User interface for wide angle photography

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10038844-B2
Application number	US-201615380286-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2016
Priority date	Mar 2, 2014
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

The disclosed technology includes switching between a normal or standard-lens UI and a panoramic or wide-angle photography UI responsive to a zoom gesture. In one implementation, a user gesture corresponding to a “zoom-out” command, when received at a mobile computing device associated with a minimum zoom state, may trigger a switch from a standard lens photo capture UI to a wide-angle photography UI. In another implementation, a user gesture corresponding to a “zoom-in” command, when received at a mobile computing device associated with a nominal wide-angle state, may trigger a switch from a wide-angle photography UI to a standard lens photo capture UI.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
outputting, by a computing device and for display, a standard-lens image capture interface;
obtaining, by an image capture device operatively coupled to the computing device, a first image and a second image;
determining, by the computing device, that both the first image and the second image contain an overlapping content portion, wherein the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of at least a predetermined minimum amount;
responsive to determining that both the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion, outputting, by the computing device and for display, a prompt to switch to outputting a wide-angle image capture interface for display in place of the standard-lens image capture interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion includes determining that the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of less than a predetermined maximum amount.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising outputting by the computing device and for display, the wide-angle image capture interface in response to receiving an indication of a user gesture.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the indication of the user gesture corresponds to a zoom gesture.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the standard-lens image capture interface is based on a first focal length that is equal to or longer than a minimum focal length associated with an image capture device and comprises a live preview associated with the image capture device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the wide-angle image capture interface is based on a second focal length that is shorter than the minimum focal length associated with the image capture device and comprises a live preview associated with the image capture device.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining, by the computing device and based on the overlap between the first and second image, a third image to capture; and
outputting, by the computing device and for display, a suggestion to capture the third image.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the wide-angle image capture interface displays a graphical target corresponding to the third image.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the overlapping content portion is a first overlapping content portion, and
the third image contains a second overlapping content portion, the second overlapping content portion being included in at least one of the first image and the second image.

10. A system comprising:
at least one memory operatively coupled to a computing device and configured for storing data and instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
outputting, by a computing device and for display, a standard-lens image capture interface;
obtaining, by an image capture device operatively coupled to the computing device, a first image and a second image;
determining, by the computing device, that both the first image and the second image contain an overlapping content portion, wherein the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of at least a predetermined minimum amount;
responsive to determining that both the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion, outputting, by the computing device and for display, a prompt to switch to outputting a wide-angle image capture interface for display in place of the standard-lens image capture interface.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining that the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion includes determining that the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of less than a predetermined maximum amount.

12. The system of claim 10 , the method further comprising outputting by the computing device and for display, the wide-angle image capture interface in response to receiving an indication of a user gesture.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the indication of the user gesture corresponds to a zoom gesture.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the standard-lens image capture interface is based on a first focal length that is equal to or longer than a minimum focal length associated with an image capture device and comprises a live preview associated with the image capture device.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the wide-angle image capture interface is based on a second focal length that is shorter than the minimum focal length associated with the image capture device and comprises a live preview associated with the image capture device.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining, by the computing device and based on the overlap between the first and second image, a third image to capture; and
outputting, by the computing device and for display, a suggestion to capture the third image.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the wide-angle image capture interface is configured to display a graphical target corresponding to the third image.

18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
outputting, by a computing device and for display, a standard-lens image capture interface;
obtaining, by an image capture device operatively coupled to the computing device, a first image and a second image;
determining, by the computing device, that both the first image and the second image contain an overlapping content portion, wherein the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of at least a predetermined minimum amount;
responsive to determining that both the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion, outputting, by the computing device and for display, a prompt to switch to outputting a wide-angle image capture interface for display in place of the standard-lens image capture interface.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein determining that the first and second image contain the overlapping content portion further comprises determining that the overlapping content portion comprises contiguous image content of less than a predetermined maximum amount.

20. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises outputting by the computing device and for display, the wide-angle image capture interface in response to receiving an indication of a user gesture.

Assignees

• Google Inc
• Google Llc

Inventors

• Mehta Nirav Bipinchandra
• Köser Mikkel Crone
• SINGLETON David
• Hamilton Robert William
• Holland Henry John
• Ferreira Tony
• Hume Thomas Weedon

Classifications

• H04N23/64

  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 title

• G06F3/0488 Primary

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title

• H04N23/62

  Control of parameters via user interfaces · CPC title

• H04N23/69

  Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming · CPC title

• H04N23/698

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title