U.S. patent application number 12/789525 was filed with the patent office on 2011-12-01 for method for managing privacy of digital images.
Invention is credited to Dustin L. Winters.
Application Number | 20110292230 12/789525 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45021803 |
Filed Date | 2011-12-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110292230 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Winters; Dustin L. |
December 1, 2011 |
METHOD FOR MANAGING PRIVACY OF DIGITAL IMAGES
Abstract
A captured digital image is stored in memory together with
metadata derived from a location signal only if the location
metadata is determined not to be within one or more predefined
exclusion zones. A GPS receiver module can be implemented to obtain
the location signal.
Inventors: |
Winters; Dustin L.;
(Webster, NY) |
Family ID: |
45021803 |
Appl. No.: |
12/789525 |
Filed: |
May 28, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
348/222.1 ;
348/E5.031; 707/705; 707/E17.019 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/00244 20130101;
H04N 1/00132 20130101; H04W 4/021 20130101; G06F 21/60 20130101;
H04N 21/4524 20130101; H04N 1/00172 20130101; H04N 1/00159
20130101; H04N 2201/3274 20130101; H04N 21/84 20130101; H04N 9/8233
20130101; H04N 2201/3278 20130101; H04N 1/00323 20130101; H04N
1/00925 20130101; H04N 2201/0084 20130101; G06F 21/6209 20130101;
H04N 21/42202 20130101; H04N 2201/3253 20130101; H04N 21/485
20130101; H04N 1/00137 20130101; H04N 21/4223 20130101; H04L 63/101
20130101; H04N 1/32101 20130101; H04N 1/00156 20130101; G06F 16/58
20190101; H04L 63/107 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
348/222.1 ;
707/705; 348/E05.031; 707/E17.019 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/228 20060101
H04N005/228; G06F 17/30 20060101 G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A method of recording a digital image including; capturing an
image signal from an image sensor; receiving a location signal
associated with the captured image signal; storing in any of at
least one digital memory a digital image file derived from the
image signal; storing in any of the at least one digital memory
location metadata derived from the location signal for associating
the location metadata with the digital image only if the location
metadata is determined not to be within one or more predefined
exclusion zones.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is contained
within a digital camera device.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one digital memory is
contained within the digital camera and the predefined exclusion
zones are stored in the at least one digital memory.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the digital camera device further
includes a location receiver module and the location signal is
received from the location receiver module.
5. The method of claim 1 further including storing in any of the at
least one digital memory the one or more predefined exclusion
zones.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the digital image file is stored
in any of the at least one digital memory.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein said any of the at least one
digital memory is a removable memory.
8. A method of controlling access to a digital image, comprising:
providing to a processor a digital image stored in one of at least
one digital memory, the digital image logically associated with
capture location data; providing exclusion location data to the
processor, the exclusion location data logically associated with a
receiver; the processor determining a relationship between the
capture location data and the exclusion location data; and
transmitting only the digital image to the receiver if the
determined relationship between the capture location data and the
exclusion location data is of a first type.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of
transmitting both the digital image and the capture location data
to the receiver if the determined relationship between the capture
location data and the exclusion location data is of a second
type.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determined relationship of
the first type comprises determining that the capture location data
defines a location that is within an area defined by the exclusion
location data.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of
providing second exclusion location data to the processor, the
second exclusion location data logically associated with a second
receiver; the processor determining a relationship between the
capture location data and the second exclusion location data; and
transmitting both the digital image and the capture location data
to the second receiver if the determined relationship between the
capture location data and the second exclusion location data is of
a second type.
12. A method for displaying digital images having location metadata
associated therewith, including: retrieving from one of at least
one digital memory a digital image file associated with a first
user; retrieving from any one of the at least one digital memory
geographic location metadata for the digital image file; retrieving
from any one of the at least one digital memory one or more
geographic exclusion zones associated with the first user;
displaying on a display device digital image data from the digital
image file; and displaying on a display device the geographic
location of the digital file only if the geographic location of the
location metadata is not within any of the one or more geographic
exclusion zones.
13. A method for transmitting digital images with location metadata
between a plurality of users including: proving a database having a
plurality of users; receiving a digital image file from a first
user; receiving geographic location metadata for the digital image
file; receiving one or more geographic exclusion zones associated
with the first user; transmitting digital image data of the digital
image file to a second user; and transmitting the geographic
location metadata of the digital file to the second user if the
geographic location of the location metadata is not within any of
the one or more geographic exclusion zones.
14. The method of claim 13 further including displaying the digital
image and any transmitted geographic location metadata of the
digital image file on a digital electronic display device.
15. The method of claim 13 further including storing at least a
portion of the transmitted digital image data and at least a
portion of any transmitted geographic location metadata of the
digital image file on a digital memory device.
16. A method for displaying digital images with location metadata
including; storing in one of at least one digital memory a digital
image file associated with a first user; storing in any of the at
least one digital memory geographic location metadata for the
digital image file; storing one or more geographic exclusion zones
associated with the first user; transmitting digital image data of
the digital image files to a computer associated with a second
user; and transmitting the geographic location metadata of the
digital file to the computer associated with the second user only
if the geographic location of the location metadata is not within
any of the one or more geographic exclusion zones.
17. A method for displaying digital images with location
information including; storing in one of at least one digital
memory a digital image file associated with a first user; storing
in any of the at least one digital memory geographic location
metadata for the digital image file; storing at least one
geographic exclusion zone associated with the first user; storing a
list of users with access rights to the at least one geographic
exclusion zone; transmitting digital image data of the digital
image files to a computer associated with a second user; and
transmitting the geographic location metadata of the digital file
to the computer associated with the second user only if the
geographic location of the location metadata is not within any of
the one or more geographic exclusion zones or if the second user is
among the list of users with access rights to the at least one
geographic exclusion zone.
18. A method comprising: manually defining a region on a digital
display of a geographic map; digitally accessing a digital file for
transmitting the digital file to a receiving device, the digital
file having stored in association therewith digital location data;
transmitting only the digital file without its associated digital
location data to the receiving device if the associated digital
location data is determined to be within the manually defined
region.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] Reference is made to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S.
patent application Ser. No. ______ by Dustin L. Winters (Docket
96311) filed of even date herewith entitled "System For Managing
Privacy Of Digital Images", the disclosure of which is incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a method for managing a
collection of digital image files.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Today, through use of digital cameras, consumers are able to
easily capture and store large collections of personal digital
images. These image collections can be stored either locally on a
personal computing device or stored remotely on an online
photo-management service such as Kodak Gallery, which are capable
of maintaining digital image collections for a large number of
users and enable users to share their digital images with other
users via the interne.
