TW201340702A - Method and system for simultaneously capturing image of multiple apparatuses - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a system for simultaneously capturing an image of multiple apparatuses, suitable for a main apparatus and at least one slave apparatus to simultaneously capture the image, are provided. In the method, the main apparatus transmits a connection request to each slave apparatus, so as to establish a link between the main apparatus and each slave apparatus. Next, the main apparatus and each slave apparatus receive a shutter signal from any one of them so as to simultaneously capture the image. Then, each slave apparatus transmits the captured image to the main apparatus. Finally, the main apparatus collects the images captured by itself and each slave apparatus and transmits the same to each slave apparatus.

Description

Multi-device synchronous photography method and system

The present invention relates to a photographic method and system, and more particularly to a method and system for simultaneous photography between a plurality of devices.

With the advancement of mobile communication technology, portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets are becoming more and more popular. The built-in sensors and diverse applications of these devices can further enhance the functionality of the device. Convenience, in turn, makes these devices an indispensable tool in modern life.

Taking the photography function as an example, the current portable electronic devices have built-in photographic lenses, and with the high-speed processor of the device itself, the portable electronic device can provide users to shoot images anytime and anywhere, and through the built-in communication mode of the device. The group is connected to the outside to further share the captured images to others.

However, the photographic functions of portable electronic devices are still limited to stand-alone use. That is to say, only a single device can be used to photograph or record a single face of an object at the same time, and it is impossible to capture the same appearance of the object at the same time, for example, different angles. Even if multiple devices are used to take pictures or record images, because these devices cannot communicate with each other, they cannot achieve simultaneous shooting at the same time. As a result, the photography function of the portable electronic device is still limited to a general digital camera. Cannot be connected or integrated with other devices.

In view of this, the present invention provides a multi-device synchronous photographing method and system that can serially connect a plurality of devices to simultaneously capture an image.

The present invention provides a multi-device simultaneous photography method suitable for capturing images simultaneously by a master device and at least one slave device. In this method, the master device transmits a connection request to each slave device to establish a connection with each slave device. Then, the master device and each slave device receive the shutter signal transmitted by any one of the devices to synchronously capture the image. Then, the captured images are transmitted by the respective slave devices to the master device. Finally, the images captured by the master device and all the slave devices are collected by the master device and transmitted to the respective slave devices.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of transmitting, by the primary device, the connection request to each of the slave devices to establish a connection between the slave devices and the slave devices includes receiving, by the master device, a confirmation message returned by each slave device, To establish a shooting group and transmit the link information of the shooting group to each slave device to establish a connection with each slave device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, after the step of receiving, by the master device, the confirmation message returned by each slave device, the method further comprises: determining, by the master device, the slave device according to the confirmation message returned by each slave device The signal delay time between the signals is transmitted, and the signal delay time of each slave device is added to the link information to adjust the shutter delay time between the slave devices after receiving the shutter signal and the captured image.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of transmitting, by the master device, the connection request to each of the slave devices to establish a connection between the slave devices and the slave devices further comprises receiving, by the master device, location information returned by each slave device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the collecting, by the main device, the images captured by the slave device and transmitting the collected images to the respective slave devices includes the step of combining, by the master device, the location information of the respective slave devices. The images captured with all slave devices are time-frozen images, and this time is transmitted to freeze the images to the respective slave devices.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of transmitting, by the host device, the connection request to each of the slave devices to establish a connection between the slave devices and the slave devices further includes adding, by the master device, the shooting of the captured image in the connection request. Set to control each slave to shoot images according to this shooting setting. The shooting setting includes one of a shooting mode, a shooting parameter, and a file format, an image size, and an image format of the captured image.

The present invention provides a multi-device simultaneous photography system that includes at least one slave device and a master device. Each of the slave devices includes a first image capturing module and a first communication module. The main device includes a second image capturing module, a second communication module, and an image collecting module. The second communication module is configured to transmit a connection request to the first communication module of each slave device to establish a connection between the master device and each slave device, wherein the master device and each slave device transmit the shutter signal through the link The second image capturing module that drives the main device and the first image capturing module of each of the slave devices simultaneously capture the image. The image collection module collects the image captured by the first image capturing module of each slave device and the image captured by the second image capturing module through the connection, and transmits the collected image to each slave device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second communication module includes a confirmation message sent back by each slave device through the connection, to establish a shooting group, and transmit the link information of the shooting group to each slave group. Device to establish a connection between it and each slave device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the second communication module further determines the signal delay time of the signal transmission between the master device and each slave device according to the confirmation message sent by each slave device through the link back, thereby connecting the information. The signal delay time of each slave device is added to adjust the shutter delay time between each slave device after receiving the shutter signal to the captured image.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the slave devices further includes a first positioning module, where the first communication module obtains the location information of the current location of the slave device when the first communication module receives the connection request, and returns the location information to the slave device. Main unit.

In an embodiment of the invention, the main device further includes a second positioning module and an image combining module. The second positioning module is used to obtain the second position information of the current location of the main device. The image merging module receives the position information returned by each slave device through the link, and combines the images captured by the first image capturing module of each slave device and the second image capturing module of the master device into Time freezes the image and transmits this time frozen image to each slave device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the main device further includes a shooting setting module for adding a shooting setting of the captured image to the connection request to control the respective slave devices to capture the image according to the shooting setting. The shooting setting includes one of a shooting mode, a shooting parameter, and a file format, an image size, and an image format of the captured image.

Based on the above, the synchronous photographing method and system of the multi-device of the present invention establishes a link by the master device and a plurality of slave devices, and transmits the shutter signals triggered by the devices through the link, thereby achieving synchronous photography of the plurality of devices. The effect.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

In the present invention, the host device contacts the other devices through the built-in communication module, and establishes a connection between the devices. Therefore, whenever a device triggers a shutter signal, other devices also receive a shutter signal at the same time, thereby triggering the shutter to shoot an image. In addition, the present invention further collects images taken by all devices by the main device, and transmits them to other devices after processing, thereby achieving the effect of image synchronous shooting and sharing.

1 is a block diagram of a synchronous photographing system of a multi-device according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the synchronous photographing system 10 of the present embodiment includes at least one slave device 12 and a master device 14, and its functions are as follows:

Each of the slave devices 12 includes an image capturing module 122 and a communication module 124. The image capturing module 122 is, for example, a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) module or a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) module for capturing images. The communication module 124 is, for example, a second generation (2G) or third generation (3G) mobile communication technology, or a wireless fidelity (WiFi), a Bluetooth, or a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution). The device of the wireless transmission technology such as LTE) may also be a device using a wired interface (such as a network port), and may be used for wired or wireless transmission with other devices.

The main device 14 includes an image capturing module 142, a communication module 144, and an image collecting module 146. The functions and types of the image capturing module 142 and the communication module 144 are the same as or corresponding to the image capturing module 122 and the communication module 124 of the slave device 12, and are not described herein again. The image collection module 146 is, for example, a hardware device combined with logic circuit elements, and can perform an image collection function, or a program stored in the memory or hard disk of the main device 14, and can be loaded into the main device 14 The processor to perform image collection functions.

In more detail, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for synchronous photography of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the method of the present embodiment is applied to the synchronous photographing system 10 of FIG. 1, and the following detailed steps of the synchronous photographing method of the present embodiment are described below with the components of FIG.

First, the main device 14 transmits a connection request to the communication module 124 of each slave device 12 by using the communication module 144 to establish a connection between the master device 14 and each of the slave devices 12 (step S202). For example, the main device 14 may first search for the surrounding device and display a list of surrounding devices for the user to select the object to be connected, or directly display the contact list for the user to select. In addition, the main device 14 can also provide a variety of connection methods for the user to select, which may include wired or wireless connection, which is not limited herein.

On the other hand, after receiving the connection request, the communication module 124 of each slave device 12 displays the connection request, for example, and then returns a confirmation message to the host device 14 according to the instruction issued by the user. After receiving the confirmation message returned by each slave device 12, the communication module 144 of the master device 14 can assemble the devices to establish a shooting group, and transmit the link information of the shooting group to each slave group. The device 12 enables the respective slave devices 12 to establish a connection with the master device 14 and other devices based on the link information to transfer data between each other.

It should be noted that the above-described connection function is executed, for example, by an application (Application, APP) installed in the host device 14. Each time the user executes the application, the program displays a list of devices or contacts for the user to select and sends a connection request based on the selection. In contrast, the same or corresponding application program is also installed in each slave device 12, and can be manually activated by the user or automatically started by the slave device 12 according to the indication in the connection request, which is not limited herein. In detail, the main device 14 can, for example, carry the program code of the application in the connection request, thereby controlling the slave device 12 to automatically execute the corresponding application. Even if the application is not installed in the slave device 12, the program code can be connected to the application store or market to download and install the application, so that the slave device 12 can support the synchronous photography method of the embodiment.

Returning to the flow of FIG. 2, the master device 14 and the slave devices 12 receive the shutter signals transmitted by any one of the devices through the connection to drive the image capturing module 142 of the master device 14 and the image capture of each slave device 12. The module 122 synchronously captures an image (step S204). The master device 14 and the slave device 12 each provide, for example, a shutter button (not shown) in the form of a hard or soft button, thereby providing a user press to trigger the shutter. When the user presses the shutter button, the corresponding device generates a shutter signal and transmits it to other devices through the established link, thereby controlling other devices to simultaneously trigger the shutter to shoot the image.

It should be noted that, in view of the signal transmission delay that may be caused by the difference of the transmission path between the devices and the hardware and software devices, the embodiment further provides a delay mechanism of the shutter time to solve the shutter between the devices. The problem of synchronization. In detail, the master device 14 may, for example, add a request for an automatic feedback message to the connection request transmitted to each slave device 12 to request each slave device 12 to immediately return a confirmation message upon receiving the connection request. Thereby, after receiving the confirmation message returned by each slave device 12, the master device 14 can determine the signal transmission between the slave device and the slave device 12 according to the length of time between the transmission of the connection request and the reception of the confirmation message. Signal delay time. Finally, the master device 14 adds the signal delay time to the link information to be transmitted to the slave device 12, so that the slave device 12 can determine the number of seconds required to delay the shooting after receiving the shutter signal according to the signal delay time. Shutter synchronization between devices in different locations.

After the respective slave devices 12 complete the image capturing, the captured images can be transmitted to the host device 14 through the above-described connection (step S206). Finally, the image capturing module 146 of the main device 14 collects the image captured by the image capturing module 122 of each slave device 12 and the image captured by the image capturing module 142 of the slave device 12 through the connection. The images are transmitted to the respective slave devices 12 (step S208).

It should be noted that the main device 14 further includes, for example, a shooting setting module (not shown), which can be used to add a set value of the captured image to the connection request transmitted by the communication module 144 to the slave device 12, thereby controlling each. The slave device 12 captures an image in accordance with the shooting setting, thereby obtaining an image with the same shooting conditions, environment, or result. The above shooting settings are, for example, one of the shooting modes (including the aperture priority mode, the shutter priority mode, the manual mode, the automatic mode, and the like) used for capturing images, the shooting parameters, and the file format, image size, and image style of the captured image or The combination is not limited here.

By the above method, synchronous photography and file sharing between different devices can be achieved, and the user can conveniently record different images of the same subject at the same time, thereby increasing the functionality of the device for capturing images.

It is worth mentioning that if the above-mentioned synchronized images are taken for the same subject, all the images can be further combined according to the shooting position and angle of each device, thereby generating a time-frozen image of the subject.

For example, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a synchronous photography system of a multi-device according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the synchronous photographing system 30 of the present embodiment includes at least one slave device 32 and a master device 34, the functions of which are as follows:

Each of the slave devices 32 includes an image capturing module 322, a communication module 324, and a positioning module 326. The functions of the image capturing module 322 and the communication module 324 are the same as or similar to those of the image capturing module 122 and the communication module 124 of the foregoing embodiment, and are not described herein again. The positioning module 326 is, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a device that uses a global system for mobile communication (GSM), a wireless fidelity (WiFi), or the like to perform positioning. There is no limit here. The positioning module 326 further includes, for example, a Gyro sensor, a G-Sensor, and/or an E-Compass, and can be used to detect the orientation of the image captured by the image capturing module 322.

