Imaging service for automating the display of images

• US 8,407,595 B1
• Filed: 08/11/2000
• Issued: 03/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Edwards, Eric, Jonach, Kurt, Tree, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Linh K
• Application Number:
  US09/637,120
• Time in Patent Office: 4,610 Days
• Field of Search: 715730-732, 715719-721, 715/712, 715/716, 715/723, 345/726, 345/730, 345/716, 345/723, 345/731, 345/732, 345/719, 345/720, 345/721
• US Class Current: 715/730
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/4393 Multimedia presentations, e.g. slide shows, multimedia albums
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77

Abstract

An imaging service creates a visual presentation. The imaging service accesses images of a location, arranges them such that they create a desired visual effect when displayed, and combines them in a visual presentation. The imaging service may employ a client/server system, in which case images and information are uploaded from a client, and the visual presentation is downloaded to the client. The imaging service may also receive compensation from a computer user for using the imaging service.

Claims

1. A method for displaying images comprising:

specifying at least one source of a plurality of sources from which to access a plurality of presentation images to be displayed in a visual presentation, the plurality of sources including a remote source and a local source;

accessing a plurality of presentation images from the one or more specified sources by a server, one or more of the plurality of presentation images having inconsistent presentation attributes;

arranging the plurality of presentation images by the server according to at least one characteristic provided by a client;

organizing the plurality of presentation images in the visual presentation by the server, wherein organizing includes automatically modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images to have consistent presentation attributes, wherein modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images includes modifying exposure of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images to be consistent;

requesting and receiving compensation from the client before the visual presentation is sent to the client, an amount of compensation varies depending on which sources of the plurality of sources are accessed to retrieve the plurality of presentation images, where the remote source is more expensive to access than the local source; and

transmitting the visual presentation from the server to the client.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting the at least one characteristic being from the group consisting of a distance, a perspective, a magnification, and an angle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein prior to accessing the plurality of presentation images, the method further comprises:

specifying how quickly the visual presentation zooms in or out if the distance or magnification characteristic from the group is selected.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein prior to accessing the plurality of presentation images, the method further comprises:

specifying how quickly the visual presentation pans around a location if the perspective or angle characteristic from the group is selected.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images includes modifying size for the one or more of the plurality of presentation images to be consistent.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the images are digitalized images captured by a digital camera.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of presentation images comprises:

uploading the plurality of presentation images from the client, the client being the local source.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of presentation images comprises:

loading the plurality of presentation images from a database, the database being the remote source.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of presentation images comprises:

uploading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from the client, the client being the local source; and

loading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from a database, the database being the remote source.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the plurality of presentation images comprises:

loading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium being one of the one or more specified sources.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

saving the visual presentation on a computer-readable medium.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the specifying from the at least one source of the plurality of sources comprises:

sending a web page to the client, the web page identifying parameters that are used for accessing the plurality of presentation images.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to accessing the plurality of presentation images, the method further comprises:

specifying whether the visual presentation appears in black-and-white or color.

14. A first non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a processor of a server to create a visual presentation by performing operations comprising:

determining one or more sources of a plurality of sources from which to access a plurality of presentation images, the plurality of sources including a remote source and a local source;

accessing the plurality of presentation images from the one or more specified sources, the plurality of presentation images having inconsistent presentation attributes;

arranging the plurality of presentation images according to characteristics preselected by a client, the characteristics including at least three of a distance, a perspective, a magnification, and an angle;

organizing the plurality of presentation images in the visual presentation, wherein organizing includes automatically modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images to have consistent presentation attributes, wherein modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images includes modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes including an exposure; and

requesting and receiving compensation from the client before the visual presentation is sent to the client, an amount of compensation varies depending on which sources of the plurality of sources are accessed to retrieve the plurality of presentation images, where the remote source is more expensive to access than the local source.

15. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the at least three characteristics includes the magnification if the visual presentation is to zoom away from a location.

16. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images includes modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes including a size and a color.

17. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

accessing an address for a location.

18. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

accessing location coordinates for a location.

19. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

accessing additional information, wherein the additional information is viewing preferences are selected by the client and affect the appearance of the visual presentation.

20. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

uploading the plurality of presentation images from the client, the client being the local source.

21. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

loading the plurality of presentation images from a database, the database being the remote source.

22. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

uploading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from the client, the client being the local source; and

loading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from a database, the database being the remote source.

23. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

loading at least one of the plurality of presentation images from a second computer-readable medium.

24. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

sending the visual presentation to the client.

25. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

saving the visual presentation on a second computer-readable medium.

26. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

specifying how quickly the visual presentation zooms in or out if the distance or magnification characteristic from the group is selected.

27. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

specifying how quickly the visual presentation pans around a location if the perspective or angle characteristic from the group is selected.

28. The first non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 having computer-executable instructions further comprising:

specifying whether the visual presentation appears in black-and-white or color.

29. A computerized system comprising:

means for accessing a plurality of presentation images from at least one source of a plurality of sources, the plurality of sources including a source remotely located from the computerized system and a source local to the computerized system;

means for receiving information identifying characteristics to produce a visual presentation from a client, the characteristics including a distance and a magnification;

means for arranging the presentation images according to the characteristics provided by the client;

means for organizing the plurality of presentation images in the visual presentation, wherein organizing includes automatically modifying inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images to have consistent presentation attributes;

means for modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images, the presentation attributes including exposure; and

means for receiving compensation from the client before the visual presentation is sent to the client, an amount of compensation varies depending on which sources of a plurality of sources are accessed to retrieve the plurality of presentation images, the source remotely located from the computerized system is more expensive to access than a source local to the computerized system.

30. The computerized system of claim 29 further comprising:

means for modifying at least one of the inconsistent presentation attributes of the plurality of presentation images, the presentation attributes being size.

31. A method for displaying images comprising:

selecting at least one characteristic being from a group including a distance, a perspective, a magnification, and an angle, the selecting being based on information provided by a client;

specifying how quickly a visual presentation zooms in or out if the distance or magnification characteristic from the group is selected;

accessing a plurality of presentation images, one or more of the plurality of presentation images having inconsistent presentation attributes;

arranging the plurality of presentation images by a server according to the at least one characteristic;

organizing the plurality of presentation images in a visual presentation, wherein organizing includes automatically modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images to have consistent presentation attributes, wherein modifying the inconsistent presentation attributes of the one or more of the plurality of presentation images includes modifying exposure for the one or more of the plurality of presentation images to be consistent throughout the plurality of presentation images; and

receiving compensation from the client before the visual presentation is sent to the client, an amount of compensation varies depending on which sources of a plurality of sources are accessed to retrieve the plurality of presentation images, the plurality of sources including a remote source and a local source, where the remote source is more expensive to access than the local source.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein prior to accessing the plurality of presentation images, the method further comprises:

specifying how quickly the visual presentation pans around a location if the perspective or angle characteristic from the group is selected.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein prior to accessing the plurality of presentation images, the method further comprises:

specifying whether the visual presentation appears in black-and-white or color.