Patent Publication Number: US-2006004697-A1

Title: Method and system for restricting the display of images

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The described technology relates generally to the presentation of images and particularly to restricting the display of images based on attributes of the images.  
     BACKGROUND  
      The displaying of paintings, sketches, photographs, and other images is very popular in business and personal settings. For example, most homes and offices have paintings or photographs on their walls. It can be very expensive, however, to purchase, maintain, and display high-quality paintings—so much so that most businesses and families cannot afford to do so. As a result, most images that are displayed are low-cost reproductions of high-quality paintings or originals of low-quality paintings. Because viewers can tire of seeing the same painting on a daily basis, some businesses change the location of the paintings that they display to provide more variety to their customers and employees.  
      Various electronic means have been used to display images to help reduce the cost of displaying images and increase the variety of images that are displayed. For example, slide programs for general-purpose computers have been developed to display images (e.g., stored in JPEG format) on a display device such as a computer monitor. These slide shows typically cycle through displaying a set of images (e.g., defined by a display list) at a fixed rate. Some electronic frames have been developed that allow a user to upload their own photographs for display on a screen within the frame. These electronic frames can, much like a slide show program, cycle through displaying a set of photographs. It can be a time-consuming process, however, to change the set of images that are displayed either by a slide show program or an electronic picture frame. To change a set of images, a person may have to search for, pay for, and download an electronic version of an image and create a display list that includes that image.  
      An image distribution system has been developed to distribute images from an image distribution server system to image display client systems. The distribution server periodically distributes packages of images to the image display systems for display on a display device (e.g., a high-resolution, flat-panel monitor). The distribution of the image packages can be done with little or no user involvement at the image display systems. Unfortunately, the images in a package may relate to subject matter that some viewers may find objectionable. For example, a package of images relating to Pierre-Auguste Renoir&#39;s works may include an image of his “Bathing Woman” painting, which contains partial nudity. The proprietor of a hotel may believe that it is inappropriate to display an image of that painting in a public area of the hotel. One option for the proprietor would be to simply not have any of Renoir&#39;s works displayed. Such an approach, however, prevents many desirable works from being displayed. It would be desirable to allow the user of an image display system to restrict or prevent the display of only those images containing subject matter the viewers may find objectionable. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a display page illustrating the setting of attributes of an image in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 2  is a display page illustrating the defining of a restricted attribute condition in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 3  is a display page illustrating the defining of a restricted attribute condition using a Boolean expression in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 4  is a display page illustrating the restricted attribute conditions that have been defined by an administrator in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating components of an image distribution system in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a set restricted attribute condition component in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a modify image plan component in one embodiment.  
       FIG. 8  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a restricted attribute condition satisfied function in one embodiment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      A method and system for displaying images that restricts (i.e., prevents) the display of certain images is provided. In one embodiment, an image display system is provided with image packages that each include an image plan and images to be displayed. The image plan specifies the sequential display of images and may specify timing, transitioning, panning, and other information relating to the display of the images. Each image may also have attributes, such as class and category, associated with it. For example, a class attribute may specify whether the image is a photograph or an abstract work of art. The category attribute may specify whether the image contains certain categories of subject matter that viewers may find objectionable, such as nudity, tobacco, drugs, and so on. The attributes of each image may be specified by a person prior to distribution of the image by an image distribution server to an image display system. The attribute values may be stored as metadata or properties of a file that contains an image. The image display system allows a user, such as an administrator, to define a “restricted attribute condition” that indicates which images are not to be displayed. For example, a restricted attribute condition may specify that images with a class of “photograph” and category of “nudity” should be restricted. In one embodiment, a restricted attribute condition may be specified as a Boolean expression of arbitrary complexity. When the image display system executes an image plan, it selects the next image to be displayed in accordance with the image plan. Prior to displaying the selected image, the image display system determines whether the selected image has attribute values that satisfy a restricted attribute condition. For example, given the example restricted attribute condition described above, any image with a class of “photograph” and a category of “nudity” satisfies the restricted attribute condition. When a restricted attribute condition is satisfied, the image display system suppresses the display of the selected image. In one embodiment, the image display system selects the next image of the image plan and displays it, assuming that it does not satisfy any restricted attribute conditions. The image display system displays that next image after the display of the previous image as if the restricted out image had never been included in the image plan. In this way, a viewer of the images cannot detect that an image has been restricted out and an administrator of the image display system can specify attributes of images that may be objectionable and should be restricted out.  
      In one embodiment, the image display system allows an administrator to specify multiple restricted attribute conditions such that if any one of the restricted attribute conditions is satisfied by an image, then the image is restricted out. The image display system may allow the administrator to name each restricted attribute condition for easy identification and modification. For example, a restricted attribute condition may be named “politically incorrect” when its purpose is to restrict out images that may contain politically incorrect subject matter. The image display system may also allow the administrator to specify dates and times when a restricted attribute condition is to be applied. For example, a restricted attribute condition that restricts out images involving nudity may be applied between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. when children are likely to be viewing the images. The restricted attribute conditions may be specified using any attributes associated with the images such as class, category, artists, collection, and so on. For example, an administrator may want to restrict out all images of paintings by a certain artist. The image display system may serially apply each restricted attribute condition to an image. If any one of the restricted attribute conditions is satisfied, then the image display system restricts out that image. The restricting out of images can be performed dynamically as each image is selected to be displayed, when an image plan is received from the image distribution server, when an image plan is selected for execution, and so on.  
       FIG. 1  is a display page illustrating the setting of attributes of an image in one embodiment. The display page  100  includes an image display area  101 , an image name field  102 , a class attribute drop-down list  103 , and category checkboxes  104 . The image distribution server presents this display page to a user so that the user can specify the attributes of the image. In this example, the class attribute values can be set to “photograph/photorealistic,” “painting/abstract,” or “other.” The category attribute values can be “alcohol/tobacco/gambling/drugs,” “alternative lifestyles (sexual),” “discriminatory/prejudicial,” “nudity,” “politically controversial,” “religious icons,” “sexual/passionate content,” and “violent/weapons.” One skilled in the art will appreciate that many different categories can be defined and that an image may fall into multiple categories. For example, an image may have category attribute values of “politically controversial” and “religious icons.” In addition, the categories may be hierarchically organized. For example, a “vice” category may have subcategories of “alcohol,” “tobacco,” “gambling,” and “drugs.” The image display system may allow an administrator to specify categories and subcategories within a restricted attribute condition. For example, an administrator may want to restrict out images relating to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, but not relating to gambling. The image display system may also allow a named restricted attribute condition to be used within another restricted attribute condition. For example, an administrator may define a restricted attribute condition named “sexual” that is satisfied when an image has a category attribute value of “alternative lifestyles (sexual),” “nudity,” or “sexual/passionate content.” That restricted attribute condition may be part of another restricted attribute condition named “religious sexual” that is satisfied when the category attribute value is “religious icons” and the “sexual” restricted attribute condition is satisfied. In such a case, the “sexual” restricted attribute condition may be set to inactive so that it will not be applied individually to the images.  
       FIG. 2  is a display page illustrating the defining of a restricted attribute condition in one embodiment. The display page  200  includes a class selection area  201  and a category selection area  202 . An administrator uses this display page to specify the restricted classes and categories. In this example, the administrator has specified that images with both a class attribute value of “photograph” and a category attribute value of “nudity” are to be restricted out. The image display system in one embodiment creates a Boolean expression for the restricted attribute condition.  
       FIG. 3  is a display page illustrating the defining of a restricted attribute condition using a Boolean expression in one embodiment. The display page  300  includes a Boolean expression area  301  and a name field  302 . An administrator enters a Boolean expression of arbitrary complexity (i.e., using any combination of attribute values and the Boolean operators “and,” “or,” “not,” and so on) in the Boolean expression area. In this example, the administrator has specified a Boolean expression that is satisfied when the class attribute value is “photograph” and the category attribute value is “nudity,” or the class attribute value is “abstract” and the category attribute value is “nudity” and the subcategory attribute value is “frontal,” or the category attribute value is “alternative lifestyle.” The administrator has named this Boolean expression “nudity” as indicated by the name field.  
       FIG. 4  is a display page illustrating the restricted attribute conditions that have been defined by an administrator in one embodiment. The display page  400  includes Boolean expression rows  401  and  402 . Row  401  indicates that a Boolean expression named “nudity” (e.g., corresponding to the expression of  FIG. 3 ) has been defined, and row  402  indicates that a Boolean expression named “alcohol” has been defined. An administrator may select one of the rows to edit its Boolean expression. Although not illustrated, each row may include a field to indicate whether the Boolean expression is currently active and may also include an indication of the schedule for applying the Boolean expression.  
