Location-informed camera
View Patent ↗A camera ( 90 ) is provided with an arrangement for location-stamping image recordings and with a subsystem for recording location data ( 175 ) independently of making an image recording. The independently-recorded location data is sequentially associated with the image recordings and can be used subsequently to retrieve corresponding photos from a photo archive ( 40 ).
1. A digital camera comprising:
an image recording subsystem for making image recordings;
a location-providing subsystem for providing location data items representative of a current location of the camera,
a location-stamping subsystem for recording, in association with said image recordings, respective said location data items that each represent the location of the camera at the time the corresponding image recording was taken, and
a location recording subsystem for recording, independently of the making of said image recording, location data items in response to respective user triggerings, these location data items and those associated with the location-stamped image recordings being recorded in a sequential association with each other.
2. A camera according to claim 1 , wherein both the location-stamped image recordings and the location data items recorded independently of recording an image recording, are recorded in data structures of the same form, the data structures being arranged or explicitly linked into a sequence indicative of the order of recording.
3. A camera according to claim 1 , wherein each location data item recorded independently of recording an image recording, is recorded in a log distinct from the location-stamped image recordings along with sequence data indicating its sequence position relative to the sequence of recorded image recordings.
4. A camera according to claim 1 , wherein the image recording subsystem and the location recording subsystem have independent user-operable controls for triggering recording.
5. A camera according to claim 1 , wherein the location providing subsystem is a GPS subsystem.
6. A camera according to claim 1 , wherein the location providing subsystem comprises a cellular mobile radio subsystem for receiving location-related data from a mobile radio infrastructure.
7. A digital camera comprising:
an image recording subsystem for making image recordings;
a location-providing subsystem for providing location data items representative of a current location of the camera,
a location-stamping subsystem for recording, in association with said image recordings, respective said location data items that each represent the location of the camera at the time the corresponding image recording was taken, and
a location recording subsystem for recording, independently of the making of a said image recording, location data items in response to respective user triggerings, these location data items and those associated with the location-stamped image recordings being recorded in a sequential association with each other, and wherein the image recording subsystem and the location recording subsystem have a common user-operable control for triggering recording and a common sensor for determining whether there is an image to be recorded, the image recording subsystem being operative to record an image recording when said control is operated only if said sensor indicates that an image is present, and the location recording subsystem only recording a location data item when said control is operated, if said sensor indicates that an image is absent.
8. A camera according to claim 7 , wherein said sensor is a sensor for detecting whether a lens shutter of the camera is open or closed.
9. A camera according to claim 7 , wherein sensor is an optical sensor located in an image plane of the camera.
10. A camera according to claim 9 , wherein said optical sensor is constituted by an electronic image capture device of the image recording subsystem.