Associating and retrieving memories with physical objects

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided that include presenting on a display of a computing device a representation of a physical item that is uniquely identifiable by an identification system, receiving an indication of a digital asset to be associated with the selected physical item, associating the digital asset with the physical item, thereby creating a digital link between the digital asset and the physical item, and storing the link in a datastore accessible by the identification system such that the digital asset is retrievable incident receiving a request to present the digital asset based on a subsequent digital capture of the uniquely identifiable item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . One or more non-transitory computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method of creating a digital association with a physical item, the method comprising:
 presenting on a display of the computing device a representation of a physical item, wherein the physical item is uniquely identifiable by an identification system;   receiving an indication of a digital asset to be associated with the selected physical item;   associating the digital asset with the physical item, thereby creating a digital link between the digital asset and the physical item; and   storing the link in a datastore accessible by the identification system such that the digital asset is retrievable incident receiving a request to present the digital asset based on a subsequent digital capture of the uniquely identifiable item.   
     
     
         2 . The media of  claim 1 , wherein the uniquely identifiable item is wearable artifact, a display device, an electronic device adapted to play an audio or video message, a container. 
     
     
         3 . The media of  claim 1 , hats;
 wherein the wearable artifact includes jewelry, clothing, accessories, or hats;   wherein the display device includes a picture frame, a figuring, a clock, a wall-hanging item, or a furniture accessory;   wherein the container includes a water bottle, keychain, wallet, lunch box, or cooler.   
     
     
         4 . The media of  claim 2 , wherein the piece of jewelry includes an engraving of handwriting. 
     
     
         5 . The media of  claim 1 , wherein the physical item includes one or more of the following attributes that are useable to uniquely identify the physical item:
 a set of specific geometric characteristics;   a set of specific markings;   a specific color,   one or more custom content items that are physically associated with the item;   a near-field communication (NFC) tag;   a QR code;   
     
     
         6 . The media of  claim 1 , wherein the digital asset includes one or more of a picture, video, textual message, or sound. 
     
     
         7 . The media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a request to present the digital asset; and   presenting the digital asset   
     
     
         8 . The media of  claim 7 , wherein presenting the digital asset comprising:
 receiving a representation of the physical item at the identification system;   using one or more identifying attributes of the physical item to identify the digital asset stored in a data store;   retrieving the digital asset from the data store.   
     
     
         9 . The media of  claim 8 , wherein retrieving the digital asset includes retrieving a link to the digital asset and sending the link to a requesting device. 
     
     
         10 . One or more non-transitory computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method of identifying a digital data item, the method comprising:
 presenting via the computing device a scan control that is useable to initiate capturing an image of a physical uniquely identifiable item;   receiving an indication that the scan control has been initiated;   presenting a capture area on the display, wherein the capture area is defined by a capture boundary;   capturing an image of the uniquely identifiable item within the capture boundary, resulting in a captured image;   based on the image, identifying a digital asset associated with the uniquely identifiable item; and   presenting the digital asset via the computing device.   
     
     
         11 . The media of  claim 10 , wherein the scan control includes one or more of the following:
 a digital button;   a digital link;   a textual command;   a gesture option;   a handwritten message; or   an audio command.   
     
     
         12 . One or more non-transitory computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method of creating a digital association with a physical item, the method comprising:
 causing a plurality of representations of physical items to be presented on a computing device, wherein each of the physical items is uniquely identifiable by an identification system;   receiving an indication of a selection of one of the representations of the physical items, thereby resulting in selected physical item;   receiving an indication of a digital asset to be associated with the selected physical item;   associating the digital asset with the selected physical item, thereby creating a digital link between the digital asset and the selected physical items;   storing the link in a datastore accessible by the identification system such that the digital asset is retrievable incident to receiving a scan of the uniquely identifiable physical item.   
     
     
         13 . The media of  claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a request to present the digital asset, wherein the request includes a reference to a representation of the physical item; and   utilizing the representation of the physical item to identify the digital asset;   and providing instructions to present the digital asset.   
     
     
         14 . An article of manufacture, comprising:
 a rear surface;   a front surface that includes a void defined by a raised edge;   a set of attributes that enable the article to be uniquely identified by a digital scanning process, wherein the set of attributes includes one or more of the following:
 geometric characteristics; 
 one or more colors; 
 a QR code; 
 a near-field-communication (NFC) tag; 
 an insert within the void; 
 a scent marker; 
 molecular make-up; or 
 a handwritten message.