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating components of an image distribution system in one embodiment. The image distribution system includes an image distribution server system  510  and an image display client system  520  interconnected via a communications link  540 , such as the Internet. The image distribution server includes a communications interface  511 , a create package component  512 , an image store  513 , and a distribute package component  514 . The image store contains packages, images, and image plans. The create package component is used by a user to manipulate the images and create image plans and image packages. The create package component also allows a user to specify the attributes of each image, for example, using the display page of  FIG. 1 . The distribute package component is responsible for distributing the image packages to the appropriate image display systems at designated times. The communications interface  511  provides the communications interface to the communications link. The image display system includes a communications interface  521 , an image store  522 , a display images component  523 , and a set restricted attribute condition component  524 . The image display system is connected to a display device  530 . The communications interface receives image packages from the image distribution server and stores the image packages in the image store. The image store may also include the restricted attribute conditions that have been defined by an administrator of the image display system. The display images component displays images in accordance with the image plans of the image store. The display images component also restricts out images in accordance with the restricted attribute conditions. The set restricted attribute condition component allows the administrator to create, modify, and delete the restricted attribute conditions.  
      The client systems and server system may include a central processing unit, memory, input devices (e.g., keyboard and pointing devices), output devices (e.g., display devices), and storage devices (e.g., disk drives). The memory and storage devices are computer-readable media that may contain instructions that implement the image distribution system. In addition, the data structures and message structures may be stored or transmitted via a data transmission medium such as a signal on a communications link. Various communications links, other than the Internet, may be used such as a local-area network, a wide-area network, or a point-to-point dial-up connection.  
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a set restricted attribute condition component in one embodiment. The component allows an administrator to define a restricted attribute condition and stores a Boolean expression representing that condition in the image store. This component implements the function of  FIG. 2 . In block  601 , the component retrieves the possible class values. In block  602 , the component retrieves the possible category values. The possible values may be statically defined or may be dynamically defined in updates distributed by the image distribution server. For example, a new category of “sports” with subcategories of “football” and “baseball” may be defined for use with a package of sports-related images. In block  603 , the component generates a display page using the retrieved values, such as the display page of  FIG. 2 . In block  604 , the component presents the generated display page to the administrator. The administrator can then select the appropriate attribute values. In block  605 , the component receives the selected attribute values. In block  606 , the component creates a Boolean expression representing a restricted attribute condition based on the selected attribute values. In block  607 , the component stores the Boolean expression in the image store and then completes.  
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a modify image plan component in one embodiment. The component modifies an image plan to remove instructions for displaying any image that satisfies a restricted attribute condition. The component may be invoked when a package is received, when a package is about to be displayed, when a restricted attribute condition is modified, and so on. The format of an image plan in one embodiment is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/704,211, entitled “Method and System for Displaying Multiple Aspect Ratios of a Viewport.” The format specifies that various XML image display elements are used to specify the display of an image. The XML image display element may include “xfade,” “pan,” and “display” elements. In block  701 , the component selects the next image display element of the image plan. In decision block  702 , if all the image display elements have already been selected, then the component completes, else the component continues at block  703 . In block  703 , the component selects the next image subelement of the selected image display element. An image subelement specifies the name of the file that contains the image that is to be displayed in accordance with the image display element. In decision block  704 , if all the image subelements of the selected image display element have already been selected, then the component loops to block  701  to select the next image display element, else the component continues at block  705 . In block  705 , if a restricted attribute condition is satisfied, then the component continues at block  706 , else the component loops to block  703  to select the next image subelement of the selected image display element. In block  706 , the component removes the image display element from the image plan and loops to block  701  to select the next image display element. Alternatively, the component may set a flag on the selected image display element to indicate that it should be restricted out.  
       FIG. 8  is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of a restricted attribute condition satisfied function in one embodiment. This function is passed image attribute values and returns a flag indicating whether a restricted attribute condition is satisfied. This function may be invoked dynamically as images are displayed or by the modify image plan component. In block  801 , the function selects the next restricted attribute condition from the image store. In decision block  802 , if all the restricted attribute conditions have already been selected, then none have been satisfied and the function returns an indication that none have been satisfied, else the function continues at block  803 . In block  803 , the function applies the retrieved restricted attribute condition to the passed image attribute values. In decision block  804 , if the restricted attribute condition is satisfied, then the function returns an indication that a restricted attribute condition is satisfied, else the function loops to block  801  to select the next restricted attribute condition.  
      One skilled in the art will appreciate that although specific embodiments of the distribution system have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, one skilled in the art will appreciate that an “overriding attribute condition” may be defined indicating that any image that satisfies the condition will be displayed even though it may also satisfy a restricted attribute condition. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except by the appended claims.