Abstract:
This invention relates in general to a digital information/imaging system such as a digital camera which captures and processes an image for immediate or future viewing, and more particular to a digital information/imaging system having an immediate switch for quickly routing subsequent photos into a separate secured area.

Description:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    According to the present invention, there is a solution to the problem which is not currently covered by the prior art. According to the feature of the present invention, there is a method of user interface which will quickly switch the storage method without heavy navigation. 
       ADVANTAGEOUS AFFECT OF INVENTION 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
             1. Securing photos, videos, or other information in case device is lost or stolen. 
             2. Securing images containing information which may be secret or containing data which needs to be hidden due to commercial or governmental secrecy contracts or other privacy issues. 
             3. Securing images which may be considered indecent or nude, or may be though inappropriate to be shared publicly or with children. 
             4. Storing images not wanted in the main filing area in an alternate area. 
           
         
       
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Handheld digital information/imaging systems, such as digital cameras, cell phones, computers or portable computers, laptop computers, tablets, PDAs or personal digital assistants, and also wearable technology such as digital watches and eyewear, game consoles, and portable gaming systems have become increasingly used for capturing still photography and motion videography for personal and commercial use. 
         [0007]    These devices usually include a display for viewing images or information useful to the user. There are many methods to providing the display including LCD, LED, OLED, resistive touchscreen, surface acoustic wave, super AMOLED, capacitive resistance, surface capacitance, projected capacitance, PCT, PCAT, mutual capacitance, self-capacitance, infrared grid, infrared acrylic projection, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and many others. Display may also be provided on a “heads up” display on eyewear or similar technology. 
         [0008]    The display can also display image capture related functions and menus of camera features that are user selectable (See: U.S. patent application Publication U.S. Ser. No. 2002/0030754 A1, published Mar. 14, 2002, inventor Sugimoto; U.S. patent application Publication U.S. Ser. No. 2002/0024604 A1, published Feb. 28, 2002, inventors Fjima et al.; U.S. patent application Publication U.S. Ser. No. 2002/0057351 A1, published May 16, 2002, inventors Suzuki et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,877 B1, issued Nov. 6, 2001, inventor Anderson; U.S. patent application Publication U.S. Pat. No. 7,827,508 B2, issued Nov. 2, 2010, inventor Michael Venturino). 
         [0009]    Navigation may be provided by navigation pad, buttons, touch screen, scroll wheel, motion, image recognition, voice, or any other method. 
         [0010]    These devices are generally shared with children, friends, and other family members. These images are often saved to cloud storage where they can then be viewed on other devices. These shared images then can be displayed as screen savers on other devices such as television multimedia players and laptops automatically. 
         [0011]    It would be highly desirable when capturing images inappropriate for publicly sharing if there was a simple switch to save such images to a separate secured area where it can only be accessed by the creator. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a potential configuration of a digital camera with a display and several possible navigation methods. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows a possible cell phone/tablet configuration with display and several possible navigation methods. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows a possible wristwatch configuration with display and several possible navigation methods. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  shows a possible eyewear configuration with display and several possible navigation methods. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows a possible mode selection block diagram. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows a possible mode settings block diagram. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  shows a possible “presently filed” set of image options block diagram. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The following invention is for the quick change of photo or video storage from public to private on any electronic device. This includes digital cameras, cell phones, tablets, computers or portable computers, game consoles or portable gaming systems, PDAs or personal assistants, wearable or wrist or eyewear devices, or any other devices performing a similar function. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  shows the possible configuration on a digital camera  100 . Ideally, when viewing an image for capture through either the viewfinder  105  or on the digital display  102  there would be an option on the screen labeled “private” or “private mode” or “privacy” or “private mode” or “protected” or “protected mode” or “alt storage” or any other symbol or icon or variation which tells the operator this will switch to the private mode storage area as defined in the private mode storage settings as shown on  FIG. 6  when activated. After touching the “private” icon on the display, it would then change appearance becoming highlighted or brighter or selected in some way to give feedback indicating selection of the mode has been successful. Once activated, subsequent photos or videos taken with the device will be redirected to a separate protected folder which can only be accessed by the owner with the security of his or her choice and the data should be encrypted. 
         [0021]    Methods of securing said photo or video can include a password, fingerprint, or otherwise protected folder on a cloud account accessed by wireless  109 , separated folder located in the onboard memory, separated folder located on removable memory card  108 , or any other means of separation of memory location available to the device. 
