Collection management database of arbitrary schema
Contents
1. and a digital audio recording 0 2003 0120673 1 6 The method of claim 5 further comprising selecting a search criteria selected from the group con sisting of at least one of a descriptor category and set perceived by a user to correspond to an attribute of a desired object searching the objects according to the search criteria and retrieving objects to create a subset of the collection corresponding to the search criteria 7 The method of claim 6 wherein objects in the collec tion are selectively available to be browsed by a user 8 The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the descriptors categories and the set corresponding to an object in a collection are selectively editable while entering the object into the collection browsing the collection and searching the collection 9 The method of claim 8 further comprising assigning to each object in a collection additional information selected from the group consisting of a caption a date and an event 10 The method of claim 1 further comprising modifying the set to add a descriptor in response to the presentation of a new object 11 The method of claim 1 wherein correspondence of the attributes to the descriptors perceived by a user is subjective and arbitrary 12 The method of claim 1 wherein at least one object is selected from the group consisting of a digital image a digital video recording and a digital audio recording 13 The method2. 147c may be used to archive other collections 216 listed in the collections table 146 Each of the tables 147a 147b 147c may be created dynamically upon creation of a new collection 216 by a user Likewise if a collection 216 is deleted the corresponding table 66 may be deleted 0082 Referring to FIG 10 in certain embodiments text files 230 238 may be employed in accordance with the invention For example text files 230 238 may be used to define search sets 68 descriptive category sets 68 catego ries 234 and descriptors 202 or characteristics 202 within each category 234 A file 230 such as a structured text file 230 may be used to store information relating to each descriptive category set 68 In certain embodiments the file 230 may include search set 68 names as section names 68 Categories 234 corresponding to each search set 68 may be stored as keywords 234 in each section 68 For example if a search set 68d is named family history categories 234 such as people 236a event 236b and place 236c may be stored as keywords 236 in a search set 68d entitled family history 0083 In certain embodiments characteristics 202 descriptors 202 corresponding to each of the categories 234 may be stored in a file 238 such as a structured text file 238 For example the category 234d people may include descriptors 202 such as babies children and couple corresponding thereto
3. Display Search Results 112 Database Engine Slide Show Module 148 FIG 3 Patent Application Publication Jun 26 2003 Sheet 4 of 11 US 2003 0120673 1 152 154 User Reine Software Action we User Chooses a Collection type Software Automatically References Corresponding Descriptive Category set 15 User Creates aCollection 160 Software Dynamically Creates One or Several Tables e g Modifies the Schema to Store Data Corresponding to the Collection 164 User Populates the Collection with Objects 166 Software Automatically Creates a Record for Each Object in the Collection 168 User Describes Objects in Terms of Captions Descriptors Dates by way of the Software Interface Software Automatically Populates Fields in the Tables 170 User Searches for Objects Having a Specified Caption Descriptor Date or Other Criterion 174 Software Automatically Navigates and Searches the Entire Database Without User Intervention Software Searches From the Host Computer s Memory Secondary Memory Peripheral Memory Network Resources and the Internet for Objects Satisfying the Specified Criterion FIG 4 180 Patent Application Publication Jun 26 2003 Sheet 5 of 11 US 2003 0120673 1 192 Select Names for Each Descriptive Category Set 116 Select Categories to Include in Each Descriptive Category Set 11 Select De
4. caption 82 to be searched or may simply indicate selected Jun 26 2003 terms or portions of the caption 82 The search may then be initiated and performed by the collection management sys tem 72 0087 In certain embodiments the user may search 260 by indicating 262 some other criterion of a desired object 64 such as a date file size date last modified file name or the like In other embodiments the user may search using any combination of the steps 248 256 260 described hereinbe fore In addition in certain embodiments the user may use different forms of boolean logic to perform a search of the objects 64 0088 The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its essence or essen tial characteristics The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restric tive The scope of the invention is therefore indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing descrip tion All changes within the meaning and range of equiva lency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is 1 A method for deterministically classifying objects indexed in a database by a user thereof the method com prising providing a database establishing by the user a set comprising a plurality of categories each category of the plurality of categories being arbitrarily
5. definable by a user to contain a finite number of descriptors selected arbitrarily by a user to constitute values within the category selecting by a user objects having attributes perceived by a user to correspond to the set each object being uniquely identifiable by a user and identified by a unique identifier retrievable by a computer selecting the set corresponding to the perceived attributes creating a collection having a collection name and char acterized by a type corresponding to the set entering objects into the collection by linking selected ones of the objects with the collection name by filtering the objects according to correspondence of the attributes to the descriptors and storing information selected to support indexing of and searching for the unique identifier of each of the objects in the database based on at least one of the descriptors categories and the set selected by the user 2 The method of claim 1 further comprising modifying the set to add a category in response to the presentation of a new object 3 The method of claim 2 further comprising modifying the set to add a descriptor in response to the presentation of a new object 4 The method of claim 3 wherein correspondence of the attributes to the descriptors perceived by a user is arbitrarily subjective 5 The method of claim 4 wherein at least one object is selected from the group consisting of a digital image a digital video recording
