Many cameras can pick a face or faces out of an image and optimize the focus and exposure settings to capture them correctly. At the end of the day, the photographer still has to index and catalog the photos, however.
The idea is for a camera that can store a number of "faces" that can, in turn, be named. I'll be vague about the process because I don't think it matters if the faces and names are stored in the camera or some removable media.
The gist is, whenever a photograph is taken and the camera can recognize the face, it saves the image using the face name. So instead of a flash memory card full of images labeled "DSC_blahblahblah" or "IMG_blahblahblah" you get images labeled "Chris_01" or "Chris, Bob and Ian_07". (A date should probably be appended to each, but that's ancillary to the idea).
Photographs could be categorized/stored (or not stored) based on name or names of the subjects photographed. Combined with an internal GPS and map and you could get photos named with the subject and location ("Stu and two others near Westminster Abbey, 2008.2.16.img")
Ultimately, there's no reason *any* object couldn't be subject to the same treatment, assuming the object can be adequately recognized and the photographer can be bothered to name the object.-- phoenix, Feb 22 2008 Polar Rose http://www.polarrose.com/Not the same thing at all, but interesting nonetheless. It's been threatening to launch properly for a while now. [lostdog, Feb 22 2008] Baked, by Fotonation and Nikon http://www.letsgodi...es-portrait-photos/Fotonation provides the software behind red eye reduction, face recognition, and now smile and closed eyes detection. [DrCurry, Mar 31 2008] Article on Fotonation and smile detection, etc., in the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.c...66377991770341.htmlAlas, although WSJ is supposed to be opening up its site to Google searches (and links thereby), this article doesn't show on Google. [DrCurry, Mar 31 2008] Fotonation Smile Check http://www.fotonati...le=product&item=204The software in question. [DrCurry, Mar 31 2008] Even better if the thing can automatically suck the names off, say, Flickr or Facebook or other common upload site. With all the "tagged" photos on those sites, the database of faces must be pretty extensive.-- DrCurry, Feb 22 2008 While it's at it, the camera could recognize that all the people in the picture are looking at the camera, with their eyes open, and smiling-- Dub, Feb 22 2008 What exactly will it do if they aren't? Zap them?-- DrCurry, Feb 22 2008 Perfect! I keep forgetting peoples names at parties. :o)-- Mister P, Feb 22 2008 <smiles at dub>-- po, Feb 22 2008 DrC, No - the camera just waits for them all, and then stores the right shot (it could automatically pop-up a birdy after a reasonable timeout, to get a response)
<Smiles back at at po, and waggles his eyebrows>-- Dub, Feb 23 2008 Baked, it would seem, by the people who brought you red eye elimination and face detection, for Samsung and now Nikon. For Casio and Sony, they provide software that will recognize particular people in a photograph, and preferentially focus on their faces.-- DrCurry, Mar 31 2008 {Cameras stop taking [Dub]'s picture}-- Dub, Mar 31 2008 Baked several years ago by Apple's iPhoto and Google's what ever-the ir-pro duct-i s-cal led.-- notexactly, Apr 16 2018 Maybe ear print recognition with family tree resolve next.-- wjt, Apr 20 2018 random, halfbakery