Performance improvements for recognition of optical patterns in images using incremental magnification

1. A system for decoding optical patterns in an environment, the system comprising:

a camera;

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

acquire a first image of a scene using the camera, wherein a magnification of the camera is set at a first magnification;

detect an optical pattern in the first image, the optical pattern encoding an object identifier;

ascertain that a resolution of the first image is not sufficient to decode the optical pattern;

increase the magnification of the camera from the first magnification to a second magnification, after ascertaining that the resolution of the first image is not sufficient to decode the optical pattern, wherein the magnification of the camera is increased by a predetermined magnification factor;

acquire a second image using the second magnification; and

decode the optical pattern, after acquiring the second image, obtaining the object identifier.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the camera is part of a smartphone.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

ascertain that the magnification of the camera has reached a limit; and

provide a user prompt that the magnification of the camera has reached the limit.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the user prompt is an auditory prompt.

5. A method for decoding optical patterns in an environment, the method comprising:

acquiring a first image of a scene using a camera, wherein a magnification of the camera is set at a first magnification;

detecting an optical pattern in the first image, the optical pattern encoding an object identifier;

ascertaining that a resolution of the first image is not sufficient to decode the optical pattern;

increasing the magnification of the camera from the first magnification to a second magnification, after ascertaining that the resolution of the first image is not sufficient to decode the optical pattern, wherein the magnification of the camera is increased by a predetermined magnification factor;

acquiring a second image using the second magnification; and

decoding the optical pattern, after acquiring the second image, obtaining the object identifier.

6. The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising:

ascertaining a bit depth of the camera; and

increasing the magnification of the camera based on the bit depth of the camera.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

increasing the magnification is performed automatically after a waiting period; and

the waiting period is equal to or greater than one second.

8. The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising automatically returning to the first magnification after the optical pattern is decoded.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the magnification of the camera is increased automatically, and increasing the magnification is accompanied by a visual or auditory indication.

10. The method of claim 5 , further comprising automatically increasing the magnification of the camera through multiple, predetermined increments.

11. The method of claim 5 , further comprising tracking the optical pattern in a plurality of images before acquiring the first image of the scene using the camera.

12. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

receiving a user action; and

increasing the magnification of the camera from the first magnification to the second magnification based on receiving the user action.

13. A method for decoding optical patterns in an environment, the method comprising:

acquiring a first image of a scene using a camera, wherein:

a magnification of the camera is set at a first magnification; and

the first image comprises an optical pattern encoding an object identifier;

receiving a user action;

increasing magnification of the camera from the first magnification to a second magnification, based on the user action, wherein the magnification of the camera is increased by a predetermined magnification factor;

acquiring a second image using the second magnification; and

decoding the optical pattern in the second image, obtaining the object identifier.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:

the user action is a first user action; and

the method further comprises:

receiving a second user action; and

returning the magnification of the camera to the first magnification, based on the user action.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein:

the user action is a first user action;

the predetermined magnification factor is a first predetermined magnification factor; and

the method further comprises:

receiving a second user action; and

increasing the magnification of the camera from the second magnification to a third magnification, based on the second user action, wherein the magnification of the camera is increased by a second predetermined magnification factor going from the second magnification to the third magnification.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the user action is a tap on a display.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

detecting the optical pattern in the first image; and

ascertaining that a resolution of the first image is not sufficient to decode the optical pattern.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined magnification factor is equal to or greater than 1.5 and equal to or less than 3.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein there are only two magnification levels used during decoding optical patterns, the first magnification and the second magnification.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein:

the magnification of the camera is limited to a set of magnifications;

the set of magnifications includes the first magnification and the second magnification; and

each magnification in the set of magnifications is separated by an increment of at least 0.5× compared to a preceding magnification.