Image related methods and systems

摘要

Digital watermark encoding—and associated registry transactions—are made transparent to consumers—performed as built-in features of common image processing operations, such as taking a picture, or printing a picture. In one arrangement, a user interacts with buttons and other controls of a graphical user interface on the touchscreen of a printer to author specific experiences that should be triggered by a hardcopy image—such as launching a related video, playing a recorded audio clip, displaying other images in a story narrative to which the hardcopy image relates, etc. The printer then attends to interactions with network infrastructure components needed to give the hardcopy print the user-desired functionality. In another arrangement, the content experience triggered by a printed image is authored automatically, e.g., by reference to data mined from the image's online context (e.g., Facebook photo album). A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to assign a watermark identifier for use with a first content object represented by digital data, said watermark identifier comprising an identifier that is to be digitally-watermarked into the first content object by a remote device; assigning a watermark identifier for use with the first content object, and transmitting the assigned watermark identifier to the remote device, the assignment of the watermark identifier proceeding independently of the digital data representing the object; and checking to determine if a watermark identifier has earlier been assigned to a former content object having a perceptual similarity with the first content object.