Event-based media sharing

• US 9,906,610 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2016
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fotoccasion Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Fotoccasion Incorporated
• Inventors: Foster, Steven, McCormick, Donald
• Primary Examiner(s): Osman, Ramy M
• Application Number:
  US15/255,061
• Publication Number:
  US 20180063209A1
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/30 in albums, collections or shared content, e.g. social network photos or video
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4025 where none of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. downloading a file in a parallel FTP session, initiating an email or combinational services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A media sharing system that shares media obtained on cell phones or tablets from many users, who have joined an event. The media can be photos. An event is created based on at least one of a time, location, or some other parameter. Each user to the event uploads their photos from the event, and receives photos from others in the event. Then a composite of multiple different photos is created. This can be done for sports events or hotels.

Claims

1. A photo sharing system, comprising:

a computer running a program that creates a camera-obtained media sharing event in a hotel and allows remote computers to join an existing camera-obtained media sharing event,

wherein the camera obtained media sharing event is created from information which is received into the computer from a gateway application that provides access to wifi network resources in the hotel, where the gateway application provides a choice to the user to create or join an event, and where the user selecting to create or join the event provides information automatically about a time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel based on the user'"'"'s hotel information, and automatically creates the event for the time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel;

said computer automatically examining camera-obtained media, and determining if said camera-obtained media was created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel and defining camera-obtained media created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel as camera-obtained media associated with the event and sending those camera-obtained media to a file storage,

and said computer receiving camera-obtained media from the file storage which were sent by other users associated with the event during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel;

said computer providing displays of camera-obtained media associated with the event, including both camera-obtained media taken by the user and camera-obtained media taken by other users, during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, where both the camera-obtained media taken by the user and the camera-obtained media taken by other users during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel are part of the display of camera-obtained media wherein the event is also defined over an area, and further comprising a location tracking device that tracks a position of the user in the hotel, said computer automatically examining said camera-obtained media, and determining, in addition to determining if said camera-obtained media was created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining if the camera obtained media was created within said area by user the location of the user determined from said location tracking device, and defining camera-obtained media created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel and within the area, as camera-obtained media associated with the event and sending those camera-obtained media to the file storage,

the computer determining if a location of the user, obtained from the location tracking device, is within a private area, within the area, where media from the private area is not shared even though the private area is within the area of the event,

and the computer determining first media that is part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is not within a private area,

and the computer determining second media that is not part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is within a private area,

and sharing the first media with other computers, and the computer not sharing the second media with other computers.

2. The system as in claim 1, where said computer is a portable computer with a camera therein, that obtains said camera-based media.

3. The system as in claim 1, where said camera-based media are photos.

4. The system as in claim 1, wherein the computer sends invitation messages to other users who will be part of the event.

5. The system as in claim 1 wherein the user staying at the hotel becomes the event organizer, the computer receives a request from another user to join the event, and where the event organizer, must agree to the other user joining the event prior to the other user being allowed to join the event and send and receive camera-based media.

6. The system as in claim 1, wherein the gateway application receives identifying information about the user in order to connect the user to the hotel'"'"'s Wi-Fi including at least the user'"'"'s name and room number, and uses said identifying information to determine the length of the stay.

7. The system as in claim 6, wherein the gateway application receives identifying information about the user in order to connect the user to the hotel'"'"'s Wi-Fi and uses said identifying information to determine the length of the stay.

8. The system as in claim 7, wherein the length of stay is a time of a user'"'"'s hotel reservation.

9. The system as in claim 7, wherein the length of stay is a time of a meeting at the hotel.

10. The system as in claim 1, wherein the first information comprises a joining of a wifi network which is specific to the event, and is named with a name associated with the event.

11. A computer system, comprising:

a computer running a program that shares camera-obtained media with others and receives camera-obtained media from others, by creating camera-obtained media events, allowing other computers to join the events,

said camera-obtained media events having a first parameter that defines the event and defines which media obtained by other computers become part of the event, where the event extends over an area,

a tracking system that tracks locations of the other computers,

the computer determining if a location of a computer is within a private area within the area, where media is not shared from the private area even though the private area is within the area of the event,

and the computer receiving first media that is part of the event as determined by the first parameter, if the computer determines that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is not within a private area, and sharing the first media with other computers, and the computer not sharing the first media if the computer determines that the location of the first computer that obtained the first media is within the private area, and is within the area of the event,

wherein the event is created from information which is received into the computer from a gateway application that provides access to wifi network resources in the hotel, where the gateway application provides a choice to the user to create or join an event, and where the user selecting to create or join the event provides information automatically about a time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel based on the user'"'"'s hotel information,

wherein the private area includes specific rooms within the hotel.

