GSOC 2010 Proposal: Reverse Geocoding and Improved Map search in digiKam

[Adwait Gandhe]

Dear Sir,

The following is my proposal for GSOC 2010.

I had initially sent it to Mr Hansen and made 

changes according to his suggestions to make 

my proposal more useful for the community.

Some of his suggestions as : "You propose a new XML schema to store the keywords. However, digikam already has a tagging system and it would be nice to simply integrate with this system." and using the tagged words for image search have been implemented.

I thank him for his advice.

Hoping to work with digiKam in the summer.

If you have any further suggestions kindly let me know.

REVERSE GEOCODING AND IMPROVED MAP SEARCH ON THE ‘digiKam PLATFROM TO ENABLE AUTOMATIC TAGGING OF REGIONS ON AN IMAGE AND ENABLE ADVANCED MAP SEARCH.

Abstract :

­The digiKam photo management program allows users to manage their photo collection and apply certain changes to image properties. It is quite common that the user deals with maps of different regions and also the map search tool. An interesting application that can be developed in the digiKam environment is to automatically tag the various parameters on the image. These parameters, like street, country, town etc. can be predefined by the user, and they will automatically be tagged by using reverse geocoding. For this work I plan to develop backends to ‘geonames.org’ and ‘Google maps’ to fetch the string of the relevant lat/long pair and manipulate the image accordingly so as to tag it. This project also aims at modifying the map search in digiKam to allow users to predefine the number of images and then display them on the map.

Name and Contact info:

Adwait Gandhe

Email :

[hidden email]

[hidden email]

 

Benefits to the community:

The recently developed digiKam map search is able to make a search based on a rectangle area defined by the GPS positions. Development of this project will create a user interface for end users, where the software will automatically tag predefined parameters on the map, a task which is generally time consuming and tedious. Also, the map search can be complimented with the display of predefined number of images on the map pertaining to the region of interest. This particular feature along with the recently developed kde education project ‘Marble’ will add a new dimension to map search technology from the user perspective. The further integration of the two can enable a location search where the user given location map is displayed, with a predefined number of images, predefined number of tags on that image, and the ‘Marble’ widget enabling its own class of features.

 

Necessary work to be done:

1.      XML schema: In my earlier work I had thought that a new XML schema needs to be designed for this purpose. However after interacting with one of the digiKam developers, I now understand that digiKam already has a tagging system and it will be a lot easier to integrate the work with this system. DigiKam stores these tags in the XMP and IPTC areas of the picture. Hence there is no direct need to develop a new XML schema.

2.      Implement Backends: Once the user specifies the parameters that are to be tagged on the image, the automatic tagging needs to be implemented. This process will require JavaScript development. The backend application will need to be developed that will fetch the relevant information. The information like name of street etc. will be retrieved in this process.

3.      Implementing the tagging: Once the requisite data is retrieved from geonames.org and google maps, it will be stored in program memory. The digiKam image manipulation plugins like text writing and drawing squares etc. now need to be implemented. In this procedure, the tag names will be written onto the image. Variable colours may be implemented for tagging different parameters.

4.      Displaying pictures on the map: This is a crucial step in the project. The map search keyword stored earlier now comes in the picture. Also, as suggested by Mr. Michael Hansen from the digiKam community, the tag names given to the image can directly be used for the picture search. The database will be searched for pictures pertaining to these keywords and the select number of pictures will be displayed on the map.

5.      Selective display: An interesting feature that may be implemented is of selective display of images. It will involve taking information from the user as to the domain of search. For example sports. And then search only this domain for the pictures !!

The last part of the necessary work will make the project more complex. Hence I plan to implement it only if time permits.

Work by timeline:

April 9 to April 26: Understand properly the code for digiKam.

April 26 to May 24: Perfect and revise the necessary skills for the project like C/C++

                               : Read the source code for other open source projects to narrow down

                                    on a good XML schema design. Also interact with the mentor to

                                   understand the expectations of the organisation.

1.      Start coding.(May 24 to May 31) Initially for the first week work on understanding the tagging system and source code of the digiKam software. Interact with the mentor and community to clear concepts regarding the source code. Also the geonames services have various WebServices like cities, ocean, earthquake etc. This period will be utilized to narrow down on exactly which services to integrate with digiKam.

2.      Documentation on OpenStreetMaps reverse geocoding (June 1 to June 8) I am keeping more time for this part as the success of the work depends on this. This particular part has been suggested to me by Mr. Hansen after I sent him the first draft of the proposal. Search for an interface already defined for ‘Marble’ or work on developing one for the current application.

