Techniques for grouping images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9256620-B2
Application number	US-201113332266-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2011
Priority date	Dec 20, 2011
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

Techniques for grouping images are disclosed. In some situations, the techniques include identifying at least one event-based image group among a plurality of images based on an event that is associated with each identified image, receiving a selection of one or more objects in a first image of the identified event-based image group, identifying other images in the identified event-based image group that each include at least one of the selected one or more objects, and associating the identified images with the first image. In one instance, the selected objects include individuals captured in the image.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
grouping, by one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and from among a plurality of images, multiple images of the plurality that are associated with a common event into an event-based image group;
receiving, by the one or more computer systems, a selection by a user of a visual representation of a person;
identifying, by the one or more computer systems, one or more images in the identified event-based image group that each includes the person; and
automatically, based on the grouping, providing the identified images to the person by:
determining, by the one or more computer systems, contact information for the person for use in sending to the person an electronic communication that provides access to the identified one or more images; and
using, by the one or more computer systems, the determined contact information to send the electronic communication to the person.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, by the one or more computer systems:
receiving a selection by the user of an action that is associated with at least one image of the identified event-based image group and that is related to at least one additional person distinct from the person whose visual representation is selected by the user; and
initiating execution of the action for the at least one image and the at least one additional person.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein the action includes sending the at least one image to the at least one additional person in one or more additional electronic communications.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising, before the receiving of the selection by the user, associating a selectable element with the visual representation of the person in a first image of the identified event-based image group; and wherein the receiving of the selection by the user includes detecting an interaction by the user with the selectable element.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising identifying at least one feature associated with the person in the first image, and wherein the identifying of the one or more images further includes identifying images that each have the identified at least one feature.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising tagging each of the identified one or more other images with a common identifier to associate them together.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 further comprising, after the tagging, receiving a selection by the user of the common identifier, and providing the tagged images to the user in response to the selection by the user of the common identifier.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the contact information includes an email address assigned to the person, wherein the determining of the contact information includes retrieving stored information of the user associated with the person, and wherein sending of the electronic communication to the person includes sending one or more emails that include the identified one or more images.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the grouping of the multiple images includes determining the common event based on at least one of a first determined period of time within which the multiple images were captured, or a determined location at which the multiple images were captured.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising identifying additional images that each includes the person and that are not in the identified event-based image group, and wherein the sent electronic communication further provides access to the identified additional images by including permissions information in the sent electronic communication for one or more network-accessible storage locations that store copies of the identified one or more images and the identified additional images, to enable use by the person of the included permissions information in accessing the stored copies.

11. A computer system comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory having computer-executable instructions that, when executed on the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
group, from among a plurality of images, multiple images of the plurality that are associated with a common event into an event-based image group;
analyze at least one image of the event-based image group to identify a person included in the at least one image, and identify images of the identified event-based image group that each includes the person, wherein the identified images include the at least one image; and
automatically provide the identified images to the person without receiving a corresponding user request by:
determining contact information for the person that includes an email address assigned to the person; and
using the determined contact information to send one or more electronic communications to the person that include the identified images.

12. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
receive a selection by a user of an action that is associated with at least one image of the identified event-based image group and that is related to at least one additional person distinct from the person; and
initiate execution of the action for the at least one image and the at least one additional person, wherein the action includes sending one or more additional electronic communications to provide the at least one additional person with access to the at least one image.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:
receive a selection by a user of a visual representation of the person in a first image of the identified event-based image group, and wherein the analyzing of the at least one image is based at least in part on the received selection.

14. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the automatic providing of the identified images to the person is further performed based at least in part on the grouping.

15. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to tag each of the identified images with an identifier via which the identified images can be retrieved, and wherein the identified images include multiple images that each includes the person.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
group, by the computer and from among a plurality of images, multiple images of the plurality that are associated with a common event into an event-based image group;
identify, by the computer, one or more images in the identified event-based image group that each includes a person, wherein the identifying includes analyzing faces in at least one of the identified images and recognizing the person; and
automatically, based at least in part on the grouping and without receiving a corresponding user request, provide the identified images to the person by:
determining, by the computer, contact information for the person; and
using, by the computer, the determined contact information to send one or more electronic communications to the person that include the identified images.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the multiple images of the identified event-based image group

Assignees

• Amacker Matthew W
• Tesler Joel D
• Velummylum Piragash
• Amazon Tech Inc
• A9 Com Inc

Inventors

• Amacker Matthew W
• Tesler Joel D
• Velummylum Piragash

Classifications

• G06K9/00677

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30277 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06V20/30 Primary

  in albums, collections or shared content, e.g. social network photos or video · CPC title

• G06V40/16

  Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions · CPC title

• G06F16/532 Primary

  Query formulation, e.g. graphical querying · CPC title