6. of claim 1 further comprising selecting a search criterion selected from the group con sisting of at least one of a descriptor category and set perceived by a user to correspond to an attribute of a desired object searching the objects according to the search criterion and retrieving objects to create a subset of the collection corresponding to the search criterion 14 The method of claim 13 wherein objects in the collection are selectively browsable by a user 15 The method of claim 14 wherein at least one of the descriptors the categories and the set corresponding to an object in a collection is selectively editable while doing at least one of entering the object into the collection browsing the collection and searching the collection 16 The method of claim 1 further comprising assigning to each object in a collection additional information selected from the group consisting of a caption a date and an event 17 A method for locating objects unique to a user and indexed in a database the method comprising establishing by the user a set comprising a plurality of categories each category of the plurality of categories being arbitrarily definable by a user to contain a finite Jun 26 2003 number of descriptors selected arbitrarily by a user to constitute values within the category providing a collection of objects having attributes indexed in a database the indices corresponding to at least one
7. thus arbitrarily define a schema of classification according to perceptions links experiences and the like according to the subjective memory vocabulary and mental connections of a user 12 5 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 1 of 11 Patent Application Publication 105592014 5 Patent Application Publication Jun 26 2003 Sheet 2 of 11 US 2003 0120673 1 Entire Collection Collection A Collection B Collection C Descriptive Descriptive Descriptive Category Set A 68 Category Set 68b Category Set C 68c Collection Descriptive 68e Category Setn _ Descriptive Category Set D 684 Patent Application Publication Jun 26 2003 Sheet 3 of 11 US 2003 0120673 1 72 7 Collection Generation Module 74 116 Classification Module 114 create Gotectons 76 Classify Objects 80 Define Descriptors Within CD Creation Module 124 Export Objects 126 Image Files Thumbnail Files Collection Editing Module 92 Add Delete Modify Objects in a Collection 94 Enhance Objects 96 Other Modules 136 Modify Classification Online User Manual of Objects ina Collection gt Context Sensitive Help 14 Add Delete Modify Collections Object Label Editing 102 Searching Module 1 04 Define Scope of Search 106 Define Method of Search 108 Descriptive Category Sets 68 Captions 82 Other Criterion 84 Initiate Search 110
8. to FIG 3 one embodiment of a collec tion management system 72 may be embodied as software data structures to be executed or processed on a computer 11 The collection management system 72 may include a collection generation module 74 a collection editing module 92 a searching module 104 a classification module 114 a CD creation module 124 a database 144 a database engine 145 a slide show module 148 as well as other modules 136 0044 collection generation module 74 may include a module 76 for creating collections 66 For example a module 76 may provide a user the ability to name a collection 66 select a descriptive category set 68 corresponding to the collection 66 and import or scan objects 64 such as photographs 64 into a collection 66 As photographs 64 are imported into a collection 66 they may be identified or classified according to the descriptive category set 68 cor responding to the collection 66 0045 For example a collection generation module 74 may include a module 80 for classifying or categorizing photographs 64 as they are imported into a collection 66 user may initially select 68 a descriptive category set 68 having categories and descriptors that the user deems most appropriate for a given group of photographs 64 The user may also enter a caption 82 to each of the photographs 64 in the collection 66 In certain embodiments the user may also be able to enter an additional text description of any arbi
9. 4 in a collection 66 For example in the case of photographs 64 a user may be able to perform editing features such as changing the brightness contrast color filters tint and the like to photographs 64 within the collections 66 0050 certain embodiments choosing to enhance 96 edit 96 a photograph 64 within the collection management system 72 may automatically open an editing application such as Photoshop without having to manually exit the collection management system 72 software and manually open the editing software In addition when a user has finished using the editing application a user may be returned directly to the collection management system 72 software in the same manner An enhanced or edited photograph 64 may be saved directly over a previous unedited version or a new enhanced version may be saved in the collection 66 in addition to the previous version In selected embodiments a user may be able to reverse editing changes made but not desired later 0051 In addition not only may objects 64 such as photographs 64 be physically edited within the collection Jun 26 2003 editing module 92 but indexing information such as cap tions 82 indexing from corresponding descriptive category set 68 labeling performed by a labeling module 90 and other information 84 may be edited 98 The user may also directly edit 100 collections such as by changing a name of a collection 66 changing a corresponding
10. 9195 ae 0 2003 0120673 1 COLLECTION MANAGEMENT DATABASE OF ARBITRARY SCHEMA RELATED APPLICATIONS 0001 This patent application claims the benefit of U S Provisional Patent Application Serial No 60 343 861 filed Dec 21 2001 and entitled Associative Distributed Database of Arbitrary Schema BACKGROUND 0002 1 The Field of the Invention 0003 This invention relates to computer software and more particularly to novel systems and methods for orga nizing and retrieving objects such as digital photographs images audio recordings video recordings or other files stored in databases 0004 2 The Background Art 0005 The emergence and proliferation of electronic devices such as digital cameras video recorders music players and other computing devices has made the storage of digital images as well as other forms of digital video audio files and the like more common inexpensive and convenient Due to the decreased expense and increased convenience a user may acquire these types of media and files more easily and in increased numbers With these increased numbers means of organizing and cataloging the media in a manner that the media may be effectively catalogued classified searched associated and retrieved is an important issue 0006 Digital media organizers albums and the like typically lack the power to effectivel
11. US 20030120673 1 Patent Application Publication Pub No US 2003 0120673 1 United States Ashby et al 43 Pub Date Jun 26 2003 54 COLLECTION MANAGEMENT DATABASE OF ARBITRARY SCHEMA 76 Inventors Gary H Ashby Orem UT US Marlo E Schuldt Orem UT US Correspondence Address PATE PIERCE amp BAIRD 215 SOUTH STATE STREET SUITE 550 PARKSIDE TOWER SALT LAKE CITY UT 84111 US 21 Appl No 10 327 578 22 Filed Dec 20 2002 Related U S Application Data 60 Provisional application No 60 343 861 filed on Dec 21 2001 Publication Classification 51 Int Ol animes 7 00 Storage Device Read Write 52 1 5 707 100 57 ABSTRACT Apparatus and methods for deterministically classifying and indexing objects that are perceived arbitrarily and subjec tively such as digital media and file representations of photographs in a database A user establishes various per sonalized descriptive category sets to organize media such as digital photographs video and audio The descriptive category sets include categories to describe some aspect or attribute of the objects of the user Each category may be arbitrarily definable and contain a finite number of descrip tors constituting values within the category Objects are entered into collections by filtering the objects according to the descriptors of the descriptive category set A user may
12. and stored within a file 238 The descriptive category sets 68 categories 234 and descriptors 202 may be stored and structured in text or other types of files in may different configurations and the example described herein is merely intended to illustrate one of many possible embodiments In other embodiments any or all of the descriptive category sets 68 categories 234 and descrip tors may be stored and organized within fields of tables in a database 0084 Referring to FIG 11 a process 240 for searching for objects 64 located in collections 66 may include initially designating 242 collections to be searched This may include specifying a collection 66 or a group of collections 66 A search method may then be selected 246 For example a search method may include searching 248 for objects 64 using a descriptive category set 68 searching 256 by cap tion searching by some other criterion 260 and the like 0085 For example if a user chooses to search 248 using a descriptive category set 68 the user may select 250 a desired descriptive category set 68 having corresponding categories 198 The user may then select 252 descriptors 202 within any or all of the categories 198 the descriptors 202 corresponding to a desired object 62 The search may then be initiated and performed by the collection management system 72 0086 Alternatively a user may select 256 a caption 82 corresponding to a desired object 64 A user may indicate a
13. ating a collection 76 selecting the context sensitive help 140 may automati cally display a section of a user manual related to creating collections 76 Likewise if the user is using some other features of the collection management system 72 the user may be directed to the appropriate section of a help manual or to other material addressing the user s issue The context sensitive help module 140 may respond according to a screen a user is using or alternatively the module 140 may sense where a user is within a particular process and respond accordingly 0063 In selected embodiments other modules 136 may include tutorials 142 to guide a user through selected pro Jun 26 2003 cesses of the collection management system 72 For example tutorials 142 may include video or audio record ings detailing methods of operation of any or all of the modules within the collection management system 72 The user may also be led through a series of steps or be asked to respond to questions to assist in the learning process 0064 The collection management system 72 may include a database 144 to index and classify each of the objects 64 and collections 66 The database 144 may be configured as needed to conserve memory resources and may be dynami cally expanded or contracted as needed as objects 64 or collections 66 are added or deleted by a user or as additional indexing information is added or deleted for each of the objects 64 or collection
14. chosen to describe objects 64 described by the set 68 These categories 198 may be selected 118 from a list 200 of categories Categories may be added or deleted from the list 200 as desired by a user 0073 Similarly each of the categories may include descriptors 202a 202b selectable 120 by a user that define values within the category For example the category 198a people may include a list 202 of descriptors that define values within the people category These values 202a may also be modified such as by adding or deleting a descriptor 202a from the list 202a Similarly another category 198 such as the recreation category 198b may include corre sponding descriptors 202b that define values within the category 1985 0074 Referring to FIGS 7 and 8 a process 210 may be used to classify or categorize objects 64 in a collection 66 For example a user may initially designate 212 a name for a collection 66 For example a user may name a collection such as Summer of 1985 or Family Vacation to San Diego Once the user has designated 212 a collection name the user may select a descriptive category set 68 to describe objects 64 such as photographs 64 to be imported into the collection 66 For example referring again to FIG 6 a user may select the descriptive category set 68 named Travel Once the user has named a collection 66 and selected a descriptive category set 68 to described objects 64 wit
15. descriptive cat egory set 68 deleting objects 64 within a collection 66 or adding modifying or deleting a collection 66 The user may also edit 102 an object s labeling such as by adding deleting or modifying the labels and the like 0052 The collection management system 72 may include a searching module 104 A user may be required to define 106 a scope of a search For example a user may desire to search all collections 66 or may desire to search only individual or groups of collections 66 Once the user has defined the scope of the search a user may identify 108 a method of searching For example a user may search using keywords from object captions 82 terms used to classify objects 64 using descriptive category sets 68 or search using some other criterion such as an object s date size name file type last modified date or the like 0053 Once a user has established a scope and a method of search a search may be initiated 110 The searching module 104 may then display 112 the results of the search This may include providing a list of names of located objects 64 permitting a user to scroll through located objects 64 providing a list of thumbnails of located objects 64 or the like 0054 The collection management system 72 may include a classification module 114 The classification module 114 may allow a user to establish and define descriptive category sets 68 in order to classify and categorize objects 64 withi
