Patent Publication Number: US-2007118509-A1

Title: Collaborative service for suggesting media keywords based on location data

Description:
RELATED U.S. PATENT APPLICATION  
      This U.S. patent application is related to the concurrently filed U.S. patent application entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TAGGING IMAGES BASED ON POSITIONAL INFORMATION, by Hugh Svendsen, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to tagging digital images with one or more keywords, and more specifically relates to suggesting keywords for tagging the digital images.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Given the recent advances in digital camera technology, users may accumulate digital image collections having hundreds of digital images. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for users to organize their digital image collections such that they can easily and quickly find desired images. One method for assisting a user in finding digital images within his collection is tagging the digital images with keywords such as “Christmas 2004,” “Italy,” “Vacation,” and the like. However, the typical the tagging process is manually intensive. In general, tagging typically occurs after the user has uploaded numerous digital images from his digital camera to his personal computer. Each digital image may then be tagged with one or more keywords by either manually entering the keywords or selecting the keywords from a static list of keywords previously created by the user.  
      One problem associated with the typical tagging process is that the process becomes prohibitively time consuming for the average user if the user must manually enter the desired keywords. Further, even in the systems that allow the user to select the desired keywords from a static list of keywords, the user may be forced to sort through many keywords that are not particularly relevant to find the desired keywords. In addition, the static list may not contain many relevant keywords. Thus, there remains a need for a system that automates much of the tagging process and that intelligently suggests keywords to the user.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a collaborative location keyword registry service for suggesting keywords for tagging a digital media such as a digital image. In general, the location keyword registry service is implemented on a network connected server. A plurality of users interact with the location keyword registry service to vote for keywords in a list of keywords for each of a number of locations, add keywords to the list of keywords for each of the locations, and optionally contest keywords in the list of keywords for each of the locations. As a result, the location keyword registry service maintains a list of keywords for each of the locations.  
      When a user desires to receive suggested keywords for a digital image, a request including positional information is sent from a requesting node, such as a digital camera or personal computer, to the location keyword registry service via a network. The positional information defines a location of a digital camera at the time of capturing the digital image. If the request is sent from the digital camera prior to capturing the digital image, the positional information defines the location of the digital camera at the time of sending the request. If the request is sent from the digital camera or other device to which the digital image is transferred after capturing the digital image, the positional information defines the location of the digital camera at the time the digital image was captured. In response to the request, the location keyword registry service provides a number of most popular keywords for the location and optionally a number of preferred keywords for the location previously defined by the user of the digital camera by interacting with the location keyword registry service and/or a number of less popular keywords for the location selected at random.  
      In one embodiment, the request is sent directly from the digital camera to the location keyword registry service via the network. In another embodiment, the digital image is transferred from the digital camera to a device such as a personal computer, and the device sends the request directly to the location keyword registry service via the network. In yet another embodiment, the request is sent from either the digital camera or the device to which the digital image is transferred to a keyword registry service via the network. The keyword registry service then sends the request to the location keyword registry service.  
      Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
      The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a system for suggesting keywords for tagging a digital image according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the operation of the system of  FIG. 1  to suggest keywords according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary process for combining keywords from multiple keyword prediction services according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a digital camera for displaying suggested keywords to a user of the digital camera and enabling selection of one or more of the suggested keywords for tagging a digital image according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  illustrates one iteration of a collaborative process for maintaining the location keyword registry service of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary webpage serving as a user interface to the location keyword registry service of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a digital camera operating according to one embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram of a server for hosting one or more of the services of  FIG. 1 .  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.  
      The present invention relates to a system and method for suggesting keywords for tagging digital images based on positional information. While the description herein focuses on digital images, the present invention is equally applicable to suggesting keywords for tagging digital media such as, but not limited to, digital images, digital videos, and the like. As used herein, a digital media refers to a digital image, a digital video, or the like while “a plurality of digital media,” “a number of digital media,” or the like refers to multiple digital images, digital videos, or the like.  
