Geo-tagging digital images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9336240-B2
Application number	US-201113184277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 15, 2011
Priority date	Jul 15, 2011
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, are described for automatically and/or interactively editing image metadata. In one aspect, the methods include the actions of obtaining two from among three items of geo-metadata associated with an image. The three items of geo-metadata include an acquisition geo-location for the image, an acquisition geo-orientation for the image and a geo-location of a subject depicted in the image. The methods further include the actions of representing on a map the two obtained items of geo-metadata associated with the image, and determining candidates for the third item of geo-metadata based on the representations of the two obtained items of geo-metadata. In addition, the methods can also include the actions of determining the third item of geo-metadata associated with the image from among the generated candidates.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by one or more processes executing on a computer system, the method comprising:
obtaining, from geo-metadata associated with an image, an acquisition geo-location for the image and, an acquisition geo-orientation for the image;
representing on a map the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation;
identifying one or more objects based, at least in part, on the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation, wherein the one or more objects represent one or more candidates of a subject depicted in the image;
determining, for each of the one or more candidates, a distance between a focus point of the image and a geo-location associated with each of the one or more candidates;
identifying, based on the determining, a primary candidate, the primary candidate positioned at the distance nearest the focus point;
identifying the primary candidate as the subject of the image; and
representing the subject on the map.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
overlaying on the map a vector having an origin at the obtained acquisition geo-location and a direction corresponding to the obtained acquisition geo-orientation; and
identifying the one or more candidates positioned along the direction of the vector based on geo-information including polygonal contours corresponding to the one or more candidates.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the primary candidate as the subject of the image comprises:
determining which of the one or more identified candidates is the subject based on a user selection.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the primary candidate as the subject of the image comprises:
selecting a candidate from among the one or more identified candidates that is located within a specified range of the acquisition geo-location.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising tagging the image in accordance with hierarchical geo-location information associated with the determined subject.

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating metadata for a focus distance, wherein the focus distance is substantially equal to a length of the overlaid vector representing the acquisition geo-orientation.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the one or more candidates positioned along the direction of the vector further comprises:
receiving a user request to identify an object depicted in the image along the direction of the vector;
extending, in response to the received user request, a length of the vector; and
identifying the object upon the extended vector reaching a polygonal contour of the object.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein reaching the polygonal contour occurs when the extended vector is separated from the polygonal contour by less than a predetermined distance.

9. The method of claim 2 , where the image comprises a frame included in a sequence of video frames, and the method further comprises associating the subject with the sequence of video frames.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
obtaining an acquisition geo-location and an acquisition geo-orientation of an other frame of the sequence of video frames;
representing on the map the obtained acquisition geo-location and geo-orientation of the other frame, at least in part, by overlaying on the map an other vector having an origin at the obtained acquisition geo-location of the other frame and a direction corresponding to the obtained acquisition geo-orientation of the other frame;
identifying along the direction of the other vector one or more other candidates of a subject depicted in the image based, at least in part, on geo-information including polygonal contours corresponding to the one or more other candidates;
determining, for each of the one or more other candidates, a distance between a focus point of the image and a geo-location associated with each of the one or more other candidates;
identifying, based on the determining, an other primary candidate, the other primary candidate positioned at the distance nearest the focus point;
identifying the other primary candidate as the subject of the other frame; and
associating the subject of the other frame with the sequence of video frames.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to:
obtain from geo-metadata associated with an image, an acquisition geo-location for the image and an acquisition geo-orientation for the image;
represent on a map the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation;
determine one or more objects based, at least in part, on the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation, wherein the one or more objects represent one or more candidates of a subject depicted in the image;
determine, for each of the one or more candidates, a distance between a focus point of the image and a geo-location associated with each of the one or more candidates;
identify, based on the determination, a primary candidate, the primary candidate positioned at the distance nearest the focus point;
identify the primary candidate as the subject of the image; and
represent the subject on the map.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to cause the data processing apparatus to represent on a map the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation comprise instructions to cause the data processing apparatus to:
overlay on the map a vector having an origin at the obtained acquisition geo-location and a direction corresponding to the obtained acquisition geo-orientation, and
wherein the instructions to cause the data processing apparatus to determine one or more candidates for a geo-location of a subject comprise instructions to cause the data processing apparatus to identify the one or more candidates positioned along the direction of the vector based on geo-information including polygonal contours corresponding to the one or more candidates.

13. A system comprising:
at least one display device;
at least one processor; and
storage configured to store instructions that are operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
obtaining from geo-metadata associated with an image, an acquisition geo-location for the image and an acquisition geo-orientation for the image;
representing on a map the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation;
determining one or more objects based, at least in part, on the acquisition geo-location and the acquisition geo-orientation, wherein the one or more objects represent one or more candidates of a subject depicted in the image;
determining, for each of the one or more candidates, a distance between a focus point of the image and a geo-location associated with each of the one or more candidates;
identifying, based on the determining, a primary candidate, the primary candidate positioned at the distance nearest the focus point;
identifying the primary candidate as the subject of the image; and
representing the subject on the map.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:
overlaying on the map a vector having an origin at the obtained acquisition geo-location and a direction corresponding to the obtained acquisition geo-orientation; and
identifying the one or more candidates positioned along the direction of the vector based, at least in part, on geo-information including polygonal contours corresponding to the one or

Assignees

• Bhatt Nikhil
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Bhatt Nikhil

Classifications

• G06T11/26

  Drawing of charts or graphs · CPC title

• G06F17/30241

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30265

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30268 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F16/5866

  using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information · CPC title