Image acquisition and management using a reference image

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10136050-B2
Application number	US-201514641268-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2015
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A reference image of one or more objects is displayed on the display of a mobile device in a manner that allows a user of the mobile device to simultaneously view the reference image and a preview image of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of a camera of the mobile device. An indication is provided to the user of the mobile device whether the camera of the mobile device is currently located within a specified amount of a distance at which the reference image was acquired. In response to a user request, the camera acquires a second image of the one or more objects and optionally a distance between the camera and the one or more objects at the time the second image was acquired is recorded. An image management application provides various functionalities for accessing and managing image sequences.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mobile device comprising:
a camera;
a display;
one or more processors;
one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and
an image acquisition application executing on the mobile device, wherein the image acquisition application is configured to:
receive an identification of a reference image of one or more objects,
retrieve, for the reference image, metadata that specifies a distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired,
determine a current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects,
determine a difference between the distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired and the current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects, and
automatically adjust one or more camera settings for the camera of the mobile device based upon the difference between the distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired and the current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects, wherein the one or more camera settings after the adjustment are different than the one or more settings prior to the adjustment.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein an image of the one or more objects acquired using the adjusted one or more camera settings is visually more similar to the reference image of the one or more objects than an image of the one or more objects acquired using the one or more camera settings prior to being adjusted.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more camera settings include one or more of a lens zoom setting, an orientation setting, an exposure setting, a resolution setting, or a scaling setting.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition application is configured to:
cause the reference image of the one or more objects to be displayed, on the display of the mobile device, as a background image in a manner that allows a user of the mobile device to simultaneously view one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera, and
cause the one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera to be displayed simultaneously with the reference image on the display of the mobile device.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition application is configured to cause the reference image of one or more objects to be displayed, on the display of the mobile device, as a background image in a manner that allows a user of the mobile device to simultaneously view one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera by changing one or more attribute values for the reference image.

6. The mobile device of claim 5 , wherein the one or more attribute values for the reference image correspond to one or more attributes that include one or more of brightness, color or special effects.

7. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition application is configured to, in response to a user request, generate and store one or more of memorandum data or audio data.

8. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition application is configured to, in response to a user request, generate and store an audio recording in the one or more memories of the mobile device.

9. A one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
an image acquisition application executing on a mobile device to:
receive an identification of a reference image of one or more objects,
retrieve, for the reference image, metadata that specifies a distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired,
determine a current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects,
determine a difference between the distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired and the current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects, and
automatically adjust one or more camera settings for the camera of the mobile device based upon the difference between the distance at which the reference image of the one or more objects was acquired and the current distance between the camera of the mobile device and the one or more objects, wherein the one or more camera settings after the adjustment are different than the one or more settings prior to the adjustment.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein an image of the one or more objects acquired using the adjusted one or more camera settings is visually more similar to the reference image of the one or more objects than an image of the one or more objects acquired using the one or more camera settings prior to being adjusted.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the one or more camera settings include one or more of a lens zoom setting, an orientation setting, an exposure setting, a resolution setting, or a scaling setting.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause the image acquisition application to:
cause the reference image of the one or more objects to be displayed, on the display of the mobile device, as a background image in a manner that allows a user of the mobile device to simultaneously view one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera, and
cause the one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera to be displayed simultaneously with the reference image on the display of the mobile device.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause the image acquisition application to cause the reference image of one or more objects to be displayed, on the display of the mobile device, as a background image in a manner that allows a user of the mobile device to simultaneously view one or more preview images of the one or more objects currently in a field of view of the camera by changing one or more attribute values for the reference image.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the one or more attribute values for the reference image correspond to one or more attributes that include one or more of brightness, color or special effects.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause the image acquisition application to, in response to a user request, generate and store one or more of memorandum data or audio data.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause the image acquisition application to, in response to a user request, generate and store an audio recording in the one or more memories of the mobile device.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by an image acquisition application executing on a mobile device, an identification of a reference image of one or more objects, retrieve, for the reference image, metadata that specifi

Assignees

• Knodt Kurt
• Shimizu Tomohito
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Knodt Kurt
• Shimizu Tomohito

Classifications

• H04N23/64 Primary

  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

• H04N23/633

  for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera · CPC title

• H04N5/23222 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04N5/23293

  Electricity · mapped topic