      In general, a collaborative location keyword registry service for suggesting keywords for tagging a digital image is provided. The location keyword registry service is implemented on a network-connected server, and a plurality of users interact with the location keyword registry service to vote for keywords in a list of keywords for each of a number of locations, add keywords to the list of keywords for each of the locations, and optionally contest keywords in the list of keywords for each of the locations. As a result, the location keyword registry service maintains a list of keywords for each of the locations. When a user desires to receive suggested keywords for a digital image, a request including positional information is sent from a requesting node, such as a digital camera or personal computer, to the location keyword registry service via a network. In response, the location keyword registry service provides a number of most popular keywords for the location and optionally a number of preferred keywords for the location previously defined by the user of the digital camera by interacting with the location keyword registry service and/or a number of less popular keywords for the location selected at random.  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a system  10  for tagging digital images with one or more suggested keywords according to one embodiment of the present invention. The system  10  includes a digital camera  12  equipped with an SPS receiver  14  and a wireless communication interface  16 . The SPS receiver  14  may be a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. However, it should be noted that the digital camera  12  may alternatively obtain positional information from an external source such as a base station in a cellular network. In one embodiment, the wireless communication interface  16  may include a transceiver that supports cellular communications. Thus, for example, the digital camera  12  may be a camera phone equipped with a GPS receiver. In an alternative embodiment, the wireless communication interface  16  may include a transceiver that supports local wireless communications such as, but not limited to, the Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) standard, one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards, the Bluetooth standard, or the like.  
      Using the wireless communication interface  16 , the digital camera  12  is coupled to a network  18  via an access point  20 . Preferably, the network  18  is the Internet. The access point  20  may be a base station in cellular network. Note that there may be additional cellular network infrastructure coupling the access point  20  to the network  18 , as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Alternatively, the access point  20  may be an access point for a local wireless communication network.  
      The system  10  also includes a keyword service  22 , a location prediction service  24 , a history prediction service  26 , a location keyword registry service  28 , a photosharing service  30 , and a user node  32 . The keyword service  22  operates to provide suggested keywords in response to a request from the digital camera  12 . The request from the digital camera  12  may be sent before capturing a digital image and includes positional information from the SPS receiver  14  defining the location of the digital camera  12  at the time of sending the request. The positional information may define the location of the digital camera  12  in terms of latitude and longitude. Alternatively, the request from the digital camera  12  may be sent after capturing a digital image and includes positional information from the SPS receiver  14  defining the location of the digital camera  12  at the time the digital image is captured. Note that the positional information may be stored in association with the digital image at the time of capturing the digital image. For example, the positional information may be stored as metadata in a digital image file corresponding to the digital image.  
      As described below in more detail, upon receiving the request from the digital camera  12 , the keyword service  22  communicates with one or more of the location prediction service  24 , the history prediction service  26 , and the location keyword registry service  28  to obtain keywords based on the positional information. The keyword service  22  then combines the keywords from the services  24 - 28  to provide the suggested keywords to the digital camera  12 . It should be noted that while the discussion herein focuses on the use of all of the services  24 - 28 , the present invention is not limited thereto. Any combination of one or more of the services  24 - 28  may be used. In addition, rather than sending the request for suggested keywords to the keyword service  22 , the request may be sent directly to one or more of the services  24 - 28 .  
      The location prediction service  24  operates to obtain keywords previously used by users associated with the photosharing service  30  to tag digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information from the digital camera  12 . As described below, the location prediction service  24  may request that the photosharing service  30  search the digital images hosted by the photosharing service  30  for digital images captured at or proximate to the location defined by the positional information. In response, the photosharing service  30  searches for digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information and returns statistics to the location prediction service  24 . The statistics may include the keywords used to tag the digital images found during the search and the number of occurrences of times each of the keywords. The location prediction service  24  may then select a number of most popular keywords from the statistics from the photosharing service  30  and return the most popular keywords to the keyword service. The number of most popular keywords returned by the location prediction service  24  may be predetermined by the user of the digital camera  12 , determined based on a priority assigned to the location prediction service  24  by the user, or determined based on feedback of ones of the suggested keywords selected by the user to tag the digital images. The number of most popular keywords returned may additionally or alternatively be based on a maximum number of keywords to be suggested to the digital camera  12 .  
      The history prediction service  26  operates to obtain keywords previously used by the user of the digital camera  12  to tag digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information from the digital camera  12 . Note that the history prediction service  26  obtains keywords based on a search of the user&#39;s previously captured digital image, whereas the location prediction service  24  obtains keywords based on digital images hosted by the photosharing service  30  for a number of users of the photosharing service  30 .  
