Mobile Terminal Image Retrieval via Contextual Remote Database
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of mobile terminals face challenges in capturing aesthetically pleasing images due to various environmental factors such as lighting, weather, and viewing angles, especially for casual photographers.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that allow a mobile terminal to request and receive an image from a remote computer based on its current context, including location, time, and environmental conditions, enabling the retrieval of high-quality images that might be difficult to capture locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If users attempt to capture images themselves, then they can obtain images of their location, but the images may be sub-optimal due to lighting, weather, and viewing angle conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a copy of the desired image from a remote database rather than requiring the user to capture it themselves. The mobile terminal sends location and context data to query a remote database for pre-captured images that match the current context, thereby obtaining high-quality images without the user needing photographic expertise or optimal capture conditions.
2Manufacturing precision
If users rely on their own image capture capabilities, then they maintain simplicity in the system, but they cannot obtain aesthetically pleasing images under varying environmental conditions
Solution Approach 1:
A remote database server acts as an intermediary between the user's location request and the actual image content. The mobile terminal queries the remote database with location and context parameters, and the database returns matching images, thereby providing access to high-quality images without requiring the user's device to have advanced capture capabilities.
3Manufacturing precision
If the system queries a remote database for context-matched images, then users can obtain high-quality images, but additional data transmission and processing are required
Solution Approach 1:
Images are pre-captured and stored in the remote database with associated context metadata (location, lighting conditions, weather, viewing angle) before being needed. When a user queries the system, the matching process occurs quickly by comparing current context against pre-indexed database entries, rather than requiring real-time image capture or generation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided in order to obtain an image from a remote computer with the image being associated with the current location of a mobile terminal via which a user provides input soliciting the image. In the context of a method, the user input representative of a request to obtain an image from a remote computer may be received. The method may then determine a current context including a location of a mobile terminal and may cause the current context to be transmitted to the remote computer. The method may also receive an image from the remote computer based upon the current context of the mobile terminal. In this regard, the image is associated with the location of the mobile terminal upon receiving the user input. The method may also cause the image received from the remote computer to be stored.