360 Camera Illumination Device for Remote Viewer Awareness
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Solution Overview
Problem
360° cameras lack visual indicators for local users to determine the direction or number of remote viewers, including AI agents, which can lead to privacy concerns and hinder effective collaboration.
Innovation Solution
A 360 camera system with an embedded illumination device, such as a stack of visual indicator lights, that maps the region of interest of remote users, including yaw, pitch, and field of view values, to provide local users with visual feedback on the direction and number of remote viewers, using color, intensity, and motion to represent viewer activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a 360 camera is used to provide full gaze/awareness of the room, then remote viewers can observe local users, but local users cannot determine the direction or number of remote viewers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary visual indicator system (lights, displays, or augmented reality overlays) that mediates between the camera system and local users. This intermediary translates camera gaze direction data into visual signals that local users can interpret, resolving the information loss without requiring the camera system itself to become more complex
2Loss of information
If visual indicators are added to show remote viewer direction, then local users gain awareness of remote viewers, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the camera housing or mounting structure multi-functional by embedding visual indicators directly into it. The same structure that holds the camera also serves as the display medium for gaze direction information, allowing one component to perform multiple functions and thereby reducing overall device complexity
3Reliability
If illumination devices are embedded in the camera housing, then visual feedback is provided without interfering with camera operation, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the visual indicator system into separate modular components that can be independently manufactured and then assembled into the camera housing. This segmentation allows each component (camera module, light source module, display module) to be optimized and manufactured separately, reducing the overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining reliable integration
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a 360 camera configured to image a volume including one or more local users, and generate an output for remote users, and an illumination device configured to generate a visual output for the one or more local users that is indicative of a viewing direction or a number of the remote users, based on a mapping of a region of interest of the remote viewers. The illumination device is associated with the 360 camera.