Content capture

• US 9,794,527 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2012
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Balez, Mat, Patel, Nirmal, Starner, Thad Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Owens, Tsion B
• Application Number:
  US13/630,492
• Time in Patent Office: 1,845 Days
• Field of Search: 348158, 345 8
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 3/165 using a TV-monitor
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• 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 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19621 Portable camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

A computing device configured to dynamically capture and store experience data received the by the computing device. An example method involves: (a) receiving first experience data that indicates at least one environmental condition; (b) selecting a capture mode from a plurality of capture modes based on the at least one environmental condition, where the capture mode defines a manner of capturing experience data; and (c) causing the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode, where operating in the selected capture mode includes capturing second experience data in the manner defined by the capture mode. The method may optionally additionally involve: (d) after entering the capture mode, receiving third experience data; (e) determining that the capture mode should be exited based on at least the received third experience data; and (f) based on the determination that the capture mode should be exited, exiting the capture mode such that at least one type of experience data is not captured.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause a computing device to;

receive first experience data that indicates a first environmental condition;

select a capture mode from a plurality of capture modes based on at least the first environmental condition, wherein the capture mode defines a manner of capturing experience data;

cause the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode, wherein operating in the selected capture mode comprises capturing second experience data in the manner defined by the capture mode;

while the computing device is operating in the selected capture mode, receive third experience data that indicates a second environmental condition, wherein the first and second environmental conditions are external to and independent of a user of the computing device;

determine that the capture mode should be exited based on at least the received third experience data; and

based on the determination that the capture mode should be exited, exit the capture mode such that at least one type of received experience data is no longer captured.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first experience data comprises at least one of (i) audio data, (ii) video data, (iii) motion data, (iv) location data, (v) temporal data, (vi) calendar-event data, (vii) lighting data, or (viii) other-device-capture data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein selecting the capture mode further comprises:

determining a context based on at least the first experience data; and

selecting the capture mode based on the determined context.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device enters the capture mode for a predetermined amount of time, the system further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause the computing device to:

before entering the capture mode, determine the predetermined amount of time based on at least one of (i) a capture-time system setting, (ii) a capture-time user input, or (iii) the received first experience data.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause the computing device to:

receive capture-save data;

determine that a portion of the captured second experience data should be saved based on at least the received capture-save data; and

save the portion of the captured second experience data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the capture-save data is at least one of (i) audio data, (ii) video data, (iii) motion data, (iv) location data, (v) temporal data, (vi) calendar-event data, or (vii) user-input data.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the second experience data comprises video data, wherein the capture mode defines a video frame rate or a video resolution for capturing video data, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the video frame rate or the video resolution defined by the capture mode.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the second experience data comprises image data, wherein the capture mode defines an image capture rate or an image resolution for capturing image data, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the image capture rate or the image resolution defined by the capture mode.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the second experience data comprises audio data, wherein the capture mode defines an audio sample rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the audio sample rate defined by the capture mode.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the second experience data comprises location data, wherein the capture mode defines a location-capture rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the location-capture rate defined by the capture mode.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the second experience data comprises user-input data, wherein the capture mode defines a user-input-capture rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the user-input-capture rate defined by the capture mode.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the third experience data comprises at least one of (i) audio data, (ii) video data, (iii) motion data, (iv) location data, (v) temporal data, (vi) calendar-event data, (vii) lighting data, or (viii) other-device-capture data.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein determining that the capture mode should be exited comprises:

determining a context based on the third experience data; and

determining that the capture mode should be exited based on the determined context.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a head-mountable display, wherein the head-mountable display comprises at least one lens element, a graphical display that is integrated into the at least one lens element, and a user-interface attached to the head-mountable display.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause the computing device to:

after selecting the capture mode, provide a prompt to enter the capture mode, wherein selection of the prompt causes the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode; and

after providing the prompt, receive input data indicating a selection of the prompt, wherein causing the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode comprises causing the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode based on the received input data.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving first experience data that indicates a first environmental condition;

instructions for selecting a capture mode from a plurality of capture modes based on at least the first environmental condition, wherein the capture mode defines a manner of capturing experience data;

