CA2463117A1 - Comprehensive personal perspective digital camera including recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

A camera system for recording video from a user's perspective, specifically a helmet camera, is disclosed. The device includes a small CCD ("Charged Coupled Device") which is coupled to memory and a microprocessor. The microprocessor converts the CCD
digital data into digital video signals and stores the digital video in the memory. The memory is either removable from the recording device, or permanent memory and can be retrieved from the user via an external interface. The camera system can also be connected to a wireless network to transmit the video data.

Description

COMPREHENSIVE PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE DIGITAL CAMERA
INCLUDING RECORDER
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0001] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND

[0002] In a typical sporting experience, a person wishing to record their activity for future viewing will capture the event on video. A spectator of the event typically operates a video camera from a fixed point and records the participant's actions. The video capturing unit can vary from a personal hani held camcorder to a large broadcasting quality video camera. The desired result includes but is not limited to the ability for the participants to watch themselves at a future time, and the ability for spectators not situated within visual proximity ofthe event to watch the participants as the event is taking place or at a future time.

[0003] In the past video recording has been done strictly by a spectator of the event.
Today's technology has made the video capturing devices small enough and low enough in weight for the participant in the event to carry the video camera on their person. This allows the video camera to record the event from the participant's perspective. Cameras have been fastened to the participant in a variety of ways. The most common method has been to bolt down or tape one's personal video camcorder to their helmet. The camcorder method is now being replaced by mounting a smaller security style camera. This setup is commonly referred to as a Helmet Camera. These cameras are typic ally cylindrical in shape and less than two inches in diameter and less than 4 inches long, such as the VisonTech VC23HW bullet camera. These cameras do not have the recording device contained within them. Recording the video is still done by a camcorder carried by the participant. The camcorder is generally carried in a backpack. The camcorder is typically hard wired to the small camera and is typically cumbersome and difficult to operate while participating in activities. In addition, the camcorder ormounting requirements often require additional specially modified equipment that is not normally worn by the user.
This is of particular importance because users may be participating in sports such as skiing or downhill mountain biking and the protective clothing and equipment that is normally wom will inhibit the user from easily accessing the camcorder and the camcorder features. Additionally, the wires connecting the camcorder to the helmet camera are a safety issue while the user is participating in the sporting activity; a loose wire may snag or catch during the activity and cause the participant to fall.

[0004] Thus, it is one object of the invention to provide a simple, hands free helinet camera and helmet camera system which can be easily operated by a user when participating in activities.
SUMMARY

[0005] The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims. By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below relate b~ a recording mobile device for viewing and recording video from a user's perspective. The device includes a small CCD
("Charged Coupled Device's which is coupled to memory and a microprocessor.
The microprocessor converts the CCD digital data into digital video signals and stores the digital video in the memory. The memory is either removable from the recording device, or permanent memory and can be retrieved from the user via an external interface.

[0006] A camera system for capturing video from a participant's perspective is also disclosed, the system having a mounting structure configured to removably attach to the participant and a camera coupled to the mount, the camera operative to capture a video image, the camera comprising a wireless transmitter and a microprocessor which transmits the video and audio image to a recording device located proximate to the user.
Alternately the wireless transmitter may utilize existing networking infrastructure, such as a cellular phone network or local mesh network, to transmit the data to a receiver.

[0007] Further aspects and advantages of the invention are discussed below in conjunction with the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 depicts a Helmet with the Digital Helmet Camera Mounted on the top communicating wireless to a control unit.

[0009] Figure 2 depicts a Digital Helmet Camera with a flexible mount.

[0010] Figure 3 depicts a Digital Helmet Camera with external features.

[0011] Figure 4 depicts a Digital Helmet Camera connected to a wireless cell phone or Internet network

[0012] Figure 5A depicts a block diagram of a simple Digital Helmet Camera's internal workings.

[0013] Figure 5B depicts a block diagram of a comprehensive Digital Helmet Camera's internal workings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Herein, the phrase "coupled with" is defined to mean directly connected to or indirectly connected through one or more intermediate components. Such intermediate components may include hardware, communication and software~based components.
Additional intermediate components may include electrical field coupled and magnetic field coupled components.

[0015] There are several helmet camera's and helmet camera systems currently available to users. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,157 discloses an eyeglass in which a camera and viewfinder are combined. This device forces participants to use the specially formed glasses which may prevent the use of other required equipment. For instance, skiers generally wear sunglasses or skiing goggles, and mountain bikers utilize normal sunglasses and may also have an open-face helmet with a wrap around face guard. The glasses required would interfere with the normal sporting activity, and also may hinder the vision of the participant. A further example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,627 discloses a helmet camera mounting system in the mouth guard of a safety helmet. However, many sports enthusiasts do not wish to wear a full-face helmet with a mouth guard.
This setup also requires a user to carry an additional camcorder, or recording device which is bulky and not desirable, as a camcorder is not designed or well suited for the environment many sports enthusiasts are exposed too. Motorcycling, snowmobiling, and personal watercraft, are among a few of the many sports that expose the participant to constant vibration, moisture, extreme temperatures, and dust that are not apt to a camcorders well being.
These conditions are also not ideal for wire and connections from the helmet camera to the recording device.
Another video reco riling setup is the RushCam Helinet Camera System, manufactured by 3Eng Research and Development located in Victoria, BC, Canada. The RushCam system utilizes a small CCD ("Charged Coupled Device") bullet style camera, a mini microphone, and a remote control to operate a camcorder. A charge -coupled device (CCD) is a light-sensitive integrated circuit that stores and displays the data for an image in such a way that each pixel (picture element) in the image is converted into an electical charge the intensity o f which is related to a color in the color spectnun.
For a system supporting 65,535 colors, there will be a separate value for each color that can be stored and recovered. CCDs are now commonly included in digital still and video cameras. A
CCD in a digital camera improves resolution compared with older technologies.
A good CCD can produce an image in extremely dim light, and its resolution does not deteriorate when the illumination intensity is low, as is the case with conventional cameras. The camera is mounted in a machined aluminum piece which has Industrial Strength Velcro fastened to it, such as 3M Dual Lock manufachued by 3M Corporation. The 3M
Dual Lock is typically mated to the participants helmet which also has 3M Dual Lock fastened to it. It can be appreciated that this system is itself cumbersome in the clutter of multiple wires. There is a wire for the helinet camera, a wire for the microphone, a wire for the remote, and a wire to the power supply that powers the camera and microphone.
A
further limitation of the Helmet Camera system is the video quality. A Helmet Camera system which utilizes a security type camera is limited in video quality because it will convert all video from digital to analog which is then sent to the participants camcorder and is converted back to digital in the case where a digital camcorder is being used. To those known in the art of video quality it is clear that removing the process of converting the video to analog will improve the end video product.

S

[0016] Video technology has progressed to the stage where it is commonplace for the general public to record an event for their personal viewing at some future time. There are many standard recording formats available to the public today, such as the analog video format which can be recorded on a variety of standard video tapes, and the various digital video formats that can be recorded on standard video tapes, compact discs, DVDs or on solid state electronic memory devices. Solid state memory is a type of digital memory without moving parts. Typically a solid state memory has a larger environmental specification and durability than a memory that incorporates moving mechanical parts, such as a hard drive where a disc is spinning and a mechanical head is used to read the data from the spinning disc. A solid state memory is generally less sensitive to mechanical vibration, mechanical shock, temperature, and humidity. For example, a device that uses a hard disk typically has a operating temperature range of 0 to 50 degrees C, by comparison, many devices using only solid state memory have a temperature range of ~t0 to 85 degrees C. By using solid state memory, the video device has the advantage of being less sensitive to mechanical vibration and shock, allowing it to be mounted and used in sporting activities, such as mountain biking, motocross, skiing and kayaking.. 1n addition, it is less sensitive to temperature and humidity allowing the device to be mounted in more diverse locations without expensive environmental controls.

[0017] Referring back to video recorders the Canon ZR65, manufactured by Canon Inc., located in Japan, is an example of commonly used personal video recording device.
This device makes use of the mini DV video storage standard. Mini DV is a versatile storage method for personal videographers. It offers a small tape with digital video storage. However, this tape video storage device is not ideal, as the revolution of DVD
(Digital Video, or Versatile, Disc) technology takes over the home standard VHS format of home video recording, the usability of Tape technology is becoming undesirable because of its slow and difficult search ability. The digital technology has created household moviemakers who are in need of a simple video storage device that is easy ~
extract recorded video and edit for their personal use. Many users are struggling with the standard camcorder video technologies. Thus there is a need for an improved system that provides the user with a less cumbersome design, and that utilizes the latest technology in video storage.

[0018] As detailed video recording is necessary, current technology typically uses random access memory (RAM) to store data. There are several types of memory that can be used in the embodiment, both high-density and non high-density. High density memory is defined as memory technology in which each digital bit of data takes one or more resistive elements, one or more magnetic elements, no capacitive elements, and the transistors required take up no more linear silicon die area than a single transistor would require. In addition, high density memory may use a polymer, film, or various media layers, etc. to store data. This does not include shared circuits or logic required to read or write the bits of data. High density memoryis typically easier and cheaper to produce than standard memory types such as, but not limited to, SRAM, DRAM, DRO FeRAM, BBSRAM. As high density memory can be used to produce memory chips with larger amounts of internal RAM, using a high density memory chip typically takes up less space on a printed circuit board, resulting often in an easier electrical design, simpler circuit board layout, simpler microprocessor programming, and lower required production inventory levels. Some configurations of a high density memory chip may contain a small portion of memory cells that are not high density. For example, this design can be used to increase the overall through-put of the memory chip interface to implement a cache. This cache is typically less than one quuter of the whole memory space.

[0019] High density memory is an important technology to camera as it makes it possible to implement large amounts of solid state storage space in a camera.
Normally the cameras and recording units are unable to contain large amo ants of memory due to physical constraints placed on these devices allow only a limited number of circuit boards thereby limiting the amount of real estate for placing memory devices once other components such as microprocessor devices, data interface controllers, etc.
Devices of the current invention contain high density memory which allows them to contain larger amounts of storage space such as 128 megabytes, 512 megabytes, 1 gigabyte, 25 gigabytes, and much larger. Additional benefits of using a high density memory in a recording device is that high density can be used to produce memory chips with larger amounts of internal RAM, using a high density memory chip typically takes up less space on a printed circuit board, resulting often in an easier electrical design, cheaper to design and purchase, simpler circuit board layout, simpler microprocessor programming, and lower required production inventory levels.

[0020] In one preferred embodiment, the memory employs one of the following types of high density RAM: magnetoresistive RAM, polymeric ferroelectric RAM, polymer RAM, holographic RAM, organic RAM, 1T DRAM, ESRAM, C-RAM, Ovonic Unified Memory, phase-state-lov~electron~drive memory, or single electron memory.
Other embodiments of the recording device can use combinations of these types of memory, other types of memories, or combinations of these types of memory and others.
Each of these types of high density RAM are described in more detail below.

[0021] Fenroelectric Random Access Memories (FeRAM) use ferroeledric materials to store information. FeRAMS come in various forms. Two of the main types are:
destructive read-out ferroelectric random access memory (DRO FeRAM) and nor destructive read-out ferroelectric random access memory (NDRO FeRAM).

[0022] DRO FeRAM typically uses Ferroelectric (FE) film to acts as a storage capacitor where NDRO FeRAM uses FE film to acts as a gate in a field effect transistor (FET). The role and properties required of functional materials in these two memory types are distinctly different. For DRO, the read operation is based on monitoring currents caused by polarization changes when a voltage is applied. This causes the memory to be erased a~ require re-writing. For NDRO, the read operation is based on changes in threshold voltages of the transistor according to the polarization direction.
These constructions are either Metal Ferroelectric Semiconductor (lV>FS) FETs or Metal Ferroelectric Metal Insulator Semiconductor (MFMIS) FETs.

[0023] A Magnetic Random Access Memory (1~ is a type of solid-state memory. MRAM technology is very versatile and cost effective and is intended to replace other memory types including FLASH type memories, dynamic RAMS
(DRAMS), static RAMS (SRAMs), etc. Compared to a semiconductor memory, this magnetic thin-film memory has the advantages of fast read and write performance, the ability to retain stored data when the power supply is shut down, the ability for data to be repetitively rewritten an unlimited number of times, and a high resistance to losing recorded co ntents under the incidence of radiation.

[0024] Polymeric Ferroelectric random access memory (PFeRAM) is a solid state memory where data is stored by changing the polarization of the polymer between metal lines. Advantages of this memory type are that the polymer layers can be stacked, which creates a high density memory. PFeRAM memory is nonvolatile, and has fast read and write speeds. In addition, PFeRAM has a very low cost per bit and low power consumption, as no cell standby power or refresh are required.

[0025] Polymer random access memory is a solid state memory with each memory cell consisting as a polymer sandwiched between two electrodes. Application of an electric field to a cell lowers the polymer's resistance, thus increasing its ability to conduct current. The polymer maintains its state until a field of opposite polarity is applied to raise its resistance back to its original level. Bits of information are represented by the different conductivity states. As polymer memory cells are about one-quarter the size of conventional silicon cells and as they can be stacked to produce a three-dimensional structure, polymer random access memory can potentially store far more data than other nonvolatile alternatives. Polymer memory is high density memory.
The polymer film can be read in two modes, either destructive read out or non-destructive read out. In the first case, reading speed is symmetric with write. Depending on how the polymer is processed and initialized this speed can range from nanoseconds to microseconds. This speed symmetry puts the polymer filin memory in a favorable position versus some other types of non. volatile memory, for example flash, where the erase before write may be orders of magnitude slower than the read. In the non-destructive read mode the Thin Film memory speed is comparable to or better than DRAM read speeds. In addition, as the polymer maintains its last resistive state without power, the memory is nonvolatile. Furthermore, since the polymer memory cells are nou volatile, no refresh is required (un like DRAM), nor is any voltage required from an external power supply to maintain information (unlike SRAM). DRO PRAM and NDRO
PRAM have a low cost per bit and low power consumption as no cell standby power or refresh are required.
[01126] One transistor dynamic RAM (1T DRAM) is different from DRAM
architecture as it only uses the transistor to store data;1T-DRAM removals the capacitor from the architecture. As 1T-DRAM only uses one transistor to store the data bit, it is a high density memory technology that simplifies the design of the memory cell and allows a greater amount of information to be stored on the same amount of linear silicon area. In addition, as 1 T DRAM is high density, it is comparatively inexpensive to produce.
Memory chips using this design can be made to include higher amounts of RAM
within the chip, which simplifies design of the device.
(0027] Enhanced SRAM (ESRAM) is a mix of ultrafast DRAM without the capacitor in the DRAM architecture, with a fast SRAM cache. By removing the capacitor from the DRAM architecture, the memory can be made high density, in addition to increasing the speed of the DRAM. This memory has a fast access speed, similar to SRAM, of l Ons or faster; however, as a significant portion of this memory is a DRAM
architecture without the capacitor, it is typically cheaper to produce and high density. Chips using this design can be made to have fast access times and higher amounts of RAM within one chip which simplifies design of the device.
[0028] Holographic random access memory (HRAM) provides very large storage density (high density memory), is nonvolatile, and operates at high speed.
Information is recorded in the holographic medium through the interference of two coherent beams of light. The resulting interference pattern causes an index grating (hologram) to be written onto the recording medium or crystal structure. When the hologram is subsequently illuminated with one of the original beams, light is diffracted from the grating so that the other original beam is reproduced. Many holograms can be multiplexed within the same volume of material by various multiplexing methods, such as angle, fiactal, wavelength, phase code, peristrophic, and shift multiplexing. One specific advantage to using holographic random access memory is that each access to the memory yields an entire data page which can typically hold more than a megabit at a time. This significantly increases transfer rate of information either reading or writing the memory.
[0029] Holographic storage provides very large storage density, is nonvolatile, and has a high transfer rate. The storage mechanism is similar to holographic RAM
with the exception that the storage media is typically a removable, optical disc. The portion of the disc that either contains the required data to be read or is the space to have data written must be positioned correctly so that the specific piece of media is accessible to beams of light required to write and read the disc. As this memory may require mechanical, 1~
moving pats it is not considered solid-state memory; however, holographic storage is desirable due to the transfer speed, nor~volatility, high density, and hardness to external radiation.
