Patent Publication Number: US-10782868-B2

Title: Image navigation

Description:
TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the present invention relate to navigation. In particular, they relate to methods, apparatus and computer programs configured to enable navigation by a user within an image. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Some images have a large size compared to the window (display image) used to display them. For example a panorama image has an extremely wide field of view resulting in a large width to height aspect ratio. 
     It may be possible to rescale an image so that its longest dimension matches a corresponding dimension of the display image, however its shortest dimension may then be significantly smaller that the corresponding dimension of the display image. This significantly reduces resolution. 
     It may be desirable for a user to locate within an image particular content such as for example objects of interest. It would be desirable to improve the manner in which a user may navigate to such content. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a method comprising: enabling display at a first target location in a display image of a first portion of an image; and enabling, in response to a defined user action, non-linear image-content-dependent navigation to a second portion of the image to change the display image to include at a second target location in the display image the second portion of the image, wherein the second portion of the image is dependent upon a content of the image. 
     According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and 
     at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method. 
     The method may comprise:
         enabling display of only the first portion of the image in the display image or only the second portion of the image in the display image or enabling display of both the first portion and the second portion of the image in the display image and/or
 
enabling image processing of the image to identify at least the second portion of the image and/or
 
enabling a change in location of the second portion over time and/or
   image processing of the content of the image to change the second target location compared to the first target location and/or   enabling image processing of the content of the image to change a resolution of the display image based on the content of the image and/or   enabling image processing of the image to define target areas of the image and non-target areas of the image, wherein the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation enables navigation to locate a target area at a target location of the display image but does not enable navigation to locate a non-target area at a target location of the display image wherein navigation to obtain a display image comprising only non-target areas is forbidden; and/or   enabling the user selection of defined user input options provided on a display at a periphery of the display, wherein the display image is positioned centrally in the display and/or further comprising enabling user browsing to the second portion by using a pinch to squeeze non-target areas and/or further comprising enabling user browsing to the second portion by using a pinch to squeeze non-target areas while protected areas of the image are protected and are not squeezed by the pinch and/or wherein the navigation comprises browsing to a target area in response to a user swipe motion on a touch sensitive display.       

     The first target location may be the same as the second target location. The second portion of the image may be automatically identified based on the content of the image. The display image may be defined with respect to a fixed location of a notional observer observing a scene captured in the image, wherein different portions of the image correspond to different orientations of the notional observer. The defined user action may result in an outcome dependent upon the content of the image and independent of kinematics of the user action including speed and acceleration. 
     The non-linear image-content-dependent navigation may comprise a lateral component in a direction of a lateral pan of the image and a transverse component in a direction orthogonal to a direction of a lateral pan of the image. The non-linear image-content-dependent navigation may be dependent upon a location of the second portion of the image relative to a location of the first portion of the image. 
     According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a method comprising: enabling display at a first target location in a display image of a first portion of an image; and enabling, in response to a defined user action, image-content-dependent navigation to a second portion of the image to change the display image to include at a second target location in the display image the second portion of the image, wherein the second portion of the image is dependent upon a content of the image. 
     According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and 
     at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method. 
     The method may comprise:
         enabling display of only the first portion of the image in the display image or only the second portion of the image in the display image or enabling display of both the first portion and the second portion of the image in the display image and/or
 
enabling image processing of the image to identify at least the second portion of the image and/or
 
enabling a change in location of the second portion over time and/or
   image processing of the content of the image to change the second target location compared to the first target location and/or   enabling image processing of the content of the image to change a resolution of the display image based on the content of the image and/or   enabling image processing of the image to define target areas of the image and non-target areas of the image, wherein the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation enables navigation to locate a target area at a target location of the display image but does not enable navigation to locate a non-target area at a target location of the display image wherein navigation to obtain a display image comprising only non-target areas is forbidden; and/or   enabling the user selection of defined user input options provided on a display at a periphery of the display, wherein the display image is positioned centrally in the display and/or further comprising enabling user browsing to the second portion by using a pinch to squeeze non-target areas and/or further comprising enabling user browsing to the second portion by using a pinch to squeeze non-target areas while protected areas of the image are protected and are not squeezed by the pinch and/or wherein the navigation comprises browsing to a target area in response to a user swipe motion on a touch sensitive display.       

