as) United States
`a2) Patent Application Publication 10) Pub. No.: US 2009/0210793 Al
`
` Yee et al. (43) Pub. Date: Aug. 20, 2009
`
`
`US 20090210793A1
`
`(75)
`
`(54) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRAVERSING
`DIGITAL RECORDS WITH MULTIPLE
`DIMENSIONAL ATTRIBUTES
`Inventors:
`Nicholas K. Yee, Mountain View,
`CA (US); Vietoria MLE.Bellotti,
`San Francisco, CA (US); Nicolas B.
`Ducheneaut, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
`(is) Solis, Redwood City, CA
`Correspondence Address:
`PVF — PARC
`c/o PARK, VAUGHAN & FLEMING LLP
`2820 FIFTH STREET
`DAVIS, CA 95618-7759 (US)
`(73) Assignee:
`PALO ALTO RESEARCH
`CENTER INCORPORATED,
`Palo Alto, CA (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`12/031,357
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Feb. 14, 2008
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`GO6F 3/00
`
`(2006.01)
`
`(52) US. CD. eeececeeectesesenscneecessescneneeansenees 715/723
`
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A system facilitates traversing digital records with dimen-
`sional attributes. The system stores a number of digital
`records. The system further associates a respective digital
`record with a numberof attributes, wherein a respective
`attribute can be specified in a numberoflevels ofabstraction.
`The system allows a user to control a presentation of the
`stored digital records based on their attributes. The user can
`set one or morecriteria for the attributes of the digital records
`to be presented by: specifying the value of at least one fixed
`attribute of the digital records to be presented, changing at
`least one non-fixed attribute of the digital records to be pre-
`sented, and/or specifying a level of abstraction for the fixed
`and/or non-fixed attribute of the digital records to be pre-
`sented. The system then presents a set of digital records to the
`user based on the attribute criteria set by the user.
`
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`Patent Application Publication
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`START
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`502
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`FIG. 6
`
`
`
`RECEIVE ATTRIBUTES SUCHASTIME,
`PLACE, AND PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH
`THE PHOTOGRAPH
`
`506
`
`PHILADELPHIA IN 2006
`
`604
`
`SELECT “DAVE” AS THE FOCAL ATTRIBUTE
`VALUE AND TIME AS THE SLIDING
`ATTRIBUTE
`
`STORE PHOTOGRAPHIN REPOSITORY
`
`606
`
`508
`
`RECEIVE ATTRIBUTE CRITERIA SET BY A
`USER
`
`510
`RETRIEVE PHOTOGRAPHSBASED ON
`ATTRIBUTE CRITERIA
`
`of2
`
`PHOTOGRAPHS OF DAVE ARE PRESENTED
`IN ASTRIP, ORDERED BY TIME
`
`608
`SLIDE THE INDICATOR ON TIMELINE TO
`ADJUST THE TIME
`
`610
`
`SELECT PLACE AS THE ANNOTATED
`ATTRIBUTE
`
`DISPLAY PHOTOGRAPHS
`
`612
`
`SELECT ONE PHOTOGRAPH TO BE
`DISPLAYED ATFULLSIZE
`
`o14
`ALLOW USER TO RE-DESIGNATE FOCAL
`ATTRIBUTE AND SLIDING ATTRIBUTE
`
`UPDATE PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE DISPLAYED
`
`FIG. 5
`
`6
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`START
`
`702
`
`RECEIVE USER INPUT REQUESTING ALL
`THE PHOTOGRAPHS RELATED TO BOB IN
`
`PHILADELPHIA IN 2006
`
`a
`DISPLAY PHOTOGRAPHSOF BOBIN
`PHILADELPHIAIN 2006 IN A STRIP
`
`706
`
`RECEIVE USER INPUT SELECTING A
`PHOTOGRAPH OF BOB AND DAVE TO BE
`
`DISPLAYED IN FULL SIZE
`
`708
`
`DISPLAY PHOTOGRAPH OF BOB AND DAVE
`IN FULL SIZE
`
`RECEIVE USER INPUT WHICH DESIGNATES
`“DAVE” AS THE FOCAL ATTRIBUTE VALUE
`AND TIME AS THE SLIDING ATTRIBUTE
`
`DISPLAY PHOTOGRAPHSOF DAVEIN A
`STRIP. ORDEREDBY TIME
`.