instructions for causing a computing device to operate in the selected capture mode, wherein operating in the selected capture mode comprises capturing second experience data in the manner defined by the capture mode;

instructions for, while the computing device is operating in the selected capture mode, receiving third experience data that indicates a second environmental condition, wherein the first and second environmental conditions are external to and independent of a user of the computing device;

instructions for determining that the capture mode should be exited based on at least the received third experience data; and

instructions for, based on the determination that the capture mode should be exited, exiting the capture mode such that at least one type of received experience data is no longer captured.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the second experience data comprises at least one of (a) video data, wherein the capture mode defines a video frame rate or a video resolution, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the video frame rate or the video resolution defined by the capture mode, (b) image data, wherein the capture mode defines an image capture rate or an image resolution, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the image capture rate or the image resolution defined by the capture mode, (c) audio data, wherein the capture mode defines an audio sample rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the audio sample rate defined by the capture mode, (d) location data, wherein the capture mode defines a location-capture rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the location-capture rate defined by the capture mode, or (e) user-input data, wherein the capture mode defines a user-input-capture rate, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the second experience data at the user-input-capture rate defined by the capture mode.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, the instructions further comprising:

instructions for receiving capture-save data;

instructions for determining that a portion of the captured second experience data should be saved based on at least the received capture-save data; and

instructions for saving the portion of the captured second experience data.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, the instructions further comprising:

instructions for, after selecting the capture mode, providing a prompt to enter the capture mode, wherein selection of the prompt causes the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode; and

instructions for, after providing the prompt, receiving input data indicating a selection of the prompt, wherein causing the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode comprises causing the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode based on the received input data.

20. A method comprising:

receiving, at a head-mountable display (HMD), capture-mode-approval data indicating approval to operate in an automatic capture mode;

after receiving the capture-mode-approval data, receiving, at the HMD, first experience data that indicates a first environmental condition;

the HMD selecting a capture mode from a plurality of capture modes based on the at least the first environmental condition, wherein the capture mode defines a frame rate for capturing image data;

causing the HMD to operate in the selected capture mode, wherein operating in the selected capture mode comprises capturing image data at the frame rate defined by the capture mode;

while the HMD is operating in the selected capture mode, receiving, at the HMD, second experience data that indicates a second environmental condition, wherein the first and second experience data is received from one or more HMD sensors, and wherein the first and second environmental conditions are external to and independent of a user of the HMD;

determining that the capture mode should be exited based on at least the received second experience data; and

based on the determination that the capture mode should be exited, causing the HMD to exit the capture mode such that at least some image data is no longer captured.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the capture mode further defines an image resolution, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode further comprises capturing the image data at the image resolution defined by the capture mode.

22. The method of claim 20, the method further comprising:

determining a context based on at least the first experience data; and

selecting the capture mode based on the determined context.

23. The method of claim 20, the method further comprising:

before determining that the capture mode should be exited, receiving capture-save data;

determining that a portion of the captured image data should be saved based on at least the received capture-save data; and

saving the portion of the captured image data.

24. The method of claim 20, the method further comprising:

after selecting the capture mode, providing a prompt to enter the capture mode, wherein selection of the prompt causes the HMD to operate in the selected capture mode; and

after providing the prompt, receiving input data indicating a selection of the prompt, wherein causing the HMD to operate in the selected capture mode comprises causing the HMD to operate in the selected capture mode based on the received input data.

25. A system comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause a computing device to;

receive first experience data that indicates at least one environmental condition that is external to and independent of a user of the computing device;

select a capture mode from a plurality of capture modes based on the at least one environmental condition, wherein the capture mode defines a frame rate for capturing video or image data; and

provide a prompt to the user to enter the capture mode, wherein selection of the prompt by the user causes the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode, and wherein operating in the selected capture mode comprises capturing second experience data at the frame rate defined by the capture mode.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by at least one processor to cause the computing device to:

receive input data indicating a selection of the prompt; and

based on the received input data, cause the computing device to operate in the selected capture mode.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the prompt indicates the frame rate for capturing the second experience data.