Pictures using voice commands

• US 10,257,401 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2015
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cutting Edge Vision LLC
• Original Assignee: Cutting Edge Vision LLC
• Inventors: Konicek, Jeffrey C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fuller, Rodney E
• Application Number:
  US14/950,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20160080628A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: 396 56
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 13/02 Viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/02 Bodies
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 29/00 Combinations of cameras, projectors or photographic printing apparatus with non-photographic non-optical apparatus, e.g. clocks or weapons; Cameras having the shape of other objects combinations with flash apparatus G03B15/03
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 31/06 in which sound track is associated with successively-shown still pictures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42204 Arrangements at the exchange for service or number selection by voice at the terminal H04M1/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00095 Systems or arrangements for the transmission of the picture signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00212 Attaching image data to computer messages, e.g. to e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2112 using still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• 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 23/66 : Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 : Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for enabling user friendly interaction with a camera system. Specifically, the inventive system and method has several aspects to improve the interaction with a camera system, including voice recognition, gaze tracking, touch sensitive inputs and others. The voice recognition unit is operable for, among other things, receiving multiple different voice commands, recognizing the vocal commands, associating the different voice commands to one camera command and controlling at least some aspect of the digital camera operation in response to these voice commands. The gaze tracking unit is operable for, among other things, determining the location on the viewfinder image that the user is gazing upon. One aspect of the touch sensitive inputs provides that the touch sensitive pad is mouse-like and is operable for, among other things, receiving user touch inputs to control at least some aspect of the camera operation. Another aspect of the disclosed invention provides for gesture recognition to be used to interface with and control the camera system.

Claims

1. A camera system comprising:

(a) a lens;

(b) an image sensor configured to take pictures;

(c) a controller including a control program having instructions to control and respond to a voice recognizer, the voice recognizer (i) configured to use speaker-independent voice-recognition and (ii) coupled to one or more microphones;

(d) a non-volatile memory that stores speaker-independent information representative of a camera system-provided list of two or more English words that is designed to enable the voice recognizer to recognize the words when any user of the camera system speaks them, wherein each English word;

(i) has its own dictionary entry and (ii) is simultaneously assigned by the control program to trigger execution of an identical sequence of operations, wherein the sequence of operations takes a picture using approximately the same delay.

2. The camera system of claim 1, wherein the delay is approximately no delay.

3. The camera system of claim 1, wherein the picture is a self-portrait.

4. The camera system of claim 1, wherein the delay is specific to a self-portrait camera mode.

5. The camera system of claim 1, wherein one of the English words is “

snap.”

6. The camera system of claim 1, wherein one of the English words is “

cheese.”

7. The camera system of claim 1, wherein one of the English words is “

shoot.”

8. The camera system of claim 1, wherein one of the English words is “

click.”

9. The camera system of claim 1 further comprising an integrated cell phone, and wherein the voice recognizer is configured to recognize at least one spoken word to control dialing of the cell phone.

10. The camera system of claim 1 further comprising an integrated cell phone, and wherein the voice recognizer is configured to recognize spoken words in association with text messaging over the cell phone.

11. The camera system of claim 1 further comprising a touch-sensitive display.

12. The camera system of claim 11 wherein the touch-sensitive display is configured to control zoom operations by detecting a finger sliding on the touch-sensitive display.

13. The camera system of claim 11 wherein the touch-sensitive display is configured to display menu options.

14. The camera system of claim 13 wherein the menu options are configured to be super-imposed over a photographic scene.

15. The camera system of claim 11 further comprising a camera body and a stylus housed within the camera body.

16. The camera system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured with a picture editor for creating and storing a picture sequence file in the non-volatile memory, the picture sequence file comprising:

(1) a first picture taken with the image sensor and stored in the non-volatile memory;

(2) a second picture taken with the image sensor and stored in the non-volatile memory;

(3) data from a sound file downloaded via a network interface of the camera system and stored in the non-volatile memory.

17. The camera system of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to upload the picture sequence file to a remote picture hosting service via the network interface.

18. The camera system of claim 1, wherein the voice recognizer'"'"'s recognition rate is less than one hundred percent.