     The first target location may be the same as the second target location. The second portion of the image may be automatically identified based on the content of the image. The display image may be defined with respect to a fixed location of a notional observer observing a scene captured in the image, wherein different portions of the image correspond to different orientations of the notional observer. The defined user action may result in an outcome dependent upon the content of the image and independent of kinematics of the user action including speed and acceleration. 
     The image-content-dependent navigation may comprise a lateral component in a direction of a lateral pan of the image and a transverse component in a direction orthogonal to a direction of a lateral pan of the image. The image-content-dependent navigation may be dependent upon a location of the second portion of the image relative to a location of the first portion of the image. 
     According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided examples as claimed in the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
       For a better understanding of various examples that are useful for understanding the brief description, reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B  illustrate examples of a display image and its location within the image before a defined user action and after the defined user action; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example of an apparatus comprising a controller and a user interface; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an example of a controller; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an example of a delivery mechanism comprising a computer program; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  illustrate examples of recording of an image; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an example of an image comprising a plurality of objects of interest; 
         FIGS. 9A to 9G  illustrate an example of image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action; 
         FIGS. 10A to 10E  illustrate an example of image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action; 
         FIGS. 11A to 11B  illustrate an example of image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action; 
         FIGS. 12A to 12C  illustrate an example of image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action; 
         FIGS. 13A and 13B  illustrate an example of enabling image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action; 
         FIG. 14  illustrates an example of a method  600 ; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The examples described below enable a user to navigate an image that at the scale at which it is viewed is significantly larger than the display size used to display a portion of the image in a convenient and intuitive way. The navigation is non-linear and dependent upon the image content of the image. The navigation does not occur in a linear way by for example scrolling an image pixel by pixel through a display image, instead, a user more quickly navigates to portions of the image that are of most interest and that have positions within the image dependent upon the image content. 
     In some examples, the image is a wide field of view image. A wide field of view image has a width at least three times greater than its height. An example of a wide field of view image is a panorama image  20 . 
     A panorama image  20  may be created by stitching together images captured from different, offset fields of view. These images may be taken by one or more cameras. If a single camera is used then images may be taken as a sequence and if multiple cameras are used images may be taken simultaneously or in a sequence. 
     An image  20  may be a still image or it may be a video image. A still image is fixed and does not change in time, whereas a video image does change in time (a motion picture). 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , an image  20  may be formed in a number of different ways. An image  20  may be a still image or it may be a video image. A still image is fixed and does not change in time, whereas a video image does change in time. 
     In both  FIGS. 7A and 7B , a panorama image is formed by combining images captured from a fixed location  70 . Each of the different images is taken at a different orientation. In  FIG. 7A , the panorama image  20  is a 360 degree image, whereas in  FIG. 7B  the panorama image  20  is a wide field of view image. 
     In some examples, a single camera may be located at the fixed location  70 . Different images may then be captured at different orientations of the camera and the different images stitched together to form the image  20 . In this example, the sequence of images that are stitched together to form the image  20  will necessarily have been captured at different times although preferably with a relative offset in time of a few seconds or minutes. 
     Alternatively, it may be possible to capture multiple images from multiple cameras where each camera captures an image from a single point of view or captures images from multiple points of view. In this example, it may be possible for the images to be captured simultaneously from the perspective of different orientations (points of view) from the fixed location. 
     The capturing of an image  20  comprises the recording of image data representing a scene  72  from one or more image sensors. The recording of image data may comprise only temporary recording, or it may comprise permanent recording or it may comprise both temporary recording and permanent recording. Temporary recording implies the recording of data temporarily. This may, for example, occur during sensing, occur at a dynamic memory, occur at a buffer such as a circular buffer, a register, a cache or similar. Permanent recording implies that the data is in the form of an addressable data structure that is retrievable from an addressable memory space and can therefore be stored and retrieved until deleted or over-written, although long-term storage may or may not occur. 
     It will therefore be appreciated that in the following description an image  20  such as a panorama image may be formed in a number of different ways. The display image  10  may thus be defined in relation to a fixed location  70  of a notional observer observing, at a particular scale, a scene  72  captured in the image  20 , where different portions of the image  20  correspond to different orientations of the notional observer. The scale may be such that the whole of the captured scene  72  is not simultaneously viewable in the display image  10  but that only a portion, not the whole, of the image  20  may be viewed in the display image  10  at that scale. 
     According to the various embodiments of the invention described, there is provided a method  2  comprising: enabling display, at a target location  12  in a display image  10 , of a first portion  21  of an image  20 ; and enabling, in response to a defined user action  30 , non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  to a second portion  22  of the image  20  to change the display image  10  to include at a second target location  12 ′ in the display image  10  the second portion  22  of the image  20 , wherein the second portion  22  of the image  20  is dependent upon a content of the image  20 . 
     In some but not necessarily all examples, the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  is a scale-invariant navigation. The first portion  21  of the image  20  before the defined user action  30 , and the second portion  22  of the image  20  after the defined user action  30  are at the same scale (same resolution). 
     In some but not necessarily all examples, the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  may be a scale-variant navigation. The first portion  21  of the image  20  before the defined user action  30 , and the second portion  22  of the image  20  after the defined user action  30  may be at different scales (different resolutions). 
       FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A  illustrate an example of a display image  10  (left hand side) and its location within an image  20  (right hand side) before a defined user action  30 .  FIGS. 1B, 2B, 3B  illustrates the example of the display image  10  (left hand side) and the position of the display image  10  within the image  20  (right hand side) after the defined user action  30 . 
     In this particular example, the image  20  is a panorama image  20 . However, as described above different types of images  20  may be used. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1A, 2A, 3A , to the left hand side, the display image  10  is the image displayed on a display. A first portion  21  of an image  20  comprises first content X and is located at a first target location  12  in the display image  10 . 
     The location of the display image  10  within the image  20  is illustrated to the right hand side. The image  20  comprises a first portion  21  comprising first content X and a second portion  22  comprising second content Y. The first content X and the second content Y may be content of a similar or different type, for example, they may relate to different objects of interest or the same or similar objects of interest. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1B, 2B, 3B  In  FIG. 1B , to the right hand side, the position of the display image  10  has moved after the user action  30  so that it includes the second portion  22  of the image  20  at a second target location  12 ′ in the display image  10 . As illustrated to the left, the second portion  22  of the image  20  comprising second content Y is located at the second target location  12 ′ in the display image  10 . 
     In the examples illustrated in  FIGS. 1B, 2B, 3B , although the position of the display image  10  has moved after the user action  30  its size/scale has not changed so that it the first portion  21  and the second portion  22  of the image  20  are at the same scale. The navigation that occurs as a result of the user action  30  is scale invariant. 
     In  FIG. 1A , only the first content X of the image  20  is displayed at the first target location  12  of the display image  10 . The second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image is not included in the display image  10 . 
     After the defined user action  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1B , only the second content Y of the image  20  is included in the display image  10 . The first content X located at the first portion  21  of the display image  20  is not included in the display image  10  after the defined user action  30 . 
     Although it is possible for the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ to be different, in this example the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ are the same. They have the same size (scale) and they have the same position. In  FIG. 1A  the first content X found at the first portion  21  of the image is centrally located in the display image  10  and in  FIG. 1B , the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  is also centrally located after the defined user action  30 . 
     In  FIG. 2A , only the first content X of the image  20  is displayed at the first target location  12  of the display image  10 . The second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  is not included in the display image  10 . 
     After the defined user action  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2B , both the first content X at the first portion  21  of the image  20  and the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  are included in the display image  10 . The first content X located at the first portion  21  of the display image  20  is included in the display image  10  after the defined user action  30 . 
     Although it is possible for the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ to be the same, in this example the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ are different. Although they have the same size (scale), they have different positions. In  FIG. 2A  the first content X found at the first portion  21  of the image is centrally located in the display image  10  at the first target location  12 . In  FIG. 2B , the second target region  12 ′ for the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  is located off-center after the defined user action  30 . Also, in  FIG. 2B  the first content X found at the first portion  21  of the image  20  is located off-center of the display image  10  at the first target location  12 . Both the first and second target regions  12 ,  12 ′ exist simultaneously in the display image  10 . 
     In  FIG. 3A , both the first content X at the first portion  21  of the image  20  and the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  are displayed at the first target location  12  of the display image  10 . 
     After the defined user action  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3B , the first content X at the first portion  21  of the image  20  is no longer included in the display image  10  and the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  is included in the display image  10 . 
     Although it is possible for the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ to be the same, in this example the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ are different. Although they have the same size (scale), they have different positions. In  FIG. 3A  the first content X found at the first portion  21  of the image is located left of center in the display image  10  at the first target location  12 . In  FIG. 3B , the second target region  12 ′ for the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  is located centrally after the defined user action  30 . 
