U.S. patent application number 15/156146 was filed with the patent office on 2016-09-08 for generating a website to share aggregated content.
The applicant listed for this patent is Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC. Invention is credited to Max Elliott.
Application Number | 20160261669 15/156146 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47437401 |
Filed Date | 2016-09-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160261669 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Elliott; Max |
September 8, 2016 |
Generating a Website to Share Aggregated Content
Abstract
Methods and systems for generating a website to share aggregated
digital content are provided. In one example embodiment, a system
for aggregating and sharing digital content associated with social
events via a network facilitates the aggregation and sharing of
digital content, such as photos and videos, on a website. The
aggregation may be performed with respect to the digital content
received from different sources associated with the same social
event. The digital content may also be subjected to an image
recognition process to identify one or more individuals appearing
in the photos or videos. The shared content may also be filtered to
display only those photos or videos with specific individuals. In
addition, users may be allowed to set privacy rules with respect to
the photos and videos within which they appear.
Inventors: |
Elliott; Max; (Foster City,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC |
San Mateo |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
47437401 |
Appl. No.: |
15/156146 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13220536 |
Aug 29, 2011 |
9342817 |
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15156146 |
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61505505 |
Jul 7, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 50/01 20130101;
G06Q 10/101 20130101; H04L 51/32 20130101; H04L 65/403 20130101;
H04L 51/10 20130101; H04L 67/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08; H04L 29/06 20060101 H04L029/06; H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for generating a website to share
digital media content by a server within a communication network
comprising a set of user devices, the method comprising: receiving
digital media content from one or more user devices associated with
one or more users; determining one or more parts of the digital
media content associated with a social event; aggregating the one
or more parts associated with the social event to produce
aggregated digital media content; and collecting the aggregated
digital media content on a website.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the digital
media content comprises one or more of a digital photo, an image, a
text, an audio, and a video.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user
device comprises one or more of a digital camera, a video camera, a
computer, a cellular phone, and a personal digital assistant
(PDA).
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the social
event comprises one or more of a meeting, a conference, a game
play, and a leisure event.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
obtaining contextual information related to the digital media
content.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the
contextual information comprise one or more of a tag, a time, a
date, a geographical location, a comment, social event data, and
information related to one or more individuals or objects presented
in the content.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the
determining parts of the digital media content associated with the
social event is based on the contextual information.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
determining parts of the digital media content associated with the
social event comprises receiving a user request to associate the
digital content with the social event.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising
receiving privacy instructions from one or more users recognized on
the photo or the video, wherein the privacy instructions comprise
one or more of a restriction to share content and a modification of
a photo or a video.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, in which the
digital media content of the website is originated from one source,
or is aggregated from different sources.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
implementing an image recognition process for the received digital
media content; and recognizing one or more individuals captured on
a photo or a video, wherein the photo and the video relate to the
digital media content.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the image
recognition process is based on the contextual information.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
filtering parts of the aggregated digital media content based on
one or more of contextual information, a user selection, a privacy
instruction, and user personal information.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
determining one or more users associated with the social event,
wherein the determination is based on one or more of the following:
received digital media content, contextual information, and image
recognition results.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising
prompting a user associated with the social event to provide one or
more of digital content, a comment, and feedback.
16. A system for generating a website to share digital media
content, the system comprising: at least one subsystem configured
to receive digital media content from one or more user devices; at
least one subsystem configured to determine one or more parts of
the digital media content associated with a social event; at least
one subsystem to aggregate the one or more parts with the social
event to produce aggregated digital media content; at least one
subsystem to collect the aggregated digital media content on a
website; and a memory coupled to the at least one subsystem, the
memory comprising computer codes for the at least one
subsystem.
17. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon,
which when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more
computers to: receive digital media content from one or more user
devices associated with one or more users; determine one or more
parts of the digital media content associated with a social event;
aggregate the one or more parts associated with the social event to
produce aggregated digital media content; and collect the
aggregated digital media content on a website.
18. A computer-implemented method for generating a website to share
digital media content within a communication network comprising a
set of user devices, the method comprising: receiving digital media
content captured by a user device; determining that the digital
media content is associated with a social event; associating the
digital media content with the social event, collecting the
associated digital media content on a website; and transmitting the
associated digital media content to a remote server.
19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the
determination that the digital media content is associated with the
social event comprises receiving a user selection to indicate that
the generated media or the media to be generated relates to a
social event.
20. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further
comprising: implementing an image recognition process of the
digital media content; and identifying one or more individuals
captured on a photo or a video, wherein the photo and the video
relate to the digital media content.
21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, further comprising
identifying one or more attendees of the social event.
22. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the
identification of one or more attendees includes identifying one or
more user devices capturing digital media content associated with
the social event.
23. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, wherein the
identification of one or more attendees of the social event
comprises receiving user input related to the one or more users
associated with the same social event.
24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the
identification of one or more attendees of the social event
comprises identifying one or more individuals recognized during the
image recognition process.
25. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the
generated digital media content is associated with the social event
when at least one attendee is identified.
26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the
generated digital media content is associated with the social event
when at least one individual is recognized on photos or video
within the media content.
27. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising
prompting the attendees to share digital media content captured by
respective user devices.
28. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising
generating contextual information associated with the digital media
content, wherein the contextual information includes one or more of
a tag, a time, a date, a geographical location, a comment, and
social event data.
29. A system for generating a website to share digital media
content, the system comprising: at least one processor configured
to receive digital media content captured by a user device; at
least one processor configured to determine that the generated
digital media content is associated with a social event; at least
one processor configured to associate the captured digital media
content with the social event; at least one processor configured to
collect the associated digital media content on a website; at least
one processor configured to transmit the digital media content to a
remote server; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor,
the memory comprising codes for the at least one processor.
30. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon,
which when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more
computers to: receive digital media content captured by a user
device; determine that the generated digital media content is
associated with a social event; associate the captured digital
media content with the social event; collect the associated digital
media content on a website; and transmit the digital media content
to a remote server.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/220,536, filed Aug. 29, 2011 and issued as
U.S. Pat. No. 9,342,817 on May 17, 2016, and entitled
"Auto-Creating Groups for Sharing Photos," which in turn claims the
benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/505,505,
filed Jul. 7, 2011, which are incorporated by reference in their
entirety herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to transmission of digital
information and, more particularly, to methods and systems for
aggregating and sharing digital content associated with social
events.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0003] File sharing services are widely used by users to upload
images and videos captured with mobile devices. Other users, who
have access to such content online, can view the uploaded images
and videos. A user may define privacy rules and indicate whether
the content is publically available to all visitors or whether it
can be shared through a specific group of friends or connected
members.
[0004] Conventional file sharing services can be used to share
images of sport events, parties, conferences, meetings, and the
like between associated participants. Typically, an image or a
video is captured with a mobile phone, a digital camera, a laptop,
or the like and uploaded to a website at a later time. Other users
may then review and download the uploaded content.
[0005] Such file sharing services become especially useful when
participants live in different cities, states, or countries, and
generally, it creates a great possibility to view or download
related content by any participant. In many instances, such web
sharing services may be a part of so these social media sites like
social networking sites, blogging sites, file sharing sites, and so
forth.
[0006] Even though a user can upload files to a folder named after
a specific event, the files are typically uploaded without being
otherwise associated with the depicted events. This way of storing
and sharing files makes managing images and videos difficult,
especially when the folders comprise hundreds or even thousands of
files such that the user may have to sift through a great amount of
irrelevant information to find relevant files. For example,
birthday party attendants who wish to find themselves on photos
uploaded to a file sharing website may have to sort through
hundreds of images.
[0007] Furthermore, some social events, such as business meetings
or conferences, may be photographed by multiple participants. Each
of them may take photos and store these photos at different file
sharing sites. As a result, it may be difficult for other
participants to view or download all photos taken at an event as
they will need to access multiple sites and may not know where to
look.
[0008] Additionally, some users may wish to find one or more
specific people who attended the same social event. Conventionally,
it is a time consuming and complex process for a user to sort
through all photos or videos in order to find specific people.
[0009] Participants of a social event may also wish to establish
privacy rules for sharing media content depicting the event.
Currently, participants are limited to establishing privacy rules
with respect to the content they upload themselves, but not with
respect to the content uploaded by others.
SUMMARY OF THE CLAIMED INVENTION
[0010] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify
key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter,
nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of
the claimed subject matter.
[0011] A computer-implemented method for sharing digital media
content by a server within a communication network may include a
set of user devices receiving digital media content from one or
more user devices associated with one or more users, determining
one or more parts of the digital media content associated with a
social event, aggregating the one or more parts associated with the
social event to produce aggregated digital media content, and
facilitating access to the aggregated digital media content by the
one or more users.
[0012] The digital media content may include a digital photo, an
image, a text, audio, and a video. The user device may include a
digital camera, a video camera, a computer, a cellular phone, or a
personal digital assistant (PDA). The social event may include a
conference, a game play, or a leisure event.
[0013] The method may further include obtaining contextual
information related to the digital media content. The contextual
information may include a tag, a time, a date, a geographical
location, a comment, social event data, and information related to
one or more individuals or objects presented in the content.
Determining parts of the digital media content associated with the
social event may be based on the contextual information.
Determining parts of the digital media content associated with the
social event may include receiving a user request to associate the
digital content with the social event.
[0014] The method may further include receiving privacy
instructions from users recognized in the photo or video, with the
privacy instructions including a restriction to share content and a
modification of the photo or video.
[0015] The method may further include generating a website to share
the media content associated with the social event. The method may
further include implementing an image recognition process for the
received digital media content and recognizing one or more
individuals captured on a photo or a video, wherein the photo and
the video relate to the digital media content. The image
recognition process may be based on the contextual information.
[0016] The method may further include filtering parts of the
aggregated digital media content based on contextual information, a
user selection, a privacy instruction, or a user's personal
information.
[0017] The method may further include determining users associated
with the social event, with the determination based on the received
digital media content, contextual information, or image recognition
results.
[0018] The method may further include prompting a user associated
with the social event to provide one or more of digital content, a
comment, or feedback.
[0019] In further exemplary embodiments, modules, subsystems, or
devices can be adapted to perform the recited steps. Other features
and exemplary embodiments are described below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not
limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which
like references indicate similar elements and in which:
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating a system
environment suitable for aggregating and sharing digital
content.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a sharing system.
[0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a user device.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram of a method for sharing
digital content by a server within a communication network
comprising a set of user devices.
[0025] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram showing a method for
sharing digital content within a communication network comprising a
set of user terminals.
[0026] FIG. 6 shows a graphical user interface aggregating digital
media content from one or more sources.
[0027] FIG. 7 shows a graphical user interface including a photo
subjected to an image recognition process.
[0028] FIG. 8 shows a graphical user interface of a user device
suggesting a possible social event occurrence.
[0029] FIG. 9 shows a graphical user interface of a user device
suggesting a possible social event occurrence, according to another
example embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of an example
machine in the form of a computer system within which a set of
instructions is executed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] The following detailed description includes references to
the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed
description. The drawings show illustrations in accordance with
example embodiments. These example embodiments, which are also
referred to herein as "examples," are described in enough detail to
enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject
matter. The embodiments can be combined, other embodiments can be
utilized, or structural, logical and electrical changes can be made
without departing from the scope of what is claimed. The following
detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting
sense, and the scope is defined by the appended claims and their
equivalents.
[0032] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used, as is
common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In
this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a nonexclusive
"or," such that "A or B" includes "A but not B," "B but not A," and
"A and B," unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all
publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this
document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, as
though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of
inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so
incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated
reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this
document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this
document controls.
[0033] The embodiments described herein relate to methods for
aggregating and sharing digital content associated with social
events. The methods may be implemented within a network such as the
Internet.
[0034] According to the example embodiments discussed below,
participants of a social event may generate digital content such as
photos, videos, audio, text, and so forth. The digital content may
be generated by personal mobile devices including one or more of
cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, computers, digital cameras,
and the like. The captured digital content may be associated with
the social event. As used herein, the term "social event" may refer
to any type of an event involving a group of people. Typical social
events may include conferences, meetings, parties, shows, sporting
events, business meetings, and so forth.