[0030] Organic random access memory uses a reversible structural phase-change from the amorphous phase to a crystalline phase similar to the way data is stored on a recordable compact disk. Typically organic RAM has a memory endurance greater than lEl3. Organic RAM is a high density memory with access time typically SOns or less.
1n addition, Organic RAM can be made to have a very low refresh rate or further processed to be nonvolatile memory.
[0031] Chalcogenide random access memory (C-RAM) this is also called Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM) in which a thin-film chalcogenide alloy material is the data storage mechanism. The small volume of active media in each memory cell acts as a fast programmable resistor, switching between high and low resistance with a greater than 40X dynamic range. C-RAM is a high density memory with access time typically SOns or less. Chalcogenide alloys exhibit electronic threshold switching, thus allowing memory cells to be programmed at low voltage whether they are in the resistive or conductive state. C-RAM memory is non-volatile and has extraordinary cycle life typically greater than lEl3 cycle memory endurance without failure. In addition to this, C-RAM
has a low standby current less than luA and is radiation hard.
[0032] Phase-state-low electrorrdrive memory (PLEDM) is a solid state memory that stacks a small transistor on the gate of a conventional MOSFET in a vertical orientation so that they take up no more linear-silicon-die area than a single transistor would require and therefore is considered high density. In general, barners block current flow with the small transistors gate modulating the barners. In some implementations of the PLEDM, once the electron enters and becomes trapped in a quantum-dot region between a gate and a reservoir, the Coulomb forces that result block subsequent electron transfer. Current deployments of this technology use approximately one hundredth of the electrons required by conventional DRAM to store one bit of data. This efficiency allows PLEDMs to store considerably more data in comparison to conventional memory devices.
As the data writing transistor stores electrons finely, refresh load for maintaining the signal is lighter and therefore the power consumption is greatly reduced compared to DRAM or SRAM. By fiuther optimization of the transistor structiu~e, it is possible to produce PLEDM memory that is nonvolatile, meaning that no refresh is required.
PLEDM memory technology typically allows reads and writes in the order of 10 nanoseconds or less. Using PLEDM technology in a video storage device generally reduces cost and power consumption in the device.
[0033] Single electron memory (SEM) memory is a single-electron device that utilizes one-electrotrprecision charge transfer based on the Coulomb blockade effect for its operation and storage of digital bits. The advantages of using SEM memory are low voltage operation and low power consumption. In addition, SEM offers long term nom volatile storage.
[0034) Fractal cluster glass memory is a solid shale memory that typically uses photo-induced magnetism in a magnetic polymer material to store data. The memory uses a new form of magnetism characterized by fractal fields. As the polymer's dimensions are reduced, the photo induced magnetic dimension of the field becomes fractal and is useable as a high density and non-volatile memory type. The light-controlled magnetic materials are used to store the data. Fractal cluster glass random access memory is desirable due to high density, no~rvolatile, and hardness to external radiation.
[0035] An alternative form of fractal cluster glass memory is storage on a disc. The storage mechanism is similar to fractal cluster glass RAM with the exception that the storage media is typically a removable, optical disc. The portion of the disc that either contains the required data to be read or is the space to have data written must be positioned correctly so that the specific piece of media is accessible to beams of light required to write and read the disc. As this memory requires m~hanical, moving parts it is not considered solid-state memory; however, fractal cluster glass storage is.desirable due to the transfer speed, nort volatility, the high density, and hardness to external radiation.
[0036) Using high density memory technologies can afford several advantages in a recording device. For example, high-density memory can provide a cheap-to-produce high amount of solid state memory in a single device. This allows large amounts of video or other data to be stored in the solid state device. In addition, solid state storage is able to operate over a large environmental range. This is a big advantage over technology that incorporates a hard drive due to the environmental limitations on hard drives, in addition to the speed of operation, design complexity, and risk of mechanical failure.
