PLOG: Easily Create Digital Picture Stories Through Cell Phone Cameras

With a cell phone camera a person can take pictures and immediately transmit them to larger repositories using telecommunication channels. This provides the potential for anywhere, anytime picture sharing and story telling. It can also increase awareness among peers within a social network. But while we enjoy telling stories around this informal content, the necessary act of downloading, organizing and then presenting the digital media is tedious and can discourage frequent use. We present PLOG, an application that stresses ease-of-use story telling through cell phone photography. The user simply takes pictures and performs simple click-and-send uploads using their phone. From a local machine, PLOG automatically downloads the images; time clusters the pictures together and then presents them as story vignettes. These vignettes can be viewed different ways and at home, shared with friends or posted in public places. We describe the implementation of PLOG and discuss issues related to this light-weight method of story telling and awareness.