Patent Publication Number: US-2007097090-A1

Title: Digital camera user interface

Description:
U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, of Amy E. Battles (attorney docket no. 200506143-1), filed on the same day as this application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, of Amy E. Battles, Daniel J. Byrne, Shanshan Li and Norman C. Pyle (attorney docket no. 200506156-1) filed on the same day as this application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, of Amy E. Battles, Shanshan Li and Norman C. Pyle (attorney docket no. 200506158-1) filed on the same day as this application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, of Amy E. Battles (attorney docket no. 200506125-1) filed on the same day as this application and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, of Mark J. Bianchi, Norman C. Pyle, Amy E. Battles, Shanshan Li and Daniel J. Byrne, (attorney docket no. 200506123-1) filed on the same day as this application, are all hereby incorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein.  
     BACKGROUND  
      As digital cameras get smaller, it becomes increasingly valuable to combine controls. One method that has been used in the past is to combine the zoom control (wide angle/telephoto) with arrow keys (either left/right or up/down). This works well for the most part, but causes problems in certain areas of the user interface where all four arrows and the zoom must be active at the same time. This occurs, for example, in the magnify view where the four arrows are used to pan around an image, while the zoom controls the level of magnification. It also occurs in thumbnail view where the four arrows are used to navigate around and select different thumbnails, while the zoom out is active to return to full-screen single-image view. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of an exemplary digital camera.  
       FIG. 2  is an elevation view of a rear face of the exemplary digital camera of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a detail view of a portion of the digital camera rear face of  FIG. 2  showing a user interface. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      An exemplary user interface for a digital camera is disclosed. The user interface may include a first elongated button having a central longitudinal axis extending in a first direction; a second elongated button having central longitudinal axis extending in a direction parallel to the first direction and an elongated scroll strip having a central longitudinal axis extending in a second direction transverse to the first direction. The elongated scroll strip may be located between the first elongated button and the second elongated button.  
      Also disclosed is an exemplary user interface for a digital camera in which the user interface includes a plurality of touchpad portions, each of the touchpad portions capable of specifying a distinct function of the digital camera. The plurality of touchpad portions may include a first elongated touchpad portion having a central longitudinal axis extending in a first direction; a second elongated touchpad portion having central longitudinal axis extending in a direction parallel to the first direction and a third elongated touchpad portion having a central longitudinal axis extending in a second direction transverse to the first direction. The third elongated touchpad portion may be located between the first elongated touchpad and the second elongated touchpad portion.  
      Also disclosed is an exemplary user interface for a digital camera in which the user interface may include a first elongated button; a second elongated button; an elongated scroll strip located between the first elongated button and the second elongated button; a third button located between the first elongated button and the elongated scroll strip and a fourth button located between the second elongated button and the elongated scroll strip. The first elongated button, the second elongated button, the third button, the fourth button and the elongated scroll strip may form a dumbbell configuration.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary digital camera  2 . The camera  2  may include a housing having a front face  4  and an oppositely disposed and generally parallel rear face  12 . The digital camera  2  may include various devices related to the operation of the camera and features to facilitate user interface with the camera as will be readily understood by one skilled in the art. The camera  2  may, for example, include a lens assembly  6 , a flash unit  8 , and a shutter release button  10 , as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the rear face  12  of the digital camera  2  in further detail. With reference to  FIG. 2 , a display  14  which may, for example, be a conventional LCD-type display, and a user interface  20  may be located on the rear face  12 . A thumb rest  16  may also be located on the rear face  12  to provide the user of the camera with a place for his or her thumb when operating the camera to take a picture. A button  18  may be provided on the rear face  12 , for example, to allow for user input.  
      It is noted that, although some features of the digital camera  2  have been described above, the camera will include other devices, not described or shown herein, related to the operation of the camera as will be readily understood by one skilled in the art. The camera may, for example, include an image capturing device (e.g., a CCD), a processor and other buttons and/or switches to facilitate user interface in a conventional manner.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates the user interface  20  in further detail. With reference to  FIG. 3 , the user interface  20  may include a conventional touchpad  22  located behind the rear face  12  of the camera  2 . The rear face  12  may include various openings therein to define user accessible contact areas of the touchpad  22 . Specifically, for example, a relatively large “dumbbell” shaped opening  24  may be provided as shown. A pair of smaller openings  26 ,  28  may be provided above and below the “handle” portion of the dumbbell shaped opening. Within each of the openings, one or more areas of the touchpad  22  may be defined as specific controls, e.g., as a button or a slider in a manner as will now be described in further detail. It is noted that, although the term “opening” is used herein, the openings in the rear face  12  may alternatively be covered with a material that effectively seals the camera housing but still allows the touchpad to sense a touch or press.  