[0037] Advantages to using nonvolatile operating memory-such as but not limited to magnetic RAM, polymer RAM, or organic memory-in a recording device include eliminating the minimum write cycles found in non volatile memory such as flash, eliminating the replacement of batteries in a video storage device such as battery backed up SRAM, simplifying of design process as there is no need to design power ride through to backup operating memory on power failure, and enabling the recording device to operate instantly when control power is restored to the device.
[0038] Figure 1 illustrates a helmet 100 with a digital helmet camera 105 mounted on top of the helmet 100. The digital helmet camera 105 is broadcasting over wireless communications to a wireless receiver and controller 110 with connection 120 to hook up to a Personal computer or other video device and one or more memory cards 125.
The memory cards 125 being of either permanent design or of a removable memory card type, such as a PC/MCIA card, or a Sony Memory Stick manufactured by Sony Corporatio n. It can be appreciated that the type of memory used in the embodiment can employ one of the following types of high density RAM: magnetoresistive RAM, polymeric ferroelectric RAM, polymer RAM, holographic RAM, organic RAM, 1 T DRAM, ESRAM, C -RAM, Ovonic Unified Memory, phase-state-lov~electrorrdrive memory, or single electron memory. Other embodiments of the recording device can use combinations of these types of memory, other types of standard low density memories, nonvolatile memory, or combinations of these types of memory and others can be utilized.
[0039] The controller 110 has a display 115 and a user interface 130. It can be appreciated that the user interface 130 can be also operated remotely from the device, such as a remote control. The display 11 S is of digital design. The user interface 130 consists of but is not limited to buttons to control the helmet camera's 100 power, recording, and stop recording. Other buttons include Standby, or pause recording, On/Off, Activate/Deactivate Laser, Delete Recording, Delete Last Recording, Playback, Pause Recording, Pause Play, Skip, Scan, Menu, Zoon and Setup. Some of the aforementioned features will be explained in further detail below. The user interface 130 also consists of buttons to control playback on the display 115. The playback consists of forward and reverse play and pause and step-play through the video recording.
An alternate of the display 115 is that the display 115 is a touch screen providing the user interface 130 on the digital display 115. An alternate to the wireless controller 110 is a wire connecting the helmet camera unit 105 with the controller 110. Due to limited ranges of wireless communications the controller 110 could implement a blue tooth technology or similar wireless retworking protocol to relay communications from one camera 105 or controller 110 to an additional camera 105 or controller 110, or to an external wireless network system (not shown), which may include a wireless mesh network. Wireless protocols that the communications can utilize include 802.1 la, 802.1 lb, 802.1 lg, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), 3GSM (3'~
Generation GSM), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), CDMA2000, CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). Alternatively a mesh network system can be utilized by the controller 110. a wireless network composed of repeater converters, repeaters, and energy sensors are used to transmit communication data packets between the camera 1 OS
and an end platform, such as a commercial recording location or device.
[0040] Alternatively, wireless communications through an ultrawideband antenna (not shown) can be utilized. Ultrawideband communications is characterized by transmission of short (eg., in the range of O.Sns) pulses at a very low power level (eg., less than a milliwatt). Although transmission of longer pulses at higher power is also possible assuming regulatory approval. Using pulse position modulation (PPM) or other modulation schemes, the digital ones and zeros of digital communication are added to the signal. This results is a earner less communication that has a very wide bandwidth (eg., in the range of 2GI-Iz). Since the power is low and the bandwidth wide, the ultrawideband transmission has little affect on other RF transmitting/receiving devices since the signal is swamped by the background noise level. Clearly, the use of more power will increase the range of transmission, but increase the potential for other RF spectrum utilizing devices.
The power output and allowable spectnun usage is governed by national agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S.A. and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in Europe.