     In the examples described, image processing of the image  20  may occur to identify the second portion  22  of the image  20 . In the example illustrated, the second portion  22  of the image  20  may be identified because the second content Y at the second portion  22  has particular characteristics that are identified by image processing. 
     For example, it may be possible to process the image  20  to identify objects of interest in the image  20 . This may be achieved by using image recognition techniques so that a portion of the image  20  that corresponds to a reference object can be identified. It may also be able to process the image  20  using depth information, which may be achieved by depth sensors or by using parallax/stereoscopic imaging to identify foreground objects or other objects of interest. In addition, it may be possible to use other additional data to identify the second portion  22  of the image  20 . Examples of such additional data may be for example historic information concerning what selections or actions a user has previously made, it may involve a search of a user&#39;s contacts to identify within the image content that is similar to the faces of the user&#39;s contacts. The contacts may be contacts that are stored locally on the apparatus that displays the image  20  or they may, for example, be contacts that are stored in the cloud or at a remote server for example as part of a social media platform. In addition, contextual information may be taken into account such as for example actions recently performed by a user, items purchased by the user, internet searches performed by the user so that objects of interest within the image  20  may be identified taking into account this additional information. 
     The identification of the second portion  22  of the image  20  using image processing may occur automatically or, alternatively, it may occur as a result of the user performing a user input action. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an example of an image  20  comprising a plurality of objects of interest  90 . 
     The second portion  22  of the image  20  may relate to a single object of interest  90  identified by image processing, or alternatively it may relate to a collection of objects of interest identified by image processing. A collection of objects may be created for simultaneous viewing, and treated as a single object of interest  90 . The collection of objects may be created as a result of identifying a relationship between the objects. They may for example all be contacts of the user or have some other relationship that links the objects 
     It will be appreciated that where the image  20  is a video image, it may also be possible to identify objects of interest  90  by identifying which parts of the image  20  are moving and which are stationary. Where an object of interest  90  is moving within an image  20  over time, it is possible to track the motion of the object of interest  90  as its location changes relative to the background of the image  20 . In this circumstance, the second portion  22  of the image  20  may change its location within the image  20  over time. 
     In some examples, it may be desirable that the target location  12  is at a fixed position and size such that the first target location  12  and the second target location  12 ′ are the same, that is they have the same size and position within the display image  10 . In other examples, it may be desirable to change the size/position/scale of the target location  12  in the display image  10 . The determination of the target location position/size/scale may be dependent upon image processing of the content of the image  20  and, in particular, the image processing of the second portion  22  of the image  20 . 
     For example, if the second portion  22  of the image  20  comprises a single object of interest  90  then it may be desirable to place the single object of interest  90  in a central location of the display image  10 . In this example the target location  12 ′ may be of a size corresponding to the object of interest and located at a centre position within the display image  10 . In other examples, it may be desirable to take into account the content of the image  20  surrounding the object of interest  90 . For example it may be desirable to locate the object of interest  90  according to a predefined photographic rule or compositional rule such as the ‘rule of one thirds’. It may therefore be desirable to constrain the location of the object of interest  90  so that it lies in a predefined position within the display image  10 . 
     In other examples, the display image  10  may comprise more than one object of interest  90 . In such circumstances, the second target region  12 ′ may be redefined, compared to the first target region  12 , so that it includes all of the objects of interest  90 . 
     In some examples, it may be desirable to maintain a fixed scale (resolution) for the display image  10 . In other examples, in may be desirable to change the resolution of the display image  10  while for example changing zoom or aspect ratio. In particular this may be desirable where the display image  10  needs to accommodate a number of objects of interest  90   
       FIG. 8  illustrates an example of an image  20  comprising a plurality of objects of interest  90 . A plurality of target areas  80  are defined in relation to the objects of interest  90 . Each object of interest  90  lies within a target area  80 . The areas of the image  20  that are not target areas  80  are non-target areas  82 . In this example, but not necessarily all examples, the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  allows a user to navigate to the target areas  80  but does not allow a user to navigate to the non-target areas  82 . The location  84  of the display image  10  within the image  20  may be such that any of the target areas  80  can be located at a target location of the display image  10  by navigation  40  and the non-target areas  82  cannot be located at a target location  12 ,  12 ′ of the display image  10  by navigation. As illustrated by the discontinuity in the possible location  84  of the display image  10 , it is not possible to display in the display image  10 , by navigation, only non-target regions  82 . The effort required by a user to reach a desired portion of the image  20 , for example a second portion  22 , is not necessarily directly proportional to the ratio between the size of the image  20  and the size of the display image  10 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , it has already been described how the display image  10  is defined in relation to a fixed location  70  of a notional observer observing a scene  72  captured in the image  20 , wherein different portions of the image  20  correspond to different orientations of the notional observer. 
     As illustrated in the  FIGS. 1A-3B , the navigation  40  may comprise a lateral component  42  in a direction of a pan of the image  20  and a transverse component  44  in a direction orthogonal to a direction of a pan of the image  20 . The lateral component  42  and the transverse component  44  (if any) change the display image  10  to include, at a second target location  12 ′ in the display image  10 , the second portion  22  of the image  20 . The size of the lateral component  42  of navigation  40  and the size of the transverse component  44  of navigation  40  (if any) will depend upon the relative locations of the first content X in the first portion  21  of the image  20  and the second content Y at the second portion  22  of the image  20  and, if appropriate, any change in resolution of the display image  10  and any change in the target location  12 ,  12 ′ within the display image  10 . 
     It will therefore be appreciated that the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation operates on different parts of the image  20  differently dependent upon the content of the image  20 . 
     Thus the defined user action  30  results in an outcome dependent upon the content of the image  20 . That is, the navigation  40  is content dependent. The navigation may also be independent of the kinematics of the user action such as speed or acceleration. In this way, the navigation is non-linear. 
       FIGS. 9A to 9G  illustrate an example of non-linear image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action  30 . In this example, the defined user action  30  is selection of a defined user input option  206 . 
       FIG. 9A  illustrates an image  20  comprising a plurality of objects of interest  90  identified using image processing. In the example of  FIG. 9A , the display image  10  comprises the objects of interest “O4” and “O5”.  FIG. 9B  illustrates the first portion  21  of the image  20  and  FIG. 9A  illustrates the location of that first portion  21  within the image  20 . 
     A user touches the display or otherwise provides a user input  202 , which enables defined user input options  206 . As illustrated in  FIG. 9C , the user input options  206  are displayed on the display  114  at a periphery of the display image  10 . In this example a first peripheral portion  204  to the left identifies multiple user selectable input options  206  such as, for example, those relating to some or all of the objects of interest “O3” and “S1” to the left of the first portion  21  in the image  20  of  FIG. 9A . In this example a second peripheral portion  204  to the right identifies multiple user selectable input options  206  such as, for example, those relating to some or all of the objects of interest “O6” and “S3” to the right of the first portion  21  in the image  20  of  FIG. 9A . User selection of a user selectable input option  206 , is a defined user action  30 , and results in non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40 . 
       FIG. 9D  illustrates the selection  208  of the user input option  206  that relates to the object of interest “S3” and  FIG. 9E  illustrates the consequence of that selection. In  FIG. 9D , a first portion  21  of the image  20  is displayed in the display image  10 . In  FIG. 9E , the display image  10  has been changed to include in the display image  10  a second portion  22  of the image  20 . This second portion  22  of the image  20  is dependent upon the content of the image  20 , comprising the region of interest “S3”. The navigation  40  between the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 9D  and the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 9E  is a non-linear image-content-dependent navigation. The content of the display image  10  jumps to the selected object of interest “S3” without pausing on portions of the image  20  between the first portion  21  and the second portion  22 . 
       FIG. 9F  illustrates the selection  208  of the user input option  206  that relates to the object of interest “S1” and  FIG. 9G  illustrates the consequence of that selection. In  FIG. 9F , a first portion  21  of the image  20  is displayed in the display image  10 . In  FIG. 9G , the display image  10  has been changed to include in the display image  10  a second portion  22  of the image  20 . This second portion  22  of the image  20  is dependent upon the content of the image  20  comprising the region of interest “S1”. The navigation  40  between the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 9F  and the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 9G  is a non-linear image-content-dependent navigation. The content of the display image  10  jumps to the selected object of interest “S1” without pausing on portions of the image  20  between the first portion  21  and the second portion  22 . 
       FIGS. 10A to 10E  illustrate another, different, example of non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  in response to a defined user action  30 . In this example, the defined user action  30  is a pinch gesture  300 . 
     A location of the display image  10  within the image  20  is illustrated using dashed lines. The content displayed within the display image  10  changes with each defined user action as illustrated in  FIGS. 10B-10E . 
     The image  20  in this example comprises two second portions  22  that are separated by the first portion  21  of the image  20 . 
     In  FIG. 10A , a first portion  21  of the image  20  is displayed at a first target location  12  in the display image  10 . 
     A user makes a dual touch input on the display image  10  by simultaneously making touches at image locations  302  that are separated by a distance  306  and then performing a pinch maneuver  300  that draws the touch image locations  302  towards each other as illustrated in  FIGS. 10B and 100 . 
     It will be appreciated that as the pinch gesture is executed, the size of the display image  10  does not change whereas the separation distance  306  between the dual touch image locations  302  decreases. In this example, the content of the image  20  corresponding to the distance  306  is condensed laterally. In the example illustrated there is no condensation of the image  20  in the transverse direction, although in other examples this may be possible. Thus in the illustrated example, the aspect ratio of the image  20  corresponding to the distance  306  is not preserved and the image is compressed as the distance  306  decreases. In other examples, it may be possible to maintain the aspect ratio such that the lateral dimensions of the portion of the image  20  corresponding to the distance  306  decreases as the distance  306  decreases. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10C , at least a part  25  of the image  20  between the two second portions  22  of the image  20  is condensed such that the relative separation of the second portions within the display image  10  is decreased. However, in this example the two second portions  22  are still not properly visible in the display image  10 . 
     Therefore, as illustrated in  FIG. 10D , a user makes a new dual touch input on the display image  10  by simultaneously making touches at image locations  302 ′ that are separated by a distance  306 ′ and then performing a pinch maneuver  300 ′ that draws the touch image locations  302 ′ towards each other as illustrated in  FIGS. 10D and 10E . 
     It will be appreciated that as the pinch gesture is executed, the size of the display image  10  does not change whereas the separation distance  306 ′ between the dual touch image locations  302 ′ decreases. In this example, the content of the image  20  corresponding to the distance  306 ′ is condensed laterally as described with reference to  FIGS. 10B and 100 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10E , at least parts  25 ′ of the image  20  between the two second portions  22  of the image  20  are condensed such that the relative separation of the second portions within the display image  10  is decreased. In some examples, the part  25  of the image  20  may also be condensed in proportion, while in other examples it may not be condensed until the parts  25 ′ have been condensed to the same extent as part  25  and then parts  25 ,  25 ′; are condensed together. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10E , the two second portions  22  are displayed in the display image  10 . 
       FIGS. 11A to 11B  illustrate an example of non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  in response to a defined user action  30 . In this example, the defined user action  30  is a pinch gesture  300 , similar to that illustrated in  FIGS. 10A-10E  when an object of interest  90  lies between the touch image locations  302  defined by the pinch. 
     A user makes a dual touch input on the display image  10  by simultaneously making touches at image locations  302  that are separated by a distance  306  and then performing a pinch maneuver  300  that draws the touch image locations  302  towards each other. It will be appreciated that as the pinch gesture is executed, the size of the display image  10  does not change whereas the separation distance  306  between the dual touch image locations  302  decreases. 
     In this example, the content of the image corresponding to the distance  306  is selectively condensed laterally. The parts  25  of the image  20  between the two second portions  22  of the image  20  and excluding the part  27  comprising the object of interest  90  is condensed such that the relative separation of the second portions within the display image  10  is decreased. The part  27  comprising the object of interest  90  is protected and is not condensed laterally. 
       FIGS. 12A to 12C  illustrate an example of non-linear image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action  30 . In this example, the defined user action  30  is a trace gesture  402 . 
       FIG. 12A  illustrates an image  20  comprising a plurality of objects of interest  90  identified using image processing. In the example of  FIG. 12A , the display image  10  comprises the objects of interest “O4” and “O5”.  FIG. 12B  illustrates the first portion  21  of the image  20  and  FIG. 12A  illustrates the location of that first portion  21  within the image  20 . 
       FIG. 12B  illustrates the performance of a defined user action  30  that cause navigation  40 , as previously described. The user touches the display at a location  400  and then traces  402  their finger, while touching the display, to the left.  FIG. 12C  illustrates the consequence of that defined user action  30 . 
     In  FIG. 12B , a first portion  21  of the image  20  is displayed in the display image  10 . In  FIG. 12C , the display image  10  has been changed to include in the display image  10  a second portion  22  of the image  20 . This second portion  22  of the image  20  is dependent upon the content of the image  20  and comprises an adjacent object of interest  90 . The navigation  40  between the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 12B  and the display image  10  illustrated in  FIG. 12C  is a non-linear image-content-dependent navigation. The content of the display image  10  jumps to the next adjacent object of interest  90  without pausing on portions of the image  20  between the first portion  21  and the second portion  22 . 
