Displaying two adjacent photos on a single split screen digital picture frame
A method and apparatus for displaying digital photos on a digital display with a network connection module. The method includes identifying two different photos in a digital photo collection that include a matching photo content, and displaying the two different photos simultaneously in a split screen on the digital display. The two different photos can be matched from related photo clusters. An integrated camera can be used to automatically determine an identity of a frame viewer to determine photos to display, and can capture gesture-based feedback. The photos can be filtered and cropped at the receiver side.
1 . A method of displaying digital photos on a digital picture frame with a single digital display screen and a network connection module, the method comprising:
connecting the digital picture frame through the network connection module to at least one interaction application of an electronic device with access to at least one digital photo collection;
automatically clustering from the at least one digital photo collection, via automated facial recognition, photos over a multi-year timeframe of a person to obtain clustered photos of the person, wherein the clustering comprises:
preparing a plurality of sub-clusters each including digital photos of the person at a similar time and/or age;
extracting photo facial features within each of the plurality of sub-clusters that comprise a predetermined limited change over the timeframe to form a cluster representation of the person for each of the plurality of sub-clusters;
comparing cluster representations between the plurality of sub-clusters to determine related sub-clusters of the person over the timeframe as a function of the cluster representations; and
linking or grouping related sub-clusters to form the clustered photos of the person for display;
automatically identifying and selecting two different photos that include the person from the at least one digital photo collection, wherein a first of the two different photos is from a first of the sub-clusters and a second of the two different photos from the second of the sub-clusters; and
simultaneously displaying the two different photos on the single digital display screen, each in one of two equal screen sections of the single digital display screen, wherein a first of the two different photos is in a first of the two equal screen sections, and a second of the two different photos is in an adjacent second of the two equal screen sections.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the two different photos are photographically captured in two different calendar years, wherein the two different calendar years are separated by more than one additional calendar year.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first of the two different photos is a baby photo of a person in a first calendar year and the second of the two different photos is of the person at another age separated by more than one additional calendar year; and further comprising:
changing the second of the of the two different photos with a slideshow of the person at other ages, wherein the baby photo is not changed on the first of the two equal sections.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the two different photos further include one of two different second persons, wherein the different second persons are related family members.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the two different photos are automatically downloaded from digital photo collections of the two different second persons.
6 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
automatically clustering digital photos of the at least one digital photo collection according to content;
automatically selecting the two different photos as a function of the clustering.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the two different photos are selected from two different photo clusters.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the two different photos are displayed in a slideshow of digital photos on the single digital display screen, wherein a plurality of displayed slideshow photos is automatically downloaded from electronic devices and/or social media accounts of a plurality of community members.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital frame automatically determines an identity of a viewer of the single digital display screen as a first user.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
automatically connecting to a first interaction application of the first user over a network; and
automatically selecting the two different photos from the first selected digital photo cluster.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
automatically identifying preferred photos or restricted photos in the photo cluster as a function of user information.
12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting an electronic device of the viewer in proximity to the digital picture frame; and
automatically scanning and clustering digital photos of the electronic device.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a first of the two different photos is from a first selected digital photo collection and a second of the two different photos is from a second selected digital photo collection.