Multi-Camera Handheld Housing for 360-Degree Video Chat
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smartphones are limited in their ability to include multiple parties in video chat sessions, as they typically use a single camera and display screen, restricting the versatility and immersion of the video chat experience.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for a wireless, handheld communication device that incorporates multiple cameras and display screens, allowing for imaging of a 360-degree scene and projecting images on multiple display screens, thereby enabling a more immersive video chat experience with multiple parties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single camera and display screen are used in smartphones, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but the versatility and immersion of video chat experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The smartphone imaging system is segmented into multiple independent camera units positioned at different locations (front, rear, left side, right side) of the device. Each camera captures video from its specific direction, allowing the system to collectively image multiple parties around the device simultaneously. This segmentation enables versatile video chat experiences by capturing different spatial perspectives without requiring a single complex omnidirectional camera.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-viewpoint imaging system to a multi-viewpoint three-dimensional imaging system by adding cameras at multiple spatial locations around the smartphone. This dimensional expansion allows the system to capture video feeds from front, rear, left, and right directions simultaneously, creating an immersive video chat experience that encompasses multiple parties positioned around the device in three-dimensional space.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cameras are positioned around the smartphone housing, then the 360-degree imaging capability is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring scene areas increases
Solution Approach 1:
The 360-degree scene is segmented into multiple directional zones, each monitored by a dedicated camera positioned at specific locations on the smartphone housing. The front camera captures forward-facing scenes, the rear camera captures backward-facing scenes, and the side cameras capture lateral scenes. This segmentation simplifies scene detection by assigning specific spatial regions to each camera, making it easier to track and measure activities in different directions independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a video chat application as an intermediary that receives video feeds from multiple cameras, processes and integrates the feeds, and presents a unified panoramic or multi-view display to the user. This intermediary software layer simplifies the complexity of managing multiple camera inputs by automatically stitching, synchronizing, and displaying the combined 360-degree scene, thereby reducing the difficulty of detecting and measuring the overall scene coverage.
3Ease of operation
If cameras are positioned to avoid finger placement obstruction, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional housing adaptations
Solution Approach 1:
The smartphone housing is segmented into multiple functional zones with cameras positioned at distributed locations (front face, rear face, left side edge, right side edge) rather than concentrating all imaging components in one area. This segmentation allows each camera to be placed in a location that minimizes obstruction from user's hand and fingers during typical holding positions, while the housing structure is adapted with appropriate openings and mounting features for each camera location.
Solution Approach 2:
The smartphone housing is designed as a multi-functional structure that simultaneously serves as the device enclosure, camera mounting platform, and ergonomic grip surface. The housing incorporates standardized openings and mounting features that accommodate multiple cameras at different locations while maintaining a unified aesthetic design and comfortable handhold areas, thereby achieving ease of operation without proportionally increasing structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
This invention provides a system and method for utilizing a wireless, handheld communication device to image a scene in multiple directions, so as to include multiple parties in addition to the user, and also, optionally, to project images on a plurality of display screens. The housing of the smartphone is adapted to provide a multi-camera and multi-screen arrangement. More particularly, the housing of the smartphone is adapted to include (at least) a front-directed camera and a rear-directed camera on respective front and rear faces, and openings along the left and right side edges for small-scale cameras and associated protective windows that are directed to image the left and right areas adjacent to the phone. The side cameras can also be provided in a removable case and a hub can be used to coordinate data feeds, including those from peripheral devices.