       FIGS. 13A and 13B  illustrate an example of non-linear image-content-dependent navigation in response to a defined user action  30 . In this example, the defined user action  30  is selection of a defined user input option  206 . The method has some similarity to that described with reference to  FIG. 9A  et seq. 
       FIG. 13A  illustrates an image  20  comprising a plurality of objects of interest  90  that correspond to portions  502 ,  504 ,  506 , . . . to the left and portions  512 ,  514 ,  516 , . . . to the right. The objects of interest and their corresponding portions may be identified using image processing. In the example of  FIG. 13A , the display image  10  comprises the objects of interest “O4” and “O5”.  FIG. 13B  illustrates the first portion  21  of the image  20  and  FIG. 13A  illustrates the location of that first portion  21  within the image  20 . 
     A user touches the display or otherwise provides a user input, which enables defined user input options  206 . As illustrated in  FIG. 13B , the user input options  206  are displayed on the display at a periphery of the display image  10 . In this example a stack of first peripheral portions  204  to the left identifies multiple user selectable input options  206 . Each peripheral portion  204  in the stack is associated with one of the portions  502 ,  504 ,  506  of the image  20 . A stack of second peripheral portions  204  to the right identifies multiple user selectable input options  206 . Each peripheral portion  204  in the stack is associated with one of the portions  512 ,  514 ,  516  of the image  20 . 
     The selection of a user input option  206  has an effect as previously described. 
     If a particular peripheral portion  204  is selected as a user input option then the display image is changed to display the portion  502 ,  504 ,  506 , . . . ,  512 ,  514 ,  516 , . . . associated with the selected peripheral portion. 
     The stack of peripheral portions may be displayed in a three dimensional display as overlapping portions. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates an example of a method  600 . The method processes input video  602  to enable the navigation  40  previously described. 
     At block  604 , the input video  602  is analyzed. At block  606  putative objects of interest  90  are identified. At block  608  objects of interest are determined. Multiple objects of interest may be grouped to form a single object of interest  90 . 
     Additional information  618  may be used in the process of determining objects of interest. Such information may comprise contextual information as previously described. 
     Next at block  610 , the non-linear image-content-dependent navigation  40  is enabled based on the preceding image analysis. The image  20  is segmented into portions  21 ,  22  and target location  12 ,  12 ′ may be determined. 
     Next at block  612 , user selectable options may be presented on the display. 
     At this stage a first portion  21  of the image  20  may be displayed at a first target location  12  in a display image  10 . 
     In response to a defined user action, performing at block  616  non-linear image-content-dependent navigation to a second portion of the image  20 . This changes the display image  10  to include at a second target location  12 ′ in the display image  10  the second portion  22  of the image  20 . The second portion  22  of the image  20  is dependent upon the content of the image  20 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example of an apparatus  102  comprising a controller  100  and a user interface  110 . The user interface  110  comprises a user input  112  and a display  114 . In some, but not necessarily all examples, the user input  112  and the display may be integrated as a touch screen display. The controller  100  is configured to receive input from the user input  112  and to provide output to the display  114 . 
     The various methods previously described may be performed under the control of a controller  100 . Implementation of a controller  100  may be as controller circuitry. The controller  100  may be implemented in hardware alone, have certain aspects in software including firmware alone or can be a combination of hardware and software (including firmware). 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5  the controller  100  may be implemented using instructions that enable hardware functionality, for example, by using executable computer program instructions  132  in a general-purpose or special-purpose processor  120  that may be stored on a computer readable storage medium (disk, memory etc) to be executed by such a processor  120 . 
     The processor  120  is configured to read from and write to the memory  130 . The processor  120  may also comprise an output interface via which data and/or commands are output by the processor  120  and an input interface via which data and/or commands are input to the processor  120 . 
     The memory  130  stores a computer program  132  comprising computer program instructions (computer program code) that controls the operation of the apparatus  102  when loaded into the processor  120 . The computer program instructions, of the computer program  132 , provide the logic and routines that enables the apparatus to perform the methods illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 3, 8, 9 to 14 . The processor  120  by reading the memory  130  is able to load and execute the computer program  132 . 