[0035] There may be more than one way of associating captured
content with a social event. In one example embodiment, a user may
manually input social event information at a user device and
indicate or set what content captured or to be captured relates to
the social event. In one example embodiment, the captured content
is tagged to denote its relation to the social event. For example,
a user attending a party may set a digital camera so that all
photos taken with the digital camera are automatically tagged to
indicate their relation to the party. Thereafter, the user may sort
the taken photos by filtering for those that relate to the
party.
[0036] In another example embodiment, a social event can be
automatically detected. Captured content such as photos, videos,
and audio may be analyzed for related parts. For example, captured
photos may be subjected to image recognition process. As a result,
one or more individuals can be recognized and invited to share and
aggregate digital content via a network.
[0037] Alternatively, a user may manually indicate which parts of
the captured photos relate to specific individuals or objects. If a
user camera (or mobile phone, laptop, etc.) indicates that two or
more photos are taken within the same environment (same place, same
party, etc.) and/or one or more of these individuals are captured
on two or more photos, the user camera may assume that the captured
photos relate to the same social event. Accordingly, the camera may
suggest that the user turn on a corresponding operating mode to
associate the captured photos with the social event.
[0038] There may be other ways to automatically define a social
event. In some exemplary embodiments, the user device may determine
that there is a similar active device within a certain
predetermined distance. Then, both devices within the certain
predetermined distance may invite their respective users to tag
pictures as taken at the social event. Alternatively, the user
device may indicate that another device is within a certain
predetermined distance (e.g., 20 feet) and invite its user to
generate digital content related to the social event.
[0039] The captured photos or videos (in other words, digital media
content) may be tagged and associated with one or more social
events on the user device or a remote server. The digital media
content may also contain contextual information such as titles, a
time, a date, conditions, a location (e.g., GPS coordinates),
information related to recognized objects or individuals, and so
forth.
[0040] The user may then upload the captured digital content to a
remote server. The content can be hosted on a website and accessed
by any person or by a specific group of people, depending on the
privacy rules set. The users may sort uploaded photos and aggregate
only those which relate to the same social event, or which contain
a specific individual, or the like. For instance, among thousands
of uploaded photos, the users may easily sort only those in which
they appeared.
[0041] Furthermore, according to exemplary embodiments disclosed
herein, the remote server may aggregate digital content from a
number of users participating in the same social event. Different
users may upload to the remote server their photos and videos from
the event they attended. Accordingly, the remote server may
selectively aggregate content from different sources within a
single place (site). Alternatively, upon request of the user, the
remote server may perform such aggregation. The users, therefore,
are provided with a useful tool to sort photos or videos from
different sources and select only those in which they are
interested. For example, the users may see and download photos in
which they appear that were previously uploaded by other
participants.
[0042] In yet other embodiments, the remote server may also perform
image recognition of the digital content and automatically
determine that specific photos/videos relate to the same social
event. The owners of the content may then be notified or invited to
tag such content and associate it with the social event.
Furthermore, the image recognition process may be used to determine
specific individuals. Users may manually tag photos having
recognized individuals and assign names, nicknames, and the like.
In addition, personal information of the users or recognized
individuals can be assigned to the uploaded content and can be used
to sort photos. In some embodiments, personal information can be
retrieved from other affiliated sites, such as social networking
sites. Mentioned information assigned to the uploaded content may
be used to aggregate and filter content stored on the site. Thus,
users can use sorting to filter photos or videos in which
searched-for individuals appear.
[0043] According to additional aspects, the users may set privacy
rules within the remote server and/or site hosting the content. In
one example, one user may establish privacy rules for all photos in
which he/she appeared. In other words, even if content is uploaded
by other users (other participants of the same social event), and
it is recognized that the certain user is shown in specific photos,
these photos can be modified (e.g., blurred in part where the first
user is shown, deleted, blocked, and so forth) according to the
privacy rules preset by this certain user. Various privacy rules
can be set by individuals and groups, as can be readily understood
by those skilled in the art.
[0044] Therefore, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a useful
tool that enables people to easily aggregate and share digital
content associated with social events via a network. The
aggregation can be performed from different sources in association
with the same social event. The content, such as photos and videos,
can be subjected to an image recognition process to define one or
more individuals. Shared content may be filtered to sort only those
photos or videos in which social event participants appear. In
addition, users may set privacy rules to hide those parts of photos
or video in which they appear.
[0045] The embodiments described herein can be implemented by
various means, depending on the application. For example, the
embodiments may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or
in a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the
embodiments may be implemented with processors, controllers,
micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other
electronic units designed to perform the functions described
herein, or a combination thereof. Memory can be implemented within
a processor or external to the processor. As used herein, the term
"memory" refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile,
nonvolatile, or other storage device and is not to be limited to
any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of
media upon which memory is stored. For firmware and/or software
implementation, the embodiments can be implemented with modules
such as procedures, functions, and so on, that perform the
functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly
embodying instructions can be used in implementing the embodiments
described herein.
[0046] Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram
illustrating a system environment 100 suitable for aggregating and
sharing digital content. The system environment 100 comprises one
or more user devices 102, a sharing system 104, one or more
affiliated sites 106, one or more e-mail servers 108, and a network
110. The network 110 may couple the aforementioned modules.
[0047] The network 110 is a network of data processing nodes
interconnected for the purpose of data communication, which may be
utilized to communicatively couple various components of the
environment 100. The network 110 may include the Internet or any
other network capable of communicating data between devices.
Suitable networks may include or interface with any one or more of,
for instance, a local intranet, a PAN (Personal Area Network), a
LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a MAN
(Metropolitan Area Network), a virtual private network (VPN), a
storage area network (SAN), a frame relay connection, an Advanced
Intelligent Network (AIN) connection, a synchronous optical network
(SONET) connection, a digital T1, T3, E1 or E3 line, Digital Data
Service (DDS) connection, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection,
an Ethernet connection, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network) line, a dial-up port, such as a V.90, V.34 or V.34bis
analog modem connection, a cable modem, an ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode) connection, or an FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data
Interface) or CDDI (Copper Distributed Data Interface) connection.
