Witness information service with image capturing and sharing
First Claim
1. A method, performed by a computer system of a mobile unit to control the capturing of images by a camera mounted on the mobile unit, of use to determine responsibility for an accident or crime type of emergency event, said method comprising:
- providing a computer readable physical implementation of a program controlling the camera and continuous updating a video history of the environment of the mobile unit, which thereby represents an immediate past video history;
temporary storing the immediate past video history;
generating a representation of the location of the mobile unit with the location sensor;
in response to an emergency event, permanently storing the immediate past video history, and capturing and permanently storing an immediate future video history;
transmitting the representation of the location of the mobile unit, by wireless communication, to a service; and
in response to an emergency event, transmitting identification of the mobile unit, by wireless communication, to the service station that administers distribution of the video history.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of vehicles with cameras and other sensors collect images, including other data as a normal event, or upon demand in an emergency, or when requested to do so by another vehicle, an occupant or a service center. Images may be permanently stored in the vehicles and indexed in a directory at the service center so that the images may selectively sent to the service center or another vehicle without consuming storage space at the service center. Upon the occurrence of an emergency event, an emergency signal is broadcast to vehicles within the area to save and transmit an immediate past image history and an immediate future image history.
174 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method, performed by a computer system of a mobile unit to control the capturing of images by a camera mounted on the mobile unit, of use to determine responsibility for an accident or crime type of emergency event, said method comprising:
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providing a computer readable physical implementation of a program controlling the camera and continuous updating a video history of the environment of the mobile unit, which thereby represents an immediate past video history;
temporary storing the immediate past video history;
generating a representation of the location of the mobile unit with the location sensor;
in response to an emergency event, permanently storing the immediate past video history, and capturing and permanently storing an immediate future video history;
transmitting the representation of the location of the mobile unit, by wireless communication, to a service; and
in response to an emergency event, transmitting identification of the mobile unit, by wireless communication, to the service station that administers distribution of the video history. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method, performed by a computer system, for capturing images of the environment of mobile units by a plurality of mobile unit mounted cameras, of use to determine responsibility for an accident or crime type of emergency event, said method comprising:
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receiving an emergency event request from a remote requestor for a video history at the time of an emergency; and
transmitting, by wireless communication, the request to a plurality of the mobile units within an area of the location of the emergency event. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer and imaging system of a mobile unit, of use to determine responsibility for an accident or crime type of emergency event, comprising:
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a mobile unit mounted video camera to capture images;
storage media having a computer readable physical implementation of a program controlling the camera for continuously updating a video history of the environment of the mobile unit, which thereby represents an immediate past video history;
temporary storage of the immediate past video history;
a location sensor generating a representation of the location of the mobile unit;
means, responsive to an emergency event, for permanently storing the immediate past video history, and capturing and permanently storing an immediate future video history;
means for transmitting the representation of the location of the mobile unit; and
means for transmitting identification of the mobile unit and both the immediate past video history and immediate future video history, by wireless communication. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A service center having a computer and imaging system, for administering capturing of images of the environment of mobile units by a plurality of mobile unit mounted cameras, of use to determine responsibility for an accident or crime type of emergency event, and further comprising:
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means for receiving an emergency event request from a remote requester for a video history at the time of an emergency; and
means for transmitting, by wireless communication, the request to a plurality of the mobile units within an area of the location of the emergency event; and
a storage of current locations of the mobile units and received video histories, each correlated to an emergency event and the identity of the mobile unit that captured the video history.
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20. A method, performed by a computer system at a service center, comprising:
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wirelessly communicating with mobile units for administering the capturing of images by cameras mounted on the mobile units;
facilitating displaying of the images on remotely located displays other than the mobile unit that captured the image and other than at the service center;
providing a database comprising identities of the mobile units and accumulated quantities of images that were both captured by each of the mobile units and administered by the computer system; and
providing compensation to accounts of the mobile units in correlation to the accumulated quantities of images. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification