Methods and systems for content processing

摘要

Mobile phones and other portable devices are equipped with a variety of technologies by which existing functionality can be improved, and new functionality can be provided. Some aspects relate to visual search capabilities, and determining appropriate actions responsive to different image inputs. Others relate to processing of image data. Still others concern metadata generation, processing, and representation. Yet others concern user interface improvements. Other aspects relate to imaging architectures, in which a mobile phone's image sensor is one in a chain of stages that successively act on packetized instructions/data, to capture and later process imagery. Still other aspects relate to distribution of processing tasks between the mobile device and remote resources (“the cloud”). Elemental image processing (e.g., simple filtering and edge detection) can be performed on the mobile phone, while other operations can be referred out to remote service providers. The remote service providers can be selected using techniques such as reverse auctions, through which they compete for processing tasks. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
with a portable, camera-equipped, system, capturing imagery depicting one instance of a device; using information derived from the captured imagery, determining address information for use in communicating with said one instance of the device; using information derived from the captured imagery, authorizing control of said one instance of the device by the camera-equipped system; controlling said one instance of the device using the camera-equipped system, by two-way communication relayed between said system and said device through a remote server, employing said determined address information; wherein other instances of said device also exist, but the camera-equipped system is authorized to control only the one instance of the device from which the imagery was captured; and wherein said capturing act comprises capturing imagery that depicts a feature of the device whose appearance varies over time, wherein said authorizing is based on an appearance of said time-varying feature.