Abstract: Providing context to a target minimizes the amount of information that a user must input. Context transfer pages receive context and reformat for the target. Selection of links to such pages provide context which is then reformatted and provided to the target to pre-populate information for the user. A return link can be specified to enable the target to return further context upon user interaction completion. The return link can specify further context transfer pages which can use the returned context to direct the performance of convenience actions, including invoking other applications on the user's computing device and entering information into them. The context transfer pages can themselves collect information from the user to provide appropriate interfaces without requiring resource investment from the target.

Abstract: The process of posing a query to a search engine and to other people may be combined into a unified user experience. In one example, a user enters a query into a search engine on the user's device. The query is forwarded to the search engine, and the search engine returns results. Additionally, the user may post the same query (or an edited version of the query) on social networks. The search engine may be notified that the user has posted the query (or a version of the query) on social networks and may monitor the social networks for people's responses. When people response to the query, the search engine may cause the user to be notified that new human responses to the query are available.

Abstract: Architecture that facilitates relevance analysis for user queries for items of interest (e.g., businesses) for which social relevance (the composition of people frequenting the business) of the environment. The social relevance can be determined based on social data related to other people using techniques such as cross referencing social distance, social network activities with geolocation and check-in data, time/date information associated with social content, and text mining to inform and validate conclusions. The social relevance of many users and historical trends of the data can be combined to compute scores for the items of interest. Additionally, the social relevance of persons currently visiting the business can be used to compute a current score. Predictions can be computed for specific points in time in the future. The techniques can augment, filter, and/or add “coolness” information to search results, within a general purpose, a local-oriented search page or an application.

Abstract: Providing context to a target minimizes the amount of information that a user must input. Context transfer pages receive context and reformat for the target. Selection of links to such pages provide context which is then reformatted and provided to the target to pre-populate information for the user. A return link can be specified to enable the target to return further context upon user interaction completion. The return link can specify further context transfer pages which can use the returned context to direct the performance of convenience actions, including invoking other applications on the user's computing device and entering information into them. The context transfer pages can themselves collect information from the user to provide appropriate interfaces without requiring resource investment from the target.

Abstract: A method, system and computer readable medium directed towards generating relevant keywords for monetization from a user's experience in an electronic map environment. A user command to view a desired geographic area of an electronic map is received. The geographic area within the user's field of view is selected. Based on the geographic area, specific entities within the user's field of view are determined. A keyword phrase is generated based on information associated with the specific entities.

Abstract: The storage and/or transmission of image bubbles may be managed for effective use of space and/or time. In one example, a street-view application allows a user to navigate through an image at ground level. The application makes use of panoramic images called “bubbles,” which are captured at spatial intervals. The user can navigate through the images by changing position, or by changing the direction of view. Various aspects of how the bubbles are stored or transmitted may be controlled, in order to make effective use of the bandwidth that is available to transmit the bubbles. Examples of these aspects may include: how much of a given bubble is transmitted; the resolution at which the bubble is transmitted; and/or the spatial frequency at which the user moves through the bubbles.

Abstract: A device for carrying out of biometric identification by comparing face shapes. The shape of a first face is compared with the shape of a second face. A map can be determined between the shapes. The shape, and hence the comparison, is substantially independent of pose and lighting, and also parts of the shape can be removed from the comparison in order to enhance the recognition.

Abstract: Techniques and systems that provide interactions between a 3D representation of a selected pair of glasses and a fully-textured 3D face model are disclosed. According to one embodiment, an interactive platform is displayed to allow a user to select a pair of glasses and try the selected glasses on a user-provided 3D face model. The interactions provided in the platform include spatial adjustments of the glasses around the face model, various perspective views of the 3D face with the glasses on and other cosmetic alternations to the selected glasses. According to one application, when the user finishes the try-on process, the information about the glasses can be transmitted to a business that can subsequently produce a pair of customized glasses for the user.

