Patent Publication Number: US-2012039513-A1

Title: Leveraging social networking for media sharing

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application relates generally to leveraging social networking for media sharing. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     “Social media” is term that encompasses an Internet subset: websites that primarily allow users to interact with each other in a variety of ways. Well known social media sites include Facebook®, Twitter®, and MySpace®. Such sites have met with success: more than four in five US online adults now participate in or consume social media at least once a month. Almost one-quarter of U.S. online adults are creators, i.e., people who write blogs, upload original audio or video, or post stories online. 
     In many social media sites one user may share content with other users, typically by uploading the content to a content storage site and then have friends and family download it manually. As understood herein, this paradigm can be improved. Furthermore, present principles recognize a need to better enable users to manage their various social networking accounts in an integrated fashion. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, a computing device includes a processor and a video display controlled by the processor. The processor presents on the video display a user interface (UI) to enable a user to manage social networking services and contacts in a single screen. The UI includes a social networking services pane listing the user&#39;s social networking sites and selectors enabling a user to add and remove social networking sites from the social networking services pane. The UI also includes a message pane into which messages can be typed and posted to one or more contacts. A contact pane is also provided listing social networking contacts of the user across all social networking sites in the social networking services pane. In some embodiments the processor notes social networking sites visited by the user and adds those sites to a list that may be accessed by appropriately manipulating a selector element 
     In example embodiments the UI includes a “post” selectable to cause a message in the message pane to be posted to a contact and/or social networking site and an “invite” selector selectable to invite a contact in the contact pane to chat. 
     In some implementations a second UI can be presented enabling a user to visualize, in a single screen, social networking contacts, the second UI including, for at least a first contact, a selector to view the first contact&#39;s latest posts. A selector can also be provided to view the contact&#39;s recent uploads and another selector may be provided to view the contact&#39;s preferences. 
     If desired, the second UI may include an identification of a social networking site affiliated with each contact. The second UI can include first and second content panes respectively indicating to the user the contact the user can access from local storage media and from the user&#39;s social networking sites. Content from either pane is selectable to send a user-designated group of contacts. 
     In another aspect, a computing device includes a processor and a video display controlled by the processor. The processor executes logic including receiving a test photograph which includes an image of at least one human face. The logic includes receiving comparison photographs from a social networking site with which the user is affiliated and from a local storage device, and comparing the test photograph with the comparison photographs to determine if the image in the test photograph matches images in the comparison photographs. Responsive to a determination that the image in the test photograph matches an image in at least a first comparison photograph the processor automatically sends the test photograph to the user whose image appears in the test photograph. 
     In another aspect, a computing device includes a processor and a video display controlled by the processor. The processor generates a movie from plural video clips by receiving input of key words including at least one name of a person and searching at least a local data store for video tagged in metadata with the keywords. Social media sites and indeed the entire Web also may be searched. The processor automatically builds a movie using video clips associated with metadata matching the keywords. 
     The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an example system in accordance with present principles, schematically showing interior components of the computer; 
         FIG. 2  is a screen shot of an example user interface (UI) allowing a user to manage content and social networking site information; 
         FIG. 3  is a screen shot of an example UI allowing a user to establish and maintain content and contact lists; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of example logic for uploading photographs based on face recognition; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart of example logic for creating a movie from clips from social networking sites; and 
         FIG. 6  is a screen shot of an example UI for setting up quick video generation and upload. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a computing device  12  such as a personal digital assistant laptop computer, personal computer (PC), etc. includes a housing  14  bearing a digital processor  16 . The processor  16  can control a visual display  18  and an audible display such as one or more speakers. The processor  16  may access a media player module such that the device  12  has media decoding capability. 
     To undertake present principles, the processor  16  may access one or more computer readable storage media  20  such as but not limited to RAM-based storage, a chip implementing dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) or flash memory or disk storage. Software code implementing present logic executable by the device  12  may be stored on one of the memories shown to undertake present principles. 
     The processor  16  can receive user input signals from various input devices, including a keyboard or keypad  22  (hereinafter “keypad” without loss of generality), a point and click device such as a mouse or joystick  24 , etc. A network interface  26  such as a wired or wireless modem or wireless telephony transceiver may also be provided and may communicate with the processor  16  so that information can be exchanged between the computer and one or more servers  28 , including social networking servers, on the Internet. A server  28  typically includes one or more server processors  30  and one or more server storage devices  32 . 
     In some implementations, the device  12  may be provided with a video camera  34 . Or, the camera  34  may be provided separately from the device  12  and plugged into the device  12  to download video and photos into the device. 
       FIG. 2  shows an example UI  36  that can be presented on the display  18  by the processor  16  to enable a user to manage his social networking services and contacts in a single screen. As shown, the UI  36  includes a social networking services pane  38  which lists the user&#39;s social networking sites  40 . In one embodiment the processor  16  notes the sites visited by the user and adds those sites to a drop-down list that may be accessed by appropriately manipulating a selector element such as a slide bar  42 . Or, the user can simply type in the name of the site and click an “add” selector  44 , and can highlight an entry in the pane  38  using the point and click device  24 , for instance, and click on a “remove” selector  46  to remove it. A “status” selector  48  can be selected to present a status of the services in the pane  38  and/or the user&#39;s account status of a highlighted entry in the pane  38 . 
     Messages may be typed into a message pane  50  and posted to a highlighted user  52  in a contact pane  54  by selecting a “post” selector  56 . A highlighted user in the contact pane  54  can be sent an invitation to, e.g., chat by selecting an “invite” selector  58 . The message currently typed into the pane  50  can be deleted by selecting a “clear” selector  60 . The contacts in the contact pane  54  may be designated by their online names, with the underlying identifying information of each contact (including status as “friend”, “family”, etc.) being established by the user and maintained in local media  20 . 
     An instant video selector  62  may be provided which, when selected, automatically activates the camera  34  for a predetermined period, e.g., twelve seconds, and then stops the video and uploads it to the user&#39;s contacts in the user&#39;s social networking sites appearing in the pane  38 , either collectively or only to those that the user highlights. Or, the video can be sent to the users appearing in the contact pane  54  collectively or only to those highlighted by the user. Thus, with a single click the user can create a video and send it to all social networking sites/contacts or only to selected sites/contacts. Yet again, the user may elect to execute a three click paradigm in which the first click of the instant video selector  62  starts the camera  34  in generating video, the second click stops it, and the third click uploads the video to the selected sites/contacts. This is described further below with reference to  FIG. 6 . Still further, a user can select, a “make movie” selector  63  to cause a movie to automatically be generated in accordance with the logic of  FIG. 5 , discussed further below. 
     Contacts may be types into the contact pane  54  and added by clicking an “add contact” selector  64 , with contacts being removed from the pane  54  by highlighting the contact and selecting a “remove” selector  66 . The user can click on an entry to add it to the group of sites shown in the pane  38 . 
     The UI  36  thus allows the user to manage all content for all of his social networking sites at once. Accordingly, instead of having to open ten applications or go to ten different sites, the local UI  36  effectively pushes content and posts to all the various sites, either all at once or one at a time. The UI  36  thus saves time. 
       FIG. 3  shows an example UI  68  that can be presented on the display  18  to enable a user to visualize, in a single screen, his social networking contacts  70  along with selectors for viewing the contact&#39;s latest posts  72 , multimedia uploads  74 , and indicated uploaded preferences  76 . By each contact name is the identification  78  of the social networking site at which they are the user&#39;s contact, as well as an indicator  80  indicating whether the contact is currently online or offline. 
     Content panes  82 ,  84  respectively indicate to the user the contact the user can access from local storage media  20  and from the user&#39;s social networking sites. Content may be selected horn either pane  82 ,  84  by highlighting the title of the content and then clicking on a selector  86  to send the content to contacts in the contact pane  54  of  FIG. 2  who have been designated as “friends” or by clicking on a selector  88  to send the content to contacts who have been designated as “family”. Yet again, selected content may be sent to all sites/contacts of the user by clicking a “mass share” selector  90 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a user may also click on a “share via facial recognition” selector  92 . This invokes the logic of  FIG. 4 , some of which is executed before clicking on the selector  92 . In any case, together the UIs  36  and  68  helps the user to configure social networking features, and gives the user a centralized one-stop interface for sending messages, uploading pictures, uploading video, sending tweets, etc. The UIs  36  and  68  function as a social networking site status manager for self/friend management. The UI  68  moreover provides a quick social networking site status manager, self/friend management, friend tree management, etc., with all the data for all linked individuals and content being in one location regardless of the social networking sites themselves. 
     Commencing at block  94  of  FIG. 4 , a photo is sent to the media  20  from the camera  34 , either internally housed or externally housed. Block  96  simply indicates that the photo includes people&#39;s faces as well as metadata about the people, typically added to the photo file by the user, and metadata about the device capturing the photo, such as device type, model, make, serial number, and photo settings. 
