Generating polyomino video game pieces and puzzle pieces from digital photos to create photominoes

1. A computer-implemented method for generating a photomino game piece for use in a polyomino video game application, the method comprising:

at a computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:

constructing a set of templates for a set of polyomino game piece types, wherein a respective template is constructed for a respective polyomino game piece type, and the set of polyomino game piece types includes polyomino game piece types having a predetermined size;

computing a plurality of saliency scores for an image in the polyomino video game application, each of the saliency scores being associated with a respective location on the image, wherein the saliency score for the respective location is increased if the respective location comprises one or more of the following: high variation of texture, high variation of colors, high variation of shapes, a face, a person, and a center of the image;

for the image, finding a combination of a template from the set of templates and a location on the image with a highest saliency score; and

rendering, for display in the polyomino video game application, the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein finding the combination of the template and the location on the image with the highest saliency score comprises:

computing a saliency map for the image;

until the template is at the location on the image having the highest saliency score,

placing the template over the image at a respective location; and

calculating the saliency score for the template at the respective location based at least in part on the saliency map for the image.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein computing the saliency map for the image comprises:

partitioning the image into a grid of blocks; and

assigning a saliency score to each block.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the saliency score of a respective block is increased if the respective block comprises one or more of the following: high variation of texture, high variation of colors, high variation of shapes, a face, a person, and a center of the image.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering the photomino game piece comprises rendering the photomino game piece into a sprite using the template as a mask over the image.

6. A computer-implemented method for generating photomino game pieces for use in a polyomino video game application, the method comprising the following steps:

at a computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:

constructing a set of templates for a set of polyomino game piece types, wherein a respective template is constructed for a respective polyomino game piece type, the set of polyomino game piece types includes polyomino game piece types having a predetermined size, and the polyomino game piece types are associated with weights; and

when the polyomino video game application requests a photomino game piece:

retrieving an image from a plurality of images;

finding a combination of a template from the set of templates and a location on the image with the highest saliency score, wherein the finding includes multiplying a saliency score of the template at the location on the image by the weight of the polyomino game piece type corresponding to the template;

rendering the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image; and

returning the photomino game piece to the polyomino video game application for display.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein retrieving the image from the plurality of images comprises retrieving the image from a photo repository.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

after constructing the set of templates for a set of polyomino game piece types, initializing the weights of the polyomino game piece types to the same weight; and

after rendering the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image, adjusting the weights for the polyomino game piece types.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein adjusting the weights for the polyomino game piece types comprises:

assigning a lower weight to the polyomino game piece type most recently rendered; and

assigning higher weights to the other polyomino game piece types.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a computer, wherein the instructions include instructions to:

construct a set of templates for a set of polyomino game piece types, wherein a respective template is constructed for a respective polyomino game piece type, and the set of polyomino game piece types includes polyomino game piece types having a predetermined size;

compute a plurality of saliency scores for an image in the polyomino video game application, each of the saliency scores being associated with a respective location on the image, wherein the saliency score for the respective location is increased if the respective location comprises one or more of the following: high variation of texture, high variation of colors, high variation of shapes, a face, a person, and a center of the image;

for the image, find a combination of a template from the set of templates and a location on the image with a highest saliency score; and

render, for display in a polyomino video game application, the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a computer, wherein the instructions include instructions to:

construct a set of templates for a set of polyomino game piece types, wherein a respective template is constructed for a respective polyomino game piece type, the set of polyomino game piece types includes polyomino game piece types having a predetermined size, and the polyomino game piece types are associated with weights; and

when a polyomino video game application requests a polyomino game piece:

retrieve an image from a plurality of images;

find a combination of a template from the set of templates and a location on the image with the highest saliency score, wherein the finding includes multiplying a saliency score of the template at the location on the image by the weight of the polyomino game piece type corresponding to the template;

render the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image; and

return the photomino game piece to the polyomino video game application for display.

12. A computer-implemented method for generating a photomino game piece for use in a polyomino video game application, the method comprising:

at a computer system including one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs, the one or more processors executing the one or more programs to perform the operations of:

computing a plurality of saliency scores for an image in the polyomino video game application, each of the saliency scores being associated with a respective location on the image, wherein the saliency score for the respective location is increased if the respective location comprises one or more of the following: high variation of texture, high variation of colors, high variation of shapes, a face, a person, and a center of the image;

for the image, finding a combination of a template from a set of templates and a location on the image with a highest saliency score, wherein a respective template corresponds to a respective polyomino game piece type, and the set of polyomino game piece types includes polyomino game piece types having a predetermined size; and

rendering, for display in the polyomino video game application, the photomino game piece based on the template and the location on the image.