PHOTOPORTRAIT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a management system for photographic portraits.

[0002] As is known, a problem currently very much felt concerns the relationship between image producers and the people portrayed in said images.

[0003] It happens not infrequently that the photographic portraits end up in contexts for which the people portrayed have not signed any release, as required by the laws currently in force.

[0004] Sometimes the contexts are offensive, sometimes simply unwanted by the subjects, but the problem also affects the photographer who risks incurring complaints that may result in cancellation of an assignment, a job, or the deletion of photographs with consequent economic and / or moral damages.

[0005] Well-known scandals relating to "data breach" events have shown that photographs are among the various types of data that risk being leaked uncontrollably.

[0006] Millions of photographs are produced every day and many of these are available to third parties even though they have not received any kind of authorization or permission.

[0007] Often these photographs become building blocks of datasets, organized databases forming the basis of "machine learning" processes required for the development of artificial intelligences that are applied to a wide variety of fields, from security to entertainment. US2013156331 discloses a method and system for automatic privacy management for image sharing networks. For this, image location data is received. This is correlated to to device data of a user. Based on this users on photos can be identified an permission for use of photo can be requested.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The aim of the present invention is to provide a system that allows to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0009] Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a system that ensures the privacy of the people being photographed.

[0010] Another object of the invention is to provide a system that ensures the operational safety of the person taking the photographs.

[0011] A further object of the invention is to provide a system that allows the person being photographed to immediately be alerted when he or she is the subject of a photograph.

[0012] Another object of the invention is to provide a system that allows for organization of photographic contact between strangers.

[0013] This and other objects, which will become more apparent below, are achieved by a management system for photographic portraits, characterized in that it comprises a management device associated with a photographic device, a cloud computing device, and a management program operated by means of a mobile phone or the like; said management device transmitting a photograph of a subject, taken by means of said photographic device, to said cloud computing device; said cloud computing device processing said image and comparing said image with images corresponding to profiles of people subscribed to said management program.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Further characteristics and advantages of the object of the present invention will become more apparent through an examination of the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the invention, illustrated by way of indicative and non-limiting example in the attached drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the operation of the system according to the present invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The management system for photographic portraits, according to the present invention, comprises a management device associated with a photographic device, a cloud computing device and a management program operated by means of a mobile phone or the like.

[0016] The management device associated with the photographic device transmits a photograph of a subject, taken by means of said photographic device, to the cloud computing device, which processes the image and compares it with images corresponding to profiles of people subscribed to the management program.

[0017] If the subject photographed is recognized by the cloud device, the system transmits a message to the mobile phone of the recognized subject, who is informed about the identity of the photographer who took the photograph, allowing the subject to examine the photograph and give his / her consent or not to the use of this photograph.

[0018] Figure 1 shows a practical embodiment example of the system according to the invention, based on a management device that can be associated with a photographic device.

[0019] The management device can also be implemented integrated with the photographic equipment or with any other equipment provided with a camera.

[0020] According to a practical embodiment example of the system of the present invention, a user subscribes to the system, which is structured as a so-called social media, and provides some of his / her photographic portraits, agreeing that these portraits will be used for facial recognition, on which the system is based.

[0021] These images therefore constitute a dataset of various users and 2 to 10 images are used, for example, for each user.

[0022] The photographs taken by a photographer, who is also subscribed to the system, are automatically sent to the cloud, and if the system detects the presence of people in these photographs, the system itself analyzes these photographs by comparing them with the portraits in the dataset.

[0023] In the case of a match between the photographs and the registered portraits, the system automatically transmits a signal to the users involved.

[0024] The information regarding the photograph can comprise everything that the photographed subject needs to evaluate the situation: geo-location, identity of the photographer, etc.

[0025] The evaluation of the photograph proposed by the photographer and of the opportunity to give consent or not to the use thereof and of the methods of use of said photograph, can be performed by the photographed subject in real time, i.e. at the moment of shooting, or at a later time, allowing the subject to evaluate the situation and also to ask the photographer for more information on the purposes and intentions of the author of the photograph.

[0026] More precisely, according to the invention, in the registration stage the user is asked by the application to take a certain number of self-portraits. An algorithm, running locally or remotely on the cloud device, extrapolates from the photograph the facial features, which may be, yet not limited to: eye color, eye distance, skin color, hair color, proportions of the nose, lips and ears, gender, spatial relationships between features, hair line, facial symmetry.

[0027] At this point, the system contacts the cloud device by providing it with the extrapolated facial features.

[0028] Upon successful registration, the cloud device provides a unique identification number that represents the face and stores in a database the received features.

[0029] The user's application regularly contacts the cloud server in order to receive notifications and to inform it of its approximate position by means of geo-location or other means.

[0030] Upon receiving from the management device associated with the photographic device a new photograph taken, the cloud device identifies the faces contained therein and extrapolates the features of the identified faces. Then it geo-locates the photograph, for example, based on the geolocation data it contains and the network address of the photographic device. Subsequently it performs a first search in the database in order to identify the faces of the users in a limited geographic radius. Lastly, it performs a comparison of the features of the faces identified in the photograph with the features of the faces retrieved from the database. If the comparison has a high confidence value, the identified user is contacted by means of a notification.

[0031] The system according to the present invention offers substantial and important advantages to both the photographed user and the photographer.

[0032] As for the photographed subject, the system ensures his or her privacy, while as for the photographer, the system ensures the certainty that, having received consent, he or she will not be subjected to legal action.

[0033] The system according to the present invention allows, for the user who joins said system, the certainty of being immediately alerted when he or she has been photographed along with information on the location and time.

[0034] It has been found in practice that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects.

[0035] Naturally, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the needs.

Claims

1. A management system for photographic portraits, comprising a management device associated with a photographic device, a cloud computing device, and a management program operated by means of a mobile phone; said management device transmitting a photograph of the portrait of a subject, taken by means of said photographic device, to said cloud computing device; the system further characterized in that said cloud computing device processing said portrait identifying the faces contained therein and extrapolating the facial features of the identified faces and comparing said portrait with portraits corresponding to profiles of people subscribed to said management program agreeing that these portraits will be used for facial recognition, wherein, when said photographed subject is recognized by said cloud device, said system transmits a message, a signal or a notification to the mobile phone of the recognized subject; said subject being informed of the identity of the photographer who took the photograph; said system allowing the subject to examine the photograph and give his or her consent to the use of this photograph or not.

2. The system, according to claim 1, characterized in that said management device is integrated with the photographic equipment or with any other equipment provided with a camera.

3. The system, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a user subscribes to said system by providing a number of his or her own photographic portraits and accepting that these portraits are used for facial recognition; said images forming part of a dataset.

4. The system, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the photographs taken by a photographer, who is also subscribed to said system, are automatically sent to said cloud device and, if the presence of people is detected in these photographs, said system analyzes these photographs by comparing them with the portraits in the dataset; in the case of a match between the photographs and the registered portraits, the system automatically transmits a signal to the users involved.

5. The system, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information relating to a photograph can comprise everything the photographed subject needs to evaluate the situation: geo-location, identity of the photographer, etc.

6. The system, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that an evaluation of the photograph proposed by the photographer and of the opportunity to give consent or not to the use thereof, and of the methods of use of said photograph, can be performed by the photographed subject in real time, i.e. at the moment of shooting, or at a later time, allowing the subject to evaluate the situation and also to ask the photographer for more information on the purposes and intentions of the author of the photograph.