Method of Automatically Tagging Image Data

The present invention provides a method of automatic tagging of image data taken at geographical locations, which represent points of interest (POI). In addition to the image data, each image file contains image metadata, which is structured information about the image data resources. The metadata of a POI includes its title, description, associated keywords, geographical identification data, etc., and it describes the POI as a resource of information. Each POI has its unique identifier that connects it to a record in a database, which contains the metadata of a plurality of POIs. The auto-tagging method, subject to the present invention, identifies the POI where image data has been taken. It then retrieves POI metadata from the database or reads it directly from an information tag placed within the POI, and assigns this metadata to all the image files containing image data taken at the POI. In particular, this invention focuses on barcode representation of the unique POI identifier (UPIID) and of its metadata (if the metadata is read directly during the image taking process). The implementation of this method does not require additional devices for location detection (such as GPS), and is applicable to all digital cameras regardless of type and complexity.