NATURAL LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE FOR DIGITAL IMAGE INDEXING

1 . A machine-implemented method for generating and ranking at least one candidate keyword as a possible keyword for a digital image file, the machine-implemented method comprising:

receiving an entered keyword to be used as an index for the digital image file;

generating candidate keywords based on the entered keyword; and

ranking respective ones of the candidate keywords based on use of the respective ones of the candidate keywords as keywords of other digital image files.

2 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing aspects of the digital image file with corresponding aspects of the other digital image files; and

assigning similarity measures to the other digital image files based on a result of the comparing, wherein:

the ranking of respective ones of the candidate keywords is further based on the similarity measures assigned to the other digital image files.

3 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of candidate keywords based on the entered keyword further comprises:

generating synonyms for the entered keyword, and creating the candidate keywords based on the generated synonyms.

4 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing aspects of the digital image file with corresponding aspects of the other digital image files; and

assigning similarity measures to the other digital image files based on a result of the comparing, wherein:

the ranking of respective ones of the candidate keywords is further based on the similarity measures assigned to the other digital image files, and

each of the similarity measures is based on at least one confidence value of at least one of a plurality of aspects of the other digital image file comprising: time similarity of when a digital image is taken; geographic location similarity of where a digital image is taken; digital storage folder storing a digital image; matching of keywords; RGB brightness of pixels; edge similarity of a digital image; and feature similarity of a digital image.

5 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing aspects of the digital image file with corresponding aspects of the other digital image files; and

assigning similarity measures to the other digital image files based on a result of the comparing, wherein:

the ranking of respective ones of the candidate keywords is further based on the similarity measures assigned to the other digital image files, and

each of the similarity measures is based on at least one confidence value of at least one of a plurality of aspects with respect to a digital image file, each of the plurality of aspects being assigned a user-configurable weight.

6 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing a digital image of the digital image file with other digital images of the other digital image files, wherein:

when a number of the other digital images to compare is greater than a predetermined number, the digital image and the other digital images are reduced to low resolution before performing the comparing.

7 . The machine-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of candidate keywords based on the entered keyword further comprises:

spellchecking the entered keyword;

generating a list of spelling suggestions when the spellchecking fails to indicate that the entered keyword is correctly spelled; and

presenting the list of spelling suggestions.

8 . A processing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory connected to the at least one processor, the memory including instructions for the at least one processor, the instructions comprising:

instructions for generating candidate keywords for a digital image file based on an entered keyword,

instructions for ranking the candidate keywords based on a frequency of use of the candidate keywords as keywords of other digital image files, and

instructions for presenting at least some of the ranked candidate keywords.

9 . The processing device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions for the at least one processor further comprise:

instructions for determining a similarity of the digital image file with ones of the other digital image files having at least one keyword in common with the candidate keywords for the digital image file, and

instructions for adjusting a ranking of the candidate keywords based on the determined similarity.

10 . The processing device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions for the at least one processor further comprise:

instructions for determining a similarity of the digital image file with ones of the other digital image files having at least one keyword in common with the candidate keywords for the digital image file, and

instructions for adjusting a ranking of the candidate keywords based on the determined similarity, wherein:

the instructions for determining a similarity of the digital image file with the ones of the other digital image files having at least one keyword in common with the candidate keywords for the digital image file further comprise:

instructions for determining a number of the ones of the other digital image files having at least one keyword in common with the candidate keywords for the digital image,

instructions for reducing a resolution of a digital image of the digital image file and digital images of the ones of the other digital image files when the number of the ones of the digital image files is greater than a predetermined number, and

instructions for comparing the digital image of the digital image file with the reduced resolution and the digital images of the ones of the other digital image files with the reduced resolution.

11 . The processing device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for maintaining a cache including results of frequently-used comparisons.

12 . The processing device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions for ranking the candidate keywords based on a frequency of use of the candidate keywords as keywords of other digital image files further comprise:

instructions for building a confidence hash, the confidence hash including values reflecting a level of confidence that particular candidate keywords will be selected as keywords for the digital image file.

13 . The processing device of claim 8 , wherein the instructions for the at least one processor further comprise:

instructions for comparing a plurality of aspects of the digital image file with a corresponding plurality of aspects of the other digital image files, and

instructions for determining values corresponding to a similarity of respective ones of the plurality of aspects of the digital image file with corresponding ones of the plurality of aspects of the other digital image files, at least some of the determined values being assigned a user-configurable weight.

14 . A tangible machine-readable medium having instructions for at least one processor recorded thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions for generating a plurality of candidate keywords for a digital image file based on an entered keyword for the digital image file;

instructions for determining ones of a plurality of other digital image files having a keyword matching at least one of the plurality of candidate keywords; and

instructions for determining a confidence value for respective ones of the plurality of candidate keywords based on a number of the ones of the plurality of other digital image files having a keyword matching the respective ones of the plurality of candidate keywords.

15 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for determining similarities between aspects of the digital image file and each of the aspects of the ones of the plurality of the other digital image files having a keyword matching at least one of the plurality of candidate keywords; and

instructions for adjusting respective ones of the confidence values for the ones of the plurality of candidate keywords based on the determined similarities.

16 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for determining similarities between aspects of the digital image file and each of the aspects of the ones of the plurality of other digital image files having a keyword matching at least one of the plurality of candidate keywords; and

instructions for adjusting respective ones of the confidence values for the ones of the plurality of candidate keywords based on the determined similarities, wherein

each of the aspects has a user-configurable weight assigned thereto.

17 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions for generating a plurality of candidate keywords for a digital image file based on an entered keyword for the digital image file further comprise:

instructions for determining a plurality of synonyms for the entered keyword, and

instructions for generating the plurality of candidate keywords based on the determined plurality of synonyms.

18 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions for generating a plurality of candidate keywords for a digital image file based on an entered keyword for the selected digital image further comprise:

instructions for determining whether the entered keyword is correctly spelled,

instructions for presenting a list of spelling suggestions when the entered keyword is determined not to be spelled correctly,

instructions for receiving a selection of one spelling suggestion from the presented list of spelling suggestions, and

instructions for generating at least one of the plurality of candidate keywords from the received selection of the one spelling suggestion.

19 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for adjusting the confidence value for the respective ones of the plurality of candidate keywords based on metadata included in the digital image file and the plurality of other digital image files.

20 . The tangible machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

instructions for presenting ones of the plurality of candidate keywords having a respective confidence value greater than a predetermined amount.