Image capture system and method

• US 8,711,224 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2007
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• 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): DAILEY, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US11/834,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20090041298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,458 Days
• Field of Search: 348/157, 382/103
• US Class Current: 348/157
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/9201 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the video signal

Abstract

Video capture systems, methods and computer program products can be provided and configured to capture video sequences of one or more participants during an activity. The video capture system can be configured to include one or more video capture devices positioned at predetermined locations in an activity area; a tracking device configured to track a location of the participant during the activity; a content storage device communicatively coupled to the video capture devices and configured to store video content received from the video capture devices; and a content assembly device communicatively coupled to the content storage device and to the tracking device, and configured to use tracking information from the tracking device to retrieve video sequences of the participant from the tracking device and to assemble the retrieved video sequences into a composite participant video.

Claims

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

an image capture device positioned at a predetermined location in an activity area, and configured to capture a plurality of video frames of the subject in the activity area;

a tracking device configured to track a location of the subject during the activity;

a content storage device communicatively coupled to the image capture device and configured to store video content received from the image capture device; and

a content assembly device communicatively coupled to the content storage device, and configured to use tracking information from the tracking device to identify and retrieve a plurality of subsets of the captured plurality of video frames from the content storage device and to assemble the retrieved plurality of subsets into an assembled video sequence, wherein each of the plurality of subsets comprises a subset of pixels of one of the captured plurality of video frames.

2. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the tracking device comprises a position determination module configured to determine a position of the tracking device.

3. The video capture system of claim 2, wherein the position determination module of the tracking device comprises a GPS module, or triangulation module.

4. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the content assembly device is configured to receive the tracking information in real-time or in a batch mode.

5. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein the content assembly device includes a computer program product for creating an assembled video sequence of a subject, the computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program code recorded thereon, the computer program code comprising one or more instructions for the content assembly device to perform the functions of:

capturing a plurality of video frames from the image capture device, wherein the image capture device is positioned to have a field of view encompassing a given coverage area of the activity site;

receiving tracking information identifying locations of the subject at the activity site during the activity;

correlating the tracking information with the captured plurality of frames to identify a plurality of subsets of the captured plurality of frames that include the subject; and

assembling the identified plurality of subsets into a video sequence.

6. The video capture system of claim 5, wherein correlating comprises:

determining a location of the subject based on the tracking information; and

comparing the determined location with coverage areas of a plurality of image capture devices to determine which image capture device captured the subject at the determined location.

7. The video capture system of claim 6, wherein assembling further comprises selecting a plurality of subsets of a captured plurality of frames from the determined image capture device for assembly into the sequence.

8. The video capture system of claim 6, wherein the determining a location and comparing the determined location with the coverage areas are repeated for a plurality of subject locations.

9. The video capture system of claim 5 wherein the computer program code further comprises computer program code for storing the identified plurality of subsets of the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device and wherein assembling comprises retrieving the identified plurality of subsets from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

10. The video capture system of claim 5 wherein the computer program code further comprises computer program code for storing the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device, wherein each of the plurality of video frames has associated tracking timing information;

and wherein the tracking information is received in a batch mode, and the tracking timing information for each of the plurality of video frames is used to identify a plurality of subsets of the plurality of frames that include the subject.

11. The video capture system of claim 5, wherein the tracking information is received in real time and includes a timestamp for each of the plurality of video frames.

30. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of captured video frames comprises a plurality of subsets.

31. The video capture system of claim 1, further comprising sequentially displaying each of the plurality of subsets of the assembled video sequence as a full frame image.

32. The video capture system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of subsets has the same aspect ratio as the plurality of captured video frames.

