Audio/video methods and systems

• US 8,773,589 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2010
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Lord, John D.
• Primary Examiner(s): ISLAM, MOHAMMAD K
• Application Number:
  US12/842,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20110069229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,446 Days
• Field of Search: 713/2, 713/176, 713/150, 455/422.1, 455/556.1, 715/716, 726/26, 726/28, 348/169, 348/461
• US Class Current: 348/468
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/022 Electronic editing of analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

Audio and or video data is structurally and persistently associated with auxiliary sensor data (e.g., relating to acceleration, orientation or tilt) through use of a unitary data object, such as a modified MPEG file or data stream. In this form, different rendering devices can employ co-conveyed sensor data to alter the audio or video content. Such use of the sensor data may be personalized to different users, e.g., through preference data. For example, accelerometer data can be associated with video data, allowing some users to view a shake-stabilized version of a video, and other users to view the video with such motion artifacts undisturbed. In like fashion, camera parameters, such as focal plane distance, can be co-conveyed with audio/video content—allowing the volume to be diminished (or not, again depending on user preference) when a camera captures audio/video from a distant subject. Some arrangements employ multiple image sensors and/or multiple audio sensors—each also collecting auxiliary data. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

Claims

1. A method comprising the acts:

obtaining preference data from a user, about shake-compensation, through a user interface;

receiving a unitary data object comprising video data that has been previously edited;

recovering both video data and sensor data from the unitary data object, the sensor data comprising a parameter relating to acceleration, orientation and tilt; and

processing the video data in accordance with the sensor data, in accordance with the user preference data, to yield altered video data for rendering to a user, said processing comprising shake-compensating the video; and

rendering the shake-compensated video to a user;

wherein at least one of said acts is performed by a hardware processor.

4. The method of claim 1 in which the unitary data object also comprises audio data, and said act of recovering sensor data from the unitary data object comprises applying a steganographic decoding process to the audio data to extract the sensor data therefrom.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the sensor data comprises a parameter relating to acceleration.

2. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing software instructions for configuring a hardware processing system to perform acts including:

obtaining preference data from a user, about shake-compensation, through a user interface;

receiving a unitary data object comprising video data that has been previously edited;

recovering both video data and sensor data from the unitary data object, the sensor data comprising a parameter relating to acceleration, orientation and tilt;

processing the video data with the sensor data, in accordance with the user preference data, to yield altered video data for rendering to a user, said processing comprising shake-compensating the video; and

rendering the shake-compensated video to a user.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 in which the unitary data object also comprises audio data, and in which the software instructions for configuring the hardware processing system to recover sensor data from the unitary data object comprise software instructions for applying a steganographic decoding process to the audio data to extract the sensor data therefrom.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 in which said sensor data comprises a parameter relating to acceleration.

3. A system including at least one processor and memory, the memory containing instructions configuring the system to perform acts including:

obtaining preference data from a user, about shake-compensation, through a user interface;

receiving a unitary data object comprising video data that has been previously edited;

recovering both video data and sensor data from the unitary data object, the sensor data comprising a parameter relating to acceleration, orientation and tilt;

processing the video data with the sensor data, in accordance with the user preference data, to yield altered video data for rendering to a user, said processing comprising shake-compensating the video; and

rendering the shake-compensated video to a user.

8. The system of claim 3 in which the unitary data object also comprises audio data, and in which said instructions configuring the system to recover sensor data from the unitary data object comprise instructions for applying a steganographic decoding process to the audio data to extract the sensor data therefrom.

9. The system of claim 3 in which the sensor data comprises a parameter relating to acceleration.