`
`RECEIVE USER INPUT WITH A SLIDING
`ACTION OF THE INDICATOR ON THE
`TIMELINE
`
`SELECTED BY THE USER
`
`RECEIVE USER SELECTION OF A PLACE
`
`DISPLAY PHOTOGRAPHS OF DAVE
`ACCORDING TO THE TIME AND PLACE
`
`FIG. 7
`
`7
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Aug. 20,2009 Sheet 7 of 7
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`CLIENT 826
`
`DATABASE
`824
`
`COMPUTER SYSTEM 802
`
`MULTI-
`DIMENSIONAL
`DIGITAL-RECORD-
`TRAVERSING
`ye
`PROCESSOR JC APPLICATION
`604
`att
`
`MEMORY
`806
`
`808
`
`\
`
`FIG. 8
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`WEB-SERVER
`APPLICATION
`820
`
`DYNAMIC WEB-
`PAGE-GENERATION
`APPLICATION
`822
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`8
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`

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`US 2009/0210793 Al
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`Aug. 20, 2009
`
`METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRAVERSING
`DIGITAL RECORDS WITH MULTIPLE
`DIMENSIONAL ATTRIBUTES
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0001] The present disclosure relates to information-re-
`trieving systems. More specifically, the present disclosure
`relates to a system that allows a userto traverse digital records
`based on multiple dimensionalattributes.
`
`RELATED ART
`
`[0002] The relentless growth of the Internet has dramati-
`cally changed the way westore information. Today, almostall
`forms of records, including newspaper, books, images, and
`sound, can be stored in some digital format. Meanwhile, the
`ubiquitous Internet connectivity has enabled unprecedented
`accessibility to such digital records. As a result, one can store
`and retrieve both public and private information over the
`Internet on a daily basis.
`[0003]
`For example, one can upload digital photographs
`and video clips using an online hosting service. Such upload-
`ing and viewing operations are becoming increasingly com-
`mon amongeventhe least technology-savvyusers, especially
`with digital-media equipment becoming commoditized and
`online hosting services getting easier to use. Many online
`hosting services also combinethis storage service with social
`networking functions, which allow users to share digital
`records with family members andfriends.
`[0004] However, current online hosting servicesstore digi-
`tal records in a relatively flat and un-organized fashion. For
`example, most photograph or video sharing servers store
`photographs in their native form and provide only simple
`tagging or annotation functions. These tags or annotations are
`often unstructured. A user can only browse the records in a
`predetermined order or retrieve them by searching for key-
`words. This flat, unstructured organization scales poorly, and
`might frustrate the user when he wants to traverse a large
`numberofrecords.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`[0005] One embodimentofthe present invention provides a
`system that facilitates traversing digital records with dimen-
`sional attributes. The system stores a number of digital
`records and associates a respective digital record with a num-
`berof attributes. A respective attribute can be specified in a
`numberoflevels of abstraction. The system allowsa user to
`control a presentation of the stored digital records based on
`their attributes. The user can set one or more criteria for the
`
`attributes ofthe digital records to be presented by: specifying
`the value ofat least onefixed attribute ofthe digital records to
`be presented, changing at least one non-fixed attribute of the
`digital records to be presented, and/or specifying a level of
`abstraction for the fixed and/or non-fixed attribute of the
`digital records to be presented. The system then presents a set
`of digital recordsto the user based ontheattributecriteria set
`bythe user.
`[0006]
`Ina variation on this embodiment, a respective digi-
`tal record comprises one or more of a photograph, a piece of
`video, a piece of audio, and a piece oftext.
`[0007]
`Ina variation on this embodiment, the system pre-
`sents values for non-changing, non-fixed attributes with the
`associated digital
`records,
`thereby providing annotative
`information for the presented digital records to the user.
`
`Ina variation on this embodiment, an attribute of a
`[0008]
`respective digital record correspondsto at least one of: a time,
`a range of time; a place, a person; a group of people; an
`organization; an entity; and an event.
