Method and apparatus for a compact and high resolution mind-view communicator
An embodiment of a mind-view communication apparatus includes a first portable unit and a second portable unit. The first portable unit includes an eyeglass frame, at least one first optical unit disposed on the eyeglass frame for capturing at least one scene image corresponding to a field of view of a user, and at least one second optical unit disposed on the eyeglass frame for capturing at least one eye image corresponding to at least a portion of at least one eye of the user. The second portable unit is in communication with the first portable unit and includes at least one processor configured for receiving the at least one scene image and the at least one eye image, determining a direction within the field of view to which the at least one eye is directed based upon the at least one eye image, and generating a subset of the at least one scene image based on the determined direction.
1. An imaging system comprising:
a first visible light camera having a first field of view;
a second visible light camera having a second field of view;
an interface configured to present a plurality of selectable imaging options, the plurality of selectable imaging options including:
a first imaging option corresponding to using the first visible light camera;
a second imaging option corresponding to using the second visible light camera; and
a third imaging option corresponding to using the first visible light camera and the second visible light camera;
a frame configured to be carried or worn by a user, the first visible light camera and the second visible light camera being coupled to the frame such that the first field of view of the first visible light camera and the second field of view of the second visible light camera at least partially overlap; and
at least one processor configured to:
responsive to receiving a selection associated with the first imaging option, cause the first visible light camera to generate first image data that is associated with a scene;
responsive to receiving a selection associated with the second imaging option, cause the second visible light camera to generate second image data that is associated with the scene; and
responsive to receiving a selection associated with the third imaging option, (i) cause the first visible light camera to generate third image data that is associated with the scene, (ii) cause the second visible light camera to generate fourth image data that is associated with the scene, and (iii) cause the interface to display a visual image of the scene using at least a portion of the third image data and at least a portion of the fourth image data.
2. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the third image data is reproducible as a first image having a first image resolution, wherein the fourth image data is reproducible as a second image having a second image resolution that is higher than the first image resolution, and wherein the first image overlaps with the second image in an overlap area of the first image, and wherein the displayed visual image of the scene is an enhanced first image such that at least a portion of the enhanced first image not within the overlap area of the first image has a third image resolution that is higher than the first image resolution.
3. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the at least a portion of the third image data corresponds to the at least a portion of the fourth image data.
4. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the at least a portion of the enhanced first image is the entire enhanced first image.
5. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the second field of view is smaller than the first field of view.
6. The imaging system of claim 5 , wherein the second image is completely within and a subset of the first image.
7. The imaging system of claim 5 , wherein at least a portion of the first image surrounds the second image.
8. The imaging system of claim 2 , further comprising storing the visual image in a memory device of the imaging system.
9. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein responsive to the selection associated with the third imaging option, the first visible light camera generates the third image data at the same time or about the same time that the second visible light camera generates the fourth image data.
10. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the first visible light camera includes a first color filter array and the second visible light camera includes no color filter, and wherein the first image is a color image, and the second image is a black and white image.
11. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the at least a portion of the enhanced first image is generated by iterative bandwidth extrapolation.
12. The imaging system of claim 2 , wherein the first visible light camera and the second visible light camera are coupled to the frame such that the first visible light camera and the second visible light camera are positioned at a predetermined distance apart.
13. The imaging apparatus system of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined distance is less than about six inches.
14. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, based at least in part on the third image data and the fourth image data, extract distance information associated with an object in the scene.
15. The imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the displayed visual image of the scene includes the object and has a lowered resolution version of a background portion of the scene.
16. The imaging system of claim 15 , wherein the lowered resolution version of the background portion of the scene causes the background portion of the scene to appear blurred.
17. The imaging system of claim 15 , wherein the background portion of the scene generally surrounds the object in the scene.
18. The imaging system of claim 16 , wherein the background portion is blurred by pixel binning, applying a low pass filter, or a combination thereof.
19. The imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, based at least in part on the third image data and the fourth image data, extract distance information associated with a feature in the scene.
20. The imaging system of claim 19 , wherein the displayed visual image of the scene includes the feature and has a lowered resolution version of a region peripheral to the feature.
21. The imaging system of claim 20 , wherein the frame is an eyeglass frame.
22. The imaging system of claim 20 , wherein the region peripheral to the feature generally surrounds the feature in the scene.
23. The imaging system of claim 20 , wherein the resolution of the region peripheral to the feature is lowered by pixel binning, applying a low pass filter, or a combination thereof.
24. The imaging system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute a face recognition procedure to identify a face in the feature.