Document-Aware Capture Device Proximity Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current devices are ineffective in capturing and accessing information from the surrounding environment, such as text on paper documents or displays, without requiring significant user effort or changes in existing processes like writing and printing.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a capture device with a camera and proximity sensor to detect and capture text from rendered documents, switching to a document-aware mode to interact with and retrieve associated digital information, allowing users to access electronic counterparts of physical documents through image capture and context analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If a capture device uses a camera and proximity sensor to detect and capture text from rendered documents, then information capture capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capture device is designed to perform multiple functions: it can capture images of documents, detect proximity to documents, recognize text through OCR, and access electronic versions of documents. By integrating these diverse functions into a single device, the patent improves information capture capability without requiring users to carry or switch between multiple specialized tools, thus managing device complexity through consolidation rather than proliferation of separate components
2Ease of operation
If the system automatically switches to document-aware mode upon detecting proximity to text, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capture device automatically detects when it is in proximity to a document using the proximity sensor and camera, then autonomously switches to document-aware mode and initiates text capture and recognition processes without requiring explicit user commands. This self-service approach improves ease of operation by eliminating manual mode switching, while the automated nature of the process prevents the complexity from escalating through manual intervention requirements
3Productivity
If the system captures and processes text in real-time from rendered documents, then productivity is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the proximity sensor to periodically detect whether a document is present within capture range, and only activates the camera and full text processing pipeline when a document is detected. This periodic sensing approach allows real-time productivity improvement when documents are present, while significantly reducing energy consumption during periods when no document is being captured, as the system transitions to a low-power state
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables seamless integration of physical and digital information, allowing users to interact with text-based information from their environment by capturing snippets of text to retrieve electronic versions, perform actions, and access related content without altering traditional document creation or publishing processes.
Implementation Method 1
a capture device 300... that includes a camera 310
Implementation Method 2
a proximity component 320 that detects a proximity to rendered documents
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for automatically changing the operation of a mobile device in response to a presence of information is described. In some examples, the system determines an information capture device is proximate to text, automatically changes operation of the capture device to a certain mode, captures the text, and performs an action associated with the captured text.