Image-related methods and systems

• US 9,525,798 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2014
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rodriguez, Tony F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Liew, Alex
• Application Number:
  US14/494,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20150104058A1
• Time in Patent Office: 819 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382124-127
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0092 Payload characteristic determination in a watermarking scheme, e.g. number of bits to be embedded
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00 Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3235 Checking or certification of the authentication information, e.g. by comparison with data stored independently
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3261 of multimedia information, e.g. a sound signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

Digital watermark encoding—and associated registry transactions—are made transparent to consumers—performed as built-in features of common image processing operations, such as taking a picture, or printing a picture. In one arrangement, a user particularly defines network experiences that a hardcopy image is to invoke. The user may interact with buttons and other controls of a graphical user interface on the touchscreen of a printer to author specific experiences that should be triggered by a hardcopy image—such as launching a related video, playing a recorded audio clip, displaying other images in a story narrative to which the hardcopy image relates, etc. These choices can be made at the time of printing, or the printer can be used as an interface to establish or adjust such network experiences after printing. The printer then attends to interactions with network infrastructure components needed to give the hardcopy print the user-desired functionality. In another arrangement, the content experience triggered by a printed image is authored automatically, e.g., by reference to data mined from the image'"'"'s online context (e.g., Facebook photo album). A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

Claims

1. A method comprising the acts:

receiving a request to assign an identifier for use with a first content object represented by digital data;

assigning an identifier for use with the first content object, and transmitting the assigned identifier to a remote device, the assignment of the identifier proceeding independently of the digital data representing the first content object; and

checking to determine if an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object;

wherein said request to assign the identifier occurs in connection with posting the first content object to a social networking service, or sending the first content object for printing.

2. The method of claim 1 that includes:

determining that an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object; and

associating together, in a database, an identifier assigned to the first content object, and the identifier earlier assigned to the former content object, so that the database indicates that the first content object and the former content object have a perceptual similarity.

3. The method of claim 1 that includes:

determining that an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object; and

assigning said earlier-assigned identifier as the first identifier, wherein both the first content object and the former content object are assigned the same identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the first content object is associated with a first proprietor, and the checking comprises checking to see if an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object associated with said first proprietor.

5. The method of claim 1 that includes obtaining first fingerprint data associated with the first content object, and in which the checking comprises checking a data store for corresponding fingerprint data associated with a former content obj ect.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said received request does not also include the first content object itself, and wherein the method further includes receiving the fingerprint data corresponding to the first content object from a remote device.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said received request includes the first content object itself, and wherein the method further includes computing the fingerprint data corresponding to the first content object.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said fingerprint data comprises facial recognition data.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the content object comprises data representing a photograph captured by a user'"'"'s camera-equipped phone.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the content object comprises a color image.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the assigning comprising assigning the identifier sequentially.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the assigning comprises assigning an identifier having different fields.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein one of said fields indicates a registry that issued the identifier, or a device that requested issuance of the identifier.

14. The method of claim 1 in which the identifier comprises an identifier that is to be steganographically digitally-watermarked into the first content object by said remote device.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein said request to assign the identifier occurs in connection with posting the first content object to a social networking service.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein said request to assign the identifier occurs in connection with sending the first content object for printing.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by a computer device, cause the computer device to perform actions including:

receiving a request to assign an identifier for use with a first content object represented by digital data;

assigning an identifier for use with the first content object, and transmitting the assigned identifier to a remote device, the assignment of the identifier proceeding independently of the digital data representing the object; and

checking to determine if an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object wherein said request to assign the identifier occurs in connection with posting the first content object to a social networking service, or sending the first content object for printing.

16. The article of claim 15 in which said actions further include:

determining that an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object; and

associating together, in a database, an identifier assigned to the first content object, and the identifier earlier assigned to the former content object, so that the database indicates that the first content object and the former content object have a perceptual similarity.

17. The article of claim 15 in which said actions further include:

determining that an identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object; and

assigning said earlier-assigned identifier as the first identifier, wherein both the first content object and the former content object are assigned the same identifier.

18. The article of claim 15 in which said actions include obtaining first fingerprint data associated with the first content object, and wherein the checking comprises checking a data store for corresponding fingerprint data associated with a former content object.

19. A method comprising the acts:

before a first image is digitally watermarked with a plural-bit payload, checking whether a perceptually-similar image has been previously digitally watermarked, said checking indicating that a perceptually-similar image has been previously digitally watermarked, said checking being performed by a hardware processor configured to perform such act;

determining a plural-bit payload that was previously used in digitally watermarking the perceptually-similar image; and

providing said determined plural-bit payload for use in digitally watermarking the first image;

wherein said determined plural-bit payload can be re-used, avoiding a need to use a different plural-bit payload in digitally watermarking the first image.

20. The method of claim 19 that further includes digitally watermarking the first image with said determined plural-bit payload.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein said checking comprises:

obtaining first fingerprint data corresponding to the first image; and

checking a fingerprint data store to identify a previously digitally watermarked image having fingerprint data that corresponds with said first fingerprint data.

22. A method comprising the acts:

in connection with digitally watermarking a first image using a first plural-bit payload, checking whether a perceptually-similar image has been previously digitally watermarked with a plural-bit payload, said checking indicating that a perceptually-similar image has been previously digitally watermarked with a plural-bit payload, said checking being performed by a hardware processor configured to perform such act;

determining a plural-bit payload with which said perceptually similar image was previously watermarked; and

storing data in a data structure associating together the first plural-bit payload with said determined plural-bit payload;

wherein the determined plural-bit payload with which the perceptually-similar image was previously digitally watermarked is not re-used in digitally watermarking the first image, but its relationship to the first plural-bit payload is indicated by data stored in the data structure.

23. The method of claim 22 that further includes digitally watermarking the first image with the first plural-bit payload.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein said checking comprises:

obtaining first fingerprint data corresponding to the first image; and

checking a fingerprint data store to identify a previously digitally watermarked image

having fingerprint data that corresponds with said first fingerprint data.