[0004] Digital images are composed of pixel data which is used to
render a two dimensional digital image on an electronic display or
in printed hard copy form. In addition to pixel data, digital
images often further include metadata which is data related to and
associated with the digital image. Metadata is often useful for
organizing and searching of digital images. Some metadata can be
provided automatically when the image is first captured by a
digital camera device, such as for example, capture date and time
metadata. Other types of metadata may include metadata entered by
the user such as a caption or `favorite` designation. Other types
of metadata may be provided by photo-management software such as a
last edited date and time. Another example of metadata is people
tag metadata identifying one or more people appearing in the
digital image. People tag metadata can be entered either manually
by a user or automatically by photo-management software, for
example by using facial recognition algorithms.
[0005] Another type of metadata which can be associated with
digital images is location metadata, such as longitude and latitude
coordinate metadata. Location metadata may similarly be provided at
the time the image is captured, for example by a digital camera
device with a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor. Alternately,
a user may manually enter location metadata at some time after the
image has been captured. Location metadata is also useful for
organizing a collection of digital images. For example, commonly
assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,146 describes a graphical user
interface (GUI) system for browsing and retrieving digital images
by location. This patent is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
[0006] However, some users do not always want their digital images
to include location metadata. Particularly, a user may wish to not
include location metadata when sharing digital image files with
other users or when publishing digital images publicly, for example
on an internet website. Users might, for example, want to publish
an image captured at their home, but not necessarily provide the
precise latitude and longitude coordinates of their home
address.
[0007] In order to address this concern, some GPS-enabled cameras
provide the ability to disable the location metadata feature so
that metadata is not automatically saved every time a picture is
captured. However, if the user wants some digital images to include
the location metadata and others to not include the location
metadata, the user must remember to turn on and off this setting
prior to taking each picture. Alternately, the user may use
photo-management software currently available to remove the
location metadata prior to sharing or publishing each digital
image. However, the user must also remember to do this and may not
always be aware which digital images in his or her collection
include such location metadata. Alternately, some photo-management
services allow a user to specify privacy based on which other users
can view location metadata for one or more pictures. However, the
user must again actively manage which photos have location
information shared for each image or group of images where the user
wishes to have privacy. As a result, these known methods of
addressing the privacy concern with location metadata can result in
some images undesirably being shared or published with location
metadata or some images undesirably captured without location
metadata. An improved system for managing the privacy of digital
images having location metadata is therefore desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a
method of storing a digital image including capturing an image
signal from an image sensor and receiving a location signal
associated with the captured image signal. A digital image file
derived from the image signal is stored in memory. Metadata derived
from the location signal is stored in association with the digital
image only if the location metadata is determined not to be within
one or more predefined exclusion zones. A GPS receiver module can
be implemented to obtain the location signal. The exclusion zones
are also stored in a memory apparatus. Alternatively, the digital
image is stored in a second digital memory different from the
memory storing the exclusion zones. The digital memory can be
removable memory.
[0009] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes a method of controlling access to a digital image
comprising providing to a system processor a digital image stored
in a digital memory, wherein the digital image is logically
associated with capture location data. Exclusion location data is
also provided to the processor, which is logically associated with
a receiver. The processor then determines a relationship between
the capture location data and the exclusion location data, and
transmits the digital image and the capture location data to the
receiver if the determined relationship between the capture
location data and the exclusion location data is of a first type.
Second exclusion location data provided to the processor can be
treated differently if the processor determined relationship
between the capture location data and the second exclusion location
data indicates that the relationship is of a second type. In that
case, only the digital image will be transmitted. In the context of
a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a receiver is
typically a requesting node but need not be a source of a request.
Similarly, the receiver can be indirectly associated with a
requesting user, a "requestor," communicating a request message
over the network. The request may originate elsewhere in the
network, by a separate requestor, and identify another node as a
receiver of the digital image. A node can include a computer, a
communication device, or a human user at the network node who is
using the computer or communication device. Thus, it should be
noted that the receiving node can be the same node as the
requesting node or it can be a different node.
[0010] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes a method for displaying digital images having location
metadata associated therewith. The method includes retrieving from
a memory a digital image file associated with a first user and
geographic location metadata for the digital image file. Then,
geographic exclusion zones associated with the first user are
retrieved from the memory. Displaying digital image data from the
digital image file depends on whether the geographic location of
the location metadata is not within any of the one or more
geographic exclusion zones.
[0011] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes a method for transmitting digital images with location
metadata between a plurality of users including proving a database
having a plurality of users, receiving a digital image file from a
first user, receiving geographic location metadata for the digital
image file, receiving one or more geographic exclusion zones
associated with the first user, transmitting digital image data to
a second user, and transmitting the geographic location metadata of
the digital file to the second user if the geographic location of
the location metadata is not within any of the one or more
geographic exclusion zones. At least a portion of the transmitted
digital image data and at least a portion of any transmitted
geographic location metadata of the digital image file can be
stored on a digital electronic storage memory device.
[0012] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes a method for displaying digital images with location
metadata, including storing in an electronic memory a digital image
file associated with a first user, storing in an electronic memory
geographic location metadata for the digital image file, storing
one or more geographic exclusion zones associated with the first
user, transmitting digital image data to a computer associated with
a second user, and transmitting the geographic location metadata of
the digital file to the computer associated with the second user
only if the geographic location of the location metadata is not
within any of the one or more geographic exclusion zones.
[0013] Another preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes a method for displaying digital images with location
information, including storing in an electronic memory a digital
image file associated with a first user, storing geographic
location metadata for the digital image file, storing at least one
geographic exclusion zone associated with the first user, storing a
list of users with access rights to the at least one geographic
exclusion zone, transmitting digital image data to a computer
associated with a second user, and transmitting the geographic
location metadata of the digital file to the computer associated
with the second user only if the geographic location of the
location metadata is not within any of the one or more geographic
exclusion zones or if the second user is among the list of users
with access rights to the at least one geographic exclusion
zone.