12. The system as in claim 11, where said camera-based media include photos.

13. The system as in claim 11, wherein the first parameter includes a specific location, and media obtained at the specific location are received as said first media.

14. The system as in claim 11, wherein the first parameter includes a specific wifi SSID, and media obtained while connected to the specific SSID are received as said first media, and media obtained by others who are connected to the specific SSID are received as said second media.

15. The system as in claim 11, wherein the first parameter identifies a specific player in a sports event, and the media includes only media which includes the specific player in the sports event, taken by the user and also by other users who have joined the event.

16. A computer system, comprising:

a computer running a program that shares camera-obtained media with others and receives camera-obtained media from others, by creating camera-obtained media events, allowing other computers to join the events,

said camera-obtained media events having a first parameter that defines the event and defines which media obtained by other computers become part of the event, where the event extends over an area,

a tracking system that tracks locations of the other computers,

the computer determining if a location of a computer is within a private area within the area, where media is not shared from the private area even though the private area is within the area of the event,

and the computer receiving first media that is part of the event as determined by the first parameter, if the computer determines that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is not within a private area, and sharing the first media with other computers, and the computer not sharing the first media if the computer determines that the location of the first computer that obtained the first media is within the private area, and is within the area of the event, wherein the event is in a hotel, wherein the event is created from information which is received into the computer from a gateway application that provides access to wifi network resources in the hotel, where the gateway application provides a choice to the user to create or join an event, and where the user selecting to create or join the event provides information automatically about a time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel based on the user'"'"'s hotel information, and automatically creates the event for the time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, where the first parameter includes the time period for the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel wherein the tracking system uses a wireless location beacon to track the users.

17. A photo sharing method, comprising:

running a program on a computer that creates a camera-obtained media sharing event in a hotel and allows computers to join an existing camera-obtained media sharing event,

said media sharing event based on a information which is received into the computer from a gateway application that provides access to wifi network resources in the hotel, where the gateway application provides a choice to the user to create or join an event, and where the user selecting to create or join the event provides information automatically about a time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel based on the user'"'"'s hotel information, and automatically creates the event for the time period of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel;

determining that first media were created during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, and and uploading said first media to a file storage,

and said computer receiving second media from the file storage which were sent by other users associated with the event and which were created during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, and

providing displays to the user of both the first media obtained by the first user that were created during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, and the second media obtained by other users that were created during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel

providing displays of camera-obtained media associated with the event, including both camera-obtained media taken by the user and camera-obtained media taken by other users, during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel,

where both the camera-obtained media taken by the user and the camera-obtained media taken by other users during the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel are part of the display of camera-obtained media wherein the event is also defined over an area, and further comprising a location tracking device that tracks a position of the user in the hotel,

automatically examining said camera-obtained media, and determining, in addition to determining if said camera-obtained media was created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining if the camera obtained media was created within said area by user the location of the user determined from said location tracking device, and defining camera-obtained media created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel and within the area, as camera-obtained media associated with the event and sending those camera-obtained media to the file storage;

determining if a location of the user, obtained from the location tracking device, is within a private area, within the area, where media from the private area is not shared even though the private area is within the area of the event, and determining first media that is part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is not within a private area,

and determining second media that is not part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is within a private area,

and sharing the first media with other computers, and the computer not sharing the second media with other computers.

18. The method as in claim 17, wherein the event is also defined over an area, and said computer automatically examining said camera-obtained media, and determining, in addition to determining if said camera-obtained media was created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining if the camera obtained media was created within said area, and defining camera-obtained media created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel and within the area, as camera-obtained media associated with the event and sending those camera-obtained media to the file storage.

19. The method as in claim 18, further comprising a wireless location beacon forming a tracking system that tracks locations of the users,

the computer determining if a location of a user is within a private area, within the area, where media is not shared from the private area even though the private area is within the area of the event,

and the computer determining first media that is part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is not within a private area,

and the computer determining second media that is not part of the event as determined by said camera-obtained media being created during the time of the user'"'"'s stay at the hotel, also determining that the camera obtained media being created within said area, and determining that the location of a first computer that obtained the first media is within a private area,

and sharing the first media with other computers, and the computer not sharing the second media with other computers.

20. The method as in claim 17, wherein the first parameter includes a specific wifi SSID, and media obtained while connected to the specific SSID are sent as said first media, and media obtained by others who are connected to the specific SSID are received as said second media.

21. The method as in claim 17, wherein the gateway application receives identifying information about the user in order to connect the user to the hotel'"'"'s Wi-Fi including at least the user'"'"'s name and room number, and uses said identifying information to determine the length of the stay.