      Based on the positional information and optionally a username, date, or time, the history prediction service  26  may communicate with the photosharing service  30  to obtain keywords previously used by the user to tag digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information. In one embodiment, the photosharing service  30  searches the digital images hosted by the photosharing service  30  that are associated with the user of the digital camera  12  to find digital images previously captured by the user at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information. The photosharing service  30  then returns statistics to the history prediction service  26 . The statistics may include the keywords previously used by the user to tag the digital images found during the search and the number of occurrences of times each of the keywords. The history prediction service  26  may then select a number of most popular keywords from the statistics from the photosharing service  30  and returns the most popular keywords to the keyword service. The number of most popular keywords returned by the history prediction service  26  may be predetermined by the user of the digital camera  12 , determined based on a priority assigned to the history prediction service  26  by the user, or determined based on feedback of ones of the suggested keywords selected by the user to tag the digital images. The number of most popular keywords returned may additionally or alternatively be based on a maximum number of keywords to be suggested to the digital camera  12 .  
      As described below in more detail, the location keyword registry service  28  operates to provide keywords for the location defined by the positional information from the digital camera  12  based on a collaborative process. More specifically, the location keyword registry service  28  preferably includes a webpage or website operating as a user interface of the location keyword registry service  28 . Users associated with user nodes such as the user node  32  interact with the location keyword registry service  28  via a web browser  34  in order to nominate keywords for locations, vote on the keywords to define the most popular keywords for the locations, set user preferences, and optionally contest keywords previously nominated for the locations.  
      Thereafter, when the location keyword registry service  28  receives a request for keywords for a particular location, the location keyword registry service  28  may return the most popular keywords for the location and, if defined, preferred keywords for the location previously defined by the user. The location keyword registry service  28  may also return one or more less popular keywords for the location selected at random. The number of keywords returned may be defined by the user of the digital camera  12 , determined by the keyword service  22  based on a priority assigned to the location keyword registry service  28  by the user, or determined based on feedback of ones of the suggested keywords selected by the user to tag the digital images. Note that the feedback of selected keywords may be used by the keyword service  22  to determine which of the services  24 - 28  are most popular with the user. The number of keywords returned may additionally or alternatively be based on a maximum number of keywords to be suggested to the digital camera  12 .  
      The photosharing service  30  is part of a photosharing system such as a centrally hosted photosharing system or a peer-to-peer (P2P) photosharing system. In a centrally hosted photosharing system, the digital images for any number of users are hosted by a central server. The photosharing service  30  may be implemented on the central server. In a P2P photosharing system, the digital images are hosted by peer nodes, where the peer nodes may be a computer or the like associated with a user. The peer nodes may be communicatively coupled through a proxy as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/813,839, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING WEB BROWSING THROUGH A FIREWALL IN A PEER TO PEER NETWORK, filed on Mar. 31, 2004, currently pending, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In the P2P photosharing system, the photosharing service  30  may be implemented on a central node along with the proxy such that the photosharing service  30  is communicatively coupled to each of the peer nodes in the P2P photosharing system.  
      While only one photosharing service  30  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the present invention is not limited thereto. There may be any number of photosharing services  30 . If there are more than one photosharing services  30 , the user of the digital camera  12  may be required to register with the keyword service  22  and to define the ones of the photosharing services  30  with which the user is registered. This may be done by providing a username for the user for each of the photosharing services  30 . When the keyword service  22  thereafter receives a request to suggest keywords to the user of the digital camera  12 , the keyword service  22  may provide the usernames and identifiers of the corresponding ones of the photosharing services  30  to the services  24  and  26  as needed.  
      Although the keyword service  22 , the location prediction service  24 , the history prediction service  26 , the location keyword registry service  28 , and the photosharing service  30  are illustrated in  FIG. 1  as being separate entities, they may be physically implemented on one or more servers coupled to the network  18 . All of the services  22 - 30  may be implemented on a single server or implemented on a number of servers. Numerous variations in the physical implementation of the present invention will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and are within the scope of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the operation of the system  10  of  FIG. 1  according to one embodiment of the present invention. While  FIG. 2  illustrates a process for suggesting keywords using each of the location prediction service  24 , the history prediction service  26 , and the location keyword registry service  28 , using all of the services  24 - 28  is not necessary to the present invention. The present invention may be implemented with any combination of one or more of the location prediction service  24 , the history prediction service  26 , and the location keyword registry service  28 . Further, if only one of the services  24 - 28  is used, the functionality of the keyword service  22  may be combined with the functionality of the one of the services  24 - 28 , thereby resulting in a single service which may be implemented on a server.  
      First, the digital camera  12  sends a request to the keyword service  22  (step  200 ). The request includes positional information and optionally one or more of a username, date, and time. As examples, the request may be an Extensible Markup Language (XML) request or a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) including a query. The request may be sent before the user of the digital camera  12  captures a digital image, and the positional information defines the location of the digital camera  12  at the time of sending the request. If the request includes the date and time, they are the date and time of sending the request. Alternatively, the request may be sent at some point in time after capturing a digital image. More specifically, the request may be sent immediately after capturing the digital image or some time after capturing the digital image when the digital camera  12  establishes a connection with the network  18 : The positional information defining the location of the digital camera  12  and optionally the date and time may be obtained from the SPS receiver  14  at the time of capturing the digital image and stored by the digital camera  12  in association with the digital image. For example, the positional information, the date, and the time may be stored in metadata associated with the digital image. More specifically, image file formats such as the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format enable the storage of the positional information, the date, and the time within the image file for the digital image as metadata. Generally, metadata is any information describing the digital image and may include information about the digital camera  12  and its settings. Alternatively, the positional information, the date, and the time may be stored in the memory of the digital camera  12  in association with the digital image.  
      As stated above, the request may also include a username. The username may be entered by the user of the digital camera  12  or stored in the digital camera  12 . Alternatively, the username may be some indicia identifying the digital camera  12  which may be associated with the user of the digital camera  12  at the keyword server  22 . For example, if the digital camera  12  is a camera phone, the username may be a telephone number of the camera phone.  
      Upon receiving the request, the keyword server  22  may invoke the location prediction service  24  (step  202 ). Invoking the location prediction service  24  is preferably performed by sending a request including the positional information received from the digital camera  12  to the location prediction service  24 . In response, the location prediction service  24  sends a request to the photosharing service  30  instructing the photosharing service  30  to search the digital images hosted by the photosharing service  30  for digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information from the digital camera  12  (step  204 ). The photosharing service  30  then performs the search and returns statistics including the keywords used to tag the digital images found during the search and the number of occurrences of each of the keywords (step  206 ).  
      The location prediction service  24  then returns one or more of the keywords in the statistics to the keyword service  22  (step  208 ). In one embodiment, the location prediction service  24  selects a number of most popular keywords from the statistics from the photosharing service  30  and returns the most popular keywords to the keyword service  22 . The number of keywords returned by the location prediction service  24  may be predefined by the user of the digital camera  12  or controlled based on a priority assigned to the location prediction service  24  by the user of the digital camera  12 . Additionally or alternatively, the number of keywords returned by the location prediction service  24  may be controlled based on a maximum number of keywords to be suggested to the user at the digital camera  12 .  
      The keyword service  22  may then invoke the history prediction service  26  (step  210 ). The history prediction service  26  operates similarly to the location prediction service  24 . However, the history prediction service  26  searches only the previous digital images of the user of the digital camera  12 , whereas the location prediction service  26  searches the digital images  12  captured by a number of users of the photosharing service  30 .  
      The history prediction service  26  is preferably invoked by sending a request to the history prediction service  26  including the positional information and a username of the user of the digital camera  12 . In response, the history prediction service  26  sends a request to the photosharing service  30  instructing the photosharing service  30  to search the digital images associated with the user of the digital camera  12  that are hosted by the photosharing service  30  to find digital images captured at the location or proximate to the location defined by the positional information from the digital camera  12  (step  212 ). The photosharing service  30  then performs the search and returns statistics including the keywords previously used by the user to tag the digital images found during the search and the number of occurrences each of the keywords was used (step  214 ).  
      The history prediction service  26  then returns one or more keywords from the statistics to the keyword service  22  (step  216 ). In one embodiment, the history prediction service  26  selects a number of most popular keywords from the statistics from the photosharing service  30  and returns the most popular keywords to the keyword service  22 . The number of keywords returned by the history prediction service  26  may be predefined by the user of the digital camera  12  or controlled based on a priority assigned to the history prediction service  26  by the user of the digital camera  12 . Additionally or alternatively, the number of keywords returned by the history prediction service  26  may be controlled based on a maximum number of keywords to be suggested to the user at the digital camera  12 .  
      The keyword service  22  may also invoke the location keyword registry service  28  (step  218 ). The location keyword registry service  28  may be invoked by sending a request including the positional information and optionally a username, date, and time to the location keyword registry service  28 . Based on the positional information and optionally username, date, and time, the location keyword registry service  28  returns keywords to the keyword service  22  (step  220 ). The date and time may be beneficial where the relevant keywords for a particular location vary depending on the date and time. For example, the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colo., may host numerous sporting events. The teams playing in the sporting events may vary depending on the date and time. As such, the location keyword registry service  28  may suggest different keywords depending on the date and time to reflect the different events held at the stadium.  
      The location keyword registry service  28  determines the most popular keywords for the location or for locations proximate to the location defined by the positional information. The location keyword registry service  28  may optionally select one or more less popular keywords for the location at random. By selecting one or more keywords at random, the location keyword registry service  28  gives credence to less popular keywords that may be relevant but are less popular because they are newly nominated. In addition, the location keyword registry service  28  determines whether the user of the digital camera  12  has previously interacted with the location keyword registry service  28  to define preferred keywords for the location or for locations proximate to the location defined by the positional information, as described below. The most popular keywords, and optionally the user&#39;s preferred keywords and one or more keywords selected at random, are returned to the keyword service  22  (step  220 ).  
      The keyword service  22  then generates a list of suggested keywords by combining the keywords returned in steps  208 ,  216 , and  220  (step  222 ). Thereafter, the list of suggested keywords is provided to the digital camera  12  (step  224 ). The user of the digital camera  12  may then select one or more keyword from the list of suggested keywords for the digital image, thereby tagging the digital image with the selected keywords. Optionally, the digital camera  12  may provide the selected keywords and optionally the positional information to the location keyword registry service  28  (steps  226  and  228 ). The location keyword registry service  28  may use the selected keywords in determining the popularity of the keywords for the location defined by the positional information.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary process for combining the keywords provided by the services  24 - 28  to generate the list of suggested keywords. In this example, the history prediction service  26  has provided keywords H 1 -H 4 , the location prediction service  24  has provided keywords L 1  and L 2 , and the location keyword registry service  28  has provided keywords R 1 -R 4 . Note that in this example, the keywords R 1 -R 4  do not include the user preferred keywords provided from the location keyword registry service  28 .  
      The keyword service  22  begins the process of combining the keywords by examining the keywords used to tag a number of previous images, IMAGE[N- 1 ]-IMAGE[N- 4 ], captured by the user of the digital camera  12 . Although this example uses four previous images, any number of previous images may be used. The previous images are examined to determine which of the keywords H 1 -H 4 , L 1 -L 2 , and R 1 -R 4  were used to tag the previous images. This process is illustrated by table  36 , where each row corresponds to one of the keywords H 1 -H 4 , L 1 -L 2 , and R 1 -R 4  and each of the columns corresponds to one of the previous images IMAGE[N- 1 ]-IMAGE[N- 4 ]. A value of “0” indicates that a particular keyword was not used to tag the previous image, and a value of “1” indicates that a particular keyword was used to tag the previous image.  
      The previous images IMAGE[N- 1 ]-IMAGE[N 4 ] may then be weighted by weighting table  38 . The first value in the weighting table  38  is the weight assigned to the most recent image IMAGE[N- 1 ], the second value in the weighting table  38  is the weight assigned to the next most recent image IMAGE[N- 2 ], the third value in the weighting table  38  is the weight assigned to the image IMAGE[N- 3 ], and the fourth value in the weighting table  38  is the weight assigned to the image IMAGE[N- 4 ]. In this example, the most recent image is assigned a greater weight than less recent images. The table  36  and the weighting table  38  are combined to provide scores for each of the keywords H 1 -H 4 , L 1 -L 2 , and R 1 -R 4 . The scores for each of the keywords are stored in a score table  40 .  
      The keywords H 1 -H 4 , L 1 -L 2 , and R 1 -R 4  are then sorted based on the scores to provide a prioritized list of keywords  42 . Thereafter, one or more preferred keywords P 1 -P 2  previously defined by the user of the digital camera  12  from the location keyword registry service  28  are added to the prioritized list of keywords  42  to provide a list of keywords  44 . In this example, the preferred keywords P 1 -P 2  are assigned a highest priority. Note that in an alternative embodiment, the preferred keywords P 1 -P 2  may be scored like the other keywords H 1 -H 4 , L 1 -L 2 , and R 1 -R 4 .  
      In one embodiment, the list of keywords  44  is the list of suggested keywords provided to the digital camera  12 , and a number of the keywords from the list of keywords  44  having priority above a threshold are automatically selected when provided to the digital camera  12 . For example, the two highest priority keywords may be automatically selected when the list of suggested keywords is displayed to the user at the digital camera  12 . In another embodiment, only a number of the keywords from the list of keywords  44  are provided to the digital camera  12  as the list of suggested keywords. For example, the eight highest priority keywords from the list of keywords  44  may be provided to the digital camera  12  as the list of suggested keywords.  
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate exemplary user interfaces for tagging a digital image with one or more of the suggested keywords at the digital camera  12 . As shown in  FIG. 4A , the list of keywords is displayed at the digital camera  12  using a user interface comprising a display  46  and a number of controls  48 - 54 . The display  46  may be a Liquid Crystal Diode (LCD) display or the like. In operation, the list of suggested keywords is displayed on the display  46 , and one or more of the suggested keywords, such as the keyword “vacation,” may be automatically selected. The user of the digital camera  12  may then interact with the digital camera  12  using the controls  48 - 54  to select additional keywords from the list of suggested keywords, unselect automatically selected keywords, and tag the digital image with the selected keywords.  FIG. 4B  is similar to the user interface of  FIG. 4A  and includes a display  56  and controls  58 . However, in  FIG. 4B , the user interface is that of a camera phone.  
       FIG. 5  illustrates a collaborative process for maintaining the location keyword registry service  28 . The location keyword registry service  28  is preferably implemented on a server hosting a webpage or website operating as a user interface of the location keyword registry service  28 . The server may also host a database associated with the webpage or website for storing information including keywords for numerous locations. In general, the location keyword registry service  28  is maintained through a collaborative process with any number of users such as a user at the user node  32 , wherein the user may nominate or add keywords for particular locations, vote on keywords for particular locations, select user preferred keywords for particular locations, and contest keywords previously added for particular locations.  
      More specifically, the collaboration process begins when a user at the user node  32  requests a webpage corresponding to the user interface of the location keyword registry service  28  via the web browser  34  (step  300 ). In response, the server hosting the location keyword registry service  28  returns the webpage to the user node  32  (step  302 ). Thereafter, the user at the user node  32  may interact with the location keyword registry service  28  via the web browser  34  in order to select a location (step  304 ), vote for keywords for the location (step  306 ), nominate or add one or more keywords for the location (step  308 ), and/or contest one or more keywords previously nominated for the location (step  310 ). Voting for keywords for the location enables the location keyword registry service  28  to determine the popularity of each nominated keyword for location. By accumulating votes from each of a plurality of users, the popularity of the keywords for each location can be determined. The popularity of the keywords may also be determined based on feedback from the digital camera  12  regarding the ones of the suggested keywords actually selected by the user at the digital camera  12  to tag a digital image.  
      Voting for the keywords may also serve to select the preferred keywords for the location for the user at the user node  32 . More specifically, the location keyword registry service  28  may store the keywords for which the user at the user node  32  has voted as preferred keywords for the location for the user. Thereafter, if the user captures a digital image at the location with a digital camera operating according to the present invention, the location keyword registry service  28  may provide the preferred keywords for the user, one or more of the most popular keywords for the location, and optionally one or more of the less popular keywords for the location selected at random.  
      Nominating or adding keywords for the location allows the user to add keywords for the location, which may thereafter be voted on by the users of the location keyword registry service  28  to define the popularity of the added keywords. Contesting a keyword may decrease the popularity of keywords the user feels are not particularly relevant to the location. Alternatively, contesting a keyword may notify an operator of the location keyword registry service  28  that the contested keyword should be reviewed. If the user contesting a keyword is also the user who added the keyword, the keyword may simply be removed from the list of keywords for the location.  
       FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary webpage  60  corresponding to the user interface of the location keyword registry service  28 . Accessing the webpage  60  may require a log-in process where the user requesting to view the webpage  60  may be required to enter a username and optionally a password. The webpage  60  generally enables a user to select a location. In this example, a location may be selected using a map  62 , cross-hairs  64 , zoom control buttons  66 , and optionally latitude and longitude fields  68 . The user visiting the webpage  60  may select a location by using the cross-hairs  64  and the zoom control buttons  66  to select the desired location on the map  62 . Alternatively, the user may select the desired location by entering a latitude and longitude corresponding to the desired location in the latitude and longitude fields  68 .  
      Once the location is selected, a list of keywords  70  for the location is displayed on the webpage  60 . As illustrated, the list of keywords  70  may include the most popular keywords at the top of the list of keywords  70  and the less popular keywords at the bottom of the list of keywords  70 . The list of keywords  70  may also include a first column of checkboxes  72  and a second column of checkboxes  74 .  
      The user visiting the webpage  60  may vote for keywords for the location by selecting the desired keywords using the first column of checkboxes  72  and then selecting an “OK” button  76 . Voting for the keywords enables the location keyword registry service  28  to determine the popularity of keywords for the location. Voting for the keywords may also set the selected keywords as the preferred keywords for the user for the location.  
      The user visiting the webpage  60  may also contest keywords for the location by selecting the keywords he desires to contest from the list of keywords  70  using the second column of checkboxes  74  and then selecting the “OK” button  76 . Contesting a keyword may be beneficial when the user feels that the selected keywords are not particularly relevant to the location and enable the location keyword selection service  28  to reduce the popularity of the contested keywords. Alternatively, an operator associated with the location keyword registry service  28  may be notified that the particular keyword has been contested. In response, the operator may review the contested keyword and determine whether the keyword should remain or be removed from the list of keywords  70  for the location. If the user visiting the webpage  60  is the one who added a particular contested keyword, the keyword may simply be deleted.  
      The user visiting the webpage  60  may nominate new keywords for the selected location by selecting an “add” button  78 . In response, the web browser  34  at the user node  32  may be redirected to a second webpage where the user enters the keywords to add for the location. In this example, the keywords “Skiing” and “Camera Phone” were previously added by the user, as indicated by the underlining of the keywords. However, it is not necessary that the keywords added by the user be underlined.  
       FIG. 7  illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the digital camera  12 . In general, the digital camera  12  includes the SPS receiver  14  and the wireless communication interface  16  coupled to antennas  80  and  82 , respectively. The digital camera  12  also includes a control system  84 , memory  86 , an image capture system  88 , and a user interface  90 . The control system  84  may be a digital processor operating according to software, where the software instructs the control system  84  to operate, at least in part, according to the present invention. The memory  86  may be used to store digital images. The image capture system  88  includes various components other than the control system  84  which are needed to capture digital images. The user interface  90  includes a display and controls, as illustrated in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . The user interface  90  may also include components such as a microphone and speaker.  
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram of an exemplary server  92 . The server  92  may host one or more of the services  22 - 30  of  FIG. 1 . In general, the server  92  includes a control system  94  having associated memory  96 . The memory  96  stores software  98 , where the software  98  may include software corresponding to one or more of the services  22 - 30 . The software  98  may also include additional software as needed or desired for operation of the server  92 . The server  92  also includes a communication interface  100  for communicating with other network entities over the network  18  ( FIG. 1 ), and a user interface  102 . The user interface  102  may include a display, keyboard, mouse, and the like.  
      The present invention provides substantial opportunity for variation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. For example, while the present invention is described above with respect to the digital camera  12  having the wireless communication interface  16 , the present invention is equally applicable to images taken by a digital camera not having a wireless communication interface to the network  18 . More specifically, the digital camera may include an SPS receiver  14  and operate to store positional information from the SPS receiver  14  in association with digital images at the time of capture. Thereafter, the digital images may be uploaded to the user&#39;s personal computer or the like being communicatively coupled to the network  18 . The personal computer, rather than the digital camera, may then request suggested keywords from the keyword service  22  as described above.  
      As another example, the digital camera  12  may obtain the positional information by using a system other than the SPS receiver  14 . For example, the digital camera  12  may obtain the positional information from a nearby mobile device equipped with an SPS receiver via a wireless communication interface such as a Bluetooth transceiver, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader, a transceiver operating according to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards or the Wi-Fi standard, or the like. Alternatively, the digital camera  12  may obtain the positional information from a mobile base station in a cellular network.  
      As yet another example, a digital camera not including an SPS receiver or the like may be used together with the location keyword registry service  28  to obtain suggested keywords for digital images. More specifically, once the digital image is uploaded to the user&#39;s personal computer or the like or while the digital image resides on the digital camera, the location keyword registry service  28  is accessed via the network  18 . Since the positional information is not known, the user may interact with the location registry service  28  to select a location in a manner similar to that described above with respect to  FIG. 6 . In response, the location keyword registry service  28  may provide suggested keywords to the requesting node, which may be the digital camera or the user&#39;s personal computer. The user may then select one or more of the suggested keywords for tagging the digital image.  
      Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.