Wireless Camera Flash Coordination for Relighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing techniques for capturing and combining multiple images with different lighting characteristics require expensive and cumbersome equipment, making advanced imaging techniques inaccessible to ordinary consumers, and lack effective mechanisms for device configuration and interactive image presentation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for coordinating image capture using multiple devices, including cameras and flashes, which communicate wirelessly and are controlled by a computing device to capture and process images with different lighting configurations, allowing for relighting, refocusing, and interactive presentation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple images with different lighting characteristics are captured using specialized multi-camera and multi-flash systems, then relighting and interactive imaging effects are achieved, but the equipment becomes expensive and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes a single camera device perform multiple functions by capturing both the scene image and lighting information simultaneously. The camera acts as both an imaging device and a light field sensor, eliminating the need for separate specialized equipment. This universal approach allows relighting effects to be achieved using standard consumer cameras rather than complex multi-camera systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the lighting environment by capturing light field data and storing it as metadata alongside the image. This digital representation of lighting characteristics can be manipulated and reapplied later, replacing the need for physical multi-flash equipment. The lighting information is copied into a computable format that can be processed and reused for various relighting scenarios.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple images with different lighting characteristics are captured using specialized equipment, then advanced imaging techniques become available, but accessibility to ordinary consumers is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive, fragile, and complex specialized imaging equipment with inexpensive, widely available consumer cameras. By using standard camera hardware that consumers already possess, the invention makes advanced relighting and interactive imaging techniques accessible to the general public without requiring investment in specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes complex mechanical multi-camera and multi-flash systems with a computational approach using a single camera. Instead of physically coordinating multiple devices, the solution uses software processing of light field data captured by one camera, replacing mechanical complexity with computational simplicity that can be implemented in consumer devices.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple images are captured sequentially with different lighting characteristics, then relighting effects can be generated, but the capture process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the capture of scene imagery and lighting information into a single simultaneous operation. By capturing both the visual scene and light field data at the same moment using a single camera, the invention eliminates the need for sequential capture of multiple images under different lighting conditions, dramatically reducing the time required to gather all necessary data for relighting effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary capture of complete lighting environment information in a single shot. By recording the full light field data and metadata simultaneously with the image, the system prepares all necessary lighting information in advance, allowing rapid generation of multiple relighting variations without requiring additional capture time later.
4Adaptability or versatility
If specialized systems are used to capture and combine multiple images, then image processing capabilities are enhanced, but the setup and operation become cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the single camera device to automatically perform functions that previously required complex external specialized systems. The camera self-manages capturing both image and lighting data, storing metadata, and providing the information needed for relighting processing, eliminating the need for manual setup and coordination of multiple specialized devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary that carries lighting information between the camera capture process and the relighting processing stage. This structured data format acts as a bridge, automatically conveying all necessary lighting characteristics from the single camera to the processing software, replacing the complex coordination previously needed between multiple specialized devices.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method are provided for coordinating image capture using multiple devices, including for example multiple image capture devices (cameras), multiple lighting devices (flash), and/or the like. In at least one embodiment, the system of the present invention is configured to collect image information from multiple image capture devices, such as cameras, and/or to collect multiple images having different lighting configurations. The collected image data can be processed to generate various effects, such as relighting, parallax, refocusing, and/or three-dimensional effects, and/or to introduce interactivity into the image presentation. In at least one embodiment, the system of the present invention is implemented using any combination of any number of image capture device(s) and/or flash (lighting) device(s), which may be equipped to communicate with one another via any suitable means, such as wirelessly. A communication protocol is established for enabling such communication, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or the like.