FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention generally relates to the field of information processing and in particular to methods and systems for processing visual media for social networking.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In the field of event photography, personal and event photos and videos (also referred to herein as visual media items, or simply as "photos/videos") are frequently taken at an event and subsequently made available to event participants. Technologies exist for "tagging" event photos and videos, i.e., matching photos to participants. Participants may be provided with race bib numbers, bike plates or stickers, or may be photographed at the beginning of an event. Subsequently participants are identified in visual media items taken during the event, using a variety of technologies.

[0003] While most of these technologies can perform the photos/video-tagging process quickly, participants often receive access to the visual media only after several days, due to field operations, limited computing resources, low internet upload bandwidth and other reasons, which often delay receipt of a portion of the visual media captured during the event. Moreover, sharing of photos is typically limited to two options: sharing of a link to all of an individual's photos or sharing links to individual photos. These social sharing options are cumbersome and may cause annoyance to participants, especially when participants must send repeated links to friends when sharing.

[0004] Consequently, there is a need for a less cumbersome and more flexible method of fast sharing of an event participant's photos and videos, without over- loading a participant’s social feed. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present invention provide a computer system for online sharing of visual media items (photos and/or videos, indicated hereinbelow as "photos/videos") depicting participants of an event. A computer-based process enables participants to preview and to share tagged event photos and videos, the process being capable of starting quickly after the event ends and continuing while photos are uploaded and tagged. The photos/videos may be shared in batches (i.e., groups), and may be represented by a "smart collage", which includes an automatically generated, representative subset of the photos/videos.

[0006] There is therefore provided, according to some embodiments of the present invention, a computing system including at least one processor and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor comprising computer-readable instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause the computing system to implement a method of online sharing of event photos/videos depicting a participant in an event, the method including: uploading a first set of photos/videos from the event to the computing system; determining that the participant appears in one or more of the first set and tagging each of the one or more photos/videos as a first "participant subset"; presenting the first "participant subset" of photos/videos on an internet-accessible album; uploading a second set of photos/videos from the event to the computing system; determining that the participant appears in one or more of the second set and tagging each of the one or more photos/videos as a second "participant subset"; and presenting the first and second "participant subset" of photos/videos on the internet-accessible album.

[0007] The computing system instructions may further include: generating a first post on a social media site, wherein the first post includes a first Uniform Resource Locator ("url") link to the internet-accessible album that presents the first "participant subset", and wherein the first post further includes representative photos/videos of the first "participant subset"; and generating a second post on the social media site, wherein the second post includes the url link to the web-based album that presents the first and second "participant subsets", and wherein the post further includes representative photos/videos of the second "participant subset".

[0008] The computer system may provide generating the first representative photos/videos from one or more photos/videos of the first "participant subset", according to a first collage pattern and one or more photos/video metadata and/or participant metadata of the first "participant subset", and generating the second representative photos/videos from one or more photos/videos of the second "participant subset", according to a second collage pattern and one or more photos/videos metadata and/or participant metadata of the second "participant subset".

[0009] The first and second collage patterns may be automatically selected according to one or more photo metadata and/or participant metadata of the respective first and second "participant subsets", including orientations of photos/videos of said "participant subsets".

[0010] Generating the first and second representative photos/videos may include selecting one or more photos/videos of the first "participant subset" for the first representative image and selecting one or more photos/videos of the second "participant subset" for the second representative image, wherein the photos/video selections are made according to the one or more metadata factors of the photos/videos of the respective "participant subsets".

[0011] The photos/video metadata may include one or more of photo shooting time, location, resolution, distance, quality, and orientation.

B [0012] The participant metadata may include one or more of the participant’s position, size, angle, face-position in a photo and face-expression in a photo.

[0013] Generating the representative photos/videos may be performed by editing at least one of the participant photos/videos, wherein the editing may include at least one of cropping, zooming, adding text, adding graphics, changing brightness, changing colors, adding participant data, adding personal or commercial messages, applying a graphical filter or any combination thereof. The editing according to one or more metadata details may include editing according to a position of an identifying element in the photos/video. The identifying element may be one of a 2D barcode, an OCR-identified text, or a body feature of the participant.

[0014] Editing the representative image may be performed by cropping, zooming, adding text, adding graphics, changing brightness, changing colors, adding participant data, adding personal or commercial messages, applying a graphical filter or any combination thereof.

[0015] Generating the post may include providing, to an API of the social media site, a link to the representative image.

[0016] The computing system instructions may include transmitting, to an end-user device of the participant, at least one of a first "participant subset" selection form and a second "participant subset" selection form, and receiving, from the respective selection form, a participant's choice with respect to the at least one respective "participant subset". The participant's choice is at least one of: flagging one or more of the photos/videos of the respective "participant subset" for inclusion in the internet-accessible album; and deleting one or more of the photos/videos of the respective "participant subset" from the computer system.

[0017] Receiving the participant's choice may include receiving a sharing authorization from the participant before presenting the respective "participant subset" of photos/videos on the internet-accessible album. The computing system instructions may include receiving from the participant a notification method and delivering, by the notification method, a link to the respective selection form. The notification method may be one of email, text messaging, or in-app notification. The notification may be sent only after a predetermined number of photos/videos have been received following a prior notification or after a predetermined amount of time following a prior notification.

[0018] The computing system instructions may include delivering to the participant at least one of a first "participant subset" notification and a second "participant subset" notification, wherein the at least one notification is provided after flagging the photos/videos of the respective "participant subset", such that the flagged photos/videos are available for presentation on the internet-accessible album. The notification after flagging may be sent only after a predetermined number of photos/videos or after a predetermined amount of time following a prior notification.

[0019] The processes of uploading the first and second sets of photos/videos, tagging the first and second "participant subsets" and presenting the first and second "participant subsets" on the internet-accessible album typically comprise an iterative process. The internet- accessible album may be one or more of a web site managed by a web server of the computer system, a feed on a social network, a photo album on a social network, or an API of the computer system accessible to a mobile app.

[0020] There is further provided, according to some embodiments of the present invention, a computing system including at least one processor and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor including computer-readable instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause the computing system to implement a method of creating a representative image depicting a participant of an event, the method including: uploading multiple photos/videos of the participant to the computing system; selecting one or more of the multiple photos/videos for a representative image; selecting a collage pattern for the representative image; editing at least one of the selected photos/videos according to one or more details of photos/video metadata and/or participant metadata; merging the selected one or more photo s/videos, after editing, into the selected collage pattern, to generate the representative image.

[0021] The computing system may further include printing the representative image on a physical item of merchandise. Editing at least one of the selected photos/videos may include at least one of cropping, zooming, adding text, adding graphics, changing brightness, changing colors, adding participant data, adding personal or commercial messages, applying a graphical filter or any combination thereof. Editing according to one or more metadata details may include editing according to a position of an identifying element in the photos/video. The identifying element may be one of a 2D barcode, an OCR-identified text, or a body feature of the participant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] For a better understanding of various embodiments of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate corresponding elements or sections throughout. Figures are presented in what is believed to be a readily understood form for showing the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention, with structural details shown to the extent necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention and the description, taken with the drawings, making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. In the accompanying drawings:

[0023] Fig. 1 is a flow diagram depicting a process for online sharing of photos and/or videos, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0024] Fig. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a process of creating a representative collage of photos/videos, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0025] Fig. 3 is a block diagram depicting elements of a computer system for sharing photos and/or videos that depict event participants, according to some embodiments of the present invention, and

[0026] Figs. 4-9 are screenshots showing the flow of a participant interaction with the computer system for sharing photos and/or videos that depict event participants, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings, but is applicable to other embodiments that may be practiced or carried out in various ways. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0028] Fig. 1 is a flow diagram depicting a process 100 for online sharing of photos and/or videos that depict event participants during an event, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0029] At a step 102, identifying information, such as pictures used for facial recognition or other identifying information is entered into the event system. The other identifying information may include a participant number, such as a race bib number, which may subsequently be used to identify the participant in photos/videos, according to a 2D barcode or text recognition.

[0030] At a step 104, which may continue over the course of several days, event photos/videos are uploaded to the event system. The event system may provide several means of uploading, such as uploading from a dedicated mobile device application, by generic mail or messaging applications, or from a webpage browser screen, or a Microsoft Windows or Mac™ application. Photos/videos may also be uploaded as batches of several photos/videos at one time.

