Patent Application
20250024135
The present disclosure relates to a method and application that provides for a multi-shutter camera application in an electronic device, and which selectively sends the images and other media content captured with the application to different innovative platforms based on artificial intelligence, and that presents a series of options based on the selected shutter and the image type and information (such as geolocation, time of capture, content, among others), such as for fast sharing purposes and/or informational purposes, among other uses.
With the rapid proliferation of electronic devices such as mobile electronic devices, people use such electronic devices for capturing and sharing images (and other media content), on a daily basis. More and more electronic devices such as mobile phones are being used to capture and display various media content, including photos and videos.
Every day, the gap between the use of digital cameras and mobile phone cameras is closed a bit further, since the processors, functionalities, and capabilities have improved greatly over the past years. Smartphone cameras have gone from being a novelty at some point to becoming one of the world-s most popular way of capturing media content such as photos and videos, given its simplicity, case of use, convenience, case of reach, quick use, and given that the final quality of the content has nothing to envy conventional digital cameras.
By 2015, smartphone sales surpassed traditional camera sales, and since then the numbers have only become more extreme. A phrase made famous by iPhone icon Chase Jarvis is clear, “the best camera is the one that you have with you”, which describes how convenient is to have a camera functionality, in this case within a smartphone, which a user can easily access to capture content on a daily and frequent basis.
This rapid rise of smartphone photography does not only cover photos as one would with digital cameras, but users worldwide take photos of themselves, social activities, sports, food, documents, something they want to remember later, a color they liked, a book they read, a sentence that stuck, a condiment they tasted, a product they wish to get later, and many other uses that can be given to a single photo, differently that the use that was given to photos using digital cameras.
Users today have the option of using such images/photos that they've captured in many ways, and easily because such capture functionality is within the same smartphone which is then used to share content, look for information of something, purchase a product, read reviews, obtain help, among many other uses that before were not an option or at least not an easy one where the photo had to be downloaded into a different electronic device before being able to use it. Before, doing anything with photos captured on a digital camera generally necessitated a lot of effort and a complicated set of steps, which can be made more efficient by the use of smartphones.
However, although the actual process of capturing media content itself can be found within smartphones, the recognition and identification of the intent that the user wants for such content today is not an easy task, and generally requires several steps to be performed in different applications within the smartphone.
Today, there are no applications that are able to capture media content such as photos, which are then used for different purposes or functionalities based on the intent of the user. The camera application native to smartphones is generally a camera that allows capturing content and saves all content in the same platform, to which then the user must identify and use such content based on its intent. For example, a mother taking a photo of her child then wants to share such photo with her family, which means that she needs to use a third-party application to share such photo with her contacts. However, when the same mother wants to capture an image of a flower she saw at a garden in order to find out its name or more information about it, the camera just captures the photo and the mother has to research which application to download and use to upload such photo and obtain the desired information. Within the same context, if the same mother wants to take a picture of the laundry detergent that she liked in order to find out where/how to purchase such product, she has to research which application to download and use to upload such photo and obtain the desired information related to the purchase of such product (or just read reviews or information related to such product).
Today, there are no centralized applications that allow to selectively capture media content and that can identify the purpose of such content in order to aid the user fulfill the intent of which such content was captured.
Further, the design and functionalities of camera applications has not changed over the years, where traditional camera functionality basically includes two elements: a screen to view the live content that can be captured through the camera lens, and a shutter button that captures such content. However, there have been no improvements or innovations as to how such media capture screen looks or its functionalities. Today, there are no selective or intelligent cameras with different functionalities that allow differentiating the context of the photo that is being taken in order to determine how that photo is used based on the intent of the user.
It is in this general technical context that aspects of the present disclosure are implemented, disruptive improvements on the above being described below, promoting a revolution in image and content communication.
The present disclosure pertains to a method and application that provides for a multi-shutter camera application in an electronic device, and which selectively sends the images and other media content captured with the application to different artificial intelligence and innovative platforms, and that presents a series of options dependent on the selected shutter and the image type and information (such as geolocation, time of capture, content analysis, among others) such as for fast sharing purposes and/or informational purposes, among other uses.
