Virtual skywriting

Abstract

Users with mobile computing devices author skywriting and submit them to a virtual skywriting service. A mobile computing device having wireless network access is configured to capture a digital image of a real world scene including sky. The image is captured while the mobile computing device is in a geographical location or area. While the mobile computing device is still in the geographical location or area, it transmits via the wireless network a request for virtual skywriting. The request is received by a skywriting service that obtains or determines the geographical location/area that the computing device is in or near. The skywriting service selects a skywriting from among the previously submitted skywritings; the skywriting may be selected based on its having been entered at or associated with the geographical location. The mobile device receives the virtual skywriting from the service and displays a version of the digital image with the virtual skywriting added to the sky in the version of the digital image. Either the service or the mobile device may render the skywriting onto the image. Various effects may be applied in rendering the skywriting to give it realistic or vapor-like appearance.

1. A method implemented at least in part by a mobile computing device, the method comprising:
 transmitting from the mobile computing device a request to a skywriting service for skywriting; 
 receiving from the skywriting service skywriting associated with a geographical location of the mobile computing device, the skywriting having been obtained by the skywriting service by identifying, among a stored plurality of skywritings, a the skywriting that corresponds to the geographical location of the mobile computing device; and 
 displaying, on the mobile computing device, the skywriting superimposed on an image of the sky as captured by the mobile computing device from the geographical location, wherein the skywriting is having been superimposed on the image by the mobile computing device transmitting the image captured by the imaging device to the skywriting service which first recognizing recognized a region of sky in the image using a recognition algorithm and then fitting fitted the skywriting to the recognized region of sky, and where the mobile computing device then received from the skywriting service the skywriting superimposed on the image. 
 
     
     
       2. A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the image captured by the imaging device to the skywriting service, wherein the skywriting service performs the recognizing of the sky region and the superimposing, and receiving from the skywriting service the skywriting superimposed on the image. 
     
     
       3. A The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the skywriting is inputted by a user using a mobile device, the skywriting being received at the skywriting service and stored in association with a the geographic location of the mobile device. 
     
     
       4. A The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising determining an age of the skywriting and rendering the skywriting with one or more visual effects that are based on the age of the sky writing. 
     
     
       5. A The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising selecting the skywriting from among the stored plurality of skywritings based at least in part on whether the skywriting has a grouping identifier that matches a the grouping identifier specified for the request, the grouping identifier identifying a plurality of users. 
     
     
       6. A The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the skywriting, when superimposed on the region of sky, appears as vapor in the region of sky. 
     
     
       7. One or more tangible computer readable storage media storing information to enable a computing device to perform a process, the process comprising:
 receiving and storing skywritings inputted from respective mobile computing devices, the skywritings comprising text or graphic data, and storing with the skywritings indicia of respective geographical areas; 
 receiving requests from mobile devices requesting skywriting; 
 determining geographical areas from which the respective requests originated; 
 returning to one of the requesting mobile devices one of the stored skywritings based on the correspondence of its indicia of a geographical area to the geographical area from which the mobile device's request originated; 
 capturing an image at the geographical area with an image capture device of the one of the requesting mobile devices, transmitting the image to a server, the server then identifying a region of sky in the image and adding the skywriting to the image by fitting the skywriting according to the identified region of sky, and receiving the image with the added skywriting at the one of the mobile devices; and 
 displaying the image with the added skywriting at the one of the requesting mobile devices. 
 
     
     
       8. One or more tangible computer readable storage media according to  claim 7 , further comprising rendering the skywriting to appear as vapor in the region of sky. 
     
     
       9. One or more tangible computer readable storage media according to  claim 7 , wherein a stored skywriting comprises respective time information indicating an age of the skywriting. 
     
     
       10. One or more tangible computer readable storage media according to  claim 9 , wherein the combining further comprises applying an effect to the skywriting, the effect depending on the age of the skywriting. 
     
     
       11. One or more tangible computer readable storage media according to  claim 7 , further comprising scaling the skywriting and/or the image to fit the skywriting to a region of the image containing pixels corresponding to sky. 
     
     
       12. One or more tangible computer readable storage media according to  claim 7 , further comprising selecting the skywriting returned to the requesting mobile device based on one or more properties of the skywriting other than the indicia of its geographical area. 
     
     
       13. A mobile computing device having wireless network access and configured to perform a process, the process comprising:
 capturing a digital image of a real world scene including sky with an imaging device of the mobile computing device, the image being captured while the mobile computing device is in or near a geographical location; 
 while the mobile computing device is still in or near the geographical location, transmitting via the wireless network a request for virtual skywriting, wherein the transmitting enables a recipient of the request to determine the geographical location that the computing device is in or near; 
 receiving, via the wireless network, virtual skywriting having been selected in response to the request transmitted by the mobile computing device; and 
 displaying a version of the digital image with the virtual skywriting added to the sky in the version of the digital image, the virtual skywriting having been added by identifying transmitting the digital image to a server that then identifies a portion of the digital image as containing sky image data and then adding adds the virtual skywriting according to the identified portion of the digital image, the mobile computing device then receiving from the server the digital image with the added virtual skywriting image. 
 
     
     
       14. A The mobile computing device according to  claim 13 , the process further comprising receiving the virtual skywriting in rendered form and using the rendered virtual skywriting to generate the version of the digital image. 
     
     
       15. A The mobile computing device according to  claim 13 , the process further comprising authoring a new skywriting and transmitting it the new skywriting via the wireless network to a the skywriting service that makes the new skywriting available to mobile devices in or near the computing device's geographical location. 
     
     
       16. A The mobile computing device according to  claim 13 , the receiving the virtual skywriting further comprising receiving rendering parameters for the virtual skywriting and the mobile computing device rendering the virtual skywriting according to the rendering parameters. 
     
     
       17. A The mobile computing device according to  claim 13 , the process further comprising the mobile device transmitting with the request an indicia of the geographical location. 
     
     
       18. A The mobile computing device according to  claim 13 , wherein the virtual skywriting has also been selected based on whether the virtual skywriting is associated with a specified user list. 
     
     
       19. The method of claim 1, comprising transmitting from the mobile computing device a request to the skywriting service for the skywriting.