      First through fifth touchpad portions may be provided within the opening  24  as follows. A first elongated touchpad portion may be provided having a central longitudinal axis “A”. A second elongated touchpad portion  40  may be provide having a central longitudinal axis “B” that may, for example, be parallel to the central longitudinal axis “A” of the first touchpad portion  30 . A third elongated touchpad portion  50  may be provided between the first touchpad portion  30  and second touchpad portion  40 , as shown. Third touchpad portion may have a central longitudinal axis “C” that may, for example, be perpendicular to the axes “A” and “B” of the first and second touchpad portions  30  and  40 , respectively. A fourth touchpad portion  60  and a fifth touchpad portion  70  may be located on either side of the third touchpad portion  50  as shown. It is noted that the dashed lines delineating the touchpad portions  60  and  70  are provided in  FIG. 3  only for purposes of facilitating this written description. In actual use, the touchpad portions  60  and  70  are preferably provided without any delineating lines, as generally shown in  FIG. 2 .  
      A sixth touchpad portion  80  may be provided within the opening  26  and a seventh touchpad portion  90  may be provided within the opening  28 . Each of the touchpad portions described herein may be mapped, in a conventional manner, to one or more particular functions within the digital camera  2 . The touchpad portions  30 ,  40 ,  60 ,  70 ,  80  and  90  may each be mapped to function as buttons such that when the user applies pressure to one of these areas (e.g., with a finger), it functions as would a conventional button. Accordingly, the touchpad portions  30 ,  40 ,  60 ,  70 ,  80  and  90  may hereinafter be referred to simply as “buttons”. The touchpad portion  50  may be mapped so as to function as a scroll strip such that movement of the user&#39;s finger along the touchpad portion  50  in the directions indicated by the arrow  100 , may be sensed. Pressing on a particular area of the touchpad portion  50  can also be sensed. Accordingly, the touchpad portion  50  may hereinafter be referred to simply as a “scroll strip”.  
      As will be described in further detail herein, the touchpad portion  50  (scroll strip) is able to be used for different camera functions (e.g., controlling zoom versus panning or scrolling) at different times. This compliments the efficiency and compactness of the camera  2 . At the same time, the design of the user interface  20  allows the user of the camera  2  to intuitively use the scroll strip  50  and select its functionality.  
      In operation, the digital camera  2  functions in one of at least two modes: “live mode” and “playback” mode. In live mode, the image currently being captured by the digital camera (i.e., via the lens and image capture device) would be displayed on the display  14 ,  FIG. 2 . The digital camera would generally be placed in live mode when it is desired to capture a still picture or a video clip. In playback mode, the display  14  would be used to display images or video clips previously captured and recorded by the digital camera  2 .  
      When the digital camera  2  is in live mode, the buttons  30  and  40  function as zoom controls. Specifically, pressing and holding the button  30  will cause the camera  2  to zoom out while pressing and holding the button  40  will cause the camera to zoom in. The buttons  30  and  40  may include icons thereon indicative of the functions described above. The button  30  may, for example, include an icon  32  in the shape of a plurality of trees to suggest zooming out to a wider field of view. The button  40  may, for example, include an icon  42  in the shape of a single tree to suggest a narrower, more zoomed in, field of view. The button  40  may also include an icon  44  which may, for example, be in the form of a magnifying glass with a plus sign in the center to further indicate a zooming in function.  
      When in live mode, the user may alternatively slide a finger along the scroll strip  50  to achieve the same result as pressing the zoom buttons  30  and  40  as described above. Sliding the finger to the right, as viewed in  FIG. 3 , for example, causes the camera  2  to zoom in while sliding to the left causes the camera to zoom out. The user may also tap or press a specific area on the scroll strip  50  to cause the camera to “snap” to a particular zoom setting dictated by the location along the scroll strip that is tapped or pressed. Tapping the center of the scroll strip, for example, may cause the camera  2  to snap to a zoom position midway between its maximum and minimum zoom. Tapping a location 30% of the way from the left edge of the scroll strip to the right edge may cause the camera to snap to a zoom position equal to 30% of its maximum zoom, and so on.  
      Playback mode generally includes three sub-modes: regular playback sub-mode, zoomed view sub-mode and thumbnail view sub-mode.  
      In the regular playback sub-mode, the user scrolls through full-size images that have previously been captured by the camera and are stored in the camera&#39;s memory. In this sub-mode, the buttons  60  and  70  may be used to scroll backward and forward, respectively, through the images (generally, the images would be displayed either in the same order that they were captured or in reverse order, i.e., the last captured image would be displayed first). The buttons  60  and  70  (as well as the buttons  80  and  90 ) may include icons  62 ,  72 ,  82 ,  92 , respectively, to indicate the directional function of each button. The icons may take the form of arrows as shown. As an alternative to using the arrow buttons  60  and  70 , the user may slide a finger along the scroll strip  50  to achieve the same result as pressing the left and right arrow buttons  60 ,  70  as described above. Sliding the finger to the right, as viewed in  FIG. 3 , for example, causes the camera to scroll forward through the images, in the same manner as the arrow button  70  while sliding to the left causes the camera to scroll backward through the images, in the same manner as the arrow button  60 . The user may also tap or press a specific area on the scroll strip  50  to cause the camera  2  to “snap” to the display of a captured image dictated by the location along the scroll strip that is tapped or pressed. Tapping the center of the scroll strip, for example, may cause the middle image to be displayed (if, for example, 25 images are stored in the camera&#39;s memory, the “middle” would be around the thirteenth image). Tapping a location 30% of the way from the left edge of the scroll strip to the right edge, for example, may cause the display to snap to the image that is about 30% from the beginning of the list of captured images (again, if, for example, 25 images are stored in the camera&#39;s memory, tapping around the 30% point would cause the seventh or eighth image to be displayed) and so on.  