[0014] These, and other, aspects and objects of the present
invention will be better appreciated and understood when considered
in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying
drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following
description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present
invention and numerous specific details thereof, is given by way of
illustration and not of limitation. For example, the summary
descriptions above are not meant to describe individual separate
embodiments whose elements are not interchangeable. In fact, many
of the elements described as related to a particular embodiment can
be used together with, and possibly interchanged with, elements of
other described embodiments. Many changes and modifications may be
made within the scope of the present invention without departing
from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such
modifications. The figures below are intended to be drawn neither
to any precise scale with respect to relative size, angular
relationship, or relative position nor to any combinational
relationship with respect to interchangeability, substitution, or
representation of an actual implementation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the comments and
systems of a digital camera device for use with the present
invention;
[0016] FIG. 2 is an illustration of the network system for
communication between devices of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 3 is an illustration of a graphical user interface for
entering exclusion zones according to the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a process for sharing digital
image files according to a first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a process for sharing digital
image files according to a second embodiment of the present
invention;
[0020] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for sharing digital
image files according to a third embodiment of the present
invention;
[0021] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a graphical user interface for
displaying location metadata of digital images in a map format
zones according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] In the following description, some embodiments of the
present invention will be described in terms that would ordinarily
be implemented as software programs. Those skilled in the art will
readily recognize that the equivalent of such software may also be
constructed in electronic hardware. Because image manipulation
algorithms and systems are well known, the present description will
be directed in particular to algorithms and systems forming part
of, or cooperating more directly with, the method in accordance
with the present invention. Other aspects of such algorithms and
systems, together with hardware and software for producing and
otherwise processing the image signals involved therewith, not
specifically shown or described herein may be selected from such
systems, algorithms, components, and elements known in the art.
Given the system as described according to the invention in the
following, software not specifically shown, suggested, or described
herein that is useful for implementation of the invention is
conventional and within the ordinary skill in such arts.
[0023] A computer program product can include one or more storage
media, for example; magnetic storage media such as magnetic disk
(such as a floppy disk) or magnetic tape; optical storage media
such as optical disk, optical tape, or machine readable bar code;
solid-state electronic storage devices such as random access memory
(RAM), or read-only memory (ROM); or any other physical device or
media employed to store a computer program having instructions for
controlling one or more computers to practice the method according
to the present invention.
[0024] The invention is inclusive of combinations of the
embodiments described herein. References to "a particular
embodiment" and the like refer to features that are present in at
least one embodiment of the invention. Separate references to "an
embodiment" or "particular embodiments" or the like do not
necessarily refer to the same embodiment or embodiments; however,
such embodiments are not mutually exclusive, unless so indicated or
as are readily apparent to one of skill in the art. The use of
singular or plural in referring to the "method" or "methods" and
the like is not limiting. It should be noted that, unless otherwise
explicitly noted or required by context, the word "or" is used in
this disclosure in a non-exclusive sense.
[0025] The term digital image is used herein to include still
digital image files or video digital image files. Digital images
may further be arranged into groups such as albums or events. These
still digital image files, video digital image files, album groups,
and event groups, are collectively referred to herein as digital
image assets. Each of these types of digital image assets may have
associated metadata entered by the user or automatically provided
by a capture device or otherwise provided by photo-management
software. For example, an album or event collection of digital
images may have metadata which describes the digital images
contained within that collection. Such metadata is considered as
being associated with the album or event collection and therefore
also associated with each of the still digital image files and
video digital associated with that album or event collection.
[0026] The present invention uses location metadata. Location
metadata can take a variety of forms including geographical
longitude and latitude coordinates. Location metadata can also take
other forms such as a street address or a place name (i.e.
"Rochester, N.Y.", "Yankee Stadium", etc. . . . ). Location
metadata can also take other forms such as the identity of a nearby
fixed point such as a network node, cellular communication tower,
Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter, or the like.
[0027] The preferred embodiments of the present invention operate
as part of, or in connection with, a multi-user online
photo-management service. On-line photo-management services enable
users to share digital images over a network such as the internet.
Such photo-management services store digital images on a network
server. Photo-management services may also optionally provide the
user with the ability to order hardcopy prints or other photo goods
(such as photobooks, calendars, greeting cards, mugs, t-shirts, and
the like), although this capability is not required to successfully
practice the present invention. Kodak Gallery is an example of
online photo-management service currently available. Several of the
methods of the present invention can also be applied to on-line
social network services that enable users to upload and share
collections of digital media assets with other users. Such social
networking services which enable users to manage and share digital
media assets are herein also considered to be an online
photo-management service. With such a social networking website,
each individual user has an associated online account that can be
linked to accounts for other users known to the user. When users
upload digital media assets to their respective accounts, other
users who are identified as "friends" or who are within a common
"network" with the uploading user can view the digital media
assets, depending on any additional sharing or privacy
restrictions. In some cases, the users of such social network sites
or online photo-management services have the option to manually tag
the digital media assets with metadata which identifies persons
contained in the digital media assets, although this ability is
also not required for successful implementation of the present
invention.
[0028] In the preferred embodiments, the online photo-management
service includes at least one network server, connected and
accessible via the internet by means of a Uniform Resource Locator
(URL). Alternately, the online photo-management service can be
supplied by way of a personal network or intranet or another
private, non-public, or privately managed network system such as a
cellular telephone network. Alternately, one skilled in the art may
apply the present invention to a service that operates over a
distributed or peer-to-peer collection of servers or file-sharing
programs and devices.
[0029] In the preferred embodiments, the photo-management service
server(s) includes a central processing unit (processor) for
executing instructions and a network interface unit for interfacing
with a communication network such as the internet. The server also
includes a user database for storing information, including access
information such as a username and password, for a plurality of
users. The photo-management service preferably further includes one
or more non-volatile digital storage memory devices, such as hard
disk drives, for storing a plurality of digital images provided by
the users. The photo-management service further preferably includes
an image database for managing metadata associated with the digital
images as well as for information about users of the
photo-management service. The user database or image database may
include data written on the non-volatile digital storage memory
devices.
[0030] One skilled in the art will understand that the user
database and image database could be constructed as a plurality of
database tables in single database or from a plurality of connected
databases. The database(s) could be stored on a single hard drive
or multiple hard drives, or could operate on the one or more
servers. Preferably the database(s) operate using Structured Query
Language (SQL) which is presently available in many commercial
products, such as the MySQL software, or the like. Alternately, one
skilled in the art can construct the database search and retrieval
functionality in custom software and can store the database
information in one or more computer files. Such custom data storage
and retrieval programs are considered a type of database for
purposes of the present invention.
[0031] Each user accesses the online photo-management service by
way of an access device. A wide variety of access devices for
connecting to online services which are currently available can be
employed, including, but not limited to; a personal computer (PC)
with a modem or network card, a mobile phone with internet access,
a digital camera device with internet access, a digital photo frame
with internet access, a video gaming counsel with internet access,
a set-top box or digital media player device with internet access,
or the like. The access device preferably includes; a central
processing unit (processor) for executing instructions, a volatile
memory for use by the processor, a network interface unit, an input
device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen, a remote
control, a pointer device or the like, and a display device, for
example an LCD screen, or display output connection for outputting
to an external display device. The user access device may also
optionally include an image sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD type
image sensor array, for capturing digital images as well as a
non-volatile storage memory such as a flash memory or magnetic hard
disk or the like for storing digital image files.