[0041] Figure 2 illustrates a helmet 100 with a camera 105 mounted to it by way of a formable mount 200. The formable mount 200 further allows the camera 105 to fasten to virtually any shaped surface. The function of the formable mount 200 can be accomplished in a number of ways. One method is to utilize a thermo set plastic material that may be heated and pressed to a shaped surface. A second method is to compress a slow curing low viscosity resin between the camera 105 and the helmet 100 that would harden to the shape of the irregular surface, such as a spherical helinet. An alternate to a helmet 100 mounted camera 105 is that the mount will fasten to other objects such as hats, or motorcycle and automobile parts. It can be appreciated that it will be desirable for the camera to be removable from the helmet. This can be accomplished by a quick release mechanism between the camera and the formable mount. A plastic or metal snap, or screw may be used to make the camera simply part from the mount.
[0042] Figure 3 illustrates a camera 105 with on board video recording features. The camera 105 includes a microphone 305 for recording sound. It can be appreciated that the microphone 305 may be of stereo capabilities. The camera 105 includes a lens 301 for focusing the light into the camera 105. This lens allows the user to electronically or mechanically zoom to a desired view. A laser 310 is used to indicate the center of the visible area of the lens 301. The laser 310 allows the user to easily mark where their desired record ing is centered on. This is advantageous as current camera systems require the user to rely on a secondary display to view what area the recording is taking place. In one embodiment the laser displays where the camera 105 is centered and in an alternate embodiment the laser displays a rectangle which outlines the recording window that the camera 105 and lens 301 is currently viewing. In a third embodiment the laser displays data, such as memory usage and availability, zoom capabilities, battery life and other statistics of the camera 105 and controller 110. This is equivalent to having a 'heads-up' display for the user . The camera 105 includes solid -state memory 325, in the form of internal hardware and removable memory cards for recording the video data. The camera 105 contains controls 330 for operating the camera.
[0043] Figure 4 illustrates a camera 105 that is connected to a cellular telephone 400, which transmits the cameras outputted video signal across the cellular telephone network 401 to another cell phone 405, or a handheld computer 415, or a personal computer or storage server 410. This allows the participant to connect the camera 105 to their regular cellular phone and transmit the video images across the cellular network, eliminating the need for a recording device located on their body.
[0044] An alternate solution to the wired link to a cell phone is a wireless link which include the wireless protocols discussed earlier such as Wireless protocols that the communications can utilize include 802.1 la, 802.1 lb, 802.1 lg, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), 3GSM (3'~ Generation GSM), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), CDMA2000, CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). An additional alternate to the link to the cell phone is for the camera 105 to have a cellular transmitter and receiver contained within the camera 105 and the camera housing. As an alternate to the camera 105 including the control buttons, the buttons on the cell phone 400 or 405 or the personal computer 410 or 415 may be used to control the camera.
[0045] Figure SA and Figure SB illustrate block diagrams of a simple and a comprehensive digital camera respectively. The camera 105 consists of a lens 301, which focuses the light onto the CCD (Chargo-Coupled Device) 500. This lens 301 can zoom by means of electromechanical devices or manually, and will allow the user to perform a zooming function. The CCD 500 converts light images into digital signals which the DSP 505 converts into a standard video format by means of a CODEC
550. A
CODEC ("coder-decoder) converts analog signals, such as a video signal, to digital form and compresses it to conserve bandwidth on the transmission path. The standard video format is written to the Memory Device 325 where the user can extract it from through the Connector 530, which would consist of a high speed IEEE "Fire Wire"
connector, USB2 or similar substitute. The DSP 505 also contains at least a portion of the code for the Interface Controls 540. Preferably the Camera 505 is waterproof, and contains a water sealed battery compartment 510, or built in battery with charging connection. The power from the Battery 510 is used to power the electronics of the camera 105.
An LED
515 is used to indicate power and a low charge state in the battery 510.
Alternate the LED 515 is used for both a battery status and recording status LED. This is done by either a two color state LED 515 or by blinking when the battery is low. The camera 105 includes the mechanical and electrical workings for the water proof Control Button User Interface 330. A Microphone 305 located in a wind resilient channel to limit the impact of wind noise recorded on the video is connected to the DSP 505 that also has embedded code to filter out unwanted wind noise. The Laser 310 is also controlled by the DSP 505 and the Interface Controls 330. The Laser 310 can be on all the time or only for a short amount of time that is controlled by the user and the DSP 505 . Features of the laser 310 were described earlier. In an alternate design, the microphone 305 receives voice commands from the user, thus allowing for voice operation of the device functions. For example, a voice command may be utilized to control the laser 310 on/off [0046] An alternate design to the camera 105 is to provide a more comprehensive product to the user that includes a Motion Detector 560. The Motion Detector allows for the camera 105 to zoom into and center an object that is moving at a similar speed to the camera 105. This will allow a sport participant to film only a fellow participant moving at a similar rate and to be automatically centered in the video frame. An alternate design includes a Video Image Stabilizer 565 program to run on the DSP 505. By stabilizing the image the video is much more pleasing to the human eye. An alternate comprehensive camera 105 could also include a Wireless Transmitter and Receiver 580 to transmit video to a broadcasting or recording device, and to transmit and receive control commands from a wireless controller. The comprehensive design also includes a Cellular Transmitter and Receiver 585 to perform the video data transfer and control interface across a cellular network, as described earlier. The comprehensive design could also include a Tilt Sensor 570 which monitors the camera mounting orientation and signals the DSP 505 to rotate the video by the appropriate angle. This is implemented with intelligence that detects if the participant was only temporarily tilting the camera and could be a feature that is turned off if not desired by the user.
[0047] It is therefore intended that the foregoing detailed description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that it be understood that it is the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims (41)

WE CLAIM:

1. A mobile device for viewing and recording video from a user's perspective, the device comprising:
a sensor configured to convert light images into digital signals;
a memory;
at least one microprocessor coupled to the sensor and further coupled to the memory, the microprocessor operative to convert the digital signals into data and the memory configured to store the data; and at least one external data interface coupled to the microprocessor wherein the microprocessor is further configured to provide the data from the memory to the data interface, wherein the mobile device is removably attached to the user, further wherein the mobile device is configured to operate hand-free from the user's perspective.

2 The device of claim 1 wherein the data comprises video data.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the data comprises video and sound data.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein where memory comprises high-density

5. The device of claim 1 wherein where sensor comprises a CCD.

6. The device of claim 1 further comprising a user interface coupled to the microprocessor, the user interface operative to allow the user to perform a function on the video data.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein where the function is at least one in the group comprising stop, record, pause, play, zoom, location marking and power.

8. The device of claim 1 further comprising a sound microphone coupled to the microprocessor.

9. The device of claim 1 further comprising a voice command microphone coupled to the microprocessor.

10. The device of claim 1 further comprising a signal light, the signal light operative to indicate the status of the device.

11. The device of claim 1 further comprising a lens coupled to the sensor.

12. The device of claim 1 further comprising a viewfinder marking means.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein location marking means comprises a laser.

14. The device of claim 1 further comprising a tilt sensor.

15. The device of claim 1 further comprising a wireless transmitter.

16. The device of claim 1, the microprocessor further comprising an image stabilizer.

17. The de vice of claim 1, the microprocessor further comprising a motion detector.

18. A camera device for viewing and recording video from a users perspective, the camera device comprising:
at least one microprocessor;
a sensor configured to convert light images into digital signals, the sensor coupled to the microprocessor;
a user interface coupled to the microprocessor, the user interface operative to allow the user to operationally control the camera device;
at least one memory coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the memory is removable from the device;
wherein the microprocessor is operative to convert the digital signals into data and the memory configured to store the data; and wherein the mobile device is removably attached to the user, further wherein the mobile device is configured to operate hand-free from the user's perspective.

19. The camera device of claim 18 wherein the data comprises video data.

20. The camera device of claim 18 wherein the data comprises video and sound data.

21. The camera device of claim 18 wherein where memory comprises high-density

22. The camera device of claim 18 wherein where sensor comprises a CCD.

23. The device of claim 18 wherein where the operationally control comprises at least one in the group comprising stop, record, pause, play, zoom, location marking and power.

24. The camera device of claim 18 further comprising a sound microphone coupled to the microprocessor.

25. The camera device of claim 18 further comprising a voice command microphone coupled to the microprocessor.

26. The camera device of claim 18 further comprising a viewfinder marking means.

27. The camera device of claim 26 wherein location marking means comprises a laser.

28. The camera device of claim 18 further comprising a tilt sensor.

29. The camera device of claim 18 further comprising a wireless transmitter.

30. The camera device of claim 18, the microprocessor further comprising an image stabilizer.

31. The camera device of claim 18, the microprocessor further comprising a motion detector.

32. A camera system for capturing video from a participant's perspective, the system comprising:
a mounting structure configured to removably attach to the participant;
a camera coupled to the mount, the camera operative to capture a video image, the camera comprising a transmitter and a microprocessor, the transmitter operative to transmit the video image;
a recording device wirelessly coupled to the camera, the recording device comprising a receiver and operative to receive the video image from the transmitter and record the video image captured by the camera.

33. The camera system of claim 32 wherein the recording system further comprises high density memory.

34. The camera system of claim 32 further wherein the recording device comprises a data connector, the data connector operative to allow a user to digitally communicate with the recording device.

35. The camera system of claim 34 wherein the data connector comprises a universal serial ("USB") port.

36. The camera system of claim 34 wherein the data connector comprises an IEEE
fire-wire port.

37. The camera system of claim 32 further comprising a viewfinder marking means.

38. A camera system for capturing video from a participant's perspective, the system comprising:
a communications network;
a mounting structure configured to removably attach to the participant;
a camera coupled to the mount, the camera operative to capture a video image, the camera comprising a transmitter and a microprocessor, the transmitter operative to transmit the video image onto the communications network, wherein the camera further comprises a sensor configured to convert light images into digital signals, a memory, at least one microprocessor coupled to the sensor and further coupled to the memory, the microprocessor operative to convert the digital signals into data and the memory configured to store the data.

39. The camera system of claim 38 wherein the communications network comprises a mesh network.

40. The camera system of claim 38 wherein the communications network comprises a cellular network.

41. The camera system of claim 38 wherein the communications network is operative to communicate using a wireless protocol.