Automated Image Sorting via Coded Component
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Solution Overview
Problem
Professional photographers face challenges in managing and automating image storage, particularly with the increasing volume of digital images, which requires efficient solutions for secure and private access for clients.
Innovation Solution
An automated system using a coded component, such as a machine-readable image, is introduced to delimit and categorize photographs by jobs, allowing for automated sorting, client access, and reduced operator intervention through data processing systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual image management methods (picture counters, separate memory storage, film, or folders) are used, then image organization is achieved, but automation is not supported and time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
A coded component (such as a barcode or RFID tag) is attached to the physical object before photography. This preliminary encoding allows the imaging system to automatically identify and organize images later without manual intervention, resolving the contradiction by enabling automation while reducing time spent on management tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary coded component that bridges the physical object and the digital image management system. This coded component contains identification information that the imaging system can automatically read and use to organize images, eliminating the need for manual tracking and enabling full automation of the image management process.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple cameras and large numbers of images are used, then comprehensive image coverage is achieved, but image sorting and management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coded component is prepared in advance and attached to the subject before the imaging session. This preliminary encoding ensures that all images captured by multiple cameras will automatically contain the same identification information, simplifying the sorting process regardless of the number of images or cameras used.
Solution Approach 2:
The identification information from the coded component is copied into the metadata or filename of each captured image. This copying mechanism ensures that all images, regardless of which camera captured them, carry the same identifying information, making automated sorting straightforward even with large volumes of images from multiple sources.
3Ease of operation
If client access to images is enabled, then client convenience is improved, but unauthorized access risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coded component serves as an intermediary authentication mechanism. Clients present the same coded component used during the imaging session to access their photographs. The system verifies the coded component to grant or deny access, providing a secure yet convenient method that balances ease of access with protection against unauthorized viewing.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for improving a photography business are disclosed, comprising, in an embodiment, taking a photograph of a coded component together with a series of photographs for the client. The coded component comprises human-readable information and is provided to the client for access to the photographs. The coded component also comprises machine-readable information, enabling a server to sort the photographs to the corresponding jobs without operator intervention. The coded component can also comprise a fillable option field to identify that the photographs associated with the coded component are to be specially treated according to a desired selection.