Method and Apparatus for Activating a Hardware Feature of an Electronic Device

• US 20150189178A1
• Filed: 12/30/2013
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Lombardi, Michael J., Pierce, Amber M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,560,254 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6812 based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's

Abstract

A method and apparatus for activating a hardware feature of an electronic device includes the electronic device detecting 302 a predetermined motion of the electronic device and measuring 304, in response to detecting the predetermined motion, an orientation of the electronic device. The method further includes the electronic device activating 306, based on the orientation, a hardware feature from a plurality of selectable hardware features of the electronic device, wherein each selectable hardware feature can be activated based on different orientations of the electronic device.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a first camera located on a first side of the electronic device at a first height above a bottom of the electronic device;

a second camera located on a second side of the electronic device at a second height above the bottom of the electronic device, wherein the second height is different than the first height;

a first sensor configured to detect a motion of the electronic device;

a second sensor configured to measure an orientation of the electronic device; and

a processing element operationally coupled to the first and second sensors and the first and second cameras, wherein the processing element is configured to select a camera from the first and second cameras based on the orientation of the electronic device measured in response to detecting a predetermined motion.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first sensor comprises:

a gyroscope, and

wherein the predetermined motion is rotational motion resulting from twisting the electronic device.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor comprises:

an accelerometer that measures the orientation of the electronic device relative to a gravitational direction, and

wherein the processing element is configured to select the first camera instead of the second camera when the first camera is above the second camera relative to the gravitational direction, and

wherein the processing element is configured to select the second camera instead of the first camera when the second camera is above the first camera relative to the gravitational direction.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the second sensor comprises an accelerometer that measures the orientation of the electronic device relative to a gravitational direction, wherein the orientation is quantified by an orientation angle between the gravitational direction and a reference line pointing from a first location of the first camera to a second location of the second camera; and

wherein the processing element is configured to;

select the first camera instead of the second camera when the orientation angle is less than a threshold angle; and

select the second camera instead of the first camera when the orientation angle is greater than the threshold angle.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor comprises:

a contact sensor on the second side the electronic device configured to measure the orientation of the electronic device relative to a grip on the electronic device, and

wherein the processing element is configured to select the first camera instead of the second camera when the contact sensor detects the grip on the second side of the electronic device.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor comprises:

a set of contact sensors on at least one edge of the electronic device configured to measure the orientation of the electronic device relative to a grip on the electronic device, and

wherein the processing element is configured to;

select the first camera instead of the second camera when the set of contact sensors detects a first grip on the at least one edge of the electronic device; and

select the second camera instead of the first camera when the set of contact sensors detects a second grip on the at least one edge of the electronic device.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor comprises:

the first camera that measures the orientation of the electronic device relative to a nearest human face detected by the first camera, and

wherein the processing element is configured to select the second camera instead of the first camera upon an occurrence of at least one of;

a distance between the first camera and the nearest human face as measured by an autofocus feature of the first camera is less than a threshold distance;

or

an angle subtended by the nearest human face relative to the first camera is greater than a threshold angle.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor comprises:

the first camera that measures the orientation of the electronic device relative to a nearest human face detected by the first camera, and

wherein the processing element is configured to select the first camera instead of the second camera if an image of the nearest human face detected by the first camera is up-side down.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the orientation of the electronic device is measured relative to a gravitational direction using an accelerometer of the electronic device, wherein the orientation is quantified by an orientation angle between the gravitational direction and a reference line pointing from a first location of a first selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features to a second location of a second selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features; and

the first selectable hardware feature is activated if the orientation angle is less than a threshold angle; and

the second selectable hardware feature is activated if the orientation angle is greater than the threshold angle.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first selectable hardware feature is a first camera on a first side of the electronic device and the second selectable hardware feature is a second camera on a second side of the electronic device opposite the first side.

9. A method performed by an electronic device for activating a hardware feature of the electronic device, the method comprising:

detecting a predetermined motion of the electronic device;

measuring, in response to detecting the predetermined motion, an orientation of the electronic device; and

activating, based on the orientation, the hardware feature from a plurality of selectable hardware features of the electronic device,

wherein each selectable hardware feature can be activated based on different orientations of the electronic device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined motion of the electronic device is a twisting motion of the electronic device about a rotation axis passing through the electronic device, wherein the twisting motion comprises at least one of:

a forward rotation and a backward rotation about the rotation axis;

or

an angular jerk about the rotation axis greater than a predetermined threshold.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the orientation of the electronic device is measured relative to a gravitational direction, and the hardware feature is activated based on its relative location with respect to the plurality of selectable hardware features given the gravitational direction.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the hardware feature is the highest of the plurality of selectable hardware features with respect to the gravitational direction.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the orientation of the electronic device is measured relative to a grip detected on the electronic device and the hardware feature is activated based on its location with respect to the detected grip.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein:

a first location of a first selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features is on a first side of the electronic device and a second location of a second selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features is on a second side of the electronic device that is opposite the first side; and

the first selectable hardware feature is activated if a first grip is detected on the electronic device; and

the second selectable hardware feature is activated if a second grip is detected on the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first grip is a palm grip on the second side of the electronic device, and the first selectable hardware feature is a forward-facing camera of the electronic device, and wherein the second grip is a fingertip grip on edges of the electronic device, and the second selectable hardware feature is a rearward-facing camera of the electronic device, wherein a display of the electronic device is on the first side of the electronic device.

18. The method of claim 9, wherein a first selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features is a forward-facing camera of the electronic device located with a display of the electronic device on a first side of the electronic device and a second selectable hardware feature of the plurality of selectable hardware features is a rearward-facing camera of the electronic device located on a second side of the electronic device opposite the first side, wherein the orientation of the electronic device is a proximity to a nearest human face, and the proximity is measured by the forward-facing camera.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the activating the hardware feature activates:

the forward-facing camera if a distance between the forward-facing camera and the nearest human face is greater than a threshold distance, and the rearward-facing camera if the distance is less than the threshold distance, wherein the distance is measured using an autofocus feature of the forward-facing camera;

or

the forward-facing camera if an angle subtended by the nearest human face relative to the forward-facing camera is less than a threshold angle, and the rearward-facing camera if the angle subtended by the nearest human face relative to the forward-facing camera is greater than the threshold angle;

or

the forward-facing camera if an image of the nearest human face captured by the forward-facing camera is upside down, and the rearward-facing camera if the image of the nearest human face captured by the forward-facing camera is right-side up.

20. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of selectable hardware features comprises at least one of:

a first set of speakers and a second set of speakers;

a first set of microphones and a second set of microphones;

a first display and a second display;

or

a first side of a wraparound display and a second side of the wraparound display.