The main device 34 includes an image capturing module 342, a communication module 344, an image collecting module 346, a positioning module 348, and an image combining module 350. The functions of the image capturing module 342, the communication module 344, and the image capturing module 346 are the same as or similar to the image capturing module 142, the communication module 144, and the image capturing module 146 of the foregoing embodiment. The function and type of the module 348 are the same as or corresponding to the positioning module 326 of the slave device 32, and are not described herein again.

Different from the foregoing embodiment, the main device 34 of the embodiment further includes an image combining module 350, which can combine the images captured by the main device 34 and the slave device 32 into time freeze according to the position information of each slave device 32. image. The following is a detailed description of an embodiment.

4 is a flow chart of a method for synchronous photography of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the method of the present embodiment is applied to the synchronous photographing system 30 of FIG. 3, and the detailed steps of the synchronous photographing method of the present embodiment are described below with the components in FIG.

First, the main device 34 transmits a connection request to the communication module 324 of each slave device 32 by using the communication module 344 to establish a connection between the master device 34 and each of the slave devices 32 (step S402).

When the communication module 324 receives the connection request, the slave device 32 obtains the location information of the current location by using the location module 326, and transmits the location information to the host device 34. In contrast, the master device 34 obtains the location information of its current location by using the location module 346, for example, while transmitting the connection request (step S404).

Then, the master device 34 and the slave devices 32 receive the shutter signal transmitted by any one of the slave devices through the connection, and the image capturing module 342 of the master device 34 is driven to synchronize with the image capturing module 322 of each slave device 32. Image (step S406). Thereafter, each of the slave devices 32 transmits the captured image to the host device 34 via the above-described connection (step S408).

Then, the image captured by the image capturing module 322 of each slave device 32 and the image captured by the image capturing module 342 of the master device 34 are collected by the image capturing module 346 of the master device 34 through the connection (step S410). . Finally, the image merging module 350 merges the images collected by the image collecting module 346 into time-frozen images according to the position information of the main device 34 and the respective slave devices 32 (step S412). In detail, if both the main device 34 and the slave device 32 are placed around a specific subject and the images are simultaneously captured in the direction toward the subject, the image combining module 350 can follow the position and the shooting direction of each device. The images are serially connected into successive images of the subject at different times in the same time, thereby generating a so-called time-frozen image.

Finally, the communication module 344 of the main device 34 transmits the time freeze image to each of the slave devices 32 through the above connection (step S414), so that the user of each device can see the combined time freeze image.

By the above method, images synchronized by different devices can be integrated to generate an image with a time freeze effect, thereby increasing the functionality of the device for capturing images.

In summary, the synchronous photography method and system of the multi-device of the present invention automatically establishes a connection between devices when a device initiates synchronous photography by installing a specific application in a plurality of devices. This allows each device in the system to trigger the shutter of another device to capture an image. In addition, the images captured by each device can be processed by the device itself or uniformly processed by the host device, and then collected and shared by all devices to all devices, thereby achieving the effect of image synchronous shooting and sharing.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10, 30. . . Synchronous photography system

12, 32. . . Slave device

122, 142, 322. . . Image capture module

124, 144, 324. . . Communication module

14, 34. . . Main device

146, 346. . . Image collection module

326, 348. . . Positioning module

350. . . Image merge module

S202~S208. . . Steps of synchronous photography method of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the present invention

S402~S414. . . Steps of synchronous photography method of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the present invention

1 is a block diagram of a synchronous photographing system of a multi-device according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a flow chart of a method for synchronous photography of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the invention.

3 is a block diagram of a synchronous photographing system of a multi-device according to an embodiment of the invention.

4 is a flow chart of a method for synchronous photography of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the invention.

