Camera Image Sequence Capture Around the Shutter Moment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing electronic devices struggle to capture and interact with moments beyond still images, often requiring significant editing to remove uninteresting moments in videos, and lack intuitive interfaces for grouping and navigating sequences of images.

Innovation Solution

Electronic devices are equipped with methods and interfaces that group a sequence of images around a representative image, allowing users to navigate and interact with these sequences through touch-sensitive inputs, modify, and share them intuitively, with features like scene recognition and dynamic image handling.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a still image is captured by pressing a shutter button, then the capture process is simple and quick, but details of the moment surrounding that instant are lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesimplicity of capture processVSAvoidloss of moment details
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple individual images captured in rapid succession into a single composite image that preserves details from different moments. The system merges still images with video frames around the shutter press time to create a comprehensive representation of the moment, maintaining both operational simplicity and information completeness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary capture of multiple images and video frames before and around the actual shutter press moment. By pre-capturing a sequence of images at high frame rate, the system ensures that detailed moment information is already recorded before the user completes the capture action, eliminating the need for post-capture editing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Loss of information

If video is recorded to capture extended periods of time, then more moment details are preserved, but significant editing is required to remove uninteresting moments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepreservation of moment detailsVSAvoidtime spent on editing
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the relevant portion of the captured image sequence by automatically identifying the moment of interest around the shutter press time. It takes out and presents only the meaningful frames that contain the captured moment, eliminating the need for manual editing to remove uninteresting portions of the video.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs automatic curation and selection of meaningful moments through scene recognition and temporal analysis algorithms. The captured image sequence self-organizes around the shutter press time, with the system automatically determining which frames represent the interesting moment, eliminating the need for user intervention in the editing process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If sequences of images are grouped around a representative image, then navigation and interaction become more intuitive, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveintuitiveness of navigationVSAvoidcomplexity of image handling system
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses a single representative image thumbnail to serve multiple functions: it represents the entire captured sequence, indicates the moment of interest, and provides navigation entry point. This universal element simplifies the user interface while the underlying system handles the complexity of sequence management, scene recognition, and temporal relationships.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3591953B1Devices and methods for capturing and interacting with enhanced digital images
Publication Date: 2025.11.19 APPLE INC
  • EP3591953B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3591953B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3591953B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

An electronic device includes a camera. While in a first media acquisition mode for the camera the device displays a live preview on the display. While displaying the live preview, the device detects activation of a shutter button. In response to detecting activation of the shutter button, the device groups a plurality of images acquired by the camera in temporal proximity to the activation of the shutter button into a sequence of images. The sequence of images includes: a plurality of images acquired by the camera prior to detecting activation of the shutter button; a representative image that represents the first sequence of images and was acquired by the camera after one or more of the other images in the first sequence of images; and a plurality of images acquired by the camera after acquiring the representative image.