In more detail, an artificial intelligence system processes the image dependent on the selected shutter and the image type and information (such as geolocation, time of capture, content analysis, among others), and presents a series of alternatives that the user can select such as for fast sharing purposes and/or informational purposes, within the same screen. This fast, simple, and innovative platform with intelligent image capture and processing will change the way images are used and create a revolution in many areas like, image sharing with contacts, social media, shopping, obtaining information about the world around us, etc.
The disclosure aims at providing an application that allows to selectively capture media content and that can identify the purpose of such content in order to aid the user fulfill the intent of which such content was captured. This innovative application provides for an intelligent multi-shutter interface that directs captured media content to an artificial intelligence platform which then processes such content and suggests a series of alternatives and/or options based on the user's intent when capturing the image with the chosen capture button. Therefore, the present disclosure represents an important innovation over current methods and applications, allowing centralizing the use of media content, such as photos, for many uses through one application that intuitively suggests alternatives/options/actions related to such photo based on the user's objective.
In accordance with the following disclosure, it is noted that the present application describes a method, software, e.g., an “application,” and/or a device that can integrate the functionalities of selective media capture through a multi-shutter camera application, using mobile devices, such as smartphones in an intuitive and innovative way and with the use of artificial intelligence in order to easily fulfill the user's intent of the photo by selectively capturing and showing the best platform related to such photo and its objective.
This innovative application provides for an intelligent multi-shutter interface that directs captured media content to an artificial intelligence platform which then processes such content and suggests a series of alternatives and/or options based on the user's intent when capturing the image with the chosen capture button, using an innovative platform. Therefore, the present disclosure represents an improvement over current methods and applications, allowing centralizing and facilitating the use of media content, such as photos, for many uses through one application that intuitively suggests alternatives/options/actions related to such photo based on the user's objective, which are shown in the same screen as the captured content.
In a first embodiment of the invention, a method performed by an electronic device having a touch sensitive display, such as a smartphone, is provided, whereby a user intends to capture media content, such as an image, in order to fulfill an objective, and the user is presented with a capture screen (100) having multi-shutter view, the capture screen comprising at least two selective capture buttons (110) as seen in
In this first embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by an electronic device, the electronic device (400) comprising a display (410) incorporating a touch sensitive surface (411) and at least one processor, the method comprising:
As described in the following sections, options A, B, and C related to the content screen are provided in more detail, as well as their uses and functionality.
The method of the disclosure may be integrated throughout the electronic device (400) user interface and/or a third-party application installed within the device (not a native application). In particular, the method of the invention may be implemented with a mobile application or utility installable on a mobile device, i.e., a third-party application. The method of the invention may also, or alternatively, be implemented by the mobile device native user interface.
The method and application from the present disclosure comprises a camera feature, wherein the method performed by the electronic device includes the use of a camera feature configured to capture media content, and wherein the electronic device includes camera hardware and software for this purpose. As used herein, the camera feature comprises a camera application and/or capture processes that allow accessing and using the camera hardware in the electronic device for the capture of media content. Camera hardware includes different types of lenses and sensors integrated into the electronic device.
In an embodiment, the capture screen (100) makes use of the camera feature from an electronic device, such as a smartphone, in order to show a live view block (120) of the content that can be captured. In such embodiment, the application from the present disclosure integrates the functionalities of the camera feature that is native to the smartphone, and allows using such functionalities in order to visualize and capture media content that is captured through the camera hardware and/or software of the smartphone.
In a preferred embodiment, the application from the present disclosure is a camera application, wherein the camera application is a third-party application and not the native camera application from the electronic device.
As used herein, the live view block (120) refers to at least a portion of the capture screen (100) that shows the live stream content that can be captured by the user. The dimensions and ratio of such live view block may be customizable by the user, and may be adapted depending on the number of selective capture buttons (110) that are shown at the capture screen (100).
As used herein, the selective capture button (110) comprises a defined selected region within the display of the electronic device that is intended to receive input in order to capture the media content, process, and download such content into the electronic device or a cloud-based application. The selective capture button can be selected from the group comprising a shutter button, or a region configured to receive an input action, among others.
In an embodiment, a separate folder within the camera roll or photo view application of the electronic device is created, wherein such folder displays the media content (130) captured by the method and application of the present disclosure. In an embodiment of the invention, by tapping an image within such separate folder, multiple options for AI platforms are shown, so the user can select which one to use to process to show related options based on the user's selection.
The media content that can be captured through the application includes, but is not limited to, photos and videos.
