Adjusting length of living images

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016353052-A1
Application number	US-201514721183-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 26, 2015
Priority date	May 26, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method may comprise: obtaining a preliminary frame sequence and at least one still image frame, captured by a digital camera during shooting a scene; obtaining at least one of indication of fulfilment of a predetermined starting scene condition in at least one frame of the preliminary frame sequence and indication of fulfilment of a predetermined first camera condition prevailing during capturing the preliminary frame sequence; automatically selecting a starting frame from the preliminary frame sequence on the basis of at least one of fulfilment of the starting scene condition and fulfilment of the first camera condition; and automatically forming, from the preliminary frame sequence and the at least one still image frame, a displayable frame sequence for displaying a living image of the scene, the living image comprising a still image and a preceding image sequence, the frame sequence starting by the starting frame and having a still image frame as a stopping frame for displaying the still image.

First claim

1 . A method comprising:
obtaining a preliminary frame sequence and at least one still image frame, captured by a digital camera during shooting a scene; obtaining at least one of indication of fulfilment of a predetermined starting scene condition in at least one frame of the preliminary frame sequence and indication of fulfilment of a predetermined first camera condition prevailing during capturing the preliminary frame sequence; automatically selecting a starting frame from the preliminary frame sequence on the basis of at least one of fulfilment of the starting scene condition and fulfilment of the first camera condition, wherein the starting scene condition is movement occurring in a scene; and automatically forming, from the preliminary frame sequence and the at least one still image frame, a displayable frame sequence for displaying a living image of the scene, the living image comprising a still image and a preceding image sequence, the displayable frame sequence starting by the starting frame and having a still image frame as a stopping frame for displaying the still image.

2 . A method as defined in claim 1 , comprising analyzing a plurality of frames of the preliminary frame sequence to detect fulfilment of a starting scene condition in at least one frame of the preliminary frame sequence.

3 . A method as defined in claim 2 , wherein the plurality of frames comprises at least three frames.

4 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the starting scene condition requires movement of a human occurring in the scene.

5 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the starting scene condition requires a predetermined relevant change occurring in the scene.

6 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first camera condition requires the camera having at least one of a predetermined tilting position and predetermined stability.

7 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of still image frames are obtained, the method further comprising:
obtaining at least one of indication of fulfilment of a predetermined stopping scene condition in at least one of the still image frames and indication of fulfilment of a predetermined second camera condition prevailing during capturing the still image frames; and automatically selecting the stopping frame from the still image frames on the basis of at least one of fulfilment of the stopping scene condition and fulfilment of the second camera condition.

8 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the at least one still image frame differs from the frames of the preliminary frame sequence by at least one of its higher resolution, lower noise, or higher dynamic range.

9 . A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the displayable frame sequence has a length corresponding to a duration of the preceding image sequence of less than or equal to 3 seconds.

10 . A method comprising:
sequentially capturing preliminary frames by a digital camera shooting a scene, and storing the sequentially captured preliminary frames into a first-in-first-out type buffer sequence having a predetermined number of frames; receiving an image capturing user input; capturing a stopping frame in response to the image capturing user input; automatically detecting fulfilment of a starting scene condition in at least one preliminary frame of the buffer sequence, wherein the starting scene condition is movement occurring in a scene; automatically selecting a starting frame from the buffer sequence on the basis of fulfilment of the starting scene condition; and automatically forming a displayable frame sequence for displaying a living image of the scene, comprising a still image and a preceding image sequence, the displayable frame sequence starting by the starting frame and stopping at the stopping frame for displaying the still image.

11 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein the starting scene condition requires movement of at least part of the scene relative to the digital camera.

12 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein the starting scene condition requires a predetermined relevant change occurring in the scene.

13 . A method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the predetermined relevant change comprises at least one of appearing of a human face in the scene, appearing of a predetermined human face feature in the scene, and appearing of a gaze in the scene.

14 . A method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the predetermined relevant change comprises a change in the lighting conditions at least at one location in the scene.

15 . A method as defined in claim 10 , further comprising obtaining indication of fulfilment of a predetermined first camera condition during capturing the buffer sequence, wherein automatically selecting the starting frame from the buffer sequence is carried out on the basis of fulfilment of the starting scene condition and the first camera condition.

16 . A method as defined in claim 15 , wherein the first camera condition requires the camera having at least one of a predetermined tilting position and predetermined stability.

17 . A method as defined in claim 10 , wherein capturing the stopping frame comprises:
sequentially capturing still image frames; automatically detecting fulfilment of a stopping scene condition in at least one of the still image frames; and automatically selecting the stopping frame from the still image frames on the basis of fulfilment of the stopping scene condition.

18 . An apparatus comprising an image processing unit programmed to perform operations comprising:
obtain a preliminary frame sequence and at least one still image frame, captured by a digital camera during shooting a scene; obtain at least one of indication of fulfilment of a predetermined starting scene condition in at least one frame of the preliminary frame sequence and indication of fulfilment of a predetermined first camera condition prevailing during capturing the preliminary frame sequence; select a starting frame from the preliminary frame sequence on the basis of at least one of fulfilment of the starting scene condition and fulfilment of the first camera condition, wherein the starting scene condition is movement occurring in a scene; and form, from the preliminary frame sequence and the at least one still image frame, a displayable frame sequence for displaying a living image of the scene, the living image comprising a still image and a preceding image sequence, the displayable frame sequence starting by the starting frame and having a still image frame as a stopping frame for displaying the still image.

19 . An apparatus as defined in claim 18 , further comprising a digital camera unit configured to capture frames, the image processing unit being connected to the digital camera unit to obtain the captured frames.

20 . An apparatus as defined in claim 19 , implemented as a mobile electronic device.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Träff Gustav
• Tran To
• Andrae Tor

Classifications

• H04N23/6812 Primary

  based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors · CPC title

• H04N23/667 Primary

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/611

  where the recognised objects include parts of the human body · CPC title

• H04N23/6811

  based on the image signal · CPC title

• H04N23/683

  performed by a processor, e.g. controlling the readout of an image memory · CPC title