         [0022]    Other possible methods of navigation could include scroll wheel  110  and button  106 , voice activation through a microphone  107 , movement via motion or camera sensor  111 , navigation pad  101 , or button array  104  whether configurable or fixed. The device would remain in this protected mode until the privacy icon has been deselected. Deselection would remove the visual indication of activation and the device would return to standard mode. Subsequent photos or videos taken would resume filing in the standard filing area as defined in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0023]    This method is the basis for all designs in this invention. These diagrams show some possible deviations in design due to device differences. The basic method remains the same. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  shows a possible configuration on a smartphone, cellphone, tablet, or other touchscreen portable device  200 . It uses the same touchscreen navigation as  100  shown as  203 , and can also use buttons  205 ,  206  or voice  204 , or motion  207 , or similar activation techniques. Data can also be stored onboard, remotely in a cloud storage via wireless  201 , or on removable storage  202 , or any other means of storage available and also configurable in the settings  FIG. 6 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  shows a possible configuration on a wrist wearable device  300  which would attach with a band or strap  304 . It would also have a display or touch screen  303 . The device may be independent and contain a camera  306  for capturing photographs or motion video or it may also be used as a remote control for another device. There may be removable storage  307  or onboard storage where the remote device can save data to. There may also be motion sensors integrated which could activate privacy mode at the flick of the wrist or any other predetermined motions. It may be activated by voice via speaker  301  or by pressing a simple privacy button  302 . This device would also send photos to a separate protected location configurable as in  FIG. 6  when privacy mode is activated. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  shows a possible configuration for a wearable eyewear device  400 . This version would have similar features to the wearable wrist version  FIG. 3 . Programmable head motions could be used via motion sensors to activate privacy mode. Also certain hand motions can be programmed to activate privacy mode, or simply the recognition of certain programmed objects via the camera  405  (naked breast for example) would activate privacy mode. Options also include voice activation via microphone  402 , specific blink, squint, or glance activation, or a simple privacy button  401 . This device could use the same onboard or removable storage as the wrist device  FIG. 3  and be used as remote private storage, or could send via wireless  404  connection to storage on another device or remote cloud storage. Privacy is written in reverse on  403  for clarity. 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram describing the different modes. Standard Mode  501  would send all photos and videos to the standard destination such as standard cloud storage or standard local storage  502 ; wherever the users normal filing area would be in the settings. When privacy mode  503  is activated, all photos and videos would be routed to a protected folder  504 . This could also be in the cloud or local, but would be separate from the standard modes filing area. Access to these photos or videos in the alternate filing area  504  for viewing would require a password, fingerprint, iris scan, facial scan, or any other user verification method available. If there are multiple users on a device, each user can have a separate protected folder with their own user verification. Each person can only view their own content. 
         [0028]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram describing a possible layout for the standard/privacy settings  501 . Under the standard photo filing settings  502  there could be storage options  503  which include saving photos and videos to the standard folder in the cloud  504 , or on a memory card  505 , or on the onboard memory  506 . Under the privacy photo filing settings  507 , there would be similar storage options  508 . All options would include user verification and be protected and encrypted  509 . There would be options for saving to a separate protected cloud folder  510 , or memory card folder  511 , or onboard memory folder  512 . There could also be an option for the private photos or videos to be used for sending out only  513 . This would pop up a menu with options like text message, email, facebook, etc. and once the item is sent it is removed from the device. 
         [0029]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing an inclusion of menu items needed for presently filed images. When displaying photos or videos already on the device whether protected or not, the option to move to the opposite folder should exist. For example: after using his fingerprint to view a protected photo the owner decides to make the photo public by selecting the photo options and choosing “make public”. The photo now displays on his television&#39;s screen saver and computer&#39;s slideshow. 
         [0030]    The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
       PARTS LIST 
       [0031]      100  camera 
         [0032]      101  navigation pad 
         [0033]      102  display or touch screen 
         [0034]      103  hinge 
         [0035]      104  buttons 
         [0036]      105  view finder 
         [0037]      106  privacy button 
         [0038]      107  microphone 
         [0039]      108  removable storage/memory 
         [0040]      109  wireless antenna 
         [0041]      110  scroll wheel 
         [0042]      111  motion sensor/camera 
         [0043]      200  cellphone/smartphone/tablet/touch screen device 
         [0044]      201  wireless antenna 
         [0045]      202  removable storage/memory 
         [0046]      203  display/touch screen 
         [0047]      204  microphone 
         [0048]      205  buttons 
         [0049]      206  button 
         [0050]      207  motion sensor/camera 
         [0051]      300  wearable device/wrist or ankle 
         [0052]      301  microphone 
         [0053]      302  privacy button 
         [0054]      303  display/touch screen 
         [0055]      304  band/strap 
         [0056]      305  wireless antenna 
         [0057]      306  motion sensor/camera 
         [0058]      400  wearable device/eyewear 
         [0059]      401  privacy button 
         [0060]      402  microphone 
         [0061]      403  glasses lens/heads up display 
         [0062]      404  wireless antenna 
         [0063]      405  motion sensor/camera 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
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