Unified Image Access via Network Registry System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in accessing and managing photos across multiple devices and accounts, leading to inefficiencies in finding, transferring, and organizing images for projects.
Innovation Solution
A network-based image service system registers and communicates with various devices, cloud storage, and social networks, allowing users to browse, select, and transfer images seamlessly across these platforms, enabling the creation of image projects as if all images are stored locally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users store photos on multiple devices and accounts, then photo storage capacity and accessibility are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of managing photos across devices increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a registry system as an intermediary that mediates between multiple devices and the user. The registry stores registration information for each device and coordinates image transfers, allowing users to access photos from any registered device without directly managing complex device-to-device connections. This resolves the contradiction by providing universal access while hiding the underlying system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The registry system provides universal access to photos across different device types (computers, mobile devices, tablets) and storage locations (local storage, cloud storage). By creating a unified interface that works with multiple device types and storage systems, the patent achieves photo accessibility across diverse platforms without requiring users to manage each device's specific characteristics.
2Adaptability or versatility
If users manually transfer and organize photos across multiple devices, then photo availability on each device is improved, but time consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically notifying the registry when images are added to any registered device. The registry proactively identifies which devices need which images and initiates transfers before users request them. This eliminates the need for users to manually search for and transfer photos across devices, significantly reducing time consumption while maintaining photo availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by allowing devices to automatically receive and synchronize photos without user intervention. When a device is registered, it automatically participates in the photo distribution network, receiving images from the registry based on its capabilities and storage availability. This automated self-service mechanism eliminates manual photo management tasks while ensuring photos are available on all devices.
3Manufacturing precision
If users access high-resolution images from remote devices, then image quality is improved, but network bandwidth consumption and transfer time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements partial action by initially transferring only thumbnail versions of images to the registry and to devices that need them for browsing and selection. Full-resolution images are transferred only when explicitly requested by the user. This partial transfer approach minimizes network bandwidth consumption during routine operations while preserving the ability to access full-resolution images on demand when quality is prioritized.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by storing and displaying different quality versions of images in different contexts. Thumbnails are used for browsing and selection where full quality is not critical, conserving bandwidth. Full-resolution images are transferred and displayed only when users specifically need high quality for viewing or printing. This contextual quality adjustment optimizes network usage while maintaining image quality where needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for creating a design for an image product includes registering a group of image sources by a network based image service system, wherein the group of image sources comprise a first device and a second device, receiving a notification, by the network based image service system, from the image sources about availabilities of the image sources, representing the second device and a local storage of the first device at a user interface on the first device, indicating an availability status of the second device on the first device, and if the availability status of the second device indicates that the second device is available, allowing a user to browse, on the first device, images stored on the second device.