Method for creating and using affective information in a digital imaging system cross reference to related applications

Abstract

A method for providing a retrieval scheme for stored digital images includes providing affective information to classify at least one digital image from a plurality of stored digital images; providing a user identifier; associating the affective information and the user identifier with the at least one digital image; and using the affective information and the user identifier to facilitate retrieval of the at least one digital image.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for providing a retrieval scheme for stored digital images, comprising the steps of: 
 a) providing affective information to classify at least one digital image from a plurality of stored digital images;    b) providing a user identifier;    c) associating the affective information and the user identifier with the at least one digital image; and    d) using the affective information and the user identifier to facilitate retrieval of the at least one digital image.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the affective information further specifies the time or period within a range of times that the classification was performed.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the affective information includes identification of important images by some reaction of the user.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the plurality of images are printed to produce an album, and the images classified as important images have a larger size than the images not classified as important images.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the affective information and the user identifier are stored along with the digital image in a digital image file.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the digital image file includes affective information and user identifiers for a plurality of users.  
     
     
         7 . A method for providing a retrieval scheme for stored digital images, comprising the steps of: 
 a) storing a plurality of digital images;    b) providing a user identifier for the plurality of digital images;    c) classifying one or more of the images as an important image based upon a user reaction to the images; and    d) storing the user identifier and the classification to facilitate retrieval of particular ones of the plurality of stored digital images.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the user identifier and classification are stored with the digital image in a digital image file.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the user identifier and the classification are stored in a database separate from the digital image.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the step of classifying one or more of the images as an important image includes monitoring the facial expression of the user.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the step of classifing one or more of the images as an important image includes monitoring the physiology of the user.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the step of classifying one or more of the images as an important image includes providing a user interface to enable the user to indicate important images.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the step of classifying one or more of the images as an important image includes determining the duration of time the user views each of the plurality of digital images.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the step of classifying one or more of the images as an important image includes monitoring the gaze of the user.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the classifying step further specifies the time or period within a range of times that the classification was performed.  
     
     
         16 . A method of using the user identifier and classification according to  claim 7  to retrieve and display images, and further including the step of using the classification to determine the order or size of the displayed images.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7  further including classifying and storing unimportant images.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 7  further including providing user identifiers and classifications for a plurality of users.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 7  further including using the classification to determine the size of a displayed image.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  further including printing the important and unimportant images on at least one page and wherein the important images have a larger size than the unimportant images.