Proactive creation of image-based products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016119488-A1
Application number	US-201614990402-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 7, 2016
Priority date	Mar 18, 2009
Publication date	Apr 28, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for proactively creating an image product includes storing a library of specification terms for image products by a computer system, receiving a command from a user, tokenizing the command into a plurality of tokens by the computer system, matching one or more of the tokens to the specification terms in the library to determine specification parameters for an image product by the computer system, automatically identifying images based on the specification parameters by the computer system, and automatically creating a design for the image product that incorporates at least some of the images identified based on the specification parameters.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer system for proactively creating an image product, comprising:
a computer memory configured to store a library of specification terms for image products; and a computer processing system configured to receive a command comprising a text from a user, conduct lexical analysis of the text in the command, tokenize the command into a plurality of tokens, and match one or more of the tokens to the specification terms in the library to determine specification parameters for an image product, wherein the computer processing system is configured to automatically identify images based on the specification parameters by the computer system, and automatically create a design for the image product that incorporates at least some of the images identified based on the specification parameters.

2 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify one or more image sources from which the images are to be obtained, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to the specification terms in the library that specify the one or more image sources,
wherein the computer processing system is configured to automatically identify images at the one or more image sources.

3 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify one or more persons, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to the specification terms in the library that specify one or more persons,
wherein the computer processing system is configured to automatically identify images that include the one or more persons in the images.

4 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify an occasion that the images are associated with, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to the specification terms in the library that specify an occasion,
wherein the computer processing system is configured to automatically identify images that are associated with the occasion.

5 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify a time period in which the images are taken, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to one or more specification terms in the library that specify a time period in which the images are taken,
wherein the computer processing system is configured to automatically identify images that are taken in the time period.

6 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify one or more image product types, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to at least one specification term in the library that specifies an image product type, wherein the design for the image product is automatically created in the image product type.

7 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to automatically select a subset of the identified images, wherein a number of the identified images in the subset is within a predetermined range compatible with the image product type.

8 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify a style or a format for an image product, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to at least one specification term in the library that specifies a style or a format for an image product, wherein the design for the image product is automatically created in the style or the format.

9 . The computer system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a printer configured to produce a physical manifestation of the image product based on the design for the image product.

10 . The computer system of claim 9 , wherein the specification terms in the library specify a recipient for an image product, wherein one or more of the tokens are matched to a specification term in the library that specifies a recipient for an image product, wherein the physical manifestation of the image product is sent to the recipient.

11 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to automatically rank the identified images using predetermined criteria, and to select a subset of the identified images based on a result of the ranking step, wherein the design for the image product incorporates the subset of the identified images.

12 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to automatically produce a question to the user, receive an answer from the user, tokenize the answer into a plurality of tokens, and match one or more of the tokens to the specification terms in the library to determine additional specification parameters for an image product.

13 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to automatically assign at least a portion of the identified images into a first page group and a second page group each comprising one or more images, place the first page group of one or more images in the first page of the image product, and place the second page group of one or more images in the second page of the image product.

14 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to conduct parsing or syntactic analysis of the text in the user command.

15 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the command is received from the user as a voice message, wherein the computer processing system is further configured to recognize a text in the voice message and to tokenize the text.

16 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to parse the command before tokenizing the command.

17 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer processing system is further configured to match the one or more of the tokens to morphological variations of the specification terms in the library to determine specification parameters for an image product.

Assignees

• Shutterfly Inc

Inventors

• Chen Eugene
• Nathan Preeti
• Miller Trynne Anne
• Wang Wiley H
• Litvak Shay
• Santini Marco
• Denend Chris M

Classifications

• H04N1/32582

  Output interface · CPC title

• G06F16/51

  Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures · CPC title

• H04N1/00196 Primary

  Creation of a photo-montage, e.g. photoalbum (H04N1/0019 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04N1/32571

  Details of system components · CPC title

• G06F16/5838

  using colour · CPC title