IP Library Granted Patent US 9,197,864
Granted Patent B1
US 9,197,864 · App. 13/617,608 · Granted Nov 24, 2015

Zoom and image capture based on features of interest

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,197,864
App. No.
13/617,608
Granted
Nov 24, 2015
Kind
B1
Abstract

Methods and systems for intelligently zooming to and capturing a first image of a feature of interest are provided. The feature of interest may be determined based on a first interest criteria. The captured image may be provided to a user, who may indicate a level of interest in the feature of interest. The level of interest may be based upon to store the captured image and capture another image. The level of interest may be a gradient value, or a binary value. The level of interest may be based upon to determine whether to store the captured image, and if so, a resolution at which the captured image is to be stored. The level of interest may also be based upon to determine whether to zoom to and capture a second image of a second feature of interest based on the first interest criteria or a second interest criteria.

Claims (72)

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor;

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving image data corresponding to a field of view of an environment;

determining a first feature of interest within the first field of view based on a first interest criteria;

causing a camera to zoom to and capture a first image of a portion of the field of view that comprises the first feature of interest;

providing the first image of the first feature of interest on a display;

determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest, wherein determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest comprises acquiring a gradient value within a range of interest level values indicating the level of interest, and storing the first image, wherein storing the image of the determined first feature of interest comprises:

based on the gradient value, determining an image resolution at which to store the first image;

causing the first image to be stored in an image-attribute database at the determined image resolution; and

capturing a second image based on the level of interest.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera is attached to a head-mountable device (HMD), and wherein the image data is extracted from a point-of-view video captured by the camera.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest comprises acquiring a gradient value within a range of interest level values indicating the level of interest.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein capturing a second image based on the level of interest further comprises:

determining a second feature of interest within a second field of view of the environment based on the first interest criteria; and

causing the camera to zoom to and capture a second image of the second feature of interest.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the level of interest is below a predetermined interest threshold, and wherein capturing a second image based on the level of interest further comprises:

determining a second feature of interest within the field of view of the environment based on a second interest criteria; and

causing the camera to zoom to and capture a second image of the second feature of interest.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

causing the first image of the first feature of interest to be stored in an image-attribute database, the image-attribute database comprising data for a set of images, wherein the data for a given image of the set of images specifies one or more attributes from a set of attributes.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein causing the first image of the determined feature of interest to be stored in a data item-attribute database, further comprises:

determining one or more attributes indicating a context of the first image;

associating the one or more attributes with the first image; and

causing the first image and the one or more attributes to be stored in the image-attribute database.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

providing a subset of images from the image-attribute database on a display, wherein the subset of images includes the first image, and wherein each image in the subset of images shares at least one of the one or more attributes associated with the first image.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving eye-tracking data indicating a gaze direction, wherein the eye-tracking data is received from an eye-tracking device; and

determining the first feature of interest within the first field of view based also on the obtained gaze direction.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving eye-tracking data indicating pupil dilation, wherein the eye-tracking data is received from an eye-tracking device; and

determining the first feature of interest within the first field of view based also on a degree of pupil dilation.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving physiological data indicating a physiological state, wherein the physiological data is received from one or more physiological sensors; and

determining the first feature of interest within the first field of view based also on the physiological state.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein causing a camera to zoom to and capture a first image of a portion of the field of view that comprises the first feature of interest further comprises:

determining characteristics of the first feature of interest; and

determining an extent of the zoom based on the characteristics of the first feature of interest.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein causing a camera to zoom to and capture a first image of a portion of the field of view that comprises the first feature of interest further comprises:

determining characteristics of the first feature of interest; and

determining a type of the zoom based on the characteristics of the first feature of interest.

14. A method comprising:

receiving image data corresponding to a field of view of an environment;

determining a first feature of interest within the first field of view based on a first interest criteria;

causing a camera to zoom to and capture a first image of a portion of the field of view that comprises the first feature of interest;

providing the first image of the first feature of interest on a display;

determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest, wherein determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest comprises acquiring a gradient value within a range of interest level values indicating the level of interest

causing the first image of the first feature of interest to be stored in an image-attribute database comprising data for a set of images, wherein the data for a given image of the set of images specifies one or more attributes from a set of attributes, wherein storing the first image of the determined first feature of interest comprises:

based on the gradient value, determining an image resolution at which to store the first image; and

causing the first image to be stored in an image-attribute database at the determined image resolution; and

capturing a second image based on the level of interest.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the level of interest is below a predetermined interest threshold, and wherein capturing a second image based on the level of interest comprises:

determining a second feature of interest within the field of view of the environment based on a second interest criteria; and

causing the camera to zoom to and capture the second image of the second feature of interest.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving image data corresponding to a field of view of an environment;

determining a first feature of interest within the first field of view based on a first interest criteria;

causing a camera to zoom to and capture a first image of a portion of the field of view that comprises the first feature of interest;

providing the image of the first feature of interest on a display;

determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest, wherein determining a level of interest in the first feature of interest comprises acquiring a gradient value within a range of interest level values indicating the level of interest, and storing the first image, wherein storing the image of the determined first feature of interest comprises:

based on the gradient value, determining an image resolution at which to store the first image;

causing the first image to be stored in an image-attribute database at the determined image resolution; and

capturing a second image based on the level of interest.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further comprise:

determining one or more attributes indicating a context of the first image;

associating the one or more attributes with the first image;

causing the first image and the one or more attributes to be stored in the image-attribute database; and

providing a subset of images from the image-attribute database on a display, wherein the subset of images includes the first image, and wherein each image in the subset of images shares at least one of the one or more attributes associated with the first image.

18. The system of claim 8 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising providing the subset of images from the image-attribute database on a display in a tiled mosaic format.

19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising causing the camera to zoom based on both an optical zoon and a digital zoom of the camera, wherein the digital zoom is performed subsequent to an optical zoom.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 2, 2017
From: GOOGLE INC.
To: GOOGLE LLC
Reel/Frame 044334/0466 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 26, 2017
From: STARNER, THAD EUGENE; WEAVER, JOSHUA
To: GOOGLE INC.
Reel/Frame 043693/0103 →