The electronic device (400) according to the invention may be any electronic device that enables an electronic communication between different devices, but is selected preferably from a mobile phone, such as a smartphone. In certain preferred embodiments, the electronic device comprises a touch sensitive surface (411).
As used herein, an input action (200) includes one or more actions and/or motions performed by the user, which can be selected from the group comprising at least one of a touch, a click, a tap, a swipe, a flicking, a flinging, or a grabbing (e.g., a “pinch”) of a portion of an interface provided for display on a display screen, among others, as well as combinations thereof. An input action (200) may also be a motion or pressure made by the user's hand or fingers that is detected by the electronic device, for example by contact with the touch sensitive surface (411) or with the hardware, such as a physical button. An input action therefore may be a physical movement performed by the user and include one or more characteristics such as direction, pressure, duration, etc., relative to contact to the touch sensitive surface. In an example, an input action includes a single tap, a single touch, one or more consecutive taps in the same or different regions, a simultaneous tap or touch in the same or different regions, simultaneous rapid tap or touch in the same or different regions a repeated tap or touch in the same or different regions, and combinations thereof. In an embodiment, multiple input actions may be performed by a user.
In an embodiment, the input action (200) is received over at least one of the selective capture buttons (120) as an input action combination selected from the group comprising: actions separated by time intervals, individual inputs, simultaneous inputs, prolonged inputs, scroll inputs, or combination thereof, among others. A scroll input is an input action where a user touches the screen and moves their finger in a line in any direction while still pressing the screen.
In an embodiment, upon performing the input action, the at least one selective capture button (110) of the multi-shutter camera application, captures the media content (130), and an option to include additional instructions is provided to the user. For example, after capturing an image, the user may add a text or audio to describe the context or give a specific instruction. The additional instructions relate to the captured content so that the system is able to process the image according to the user's instructions and past experiences. The artificial intelligence platform then processes the captured media content (130) in conjunction with the additional instructions, generating more precise and tailored suggestions or actions for the user based on the combined data. The additional instructions are specifically integrated into the framework of the multi-shutter camera application of the present invention and enable the application to process and provide suggestions based on the user's specific inputs, selective capture buttons (110) and the context provided. This approach enables the system to offer precise outputs for each media content (130), enhancing the overall user experience by adapting to their preferences and past interactions within the multi-shutter framework. This contrasts with the provision of instructions on a system such as a conventional camera application in which the specific synergy between the multi-shutter framework and additional audio or text instructions would be nonexistent, thereby failing to provide a tailored output based on the integration of selective capture buttons (110), media content (130), preferences and past interactions, with the additional instructions.
In an embodiment, the multi-shutter camera application and method provides a plurality of selectable cameras, each corresponding to a different usage context, such as work, travel, or personal use. This feature allows users to customize the application's functionalities based on their current needs and situations, enhancing the overall user experience. Each camera comprises a set of selective capture buttons (110) configured according to the corresponding usage context. For example, in a work-related camera, the artificial intelligence platform associated with this camera could be tailored to suggest converting images to PDFs, extract contact information from business cards, or provide specific recommendations related to the user's profession. Or in a travel camera, the artificial intelligence platform could focus on recognizing landmarks, providing historical information, translating text, or suggesting nearby attractions.
Users can switch between cameras seamlessly within the system, allowing them to adapt the system's functionalities to suit different situations. The camera selection can be accessed through a user-friendly interface, such as a menu or a swipe gesture, enabling quick transitions between contexts. The set of selective capture buttons (110) displayed on the capture screen (100) updates to reflect the functionalities relevant to the chosen profile. By providing camera-specific processing, the application enhances the relevance and usefulness of the information and options presented to the user. This context-aware approach ensures that users receive outputs that are most pertinent to their immediate needs, reducing the time and effort required to achieve their objectives.
In an embodiment, the multi-shutter camera application comprises only one camera corresponding to one usage context. The system itself is made with a specific camera tailored for a particular usage context, such as a dedicated work-only application, a travel-specific application, or an application designed exclusively for personal use. In this embodiment, the multi-shutter camera application is developed to focus solely on one camera, embedding all functionalities, selective capture buttons (110), and artificial intelligence platform features relevant to that specific context. By creating an application with a specific camera, users who primarily operate within a single context can benefit from a streamlined and optimized user experience. This dedicated approach ensures that all aspects of the system, from the user interface to the AI processing algorithms, are fully aligned with the intended use case.