Furthermore, communications may also include links to any of a
variety of wireless networks, including WAP (Wireless Application
Protocol), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communication), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), cellular phone networks, GPS,
CDPD (cellular digital packet data), RIM (Research in Motion,
Limited) duplex paging network, Bluetooth radio, or an IEEE
802.11-based radio frequency network. The network 110 can further
include or interface with any one or more of an RS-232 serial
connection, an IEEE-1394 (Firewire) connection, a Fiber Channel
connection, an IrDA (infrared) port, an SCSI (Small Computer
Systems Interface) connection, a USB (Universal Serial Bus)
connection or other wired or wireless, digital or analog interface
or connection, mesh or Digi.RTM. networking.
[0048] As used herein, the term "user device" refers to a computer,
a laptop, a tablet computer, a portable computing device, a PDA, a
digital camera, a handheld cellular phone, a mobile phone, a smart
phone, a cordless telephone, a handheld device having wireless
connection capability, or any other electronic device suitable for
capturing photos, videos, or audio. The user devices 102 may also
receive or transmit data such as captured photos or videos via a
cord or cordless network. In one example, the user devices 102 may
be configured to browse websites or access remote servers via a
network. A user device 102 can also be configured to determine its
geographical location based on Global Positioning System (GPS)
signals, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, base station
information, and so forth.
[0049] The user devices 102 can be used to generate digital media
content such as photos, images, videos, audio, text, and so forth,
and also to transmit the content via the network 110. The user
devices 102 can also be used to access the content previously
stored at a remote database (e.g., at the sharing system 104).
[0050] In some embodiments, the user devices 102 may comprise a
browser 112 providing the ability to browse and interact with sites
on the Internet. In some other embodiments, the user devices 102
may comprise software 114 to communicate with the sharing system
104. In one example, the software 114 is a mobile application
embedded in the user device 102.
[0051] The sharing system 104, according to example embodiments
disclosed herein, may be configured to receive digital content from
the user devices 102, store the digital content, and share it with
the same or other user devices 102 in an enhanced manner. Digital
content can be accomplished with additional contextual information
such as file names, titles, brief descriptions, times, dates, tags,
and so forth. Furthermore, contextual information may also comprise
results of image recognition (i.e., information on recognized
individuals captured in a photo or video).
[0052] The sharing system 104 can be implemented as a server having
multiple modules and databases. In one example, the sharing system
104 may host a site providing access for its visitors to the
system. In other words, the site enables visitors to upload or
download digital content to the sharing system 104. The sharing
system 104 is described in detail below with reference to FIG.
2.
[0053] According to example embodiments disclosed herein, the one
or more affiliated sites 106 may include any website on the
Internet that may provide an access to the sharing system 104. In
one example, the affiliated sites 106 have a gateway to the sharing
system 104 to enable visitors of these sites to upload or download
digital content to the sharing system 104.
[0054] The e-mail server 108 may transfer e-mail messages from one
computer to another computer, using client-server application
architecture. The e-mail server 108 may be used by one user device
102 to send a message to another user device 102, or may be used by
the sharing system 104 to send messages to the user devices
102.
[0055] FIG. 2 is a diagram of the sharing system 104. In this
embodiment, the sharing system 104 may include a communication
module 202, a website generator 204, an aggregating module 206, an
image recognition module 208, a processing module 210, a content
database 212, and a member database 214. In other embodiments, the
sharing system 104 may include additional, fewer, or different
modules for various applications. Furthermore, all modules can be
integrated within a single system, or, alternatively, can be
remotely located and optionally be accessed via a third party.
[0056] The sharing system 104 may be implemented as hardware having
software installed thereon that implements the steps necessary to
operate the sharing system according to example embodiments
disclosed herein. The sharing system 104 may also host a content
sharing site 116 directed, among other things, to store, aggregate,
and share digital content in an enhanced manner as described
further.
[0057] According to example embodiments, the users (social event
participants) may first register with the sharing site 116 and
create a member profile. The membership details may be stored in
the member database 214. The membership profile stored in the
database 214 may store personal information, such as a name, a
nickname, user credentials, a representative picture/photo/logo, an
address, a phone number, a fax number, an e-mail address, a web
address, credentials of associated member profiles of social media
sites, or any other form of contact and personal information.
[0058] The users may manage their profiles (personal webpages
within the sharing site 116) in the member database 214. In
addition, the sharing site 116 may manually or automatically access
the one or more affiliated sites 106. The sharing site 116 may also
enable communication between users. According to another example,
the sharing site 116 may allow the users to share information via
the one or more affiliated sites 106.
[0059] The users may also upload digital content to the sharing
system 104, which in turn can be stored in the content database
212. The users may also generate web pages with the help of the
sharing system 104, which are associated with the uploaded content.
The web pages may provide access to the content stored in the
content database 212 to one or more different users. Accordingly,
each generated web page may relate to the content of one social
event. In addition, web pages can be managed by one or more users.
The web pages may aggregate content from one or more users, and
this content can be sorted or filtered according to example
embodiments disclosed herein.
[0060] The communication module 202 may be configured to connect
the sharing system 104 to the one or more user devices 102, the one
or more affiliated sites 106, and the one or more e-mail servers
108 via the network 110. The connection and data transfer may be
provided via an Application Programming Interface (API). The
communication module 202 is also configured to provide
communication functionality between all modules of the sharing
system 104.
[0061] In particular, the communication module 202 may receive the
user requests to store digital content to the member database 214,
manage member profiles in the database 212, access and manage
content stored in the content database 212, and the like. The
communication module 202 can process all such user requests.
[0062] Pursuant to the example embodiment, the website generator
204 may be configured to generate websites comprising the uploaded
content. The websites may contain content originating from one
source (i.e. one user), or contain content aggregated from
different sources (i.e. obtained from different users). Aggregation
of the content can be performed based on assigned contextual
information. In other words, aggregation can be performed such that
all content related to the same social event is collected on a
single website. Alternatively, aggregation can be performed
relative to those photos/videos, which comprise certain individuals
or objects. It should be apparent that different aggregation
methods may be applied.
[0063] The websites may also comprise functionality to manage the
digital content. For example, different users, who have access to
such websites, may download content, add commentary, re-post to any
affiliated website (e.g., social networking website), and so
forth.
[0064] The aggregating module 206 is configured to aggregate
content stored in the content database 212. Specifically, upon
request of a user, the aggregating module 206 may sort and deliver
to the user (or to the generating website) specific parts of the
content. The sorting process can be based on contextual information
assigned to every piece of the content. In particular, the
aggregating module 206 may sort photos or videos (or other parts of
the digital content) that relate to the same social event, show the
same individuals or objects, were captured in one day and/or in one
location, or the like. The aggregation process can be performed
using different methods, which are discussed below.
[0065] The image recognition module 208 is configured to
selectively recognize individuals, objects, characters and the like
on photos and videos stored in the database 212. The recognition
process can be any one of those known in the art, and specifically
it may recognize individuals by their faces, appearance, and other
factors. The users may be prompted to facilitate the recognition
process. For example, users may define an individual in a photo or
add a description of the recognized objects. The results of
recognition can be added to the contextual information assigned to
the content. Further, this information can be used to aggregate or
sort content.
[0066] The processing module 210 is configured to analyze the
uploaded content and determine parts of the content related to the
same social events. In one example, when a user uploads content
(e.g., photos) to the sharing system 104, the processing module 210
may analyze the contextual information of the content to determine
which parts of the content (i.e., photos) relate to the same social
event. In other words, if the processing module 210 determines that
photos were captured in one place, in one day, by one user, have
the same tags, and so forth, it may be assumed that these photos
relate to a social event, and the user is prompted to confirm it.
The processing module 210 may analyze not only the content uploaded
by one user, but also the content uploaded by others.
[0067] The content database 212 may store content uploaded by
users. This database may also comprise contextual information
assigned to the content. The member database 214 may store
membership-related information, such as user profiles, personal
information, and so forth. The users may access the databases 212
and 214 via the communication module 202 to review, modify, or
delete information stored therein.
[0068] FIG. 3 is a diagram of the user device 102. In this
embodiment, the user device 102 may include a communication module
302, a content generator 304, an image recognition module 306, a
processing module 308, and a database 310. In other embodiments,
the user device 102 may include additional, fewer, or different
modules for various applications. Furthermore, all modules can be
integrated within a single system, or, alternatively, can be
remotely located and optionally be accessed via a third party.
[0069] The user device 102 may be implemented as hardware having
software installed thereon that implements the steps necessary to
operate the sharing system according to example embodiments
disclosed herein.
[0070] The communication module 302 may be configured to couple the
user device 102 to the sharing system 104, the one or more other
user devices 102, the one or more affiliated sites 106, and the one
or more e-mail servers 108 via the network 110. The coupling and
data transfer may be provided via an API. The communication module
302 is also configured to provide communication functionality
between all modules of the device 102.
[0071] In particular, the communication module 302 may generate
user requests to store digital content to the content database 212
located at the sharing system 104, manage member profiles in the
member database 214, access and manage content stored in the
content database 212, and the like.
[0072] The content generator 304 may be configured to generate
digital media content such as photos, videos, audio, and text. In
one example, the content generator 304 is a digital camera embedded
in the user device 102. However, the content generator 304 may be
an input device to generate text data. The content generated by the
content generator 304 may be added with contextual information such
as title, file name, date, time, name of the device generating such
content, and so forth.
[0073] The image recognition module 306 may be configured to
selectively recognize individuals, objects, characters, and the
like on photos and videos stored in the database 310. The
recognition process can be any one known in the art, and
specifically it may recognize individuals by their faces,
appearance, and other factors. The users may be prompted to
facilitate the recognition process. For example, users may define
an individual on a photo or add a description of the recognized
objects. The results of recognition can be added to the contextual
information assigned to the content. Further, this information can
be used to aggregate or sort content.
[0074] The processing module 308 is configured to analyze the
uploaded content and determine parts of the content related to the
same social events. In one example, when a user uploads content
(e.g., photos) to the sharing system 104, the processing module 308
may analyze contextual information of the content to determine
which parts of the content (i.e., photos) relate to the same social
event. In other words, if the processing module 308 determines that
photos were captured in one place, in one day, have the same tags,
and the like, it is assumed that these photos relate to a social
event, and the user is prompted to confirm it. Furthermore, the
processing module 308 may determine that similar devices exist
within a proximity distance from the user device 102. This
determination can be done by ascertaining a wireless environment,
location (e.g., GPS coordinates), IP address, and so forth.
[0075] The content database 310 may store content generated by the
user device 102. This database 310 may also comprise contextual
information, which is assigned to the content.
[0076] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram showing a method 400 for
sharing digital content by a server in a communication network
comprising a set of user devices. The method 400 may be performed
by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., dedicated
logic, programmable logic, and microcode), software (such as
software run on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated
machine), or a combination of both. In one example embodiment, the
processing logic resides at the sharing system 104.
[0077] The method 400 can be performed by the various modules
discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. Each of these modules can
comprise processing logic. It will be appreciated by one of
ordinary skill that examples of the foregoing modules may be
virtual, and instructions said to be executed by a module may, in
fact, be retrieved and executed by a processor. The foregoing
modules may also include memory cards, servers, and/or computer
discs. Although various modules may be configured to perform some
or all of the various steps described herein, fewer or more modules
may be provided and still fall within the scope of example
embodiments.
[0078] As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400 may commence at step 402
with the sharing system 104 receiving digital media content from a
user device 102. Receiving can be performed in any suitable manner.
The content at this step may also be stored in the content database
212.
[0079] At step 404, the sharing system 104 obtains contextual
information related to the received content. In one example, such
contextual information is part of the content (e.g., embedded
therein). In another example, the sharing system 104 may generate
or update such contextual information based on a member profile
(e.g., content can be assigned with information related to the
member profile of the user who uploaded the content).
Alternatively, the sharing system 104 may utilize a combination of
these techniques.
