Imaging operation guidance device and imaging operation guidance method

• US 10,116,860 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OM Digital Solutions Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Ito, Kensei, Aoki, Takato, Nonaka, Osamu
• Primary Examiner(s): Prabhakher, Pritham
• Application Number:
  US15/261,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20170078565A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: 34833302
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/64 Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

An imaging operation guidance device, comprises an imaging sensor that obtains images of an object and outputs image data relating to the object, a memory that stores the image data and an operation history for the image sensor, and a controller that determines guidance for a current image being obtained, based on difference between at least one previous image and the current image, in accordance with the operation history that has been stored in the memory.

Claims

1. An imaging operation guidance device, comprising:

an image sensor that obtains a current image;

an attitude sensor that measures motion of the image sensor;

a memory that stores at least one previous image and an operation history for the image sensor; and

a controller that is communicatively coupled to the image sensor, the attitude sensor and the memory, wherein the controller;

stores measurements from the attitude sensor in the memory,

identifies an object of interest that is located in the at least one previous image that is missing from the current image, and

determines guidance instructions for obtaining a future image based on the operation history and the measurements from the attitude sensor, wherein the guidance instructions are determined to restore the object of interest to the future image.

2. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, wherein

the operation history comprises operation information relating to an optical zoom.

3. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, further comprising

a display communicatively coupled to the controller that displays at least one of the at least one previous image and the current image.

4. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 3, wherein

the controller further causes the display to display the guidance instructions.

5. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 3, wherein:

the memory further stores guidance instruction from a prior time period; and

the controller further determines the guidance instructions based on the guidance instruction from the prior time period.

6. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, wherein

the operation history comprises at least one of distance information, orientation information, focal length information, optical axis direction information, depth direction information, and exposure information.

7. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, wherein the controller further:

generates an image file that stores at least one of;

the at least one previous image, symbols representing the guidance instructions, and text representing the guidance instructions.

8. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 7, wherein

the image file is displayed on a display.

9. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, wherein:

the guidance instructions include a sequence of manual operations to be performed in order to find the object of interest, and

the controller further determines that the sequence of manual operations has been performed based on the operation history and the measurements from the attitude sensor.

10. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 9, further comprising

a display communicatively coupled to the controller that displays the sequence of manual operations.

11. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 1, wherein

the memory stores at least one of operation information causing change in angle of view for imaging by the image sensor, operation information for causing change in direction of the image sensor in lateral and vertical directions, information causing change in brightness of the image sensor, and information causing change in focus of an image formed on the image sensor.

12. An imaging operation guidance system, comprising:

an imaging device comprising a lens and an image sensor, the imaging device obtains a plurality of images, acquires image data relating to the plurality of images, and outputs the image data;

an attitude sensor that measures motion of the imaging device;

a memory that stores at least one previous image; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the imaging device, wherein the processor;

obtains a current image from the imaging device,

stores an operation history for the imaging device and measurements from the attitude sensor in the memory,

identifies that an object of interest that is located in the at least one previous image is missing from the current image, and

determines guidance instructions for a future image based on the operation history and the measurements from the attitude sensor, wherein the guidance instructions are determined to restore the object of interest to the future image.

13. An imaging operation guidance method, comprising:

obtaining a current image from an imaging device;

receiving measurements from an attitude sensor that measures motion of the imaging device;

storing operation history for the imaging device and the measurements from the attitude sensor in a memory;

identifying that an object of interest located in the at least one previous image stored in the memory is missing from the current image; and

determining guidance instructions for a future image, based on the operation history and the measurements from the attitude sensor, wherein the guidance instructions are determined to restore the object of interest to the future image.

14. An imaging operation guidance device, comprising:

a display;

an image sensor that obtains a previous image and a current image;

an attitude sensor that measures motion of the image sensor;

an image data memory that stores at least one previous image and a supplementary image; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the display, the image sensor, the image data memory and the attitude sensor, wherein the controller;

determines that an object of interest is visible in the previous image,

on a condition that the object of interest is visible, stores the previous image as the supplementary image,

stores measurements from the attitude sensor in the memory,

identifies that the object of interest located in the at least one previous image is missing from the current image, and

on a condition the object of interest is identified as missing, displays the supplementary image on the display and determines guidance instructions for a future image based on the measurements from the attitude sensor, wherein the guidance instructions are determined to restore the object of interest to the future image.

15. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 14, wherein

the controller further causes the display to display both the current image and the supplementary image.

16. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 14, wherein:

the controller further stores operation history for the image sensor in the memory when the supplementary image is stored.

17. The imaging operation guidance device of claim 16, wherein:

the memory further stores operation history for the image sensor over a plurality of time frames, and

the controller further determines the guidance instructions by searching the operation history for the image sensor over the plurality of time frames.

18. An imaging operation guidance method, comprising:

obtaining a previous image and a current image from an imaging device;

determining that an object of interest is visible in the previous image;

determining that the object of interest is visible, and storing the previous image as a supplementary image when the object of interest is determined to be visible;

storing measurements from an attitude sensor that measures motion of the imaging device;

identifying that the object of interest located in the at least one previous image is missing from the current image; and

displaying the supplemental image on the display and determining guidance instructions for a future image based on the measurements from the attitude sensor when the object of interest is identified as missing from the current image, wherein the guidance instructions are determined to restore the object of interest to the future image.