Method of making a digital camera image of a first scene with a superimposed second scene
A method of making an image in a digital camera comprises capturing a digital image of a scene into which the camera user is to be inserted, and superimposing a symbol (subject locator) onto the scene image representing at least a part of a human subject. The subject locator is scaled to a desired size and moved to a desired position relative to the scene image. Next a digital image of the user is captured, and at least the part of the user image represented by the subject locator is extracted. The part of the user image represented by the subject locator is scaled (before or after extraction) to substantially the same size as the subject locator and inserted into the first image at the position of the subject locator. In a second embodiment the method comprises displaying a preview image of a scene into which the camera user is to be inserted, and superimposing the subject locator on the preview image. The subject locator is scaled to a desired size and moved to a desired position relative to the edges of the preview image. Face detection detects the camera user entering the scene displayed by the preview image. The preview image is scaled and panned to bring the part of the preview image represented by the subject locator to substantially the same size and position as the subject locator. Finally, a digital image of the scene is captured.
1. A digital image acquisition device including an optical system having first and second lens systems for acquiring digital images, and one or more processor-readable media having embodied therein processor-readable code for programming one or more processors to perform the method comprising the following, not necessarily in the order stated:
superimposing on a representation of a first scene a subject locator symbol, the representation of the first scene acquired through the first lens system of the digital image acquisition device;
after superimposing the subject locator symbol, acquiring a representation of a second scene through a second lens system of the digital image acquisition device;
scaling at least part of the representation of the second scene to substantially the same size as the subject locator symbol; and
inserting the scaled part of the representation of the second scene into the representation of the first scene at the position of the subject locator symbol to form a composite image,
wherein the subject locator symbol is directly scalable and positionable relative to the representation of the first scene in response to user input provided to the subject locator symbol, prior to acquiring the representation of the second scene.
2. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the first lens system faces a first direction relative to the device and the second lens system faces a second direction relative to the device, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
3. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the first scene comprises a series of preview images.
4. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the first scene comprises an image retrieved from memory.
5. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the second scene comprises a series of preview images.
6. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the second scene is retrieved from memory.
7. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the first scene and the representation of the second scene are captured and stored in long term persistent memory at substantially the same time.
8. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the representation of the second scene through the second lens system comprises entering a preview mode.
9. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the second scene includes an image of a user.
10. The digital image acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein the digital image acquisition device is a cell phone.
11. The digital acquisition device of claim 1 , wherein acquiring a representation of the second scene comprises:
obtaining one or more preview images of the second scene, the preview images being associated with a first quality measure; and
acquiring the representation of the second scene, the representation being associated with a second quality measure greater than the first quality measure.
12. The digital acquisition device of claim 11 , wherein the first quality measure indicates at least a first resolution, and wherein the second quality measure indicates at least a second resolution.
13. A method of forming a composite image in a digital image acquisition device, comprising the following acts, not necessarily in the order stated:
displaying on a screen of the image acquisition device a representation of a first scene acquired through a first lens system of the digital image acquisition device;
superimposing on the representation of the first scene on the screen a subject locator symbol, wherein the subject locator symbol is directly scalable and positionable relative to the representation of the first scene in response to user input provided to the subject locator symbol;
after superimposing, acquiring a representation of a second scene through a second lens system;
scaling at least a part of the representation of the second scene to substantially the same size as the subject locator symbol; and
inserting the scaled part of the representation of the second scene into the representation of the first scene to form the composite image.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first lens system faces a first direction relative to the device and the second lens system faces a second direction relative to the device, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the representation of the first scene comprises a series of preview images.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the representation of the first scene comprises an image retrieved from memory.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein acquiring the representation of the second scene comprises acquiring a series of preview images.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein acquiring the representation of the second scene comprises capturing and storing an image.
19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising acquiring the representation of the first scene before acquiring the representation of the second scene.
20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising displaying the representation of the first scene and the representation of the second scene on the screen at substantially the same time.
21. The method of claim 13 , further comprising capturing and storing the representation of the first scene and the representation of the second scene at substantially the same time.
22. The method of claim 13 , further comprising causing the digital image acquisition device to enter a user-composite mode.
23. The method of claim 13 , further comprising acquiring the representation of the first scene from storage.
24. The method of claim 13 , further comprising acquiring the representation of the second scene from storage.
25. The method of claim 13 , wherein the digital image acquisition device is a cell phone.
26. The method of claim 13 , wherein the representation of the second scene includes an image of a user.
27. The method of claim 13 , wherein acquiring the representation of the second scene comprises causing the digital image acquisition device to enter a preview mode.
28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising, after causing the digital image acquisition device to enter the preview mode, capturing and storing a composite image in long term persistent memory.
29. A digital image acquisition device including a screen, an optical system having first and second lens systems for acquiring digital images, and one or more processor-readable media having embodied therein processor-readable code for programming one or more processors to perform the method comprising the following, not necessarily in the order stated:
displaying on the screen of the image acquisition device a representation of a first scene acquired through the first lens system;
superimposing on the representation of the first scene on the screen a subject locator symbol, wherein the subject locator symbol is directly scalable and positionable relative to the representation of the first scene in response to user input provided to the subject locator symbol;
acquiring a representation of a second scene through the second lens system;
scaling at least a part of the representation of the second scene to substantially the same size as the subject locator symbol; and
inserting the scaled part of the representation of the second scene into the representation of the first scene to form a composite image.
30. The digital image acquisition device of claim 29 , wherein the subject locator symbol is directly scalable and positionable prior to acquiring the representation of the second scene.