Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Nicole Ai Ling Lam

Eric Lap Min Cheung

Stephen Farrar

Alison Joan Lennon

Sammy Chan

Jing Wu

Lena Qian

An electronically implemented method is disclosed for generating a layout for a composite image. The method starts with the steps of receiving () at least one content element to be included within the composite image and an external environment context image () indicative of the intended external environment of the composite image. The external environment context image is captured by an image capture device. Data is also received indicating the size of the composite image and/or the location of the composite image within the external environment context image. Based on the received data layout styles are generated () for the at least one content element based on features of the at least one content element, features of the external environment context image and the provided location of the composite image. Finally, based on the generated layout styles, the composite image () is generated comprising the at least one content element.

Electronic layout generation based on visual context

A method of encoding information in a document using a plurality of marks (), the information comprising first data and second data, the method comprising the steps of encoding the first data using a first plurality of arrays of modulated marks disposed in a corresponding first plurality of tiles () spaced apart from each other at a first repeat rate (); and encoding the second data using a second plurality of arrays of modulated marks disposed in a corresponding second plurality of tiles () spaced apart from each other at a second repeat rate (); wherein: the second repeat rate is different to the first repeat rate; and the second plurality of tiles are embedded within the first plurality of tiles.

Barcode pattern

Disclosed is a method of decoding a first barcode and a second barcode, different from the first barcode. The barcodes have typically been printed on a page and are derived from image scanning. The first barcode comprises a plurality of marks modulated about a first grid to redundantly encode data and the second barcode comprising a plurality of marks modulated about a second grid. The method estimates () the first grid from a bitmap representation () of at least a portion of the page, using modulated marks contained therein. The method determines () a first barcode region from the first grid, the first barcode region being a portion of the first barcode, followed by estimating a second grid from the bitmap representation, using modulated marks contained therein. The method determines a second barcode region from the second grid, the second barcode region being a portion of the second barcode, and then decodes () the first and second barcode regions using the first and second grids respectively to derive the first and second barcodes.

Multiple barcode detection

A query system () is formed by a wizard () operating to form a data server () arranged to serve data from a data source () to a client application (), each of the wizard, the client application, the data server and the data source being linked by a communications network (). The data source has native data types and data arranged in a data structure. The wizard operates to firstly identify the data source over the network. The wizard further provides an application program for traversing and examining at least one of the data structure and data of the identified data source. The application program is operable to generate a representative schema () comprising mapping data for converting the native data types to predetermined data types of a common data model. The wizard further operates to create a server application () adapted to use the representative schema to convert the data from the native data types to the predetermined data types and to serve the data to the client application according to the common data model over the network. The representative schema and the server application thereby form the data server generated by the wizard. Once formed, the data server may receive and respond to queries from the client application, which may have no knowledge of the native data types, but which are directed to the data source.

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Lane Cove, Australia

Nicole Ai Ling Lam