[0080] At step 406, the sharing system 104 may determine parts of
the content associated with a social event. It may be all uploaded
content files related to a single social event, or only some of
them. The determination process can be implemented differently. In
one example, the sharing system 104 may analyze the contextual
information assigned to the content and reveal that captured photos
or videos relate to the same social event. Alternatively, or in
addition, the sharing system 104 may receive a user selection of
specific parts of the content as being related to the same social
event. For example, the user may be prompted to select those files
that relate to the same social event. In yet another example, the
sharing system 104 may perform image recognition process to reveal
individuals, objects, and the like. Based on the image recognition
process, it may be concluded that certain images relate to the same
social event. For example, as a result of the image recognition,
the sharing system 104 may determine that one individual appears
two or more times on different photos or videos. Alternatively, it
may be revealed that all photos/videos were captured within the
same environment (e.g., in one room). Those skilled in the art
would readily understand that different approaches are applicable
to making an assumption that a number of files relate to the same
social event.
[0081] In step 408, the sharing system 104 may generate a website
having one or more web pages related to the received content. In
particular, the website may comprise a part of or the entire
content received at step 402. In one example, the website may
comprise only those content files that relate to the same social
event. The generation of the website may be performed in line with
a user's predetermined criteria or selections in any suitable
manner. An example of such a website is shown in FIG. 6. The
website may become public and can be accessed by any users or a
preset group of users to share the content among them.
[0082] At step 410, the sharing system 104 may determine one or
more other users associated with the social event. In particular,
such users may be defined through analysis of the content,
contextual information assigned to the content, results of the
image recognition process, and so forth. It can also be determined
that the determined users are registered within the sharing website
116. If they are not registered, they can be invited to join the
community and register with the website 116.
[0083] At step 412, the users determined as being related to the
same social event may optionally be prompted to review the content
of the generated website, to share their content, to register with
the sharing website, to provide their personal information, to
leave comment or feedback, to set their privacy instructions for
publishing such content on the Internet, and so forth. Any
individual recognized on the stored photos or videos can assign the
privacy instructions. The privacy instructions may comprise one or
more of restrictions on sharing content in which they appear and
visual modification of the photos or video (e.g., blurring parts of
the photos in which they appear).
[0084] At step 414, the sharing system 104 may intelligently
aggregate the digital media content associated with the same social
event from one or more sources. More specifically, in one example,
the sharing system 104 may aggregate the received content parts
from the one user such that these parts relate to the single social
event. Alternatively, if it was previously determined that there
were several attendants at the social event, and they have also
uploaded their content related to the same social event, the
sharing system 104 may intelligently aggregate this content from
all such users. According to example embodiments disclosed herein,
the website generated at step 408 may be updated to include the
content from all these sources. In some other embodiments, the
content can be aggregated from different databases, including the
content database 212, the user device database 310, the databases
of any affiliated website 106, and the like. For instance, if some
participants of the social event are not registered with the
sharing website 116, and have their accounts at some affiliated
social media websites 106 (like social networking websites), the
sharing system 104 may be configured to aggregate the relevant
content from these sites (e.g., it may access member profiles and
download photos or video previously stored within these affiliated
sites). In general, any suitable approach for aggregating the
content from different sources can be applied.
[0085] At step 416, users are provided access to the generated
website having aggregated content. Different users may be provided
with different levels of access to the content. One may review
content only, while other ones may be allowed to add, update, or
delete content depending on the application.
[0086] Thus, a single website comprising aggregated content related
to the same social event can be generated. This becomes useful when
attendants of this event live in different cities, states, or
countries, so that they do not need to travel from site to site to
review all photos or videos captured during the social event. In
addition, the users may apply filtering to the aggregated digital
media content included in the generated website. The filtering
process can be based on the contextual information, user
selections, privacy instructions, membership parameters, and so
forth.
[0087] In one example, the user may filter the aggregated content
such that it comprises only those parts (or files) that relate to a
specific individual or object. For instance, the user may wish to
sort all photos/videos on the website to see only those in which
he/she appears. If this user is recognized on photos/videos (which
can be determined by processing contextual information), then only
those files can be provided for reviewing. Accordingly, the
generated website may dynamically update depending on the users'
wishes.
[0088] In yet another example, users indicated or determined as
being presented on the uploaded photos/videos may be prompted to
set privacy instructions in regards to sharing information about
them. For instance, these users may allow anyone access to review
their images. Alternatively, the users may block access to the
corresponding photos/videos, or those parts of photos/video may be
modified to be blurred, colored, excluded, or the like. Such
privacy instructions related to specific users appearing on the
photos/videos may be attached to the contextual information and
stored along with the content in the content database 212, or
attached to the member profile stored in the member database 214.
Thus, users may easily set privacy instructions that can be applied
to both content uploaded by this user and the content uploaded by
others.
[0089] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram showing a method 500 for
sharing digital content in a communication network comprising a set
of user terminals. The method 500 may be performed by processing
logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., dedicated logic,
programmable logic, and microcode), software (such as software run
on a general-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or a
combination of both. In one example embodiment, the processing
logic resides at the sharing system 104.
[0090] The method 500 can be performed by the various modules
discussed above with reference to FIG. 3. Each of these modules can
comprise processing logic. It will be appreciated by one of
ordinary skill that examples of the foregoing modules may be
virtual, and instructions said to be executed by a module may, in
fact, be retrieved and executed by a processor. The foregoing
modules may also include memory cards, servers, and/or computer
discs. Although various modules may be configured to perform some
or all of various steps described herein, fewer or more modules may
be provided and still fall within the scope of exemplary
embodiments.
[0091] As shown in FIG. 5, the method 500 may commence at step 502
with the user device 102 capturing digital media content. The
digital media content may comprise digital photos, images, text,
audio, videos, and so forth. The user device 102 may be a digital
camera, a video camera, a computer, a cellular phone, a PDA, or any
other suitable device with ability to capture photos, video and
audio. At this step, the generated content may be temporarily
stored in the database 310.
[0092] At step 504, the user device 102 may determine that the
captured digital content is associated with the same social event.
Such determination can be performed variously.