     Block  98  indicates that software photo upload to the processor  16  for consideration is executed for executing a face recognition algorithm on the photo under test at block  100 . Any suitable face recognition algorithm may be used. At block  102 , a list of the user&#39;s social network sites (from, e.g., the list composing the entries in the site pane  38  of  FIG. 2 ) is obtained along with a list of saved local content, such as photos, and metadata on contacts designated as “friends” (or “family” or other desired designation). 
     The output of the face recognition algorithm, is compared at block  104  to facial feature information in a library of photos and “friend” metadata. The library, it may now be appreciated, is created from the lists obtained at block  102 . If, at decision block  106 , the processor  16  determines that the photo does not match any photos in the library, the process ends at block  108  by not distributing the photo any further. On the other hand, if the processor  16  determines that the photo matches one or more photos in the library, the identity of the friend corresponding to the match(es) from the library as indicated by the friend metadata is added to a distribution list at block  110 . The photo is ten uploaded at block  112  to the network address of all friends corresponding to the match(es) from the library. 
       FIG. 5  shows how a movie can automatically be created to celebrate key milestones learned from social networking sites for individuals. The logic of  FIG. 5  may be entered by a user selecting the make movie selector  63  in  FIG. 2 . Commencing at block  114 , the user establishes a desired date using keywords, such as “birthday” “anniversary”, etc., along with, if desired, the names of people associated with the date A software search is commenced at block  116  wherein at block  118  the device  12  is searched for multimedia content tagged (in, e.g., metadata) with the keywords identified at block  114 . Also, multimedia content is searched using face recognition techniques for people having names entered into the keywords at block  114 . A similar search for matching content from the user&#39;s social networking sites is executed at block  120  and if desired the Web can be crawled at block  122  to execute a similar search. Matching content from the local storage  20  identified at block  118 , the user&#39;s social networking sites identified at block  120 , and the remainder of the web (when block  122  is implemented) is stored at block  124 . 
     At block  126 , it is determined whether the user has entered a command to build a movie automatically, e.g., in response to an onscreen prompt that the movie match search is complete and to indicate whether to automatically build a movie or manually build a movie. If manual build is selected the logic flows to block  128  to allow the user to compile a movie manually from the search results. This can be done by presenting on the display  18  a thumbnail of each piece of content stored at block  124  and allowing a user to click on a thumbnail to play a portion of the underlying video. A “select” command for a particular clip to be added to the movie may be entered responsive to a prompt or simply by clicking an enter key or other means. In any case, when the user indicates he is finished the movie, compiled from video clips underlying the thumbnails, is saved at block  130 . Then, at block  132  the movie is sent automatically to people whose names were entered at block  114 . This can be done by sending the movie to their network addresses. Also, the movie can be sent to people whose faces were recognized in selected clips and to a user-defined “friends” list as well. 
     On the other hand, if the user selects to build the movie automatically, the logic flows from block  126  to block  134  to compile the content stored at block  124  in a random order with various predefined effects, e.g., rotation, zoom in/zoom out speed up play, etc. The movie is saved at block  136  and then distributed at block  132  as described above. 
     As mentioned previously, a user can select to create a quick video and distribute it with a single click or with, e.g., three clicks, and the UI  138  shown in  FIG. 6  illustrates an example of how to facilitate this. A one-click prompt  140  can be selected to establish the one-click video generation/distribution feature described above. A user may enter into a field  142  the number of seconds the user desires the video to be generated following a single click of the instant video selector  62 , at the elapse of which video generation is complete and the video is distributed as described. 
     On the other hand, a three click prompt  144  may be selected in which the user establishes that a first click of the instant video selector  62  starts the generation of a video, a second click of the instant video selector  62  terminates video generation, and a third click of the instant video selector  62  distributes the video. A destination selector  146  may be provided listing the names of social networking sites and/or contacts that the user wishes to send the instant videos to. The user can highlight entries of the list, indicating that the instant videos are to be sent to those entries. 
     Additional features may be provided. For example, a user can be allowed to set a music type/artist through a UI, or the processor  16  may pick the type/artist based on previous listened to-music, since most media players hold such metadata indefinitely. The processor can then use the search strings and/or metadata to compile samples of content for the music type/artist, e.g., sound bytes, music samples, artists pictures, wallpapers, UI skins. The type/artist can then be populated on the local client system in the form of an operating system Theme or UI theme. The “theme” can then be used to populate the user&#39;s blog and social networking profiles or shared with others across a LAN or internet. 
     While the particular LEVERAGING SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR MEDIA SHARING is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.