`[0009]
`In a further variation, specifying the value of the
`fixed attribute involves specifying a time, thereby allowing
`digital records associated with the specified time to be pre-
`sented; specifying a place, thereby allowing digital records
`associated withthe specified place to be presented; specifying
`an entity; thereby allowing digital records associated with the
`specified entity to be presented; specifying an event, thereby
`allowing digital records associated with the specified event to
`be presented; or specifying a person, a group ofpeople, and/or
`an organization, thereby allowing the digital records associ-
`ated with the people, group, or organizationto be presented.
`[0010]
`In a further variation, changing the value of the
`non-fixed attribute involves changing a time value, thereby
`allowing digital records associated with different times to be
`presented; changing a place value, thereby allowing digital
`records associated with different places to be presented;
`changing an entity value, thereby allowing digital records
`associated with different entities to be presented; changing an
`event value, thereby allowing digital records associated with
`different events to be presented; or changing a valueindica-
`tive ofpeople and/or groups, thereby allowing digital records
`associated with different people and/or groups to be pre-
`sented.
`In a further variation, presenting the set of digital
`[0011]
`records based ontheattribute criteria set by the user involves
`displaying on a graphical user interface (GUI)at least one
`digital record whoseattributessatisfy the criteria. The system
`also presents one or more of: a slide bar labeled with time
`values to indicate the time associated with the displayed
`digital record andto allow the userto specify a different time
`bysliding an indicator along the slide bar, a map to indicate
`the place associated with the displayed digital record and to
`allow the userto specify a different place by indicating a point
`on the map, a first text field to indicate the person, group, or
`organization associated with the displayed digital record and
`to allow the user to specify a different person, group, or
`organization, and a second text field to indicate the event
`associated with the displayed digital record andto allow the
`user to specify a different event.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
`
`FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary graphicaluser inter-
`[0012]
`face (GUI) which allowsa userto traverse photographs based
`on multiple dimensional attributes, in accordance with one
`embodimentof the present invention.
`[0013]
`FIG.2 illustrates an exemplary GUI whichdisplays
`a photographpertainingto a particular person “Bob”as speci-
`fied by a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the
`present invention.
`[0014]
`FIG.3 illustrates an exemplary GUI which displays
`another photograph pertaining to “Bob”as specified by the
`user, in accordance with an embodimentof the present inven-
`tion.
`
`FIG.4 illustrates an exemplary GUI which displays
`[0015]
`a photograph pertaining to a place “MIT”in accordance with
`an embodimentof the present invention.
`[0016]
`FIG. 5 presents a flowchart illustrating an exem-
`plary process for storing digital records with multiple dimen-
`sional attributes in accordance with an embodiment of the
`
`present invention.
`
`9
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`US 2009/0210793 Al
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`
`FIG. 6 presents a flowchart illustrating an example
`[0017]
`of how a user can traverse photographs based on multiple
`dimensionalattributes in conjunction with the example illus-
`trated in FIG. 3, in accordance with an embodiment of the
`present invention.
`[0018]
`FIG. 7 presents a flowchart illustrating an exem-
`plary process of how the system allows the user to traverse
`photographs based on multiple dimensionalattributes in con-
`junction with the example illustrated in FIG.3, in accordance
`with an embodimentof the present invention.
`[0019]
`FIG. 8 illustrates a computer system thatfacilitates
`digital record traversing based on multiple dimensional
`attributes in accordance with one embodimentofthe present
`invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`[0020] The following description is presented to enable any
`person skilled in the art to make anduse the invention, and is
`provided in the context of a particular application and its
`requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodi-
`ments will be readily apparent to those skilledin theart, and
`the general principles defined herein may be applied to other
`embodiments and applications without departing from the
`spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present
`invention is not limited to the embodiments shown,butis to
`be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims. In
`addition, although embodiments of the present invention are
`described with examplesin the English language, application
`of the present invention is not limited to English, but can be
`extended to any language, such as eastern Asian languages,
`including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.
`[0021] The data structures and code described in this
`detailed description are typically stored on a computer-read-
`able storage medium, which may be any device or medium
`that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system.
`This includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-
`volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such
`as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs
`(digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media
`capable of storing computer-readable media now known or
`later developed.
