# US 11,442,980 B2 · System and method for photo scene searching > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,442,980 B2 - Document ID: US11442980B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/222,241 - Filed: 2018-12-17 - Published: 2019-04-25 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2015-03-20 - Assignees: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc. - Applicants: Oath Inc. - Inventors: JenHao Hsiao - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11442980B2 ## CPC - G06F 16/532: Query formulation, e.g. graphical querying - G06F 16/54: Browsing; Visualisation therefor - G06F 16/583: using metadata automatically derived from the content - G06F 16/5838: {using colour} - G06F 16/5862: {using texture} - G06F 16/21: Design, administration or maintenance of databases - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Users may have a variety of photos, but lack a mechanism to organize the photos. For example, a user may desire to access a photo of a child in front of a national monument, but may be unable to locate the photo amongst the photos. Accordingly, a photo query may be generated utilizing a photo query interface populated with a face query attribute (e.g., a proxy icon, a photo of a face, etc.), a face position attribute (e.g., a position of the face query attribute), and/or a location query attribute (e.g., a background of a photo, such as a forest, a monument, etc.) using drag and drop functionality and/or any other query construction functionality. One or more photos having attributes corresponding to the photo query may be identified and provided to the user. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for searching images, the system comprising: a processor; and memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processor implement a photo identification component configured to: generate a photo query interface populated with a user interface element associated with at least one of a face query attribute, a face position query attribute, or a location query attribute; display the photo query interface to a user, wherein the user interface element displayed in the photo query interface is movable from a first position of a grid of the photo query interface to one or more other positions of the grid of the photo query interface; receive a photo query constructed based upon a dragging and dropping, by the user, of the user interface element from the first position of the grid of the photo query interface to a second position of the grid of the photo query interface, wherein the photo query is indicative of the second position of the grid of the photo query interface to which the user interface element was dragged and dropped; identify one or more photos based upon the photo query indicative of the second position of the grid of the photo query interface to which the user interface element was dragged and dropped; and present the one or more photos to the user as photo search results. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the photo identification component configured to: identify a position of the user interface element relative to a perimeter of the photo query interface, wherein the identifying the one or more photos is based upon the position relative to the perimeter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the face query attribute comprising a photo of a face. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the identifying the one or more photos is based upon at least one of gender, age, accessories, or skin tone. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the face query attribute comprising a proxy icon. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the face position query attribute corresponding to a position of a face within photos. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the location query attribute corresponding to features of a background of a photo. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, the photo identification component configured to: implement a photo organization functionality for grouping photos based upon at least one of a face position attribute, a face attribute, or a location attribute. ### Claim 9 A method for searching images, the method comprising: generating a photo query interface populated with a user interface element associated with at least one of a face position query attribute, a face query attribute, or a location query attribute; displaying the photo query interface to a user, wherein the user interface element is displayed in a grid of the photo query interface, wherein one or more attributes of the user interface element are selectable in the photo query interface; receiving a photo query constructed based upon a selection, by the user, of an attribute of the user interface element in the photo query interface, wherein the photo query is indicative of the attribute of the user interface element; identifying one or more photos based upon the photo query indicative of the attribute of the user interface element selected in the photo query interface; and presenting the one or more photos to the user as photo search results. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, comprising: facilitating user construction of the photo query based upon a drag and drop command of at least one of the face position query attribute, the face query attribute, or the location query attribute. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, the face query attribute comprising a photo of a face. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying the one or more photos is based upon at least one of gender, age, accessories, or skin tone. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, the face query attribute comprising a proxy icon. ### Claim 14 A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions that when executed cause performance of operations, the operations comprising: generating a photo query interface populated with a user interface element; displaying the photo query interface to a user, wherein the user interface element displayed in the photo query interface is movable from a first position of a grid of the photo query interface to one or more other positions of the grid of the photo query interface; receiving a photo query constructed based upon a dragging and dropping, by the user, of the user interface element from the first position of the grid of the photo query interface to a second position of the grid of the photo query interface, wherein the photo query is indicative of the second position of the grid of the photo query interface to which the user interface element was dragged and dropped; identifying one or more photos based upon the photo query indicative of the second position of the grid of the photo query interface to which the user interface element was dragged and dropped; and presenting the one or more photos to the user as photo search results. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, wherein the user interface element is associated with a face query attribute. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, wherein the user interface element is associated with a face position query attribute. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, wherein the user interface element is associated with a location query attribute. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, the operations comprising: implementing a photo organization functionality for grouping photos based upon a face position attribute. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, the operations comprising: implementing a photo organization functionality for grouping photos based upon a face attribute. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 14, the operations comprising: implementing a photo organization functionality for grouping photos based upon a location attribute.