16. dual nodes 52 e g 11 48 52 54 may have various communi cation capabilities 0037 In certain embodiments a minimum of logical capability may be available in any node 52 Note that any of the individual nodes 11 48 52 54 may be referred to as may all together as a node 11 or a node 52 Each may contain a processor 12 with more or less of the other components 14 46 0038 network 30 may include one or more servers 54 Servers may be used to manage store communicate trans fer access update and the like any practical number of files databases or the like for other nodes 52 on a network 30 Typically a server 54 may be accessed by all nodes 11 52 on a network 30 Nevertheless other special functions including communications applications directory services and the like may be implemented by an individual server 54 or multiple servers 54 0039 In general a node 11 may need to communicate over a network 30 with a server 54 a router 48 or nodes 52 Similarly a node 11 may need to communicate over another network 50 in an internetwork connection with some remote node 52 Likewise individual components 12 46 may need to communicate data with one another A com munication link may exist in general between any pair of devices 0040 Referring to FIG 2 a group 62 of objects 64 such as digital photographs 64 video recordings 64 audio record ings 64 text files 64 and the like may be sorted into one
17. e a descriptive cat egory set with one or a plurality of categories to categorize a group of objects unique to the user Each category may by used to describe some aspect or attribute of the objects In addition each category may be arbitrarily definable by a user to contain a finite number of descriptors constituting values within the category 0011 Once a user has established descriptive category sets according to an organization scheme selected by the user a user may select objects such as digital media and files having attributes perceived by a user to correspond to the descriptive category set Each object may be uniquely identifiable by a user and also be identified by a unique identifier retrievable by a computer e g file name etc The user may then select a descriptive category set that he or she considers to correspond to the perceived attributes of the objects A user may create sets by the user s own mental associations and define categories sets and fields with words arbitrarily selected due to their unique significance to the user 0012 The user may create a collection of objects having a collection name and the collection may be characterized by a type corresponding to the selected descriptive category set Once the collection is established the user may enter objects into the collection by linking selected ones of the objects with the collection name and by filtering the objects accord ing to correspondence of
18. e apparatus and methods for deterministically classi Jun 26 2003 fying and indexing objects such as digital media and files in a database by a user based on deterministic and highly arbitrary and fuzzy logic of a user s mind A user may be provided a database such as a relational or associative database The database may be dynamically expandable as needed as a user desires to add and organize additional media to a collection At the outset the invention recognizes that many associations and decisions are used naturally by the mind to discriminate between sort various objects especially something with so many complex memories bound to it like a photograph has Although digital photo graphs are referred to repeatedly in the body of this speci fication one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention may be used to organize associate and store other digital media and objects such as images digital video recordings digital audio recordings digital text files and the like and are intended to be captured within the scope of the present invention 0010 A user may configure and set up a database in accordance with the invention without having expertise and training in database systems Apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention may provide a user the ability to establish various descriptive category sets to organize the media For example a user may creat
19. e collections 216 For example additional columns may be used to identify the author of a collection the date a collection was created the type of collection and the like 0079 Other tables 147a 147b 147c may be used to store a list of photographs 64 or objects 64 contained in each collection 216 Each photograph 64 or object 64 assigned to a collection 216 may be given a unique index number 225 in order to eliminate or reduce the possibility that two or more photographs 64 or objects 64 are confused with one another Each time a new photograph 64 is added to a collection 216 in the collection management module 72 the next available number may be assigned thereto 0080 For example tables 147a 147b 147 may be created to correspond to each of the collections 216 A collection A may be stored in a table 147a A table 147a may include a list 225 of all of the photographs in the collection 216 each of the photographs 225 comprising a record 225 in the table 147a The table 147 corresponding US 2003 0120673 1 to each collection 216 may include a column 224 where a unique ID number may be stored a column 82 where a caption may be stored columns 202a c to store descriptors a column 84 to store the date of the photograph and the like In addition a table 147 may include other columns as needed to store other information corresponding to a specific photograph 64 or object 62 0081 Likewise other tables 1475
20. escriptive category set A user may select a search criteria such as a descriptor category or set perceived by a user and defined thereby to correspond to attributes of desired objects In accordance with the invention the user may then initiate a search of the objects according to the search criteria The desired objects may then be retrieved to create a subset of the objects corresponding to the search criteria 0016 Apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention may provide the ability to browse objects in any or all of the collections In addition the descriptors catego ries or descriptive category set of a specific object may be modified when entering an object into a collection browsing a collection or after searching the collections Additionally information used to index and categorize the objects need not be limited to the descriptive category set categories and descriptors Each object in a collection may be indexed and identified with other information arbitrarily selected by a user for a reason unique to the user such as captions dates events and the like BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0017 The objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following descrip tion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope
21. hat was previously associated with a particular object 64 or image 64 0060 In certain embodiments viewing software 134 may be exported with the exported objects 64 or images 64 to provide a method for viewing the objects 64 and collections The viewing software 134 may include a subset of the features provided by the collection management system 72 For example the viewing software 134 may allow a user to search and display the collections 66 or objects 64 on exported media However the user may not be able to create or edit any of the objects 64 using the viewing software 134 The features included with or lacked by the viewing soft ware 134 compared to the collection management system 72 may be adjusted as needed 0061 The collection management system 72 may include other modules 136 to perform various functions and tasks For example the system 72 may include an online user manual 138 This may simply be a link to a web site on the Internet providing assistance for the system 72 or may download information as needed or requested by a user This method may provide a convenient solution to provide updated assistance for the collection management system 72 0062 In other embodiments the other modules 136 may include a context sensitive help module 140 This module 140 may detect features that a user is using at a time he or she requests assistance For example if a user is using the collection generation module 74 and is cre
22. hin the collection the user may then select 216 objects to enter into the collection 66 For example if a user possesses photo graphs 64 that are saved on a hard drive 16 on his or her computer 11 the user may navigate to the location where the photographs 64 are stored and select 216 0075 The user may then classify 218 the objects 64 according to the descriptive category set 68 selected For Jun 26 2003 example referring specifically to FIG 8 if a user has a collection of photographs 64a g the user may choose to divide them into one or more collections 66 A first collec tion 66 may be organized using a first descriptive category set 68 and a second collection 66 may be organized using a second descriptive category set 68b With respect to the first collection 66 and corresponding descriptive category set 68 photographs 64a 64b 64c 64d 64f may be filtered through the categories 198a e such as for example one related to transportation or vehicles A first category 198a in this example may be labeled with an identifier like vehicle with descriptors 202 within the category 198a Likewise another category 198b may be designated with another identifier like make with corresponding descrip tors Thus a user may create his or her own descriptive category sets 68 to describe objects 64 such as photographs 64 that are unique to the user 0076 In a similar manner photographs 64d 64 64 may be sorted
23. ify ing the set to add a descriptor to identify an additional attribute 26 The method of claim 17 wherein the correspondence of the attributes to the descriptors categories and set is subjective 28 The method of claim 17 wherein at least one object is selected from the group consisting of a digital image a digital video recording and a digital audio recording 29 The method of claim 17 wherein objects in the collection are selectively available to be browsed by a user 30 The method of claim 17 wherein at least one of the descriptors categories and the set corresponding to an object in a collection are selectively editable once the object is retrieved 31 The method of claim 17 wherein the search criterion further includes information selected from the group con sisting of a caption a date and an event
24. ing one embodi ment of the organization of data in database tables in accordance with the invention 0027 FIG 10 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodi ment of the organization of descriptive category sets cat egories and descriptors in database tables in accordance with the invention and 0028 FIG 11 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodi ment of a process for searching for objects categorized in accordance with the invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0029 It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention as generally described and illustrated in FIGS 1 through 11 herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations Thus the description herein is not intended to limit the scope of the invention but is merely representative of certain presently preferred embodiments of devices and systems in accor dance with the invention Those of ordinary skill in the art will of course appreciate that various modifications to the details herein may easily be made without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention as described Thus the following information is intended only by way of example and simply illustrates certain presently preferred embodiments consistent with the invention 0030 The presently preferred embodiments of the inven tion will be best understood by reference to the drawings wherein like parts are de
25. into another collection 66 using a distinct descriptive category set 68b In this example categories 198f j such as for example the category landscape having descriptors 202b and the category season may be used to describe outdoor photographs 64d 64e 64g In addition each of the photographs 64a j may be designated with a caption 82a 82b as discussed previously as well as with other criteria 84a 84b such as a date Each of the objects 64 may be indexed and associated with the infor mation such as the descriptors 202 the captions 82 and the other criterion 84 in a database 144 0077 Referring to FIGS 9 and 10 one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a database may be configured to store information in many different ways For example with respect to relational databases tables may be organized and related to one another in many different embodiments Thus the illustrations of FIGS 9 and 10 describe one of many possible embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention 0078 For example referring specifically to FIG 9 in one embodiment a table 146 may be used to store a list of every collection 216 created in the collection management module 72 For example a user may have created collec tions A B and C assigning a name 220 to each collection 216 The table 146 may include additional columns 222 to store additional information 222 as needed to describe each of th
26. iptor Desired and Classify the Object According to the Descriptor 220 FIG 7 US 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 8 of 11 Patent Application Publication 9 8 Sls 322222 uondeg 861 7 JBOA 5 9 a 2002 Ze 1 978 US 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 9 of 11 Patent Application Publication Uae 05 9 5 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 10 of 11 Patent Application Publication OF Sis pue 05 g 28 427 5 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 11 of 11 Patent Application Publication 852 uo 962 SIs uondes jo ayeubisag 5 Aq youeas GC youeeg y 262 5129 40 4 14105 19 5 Ul 51014 10590 12995 062 195 pauyapaig 19195 COC uona 092 5 29140 Aq 5195 9 870 Ope 12