S202~S208. . . Steps of synchronous photography method of multiple devices according to an embodiment of the present invention

Claims (14)

A multi-device synchronous photographing method, suitable for simultaneously capturing an image by a master device and at least one slave device, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting, by the master device, a connection request to each of the at least one slave device to establish a a connection between each of the at least one slave devices; the master device and each of the at least one slave devices receive a shutter signal transmitted by any one of the devices to synchronously capture the image; each of the at least one slave device transmits the captured image And transmitting to the master device; and the master device collects images captured by the slave device and transmits the collected images to each of the at least one slave device. The method of synchronous photography of a multi-device as described in claim 1, wherein the master device transmits the connection request to each of the at least one slave device to establish the connection between the slave device and each of the at least one slave device The step includes: receiving, by the master device, a confirmation message returned by each of the at least one slave device, thereby establishing a shooting group; and the master device transmitting a link information of the shooting group to each of the at least one slave device, thereby Establishing the connection with each of the at least one slave device. The method for synchronously photographing multiple devices according to claim 2, wherein after the step of receiving the confirmation message returned by each of the at least one slave device, the master device further comprises: the master device according to each of the at least one The confirmation message returned by the slave device determines a signal delay time transmitted by the slave device and the at least one slave device; and the delay time of the signal that the master device adds the at least one slave device to the link information, Adjusting a shutter delay time between each of the at least one slave device after receiving the shutter signal to capture the image. The method of synchronous photography of a multi-device as described in claim 2, wherein the master device transmits the connection request to each of the at least one slave device to establish the connection between the slave device and each of the at least one slave device The step further includes: the primary device receiving a location information returned by each of the at least one slave device. The method of synchronous photography of a multi-device as described in claim 4, wherein the main device collects images captured by the slave device and the slave devices, and the transmitting the collected images to each of the at least one slave devices includes And the master device combines the image captured by the slave devices with the location information of each of the slave devices to freeze the image for a time; and transmits the time frozen image to each of the at least one slave device. The method of synchronous photography of a multi-device as described in claim 1, wherein the master device transmits the connection request to each of the at least one slave device to establish the connection between the slave device and each of the at least one slave device The step further includes: the main device adding a shooting setting for capturing the image to the connection request to control each of the at least one slave device to capture the image according to the shooting setting. The synchronous photographing method of the multi-device described in claim 6, wherein the photographing setting includes a photographing mode used for photographing the image, a photographing parameter, and a file format of the photographed image, an image size, and an image. One of the styles or a combination thereof. A multi-device synchronous imaging system comprising: at least one slave device, each of the at least one slave device comprising a first image capturing module and a first communication module; and a master device comprising: a second image file a second communication module transmits a connection request to the first communication module of each of the at least one slave device to establish a connection between the master device and each of the at least one slave device, wherein The master device and each of the at least one slave device transmit a shutter signal through the link, and the second image capturing module of the master device is synchronized with the first image capturing module of each of the at least one slave device. And an image capturing module, wherein the image captured by the first image capturing module of each of the at least one slave device and the image captured by the second image capturing module are collected and transmitted The images are collected to each of the at least one slave device. The photographic system of the multi-device of claim 8, wherein the second communication module includes receiving, by the link, a confirmation message returned by each of the at least one slave device to establish a shooting group. And transmitting a link information of the shooting group to each of the at least one slave device to establish the connection with each of the at least one slave device. The synchronous imaging system of the multi-device of claim 9, wherein the second communication module further comprises: determining, by the respective at least one slave device, the confirmation message returned by the connection, Transmitting a signal delay time of the at least one slave device between the slave devices, and adding the signal delay time of each of the at least one slave device to the link information to adjust each of the at least one slave device to receive the shutter signal A shutter delay time between the images. The synchronous photography system of the multi-device of claim 9, wherein each of the at least one slave device further comprises: a first positioning module, when the first communication module receives the connection request, obtains A first location information of the current location of the slave device is transmitted back to the master device. The synchronous photography system of the multi-device of claim 11, wherein the main device further comprises: a second positioning module, obtaining a second position information of the current location of the main device; and an image combining module Receiving, by the link, the location information returned by each of the at least one slave device, and combining the first image capturing module of each of the at least one slave device with the second image capturing module of the master device The captured image is a time-frozen image, and the time-frozen image is transmitted to each of the at least one slave device. The synchronous photography system of the multi-device of claim 8, wherein the main device further comprises: a shooting setting module, wherein a shooting setting for capturing the image is added to the connection request to control each of the at least A slave device captures the image in accordance with the shooting setting. The synchronous photographing system of the multi-device described in claim 13 , wherein the photographing setting includes a photographing mode used for photographing the image, a photographing parameter, and a file format of the photographed image, an image size, and an image. One of the styles or a combination thereof.