Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly filed a patent application in March, according to the U.S. patent and trademark office, indicating that the iPhone maker might incorporate voice –based photo searching abilities into Siri.
Voice Tagging based on time and location
Through the technology, the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) users could search for tagged photos using natural language text strings, which could be anything related to an entity, activity or location. The technology is known as “voice-based Image Tagging and Searching.” Within the patent, Apple explained that through the technology users would be able to add voice tags to a photograph such as “this is me at the beach.” The photos will be added to the particular file, and for watching those pictures the user needs to say “show me photos of me at beach.”
The technology would allow the users to tag their photos based on time and location. The photo tagging could be used on faces, buildings and landscapes.
“The proposed invention could even automatically tag corresponding photos, based on the time and location at which they were snapped, to make it easier for users to sort their pictures and not require them to individually tag each picture,” AppleInsider wrote.
Voice tagging to make life easier for users
Behind patenting this technology Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has cited many reasons like the users are increasingly saving pictures on their hand held devices through advanced camera technology and image processing. Also, the number of photos now saved in the mobiles and tabs have increased manifold, which arouse the need to enhance the storage capacity and technology through which the photos could be organized. The company noted that the traditional method of photo tagging is time consuming and non-intuitive.
At present, the photos in iOS 7 are clubbed together by year. Zooming in on a thumbnail picture allows one to find the exact date and location of the photo. With the current patent filing, Apple would integrate the technology through which pictures could automatically be tagged using GPS and the phone’s clock, which would relieve the user from tagging the every single shot taken. Siri would apparently be able to remember faces and places.
