APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING IMAGES BASED ON USER PREFERENCES

• US 20110191367A1
• Filed: 02/26/2010
• Published: 08/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Discovery Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Sungkyunkwan University Foundation For Corporate Collaboration (SungKyunKwan University)
• Inventors: Uk, Jung Hyun, Hoon, Go Gi, Wook, Jeon Jae, Kyung, Kim Min, Jin, Kim Myung, Houn, Song Tae, Jung, Soon Mook
• Granted Patent: US 8,433,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• 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: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/00 Speech or voice signal processing techniques to produce another audible or non-audible signal, e.g. visual or tactile, in order to modify its quality or its intelligibility G10L19/00 takes precedence

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method for managing images based on user preferences. The apparatus includes a database for storing images, an image search module for searching the images stored in the database, an image output module for outputting at least one image retrieved by the image search module, a preference input module for, when the retrieved image is output through the image output module, receiving a user preference for the output image from a user, and an image path database for storing a storage path of the image, output through the image output module, based on the user preference received through the user preference input module. The image search module searches images whose storage paths are stored in the image path database or images whose storage paths are not stored in the image path database according to the user'"'"'s selection.

Claims

1. An apparatus for managing images based on user preferences, the apparatus comprising:

a database for storing images;

an image search module for searching the images stored in the database;

an image output module for outputting at least one image retrieved by the image search module;

a preference input module for, when the retrieved image is output through the image output module, receiving a user preference for the output image from a user; and

an image path database for storing a storage path of the image, output through the image output module, based on the user preference received through the user preference input module;

wherein the image search module searches images whose storage paths are stored in the image path database or images whose storage paths are not stored in the image path database according to the user'"'"'s selection.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the image search module randomly searches the images stored in the database.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the preference input module comprises:

a touch signal reception unit for receiving a touch signal generated by the user;

a memory unit for storing a user preference corresponding to the touch signal; and

an input control unit for reading the user preference corresponding to the touch signal, received through the touch signal reception unit, from the memory unit.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the preference input module comprises:

a voice reception unit for receiving the user'"'"'s voice;

a memory unit for storing a user preference corresponding to a pattern of the voice; and

an input control unit for patterning the voice received through the voice reception unit, and reading the user preference corresponding to the voice pattern from the memory unit.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the preference input module comprises:

a motion recognition unit for receiving the user'"'"'s motion;

a memory unit for storing a user preference corresponding to a pattern of the motion; and

an input control unit for patterning the motion received through the motion recognition unit, and reading the user preference corresponding to the motion pattern from the memory unit.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the user preference stored in the memory unit is classified as one of grades, and is then stored.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein the image path database classifies a storage path of the image, output through the image output module, as one of grades based on a level of the user preference output through the input control unit

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of the image output module and the preference input module is connected via a wired or wireless connection.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the database further comprises a database control unit for deleting an image, stored in the database, based on the user preference received through the preference input module.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein the database control unit stores the images, whose storage paths are stored in the image path database, in another database and stores the storage paths of the images, which are stored in another database, in the image path database.

18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the user preference stored in the memory unit is classified as one of grades, and is then stored.

19. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the user preference stored in the memory unit is classified as one of grades, and is then stored.

11. A method of managing images based on user preferences, the method comprising:

an image storage step of storing images in a database;

an image search step of searching the images stored in the image storage step;

an image output step of outputting at least one image retrieved at the image search step;

a user preference input step of receiving a user preference for the output image from a user; and

an image path storage step of storing a storage path of the image output at the image output step and determined to correspond to the user preference received at the user preference input step;

wherein the image search step comprises searching images whose storage paths are stored in the image path database or images whose storage paths are not stored in the image path database according to the user'"'"'s selection.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the image search step comprises randomly searching the images stored at the image storage step.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the user preference input step comprises classifying the user preference as one of grades and then receiving it.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the image path storage step comprises classifying a storage path of the image, output at the image output step, as one of the grades based on a level of the user preference input at the user preference input step and then storing it.

15. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the image path storage step further comprises an image deletion step of deleting a storage path corresponding to a specific grade from image storage paths classified into the grades and then deleting an image having the deleted storage path.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the image deletion step further comprises a re-performance selection step for receiving an input of the user as to whether to repeatedly perform the image search step and then repeatedly performing or terminating the image search step based on the received input.

17. The method as set forth in claim 11, further comprises an image re-storage step of sending the image whose storage path is stored at the image path storage step to another database and then storing the storage path in another database again.

20. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein the user preference input step comprises classifying the user preference as one of grades and then receiving it.

21. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein the image path storage step comprises classifying a storage path of the image, output at the image output step, as one of the grades based on a level of the user preference input at the user preference input step and then storing it.

22. The method as set forth in claim 20, wherein the image path storage step further comprises an image deletion step of deleting a storage path corresponding to a specific grade from image storage paths classified into the grades and then deleting an image having the deleted storage path.