`
`Overview
`
`[0022] At present, many social-networking websitesfacili-
`tate the storing and sharing of digital records. Most services
`allow tagging or annotating the records. For example, when a
`user uploads a photograph, he can tag the photograph with
`various keywords or phrases. However, the existing systems
`cannot
`leverage the implicit relationship between these
`records and present them in a more meaningful way.
`[0023] Most existing systems only provide two ways,
`namely search and browse, for accessing digital records.
`When searching the records, a user can search for records
`with specific properties. However,the hits resulting from the
`searches are often unorganized, makingit difficult for the user
`to identify useful records. When browsing the records, the
`user can only access the recordsin a limited manner, such as
`in descending alphabetical order. Both searching and brows-
`ing can be too rigid and often ineffective for locating a large
`numberofmeaningful records. As a result, these conventional
`record-traversing methods are becoming increasingly inad-
`equate while the numberofdigital records continues to grow.
`
`[0024] Embodiments of the present invention provide a
`system for traversing digital records in an intuitive way that
`allows the user to see the relationships between records and
`identify a large number of meaningful results. This system
`hinges on conceptualizing a digital record as the intersection
`of multiple dimensional attributes. For example, a photo-
`graph or a video clip contains several types of information,
`such as Time, People, Place, Entity, and Event. These differ-
`ent types of information can be considered asattributes that
`are logically orthogonal to each other and hence correspond
`to different dimensions in a semantic space. The present
`system allowsa userto traverse digital records by controlling
`how the records are displayed based on these dimensional
`attributes. For example, the user can fix the value of one
`attribute, change the value of anotherattribute, and see all the
`matchingrecords.
`the term “digital record” or
`[0025]
`In this disclosure,
`“record” refers to any type of records that can be stored in a
`digital format. Such records include, but are not limited to,
`digital photograph, video clip, audio clip, text, and combina-
`tion thereof. These records can be stored in a repository that is
`accessible over the Internet.
`
`Dimensional Attributes
`
`[0026] Embodiments of the present invention allow a user
`to traverse digital records by specifying the values and/or
`rangesof the dimensionalattributes. In some embodiments, a
`record is associated with a numberof dimensionalattributes,
`which can be contained in a numberof metadata fields asso-
`ciated with that record. Note that a metadata field can contain
`continuous and ordered values, such as Time,or discrete and
`unordered values, such as People, Place, Entity, or Event.
`Note that the Entity attribute can specify an object, such as a
`book or sculpture, associated with a digital record.
`[0027] The value in a metadata field, which corresponds to
`a dimension,can be specified at different levels ofabstraction.
`For example, the value of a Place field can be a building, a
`street, acity block, a town, or a country. The value ofa People
`field can be an individual, a family, a social group, or an
`organization. The value ofan Eventfield can be an event name
`(e.g., CHI 2007) or an event type (e.g., technology confer-
`ence). Note that the system can identify and collect from
`public sources values ofa field on different abstractionlevels,
`such as those for geographical locations. In other circum-
`stances, these values can also be collected from the users. For
`example, a user can specify the family and social group to
`which he belongs.
`[0028] Based on these dimensionalattributes, the system
`can allow a user to control the display of a large number of
`records with multiple degrees of freedom. In one embodi-
`ment, the user can designate at least one dimensionas a focal
`attribute, the value ofwhichis fixed. The user can designate at
`least another dimension as a sliding attribute, the value of
`which can be changed dynamically by the user when viewing
`the records. The user can further designate one or more
`dimensions as annotated attributes, the values of which are
`overlaid on the display ofthesliding attribute (e.g., the time-
`line, if time was designated as the sliding attribute). In one
`embodiment, this annotated variable annotates the display of
`the sliding variable. The user can repeatedly designate differ-
`ent dimensions for the specified attributes as he browses
`through the digital records.
`[0029] The focal attribute can be any dimensionalattribute,
`such as People, Time, Place, or Event. Furthermore, the user
`
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`Aug. 20, 2009
`
`can broaden or narrow the abstraction level of the focal
`
`attribute. For example, for the People attribute, the user can
`specify an individual’s name, a family, a social group, or an
`organization. For the Place attribute, the user can specify a
`venue, a district, a city, or a state. For the Eventattribute, the
`user can specify a particularevent(e.g., CHI 2007), a series of
`events (e.g., all CHI conferences), or a type of event(e.g., all
`technology conferences).
