Mobile device access of location specific images from a remote database

• US 9,239,849 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2011
• Issued: 01/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Forutanpour, Babak, Gooding, Ted R., Bednar, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): PHUONG, DAI
• Application Number:
  US13/155,835
• Publication Number:
  US 20120315884A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,686 Days
• Field of Search: 455/406, 455/414.2, 4554561-4563, 455/457, 348/158, 348/143, 348/184
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 16/587 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for identifying images to a user. Mobile devices are used to provide position information that may be used to identify a set of images associated with the position information. The position information may include location, ordinal direction, and orientation information of the mobile device, all of which can be used to identify an object or location where a user of the mobile device desires an image. A data store of images is queried to identify a set of images having location information similar to that provided by the mobile device. Images from the set of images are provided to the user, such as through a display at the mobile device and/or a separate system such as a personal computer of the user. A user may select one or more images for local storage, in some cases making a payment for the received image.

Claims

1. A method for identifying images using a wireless mobile device, comprising:

receiving a set of data from the mobile device comprising position information including location information, an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane, and an ordinal direction of the mobile device; and

identifying a set of images associated with the received position information from a data store of images, wherein identifying the set of images comprises selecting images from the data store of images based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of data further comprises a timestamp including a date and time associated with the position information, and wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken at a time similar to the time of the timestamp.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of images includes one or more images from other locations in a vicinity of the location information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

transmitting other location information associated with the set of images to the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transmitting comprises:

transmitting directions usable by a user of the mobile device to move to one of the other locations.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein identifying the set of images is based on position information received from other mobile devices in the vicinity of the location information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the received position information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the set of images comprises identifying a plurality of images from times different than a time of receipt of the set of data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of images include images associated with the position information in chronological order.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the transmitting further comprises transmitting audio associated with the chronological order of the images.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device includes an image capture module, and wherein the receiving further includes receiving a captured image from the image capture module, and wherein the identifying the set of images is further based on the captured image.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the set of images to a user of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the set of images comprises transmitting one or more images to one or more of a personal video recorder, personal computer, social networking account, or mobile device associated with the user of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the set of images comprises transmitting a set of low resolution images to the user of the mobile device, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a selection of one or more of the set of low resolution images; and

transmitting full resolution images of the one or more selected images.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of low resolution images include cost information, and receiving the selection comprises receiving payment of the cost of the selected one or more image.

16. An apparatus for identifying images to a user of a wireless mobile device, comprising:

a network interface module configured to;

receive a set of data from the mobile device comprising position information including location information, an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane, and an ordinal direction of the mobile device;

an image database comprising a plurality of images having associated position information;

an image identification module communicatively coupled with the network interface module and image database, and configured to identify a set of images in the image database that correspond to the received position information and to select images from the image database based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the received position information.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the set of data further comprises a timestamp including a date and time associated with the position information, and wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken at a time similar to the time of the timestamp.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the set of images includes one or more images from other locations in a vicinity of the location information.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the image identification module is further configured to transmit other location information associated with the set of images to the mobile device.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the network interface module is further configured to receive at least a second set of data from a second mobile device, and wherein the image identification module is further configured to identify the set of images based on position information received from the second mobile device.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the set of images comprises a plurality of images from times different than a time of receipt of the set of data.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the plurality of images include images associated with the position information in chronological order.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the image identification module is further configured to transmit audio associated with the chronological order.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the network interface module is further configured to receive a captured image from an image capture device associated with the mobile device, and wherein the image identification module is further configured to identify the set of images based on the captured image.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the network interface module is further configured to receive an image from an image capture device associated with the mobile device, and store the received image in the image database.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the image database, when an image is stored, is configured to remove images based on one or more of an age of the image, a number of downloads of the image, and a total number of similar images contained in the image database.

28. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the image identification module is further configured to transmit information related to the set of images to the user of the mobile device.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the information related to the set of images comprises a set of thumbnail images, and wherein the network interface module is further configured to receive a selection of one or more of the images, and wherein the image identification module is further configured to transmit full resolution images of the one or more selected images.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the information related to the set of images further comprises cost information, and the network interface module is further configured to receive a payment of the cost of the selected one or more image.

31. A method for identifying images using a wireless mobile device, comprising:

transmitting, from the mobile device, a set of data comprising position information including location information, an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane, and an ordinal direction of the mobile device; and

receiving identification of a set of images associated with the transmitted position information, wherein the set of images comprises images selected from a data store of images based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the transmitted position information.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the set of data further comprises a timestamp including a date and time associated with the position information, and wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken at a time similar to the time of the timestamp.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising receiving, at the mobile device, information related to a second location in a vicinity of the location information of the mobile device, corresponding to one or more images in the set of images.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the set of images comprises a plurality of images from times different than a time of transmission of the set of data.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising displaying, at the mobile device, the plurality of images in chronological order.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising playing, at the mobile device, audio associated with the plurality of images.

38. The method of claim 31, further comprising receiving, at the mobile device, a set of low resolution images corresponding to the set of images, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a selection of one or more of the images;

transmitting full resolution images of the one or more selected images; and

capturing an image from an image capture module of the mobile device when the selection of one or more of the images is not received.

39. A mobile device, comprising:

a positioning module configured to determine a location, an ordinal direction, and an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane; and

a controller module communicatively coupled to the positioning module that is configured to transmit a set of data comprising position information including location information, the orientation of the mobile device, and the ordinal direction of the mobile device, and further configured to receive identification of a set of images associated with the transmitted position information from a data store of images, wherein the set of images comprises images selected from the data store of images based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

40. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the controller module is further configured to monitor an output of the positioning module and transmit the set of data when a predefined motion of the mobile device is detected.

41. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the controller module is further configured to receive configuration information related to the mobile device that identifies a particular portion of the mobile device as the front of the mobile device, and wherein the controller module is further configured to transmit the orientation of the mobile device and the ordinal direction of the mobile device based on the configuration information.

42. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the transmitted position information.

43. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the controller module is further configured to receive information related to a second location in a vicinity of the location of the mobile device, corresponding to one or more images in the set of images.

44. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the set of images comprises a plurality of images from times different than a time of transmission of the set of data, and the mobile device further comprises a display configured to display the plurality of images in chronological order.

45. The mobile device of claim 39, wherein the controller module is further configured to receive one or more images of the set of images independently of a request from a user to receive the one or more images.

46. A system for identifying images using a wireless mobile device, comprising:

means for receiving a set of data from the mobile device comprising position information including location information, an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane, and an ordinal direction of the mobile device; and

means for identifying a set of images associated with the received position information from a data store of images, wherein identifying the set of images comprises selecting images from the data store of images based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the received position information.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the set of images includes one or more images from other locations in a vicinity of the location information that may be of interest to a user of the mobile device.

49. The system of claim 46, wherein the means for identifying the set of images comprises means for identifying a plurality of images from times different than a time of receipt of the set of data.

50. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoding a computer program product comprising:

code for receiving a set of data from a mobile device comprising position information including location information, an orientation of the mobile device indicating an amount of upward or downward orientation relative to a horizontal plane, and an ordinal direction of the mobile device; and

code for identifying a set of images associated with the received position information from a data store of images, wherein identifying the set of images comprises selecting images from the data store of images based at least in part on a number of access requests for the images and at least one of a cost for download of the images, a resolution of the images, or a source of the images.

51. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the set of images includes one or more images taken by a device having position information similar to the received position information.

52. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the set of images includes one or more images from other locations in a vicinity of the location information.

53. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the code for identifying the set of images comprises code for identifying a plurality of images from times different than a time of receipt of the set of data.