Abstract: A 3D modeling system for automatically generating fully-textured 3D models of objects from a sequence of images taken around the objects is disclosed. There are several processes developed to facilitate the operation of the 3D modeling system by an ordinary skilled person. One of the processes is the automatic calibration of a camera using only a portion of a calibration disc to essentially provide a larger effective field of view of the camera. Another process is a space carving process that subdivides volumetric cells recursively to fit to a 3D object using a tree structure that encodes the entire process. Still another process is a 3D mesh model generation process that begins with the tree structure and generates self-constraint and interconnected triangles, in a sense that all triangles intersect with each other either not at all or at common boundary faces, to represent the shape of the 3D object.

Abstract: Three dimensional face recognition via vectorizing samples that are in an enrollment data base. The vectors are formed by comparing faces in the enrollment database with reference faces, and determining differences between the actual faces and the reference faces. Those differences are then formed into an N dimensional vector representing the classified faces. A query face is then similarly vectorized and compared to precomputed vectors indicative of the faces in the database. Another technique is described for updating the reference faces based on an error level.

Abstract: A face recognition device which operates in sunlit conditions such as in sunlight, or in indirect sunlight. The device operates without projection of light or other illumination to the face. Stereo information indicative of the face shape is obtained, and used to construct a 3D model. That model is compared to other models of known faces, and used to verify identity based on the comparison.

Abstract: A system of using three-dimensional information as a front and for a two-dimensional image comparison system. The three-dimensional information is obtained that is indicated of a known user's face. This three-dimensional information is used to generate two-dimensional views from different perspectives, including different poses and/or different lighting effects, and used to populate a database of a two-dimensional recognition system. The images are then two-dimensionally recognized using conventional two-dimensional recognition techniques, but this two-dimensional recognition is carried out on an improved database.

Abstract: A device for carrying out of biometric identification by comparing face shapes. The shape of a first face is compared with the shape of a second face. A map can be determined between the shapes. The shape, and hence the comparison, is substantially independent of pose and lighting, and also parts of the shape can be removed from the comparison in order to enhance the recognition.

Abstract: Techniques for generating a 3D region from a surrounding imagery are disclosed. The surrounding imagery comprising a sequence of side view images taken respectively at a known position around an object. The images are preprocessed to generate corresponding sequence of mask images. To accelerate the subsequent space carving process, each of the mask images is encoded uniquely using what is called herein a Maximal Area Encoding scheme. In the space carving process, volumetric cells or cubes representing the object are recursively subdivided to gradually fit the object by “carving” away those cubes that are not occupied by any of the object. All cubes are encoded and indexed using an octree structure.

Abstract: A mesh generator and process based on a volumetric representation is disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a 3D region of an object is generated by a space carving process and represented by volumetric cells encoded in a tree structure, such as an octree tree. Given the 3D region, the mesh process generates a mesh of elements covering the entire 3D region and intersecting with each other either not at all or at common boundary faces.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating exportable patches are disclosed. The exportable patches representing a mesh model are respectively generated using a test-and-merge procedure. A patch is a collection of the polygons with the property that every polygon in the patch shares at least one edge with some other polygons in the same patch. In addition, all patches have the properties that the union of all the polygons contains all the polygons of the mesh, and that no two patches contain the same polygon. Exporting such patches in image files makes it possible for a user to alter or modify the texture mapping for a particular patch in a desirable way.

Abstract: Techniques and systems that provide interactions between a 3D representation of a selected pair of glasses and a fully-textured 3D face model are disclosed. According to one embodiment, an interactive platform is displayed to allow a user to select a pair of glasses and try the selected glasses on a user-provided 3D face model. The interactions provided in the platform include spatial adjustments of the glasses around the face model, various perspective views of the 3D face with the glasses on and other cosmetic alternations to the selected glasses. According to one application, when the user finishes the try-on process, the information about the glasses can be transmitted to a business that can subsequently produce a pair of customized glasses for the user.