`[0030] Note that a user can designate multiple attributes as
`the focalattributes. A user can also specify multiple values or
`value ranges for a given focal attribute. For example, a user
`can designate both Time and People as the focal attributes.
`For a respective focal attribute, the user can specify multiple
`values. For example, the user can specify more than one
`person, group, or organization for the People attribute. Fur-
`thermore, the user can use a Boolean function to combine
`multiple attributes when designating a focal attribute. The
`user can use Boolean connectors, such as “AND,” “OR,” and
`“NOT,”as well as other logic or arithmetic operators such as
`“greater than” and “atleast,” to specify attribute values. For
`example, the user can designate “Bob AND Dave AND (NOT
`Paul) in Boston”as a value for the focalattribute.
`[0031]
`For the sliding attribute, if the attribute value is
`continuous (e.g., Time), the user can change the attribute
`value continuously using, for example, a slide bar. In addi-
`tion, the records can be presented in an ordered manner(e.g.,
`in chronological order). If the attribute valueis discrete (e.g.,
`Place and People attributes), the system generatesa list of the
`unique values ordered alphabetically or sorted by the number
`ofoccurrences. The user can changetheattribute value manu-
`ally by typing the value or by indicating the value with a
`pointing device. For example, for the Place attribute, the user
`can changethe value by selecting a location on a map. For the
`People attribute, the user can change the value by typing
`people’s namesor selecting names from a drop-down menu.
`[0032] Note that the user can broadenor narrowthe abstrac-
`tion level of the sliding attribute. For example, when the
`sliding attribute is Time, the user can specify hours, days,
`weeks, months, years, or decades as the time unit. When the
`sliding attribute is Place, the user can specify country, state,
`area, city, local landmarks, or street address as the level of
`detail. Thus, for example, given the initial sliding attribute of
`the city of “Palo Alto,” the user can broaden the search to the
`area of “San Francisco Bay Area”or narrow the searchto the
`local landmark of “Stanford Campus.”
`[0033] The term “sliding attribute” does not necessarily
`mean that the user can always continuously change the
`attribute value. This term is used to indicate that the user can
`dynamically change the attribute value when viewing the
`records. Furthermore, for discrete sliding attributes, the sys-
`tem can display records in groups based on the attribute value
`sorted in a variety of ways, for example in alphabetical order
`or in the order of numberof occurrences.
`
`In one embodiment of the present invention, the
`[0035]
`system allowsa user to define what a place, group, organiza-
`tion, or event is. In general, these attributes are human con-
`structions and may include or be based on other Basic
`Attributes. Basic Attributes are the building blocks of such
`human constructions and may be properties of the universe
`that the system can take as given, such as Time and Location.
`The values of other Basic Attributes such as People (e.g.,
`names)or Entity (e.g., book titles, sculpture names, etc.) may
`be entered into the system by a user.
`[0036]
`For example, for the People attribute, a user can
`define the value “schoolmates,” whichis a group ofpeople, by
`associating “schoolmates” with a list of namesof his school-
`mates. The user can also define the value of “home neighbor-
`hood”for the Place attribute by associating “home neighbor-
`hood”with a range of geographic location.
`[0037]
`In one embodiment, the system provides a UI that
`allows a user to create a new instance of one of these com-
`
`posites and then specify time ranges or locations it encom-
`passes, or a number of people associated with it. In one
`embodiment, the user can select a “Create New” option and
`further choose a Place, Group, Organization, or Event
`attribute. The UI then allows the user to specify the Basic
`Attributes included in the composite, such as time(s), time
`ranges, location(s), person/people, and/or entity/entities.
`
`Traversing the Records
`
`Inembodimentsofthe present invention, the system
`[0038]
`allowsa userto traverse the digital records based on a com-
`bination of dimensional attributes with different designa-
`tions, at different levels of distraction. The example described
`below illustrates the operation of the system in one embodi-
`ment.