[0032] Each user is provided a user account on the photo-management
service having an associated user name and password. The user is
considered the `owner` of this account and is provided with
privileges to specify account settings for that account. The user
is also provided with access to information, such as the digital
images, associated with the accounts owned by other users as will
be described in further detail below.
[0033] Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram detailing the
internal components of a mobile electronic digital camera 100 for
use with the present invention will be described. The digital
camera 100 includes a central processor 110. The processor may be
constructed using a single application specific integrated circuit
(ASIC) or a plurality of ASIC's connected together to execute the
processing instructions and functionality of the camera as
described herein. The processor 110 executes one or more of the
instructions associated with the steps of the method described in
more detail below. The digital camera 100 further preferably
includes removable memory card 120. The removable memory card 120
is constructed with a non-volatile memory such as flash memory.
Removable memory card 120 is in electrical communication with
processor 110 and serves to store digital images captured by the
digital camera. Digital camera includes internal storage memory 125
which is also preferably also of a non-volatile memory type such as
flash memory, but may be chosen from various types of internal
storage memory such as a magnetic hard-drive. Internal storage
memory 125 is preferably integral to the digital camera 100 device
and not removable by the user. Internal storage memory 125 serves
to save setting information including settings related to the user,
the camera, a network connection, and the like. Internal storage
memory 125 may also serve to store digital images captured by the
digital camera, particularly at times when the removable memory
card 120 has been removed, is full, or is otherwise unavailable.
Digital camera 100 further includes an internal memory 130,
preferably constructed of a volatile memory such as Dynamic Random
Access Memory (DRAM). Internal memory 130 is in electrical
communication with processor 110 and is used by processor 110 for
storing data while executing instructions according the methods of
the current invention. Digital camera 100 further includes an
electronic display 140 for displaying digital images and other
information to a user. Electronic display 140 is preferably a
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) type display and is in electrical
communication with processor 110. The electronic display is
preferably also coupled to a touch screen sensor. Alternately or in
combination, other type of input devices such as a joy-stick
controller (not shown) may be employed. Digital camera 100 also
preferably includes an audio speaker 150 for communicating audio
information to the user. Audio speaker 150 is in electrical
communication with processor 110. Digital camera 100 further
includes image sensor 160 for capturing and digitizing photographic
images. Image sensor 160 is preferably of the Complimentary Metal
Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor type or Charge Couple
Device (CCD) type. Image sensor 160 is in electrical communication
with processor 110 and transmits the digitized images to the
processor. Digital camera 100 further includes Global Positioning
System (GPS) receiver module 170 which receives location data from
the global positioning system. GPS receiver module 170 is in
electrical communication with processor 110 and transmits the
location data to processor 110 for use in executing the
instructions of the methods of the present invention. As such, the
GPS module of this embodiment can be any type of location receiver
module that detects a location based on a signal transmitted from
the GPS Satellite system. Alternate types of location receiver
modules adapted to receive location signals from other sources may
also be used with the present invention. Digital camera 100
preferably further includes network communication module 180 for
communicating with an electronic communication network such as a
WiFi network or a cellular network. Network communication module
180 is in electrical communication with processor 110 and sends and
receives information to the processor for executing instructions
according to the methods of the present invention. Processor 110,
removable memory card 120, internal memory 130, display 140, audio
speaker 150, image sensor 160, GPS receiver module 170, and network
communication module 180 are components currently available and one
skilled in the art may select and configure such components to
successfully practice the present invention.
[0034] Turning now to FIG. 2, the figure shows an illustration of a
communications device according to multiple embodiments of the
present invention. Digital camera 100 is in communication with
network 200, such as the internet using the network communication
module described above. Communication to the network may be
achieved through the use of a network service provider (not shown).
Online photo-management service 300 is also in communication with
the network 200. Online photo-management service 300 includes one
or more servers having processor(s) 320 (central processing units)
and at least one storage memory 330, such as a magnetic hard disk,
for executing server programs and functions, for receiving and
transmitting network communications, for storing digital images
files, metadata, other user information, as well as any HTML and
PHP files needed to access the service. Online photo-management
service 300 includes a database 310 for managing a plurality of
users and associated digital image files. Database 300 preferably
includes a plurality of tables for managing users and digital
images files as will be described in more detail below. Digital
camera 100 can transmit digital images to the online
photo-management service 300 by way of network 200.
[0035] One or more computer access devices, such as computer access
device 400, may also access the online photo-management service 300
by way of network 200 in order to access digital images stored
there. The computer access device also includes a processor 410, or
central processing unit (CPU), and preferably includes its own
storage memory 420, such as a hard drive. The computer access
device 400 also includes a digital electronic display device 430
which can be of the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) type or the like
for the displaying of digital images and graphic user interfaces.
The computer access device also includes a network interface unit
(not shown) such as a network interface card or wireless network
adaptor for connecting to network 200.
[0036] Turning now to FIG. 3, a graphic user interface 500
according to the present invention is shown and will now be
described with continued reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Graphic
user interface is provided to enable the user to enter one or more
geographic exclusion zones according to the present invention.
Graphic user interface 500 may be generated in the digital camera
100 and displayed on the display 140 of the digital camera. In an
alternate embodiment the graphic user interface 500 may be
generated by the online photo-management service 300 and made
available to a user over network 200 through, for example, a
web-browser interface. In yet another alternate embodiment, the
graphic user interface may be generated by software loaded on to a
personal computer which is either connected to digital camera 100
directly, can receive removable memory cards from digital camera
100, or can communicate with digital camera through a network such
as computer access device 400 connected to network 200.
[0037] Graphic user interface 500 contains a map region 510. Map
region 510 displays maps which may be either preloaded into memory
or may be downloaded from an online map service provider over the
network. Graphic user interface 500 also contains several controls
to enable the user to navigate to different locations such as
scroll arrows 520, zoom in and out controls 530, pan control 540,
and location search input box 550. The graphic user interface 500
enables the user to designate one or more exclusion zones such as
exclusion zone 560a, for example designated around the user's home,
and exclusion zone 560b for example designated around a nearby
school. Exclusion zones may be designated at varying sizes and
shapes and it is not necessary that all exclusions be visible
simultaneously on the map region 510. Designation control 570a,
designation control 570b, and designation control 570c are
exemplary controls for designating round, rectangular, and
free-form shaped exclusion zones respectively. The user selects one
of these controls and the draws the exclusion zone on the map
region 510 using an input device, such as a touch screen or the
like. Deletion control 570x is provided to enable the user to
delete previously created exclusion zones as desired.