27. many persons within the photograph 64 A caption 82 or descrip tive category set 68 may be inadequate to index or identify each person in the photograph 64 0048 Therefore an apparatus and method in accordance with the invention may provide the capability to label persons objects or other elements associated with locations on the surface of a digital image 64 In certain embodiments this labeling information may be stored in another file separate from the digital image file 64 The labels may be placed on or near each of the persons objects or items of interest In certain embodiments the labels may be selec tively displayed or hidden so that a user may view the contents of the photograph 64 behind the label In selected embodiments the labels may be selectively displayed or hidden when a user moves a cursor over the corresponding object 64 identified by the label The labels may provide the capability to label many items or persons of interest within a photograph adding considerable information to a photo graph 64 that may be viewed or searched at a later time 0049 The collection management system 72 may include a collection editing module 92 for editing objects 64 in the collections 66 For example a module 94 may provide the ability to add delete modify move or provide some other editing capability of objects 64 in the collections 66 In certain embodiments a user may be able to edit 96 or enhance 96 particular objects 6
28. n each collection 66 A user may initially establish 116 a descriptive category set by assigning it a name or type For example if a user possesses many photographs 64 of his or her family history the user may desire to name a descriptive category set family history The user may then define 118 categories within a descriptive category set 68 0055 For example categories 118 within a descriptive category set 68 may include people places and occa sions Each category may be helpful in describing photo graphs 64 related to family history Within each category 118 a user may define descriptors e g values within the category For example under the people category a user may include descriptors such as cousins couples and children Within the places category a user may include descriptors such as home back yard and park Like wise within the occasions category a user may include descriptors such as vacation holiday and family reunions 0056 Descriptive category sets 68 once established may be edited as needed by a user For example a user may choose to add an additional category 118 Likewise a user may choose to add descriptors within any or all of the categories 118 0057 In certain embodiments categories and descriptors may be selected from preestablished lists by a user For example a user may choose categories from a lis
29. nput devices 22 may include one more physical embodiments For example a keyboard 34 may be used for interaction with the user as may a mouse 36 or stylus pad 37 A touch screen 38 a telephone 39 or simply a telecom munications line 39 may be used for communication with other devices with a user or the like Similarly a scanner 40 may be used to receive graphical inputs which may or may not be translated to other formats The hard drive 41 or other memory device 41 such as a CD ROM or DVD drive may be used as an input device whether resident within the node 11 or some other node 52 e g 52 54 etc on the network 30 or from another network 50 0035 Output devices 24 may likewise include one or more physical hardware units For example in general the port 28 may be used to accept inputs into and send outputs from the node 11 Nevertheless a monitor 42 may provide outputs to a user for feedback during a process or for assisting two way communication between the processor 12 and a user A printer 44 a hard drive 46 or other device may be used for outputting information as output devices 24 0036 In general a network 30 to which a node 11 connects may in turn be connected through a router 48 to another network 50 In general two nodes 11 52 may be on a network 30 adjoining networks 30 50 or may be sepa rated by multiple routers 48 and multiple networks 50 as individual nodes 11 52 on an internetwork The indivi
30. of the descriptors the categories or the set selecting a search criterion selected from the group con sisting of at least one of a descriptor category and set perceived by a user to correspond to an attribute of a desired object searching a group of objects according to the search criterion and retrieving objects having attributes corresponding to the search criteria 18 The method of claim 17 further comprising modify ing the set to add a category to identify an additional attribute 19 The method of claim 18 further comprising modify ing the set to add a descriptor to identify an additional attribute 20 The method of claim 19 wherein the correspondence of the attributes to the descriptors categories and set is subjective and arbitrary 21 The method of claim 20 wherein at least one object is selected from the group consisting of a digital image a digital video recording and a digital audio recording 22 The method of claim 21 wherein objects in the collection are selectively available to be browsed by a user 23 The method of claim 22 wherein at least one of the descriptors categories and the set corresponding to an object in a collection are selectively editable once the object is retrieved 24 The method of claim 23 wherein the search criteria further includes information selected from the group con sisting of a caption a date and an event 25 The method of claim 17 further comprising mod
31. or Jun 26 2003 a plurality of collections 66a e The sorting may be custom ized or personalized according to criteria 68a e for each collection established by a user having owning or being associated in some way with the objects 62 The user may establish various descriptive category sets 68a e in order to classify or catalog each of the objects 64 in each of the collections 66 0041 For example a first collection 66a may contain digital photographs related to a particular event such as a family vacation Accordingly a descriptive category set 68a may be used to categorize and index photographs 64a 64b for example related to vacations Likewise a second collection 665 may use a second descriptive category set 68b used to categorize photographs 64c 64d relating to a holi day 0042 Similarly additional collections 66c e may be used to categorize other photographs 64 into logical groupings using identical or different descriptive category sets 68c e Each of the collections 66 may include photographs 64 in common with other collections 66 or each may contain photographs 64 unique to a specific collection 66 In certain embodiments additional collections 66d 66e may be cre ated from existing collections 66a 66b 66d Each of these collections 66d 66e may be characterized by unique descriptive category sets 68d 68e or may share a descrip tive category set 68d 68e with another collection 66a c 0043 Referring