[0093] In one example, the user may merely indicate (select) that
the captured content relates to a certain social event. The user
may define its name and assign other relevant information such as
date, time, location, participant names and their appearance on
captured photos/video, commentary, and other information, which is
defined as contextual information in terms of this document. The
user may also set a mode of the user device 102 such that the
further generated content is automatically assigned with necessary
tags denoting their relation to the social event.
[0094] In another example, the user device 102 may automatically
determine that the captured content relates to the same social
event. For this process, the user device 102 may perform an image
recognition process to selectively recognize individuals and
objects on photos and videos. The recognition process can be any
one known in the art suitable for recognizing individuals by their
faces, appearance, and other factors. Accordingly, when user device
102 determines that the same individual is captured on two or more
photos/videos, or all photos/videos are captured within the same
environment (in one room, in one place), the user device 102 may
assume that a social event took place. The user may then be
prompted to confirm the assumption and assign corresponding
contextual information to such content.
[0095] In still another example, the user device 102 may determine
its geographical location based on data received from a GPS
receiver embedded within the user device, or received from
databases of a cellular network, or the like. When more than a
certain number of pictures/videos are taken from one place, the
user device 102 may determine that the captured content relates to
the same social event.
[0096] In another example, the user device 102 may determine the
presence of similar devices within a proximate distance. The
determination process can be of any suitable technique including
Bluetooth, Wireless Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WiMax, or other techniques.
When the user device 102 determines that similar devices are
located within the proximity distance (e.g., twenty or less feet)
for a certain time period (e.g., fifteen or more minutes), it may
be assumed that a social event is taking place. Again, the user of
the user device may be prompted to define any content generated or
to be generated as being related to the social event.
[0097] Those skilled in the art would understand that different
approaches for determining the presence of the social event can be
applied, and they are not limited by those that are discussed
herein.
[0098] At step 506, the captured content is associated with the
social event. In other words, the content may be assigned with tags
or contextual information to indicate a relation of the content to
the social event. As mentioned, the contextual information may
comprise, among other things, information that a particular file
relates to a certain social event, time, date, location, as well as
containing titles, a name of the social event, data about
recognized individuals, and so forth.
[0099] At step 508, the user device 102 may determine one or more
attendees of the social event. Primarily, such a determination can
be based on the same algorithms as discussed with reference to the
step 504. More specifically, the user can be prompted to indicate
one or more attendees (in other words, participants, as previously
mentioned) of the social event. The user may indicate parts of
photos or videos in which such attendees appear. The user may also
be prompted to indicate their names and personal information, or
provide a link to their member profile within the sharing website
116 or any affiliated website 106 (such as any social networking
site.)
[0100] In some other embodiments, the attendees may be recognized
on photos/video automatically in conjunction with the image
recognition process. The user may only need to assign names of the
recognized individuals. In yet another example, the attendees may
be determined automatically as those who have a similar user device
102 and are located within a predetermined proximity distance from
the user. When such devices are within the proximity range, and
they are also used to capture photos, video or audio, such devices
can be considered as assigned to the attendees. Different
approaches can be applied to determine the attendees.
[0101] Furthermore, according to some embodiments, the step 506 of
assigning the captured content to the social event may be performed
when at least one attendee is determined. Alternatively, when it is
determined that the social event is taking place, the one or more
attendees are defined. Information about attendees may be stored as
part of the contextual information assigned to the content.
[0102] At step 510, the user device 102 may transmit the captured
content along with assigned contextual information to a remote
server. In one example, the remote server is the sharing system 104
as described with reference to FIG. 2. The remote server then
allows different users to access the uploaded content. As
mentioned, different users may be provided with different levels of
access to the content depending on predetermined settings and
privacy instructions of the attendees appearing in the photos or
videos.
[0103] At step 512, the attendees determined as being related to
the same social event may optionally be prompted to share the
content captured by their user devices with the same remote server.
In addition, the attendees may be requested to register with the
sharing website, provide their personal information, leave comments
or feedback, set their privacy instructions for publishing content
on the Internet, and so forth.
[0104] FIG. 6 is a simplified illustration of a graphical user
interface 600, which aggregates digital media content from one or
more sources. The graphical user interface 600 may be represented
as a window (e.g., a browser window) to show the aggregated
content. The aggregation of the content can be performed according
to the technique described with reference to FIG. 4. The graphical
user interface 600 may be presented on a screen of the user device
102 via the browser 112 or as ad hoc software 114.
[0105] The user interface 600 may comprise one or more of content
sections 602. Each section 602 may comprise an image 604, a video
606 (i.e., an embedded media player to play the video), audio 608
(i.e., an embedded media player to play the audio), or text 610.
The section 602 may comprise one or more images, video, text, and
audio.
[0106] The text 610 may optionally comprise comments, a part of
contextual information (e.g., date and time of capture, location,
social event data, recognized attendees, names, titles, personal
information, links to affiliated websites, links to personal
profiles within the sharing website 116 or any social networking
site, ranks, feedbacks, and so forth).
[0107] The user interface 600 may aggregate multiple sections 602,
with each section 602 originating from different users/attendees.
When the graphical user interface 600 is accessed the first time,
it may comprise all content captured during certain social event.
However, users are provided with the ability to sort the presented
content. The user may select a preferable way for sorting from a
drop menu 612, and press an actionable button 614 "Sort."
Accordingly, the user may sort content by title, date, time,
location, origination, recognized individuals, type of the content,
and so forth.
[0108] The user interface 600 may also comprise an actionable
button 616 to submit new content related to the same social event.
When this button is activated, the user may be driven to a
submission site to upload corresponding content. In other
embodiments, the graphical user interface 600 may include
additional, fewer, or different modules for various
applications.
[0109] FIG. 7 is a simplified illustration of a graphical user
interface 700 showing a photo 702 (e.g., section 604), which was
subjected to an image recognition process. The graphical user
interface 700 may be presented on a screen of the user device 102
via the browser 112 or as ad hoc software 114.
[0110] As shown, the user interface 700 may comprise a photo of a
group of people. When the people in the photo are recognized, a
name is attributed to each individual in the photo. The names can
appear on top of the photo, and they can be presented as clickable
targets, where "clickable" is another way for the targets to be
"selectable." In one example, when the user clicks on (or selects)
such targets, the user can be driven to a web page comprising the
content from the same social event, but sorted to show all photos
or videos of the selected individual.
[0111] In some embodiments, the individuals on the photo can be
unrecognized or not assigned with personal information. Thus, users
may be provided with an option to recognize such individuals.
Accordingly, the graphical user interface 700 may comprise an
actionable button 704 to indicate an individual on the photo. In
particular, when the button 704 is pressed, the user is driven to
select a part of the photo to indicate such individual and provide
his/her personal information such as name, title, links to personal
member profiles, and the like. In other embodiments, the graphical
user interface 700 may include additional, fewer, or different
modules for various applications.
[0112] FIG. 8 is a simplified illustration of a graphical user
interface 800 of the user device 102 when it has determined that a
social event is possibly taking place.
[0113] As shown in the figure, the user device 102 (e.g., a digital
camera) has determined through an image recognition process that
the user has taken more than five photos in the same place. The
graphical user interface 800 prompts the user to answer if this is
a social event. The user may select a "Yes" button 802 to indicate
his/her desire to assign to the captured photos contextual
information describing the social event and its attendees, and/or
to indicate that all following photos are also related to the same
social event. Alternatively, by pressing the "No" button 804, the
user may continue without turning the "social mode" on. In other
embodiments, the graphical user interface 800 may include
additional, fewer, or different modules for various
applications.
[0114] FIG. 9 is a simplified illustration of a graphical user
interface 900 of the user device 102 when it has determined that a
social event is possibly taking place, according to another example
embodiment.
[0115] As shown, the user device 102 (e.g., a digital camera or a
cellular phone) has determined that there are two similar devices
within the predetermined proximity distance, which may also be
taking photos of the same social event. Hence, the graphical user
interface 900 may prompt the user to create a social event. The
user may select a "Yes" button 902 to indicate his/her desire to
create a "Social Event." If pressed, any photos captured with this
device will be assigned with corresponding contextual information.
In addition, the users of the nearby detected devices will also be
invited to participate in the social event and to share the content
they may also capture with their devices. Alternatively, by
pressing the "No" button 904, the user may continue without turning
the "social mode" on. In other embodiments, the graphical user
interface 900 may include additional, fewer, or different modules
for various applications.
[0116] FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of a computing
device for a machine in the example electronic form of a computer
system 1000, within which a set of instructions for causing the
machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed
herein can be executed. In example embodiments, the machine
operates as a standalone device or can be connected (e.g.,
networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the
machine can operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine
in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a
peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine can
be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a
PDA, a cellular telephone, a portable music player (e.g., a
portable hard drive audio device, such as an Moving Picture Experts
Group Audio Layer 3 (MP3) player), a web appliance, a network
router, a switch, a bridge, or any machine capable of executing a
set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions
to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine
is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include
any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a
set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more
of the methodologies discussed herein.
[0117] The example computer system 1000 includes a processor or
multiple processors 1002 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a
graphics processing unit (GPU), or both), and a main memory 1004
and a static memory 1006, which communicate with each other via a
bus 1008. The computer system 1000 can further include a video
display unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode
ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1000 also includes at least
one input device 1012, such as an alphanumeric input device (e.g.,
a keyboard), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a microphone,
a digital camera, a video camera, and so forth. The computer system
1000 also includes a disk drive unit 1014, a signal generation
device 1016 (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device
1018.
[0118] The disk drive unit 1014 includes a computer-readable medium
1020 which stores one or more sets of instructions and data
structures (e.g., instructions 1022) embodying or utilized by any
one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The
instructions 1022 can also reside, completely or at least
partially, within the main memory 1004, the static memory 1006,
and/or within the processors 1002 during execution thereof by the
computer system 1000. The main memory 1004 and the processors 1002
also constitute machine-readable media.
[0119] The instructions 1022 can further be transmitted or received
over the network 110 via the network interface device 1018
utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols
(e.g., Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), CAN, Serial, and
Modbus).
[0120] While the computer-readable medium 1020 is shown in an
example embodiment to be a single medium, the term
"computer-readable medium" should be taken to include a single
medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed
database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one
or more sets of instructions. The term "computer-readable medium"
shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of
storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution
by the machine and that causes the machine to perform any one or
more of the methodologies of the present application, or that is
capable of storing, encoding, or carrying data structures utilized
by or associated with such a set of instructions. The term
"computer-readable medium" shall accordingly be taken to include,
but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic
media. Such media can also include, without limitation, hard disks,
floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random
access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and the like.
[0121] The example embodiments described herein can be implemented
in an operating environment comprising computer-executable
instructions (e.g., software) installed on a computer, in hardware,
or in a combination of software and hardware. The
computer-executable instructions can be written in a computer
programming language or can be embodied in firmware logic. If
written in a programming language conforming to a recognized
standard, such instructions can be executed on a variety of
hardware platforms and for interfaces to a variety of operating
systems. Although not limited thereto, computer software programs
for implementing the present method can be written in any number of
suitable programming languages such as, for example, Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML), Dynamic HTML, Extensible Markup Language
(XML), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), Document Style
Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL), Cascading Style
Sheets (CSS), Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL),
Wireless Markup Language (WML), Java.TM., Jini.TM., C, C++, Perl,
UNIX Shell, Visual Basic or Visual Basic Script, Virtual Reality
Markup Language (VRML), ColdFusion.TM. or other compilers,
assemblers, interpreters or other computer languages or
platforms.
[0122] Thus, methods and systems for aggregating and sharing
digital content associated with social events via a network have
been described. The disclosed technique provides a useful tool to
enable people to easily aggregate and share digital content such as
photos, videos, and the like associated with social events via a
network. The aggregation can be performed from different sources in
association with the same social event. The content can also be
subjected to an image recognition process to define one or more
individuals appearing on the photos/videos. Shared content may also
be filtered to sort only those photos or videos in which certain
participants appear. In addition, users may set privacy rules to
hide those parts of photos or video in which they appear.
[0123] Although embodiments have been described with reference to
specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various
modifications and changes can be made to these example embodiments
without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present
application. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be
regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
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