The present inventive system and method relates to a web service for individuals to create digital memories comprising picture, video, text, audio captured through a mobile device at a specific location in the real world. Those memories may be associated with other individuals located at the same location and time.
The present invention relates to a mobile application that allows users to create digital memories, share memories with others, and discover memories of which they were a part. The mobile application, systems and interactions are herein referred to generally as “Timeline.” Timeline is focused on users in the physical world—e.g. not users in the online world. This has several implications:
1. Timeline is primarily a mobile experience—mobile phones are with users when they are moving about in the physical world. This is where they create memories and have real interactions with other people and places.
2. The timeline application doesn't create an alternate world—users do not create arbitrary lists of friends, nor do users create a personality independent of their real world personality. Timeline represents users in the real world and identifies users' natural connections with people and places.
Timeline is for users who, for example:
A complete understanding of the present disclosed system and method may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent, detailed description, in which:
In the following discussion, many specific details are provided to set forth a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the explicit disclosure of some specific details, and in some instances of this discussion with reference to the drawings, known elements have not been illustrated in order to not obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. Such details concerning computer networking, software programming, telecommunications and the like may at times not be specifically illustrated as such are not considered necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the core present invention, but are considered present nevertheless as such are considered to be within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the art.
It is also noted that, unless indicated otherwise, all functions described herein may be performed in either hardware, software, firmware, or some combination thereof. In some embodiments the functions may be performed by a processor, such as a computer or an electronic data processor, in accordance with code, such as computer program code, software, and/or integrated circuits that are coded to perform such functions. Those skilled in the art will recognize that software, including computer-executable instructions, for implementing the functionalities of the present invention may be stored on a variety of computer-readable media including hard drives, compact disks, digital video disks, integrated memory storage devices and the like.
Furthermore, the following discussion is for illustrative purposes only, and discusses the present invention in reference to various embodiments which may perhaps be best utilized subject to the desires and subjective preferences of various users. One of ordinary skill in the art will, however, appreciate that the present invention may be utilized in a great variety of forms in media environments of any type. Unless explicitly stated, the method embodiments described herein are not constrained to a particular order or sequence. Additionally, some of the described method embodiments or elements thereof can occur or be performed at the same point in time.
With reference to memory representation 105C, an intersection 115 for a memory may show a time-ordered sequence of memories posted by all the people who shared memories at a same place and time. With reference to memory representation 105D, other users tagged in a memory can make a comment 120 on that memory. With reference to memory representations 105E and 105F, memories may also include the time of day, the weather, and a place for the memory.
A user can also add tags in the embodiment of
When the user installs the mobile application, Timeline can ask them to identify themselves by showing them a drop down list of contacts in their phone or other mobile device. If the software operating on the phone enables it, Timeline may attempt to select their contact. If it is not enabled, then Timeline may auto-complete as the user types in their name. The user can authorize their contact information to be sent to Timeline servers (herein also referred to has “system”) so Timeline can associate their name, number, and email addresses with future interactions with other users. Since timeline can resurface memories based on significant dates, Timeline may also ask them for dates of significance. This may be presented as a drop down list of dates. Once checked, timeline may resurface memories. Example significant dates can include, but are not limited to;
Next, the process may begin to automatically populate the user's timeline—Timeline may attempt to find memories with which a user has already been associated by another user. This can be done a variety of ways. For example:
Next, the user may be presented with a timeline of memories each with the burst of potential people to tag in the memory. Bursts are described in detail below. Each memory remains private until the user clicks on the people being suggested for tags. The user can also create a list of “always allow” tags that are automatically tagged.
A user's profile is created in parallel to their experiences in the timeline application. When they share via Facebook and Twitter, they may be asked if they want to Facebook connect. Timeline can then leverage their contacts on Facebook. For purposes of relevance, Facebook contacts are no more relevant than address book contacts.
In the final step of the startup experience, the user may be asked if they want to invite other users they have shared memories with in the past. This is not the same as gratuitously inviting “friends” to join. Rather, when a user sends an invitation to other individuals to join, they install the application, and when Timeline scans their memories (e.g. photos in their library), they add tags that potentially include the requesting user. This is a powerful feedback loop.
After initial setup, the mobile application can perform the following steps when launched on the user's mobile device including but not limited to:
The types of memories that can be captured by Timeline include, but are not limited to:
For purposes of illustration, refer to
Timeline intelligently resurfaces memories based on location, time, and proximity to places and people.
Photo and video posts can be created with a preview so they can be viewed immediately. Previews contain thumbnails and low-res (or progressive) images for photos, and sequential stillframes for videos. The hi-res photos and videos are sent up asynchronously in the background. The user may be asked if they want to allow uploading of the memories via 3G or only wireless.
Generating previews also helps with extracting frames from videos that may be used for photo recognition. The system may pullout frames, find faces within the frames, then leverage the crowd sourced tagging of people to build a database of facial patterns. This will help with identifying people and places within photos and videos.
When a user creates a memory, the memory is tagged with the location. The user has the option of naming the location. Other users can see the name of the location. Additionally, the system can be configured such that the unique name given is only visible to users who have been tagged in the memory.
The following information can be associated with each memory at the time it is created, but memories are not limited to association with:
An intersection is quite simply a shared memory.
Intersections are sometimes implicit (e.g. two people in the same photo) or explicit (e.g. User A tags User B in a memory so User B may see it). In general the following types of intersections will occur:
Intersections can also occur at walls. An intersection is defined as a point in time that aggregates the posts from all people on the wall at that moment. The system can be configurable to define what constitutes a moment in regards to a wall. For example: number of people, a specific event, a specific time, or any other unique identifying attribute. For purposes of illustration, refer to
Once a memory is created, the mobile application may immediately send a preview of the memory to the system. This may be used to generate the thumbnail for representation in the timeline as well as a low-res rendition of the memory. The full-res version of the memory can be uploaded in the background. Background uploading will enhance by:
Tagging is a way of explicitly intersecting a user's memory with other people. When a user tags someone, the tagged user will receive an application notification. After the notification, the user can then accept the tag or remove it. If they accept the tag, they will see the memory in their ‘feed’.
Users can manually add tags by clicking on the “+” next to a memory. This may pull up their contact list which may include Facebook, Twitter, and their address book contacts. Tagging Facebook and Twitter will allow the user to post a memory to Facebook or Twitter directly.
If a user tags someone from their contacts who is not a user on Timeline, then their contact info is associated with the tag. Where possible Timeline will send a text message from the capturing user's device to the new user inviting them to join
Timeline to view the memory in which they were tagged. The text message can include a link to the mobile application or to a website. Once the new user installs the application and enters their contact information, the tag is automatically matched to their contact info.
Smart tagging refers to the application automatically suggesting possible tags to the user. This includes:
A user can be notified when they are tagged in a memory. The mobile application is configurable to include in-app notifications. Notification can allow a user to view the memory that was created and that the user was associated with. Further, the user can comment on a memory. New comments on memories in which the user was tagged generate new notifications.
The following is a list of notifications. It is understood that additional notifications can be added to the system:
A section of the user interface can allow the user to see a list of incoming notifications that need to be acted on in a time independent manner. These can include tag requests, comment notifications, and photo scans.
Walls are a vehicle for sharing memories publicly. A wall represents the confluence of people and places at a particular location. Posting on a wall is a way of publicly capturing a memory. Users can tag people in the memory and that memory may then be resurfaced when they are in that location at a future point in time.
Since walls are public, anyone can post on a memory they see on a wall. Commenting on a wall memory adds the user to the notification list for the memory. Any future comments on the memory may trigger a notification to the commenting user. The originator of the memory is also notified on any comments on a wall memory. Memories posted on walls can also include tags. Other users tagged in a wall memory may be notified of the tag.
For purposes of illustration, refer to
The system can incorporate game dynamics into the wall in a way that leverages the public aspect of walls. Some examples are, but are not limited to:
Every user has a timeline that represents the memories they have created and their intersections. The timeline is shown in time order. Users can filter their timeline to include specific memories (either their own or those they have been intersected in). For purposes of illustration, refer to
Each node in the timeline can be configured to respond to specific gestures via a touchscreen interface that shows the people the memory was intersected with. These intersections can be explicit (the user added them when the memory was created), or implicit (they happened at the same time as others).
When a user swipes from a memory, they can see the intersection of that memory with other memories that were created at the same place and time. Swiping is the gesture of selecting a specific memory and either moving left or right to see additional information. The system may be configurable to enable swiping in any direction to load different information. This can be on a public wall or in a private group. Timeline shows the user the memories of people around them who tagged them in memories or that they tagged in memories at the same time. For purposes of illustration, refer to
A user can view an intersection of multiple timelines. This shows a user a history of the memories that were shared between them and the other timelines they select. This may be accomplished by allowing a user to select people from a dropdown list that have shared memories with them. By default a user's timeline shows all their memories—both the ones they have created and the ones they have shared. They can turn on/off individual people from the timeline to only see the memories of specific people or they can filter to just themselves. For purposes of illustration, refer to
People are not the emphasis in Timeline, memories are. When you install the application, we will ask you about your name, relevant dates such as your birthday, anniversary, etc . . . These are for the purposes of reminding you to make a memory. We do not ask you to tell us where you live, how old you are, what your bio is, where you worked etc . . . Similarly we do not think it is useful for profile pages to make this type of information available to other users. The people you interact with in Timeline are people you interact with in the real world.
By default, all memories are private. There is no implicit sharing of memories. This ensures that users never have a surprise. In addition, a user can only tag memories that they create. Further, one user cannot ‘share’ another user's memory with other people. This prevents the common social networking problem of a photo unexpectedly going public, even though it was shared privately.
The Timeline application encourages sharing by facilitating intuitive tagging. Timeline suggests people to tag that would intuitively make sense to share a memory with. If you do not tag people in a memory, the memory will remain private.
For purposes of illustration, refer to
Below are user options within the Timeline application. It is understood that additional options, a reduced number of options, no options or a combination thereof can be utilized by anyone of the user, application or system. Such options can include:
Information the Timeline system collects can be used to provide the user with insight into their lifestyles and how they related to their overall happiness. For example, Timeline can provide simple analytics that show the user trends, such as:
Essentially Timeline can determine the correlation between the data it collects in order to help the user understand themselves better.
The present application claims the benefit of and priority to copending provisional application no. 61/616,783 entitled Creating, Sharing and Discovering Digital Memories, filed on Mar. 28, 2012, in the name of Edward Balassanian. Such provisional application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61616783 | Mar 2012 | US |