Sharing digital media assets for presentation within an online social network

1. A computer-implemented method of assisting a user in selecting and/or creating customized media-centric products, the method comprising:

providing a networked computational device comprising a processor, and a storage device;

analyzing a user's multimedia assets and metadata to prepare one or more customized media-centric products incorporating one or more of the user's multimedia assets to be offered to the user or one or more significant individuals precipitated by a trigger set;

using the processor and trigger set information to access a look-up table of products based on one or more profile categories, wherein each entry under the profile category is associated with a characteristic of the media-centric product to be created;

predicting a content, relevant events and a potential recipient or recipients for the media-centric products and creating and presenting a virtual version of the customized media-centric product via the processor to the user;

providing one or more suggested recipients, events, or occasions on which to present the customized media-centric product to the user; and

using the processor to provide the user with an opportunity to examine, visualize, edit, modify, provide consent to share, and/or buy the media-centric product.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interacts with the processor via the networked computational device including a mobile device such as smartphone or a tablet computer, a desktop device, a personal computer system, or a retail photo kiosk system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger set further includes a special occurrence recorded and identified in the content or metadata, wherein the special occurrence is related to a time or date, a location, an event, or an activity.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising using the processor to offer or promote a product or service when indicated by the trigger set.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising using the processor to query the user on individuals and objects in images and videos that cannot be automatically identified with high confidence by the processor.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor performs as a user interface shell to coordinate between the user, image organization and manipulation software, and the user's collection of personal content.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor provides an educational resource to help the user put together a report on collected images or videos, assists the user on a project that is based on the collected images and videos, or provides audio narration for use with a multimedia storytelling product or feature.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising collecting metadata information regarding reoccurring or spontaneous significant life events identified by: specific objects present in the picture or video, whether it took place indoors or outdoors, or a selfie of the user; and

correlating the metadata with the picture or video of interest.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising collecting events and metadata over a time period to suggest to the user insights for maintaining a healthy life style, such as interactions between the user's weights, heart rates, activity levels, moods, diet or sleep patterns at the times of the relevant life events recorded in the media assets.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor accesses the user's contacts, social network accounts, relationships, event calendar, time and location data, collected multimedia assets, other data demographic information, and personal style preferences to create cross-referenced or indexed metadata that encompasses the multimedia assets, significant individuals, and events.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the user selects a desired level of interaction with the processor, including a frequency of interaction, authorization to interact with one or more of the significant individuals, and one or more modalities of interaction including text messages, email, voice messages, audio messages, over a Graphic User Interface, or through an avatar.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the customized media-centric product is created by a story generation process wherein the process identifies and ranks important media assets and groups and prioritizes the media assets based upon degrees of similarity between adjacent images, temporally, hierarchically, and/or thematically, so that the grouping reflects an event structure or is relative to a story type.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the trigger set comprises receipt of new assets, temporal triggers, location triggers, system triggers, and/or various combinations of these and other trigger classes.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more profile categories comprise relationship, emotional intent, occasion, cultural profile, and religious affiliation.

15. The method of claim 3 further comprising using the processor to engage the user to acquire additional information about the image content and context being examined by the curator to better understand an importance and relevance of the image, objects, and individuals analyzed.

16. The method of claim 4 wherein the processor is presented as an avatar, conventional text messaging, or conventional audio messaging formats.

17. The method of claim 4 wherein when the processor is unable to adequately respond to a user's comment, a remote or crowd-sourced operator is summoned to intervene and temporarily take control to resolve the comment.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising collecting metadata recorded from contemporaneous activities such as heart rates recorded by a wearable health or wellness device, or pulse rates and blood flow rates extracted from video using Eulerian Video Magnification; and

correlating the metadata with the picture or video of interest.

19. The method of claim 3 wherein the special occurrence is adapted to accommodate different regional, cultural traditions, gestures, customs, demographics, ethnic, and other practices.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting a font color, graphics style, types of flowers, types of symbols, and language in response to values assigned to the one or more profile categories.