Video capture system and method

• US 8,451,333 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2007
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FrostByte Video, Inc.
• Original Assignee: FrostByte Video, Inc.
• Inventors: Sandler, Michael S., Korfin, Fredrick G.
• Primary Examiner(s): BARQADLE, YASIN M
• Application Number:
  US11/834,545
• Publication Number:
  US 20090040301A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,122 Days
• Field of Search: 348/169, 348157-159, 382/103, 382/143
• US Class Current: 348/169
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Video capture systems, methods and computer program products can be provided and configured to capture video sequences of one or more subjects during an activity. The video capture system can be configured to include a communications module that is provided to receive a set of successive frames of video image data of a defined coverage area in an activity location and to receive tracking information indicating a position of the subject in the activity location. A content selection module can be further provided to determine a location of the subject in the defined coverage area based on the tracking information to thereby determine a subset of the image data in one or more received frames, or in a set of frames, of video image data that contains image data of the subject.

Claims

1. A video capture system configured to capture video sequences of a subject during an activity, the video capture system comprising:

a first communication module configured to receive from first and second content capture devices first and second sets of successive frames of video image data respectively, each capture device having a defined coverage area in an activity location;

a second communication module configured to receive tracking information indicating a position of the subject in the activity location and timing information associated with the tracking data;

storing the frames of video image data as image data having an associated coverage area and having ascertainable timing information; and

a content selection module coupled to the first and second communication modules and configured to determine locations of the subject in the defined coverage area based on the tracking information, determine times at which the subject was at the determined locations based on the timing information, identify which content capture devices captured image data of the subject based on the determined locations, identify frames from the determined image capture devices that correspond to the identified times, and using the identified content capture devices and times to select automatically first and second segments of the image data from first and second sets of successive frames of video image data, respectively, and to assemble automatically the selected segments into a video sequence of the subject.

2. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the first communication module is configured to receive image data from at least one additional content capture device, said at least one additional capture device having a defined coverage area in the activity location.

3. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the first and second segments of image data comprise a plurality of frames of image data corresponding to the times the subject is in the respective defined coverage areas of the first and second content capture devices.

4. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the content selection module is further configured to identify a subset of the image data from first and second sets of successive games of video image data wherein different subsets of image data are determined by the content selection module to track the subject'"'"'s movement across the frame.

5. The video capture system of claim 4, wherein the subset of image data is selected as a defined sector of the frame.

6. The video capture system of claim 4, wherein the subset of image data is a range of pixels of a predetermined size.

7. The video capture system of claim 6, wherein the size of the range of pixels increases as the subject moves closer to the video camera.

8. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the first and second content capture devices comprise first and, second video cameras, respectively, coupled to the first communication module and configured to capture the first and second sets of successive frames of video image data from the defined coverage area for the first and second video cameras.

9. The video capture system of claim 1, further comprising a tracking device configured to provide the tracking information.

10. The video capture system of claim 9, wherein the tracking device comprises:

a position determination module configured to determine a position of the tracking device;

a timing module configured to provide timing information relating to the determined positions; and

a communications interface configured to communicate time-stamped position information to the content assembly device.

11. A method of capturing video content of an activity subject, comprising:

obtaining a first set of successive frames of video images of a first defined coverage area in an activity location and frame timing information indicating when a given frame of the first set of successive frames of video images was captured;

obtaining a second set of successive frames of video images a second defined coverage area and frame timing information indicating when a given frame of the second set of successive frames of video images was captured;

obtaining tracking information indicating a plurality of locations of the subject in the activity location and further indicating the times at which the subject was at the plurality of locations;

storing the video images and frame timing information as image data sets having an associated coverage area and having ascertainable timing information;

correlating the tracking information with the defined coverage areas to determine one or more times at which the user was in the defined coverage areas and correlating these times with the frame timing information to determine which segments of the first and second sets of successive frames of video images correspond to times the user was in the first and second defined coverage area;

selecting the determined segments of the first and second sets of successive frames of video images, respectively; and

assembling automatically the selected segments into a video sequence of the subject.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing video ages obtained and wherein assembling comprises retrieving a plurality of identified video image segments from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the determined segments of images comprise a plurality of frames of image data corresponding to the times the subject is in the respective defined coverage area.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising identifying different subsets of image data from at least one of the first and second sets of successive frames of video images in response to changes in the location of the subject to track movement of the subject'"'"'s image across a coverage area.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the subset of image is selected as a defined sector of the frame.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the subset of image data is a range of pixels of a predetermined size.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the size of the range of pixels increases as the subject moves closer to the video camera.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the video image data is received from a plurality of content capture devices, each capture device having a different defined coverage area in the activity location.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein assembling comprises retrieving the identified image data segments from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

