Visual Pairing of Wearable Cameras With External Devices

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current wearable devices for lifelogging, such as smartphones, are not ideal due to their size and design, limiting their ability to provide enhanced interaction with the environment, navigation, identification of persons and objects, and feedback, necessitating the development of smaller, more advanced devices for capturing and processing images to enhance user interaction.

Innovation Solution

A wearable imaging device equipped with an image capture unit, transmitter, and processing unit that captures images, analyzes contextual situations, assigns category tags, and transmits relevant information to paired devices to execute specific functions, enabling enhanced interaction and feedback.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If smartphones are used as lifelogging devices, then image capture capability is sufficient, but device size and weight become problematic for comfortable wearing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveimage capture capabilityVSAvoiddevice weight

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system divides the lifelogging functionality into two separate devices: a compact wearable apparatus that captures images and a paired smartphone that performs heavy processing and storage. This segmentation allows the wearable device to be small and lightweight while still achieving comprehensive lifelogging capabilities through collaboration with the paired device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts computationally intensive functions (image processing, analysis, storage) from the wearable device and relocates them to the paired smartphone. This extraction enables the wearable device to maintain minimal size and weight while preserving advanced image capture and processing capabilities in the overall system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Adaptability or versatility

If more image processing functionality is added to wearable devices, then user interaction enhancement improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser interaction enhancementVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The paired smartphone acts as an intermediary that handles complex image processing and analysis tasks. The wearable device captures images and transmits them to the smartphone, which then performs sophisticated processing and returns results. This intermediary approach enables advanced user interaction enhancement without increasing the complexity of the wearable device itself.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces mechanical/computational processing power within the wearable device with wireless communication and remote processing. Instead of embedding complex processors in the wearable device, the system uses wireless transmission to offload processing to the paired smartphone, thereby reducing wearable device complexity while maintaining versatile functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Loss of information

If automated image analysis is implemented, then contextual understanding improves, but processing time and energy consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontextual understandingVSAvoidenergy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts energy-intensive image analysis computations from the wearable device and relocates them to the paired smartphone. The wearable device captures images with minimal processing, then transmits them to the smartphone for comprehensive contextual analysis. This extraction preserves contextual understanding while significantly reducing the energy consumption of the wearable device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements partial automated analysis at the wearable device level (basic capture and transmission) and reserves comprehensive contextual analysis for the paired smartphone. This partial action approach at the wearable device reduces energy consumption while the excessive/comprehensive analysis at the smartphone level ensures complete contextual understanding.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS11281907B2Methods and systems for visual pairing of external devices with a wearable apparatus

Publication Date: 2022.03.22 ORCAM TECH

AI summary

A wearable apparatus is provided for capturing and processing images from an environment of a user. In one implementation, a wearable apparatus includes a transmitter, a memory, an image sensor configured to capture a stream of images from an environment of a user of the wearable apparatus, and a processing device. The processing device is programmed to receive the stream of images from the image sensor, analyze the stream of images to detect the external device in the environment of the user, and cause the transmitter to transmit an interrogation signal that is configured to cause a change in an aspect of the external device. The processing device is further programmed to analyze the stream of images to detect the change in the aspect of the external device and, after detection of the change, store in the memory information relating to the external device.