Photogenic Location Recommendation via Photo Clustering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing travel guides and online recommendation systems fail to effectively recommend photogenic locations, as they focus on tourist landmarks and businesses, neglecting interesting views or phenomena, and are often outdated or limited in scope.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that identifies photogenic locations by clustering geotagged photographs based on geographic proximity and solar offsets, providing users with personalized recommendations on their mobile devices, including prompts with images and directions, while ensuring user consent and privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If travel guides focus on significant tourist landmarks, then they provide reliable information about popular locations, but they fail to reflect locations that are popular simply because they offer interesting views or phenomena
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows locations to recommend themselves through user-submitted photographs. Instead of curators selecting landmarks, the system automatically identifies photogenic locations by clustering geotagged photos, allowing the data to speak for itself and discover popular spots organically
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual curation mechanism of traditional travel guides with an automated computational system that uses photo clustering algorithms to identify and recommend photogenic locations based on geographic proximity and solar offset analysis
2Reliability
If travel guides are updated frequently to reflect currently popular locations, then they remain current, but they increase in cost and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically updates its database of photogenic locations through continuous ingestion of user-submitted photographs and automatic reclustering, eliminating the need for manual updates while maintaining current information about popular locations
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses solar offset as a dynamic parameter to identify locations where photographs were taken at similar times relative to solar position, automatically adapting to seasonal changes and time-of-day preferences without manual intervention
3Ease of operation
If online recommendation systems focus on businesses such as restaurants, then they provide useful commercial recommendations, but they fail to provide non-commercial knowledge with respect to photogenic locations
Solution Approach 1:
The system serves multiple functions: it identifies photogenic locations, analyzes solar offsets to determine optimal viewing times, clusters photographs by geographic proximity, and provides recommendations all within a single platform, making it versatile beyond just business recommendations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses geotagged photographs as an intermediary data source to bridge between user behavior and location recommendations, allowing the system to infer photogenic locations indirectly through photo clustering rather than direct user feedback
4Measurement precision
If the system clusters photographs based on geographic proximity and solar offsets, then it identifies accurate photogenic locations, but it increases computational processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the photograph dataset into clusters based on geographic proximity, then further segments each cluster by solar offset time windows, breaking down the complex identification task into manageable stages that reduce overall computational burden
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs clustering on a subset of photographs first (those within relevant geographic areas and time periods) rather than processing all photographs globally, using partial action to achieve sufficient precision without excessive computational energy
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for recommending photogenic locations to visit are provided. One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a computer-implemented method for recommending photogenic locations. The method includes receiving a signal indicative of a geographic location at which a client device is located. The method further includes determining whether the geographic location is within a threshold distance from at least one of a plurality of photogenic locations. Each of the plurality of photogenic locations can have been identified by clustering a plurality of photographs based on geographic proximity. The method includes transmitting a prompt to the client device when the geographic location is within the threshold distance from at least one of the plurality of photogenic locations. The prompt can indicate the existence of the at least one photogenic location that is within the threshold distance from the geographic location.