20. A method of capturing video content of an activity subject, comprising:

obtaining a first set of frames of video from a first video capture device having a first coverage area in an activity location;

obtaining a second set of frames of video from a video capture device having a second coverage area;

storing the first and second sets of frames of video with video timing information indicating when the frames of video were captured;

determining location information identifying a plurality of locations of the subject in at least one of the first and second coverage areas and a time at which the subject was at each location;

selecting automatically a plurality of frames from the first set of frames of video corresponding to the timeframe in which the subject was in the first coverage area; and

selecting automatically a plurality of frames from the second set of frames of video corresponding to the timeframe in which the subject was in the second coverage area;

for the plurality of locations, assembling automatically the selected pluralities of frames from the first and second sets of frames of video into a video sequence of the subject.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the locations of the subject are determined using a tracking device that generates tracking information and the tracking information is used to determine the plurality of locations.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

for a determined plurality of locations of the subject, correlating the times at which the subject was in the determined plurality of locations with the video timing information to determine which plurality of frames from the first and second sets of frames of video contain an image of the subject.

23. A computer program product for creating a video sequence of an activity subject, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer useable medium having computer program code recorded thereon, the computer program code comprising one or more instructions for causing a processing device to perform the functions of:

obtaining a first set of successive frames of video image data from a first content capture device having a first coverage area in an activity location;

obtaining a second set of successive frames of video image data from a second content capture device having a second coverage area;

storing the image data wherein the image data is stored as image data sets each having an associated coverage area and having ascertainable timing information;

obtaining tracking information indicating a position of the subject in the activity location;

obtaining timing information associated with the tracking data;

determining locations of the subject in the defined coverage area based on the tracking information and using the locations of the subject with defined coverage areas to identify which of the plurality of capture devices include image data of the subject; and

correlating the timing information to select automatically first and second subsets of the image data from first and second sets of successive frames of video image data, respectively, and to assemble automatically the selected subsets into a video sequence of the subject;

wherein the correlation comprises using timing information associated with the tracking information to determine times at which the subject was at the determined locations, and using the determined times to identify image segments from the determined image capture devices that correspond to the identified times.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein assembling comprises retrieving the identified image data segments from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

25. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the segments of image data comprise a plurality of frames of image data corresponding to the times the subject is in the respective coverage areas of the first and second content capture devices.

26. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the computer program code further comprises one or more instructions for causing a processing device to perform the function of identifying different subsets of image data from a frame of image data in response to changes in the location of the subject to track movement of the subject image across the frame.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the subset of image data is selected as a defined sector of the frame.

28. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the subset of image data is a range of pixels of a predetermined size.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the size of the range of pixels increases as the subject moves closer to the video camera.

30. A computer program product for creating a video sequence of an activity subject, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer useable medium having computer program code recorded thereon, the computer program code comprising one or more instructions for causing a processing device to perform the functions of:

obtaining a first set of frames of video from a first video capture device having a first coverage area in an activity location;

obtaining a second set of frames of video from a video capture device having a second coverage area;

storing the first and second sets of frames of video with video timing information indicating when the frames of video were captured;

determining location information identifying a plurality of locations of the subject in at least one of the first and second coverage areas and a time at which the subject was at each location;

for selecting automatically a plurality of frames from the first set of frames of video corresponding to the timeframe in which the subject was in the first coverage area and and selecting automatically a plurality of frames from the second set of frames of video corresponding to the timeframe in which the subject was in the second coverage area;

for the plurality of locations, assembling automatically the selected pluralities of frames from the first and second sets of frames of video into a video sequence of the subject.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the locations of the subject are determined using a tracking device that generates tracking information and the tracking information is used to determine the plurality of locations.

32. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the computer program code further comprises one or more instructions for causing a processing device to:

for a determined plurality of locations of the subject, correlating the times at which the subject was in the determined plurality of locations with the video timing information to determine which plurality of frames from the first and second sets of frames of video contain an image of the subject.

33. A video capture system configured to capture video sequences of a subject during an activity, the video capture system comprising:

a first video camera configured to capture a first set of successive frames of video images of a first coverage area in an activity location;

a second video camera configured to capture a second set of successive frames of video of a second coverage area;

a content storage module configured to store said first and second sets of frames of images with video timing information indicating when the frames of video were capture; and

a processing system configured to determine location information identifying a plurality of locations of the subject in at least one of the first and second coverage areas and a time at which the subject was at each location, compare the identified plurality of locations of the subject with the coverage areas of the video cameras to identity which video camera captured images of the subject, use the timing information to identify a plurality of frames from the successive frames of data identified video cameras, and to select automatically, a plurality of frames from the first and second sets of successive frames of data corresponding to the timeframes the subject was at the plurality of locations, to assemble automatically the plurality of frames into a video sequence of the subject.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the content assembly module comprises a processor, controller, ASIC, or PLA.