3.      Implement Backends.(June 8 to June 22) Once the XML is ready, the next step is to develop the backends necessary for the geocoding. This will require more time as currently I do not have prior knowledge of JavaScript and shall need guidance from my mentor. However I am willing to learn the basics before the start of the project as I find this work interesting.

4.      Implement the tagging.(June 22 to July8) Completion of this part will cover up most of the project. This will involve writing functions that link the plugins for image manipulation and modify the image by tagging the retrieved information. The GPSSync kipi plugin already integrates with digiKam. This knowledge will be necessary for the tagging.

5.      Complete the widget for tagging (Till July 15) This will ensure that the tagging widget is running perfectly.                                                                  

Midterm Evaluation.............................................................................

                                                                               

6.      Work on picture display (July 15 to July 29) This part will involve writing the code for selection of the pictures pertaining to the keyword from the database and save them in program variables. The next task is to display them on the image in a manner that improves the interface of the software and makes it more attractive. As suggested by Mr. Hansen, the tag words themselves can be used for the search purposes along with the keyword supplied by the user.

7.      Work on selective picture display (July 29 to August 7) If time permits.

8.      Complete the entire project till August 14. Always good to finish before deadline.

 

Personal Bio:

Hi, my name is Adwait Gandhe. I am a second year student at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus. I am currently pursuing Electrical and Electronics engineering. My primary interest is Image Processing.

I have taken certain related courses like Computer Programming 1 and 2 covering the programming basics of C/C++ environment. I have good experience in coding in C/C++ and deeply interested in working in image manipulation. My main motivation in applying to this organisation was working on software for image manipulation. I plan to work to the best of my knowledge and simultaneously learn during the project.

Contact details :

Email : [hidden email]

           : [hidden email]

Phone : Will be given if requested.

 

 

 

--
Adwait Gandhe
Second Year Undergraduate
BE(Hons) EEE
BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus.
|[phone]|
[hidden email]

_______________________________________________
Digikam-devel mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel

[Gilles Caulier-4]

Nice proposal. All is fine for me.

Gilles Caulier

2010/3/25 Adwait Gandhe <[hidden email]>:

> Dear Sir,
> The following is my proposal for GSOC 2010.
> I had initially sent it to Mr Hansen and made
> changes according to his suggestions to make
> my proposal more useful for the community.
> Some of his suggestions as : "You propose a new XML schema to store the
> keywords. However, digikam already has a tagging system and it would be nice
> to simply integrate with this system." and using the tagged words for image
> search have been implemented.
> I thank him for his advice.
> Hoping to work with digiKam in the summer.
> If you have any further suggestions kindly let me know.
>
> REVERSE GEOCODING AND IMPROVED MAP SEARCH ON THE ‘digiKam PLATFROM TO ENABLE
> AUTOMATIC TAGGING OF REGIONS ON AN IMAGE AND ENABLE ADVANCED MAP SEARCH.
>
> Abstract :
>
> ­The digiKam photo management program allows users to manage their photo
> collection and apply certain changes to image properties. It is quite common
> that the user deals with maps of different regions and also the map search
> tool. An interesting application that can be developed in the digiKam
> environment is to automatically tag the various parameters on the image.
> These parameters, like street, country, town etc. can be predefined by the
> user, and they will automatically be tagged by using reverse geocoding. For
> this work I plan to develop backends to ‘geonames.org’ and ‘Google maps’ to
> fetch the string of the relevant lat/long pair and manipulate the image
> accordingly so as to tag it. This project also aims at modifying the map
> search in digiKam to allow users to predefine the number of images and then
> display them on the map.
>
> Name and Contact info:
>
> Adwait Gandhe
>
> Email :
>
> [hidden email]
>
> [hidden email]
>
>
>
> Benefits to the community:
>
> The recently developed digiKam map search is able to make a search based on
> a rectangle area defined by the GPS positions. Development of this project
> will create a user interface for end users, where the software will
> automatically tag predefined parameters on the map, a task which is
> generally time consuming and tedious. Also, the map search can be
> complimented with the display of predefined number of images on the map
> pertaining to the region of interest. This particular feature along with the
> recently developed kde education project ‘Marble’ will add a new dimension
> to map search technology from the user perspective. The further integration
> of the two can enable a location search where the user given location map is
> displayed, with a predefined number of images, predefined number of tags on
> that image, and the ‘Marble’ widget enabling its own class of features.
>
>
>
> Necessary work to be done:
>
> 1.      XML schema: In my earlier work I had thought that a new XML schema
> needs to be designed for this purpose. However after interacting with one of
> the digiKam developers, I now understand that digiKam already has a tagging
> system and it will be a lot easier to integrate the work with this system.
> DigiKam stores these tags in the XMP and IPTC areas of the picture. Hence
> there is no direct need to develop a new XML schema.
>
> 2.      Implement Backends: Once the user specifies the parameters that are
> to be tagged on the image, the automatic tagging needs to be implemented.
> This process will require JavaScript development. The backend application
> will need to be developed that will fetch the relevant information. The
> information like name of street etc. will be retrieved in this process.
>
> 3.      Implementing the tagging: Once the requisite data is retrieved from
> geonames.org and google maps, it will be stored in program memory. The
> digiKam image manipulation plugins like text writing and drawing squares
> etc. now need to be implemented. In this procedure, the tag names will be
> written onto the image. Variable colours may be implemented for tagging
> different parameters.
>
> 4.      Displaying pictures on the map: This is a crucial step in the
> project. The map search keyword stored earlier now comes in the picture.
> Also, as suggested by Mr. Michael Hansen from the digiKam community, the tag
> names given to the image can directly be used for the picture search. The
> database will be searched for pictures pertaining to these keywords and the
> select number of pictures will be displayed on the map.
>
> 5.      Selective display: An interesting feature that may be implemented is
> of selective display of images. It will involve taking information from the
> user as to the domain of search. For example sports. And then search only
> this domain for the pictures !!
>
> The last part of the necessary work will make the project more complex.
> Hence I plan to implement it only if time permits.
>
> Work by timeline:
>
> April 9 to April 26: Understand properly the code for digiKam.
>
> April 26 to May 24: Perfect and revise the necessary skills for the project
> like C/C++
>
>                                : Read the source code for other open source
> projects to narrow down
>
>                                     on a good XML schema design. Also
> interact with the mentor to
>
>                                    understand the expectations of the
> organisation.
>
> 1.      Start coding.(May 24 to May 31) Initially for the first week work on
> understanding the tagging system and source code of the digiKam software.
> Interact with the mentor and community to clear concepts regarding the
> source code. Also the geonames services have various WebServices like
> cities, ocean, earthquake etc. This period will be utilized to narrow down
> on exactly which services to integrate with digiKam.
>
> 2.      Documentation on OpenStreetMaps reverse geocoding (June 1 to June 8)
> I am keeping more time for this part as the success of the work depends on
> this. This particular part has been suggested to me by Mr. Hansen after I
> sent him the first draft of the proposal. Search for an interface already
> defined for ‘Marble’ or work on developing one for the current application.
>
> 3.      Implement Backends.(June 8 to June 22) Once the XML is ready, the
> next step is to develop the backends necessary for the geocoding. This will
> require more time as currently I do not have prior knowledge of JavaScript
> and shall need guidance from my mentor. However I am willing to learn the
> basics before the start of the project as I find this work interesting.
>
> 4.      Implement the tagging.(June 22 to July8) Completion of this part
> will cover up most of the project. This will involve writing functions that
> link the plugins for image manipulation and modify the image by tagging the
> retrieved information. The GPSSync kipi plugin already integrates with
> digiKam. This knowledge will be necessary for the tagging.
>
> 5.      Complete the widget for tagging (Till July 15) This will ensure that
> the tagging widget is running
> perfectly.
>
> Midterm
> Evaluation.............................................................................
>
>
>
> 6.      Work on picture display (July 15 to July 29) This part will involve
> writing the code for selection of the pictures pertaining to the keyword
> from the database and save them in program variables. The next task is to
> display them on the image in a manner that improves the interface of the
> software and makes it more attractive. As suggested by Mr. Hansen, the tag
> words themselves can be used for the search purposes along with the keyword
> supplied by the user.
>
> 7.      Work on selective picture display (July 29 to August 7) If time
> permits.
>
> 8.      Complete the entire project till August 14. Always good to finish
> before deadline.
>
>
>
> Personal Bio:
>
> Hi, my name is Adwait Gandhe. I am a second year student at Birla Institute
> of Technology and Science, BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus. I am currently pursuing
> Electrical and Electronics engineering. My primary interest is Image
> Processing.
>
> I have taken certain related courses like Computer Programming 1 and 2
> covering the programming basics of C/C++ environment. I have good experience
> in coding in C/C++ and deeply interested in working in image manipulation.
> My main motivation in applying to this organisation was working on software
> for image manipulation. I plan to work to the best of my knowledge and
> simultaneously learn during the project.
>
> Contact details :
>
> Email : [hidden email]
>
>            : [hidden email]
>
> Phone : Will be given if requested.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Adwait Gandhe
> Second Year Undergraduate
> BE(Hons) EEE
> BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus.
> |[phone]|
> [hidden email]
>
> _______________________________________________
> Digikam-devel mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel
>
>

_______________________________________________
Digikam-devel mailing list
[hidden email]
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-devel