     The apparatus  102  therefore comprises: 
     at least one processor  120 ; and 
     at least one memory  130  including computer program code  132   
     the at least one memory  130  and the computer program code  132  configured to, with the at least one processor  120 , cause the apparatus  102  at least to perform: 
     causing display at a first target location in a display image of a first portion of an image; 
     
         
         
           
             and causing, in response to a defined user action, non-linear image-content-dependent navigation to a second portion of the image to change the display image to include at a second target location in the display image the second portion of the image, wherein the second portion of the image is dependent upon a content of the image. 
           
         
       
    
     As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the computer program  132  may arrive at the apparatus  102  via any suitable delivery mechanism  140 . The delivery mechanism  140  may be, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a memory device, a record medium such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or digital versatile disc (DVD), an article of manufacture that tangibly embodies the computer program  132 . The delivery mechanism may be a signal configured to reliably transfer the computer program  132 . The apparatus  102  may propagate or transmit the computer program  132  as a computer data signal. 
     Although the memory  130  is illustrated as a single component/circuitry it may be implemented as one or more separate components/circuitry some or all of which may be integrated/removable and/or may provide permanent/semi-permanent/dynamic/cached storage. 
     Although the processor  120  is illustrated as a single component/circuitry it may be implemented as one or more separate components/circuitry some or all of which may be integrated/removable. The processor  120  may be a single core or multi-core processor. 
     References to ‘computer-readable storage medium’, ‘computer program product’, ‘tangibly embodied computer program’ etc. or a ‘controller’, ‘computer’, ‘processor’ etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having different architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequential (Von Neumann)/parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific circuits (ASIC), signal processing devices and other processing circuitry. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logic device etc. 
     As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: 
     (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and 
     (b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and
 
(c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term “circuitry” would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term “circuitry” would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other network device.
 
     The blocks illustrated in the Figs may represent steps in a method and/or sections of code in the computer program  132 . The illustration of a particular order to the blocks does not necessarily imply that there is a required or preferred order for the blocks and the order and arrangement of the block may be varied. Furthermore, it may be possible for some blocks to be omitted. 
     The term ‘comprise’ is used in this document with an inclusive not an exclusive meaning. That is any reference to X comprising Y indicates that X may comprise only one Y or may comprise more than one Y. If it is intended to use ‘comprise’ with an exclusive meaning then it will be made clear in the context by referring to “comprising only one” or by using “consisting”. 
     In this brief description, reference has been made to various examples. The description of features or functions in relation to an example indicates that those features or functions are present in that example. The use of the term ‘example’ or ‘for example’ or ‘may’ in the text denotes, whether explicitly stated or not, that such features or functions are present in at least the described example, whether described as an example or not, and that they can be, but are not necessarily, present in some of or all other examples. Thus ‘example’, ‘for example’ or ‘may’ refers to a particular instance in a class of examples. A property of the instance can be a property of only that instance or a property of the class or a property of a sub-class of the class that includes some but not all of the instances in the class. It is therefore implicitly disclosed that a features described with reference to one example but not with reference to another example, can where possible be used in that other example but does not necessarily have to be used in that other example. 
     Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in the preceding paragraphs with reference to various examples, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. 
     Some images  20  have a large size compared to the window (display image  10 ) used to display them. For example a panorama image has an extremely wide field of view resulting in a large width to height aspect ratio. The examples described improve the manner in which a user may navigate to image content such as objects of interest within such an ‘oversized’ image  20 . 
     The examples described enable a user to navigate an image  20  that at the scale at which it is viewed is significantly larger than the display size used to display the image. The navigation is non-linear and dependent upon the image content. The navigation does not occur in a linear way by for example scrolling an image pixel group by pixel group through a display image, instead, a user more quickly navigates to portions of the image that are of most interest. 
     In the examples, the image may be a wide field of view image. A wide field of view image has a width at least three times greater than its height. An example of a wide field of view image is a panorama image. 
     In the examples, an image  20  may be created by stitching together images captured from different, offset fields of view. These images may be taken by one or more cameras. If a single camera is used then images may be taken as a sequence and if multiple cameras are used images may be taken simultaneously or in a sequence. 
     In the examples, the image  20  may be a still image or it may be a video image. A still image is fixed and does not change in time, whereas a video image does change in time. 
     Features described in the preceding description may be used in combinations other than the combinations explicitly described. 
     Although functions have been described with reference to certain features, those functions may be performable by other features whether described or not. 
     Although features have been described with reference to certain embodiments, those features may also be present in other embodiments whether described or not. 
     Whilst endeavoring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.