SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING BOOK RECOGNITION TO PROVIDE CONTENT FOR A USER'S SOCIAL NETWORKING PROFILE
An image of a physical book environment is obtained, and the image is associated with a user. The image is processed to detect one or more books in the physical book environment. A title is determined for each of the detected books. The social network profile of the user is determined based on the title of each book in the multiple books.
1 . A method for determining a social network profile of a user, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising:
obtaining an image of a physical book environment;
associating the image with the user;
processing the image to detect multiple books in the physical book environment;
determining a title of each book of the multiple books; and
determining the social network profile of the user based at least in part on the title of each book in the multiple books.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the social network profile includes determining content to display as a representation of the user's profile, the content being based on the title of each book in the multiple books.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the content includes displaying an aggregation of an e-book cover of each book in the multiple books.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the content includes displaying the title of each book in the multiple books in list form.
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the image content includes displaying a virtual book shelf on which a graphic representation of each book in the multiple books is provided.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the social network profile includes displaying the titles of the multiple books, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a request from a viewer of the social network profile that identifies a desired title from the multiple books; and
implementing a transfer to provide the viewer with an e-book version of the desired title.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein implementing the transfer includes implementing an exchange of a right of possession to the e-book version of the desired title from the user to the viewer.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein implementing the exchange includes (i) removing a right of possession for the desired title and precluding the user from subsequently being able to access an e-book version of the desired title; and (ii) providing the right of possession for the desired title to the viewer and enabling the viewer to subsequently access an e-book version of the desired title.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein implementing the transfer includes temporarily providing the viewer with an e-book version of the desired title.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the e-book version of the desired title is a preview.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating the image of the physical book environment and the associated user to a network service, and wherein each of processing the image and determining the title are performed on the network service.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the image to detect one or more books in the physical book environment includes detecting a book shape from the image.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the image to detect one or more books in the physical book environment includes processing the image for a book shape that is vertical, horizontal, or tilted at any one of multiple angles.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the title of each book includes detecting characters that appear on a cover of each book.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the cover of a first book in the multiple books is skewed or vertically aligned when depicted in the image.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the title of at least a first book in the multiple books includes:
determining a set of characters that appear on a cover of the first book, the set of characters comprising a portion of the title, and
referencing at least the set of characters to a library of titles to identify a title of the first book based on the set of characters.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the title of each book includes:
determining an image that appears on a cover of the first book, and
referencing at least the image to a library of images to identify a title of the first book.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the title of each book includes detecting a book shelf as the physical book environment, and then detecting a book cover on the book shelf.
19 . A computing system comprising:
a memory that stores a set of instructions;
one or more processors that use instructions from the memory to:
associate an image with a user, the image being captured on a device associated with the user, and the image depicting a physical book environment with multiple books;
process the image to detect multiple books in the physical book environment;
determine a title of each book of the multiple books; and
determine a social network profile of the user based at least in part on the title of each book in the multiple books.
20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions for organizing e-books on a computing device, the computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
obtaining an image of a scene that includes a physical book environment;
associating the image with the user;
processing the image to detect multiple books in the physical book environment;
determining a title of each book of the multiple books; and
determining a social network profile of the user based at least in part on the title of each book in the multiple books.