`
`In one embodiment,a repository stores digital pho-
`[0039]
`tographs, each of which is associated with three dimensional
`attributes: People, Place, and Time. A photograph presented
`to the useris accompaniedby the information contained in the
`dimensional attributes, such as the associated Time, Place,
`and People information. A user can designate an attribute as
`the focal, sliding, or annotated attribute when viewinga par-
`ticular photo to explore the records along a different dimen-
`sion. For example, a user may view a photograph of Paul and
`Mary in front of a concert hall taken in March 1980. The
`system lists the values of the three attributes related to the
`photograph under their respective category headings. Thus,
`under the “People”headerare the values “Paul” and “Mary.”
`The user then becomesinterested in seeing other photographs
`of Paul over different periods. Accordingly, the user selects
`the value “Paul”as the focalattribute and the “Time” header
`
`as the sliding attribute. When the user selects “Paul” as the
`focal attribute, the system understands that the user would
`like to focus on a specific instance of the Peopleattribute.
`[0040]
`Inresponse, the system presents a numberofthumb-
`nail-sized photographs of Paul, organized in a strip in chro-
`[0034] The annotated attributes can include any attributes
`nological order and centered on the photograph taken in
`that are neither the focal nor sliding attribute. The values of
`March 1980. The user can use a user-interface (UI) element,
`the annotated attributes can be displayed with, or “overlaid”
`such asascrollbar or arrows, to move forward or backward in
`on,the valuesofthe sliding attribute. For example, if Time is
`selected as the sliding attribute, the system can overlay Place
`timeto traverse all the photographs associated with Paul. The
`and/or Event on top ofthe timeline. Thus, it would be easy for
`user can additionally select Place as the annotatedattribute.
`the user to see, for example, that the photographs taken for a
`Correspondingly, the system overlays the places associated
`person “Bob”in 1980 mightall be associated with San Fran-
`with these photographs of Paul on top of the timeline. This
`cisco. Optionally, the user can also broaden and narrow the
`allows the user to quickly see all photographs of Paul taken
`level of abstraction for any of the annotated attributes.
`during Paul’s stay in San Francisco between 1997 and 2002.
`
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`US 2009/0210793 Al
`
`Aug. 20, 2009
`
`[0041] The user can also changethe level of abstraction of
`the focal attribute, sliding attribute, and annotatedattribute. In
`the case of a continuousattribute, such as Time, the scale of
`the value may be shrunk or enlarged. For example, for the
`Time attribute, the timescale can be demarcated by year,
`month, or day. In the case of a discrete attribute, such as
`People or Place, the level of abstraction can be based on
`different logical scales. For example, for the Peopleattribute,
`the scale can be individuals, friends, colleagues, or families.
`Atthe individual level, the system can show only the photo-
`graphsrelated to a specific individual. At the family level, the
`system can show photographs ofpeople whoare in the family
`of that individual. In one embodiment, the user can use a UI
`element, such as a scrollbar or arrows, to shift the level of
`abstraction of the focal, sliding, and annotated attributes.
`
`Retrieval Thresholds
`
`Incases where a large numberof photographsexist
`[0042]
`based on the user set attribute criteria, the system can priori-
`tize the display ofphotographsbased onthe user’s interest. In
`one embodiment, the system can assign a higherpriority to
`photographs submitted by someonein the user’s social net-
`work (includingthe user). Photographsthat have been tagged
`with namesof people in the user’s social network mayalso
`receive a higherpriority. In further embodiments, the system
`mayassign a higherpriority to photographs that are highly
`rated or bookmarkedby the user, highly rated by otherusers,
`or highly rated by others in the user’s social network. The
`system can also assign a high priority to photographs submit-
`ted by those whoseprofiles (e.g., age, location, etc.) are
`similar to those of the user viewing the photograph.
`[0043] The following examples illustrate implementations
`of some embodiments of the present invention.
`
`Exemplary Implementation
`
`FIG.1 illustrates an exemplary GUI whichallows a
`[0044]
`user to traverse photographs based on multiple dimensional
`attributes, in accordance with one embodimentofthe present
`invention. In this example, GUI 100 includes a world map
`102, a timeline 104, and a focal attribute field 108. Also
`displayed are a zoom control 110, a sliding indicator 112, and
`a strip of photographs 106.