[0038] In order to facilitate the entering of rectangular or
free-form shaped exclusion zones, it is preferable that the map
region 510 be made to display a flat representation of the Earth,
without wrapping around the 180 degree meridian including the north
and south pole. For example, the map region will not scroll `up`
past the north pole, `down` past the south pole, or left or right
past the 180 degree meridian. In this way, there is no ambiguity as
to which area specified by the user is the `inside` area versus the
`outside` area for free-form shapes. This map arrangement will be
referred to herein as a "non-wrapping map" arrangement. This
further facilitates later calculations when determining whether a
given point is inside or outside the exclusion zone. Alternately, a
continuous globe shaped map region may be used. This alternate
arrangement will be referred to herein as a "wrapping globe
arrangement". In this case, the user should be asked as to which
region is the inside of the region, for example, by asking the user
to select a point within the region. Even in this case, it is
preferable that no side of the polygon be allowed to exceed half of
the circumference of the Earth.
[0039] Turning now to FIG. 4 and with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG.
3, a first embodiment of the present invention will now be
described. In this first embodiment, digital camera 100 stores a
list of exclusion zones in internal storage memory 125. The
exclusion zones are created using graphic user interface 500 as
previously discussed. This can be done either on the camera using
the camera display 140 and processor 110, or on a personal computer
or on the photo-management service and loaded onto digital camera
100. The resulting exclusion zones are preferably stored in a table
in internal storage memory 125. This table is illustrated here as
table 1:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 In-Camera Exclusion Zone List Table ZoneID
Caption CenterPoint Radius NW SE Freeform 1 Home 43.152421,
-77.579979 5 2 School 43.157980, -77.601628 3.5 3 Grandma's House
43.204381, -77635504 43.201842, -77.626791 4 Work 43.161828,
-77.620030; 43.158682, -77.615778; 43.156601, -77.620723;
43.159040, -77.623894
The example of table 1 shown here is populated with four exemplary
records of data for purpose of illustration. The exclusion zone
list table includes a "ZoneID" primary key field for uniquely
identifying each exclusion zone. The table also includes a
"Caption" field to allow the user to identify each exclusion zone.
The "CenterPoint" field and "Radius" field are used to store the
center-point geographic coordinates of exclusion zones defined
using designation control 570a. Alternately, the "NW" and "SE"
fields are used to define the northwest and southeast coordinates
of a rectangular exclusion zone defined using designation control
570b. Finally, the "FreeForm" field is used for storing a series of
coordinates of a polygonal shaped exclusion zones defined using
designation control 570c. In the alternate "wrapping globe
arrangement" previously described, the "CenterPoint" field could
also alternately be used for free-form and rectangular exclusion
zones to define a point within the exclusion zone.
[0040] According to the first embodiment of the present invention,
digital camera executes process 600 of FIG. 4 when capturing a
digital image. Process 600 includes step 610 where a digital image
signal is captured using image sensor 160. A location signal for
the captured digital image is read at the time of capture per step
620 using GPS receiver module 170 and is stored in internal memory
130. In step 630 the digital image signal is converted into a
digital image file by processor 110 and stored in memory, such as
removable memory card 120. In step 640 the processor loads the
exclusion zone list shown in table 1 from internal storage memory
125. In step 650 the location signal acquired during step 620 is
compared to each of the exclusion zones loaded during step 640.
[0041] For purposes of determining if the image location is within
a circular exclusion zone, the Haversine formula (see Equation 1
below) for calculating a great circle distance can be used. This
simplified formula ignores altitude or depth, which are also not
recorded as metadata in preferred embodiments thereby reducing the
amount of data which needs to be stored. Therefore, a constant
altitude, such as an approximate sea level is assumed. In this case
the average radius of the Earth of approximately 6367.5 km can be
used. This can result in small in accuracies when calculating
distance, however, such inaccuracies are small enough to be
neglected by the users for purposes of the present invention. The
simplified equation also assumes that the Earth is perfectly
spherical, ignoring the fact that the Earth's radius is slightly
larger at the equator than at the poles. This assumption simplifies
the processing thereby improving speed of the processing and
reduced storage space for the processing instructions. Other known
formulas for calculating distance can be employed by one skilled in
the art, including the spherical law of cosines. Alternately, more
complex embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by
one skilled in the art by recording altitude and accounting for
altitude in the distance equation and/or by using non-spherical
Earth models.
d = 2 .times. R .times. arcsin ( min ( 1 sin 2 ( lat 2 - lat 1 2 )
+ cos ( lat 1 ) .times. cos ( lat 2 ) .times. sin 2 ( lon 2 - lon 1
2 ) ) ) Equation 1 ##EQU00001##
In Equation 1, lat1 and lon1 are the latitude and longitude
respectively of the of the exclusion zone center point, lat2 and
lon2 are the latitude and longitude respectively of the location of
the digital image, and R is the radius of the earth or 6367.5 km.
Longitude and Latitude are preferably converted from degrees to
radians. The minimum ("min") function assures that the arcsine
function is not provided with a value greater than 1. The distance
returned by the equation is compared to the specified radius of the
exclusion zone from table 1 and if less than said radius, the
location is considered to be within the exclusion zone.
[0042] For rectangular exclusion zone, the calculation is simply
determined by whether the longitude of the location of the digital
image is between the longitude of the NW and SE coordinates of the
rectangular exclusion zone and the latitude of the location of the
digital image is between the latitude of the NW and SE coordinates
of the rectangular exclusion zone. It should be noted that these
`rectangular` exclusion zones only appear rectangular when viewed
on a flattened display map but are actually relating curved
geographical surfaces.
[0043] For freeform polygon shaped exclusion zones, determining if
the location is within the polygon can be achieved using known
methods of determining if a point is within a polygon based on the
Jordan curve theorem. These methods involve counting how many edges
of the polygon are crossed by a line starting from the location of
the digital image to a reference point. For the non overlapping map
arrangement previously described, the path between the digital
image location and a reference point at the north pole (90,0) may
be used. Crossing an even number (including zero) of edges
indicates that the location is outside of the exclusion zone, while
crossing an odd number of edges indicates that the location is
within of the exclusion zone. Alternately, for the wrapping globe
arrangement, the number of edges crossed for a line traveling
between the location of the digital image to the reference point
within the exclusion zone will be an even number (including zero)
if the location is within the exclusion zone, or an odd number of
crossing if the location is outside of the exclusion zone.
[0044] For the present invention, the occurrence of an edge
crossing can be determined using the following procedure. Each edge
of the polygon with its starting and ending point forms a great
arc, which is a portion of a great circle around the sphere.
