Recall device
First Claim
1. A portable recall device configured to be carried by a wearer comprising:
- a camera;
at least one accelerometer connected to the camera that detects an acceleration of the camera;
one or more environmental sensors adapted to monitor ambient light level, in an environment external to the wearer; and
a controller operably connected to the camera, to the at least one accelerometer, and to the one or more environmental sensors, the controller being configured to;
determine that a change in the monitored ambient light level is above a first threshold; and
in response to the determination, trigger image capture by automatically sending a signal to capture an image using the camera, if the acceleration of the camera is below a second threshold;
wherein the controller is configured to trigger image capture using the camera in response to detecting a change in average light level within a given time period.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A small wearable recall device is provided to capture images triggered by a combination of a detection of a capture condition (e.g., changes in motion, temperature or light level) followed by a relatively stable period, as detected by an accelerometer. By triggering on the combination of a detected capture condition followed by a detected stability condition, a clearer image of the environment of an interesting event is expected to be captured. The small size of the recall device makes it possible to integrate it into common portable consumer products, such as MP3 players, purses, clothing, hats, backpacks, necklaces, collars, and other human-wearable products.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A portable recall device configured to be carried by a wearer comprising:
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a camera; at least one accelerometer connected to the camera that detects an acceleration of the camera; one or more environmental sensors adapted to monitor ambient light level, in an environment external to the wearer; and a controller operably connected to the camera, to the at least one accelerometer, and to the one or more environmental sensors, the controller being configured to; determine that a change in the monitored ambient light level is above a first threshold; and in response to the determination, trigger image capture by automatically sending a signal to capture an image using the camera, if the acceleration of the camera is below a second threshold; wherein the controller is configured to trigger image capture using the camera in response to detecting a change in average light level within a given time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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monitoring acceleration of a camera along at least one axis using an accelerometer; monitoring ambient temperature, ambient light level, and ambient infrared radiation of an environment of the camera with a plurality of environmental sensors; comparing acceleration of the camera in a current monitoring interval to acceleration of the camera in a previous monitoring interval to determine whether a stable condition is satisfied, the stable condition being satisfied by a difference between the acceleration of the camera in the current monitoring interval and the acceleration of the camera in the previous monitoring interval being less than a first threshold value; repeating the acceleration monitoring and comparing until the stable condition is satisfied; comparing a change in the ambient temperature to a second threshold value; comparing a change in the ambient light level to a third threshold value; comparing a change in the ambient infrared radiation to a fourth threshold value; determining that a capture condition is satisfied based on the change in the ambient temperature, the change in the ambient light level, or the change in the ambient infrared radiation being greater than its corresponding threshold value; determining whether to capture an image based at least in part on whether the stable condition and the capture condition are satisfied; and when it is determined that an image should be captured, sending a signal to a shutter control line to capture the image by the camera. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method comprising:
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monitoring acceleration of a camera along at least one axis using an accelerometer; monitoring ambient temperature, ambient light level, and ambient infrared radiation with a plurality of environmental sensors; comparing changes in the ambient temperature, the ambient light level, and the ambient infrared radiation to threshold values; determining that the capture condition is satisfied upon one of the changes being greater than one of the threshold values; detecting whether a stable condition is satisfied by comparing acceleration of the camera in a current monitoring interval to acceleration of the camera in a previous monitoring interval, the stable condition being satisfied by a difference between the acceleration of the camera in the current monitoring interval and the acceleration of the camera in the previous monitoring interval being less than an acceleration threshold value; determining whether to capture an image based at least in part on whether the capture condition is satisfied; and when it is determined that an image is to be captured; determining when to capture an image based at least in part on repeating the acceleration monitoring and comparing until the stable condition is satisfied; sending a signal to a shutter control line to capture an image by the camera at least a predefined delay period after detection of the capture condition; capturing the image utilizing a wide-angle lens of the camera; and removing radial distortion from the captured image to generate a corrected image.
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26. A digital media player configured to be carried by a wearer comprising:
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a camera that is configured to automatically continuously capture images utilizing a wide-angle lens; a plurality of environmental sensors that monitor ambient temperature, ambient light level, and ambient infrared radiation; and a controller operably connected to the camera and to the plurality of environmental sensors, the controller sending signals to a shutter control line to capture the images, the controller being configured to compare changes in the ambient temperature, the ambient light level, and the ambient infrared radiation to threshold values, the controller being configured to automatically save a portion of the images that corresponds to at least one of the changes being greater than one of the threshold values, the controller being configured to automatically delete another portion of the images that corresponds to none of the changes being greater than the threshold values, and the controller being configured to automatically remove radial distortion from the saved portion of the images to generate corrected images. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification