VIRTUAL SKYWRITING

• US 20100081416A1
• Filed: 09/30/2008
• Published: 04/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cohen, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,966,024 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• 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 1/32117 in a separate transmission or protocol signal prior to or subsequent to the image data transmission, e.g. in digital identification signal [DIS], in non standard setup [NSS] or in non standard field [NSF] for mode signalling H04N1/333
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/387 Composing, repositioning or otherwise geometrically modifying originals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/854 Content authoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3245 of image modifying data, e.g. handwritten addenda, highlights or augmented reality information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3273 Display
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 : Transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Users with mobile computing devices author skywriting and submit them to a virtual skywriting service. A mobile computing device having wireless network access is configured to capture a digital image of a real world scene including sky. The image is captured while the mobile computing device is in a geographical location or area. While the mobile computing device is still in the geographical location or area, it transmits via the wireless network a request for virtual skywriting. The request is received by a skywriting service that obtains or determines the geographical location/area that the computing device is in or near. The skywriting service selects a skywriting from among the previously submitted skywritings; the skywriting may be selected based on its having been entered at or associated with the geographical location. The mobile device receives the virtual skywriting from the service and displays a version of the digital image with the virtual skywriting added to the sky in the version of the digital image. Either the service or the mobile device may render the skywriting onto the image. Various effects may be applied in rendering the skywriting to give it realistic or vapor-like appearance.

Claims

1. A method implemented at least in part by a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

transmitting from the mobile computing device a request to a skywriting service for skywriting;

receiving from the skywriting service skywriting associated with a geographical location of the mobile computing device, the skywriting having been obtained by the skywriting service by identifying, among a stored plurality of skywritings, a skywriting that corresponds to the geographical location of the mobile computing device; and

displaying, on the mobile computing device, the skywriting superimposed on an image of the sky as captured by the mobile computing device from the geographical location.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the skywriting is superimposed on the image by first recognizing a region of sky in the image using a recognition algorithm and then fitting the skywriting to the recognized region of sky.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising transmitting the image captured by the imaging device to the skywriting service, wherein the skywriting service performs the recognizing of the sky region and the superimposing, and receiving from the skywriting service the skywriting superimposed on the image.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the skywriting is inputted by a user using a mobile device, the skywriting being received at the skywriting service and stored in association with a geographic location of the mobile device.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising determining an age of the skywriting and rendering the skywriting with one or more visual effects that are based on the age of the sky writing.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising selecting the skywriting from among the stored plurality of skywritings based at least in part on whether the skywriting has a grouping identifier that matches a grouping identifier specified for the request, the grouping identifier identifying a plurality of users.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the skywriting, when superimposed on the region of sky, appears as vapor in the region of sky.

8. One or more computer readable storage media storing information to enable a computing device to perform a process, the process comprising:

receiving and storing skywritings inputted from respective mobile computing devices, the skywritings comprising text or graphic data, and storing with the skywritings indicia of respective geographical areas;

receiving requests from mobile devices requesting skywriting;

determining geographical areas from which the respective requests originated;

returning to one of the requesting mobile devices one of the stored skywritings based on the correspondence of its indicia of a geographical area to the geographical area from which the mobile device'"'"'s request originated;

combining the skywriting with an image comprising image data of actual sky as captured by an image capture device at the geographical area; and

displaying the combined skywriting and image at the one of the requesting mobile devices.

9. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 8, the process further comprising identifying a region of sky in the image and fitting the skywriting according to the identified region of sky.

10. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 9, further comprising rendering the skywriting to appear as vapor in the region of sky.

11. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 8, wherein a stored skywriting comprises respective time information indicating an age of the skywriting.

12. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 11, wherein the combining further comprises applying an effect to the skywriting, the effect depending on the age of the skywriting.

13. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 8, further comprising scaling the skywriting and/or the image to fit the skywriting to a region of the image containing pixels corresponding to sky.

14. One or more computer readable storage media according to claim 8, further comprising selecting the skywriting returned to the requesting mobile device based on one or more properties of the skywriting other than the indicia of its geographical area.

15. A mobile computing device having wireless network access and configured to perform a process, the process comprising:

capturing a digital image of a real world scene including sky with an imaging device of the mobile computing device, the image being captured at while the mobile computing device is in or near a geographical location;

while the mobile computing device is still in or near the geographical location, transmitting via the wireless network a request for virtual skywriting, wherein the transmitting enables a recipient of the request to determine the geographical location that the computing device is in or near;

receiving, via the wireless network, virtual skywriting having been selected in response to the request transmitted by the mobile computing device; and

displaying a version of the digital image with the virtual skywriting added to the sky in the version of the digital image.

16. A mobile computing device according to claim 15, the process further comprising receiving the virtual skywriting in rendered form and using the rendered skywriting to generate the version of the digital image.

17. A mobile computing device according to claim 15, the process further comprising authoring a new skywriting and transmitting it via the wireless network to a skywriting service that makes the new skywriting available to mobile devices in or near the computing device'"'"'s geographical location.

18. A mobile computing device according to claim 15, the receiving the virtual skywriting further comprising receiving rendering parameters for the virtual skywriting and the mobile computing device rendering the virtual skywriting according to the rendering parameters.

19. A mobile computing device according to claim 15, the process further comprising the mobile device transmitting with the request indicia of the geographical location.

20. A mobile computing device according to claim 15, wherein the skywriting has also been selected based on whether the skywriting is associated with a specified user list.