`[0045]
`Asillustrated in FIG. 1, a user designates the People
`attribute as the focal attribute, and specifies its value to be
`“Bob,” which is a nameofan individual. The user also moves
`sliding indicator 112 to point to 2006 along timeline 104. In
`response, the system displays all the photographs associated
`with Bob and the year 2006 in thumbnail strip 106 in chro-
`nological order. Note that if thumbnail strip 106 cannot con-
`tain all the photographs of Bob taken in 2006, the user can
`click on the dark arrow oneither endofstrip 106 to view the
`additional photographs. In one embodiment, the user can
`change the level ofabstraction for the Timeattribute, which in
`this caseis the timescale, by clicking and dragging a number
`on timeline 104. As timeline 104 becomesstretched or com-
`pressed, the system can automatically adjust the time unit,
`which can be decade, year, month,or day, displayed on time-
`line 104.
`
`[0046] Also illustrated in GUI 100 is world map 102 that
`indicates the places associated with the photographs dis-
`played in strip 106. In this example, when the user slides
`indicator 112 along timeline 104, the Timeattribute is the
`sliding attribute and the Place attribute is the annotated
`
`attribute. In one embodiment, the system can indicate the
`places on map 102, which correspond to photographs dis-
`played in strip 106. For example, the system can display
`photographs associated with the same place with a back-
`ground of a commoncolorin strip 106, and highlight this
`place on map 102 with the samecolor. Furthermore, the user
`can use zoom control 110 to change the zoom level ofthe map
`102 and configure different levels of abstraction for the Place
`attribute.
`
`Inone embodiment,after the user specifies a person
`[0047]
`as the focal attribute, the system canillustrate a trajectory of
`the person’s travel on the map corresponding to different
`times. As shown in FIG.1, after the user chooses to focus on
`“Bob,” the system shows that Bob hastraveled from Hong
`Kong to San Francisco, and then to Philadelphia during a
`corresponding period shownontimeline 104. In one embodi-
`ment, each locationis represented by a dot, and the size ofthe
`dotreflects the numberof photographstakenat that location.
`[0048]
`Ina further embodiment,if the user selects a group
`of people as the focal attribute, the system can display the
`location and trajectory of each person in the group. This
`feature allowsthe user to see how everybodyin the group has
`relocated to different places, and find out whostill remains in
`his vicinity.
`[0049] The user can click on a thumbnail in strip 106 to see
`a photograph in its full size, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this
`example, a particular photograph 202 of Bobis displayed in
`full size. Also displayed in a field 204 are the values of some
`dimensional attributes: Place (“San Francisco”), People
`(“Bob”), and Event (“Antique Auction”). Based on photo-
`graph 202, the user can re-designate someofthe attributes and
`traverse a different set of photographs. For example, the user
`can now designate the Place attribute as the focal attribute,
`specify its value to be “San Francisco,”andseeall the photos
`associated with San Francisco over a numberofyears.
`[0050] Theuser can also designate the Eventattribute as the
`focal attribute and see all the photographsrelated to antique
`auctions. Moreover, the user can designate the Timeattribute
`as the sliding attribute and view all the photographsrelated
`with antique auctions in any given year over the world. Alter-
`natively, the user can designate the Place attribute as the
`sliding attribute and view all the photographs related with
`antique auctions in any given place over a numberofyears.
`[0051]
`FIG. 3 illustrates another photograph 302 which is
`associated with Bob and Philadelphia. In the example, the
`user can change the value of the focal attribute, which is the
`People attribute, to “Dave”by clicking on the name “Dave”in
`a field 304 that displays the attribute values. In response, the
`system displays the photographs associated with Dave in a
`strip in chronological order. This way, the user can easily
`“branch”out from one group ofphotographsto another. Here,
`photograph 302is an intersection that hinges on the People
`attribute of these two groups of photographs.
`[0052]
`FIG. 4 illustrates another example where the focal
`attribute is the Place attribute. Here, the value of the focal
`attribute is “MIT.” As a result, the system displays the pho-
`tographsrelated to the MassachusettsInstitute ofTechnology.
`Note that the background map’s zoom levelis set to the street
`level, which allows the user to select more specific locations
`within the MIT campus. Alsoillustrated is a full-size photo-
`graph of a graduation ceremonyfor the class of 2006. A user
`can then click on the text “graduation”to see all the photo-
`graphs for that event (in which case the Event attribute
`becomes the focal