32. s 66 In certain embodiments the database 144 may include tables 146 to store or index information One will recognize that tables 146 in a database 144 may be configured and related in many ways to store information related to the objects 64 and collections 0065 The collection management system 72 may include a database engine 145 to interface with the database 144 The database engine 145 may be used to store retrieve and query the database 144 as needed In addition a slide show management module 148 may be used to create slide shows of the objects 64 and collections 66 Slide shows may be made up of objects 64 within a collection 66 entire collec tions 66 or objects 64 across several collections 66 The slide show module 148 may be integrated seamlessly with the collection management system 72 so a user may create slide shows without being required to exit the collection management system 72 0066 Referring to FIG 4 an apparatus and method in accordance with the invention may be characterized by actions 152 that a user may perform and actions 154 that the collection management system 72 may perform in response thereto For example a user may choose 156 an appropriate collection type in order to classify a group of objects 64 In response the collection management system 72 may auto matically select 158 a descriptive category set 68 that corresponds to the collection type and display to the user the categories and descriptor
33. s to classify the objects 64 0067 Once the user has selected 156 a collection type a user may create 160 a collection 66 by giving it a name In response the the collection management system 72 may automatically add 162 a record corresponding to the newly created collection 66 to a database table 146 listing existing collections 66 The the collection management system 72 may then automatically create 164 a table 146 or plurality of tables 146 in the database 144 corresponding to the newly created collection 66 to list each of the objects 64 included therein 0068 Likewise a user may choose 166 to populate the tables 146 created in step 164 with objects 64 As the user populates the tables 146 with objects 64 the the collection management system 72 may automatically create 168 a record corresponding to each object 64 This record may be used to store indexing and identification information corre sponding to the object 64 0069 The user may describe 170 the object 64 in terms of the descriptors of the descriptive category set 68 captions 82 and other criterion 84 The collection management system 72 may then automatically store 176 this information US 2003 0120673 1 in each record or may store the information in another table 146 or record that is linked to the record 0070 Likewise when a user searches for or several objects 64 or collections 66 the user may specify descriptors 120 captions 82 or other cri
34. scriptors Within Each Category 120 FIG 5 5 2003 0120673 1 Jun 26 2003 Sheet 6 of 11 Patent Application Publication sods mous Buys 5 45 4 2 Buidwey 51014 2590 4 0 A yelHod dnoiy 2 2 PIU Aqeg 5914 unpy sio diosaq 0 2 syods sdiysuonejay 13 19410 SUOISEIIO 5152114 1611 AsoBayeg gt gt s 97913 xL 861 4 26 100442195 5010 UNJ Awe wnqiy 196 Patent Application Publication Jun 26 2003 Sheet 7 of 11 US 2003 0120673 1 Designate Collection 21 Select Predefined Descriptive Category Set 21 gt Select Objects to Include 1 in the Collection 2 Classify Objects According to Descriptors in the Selected Descriptive Category Set 218 if a Desired Descriptor is not Available Add the Descr
35. signated by like numerals through out 0031 Referring to FIG 1 an apparatus 10 may imple ment the invention on one or more nodes 11 client 11 computer 11 containing a processor 12 CPU 12 All components may exist in a single node 11 or may exist in multiple nodes 11 52 remote from one another The CPU 12 may be operably connected to a memory device 14 A memory device 14 may include one or more devices such as a hard drive or other non volatile storage device 16 a read only memory 18 ROM 18 and a random access and usually volatile memory 20 RAM 20 or operational memory 20 0032 The apparatus 10 may include an input device 22 for receiving inputs from a user or from another device Similarly an output device 24 may be provided within the node 11 or accessible within the apparatus 10 A network card 26 interface card or port 28 may be provided for connecting to outside devices such as the network 30 0033 Internally a bus 32 or plurality of buses 32 may operably interconnect the processor 12 memory devices 14 US 2003 0120673 1 input devices 22 output devices 24 network card 26 and port 28 The bus 32 may be thought of as a data carrier As such the bus 32 may be embodied in numerous configura tions Wire fiber optic line wireless electromagnetic com munications by visible light infrared and radio frequencies may likewise be implemented as appropriate for the bus 32 and the network 30 0034 I
36. t of categories to include in a descriptive category set 68 Like wise a user may choose descriptors from a preestablished list of descriptors to include as values within a particular US 2003 0120673 1 category A user may add to or delete from these lists of categories and descriptors as desired 0058 collection management system 72 may include a compact disk CD or other type of computer readable media associated with the creation module 124 The com pact disk creation module 124 may provide a convenient process to export objects 64 from collections 66 onto a computer readable medium for sharing backing up archiving and the like 0059 In certain embodiments the compact disk creation module 124 may provide a user the option to select objects 64 collections 66 or groups thereof to burn or copy onto computer readable media This may be accomplished by exporting 126 objects 64 or collections 66 such as image files 128 to a specified folder that may be burned onto a compact disk or other computer readable media using appropriate software In addition in certain embodiments the module 124 may export thumbnail files to the folder so a user may preview images 64 in a compressed format before viewing an entire image 64 Indexing information 132 may also be exported to provide a user the ability to search the exported objects 64 or images 64 using the descriptive category sets 68 captions 82 and other criteria 84 t
