Camera tap switch

• US 9,444,996 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2015
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Chau, Seang Y., Luong, Alda Yuk Ying, Williams, Jason, Lammers, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perkey, W B
• Application Number:
  US14/716,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20160021300A1
• Time in Patent Office: 483 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 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

Various embodiments provide a wearable camera that can be worn by a user. The wearable camera includes an accelerometer that can be used to detect camera motion. Input can be provided to the camera in the form of one or more taps which have an associated motion profile, as sensed by the accelerometer. The tap or taps can be mapped to camera functionality to activate the functionality.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, with a device, one or more motion inputs;

ascertaining whether the one or more motion inputs are one or more taps to a dedicated tap area of a housing of the device, the dedicated tap area being formed from a material that is configured to produce an identifiable motion profile in order to facilitate detection of taps to the dedicated tap area; and

responsive to the one or more motion inputs being one or more taps, activating a camera functionality that is associated with the one or more taps.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said ascertaining is performed using an accelerometer on the device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said ascertaining is performed by:

detecting the one or more motion inputs using an accelerometer;

producing associated accelerometer data; and

analyzing the accelerometer data to ascertain whether the motion profile associated with the one or more motion inputs matches or resembles one or more stored tap profiles.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein different tap patterns are mapped to different camera functionalities.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a wearable device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn on a user'"'"'s clothing.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn on a location other than a user'"'"'s clothing.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is configured to enter a camera mode that enables video to be automatically captured, and the camera functionality comprises functionality enabling the video to be bookmarked.

8. A computing device comprising:

a housing, the housing including a dedicated tap area that is formed from a material that is configured to produce an identifiable motion profile in order to facilitate detection of taps to the dedicated tap area;

a camera lens configured to enable capture of image data;

a motion detector configured to receive one or more motion inputs;

a processor configured to;

ascertain whether the one or more motion inputs are one or more taps to the dedicated tap area of the housing;

responsive to the one or more motion inputs being one or more taps, activate a camera functionality that is associated with the tap or taps.

9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the computing device comprises a wearable device.

10. The computing device of claim 8, further comprising a fastening device on the housing, the fastening device configured to enable the wearable device to be worn by a user.

11. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the motion detector comprises an accelerometer.

12. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the motion detector comprises an accelerometer and wherein the processor is configured to ascertain whether the one or more motion inputs are one or more taps by analyzing the accelerometer data to ascertain whether the motion profile associated with the one or more motion inputs matches or resembles one or more stored tap profiles.

13. The computing device of claim 8, wherein different tap patterns are mapped to different camera functionalities of the camera lens.

14. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the computing device is configured to enter a camera mode that enables video to be automatically captured by the camera lens, and wherein the camera functionality comprises functionality enabling the video that is automatically captured by the camera lens to be bookmarked.

20. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the camera functionality comprises functionality enabling video to be bookmarked.

15. A method comprising:

automatically capturing video with a device;

detecting one or more taps to a dedicated tap area of a housing of the device, the dedicated tap area being formed from a material that is configured to produce an identifiable motion profile in order to facilitate detection of taps to the dedicated tap area; and

responsive to detecting the one or more taps to the device, automatically bookmarking the video captured by the device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the device comprises a wearable device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn on a user'"'"'s clothing.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn on a location other than a user'"'"'s clothing.