Likewise, the great arc between the image location and the
reference point is a portion of another great circle. The
intersections of these great circles are determined using known
mathematical techniques. This will result in two intersection
points which are antipodal. Next, it is calculated whether either
of these intersection points are contained within both of the great
arcs. Since the polygon sides are preferably limited to less than
half the circumference of the Earth as previously described, only
one of the antipodal intersection points can be on the great arc
path of the edge. One technique for performing this test is to
calculate the great arc distance using the Haversine formula, as
described above, between the great circle intersection point and
the start and end points of each arc. If each of these great arc
distances are less than the total great arc distance of the entire
arc and also less than one half of the circumference of the earth,
then the intersection point lies within the great arc. If the
intersection point is within both great arcs, then that edge is
crossed. In the special case where an intersection point is exactly
equal to a polygon vertex, then it is unknown as to whether the
image location to reference point line crosses into the polygon or
not. One method to work around this case is to temporarily shift
the polygon vertex by a small amount (such as 0.000001 degrees)
when an intersection with a vertex is detected and recalculate the
intersection point. The process is repeated for all edges of the
polygon and a total number of crossings is calculated. Depending on
whether an even or odd count of intersections are calculated, as
described above, the relative position of the digital image
location within the polygon is returned.
[0045] Decision block 650 is then executed. If the location signal
is found to be within any of the exclusion zones, the process ends.
If the location signal is not within any of the exclusion zones,
the process continues to step 670. In step 670, the location signal
is converted into geographic location meta-data information and is
associated with the digital image by adding it to the digital image
file stored during step 630. Alternately, the geographic location
meta-data can be stored and associated with the digital image by
creating a separate table or database of meta-data which is stored
separately from the digital image file. By executing process 600,
geographic location meta-data is not stored for digital images
captured in one of the exclusion zones thereby enhancing the
privacy of the user.
[0046] Turning now to FIG. 5 and with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG.
3, a second embodiment will now be described. In the second
embodiment, digital images files owned by an owner user are shared
with a receiving user according to process 700 and is executed
using an online photo-management service, such as online
photo-management service 300. Steps of process 700 executed in
connection with the on-line photo-management service may be
constructed by one skilled in the art using combinations of
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), PHP scripts, Java scripts, and
the like.
[0047] Process 700 begins with step 710 where the digital image
files are stored on the storage memory 330 of the server(s) of
online photo-management service 300 and associated in the database
310 with an owner user who uploaded or is otherwise assigned
ownership of the digital image files. The digital image files are,
for example, received through the network by the online
photo-management service from the owner user who captured the
digital image using a digital camera device. This association is
accomplished with a database table shown here as table 2.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Digital Image File Association Table UserID
FileID FileName User01 1 0000001.jpg User01 2 0000002.jpg User01 3
0000003.jpg User01 4 0000004.jpg User01 5 0000005.jpg User02 6
00000F9.jpg User02 7 00000FA.jpg User03 8 00001C2.jpg
[0048] The example of table 2 shown here is populated with eight
exemplary records of data for purpose of illustration. Table 2
includes a field "UserID" which identifies an owner user for each
digital image file. Additional information about each user may be
stored in another database table, including information such as
password, first and last name, and the like. Table 2 also includes
a field called "FileID" which is a unique identifier produced by
the database for each digital image file. Table 2 also includes a
field called "FileName" which provides file information for each
digital image file. This may include a simple file name, or a full
path and file name, or another reference name or number. Various
forms of file information and storage structure may be implemented
by one skilled in the art. For example, the actual file name or
path on the server may be composed of a combination of the UserID
and filename such as "/user01/0000001.jpg".
[0049] In Step 710, metadata, including location metadata if
available, is also stored in the database. The metadata is also
preferably received by the online photo-management service from the
owner and may be transmitted along with the digital image file, for
example if automatically provided by a digital camera device, or it
can be manually entered directly into an html web page file of the
online photo-management service at a later time. Metadata can be
stored in one or more tables such as table 3 shown here:
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Metadata Storage Table FileID MetaDataName
Value 1 Date Picture Take Apr. 14, 2010 18:56 1 Equipment Make
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY 1 Camera Model KODAK EASYSHARE Z1012 IS
DIGITAL CAMERA 1 GPS Latitude 43.121267 1 GPS Longitude -77.640319
2 Date Picture Take Apr. 15, 2010 17:21 2 Equipment Make EASTMAN
KODAK COMPANY 2 Camera Model KODAK EASYSHARE Z1012 IS DIGITAL
CAMERA 2 GPS Latitude 43.258718 2 GPS Longitude -77.604464 3 Date
Picture Take Apr. 17, 2010 10:51 3 Equipment Make EASTMAN KODAK
COMPANY 3 Camera Model KODAK EASYSHARE Z1012 IS DIGITAL CAMERA 3
GPS Latitude 43.208034 3 GPS Longitude -77.622327
[0050] The example of table 3 shown here is populated with fifteen
exemplary records of data for purpose of illustration and
simplicity. Additional metadata fields beyond those shown may also
be recorded. Table 3 includes a field for the "FileID" the digital
image files which is the same as the "FileID" previously associated
in table 2 with an owner user. Table 3 also includes a field for
"MetaDataName" which identifies a label for each metadata item.
FileID and MetaDataName together form the primary keys for this
table. Table 3 also includes a field titled "Value" for storing the
value of each metadata item. Metadata items having the label "GPS
Latitude" and "GPS Longitude" constitute the location metadata. In
an alternate embodiment, the metadata may be stored in other ways
than in a table form. For example, the metadata may be stored
within the digital image file. If written within the digital image
file, portions of the metadata such as the values for GPS Longitude
and GPS Latitude will need to be deleted or cleared prior to
transmitting the digital image file in certain circumstances as
described later. In yet another alternate embodiment, the metadata
may be stored in a combination of table form and file form.
[0051] Process 700 continues with step 720, where a request is
received by the photo-management service from a requesting user
requesting that a digital image stored in the database be shared
with a receiving user. The owner user, requesting user, and
receiving user may be three different users. Alternately, the
requesting user may be the same as the owner user. Alternately, the
receiving user may be the same user as the requesting user, or it
may be a different user.
[0052] For example, according to this second embodiment, the
request may come directly from the receiving user who has logged in
to online photo-management service and has requested access to
digital images owned by another user (the owner user). The request
is received, for example, via a form or control in a web page
encoded as a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) file stored on the
photo-management service server which is being accessed by the
requesting user. The request may be either for a single image such
as 0000001.jpg owned by user01 or for a plurality of images such as
all images owned by user01.
[0053] Process 700 then continues with step 730 where the received
request is then converted into a query on the server to retrieve
and load into memory location metadata for each of the requested
images, from the database 310. This operation may be achieved by
executing SQL queries using a server side process, for example,
using a PHP scripting language file.