37. terion 84 corresponding to desired objects 64 or collections 66 The collection man agement system 72 may automatically navigate 176 and search 176 the entire database 144 without requiring the user to personally navigate the database 144 The collection management system 72 may search 180 the host computer s memory 14 as well as network resources 30 and the Internet in certain embodiments for objects 64 satisfying the criterion specified by the user 0071 Each of the steps 156 160 166 170 174 may be performed by the user in any order or steps may be deleted or added as needed Likewise the steps 158 162 164 168 172 176 180 simply represent examples of certain embodi ments of actions 154 that may be performed by the collec tion management system 72 in accordance with the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof 0072 Referring to FIGS 5 and 6 a process 190 for establishing descriptive category sets 68 may include ini tially selecting 116 names for each set 68 For example descriptive category sets 68 may for example be given names like album family history or fun photos as illustrated in FIG 6 Once a name has been assigned 116 to a set 68 categories 198 may be selected for each set For example with respect to the album descriptive category set 68 categories 198 may be selected such as people occasions places recreation and the like may be
38. the attributes of the objects to the descriptors of the descriptive category set The correspon dence of the attributes to the descriptors perceived by a user may be highly subjective and seemingly arbitrary Never theless a user is typically relying on a complex schema of mentally associated characteristics and memories associated with a picture 0013 Once the objects have been linked to the descrip tors information identifying the descriptors categories and the selected category set may be stored in a database This information may facilitate future searching for collections or objects in the collections 0 2003 0120673 1 0014 In certain embodiments the descriptive category set may be modified to include additional categories on the fly in response to the presentation of a new object having attributes not conforming to any of the available categories or having attributes that are better described with an addi tional or alternate category These may change as a user s mind considers consciously or subconsciously over time the object e g photograph in the context of memories and significance it elicits due to mental associations Likewise additional descriptors may be added to any or all of the descriptive categories to better describe an object included in a collection 0015 Apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention may provide for searching for collections or objects in a collection using a d
39. the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings in which 0018 FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram of embodiment of computer hardware that may be used to implement an apparatus and method in accordance with the invention 0019 FIG 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a creation process for creating collec tions associating a group of objects 0020 FIG 3 is a schematic block diagram of embodiment of modules included in a collection manage ment system in accordance with the invention 0021 FIG 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of user actions and corresponding software actions in accor dance with the invention 0022 FIG 5 is a flow diagram illustrating embodi ment of a process whereby descriptive category sets may be created to categorize objects in accordance with the inven tion Jun 26 2003 0023 FIG 6 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodi ment of descriptive category sets descriptive categories and descriptors used to categorize objects 0024 FIG 7 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodi ment of a process for classifying objects to be included in a collection 0025 FIG 8 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodi ment of a process for filtering objects with respect to several descriptive category sets in accordance with the invention 0026 FIG 9 is a flow diagram illustrat
40. trary length corresponding to a desired object or collection The caption 82 may or may not be independent from the descrip tive category set 68 selected to classify the group of photographs 64 Likewise a user may select other criterion 84 to classify any or all of the photographs 64 For example each photograph 64 may be assigned a date may be linked to another media or other file or be assigned some other identifying criterion 84 0046 The collection generation module 74 may provide the capability to browse 86 or view 86 a collection 66 once US 2003 0120673 1 created Objects 64 in the collection 66 may be viewed in any particular order such as the order objects 64 were imported into a collection 66 in order of size date date last modified or by some other ordering method In certain embodiments smaller thumbnails of each photograph 64 may be displayed so a user may easily browse through a collection 66 The thumbnail photographs may be created by a thumbnail generator 88 for each photograph 64 as it is imported into a collection 66 0047 In certain embodiments the collection generation module 74 or some other module may include an object labeling module 90 For example in the case of digital photographs 64 a photograph 64 may contain details that may not be easily described using a descriptive category set 68 captions 82 or using another criterion 84 For example a photograph 64 of a family reunion may include
41. y store catalog asso ciate and search vast numbers of media files or other files Moreover many include user interfaces that are nonintui tive lack intuitive methods to organize the media and do not provide a user the ability to easily configure and personalize the interface 0007 What is needed is an intuitive easy to use pow erful database system to effectively catalog store associate search and retrieve digital media and files so that they are readily accessible and easily manipulated by an unsophisti cated user 0008 What is further needed is a method to arbitrarily classify and associate photographs with key words and phrases that may be selected and personalized by a user on the fly on any soft or hard basis e g logic thereby providing the features and advantages of an associative database and yet of a pseudo artificial intelligence or fuzzy logic connection scheme e g association More over what is further needed is a powerful search engine which may quickly locate photographs according to pre defined search parameters corresponding to the keys words and phrases previously selected obtaining the benefit of highly deterministic systems yet benefitting from the highly developed inherent fuzzy logic types of associations available to a user by virtue of the normal operation of the human brain SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0009 A primary object of the present invention is to provid
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