profiles, determine which of the plurality of producers fulfils the location indicated in the requestor profile;

for each of the requestor profiles that have at least one of the plurality of producers that fulfilling the requestor profile, transmit, to the at least one of the plurality of producers that fulfils the requestor profile, an image request indicating at least the location and the time bound;

responsive to receiving image data from a producer responding to an image request, transmit the image data to the requestor that corresponds to the requestor profile to which the image request corresponds.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer usable program code configured to determine which of the plurality of producers fulfils the location indicated in the requestor profile comprises the computer usable program code configured to determine which of the position indications encompass the location indicated in the requestor profile.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein a requestor profiles also indicates at least one of an object corresponding to the location, an event corresponding to the location, image type, quality of image data expected, and a possible remuneration for image data.

13. A computer program product for a broker service to acquire location based image data, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising a computer usable program code configured to;

receive a request from a requestor, wherein the request comprises request criteria that at least include a location criterion and a time criterion that indicates a time or time period for when to capture image data, wherein the image data comprises at least one of a still image and a video;

determine that a position indication of a first producer of a plurality of producers fulfils the location criterion to at least an extent, wherein the plurality of producers comprise devices remote from the requestor and having capabilities of image capture and location determination;

transmit an image request to the first producer in response to a determination that the position indication of the first producer fulfils the location criterion at least to an extent, wherein the image request corresponds to the request;

receive image data from the first producer responsive to the image request;

determine that the image data was captured by the first producer in fulfilment of the time criterion; and

transmit the image data to the requestor.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code is further configured to collect regular position indication updates from the plurality of producers, wherein the position indication blurs actual or true location of the first producer.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code is further configured to:

determine that a position indication of a second of the plurality of producers at least partially fulfills the location criterion;

transmit the image request to the second producer as well as the first producer;

receive image data from the second producer responsive to the image request;

determine that the image data from the second producer fulfills the time criterion; and

transmit the image data from the second producer to the requestor.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code is further configured to:

transmit participation requests to the plurality of producers;

receive responses to the participation requests, wherein the participation responses indicate conditions for accepting the image request, wherein the conditions include at least one of time to fulfill the image request and a minimum remuneration; and

select the first and the second producers based, at least in part, on the responses and the request criteria.

17. A broker service apparatus for acquiring location based image data, the broker service apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a transmitter;

a receiver; and

a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising a computer usable program code configured to;

regularly collect updated position indications of a plurality of producers that are subscribed to the broker server, wherein the position indication of each of the plurality of producers indicates a blurred actual position of the producer;

acquire image data capture capabilities of the plurality of producers that at least indicate whether still images or video or both can be captured;

store requestor profiles, wherein each of the requestor profiles at least indicates a location to capture image data and a time bound for when to capture the image data;

for each of the requestor profiles, determine which of the plurality of producers fulfils the location indicated in the requestor profile;

for each of the requestor profiles that have at least one of the plurality of producers that fulfilling the requestor profile, transmit, to the at least one of the plurality of producers that fulfils the requestor profile, an image request indicating at least the location and the time bound;

responsive to receiving image data from a producer responding to an image request, transmit the image data to the requestor that corresponds to the requestor profile to which the image request corresponds.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the computer usable program code configured to determine which of the plurality of producers fulfils the location indicated in the requestor profile comprises the computer usable program code configured to determine which of the position indications encompass the location indicated in the requestor profile.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein a requestor profiles also indicates at least one of an object corresponding to the location, an event corresponding to the location, image type, quality of image data expected, and a possible remuneration for image data.