Method for selection between front-facing camera and rear-facing camera of mobile terminal and mobile terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9906723-B2
Application number	US-201615220564-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2016
Priority date	Jan 29, 2014
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

A method for selection between a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera of a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal, which are used to implement automatic selection between the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal is presented. The method in the embodiments of the present disclosure includes receiving, by a mobile terminal, a photographing request initiated by a user; determining, by the mobile terminal, a distance between the mobile terminal and the user; and if the distance is greater than or equal to a preset numeric value, turning on a front-facing camera of the mobile terminal; or if the distance is less than the preset numeric value, turning on a rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal. The embodiments of the present disclosure can implement automatic selection between the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for selection between a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera of a mobile terminal, comprising:
receiving, by the mobile terminal, a photographing request initiated by a user;
determining, by the mobile terminal, a distance between the mobile terminal and the user; and
turning on the front-facing camera of the mobile terminal when the distance is greater than or equal to a preset numeric value; and
turning on the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal when the distance is less than the preset numeric value.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining, by the mobile terminal, a distance between the mobile terminal and the user comprises determining, by the mobile terminal, a distance between the mobile terminal and a face of the user.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein determining, by the mobile terminal, the distance between the mobile terminal and the face of the user comprises:
determining, by the mobile terminal, a distance between the mobile terminal and a preset position on the face of the user; or
determining, by the mobile terminal, an overall distance between the mobile terminal and at least two preset positions on the face of the user.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the preset numeric value is set by the mobile terminal by default.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the photographing request comprises at least a first application request and a second application request; wherein the preset numeric value is a first preset numeric value when the photographing request is the first application request; wherein the preset numeric value is a second preset numeric value when the photographing request is the second application request, and wherein the first preset numeric value is different from the second preset numeric value.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
acquiring a first probability and a second probability, wherein the first probability is a probability of using the front-facing camera in a first application state, and wherein the second probability is a probability of using the front-facing camera in a second application state; and
separately adjusting the first preset numeric value and the second preset numeric value according to the first probability and the second probability, such that the first probability corresponds to the first preset numeric value and the second probability corresponds to the second preset numeric value.

7. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
acquiring, by the mobile terminal, usage information about the user's usage of the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera; and
adjusting the preset numeric value according to the usage information.

8. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
acquiring, by the mobile terminal, personal information of the user; and
adjusting the preset numeric value according to the personal information.

9. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:
acquiring, by the mobile terminal, a factor of an environment in which the mobile terminal is currently located; and
adjusting the preset numeric value according to the factor of the environment in which the user is currently located.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising acquiring the preset numeric value from the user prior to determining the distance between the mobile terminal and the user.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the turning on the front-facing camera of the mobile terminal or before the turning on the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal, the method further comprises:
sending an inquiry request to the user, wherein the inquiry request is used to ask the user whether to agree to turn on the front-facing camera or the rear-facing camera;
acquiring a reply from the user;
triggering the turning on of the front-facing camera of the mobile terminal or the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal when the reply is agreeing to turn on the front-facing camera or the rear-facing camera or no reply is received within a preset time period; and
triggering a default action of the mobile terminal when the reply is refusing to turn on the front-facing camera or the rear-facing camera.

12. A mobile terminal, comprising:
a front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera;
a receiver configured to receive a photographing request initiated by a user; and
a processor configured to:
determine a distance between the mobile terminal and the user;
turn on the front-facing camera of the mobile terminal when the distance is greater than or equal to a preset numeric value; and
turn on the rear-facing camera of the mobile terminal when the distance is less than the preset numeric value.

13. The mobile terminal according to claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a distance between the mobile terminal and a face of the user.

14. The mobile terminal according to claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a distance between the mobile terminal and a preset position on the face of the user; and
determine an overall distance between the mobile terminal and at least two preset positions on the face of the user.

15. The mobile terminal according to claim 12 , wherein the preset numeric value is set by the mobile terminal by default.

16. The mobile terminal according to claim 15 , wherein the photographing request comprises at least a first application request and a second application request, wherein the preset numeric value is a first preset numeric value when the photographing request is the first application request, wherein the preset numeric value is a second preset numeric value when the photographing request is the second application request, and wherein the first preset numeric value is different from the second preset numeric value.

17. The mobile terminal according to claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquire a first probability and a second probability, wherein the first probability is a probability of using the front-facing camera by the user in a first application state, and wherein the second probability is a probability of using the front-facing camera by the user in a second application state; and
separately adjust the first preset numeric value and the second preset numeric value according to the first probability and the second probability, such that the first probability corresponds to the first preset numeric value and the second probability corresponds to the second preset numeric value.

18. The mobile terminal according to claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquire usage information about the user's usage of the front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera; and
adjust the preset numeric value according to the usage information.

19. The mobile terminal according to claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquire personal information of the user; and
adjust the preset numeric value according to the personal information.

20. The mobile terminal according to claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquire a factor of an environment in which the user is currently located; and
adjust the preset numeric value according to the factor of the environment in which the user is currently located.

21. The mobile terminal according to claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to acquire the preset nu

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Wei He

Classifications

• H04N23/45

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• H04N23/631

  Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters · 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

• G06F1/1686 Primary

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title