Floating Touchscreen Camera Focusing Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current electronic devices face challenges in rapidly capturing high-quality photographs due to lengthy focusing times, which can result in device shaking or subject movement, leading to fuzzy images.

Innovation Solution

An electronic device equipped with a floating touchscreen and a CPU that detects floating touch-control points to determine focus positions and initiate focusing, allowing for immediate focusing upon touch detection, and optionally uses a second camera to predict focus positions based on gaze direction, ensuring rapid and accurate focusing before photographing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Extent of automation

If automatic focusing is used with preset rules, then focusing can be completed automatically, but the selected focus may not be what the user needs and resetting focus takes time

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveautomatic focusingVSAvoidfocus resetting time
Core Design Contradiction:
Extent of automationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system allows users to directly touch the touchscreen to select focus positions and trigger photographing, making the device serve the user's direct intentions without requiring manual focus resetting or interpretation of preset rules

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The touchscreen serves as an intermediary that directly translates user touch input into focus position selection and photographing trigger, eliminating the need for separate focus selection and photographing steps

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If manual focus setting is used, then the user can select the desired focus position, but the longer time from setting to completing focusing increases the probability of device shaking or subject movement

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanual focus selectionVSAvoidfocusing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs focus adjustment immediately when the user touches the touchscreen, rather than waiting for a separate photographing command, thereby reducing the time the focus needs to be manually set and adjusted

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The focus selection and photographing trigger functions are merged into a single touchscreen touch operation, eliminating the sequential time delay between focus setting and photographing execution

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Productivity

If automatic focusing is performed among multiple selected focuses unceasingly, then comprehensive focusing coverage is achieved, but the user needs to reset focus repeatedly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefocusing speedVSAvoidfocus resetting frequency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system responds directly to user touch input without continuously cycling through multiple focuses, allowing the user to select exactly the focus position they need without repeated resetting

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3255523B1Electronic device, photographing method and photographing apparatus
Publication Date: 2022.05.04 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP3255523B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3255523B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3255523B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

By means of an electronic device (100) provided in embodiments, a floating touchscreen (101) detects whether there is a floating touch-control object on the floating touchscreen (101), and when there is a floating touch-control object on the floating touchscreen (101), sends a CPU (102) a signal of at least one floating touch-control point that is generated on the floating touchscreen (101) by the floating touch-control object; the CPU (102) determines a focus position according to the signal of the at least one floating touch-control point, and controls a first camera (103) to initiate focusing at the focus position; the floating touchscreen (101) detects a photographing operation on the floating touchscreen (101), and sends the photographing operation to the CPU (102); and when receiving the photographing operation sent by the floating touchscreen (101), the CPU (102) controls the first camera (103) to perform photographing. In this way, features of the floating touchscreen (101) are fully utilized, so that a high-quality photograph can be rapidly captured, thereby greatly improving photographing experience of a user.