Smart Glasses ROI Imaging for High Clarity With Lower Power
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smart glasses suffer from short battery life, heat dissipation issues, and are uncomfortable for continuous wear due to the use of commodity components optimized for handheld devices, failing to provide substantial utility and convenience for everyday use.
Innovation Solution
Smart glasses with a high-resolution telephoto lens and eye-tracking capabilities to capture images beyond the user's natural vision, using region-of-interest (ROI) detection and computer-vision processing for efficient power management and reduced processing complexity, enabling hands-free operation through gaze and head movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-resolution image capture is implemented in smart glasses, then image quality is improved, but power consumption increases and battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image processing task into two segments: a wide-angle camera captures low-resolution overview images, while a telephoto camera captures high-resolution images only of identified regions of interest. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high image quality for important subjects while reducing overall power consumption by avoiding continuous high-resolution capture of the entire field of view.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality levels to different regions of the visual field. Regions of interest (identified through object detection, face detection, or user gaze) are captured at high resolution by the telephoto camera, while other regions are captured at low resolution by the wide-angle camera. This local quality approach ensures high image quality where needed while minimizing power consumption in less critical areas.
2Measurement precision
If continuous high-resolution image processing is performed, then image quality is improved, but computational complexity increases and processing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The processing pipeline is segmented into two stages: first, the wide-angle camera provides low-resolution data for rapid scene understanding and object detection; second, only detected regions of interest are processed at high resolution by the telephoto camera. This segmentation reduces computational complexity by avoiding full high-resolution processing of the entire scene, thereby improving processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary low-resolution processing using the wide-angle camera to identify regions of interest before committing resources to high-resolution processing. This preliminary action filters out unnecessary areas, ensuring that computationally intensive high-resolution processing is applied only to relevant regions, thus improving overall processing efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If small camera and display form factors are used in smart glasses, then device comfort and wearability are improved, but image quality and display resolution deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by using a small wide-angle camera for general scene capture and a small telephoto camera for high-resolution details. Both cameras maintain compact form factors suitable for wearable devices, yet the telephoto camera delivers high image quality for regions of interest. This approach preserves user comfort while achieving high image quality where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging system is segmented into two specialized cameras rather than one large camera. Each camera is optimized for its specific function and remains compact: the wide-angle camera captures context at low resolution, while the telephoto camera captures details at high resolution. This segmentation allows both cameras to maintain small form factors suitable for smart glasses while collectively delivering superior image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatus, and methods for augmenting vision with region-of-interest based processing. In one specific example, smart glasses may use an eye-tracking camera to monitor the user's gaze and determine the user's gaze point. When triggered, the camera assembly captures a high-resolution image. The high-resolution image may be cropped to a much smaller region-of-interest (ROI) image based on computer-vision analysis of the user's gaze point. For example, if the smart glasses detect a human face at the gaze point, then the ROI is cropped to the human face. In this manner, the smart glasses may leverage specific capabilities of the smart glasses to augment the user experience; for example, telephoto lenses provide long distance vision, or computer-assisted search may direct the user to interesting activity. Other aspects may include e.g., external database assisted operation and/or ongoing cataloging throughout the day.