12. A method of creating a video sequence of a subject, comprising:

capturing a plurality of video frames from an image capture device, wherein the image capture device is positioned to have a field of view encompassing a given coverage area of an activity site;

receiving tracking information identifying locations of the subject at the activity site during the activity;

correlating the tracking information with the captured plurality of video frames to identify a plurality of subsets of the captured plurality of video frames from the image capture device that include the subject, wherein each of the plurality of subsets comprises a subset of pixels of one of the captured plurality of video frames; and

assembling the identified plurality of subsets into an assembled video sequence.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein correlating comprises:

determining a location of the subject based on the tracking information; and

comparing the determined location with the coverage areas of a plurality of image capture devices to determine which image capture device captured image data of the subject at the determined location.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the determining a location and comparing the determined location with the coverage areas are repeated for a plurality of subject locations.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein assembling further comprises selecting the identified plurality of subsets for assembly into the sequence.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising storing the identified plurality of subsets of the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device and wherein assembling comprises retrieving the identified plurality of subsets from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

storing the captured plurality of video frames with an identification of the image capture device used to capture the plurality of video frames; and

wherein correlating the tracking information comprises;

using the tracking information to determine coverage areas of the activity site traveled by the subject;

identifying that the image capture device is associated with at least one of the determined coverage areas traveled by the subject; and

using tracking timing information associated with each of the plurality of video frames to select each of the plurality of subsets, wherein each of the plurality of subsets is selected based on the time at which the subject was in a given coverage area for the image capture device.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising storing the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device, wherein each of the plurality of video frames has an associated coverage area and tracking timing information;

and wherein the tracking information is received in a batch mode, and the tracking timing information is used to identify the plurality of subsets of the plurality of video frames that include the subject.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the tracking information is received in real time and includes a timestamp for each of the plurality of video frames.

33. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of captured video frames comprises a plurality of subsets.

34. The method of claim 12, further comprising sequentially displaying each of the plurality of subsets of the assembled video sequence as a full frame image.

35. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of subsets has the same aspect ratio as the plurality of captured video frames.

20. A computer program product for tracking a subject, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer useable storage 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:

capturing a plurality of video frames from an image capture device, wherein the image capture device is positioned to have a field of view encompassing a given coverage area of an activity site;

receiving tracking information identifying locations of the subject at the activity site during the activity;

correlating the tracking information with the captured plurality of video frames to identify a plurality of subsets of the captured plurality of video frames from the image capture device that include the subject, wherein each of the plurality of subsets comprises a subset of pixels of one of the captured plurality of frames; and

assembling the identified plurality of subsets into an assembled video sequence.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein correlating comprises:

determining a location of the subject based on the tracking information; and

comparing the determined location with coverage areas of a plurality of image capture devices to determine which image capture device captured image data of the subject at the determined location.

22. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein assembling further comprises selecting the identified plurality of subsets for assembly into the sequence.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the determining a location and comparing the determined location with the coverage areas are repeated for a plurality of subject locations.

24. The computer program product of claim 20 further comprising storing the identified plurality of subsets of the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device and wherein assembling comprises retrieving the identified plurality of subsets from storage for assembly into the video sequence.

25. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising:

storing the captured plurality of video frames with an identification of the image capture device used to capture the plurality of video frames; and

wherein correlating the tracking information comprises;

using the tracking information to determine coverage areas of the activity site traveled by the subject;

identifying that the image capture device is associated with at least one of the determined coverage areas traveled by the subject; and

using tracking timing information associated with each of the plurality of video frames to select each of the plurality of subsets, wherein each of the plurality of subsets is selected based on the time at which the subject was in a given coverage area for the image capture device.

26. The computer program product of claim 20, further comprising storing the plurality of video frames captured from the image capture device, wherein each of the plurality of video frames is stored as a plurality of subsets each having an associated coverage area and associated tracking timing information;

and wherein the tracking information is received in a batch mode, and the tracking timing information is used to identify the plurality of subsets of the plurality of video frames that include the subject.

27. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein tracking information is received in real time and includes a timestamp for each of the plurality of video frames.

28. A video capture system configured to track a subject, the video capture system comprising:

a content storage module configured to store a plurality of video frames received from a video camera positioned at a predetermined location in an activity area; and

a content assembly module communicatively coupled to the content storage device and configured to use tracking information from a tracking device to retrieve a plurality of subsets of the stored plurality of video frames from the content storage device and to assemble the retrieved plurality of subsets into an assembled video sequence, wherein each of the plurality of subsets comprises a subset of pixels of one of the captured plurality of frames, and wherein the tracking information indicates a location of the subject during the activity.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the content assembly module comprises a processor, controller, ASIC, or PLA.