Home video capturing and monitoring system

• US 9,866,801 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2016
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Duffy, Gregory R., McLean, Melissa D., Virani, Aamir S.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEN, CHIA WEI A
• Application Number:
  US15/084,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20160212386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 348143-159, 348373
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19619 Details of casing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1963 Arrangements allowing camera rotation to change view, e.g. pivoting camera, pan-tilt and zoom [PTZ]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19658 Telephone systems used to communicate with a camera, e.g. PSTN, GSM, POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/20 for generating image signals from infrared radiation only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

This application discloses a home video capturing and monitoring system including a video camera, an executable application, and a remote server. The video camera further includes a camera configured to capture video data, a wireless antenna, a wireless transceiver coupled to the wireless antenna and configured to wirelessly communicate video data captured by the camera to a mobile phone, and one or more infrared light emitting diodes configured to illuminate a field of view with infrared light upon a determination that ambient light is low. The application is executed by the mobile phone, and configured to receive the video data captured by the camera and display the captured video data for review by a user of the mobile phone. The remote server is configured to receive, store and analyze the video data communicated from the video camera, and alert the user based on the analysis of the received video data.

Claims

1. A home video capturing and monitoring system, comprising:

a video camera including;

a camera configured to capture video data within a field of view;

a wireless antenna;

a wireless transceiver coupled to the wireless antenna, the wireless transceiver being configured to wirelessly communicate, via a remote server, the video data captured by the camera to one or more remote devices including a mobile phone;

a microphone configured to capture audio received at the camera, wherein the captured audio is communicated, concurrently with the wireless communicating via the remote server of the video data captured by the camera to the one or more remote devices;

a speaker configured to output, concurrently with the wireless communicating via the remote server of the video data captured by the camera to the one or more remote devices, one or more audio messages from a user, the one or more audio messages being captured by a microphone of the mobile phone and received by the wireless transceiver via the remote server;

one or more infrared light emitting diodes (IR LEDs) configured to illuminate at least a portion of the field of view with infrared light; and

an application executable by the mobile phone, the application being configured to, when executed by the mobile phone;

receive from the video camera via the remote server at least a portion of the video data captured by the camera;

display on the mobile phone the received video data captured by the camera;

capture, concurrently with displaying the received video data, the one or more audio messages via the microphone of the mobile phone; and

while displaying the received video data, send the one or more captured audio messages to the video camera via the remote server for playback by the speaker of the video camera, thereby enabling a real-time conversation between a user reviewing the video data from the application to talk from a remote location to a person being filmed by the camera;

wherein the remote server is located remotely from the video camera and the mobile phone and is configured to;

receive from the video camera the video data captured by the video camera and streamed to the remote server via the wireless transceiver of the video camera;

store the received video data;

relay the received video data to the mobile phone;

analyze the received video data captured by the video camera;

cause the user to be notified based on the analysis of the received video data captured by the video camera;

receive the one or more audio messages from the mobile phone concurrently with receiving from the video camera the video data captured by the video camera; and

relay the received one or more audio messages to the video camera for output by the video camera concurrently with receiving from the video camera the video data captured by the camera.

2. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein being configured to analyze the received video data includes being configured to compare a current image with a previous image;

and wherein being configured to cause the user to be notified includes sending a notification to the user based on a difference between the current image and the previous image.

3. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to wirelessly stream the captured video data to the remote server for storage by the remote server, and the application is further configured to, when executed by the mobile phone and at a time later than when the remote server stores the captured video data, receive the captured video data from the remote server and display the captured video data to the user of the mobile phone.

4. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to wirelessly communicate the captured video data directly to the mobile phone over a wireless network.

5. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the video camera further comprises a housing configured to receive the camera, the wireless antenna, and the wireless transceiver.

6. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 5, further comprising a wall mount configured to receive the housing.

7. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the wall mount is configured to be mechanically coupled to a fixed surface.

8. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the housing and the wall mount are configured to allow the housing to be moved relative to the wall mount.

9. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 8, wherein the movement includes pivoting the housing relative to the wall mount so as to cause a tilting of the camera.

10. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 9, wherein the movement further includes rotating the housing relative to the wall mount so as to cause a panning of the camera.

11. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the housing includes a battery configured to power the video camera.

12. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 11, wherein the housing is configured to receive AC power to charge the battery and/or power the video camera.

13. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 12, wherein the battery is configured to power the video camera in the event AC power no longer supplies power.

14. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 5, wherein a portion of the housing matches the shape of a portion of the camera to aid mechanical coupling of the camera to the housing.

15. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the housing includes an arm having a cutout opening, and the cutout opening substantially conforms to a contour of the camera and is configured to hold the video camera when the video camera is assembled within the cutout opening.

16. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the video camera further includes a universal serial bus receptacle configured to supply power to the camera and/or transmit/receive information.

17. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the video camera further includes a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the camera is exposed at a front surface of the front portion of the video camera and the one or more IR LEDs are arranged at the front surface of the front portion of the video camera.

18. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 17, wherein the video camera further includes a status light configured provide a status of the video camera.

19. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the video camera further includes:

a video camera module, the wireless antenna, and the wireless transceiver;

an arm physically coupled to the video camera module;

a base; and

a joint that connects the arm and the base and the provides at least one degree of motion of the arm and video camera module mounted therein, the at least one degree of motion including tilting of the camera relative to the base.

20. The home video capturing and monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the video camera module is an integrated video camera module having a shape, and the arm includes a cutout shaped to receive the integrated video camera module.