      From the regular playback sub-mode, pressing or tapping the zoom in button  40  will cause the camera to enter the second playback sub-mode-zoomed view. Entering this sub-mode will zoom in on the image currently being displayed on the display  14 . Once zoomed view sub-mode has been activated, the zoom buttons  30  and  40  may be pressed and held to zoom out or in, respectively and the function of the scroll strip  50  may also be changed to zoom (it is noted that, if the zoom out button  30  is continued to be held after maximum zoom out has been achieved, this may cause the camera to cycle to the thumbnail view sub-mode, possibly after a brief pause). Accordingly, after actuating the zoomed view sub-mode, as described above, the scroll strip  50  will cease to function as a directional control and will, instead, control zoom in a manner as described previously.  
      If it is desired to pan the image while in zoomed view sub-mode, the user may press any of the directional arrow buttons  60 ,  70 ,  80 ,  90  to pan in the direction indicated by the arrow icon. The scroll strip  50  will remain active for zoom control, as described above.  
      As an alternative to the scroll strip  50  remaining active for zoom control, the function of the scroll strip  50  may be changed from zoom to pan when one of the directional arrow buttons  60 ,  70 ,  80 ,  90  is pressed in zoomed view sub-mode. In this case, with the scroll strip  50  function set to pan, the user may slide a finger along the scroll strip  50  to achieve the same result as pressing the left and right arrow buttons  60 ,  70  as described above. Sliding the finger to the right, as viewed in  FIG. 3 , for example, may cause view displayed on the display to pan to the right while sliding to the left causes the view to pan left. The user may also tap or press a specific area on the scroll strip  50  to cause the displayed image to “snap” to a right and left location dictated by the location along the scroll strip that is tapped or pressed. Tapping the center of the scroll strip, for example, may cause the display to snap to the horizontal center of the image. Tapping a location 30% of the way from the left edge of the scroll strip to the right edge may cause the display to snap to a horizontal position 30% from the left edge of the image being displayed and so on. Pressing either of the zoom buttons  30 ,  40  will cause the function of the scroll strip  50  to change back to zoom, as described above. Accordingly pressing one of the zoom buttons  30 ,  40  may toggle the scroll strip to zoom function while pressing one of the arrow buttons  60 ,  70 ,  80 ,  90  may toggle the scroll strip to panning function.  
      To activate the third sub-mode, the thumbnail view sub-mode, the button  30  may be tapped (as opposed to pressed and held for zooming). The button  30  may include an icon  34  indicative of this function. Specifically, the icon  34  may be in the form of a plurality of rectangles suggestive of thumbnail view. While in thumbnail view sub-mode, the arrow buttons  60 ,  70 ,  80 ,  90  may be used to navigate through the thumbnail images. The scroll strip  50  may also be used to navigate left and right as an alternative to using the arrow buttons  60 ,  70 . To exit thumbnail view, the user may tap (once again, as opposed to pressing and holding) the button  40 .  
      The user interface  20  described herein provides an intuitive means of providing the scroll strip  50  with multi-functional capability.  
      The user interface  20  has been described herein as having a generally horizontal orientation. In other words, the axis “C” of the scroll strip  50  is horizontal as viewed in  FIG. 3  and during normal operation of the camera  2 . In an alternative exemplary embodiment (not shown), however, the user interface  20  could be formed having a vertical orientation, i.e., one in which the axis “C” of the scroll strip  50  would be vertical during normal operation of the camera  2 . In this embodiment, the arrow buttons  80  and  90  would adopt left and right, respectively, panning functions and the arrow buttons  60  and  70  down and up, respectively panning functions. In panning mode, the scroll strip  50  would function to pan the image up and down, rather than right and left as described in conjunction with the previous embodiment. The zooming function of the scroll strip  50  would remain essentially the same except that zoom in would be in the upward direction instead of toward the right. The various icons on the buttons could, of course, be rotated as necessary to maintain their upright appearance.  
      It is noted that, although the up and down buttons  80  and  90  have been described herein as being portions of the touchpad  22 , these could alternatively be formed as separate buttons extending from the surface of the rear face  12  of the camera  2 , in a conventional manner. Further, although one relatively large touchpad  22  has been described for several buttons and the scroll strip  50 , two or more smaller touchpads could alternatively be used to achieve the same functionality.  
      Although the scroll strip  50  has been described herein for controlling zoom and panning, it may also be alternatively or additionally used for other functions, e.g., exposure or focus control.  
      While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art.