In such case that input action combinations are used, the artificial intelligence system may suggest different combinations of functionalities and alternatives to the user that may mix different suggestion types, for example a mix of discovery, sharing, shopping, and potentially many other functionalities that relate to analysis of information.
The method of the present application uses artificial intelligence that is programmed to detect and analyze the content of the photos, learn from user's past input actions, searches, interests, interactions with the web and other applications, messaging patterns, among others. The artificial intelligence system can also perform analysis of the photos to detect and analyze any elements, text, symbols, logos, colors, textures or other parameters within the photo. Additionally, the artificial intelligence platform can perform an analysis of the photo based on its georeferenced location (geolocation), which can help to identify the intent of the user when taking the photo. The artificial intelligence system can perform an analysis of the photo based on the time of capture and/or the time when the user is using the application from the present disclosure.
The artificial intelligence platform is paired with the user's selection based on the multi-shutter option found in the display. In an innovative and new manner, the smartphone's screen of the present application displays an innovative multi-shutter view, comprising at least two different and separate selective capture buttons, such as shutters, that allow the user capturing a photo depending on the intent and objective that the user wishes to provide to such photo. This is a new functionality developed in the context of the present disclosure, where the application allows to selectively capture an image, and then processing such information through artificial intelligence in order to suggest suitable alternatives and options related to the original intent of capturing such photo.
This is all performed through the innovative multi-shutter view, where the different selective capture buttons have different functions that can be pre-defined in the application, or that can change manually or automatically based on a series of inputs.
In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the selective capture buttons operates as a Discovery Shutter related to a Discovery Functionality, wherein the Discovery Shutter is a shutter that, when the user takes a photo using such button then the application selectively sends such image and information to an artificial intelligence platform that is able to analyze the information of the image (as previously described), and interact with the web and with its own learning patterns in order to suggest the best applications, websites, or functionalities related to such photo. The Discover Functionality is therefore related to providing information/operations related to the photo that is being captured through the Discovery Shutter, as intended by the user.
Examples of the Discovery Functionality include, but are not limited to searching information about an element, text, symbol, logo, colors, textures, or other features found in the photo and suggest a series of websites, applications, or operations related to such features. For example, if a user takes a photo of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France using the Discovery Shutter, the present application could identify that the main element is the Eiffel Tower and suggest websites or applications that show historical information about the Eiffel Tower, websites or applications that help in booking tours or other visiting alternatives to the Eiffel Tower, websites or applications that suggest other activities to do nearby the location of the Eiffel Tower, websites or applications that show dining alternatives close to the Eiffel Tower, among many other options.
When a user captures a photo with the Discovery Shutter, they selectively intend to use the content of such photo for a purpose to find out more information or activities related to the overview of the captured photo, and therefore the artificial intelligence platform processes such captured photo based on the chosen selective capture button and provides output information in order to present the user with a dynamic content screen that automatically re-orders the found and suggested websites and/or applications related to information and/or activities based on the photo. As used herein, discovery functionality alternatives include but are not limited to websites, applications, contacts, media content, and or information that are related to the captured content (130) in the context of the discovery functionality.
In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the selective capture buttons operates as a Shopping Shutter related to a Shopping Functionality, wherein the Shopping Shutter is a shutter that, when the user takes a photo using such button then the application selectively sends such image and information to an artificial intelligence platform that is able to analyze the information of the image (as previously described), and interact with the web and with its own learning patters in order to suggest the best applications, websites, or functionalities related to such photo. The Shopping Functionality is therefore related to providing information/operations related to the photo that is being captured through the Shopping Shutter, as intended by the user.
Examples of the Shopping Functionality include, but are not limited to searching information about a product, service, element, text, symbol, logo, colors, textures, or other features found in the photo and suggest a series of websites, applications, or operations related to such features, in the context of shopping purposes. For example, if a user takes a photo using the Shopping Shutter of a water bottle they saw and they liked and wish to find out more information about possibly purchasing or reading reviews of such water bottle, the present application could identify that the main element of the photo is the water bottle and suggest websites or applications that show where to purchase such water bottle (or similar ones) nearby the user's georeferenced location, suggest websites or applications that show reviews of such water bottle (and or similar ones) so the user can make an informed decision, suggest websites or applications that show where to purchase such water bottle online and compare prices, among other options.
When a user captures a photo with the Shopping Shutter, they selectively intend to use the content of such photo for a purpose related to shopping, and therefore the artificial intelligence platform processes such captured photo based on the chosen selective capture button and provides output information in order to present the user with a dynamic content screen that automatically re-orders the found and suggested websites and/or applications related to the shopping process. As used herein, shopping functionality alternatives include but are not limited to websites, applications, contacts, media content, and or information that are related to the captured content (130) in the context of the shopping functionality.
In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the selective capture buttons operates as a Sharing Shutter related to a Sharing Functionality, wherein the Sharing Shutter is a shutter that, when the user takes a photo using such button then the application selectively sends such image and information to an artificial intelligence platform that is able to analyze the information of the image (as previously described), and interact with the web and with its own learning patters in order to suggest an easy and intuitive manner of sharing such photo based on the intention of the user. The Sharing Functionality is therefore related to providing the best combinations and alternatives to easily share such photo with other users and/or social media platforms, as intended by the user.
The Sharing Functionality uses artificial intelligence that, through machine learning and other methods, predominantly has learned from user's past input actions, interactions with other applications, and messaging patterns and content, to suggest and show a selection of recipients/communication channels and/or social media platforms. In this embodiment, the use of artificial intelligence, as previously described, helps to identify, based on the user's prior communications and patterns, the best combination of recipients and communication channels that intuitively would be a good candidate to receive the content intended to be shared by the user. For example, a user takes a photo of a legal document with the Sharing Shutter and wishes to quickly share it with their lawyer, wherein the artificial intelligence platform detects the photo's content, and based on previous messaging patterns and analyzes suggests the user to share that photo with their lawyer, who is usually sent these types of photos of legal documents.
When a user captures a photo with the Sharing Shutter, they selectively intend to share that photo with a user and/or social media platform, and therefore the artificial intelligence platform processes such captured photo based on the chosen selective capture button and provides output information in order to present the user with a dynamic content screen that automatically re-orders the recipients and/or social media platforms so that the user can make a quick selection of the recipients of the photo. As used herein, sharing functionality alternatives include but are not limited to combinations and alternatives to easily share such photo with other users and/or social media platforms, as intended by the user based on the captured content (130).
For example, if a user usually sends photos of birds to one of its contacts that is a bird watcher, if such user takes a photo of a bird, the artificial intelligence platform should analyze the photo, determine it's a bird, and suggest such contact as a recipient for such photo. For this, the artificial intelligence platform should have learned, from the user's past interactions and analysis of the photos shared from such user and with the different recipients, in order to suggest the most suitable contact for sharing.
The artificial intelligence platform described herein processes the captured media content (130) by taking into account the input action combination (201) performed by the user and any additional instructions provided. Specifically, the artificial intelligence platform analyzes the captured media content (130) based on the at least one selective capture button (110) selected, the nature of the input action combination (201), and the additional instruction provided by the user. For example, if a user captures a series of images through consecutive inputs and adds a text or audio instruction, the artificial intelligence platform integrates this information to offer suggestions that are tailored to the user's specific intent and the synergy between the different media elements. This processing capability allows the artificial intelligence platform to offer more relevant and context-aware options, enhancing the user's experience by aligning the output with the user's original objective.
As previously mentioned, all of these options showed in the different functionalities also result from the artificial intelligence platform that is programmed to detect and analyze the content of the photos, learn from user's past input actions, searches, interests, interactions with the web and other applications, messaging patterns, among others. The artificial intelligence platform can also perform analysis of the photos to detect and analyze any elements text, symbols, logos, colors, textures, or similar parameters within the photo. Additionally, the artificial intelligence platform can perform an analysis of the photo based on its georeferenced location, which can help to identify the intent of the user when taking the photo. Further, the artificial intelligence system can perform an analysis of the photo based on the time of capture and/or the time when the user is using the application from the present disclosure.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise devices and steps disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not with this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/472,900, filed Sep. 22, 2023, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/508,749, filed Jun. 16, 2023. The disclosure of these priority applications is hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference into the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63508749 | Jun 2023 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 18472900 | Sep 2023 | US |
| Child | 18903825 | US |
