Patent ID: 8131118

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, at a computer server system, an image from a remote electronic device; comparing, with the computer sever system information from the received image with corresponding information from a plurality of stored images, the comparison comprising: (a) calculating a level of difference between a first set of feature points in the received image and a second set of feature points in the plurality of stored images; and (b) identifying at least one image within the plurality of stored images that satisfies a threshold level of difference between the first set of feature points and the second set of feature points; extracting, with the computer server system, location information from the at least one identified image to determine location information to associate with the received image; detecting a difference in illumination of an object in the received image and, based on the difference and a time of day the image was captured, inferring a user position relative to the object; and transmitting, from the computer server system to the remote device, information identifying a geographic location, the information identifying the geographic location based on the extracted location information and the inferred user position.