DEVICE, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

• US 20100232704A1
• Filed: 03/11/2009
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: THORN, Karl Ola
• Granted Patent: US 8,532,346 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/195
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0381 Multimodal input, i.e. interface arrangements enabling the user to issue commands by simultaneous use of input devices of different nature, e.g. voice plus gesture on digitizer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/25 Determination of region of interest [ROI] or a volume of interest [VOI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming

Abstract

A device is provided, in which a display screen displays an image; an image analyzer determines at least one potential area of interest in the image; a visual indicator highlights at least a boundary of the at least one potential area of interest, and an optical zoom and/or a digital zoom changes the magnification level of an area of interest selected from the at least one potential area of interest. The device permits a user to zoom in and/or zoom out of the selected area of interest by displacing the boundary of the selected area of interest over at least a portion of the display screen.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a display screen to render an image to a user;

an image analyzer to determine at least one potential area of interest in the image;

a visual indicator to highlight a boundary of the at least one potential area of interest; and

a zoom arrangement to change magnification of an area of interest selected from the at least one potential area of interest, where the device is configured to permit the user to zoom in and zoom out of the selected area of interest by dragging the boundary of the selected area over at least a portion the display screen.

2. The device of claim 1, where the image analyzer is to perform at least one of human being recognition, animal recognition, silhouette recognition, face-detection, object recognition, visual contrast analysis, or optical character recognition.

3. The device of claim 1, where the image analyzer is arranged to receive user input defining the at least one potential area of interest.

4. The device of claim 1, where the boundary is represented by a frame encompassing the at least one potential area of interest.

5. The device of claim 1, where the visual indicator is to highlight at least the boundary of a potential area of interest based on a user selection of a part of the image which lies within the boundary of the potential area of interest.

6. The device of claim 1, where the display screen is a touch screen, and the device is configure to permit the user to select a particular portion of the displayed image by at least one of touching or tapping the particular portion of the displayed image.

7. The device of claim 1, where the device is configured to permit the user to select a plurality of particular portions of the displayed image simultaneously or consecutively.

8. The device of claim 1, where the visual indicator is configured to highlight at least one other potential area of interest within a highlighted potential area of interest when a user selects the highlighted area of interest.

9. The device of claim 1, where the device is at least one of a mobile telephone, a media player, a personal communication system (PCS) terminal, a personal data assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a palmtop receiver, a camera, or a television.

10. A method for zooming in and/or zooming out of a portion of an image rendered on a display screen, where the method comprises:

displaying the image on the display screen to a user;

determining at least one potential area of interest in the image;

highlighting a boundary of the at least one potential area of interest; and

performing zooming on the highlighted part of the image when the user moves the boundary over at least a portion of the display screen.

11. The method of claim 10, where the determining the at least one potential area of interest comprises performing, in the image shown on said display screen, at least of human being-detection, animal-detection, profile-detection, face-detection, object recognition, visual contrast analysis, or optical character recognition (OCR).

12. The method of claim 10, where the determining the at least one potential area of interest comprises receiving user input defining the at least one potential area of interest.

13. The method of claim 10, where the highlighting the boundary comprises displaying a frame around a potential area of interest based on a selection, of a portion of the image which lies within the boundary of the potential area of interest, received from the user.

14. The method of claim 10, where the visual indicator is configured to highlight the boundary, based on a selection, of the image which lies within the boundary of the potential area of interest, received from the user.

15. The method of claim 10, where the display screen is a touch screen, and the method further comprising:

detecting at least one of touching or tapping of the displayed image on the touch screen associated with a selection made by the user.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

selecting a plurality of portions of the displayed image simultaneously or serially.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

highlighting other potential areas of interest within a highlighted potential area of interest when the user selects that potential area of interest.

18. A computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable storage device storing one or more sets of instructions to cause a processor of a computer to;

display an image on a display screen to a user;

determine at least one potential area of interest in the image;

highlight a boundary of the at least one potential area of interest; and

perform zooming on the highlighted part of the image when the user moves the boundary over at least a portion of the display screen.