[0031] At a step 106, image analysis is performed on each uploaded photo as it is uploaded, as well as on some or all of each uploaded video. The image analysis tags the photos/videos by identifying, if possible, one or more participants in each photos/video. Image analysis of videos may be performed on multiple frames of a video. Automated tagging may incorporate 2D barcode recognition, optical character recognition (OCR) of participants’ personal numbers, facial recognition. The tagging information, linking a participant to a photos/video, is one type of metadata generated regarding each photos/video. Additional photos/video metadata may be generated including image orientation, image size, shooting time, location, resolution, distance to participants and other indicators of quality. In addition, participant metadata may be generated indicating one or more of participant’s position, size, angle, body orientation, facial position in the photo and facial expression (such as "happy", "anxious", "angry", etc.). The participant metadata may also include the position, size and orientation of the identifying element in the photos/video. The identifying element is the element used by the image analysis to link the photos/videos to the participant, such as the participant's race bib, whether the bib includes the identified 2D barcode or OCR text, or the participant's face or other body feature (e.g., eyes) when the participant is recognized by such visual methods.

[0032] Alternatively or in addition to tagging by automated image analysis, the event system may be configured to present photos/videos to human operators who may manually perform the tagging. (In some embodiments, participants may also scan event photos and tag photos/videos for their albums, even if they do not appear in those event photos.)

[0033] The metadata are stored in a manner linking the participant(s) and metadata with the associated photos/video, for example by storing the metadata and a photos/video link as a record of a database of the event system.

[0034] At a step 108, the event system provides the participant with a computer-based interface for registering for an internet-accessible album of the participant's tagged photos/videos (the "participant's album"). The registration interface may be provided through a mobile app or web page, or other known interface technology. The registration process may be performed before, during, or after photos/videos of the event are uploaded to the computer service. Through the registration process a participant may provide contact details for delivering notifications, such as an email address, a mobile number, or may authorize other digital messaging methods such as being sent a notification while using a mobile app or social media app notifications.

[0035] Also through the registration interface, the participant may a set how frequently he or she wants to be notified of new photos/video uploads. The system may be configured to batch together multiple photos/videos tagged for a participant before sending a notification to the participant. For example, the system may be set so that a notification is sent to a participant only after a predetermined number of photos/videos of a participant have been uploaded, or only after a predetermined amount of time has passed after a previous notification. The group of photos/videos that generate a notification are referred to herein as a "batch" or "participant subset." Through the registration interface, or through a separate process provided by event organizers, a participant may also enter the identifying information described above with respect to the step 102. A participant may also enter additional personal information for customizing advertising that may be attached to notifications and to the participant album.

[0036] At an auto-update step 110, the event system determines whether newly uploaded photos/videos tagged for a participant are to be automatically displayed on the participant's album, or if the participant is required to first approve of them. Typically auto-updating of a participant's album is an option only after the participant has approved the inclusion of a first batch of photos/videos on the album. That is, the auto-update option is not available for a first batch.

[0037] Whether or not the event system auto-updates the participant album, operation continues at a step 114, at which the event system determines whether or not to send a notification, according to the notification preferences set by the participant at the step 108. Alternatively or additionally, the notification preferences may be set by an administrator of the event system. If the time or number of photos/videos set by the participant has not exceeded the preference setting, then the event system waits for more time to pass or for more photos/videos to be uploaded and tagged. During this period, a participant may (at a step 116) also initiate a search of new photos/videos without waiting to receive a notification.

[0038] If sufficient time or quantity has passed since a prior notification, a new notification is sent to the participant at a notification step 118. The notification includes a link to an on-line preview screen of the newly tagged batch of photos/videos accumulated at the step 114. The link is typically a uniform resource locator (url). The notification (like subsequent screens provided by the event system) may also include an advertisement or sponsorship logo, which may include a customized ad, according to personal details of the participant.

[0039] Upon receiving a notification, the participant, at a step 120, follows the link provided in the notification to view a photos/videos preview page, provided by the event system at a step 122. The preview page may include an approval button for the participant to click, in order to approve inclusion of the new batch of photos/videos on the participant's album. The preview page may also include a selection form, which allows the participant to choose those photos/videos that will be accessible to others, i.e., the participant "filters" the photos/videos to determine which will be presented on the participant's album.

[0040] At a step 124, the photos/videos selected by the participant may be flagged in the event database for inclusion on the participant's album. Alternatively or additionally, the participant may select to delete certain photos/videos from the database. As described above, the participant's album may be set for auto-updating after the participant has approved of an initial batch of photos/videos. When auto-updating is set, photos/videos that are tagged at the step 106 are then automatically flagged for album inclusion at the step 124, without requiring approval from the participant. However, as indicated with respect to the auto-update step 110, the event system typically follows the steps of notifying the participant and providing the preview/selection screen, even when auto-updating is set. In some embodiments, the participant may also "unflag" photos/videos that were automatically flagged, thereby removing those photos/videos from the album. Auto-updating is typically not provided for the initial batch of tagged photos/videos. Typically the participant must give approval of the inclusion of the initial batch on the album. After the approval is given, the event system creates an initial album collage and generates an initial share post, as described below. [0041] At a step 126, the event system may generate a "smart collage", which is a representative image that merges one or more of the images that will be presented in the participant's album. Typically, the smart collage is generated from a subset of the photos/videos of the recent batch of photos/videos selected by the participant at the step 122. The subset of the photos/videos may be selected according to parameters of the photo and participant metadata, as described further hereinbelow.

[0042] The smart collage is then stored at a web-accessible location to be used as a "Post Image" for a social sharing post.

[0043] At a step 128, a social sharing post may be generated on a social media page of the participant, such as a page of a social media network such as Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, or Google Plus, typically according to a social media selection by the participant. The social sharing post includes a url link to the participant's album. The event system may generate the post through an application programming interface (API) of the selected social media network. Typical APIs require specifying both the url of the shared page (i.e., the album) and the location the post image (i.e., the location of the smart collage). Some social media networks, such as Facebook, permit the post image to be specified by specifying a meta property of the link, e.g.:

<meta property ="og:image" content=

"https://pic2go.eom/p/XY2l04927l9l04">

<meta property="og:image:type" content= " image/png ">

[0044] Typically, after the url of the smart collage is specified through the social media API, the social media network requires the participant to give permission for posting of the post on the participant's social media feed. The social media network may then create and store its own copy of the smart collage, the copy serving as the post image displayed with the post. Because the smart collage is typically made up of photos/videos of the most recent batch (i.e., participant subset), the participant may post several share posts of several subsets from an event, each one with a different post collage.

[0045] At a step 130, friends of the participant may click on the share post appearing on the social media network to open the participant's album, which is typically provided by an application server of the event server. The application server typically presents on the album all flagged photos/videos of the participant, that is, the photos/videos of all batches that have been approved by the participant or "auto -updated". In some embodiments, the event system also displays the most recent smart collage in the album.

[0046] Fig. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a process 200 of creating a representative image of photos/videos, according to some embodiments of the present invention. At an initial step 201, the purpose of the representative image, also referred to hereinbelow as a "collage", may be specified to the event system. Typically, the purpose, or "context", is either to provide the "post image" for sharing event photo s/videos, as described above, or the purpose is to print the collage on physical merchandise, such as a poster, shirt, mug, etc.

[0047] At steps 202 and 203, image analysis is performed on the set of photos/videos that may be merged into the collage. Photos/video metadata is generated at the step 202 to include parameters such as width/height/orientation. At the step 203, photos are analyzed to create participant metadata, such as participant position in photo, participant size in photo, and who the participant is, which may be derived from automated analysis of 2D or 3D barcodes on participant bib, facial analysis, or OCR analysis. Manual marking of photos/videos can also be applied. In addition, once the participant has been identified, participant metadata can be added from external databases, including data taken at step 204, including registration and

IB race results, which may add details such as name, race finish time, race results, gender, type of race, partial/split times, and registration photographs for facial comparison.

[0048] As described above with respect to Fig. 1, the image analysis is typically performed during the tagging stage, which may precede the selection of photos/videos by the participant. The steps 109 and 110 described above as respective steps of viewing and filtering of photos/videos are indicated in Fig. 2 as steps 205 and 206. In some configurations of the event system, the participant may select photos/videos specifically for the collage, while in other configurations the participant selects photos/videos for sharing and the event system automates the selection of photos/videos for the collage.

[0049] At a step 207, the event system determines a collage layout, that is, how many photos to use, how they are to be placed in the collage, and the collage size.

[0050] At a step 208, based on the selected layout, photos are individually cropped according to their orientation and participant position. Cropping may include zoom in/out, and centralizing area around the participant. Cropping may also be based on the position of the identifying element(s) in the photos/video, such as the position of a participant bib with a 2D barcode.