[0054] Step 740 is performed where the digital image owner's
exclusion zone list is loaded. The exclusion zones are also stored
in database 310 using a table for managing exclusion zones such as
shown here in table 4:
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Online Photo-Management Service Exclusion
Zone List Table UserID ZoneID Caption CenterPoint Radius NW SE
Freeform User01 1 Home 43.152421, -77.579979 5 User01 2 School
43.157980, -77.601628 3.5 User01 3 Grandma's House 43.204381,
-77635504 43.201842, -77.626791 User01 4 Work 43.161828,
-77.620030; 43.158682, -77.615778; 43.156601, -77.620723;
43.159040, -77.623894 User02 5 Zone 1 43.070148, -77282421 0.5
User02 6 Zone 2 43.091352, -77544895 0.5 User03 7 Home Zone
43.161562, -77.443662 20
[0055] The example of table 4 shown here is populated with seven
exemplary records of data for purpose of illustration. Table 4 is
similar to table 1 of the first embodiment and includes the same
fields as previously described for table 1 as well as an additional
field titled "UserID". The UserID field stores information for
which user owns each of the exclusion zones thereby enabling the
table to store exclusion zones for a plurality of users which
access and store images with the photo-management service. "ZoneID"
continues to service as primary key. Alternately, this table could
be constructed by one skilled in the art such that UserID and
ZoneID together serve as primary keys.
[0056] The exclusion zones of table 4 are preferably previously
populated by each owner user using a graphic user interface such
graphic user interface 500 previously shown. In this case, the
graphic user interface is preferably displayed using an html web
page operated by the online photo-management service 300 and is
accessed, viewed, and operated by each owner user using a computer
access device connected to the network.
[0057] During step 740, the exclusion zones for the owner user of
the digital image file(s) which have been requested by the
requesting user are loaded using an SQL query. This is done using a
server side process, such as with a PHP script, so that the
exclusion zone information is not visible to the requesting
user.
[0058] Process 700 continues with step 750 where the location
metadata loaded during step 730 is compared to the exclusion zones
of the owner user loaded during step 740. Decision block 760 is
then performed to determine if the location of the digital image is
within any one or more exclusion zones of the owner user. If
decision block 760 returns a true value, process 700 skips to step
780. In step 780 the digital image file is transmitted without
location metadata to the receiving user, for example by rendering
output HTML including a reference to the digital image file on the
server which is displayed in a browser on a personal computer of
the receiving user. If in the alternate embodiment previously
described where the location metadata is stored in the digital
image file, the location metadata is removed or cleared prior to
transmitting the digital image file here in step 780.
[0059] If according to decision block 760 the location of the
requested digital image is not within an exclusion zone, then data
from the digital image file and location metadata is transmitted to
the receiving user in step 770. The entire digital image file, or
data derived from the digital image file such as reduced resolution
version of the digital image can be transmitted. The transmission
occurs by outputting the digital image file (or a derived digital
image file) and location information to one or more HTML documents
which are transmitted from the server across the network to the
receiving user for display on electronic display device of the
receiving user's personal computer or network access device. The
location metadata and digital image data can be transmitted in
separate steps, for example by including the digital image file
with one HTML document and including the location metadata with a
different HTML document. Transmission of the location metadata can
also occur simultaneously with the transmission of the digital
image file by appending the location metadata to the digital image
file.
[0060] In step 770 the location metadata is displayed to the
receiving user. This display step can occur in a variety of
different forms. For example, the location information can be
output to an HTML document in text form viewable to the receiving
user. Alternately, the location metadata can be displayed in
graphic format by plotting an icon on a map user interface within
the output HTML document, such as that currently provided by Google
Maps (R) or similar services. The location metadata and digital
image data can be displayed together in a single HTML document or
separately in multiple HTML documents.
[0061] A useful graphic interface useful for displaying the
location metadata in map form is shown in FIG. 7 as graphic user
interface 900. Graphic user interface 900 can be encoded within an
HTML web page for display on the receiving user's personal computer
or it may be generated by software resident in the receiving user's
computer which receives the location metadata from the online
photo-management service 300. Graphic user interface 900 contains a
map region 910. Map region 910 displays maps which may be either
preloaded into memory or may be downloaded from an online map
service provider over the network. Graphic user interface 900 also
contains several controls to enable the user to navigate to
different locations such as scroll arrows 920, zoom in and out
controls 930, pan control 940, and location search input box 950.
Graphic user interface 900 also contains image location icons 960
which are positioned in various locations in map region 910 and
represent retrieve digital image with location metadata
corresponding to that position. Image location icons 960 are shown
represented as squares in FIG. 7 for purpose of simplicity in
illustration but may actually be digital image icons showing a
smaller (thumbnail) view of the represented image. Alternately,
image location icons 960 may be a graphical icon such as a camera
picture, postcard picture, push-pin picture, or the like. Image
location icons 960 can represent a single digital image and when
the icon is activated by clicking or double clicking with an input
device, the represented image is retrieved and displayed.
Alternately image location icons 960 can represent a group of
digital images having the same location or a proximate location. In
this case activation of the image location icon causes a zooming
operation of map region 910 on that location, retrieves and
displays the represented digital image(s) or both by detecting one
of a click or a double click on the icon from an input device. As
previously described, digital images with location metadata
representing a location within an exclusion zone of the owner user
are not represented on the graphic user interface 900 as viewed by
the receiving user.
[0062] Returning to FIG. 5, process 700 has thus far been described
as operated using photo-management service, however, process 700
may also be executed in several alternate embodiments which will
now be described. In an alternate embodiment to the second
embodiment, process 700 can be executed on a personal computer
having photo-management software loaded locally and connected to a
network, such as computer access device 400 connected to network
200. In this alternate embodiment, the owner user is the same as
the requesting user and is operating the personal computer. The
owner user stores digital images with location metadata on the
personal computer (step 710) which are associated with the owner
user by the fact that they are stored on a computer associated with
the owner user or with a user profile on the computer associated
with the owner user. A request is received by the photo-management
software that a digital image be transmitted to a receiving user
(step 720) for example by requesting that an email containing the
image be transmitted to the receiving user. The location metadata
and exclusion zone lists are loaded in steps 730 and 740
respectively. The exclusion zone list is stored on the local
personal computer using table 4 previously described. Steps 750 and
760 operate as previously described. If the image location is
within an exclusion zone, then the digital image file is
transmitted, for example as an email attachment, without any
location metadata written in the digital image or in the email
which is then displayed on a computer of the receiving user per
step 780. If the image location is not within an exclusion zone,
then the digital image file is transmitted, for example as an email
attachment, with location metadata written in the digital image or
in the email which are then both then displayed on a computer of
the receiving user per step 770.
[0063] In yet another alternate embodiment to the second
embodiment, process 700 can be executed directly on a digital
camera device connected to a network such as digital camera device
100 connected to network 200. In this alternate embodiment, the
exclusion zone list is stored with the internal storage memory 125
of the digital camera device. The digital image is transmitted to a
receiving user via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), email or the
like along with the location metadata only if not located within an
exclusion zone per decision block 760.
[0064] Turning now to FIG. 6 and with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG.
3, a third embodiment will now be described. The third embodiment
is implemented according to process 800. In the third embodiment,
like the second embodiment described above, digital image files
owned by an owner user are shared with a receiving user. In the
third embodiment, different receiving users are either provided or
denied access to location metadata depending on the preference of
the owner user.
[0065] Process 800 begins with step 805 where digital images files
having associated location metadata are stored on the storage
memory 330 of the server(s) of the photo-management service 300 and
associated in the database 310 with an owner user who uploaded or
is otherwise assigned ownership of the digital image files. This
storage and association may be accomplished as described above in
the second embodiment using tables such as table 2 and table 3.
[0066] Process 800 continues with step 810, where a request is
received by the photo-management service from a requesting user
requesting that a digital image stored in the database be shared
with a receiving user. Again, the owner user, requesting user, and
receiving users may be three different users or the receiving user
may be the same as the requesting user or the requesting user may
be the same as the owner user. As previously described in the
second embodiment, the request is received, for example, via a form
or control in a web page encoded as a Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML) file stored on the photo-management service server which is
being accessed by the requesting user.
[0067] Process 800 then continues with step 815 where the received
request is then converted into a query on the server to retrieve
and load into memory location metadata for the requested digital
image from the database 310. This operation may be achieved by
executing SQL queries using a server side process, for example,
using a PHP scripting language file.
[0068] Process 800 then executes step 820 where an access rights
list is loaded. Access rights are a list of users or groups of
users who are permitted to receiving location metadata for digital
images located within an exclusion zone of the owner user. Access
rights are preferably previously established by the owner user and
stored in a table on the storage memory 330 of the server(s) of the
online photo-management service 300 in a table such as table 5
shown here:
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Access rights list table OwnerUser
PermittedUser User01 User02 User01 User03 User02 User01 User02
User04 User04 User05
[0069] Table 5 stores the access rights for all users of the online
photo-management service using two fields; an "OwnerUser" and
"PermittedUser". Table 5 is populated with exemplary data records
for purpose of illustration of the present invention. For example,
"User02" is permitted to receive location meta-data from digital
images located with an exclusion zone of the "User01". "User01" has
also been given access rights to receive location meta-data from
digital images located with an exclusion zone of the "User02".
"User04" has also been given access rights to receive location
meta-data from digital images located with an exclusion zone of the
"User02" but "User02" has not been given access rights receive
location meta-data from digital images located with an exclusion
zone of the "User04". In an alternate embodiment, groups of users
such as "Friends", "Family", "Coworkers", etc. can be established
and given access rights. In yet another alternate embodiment,
access rights may be established differently for each exclusion
zone, for example by instead using a table with the fields "ZoneID"
and "PermittedUser" to define which users are permitted to view
images in each zone. The zones were previously also associated with
an owner user in Table 4. Combinations of these alternate
embodiments may also be applied.
[0070] During step 820, the access rights for the owner user of the
digital image file(s), which have been requested by a requesting
user, are loaded using an SQL query. This is done using a server
side process, such as with a PHP script, so that the exclusion zone
information is not visible to the requesting user.
[0071] Decision block 825 is then executed where the access rights
for the receiving user to the location metadata of digital images
within exclusion zones of the owner user are determined. If the
receiving user is listed in table 4 as having access rights to
receiving location metadata of digital images within exclusion
zones of the owner user, the process 800 skips to step 850, where
the digital image file and location metadata are transmitted and
displayed to the receiving user, for example by generating one or
more HTML output documents with the digital images and a map
interface such as graphic user interface 900 of FIG. 7. If however,
the receiving user is not listed in table 4 as having access rights
to receiving location metadata of digital images within exclusion
zones of the owner user, then process 800 proceeds to step 830.
[0072] In step 830, the exclusion zones for the owner user of the
digital image file(s) which have been requested by the requesting
user are loaded using an SQL query. The exclusion zones are
established as previously described in the second embodiment using
a table such as table 4. Loading is done using a server side
process, such as with a PHP script, so that the exclusion zone
information is not visible to the requesting user. Next, step 835
is performed where the location metadata loaded during step 815 is
compared to the exclusion zones of the owner user loaded during
step 830. Decision block 840 is then performed to determine if the
location of the digital image is within any one or more exclusion
zones of the owner user. If decision block 840 returns a true
value, process 800 skips proceed to step 845 where the digital the
digital image file is transmitted without location metadata to the
receiving user, for example by rendering output HTML including a
reference to the digital image file on the server which is
displayed in a browser on a personal computer of the receiving
user. If location metadata is stored in the digital image file, the
location metadata is removed or cleared prior to transmitting the
digital image file here in step 845. If, on the other hand,
according to decision block 840 the location of the requested
digital image is not within an exclusion zone, then the digital
image file and location metadata is transmitted to the receiving
user in step 850, for example by generating one or more HTML output
documents with the digital images and a map interface such as
graphic user interface 900 of FIG. 7.
[0073] The invention has been described in detail with particular
reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be
understood that variations and modifications can be effected within
the spirit and scope of the invention.
PARTS LIST
[0074] 100 Camera Processing System [0075] 110 Processor [0076] 120
Memory Card [0077] 125 Storage [0078] 130 Memory [0079] 140 Display
[0080] 150 Speaker [0081] 160 Sensor [0082] 170 Module [0083] 180
Module [0084] 200 Network [0085] 300 Server [0086] 310 Database
[0087] 320 Processor [0088] 330 Storage [0089] 400 Computer [0090]
410 Memory [0091] 420 Processor [0092] 430 Display [0093] 500 GUI
[0094] 510 Map [0095] 520 Scroll [0096] 530 Zoom [0097] 540 Pan
[0098] 550 Search Box [0099] 560a-b Exclusion Zone [0100] 570a-x
Controls [0101] 600 Process [0102] 610 Step [0103] 620 Step [0104]
630 Step [0105] 640 Step [0106] 650 Step [0107] 660 Decision [0108]
670 Step [0109] 700 Process [0110] 710 Step [0111] 720 Step [0112]
730 Step [0113] 740 Step [0114] 750 Step [0115] 760 Decision [0116]
770 Step [0117] 780 Step [0118] 800 Process [0119] 805 Step [0120]
810 Step [0121] 815 Step [0122] 820 Step [0123] 825 Step [0124] 830
Step [0125] 835 Step [0126] 840 Decision [0127] 845 Step [0128] 850
Step [0129] 900 GUI [0130] 910 Map [0131] 920 Scroll [0132] 930
Zoom [0133] 940 Pan [0134] 950 Search Box [0135] 960 Icon
* * * * *