[0051] At a step 209, each photo may also be manipulated, with text added (such as participant’s name, time, race type), color and filters applied, and additional graphics added (such as a participant’s medal) from the external data base (according to the bib, or other recognition methods).

[0052] At a step 210, the cropped photos are merged into a collage image, according to the selected layout, and at a step 211 additional graphics or graphical effects (as well as cropping) may be added or applied to the final photo. [0053] Finally, at step 212 the collage may be used for digital purposes, as described above with respect to Fig. 1, while at a step 213, the collage may be used for physical purposes, such as printing on merchandise. Step 213 requires an additional processing step of determining converting any videos that are used in the collage to a single frame image.

[0054] The auto-generation of the collage (a "smart collage") is based on picking the best representative photos/videos from the filtered batch, based on metadata of the photos/videos (e.g., shooting time, location, resolution, distance, and quality) and the participant's metadata. The smart-collage can include one or more of the participant’s photos/videos and/or other non-personal event (or even unrelated) photo s/videos.

[0055] The event system can then crop each photo to fit the total size and ratio of the collage. The cropping may include cutting part of the photo or zooming-in. The cropping may be based on the photos/videos and on the participant's metadata (e.g., making the participant appear in the center of the cropped photo, in the well-fit zoom, head included, etc.). The event system can then also manipulate the smart collage image (or the single photos/videos in the collage) to add text, color, graphical filter, overlay graphics that may be also be based on the photos/videos and participants metadata (e.g., adding a graphical overlay with the participant race finish time, or graphical effects around the participant body in the photos/collage).

[0056] Fig. 3 is a block diagram depicting elements of an event system 300 for sharing photos and/or videos that depict event participants during an event, according to some embodiments of the present invention. The event system typically includes a computer server (Java App Engine 302) and database 304. The server may run multiple processes as indicated. These include image processing and tagging, which includes functions described above at steps 106 and 203 above. The system also includes functions for creating collages (process 200) and albums (process 300) and their presentation, as well as presentation (primarily by web server or mobile app server) of the various interfaces described above. An administrator interface is also provided, typically by a web interface, as well.

[0057] As indicated in the figure, the event system also utilizes notification services 306, such as an email API, a social media API, and various mobile app APIs to communicate with a participant.

[0058] Various app or web interfaces may be provided for photographers who upload event photos/videos. In particular, an uploader client 308 may provide some of the processing functions described above with respect to steps 202 and 203. Interfaces of the event system, such as the registration and selection forms, may be accessed through links or embedded code of an event organizer website (or mobile app) 310.

[0059] An additional function of the system is the tracking of participant share status with external social media 312, such as Facebook and Twitter.

[0060] Figs. 4-9 are screenshots showing the flow of a participant interaction with the computer system for sharing photos and/or videos that depict event participants, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0061] Fig. 4 is an exemplary main registration page, at which a participant may enter his identifying information, such as a bib number. Fig. 5 is an exemplary selection form page by which the participant may authorize sharing and/or specify photos that should not be shared. Fig. 6 is an exemplary notice following the selection form, announcing that the participant's album (also called, "gallery") is "activated", meaning that the participant's photos/videos are available for presentation at the link provided in the shared post.

[0062] Fig. 7 shows a dialog box of a social media network, requesting permission from the participant to post the sharing link (including the smart collage as the post image), where the sharing link post was generated by the event system, typically through an API of the social media network.

[0063] Fig. 8 shows a main page of the participant's album (aka gallery), with a smart collage appearing on the main page.

[0064] Fig. 9 shows two options for the participant to select photos/videos from a newly uploaded and tagged batch, either by entering identifying information at a screen of the event website or app, or by clicking on a notification that the participant may receive, for example through a social media network.

[0065] Computer interfaces provided by the system are typically transmitted from a computer server executing the event system to an end-user device, such as a personal computer or mobile device.

[0066] Processing elements of the event system may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. Such elements can be implemented as a computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, such as a non-transient, machine -readable storage device, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, such as a programmable processor, computer, or deployed to be executed on multiple computers at one site or one or more across multiple sites. Memory storage for software and data may include multiple one or more memory units, including one or more types of storage media. Examples of storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media, optical media, and integrated circuits such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). Network interface modules may control the sending and receiving of data packets over networks. Method steps associated with the event system and process can be rearranged and/or one or more such steps can be omitted to achieve the same, or similar, results to those described herein. It is to be understood that the embodiments described hereinabove are cited by way of example, and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove.