Patent Abstract:
A hand-held image capture and communication appliance and method of using same are provided wherein images may be acquired via scanning means and saved in an internal memory. The scanning appliance includes a processor for manipulating and exhibiting the images on a built-in display screen. Program code stored in the internal memory and executed by the processor includes a capture page module for processing the image data acquired through the scanning means by filtering and discarding redundant image data to form a whole image. The capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a first animation that is designed as a metaphor to signify the progression of the image data processing taking place in the appliance. The metaphor used in the preferred embodiment is a bar graph overlaying a thumbnail of the capture path followed in acquiring the image. The capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a second animation in which the most recently captured image is shown as an outline displacing a previously captured image from the display. This animation communicates to the user the logical sequencing of the captured images as the new last image in the sequence displaces the previous last image in the sequence. Moreover, the display of the newly captured page or image allows the user to examine the page in detail to verify whether the correct scan path was followed and whether any desired content is missing from the image. Should an error occur during the scanning process, the capture page module invokes an error utility module to display a textual dialog explaining the nature of the error.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A SEND CAPABILITY FOR STORED DATA” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130,869, U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A USER HELP CAPABILITY” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130080, U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A DELETE CAPABILITY FOR SAVED DATA” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130082, U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD OF USING SAME HAVING A CAPABILITY TO GRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATE AND DISASSOCIATE DATA WITH AND FROM ONE ANOTHER” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130,789, U.S. application entitled“APPLLINCE AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING AND VIEWING MULTIPLE CAPTURED IMAGES” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130081, U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR NAVIGATING AMONG MULTIPLE CAPTURED IMAGES AND FUNCTIONAL MENUS” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130,584, U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING IMAGES HAVING A USER ERROR INTERFACE” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130,572, U.S. application entitled “APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR VIEWING CAPTURED IMAGES” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/131,258, and U.S. application entitled“APPLIANCE AND METHOD FOR MENU NAVIGATION” U.S. application Ser. No. 09/130,868, which are filed contemporaneously herewith and are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of capturing information (e.g., text, graphics, photos, etc.) for storage in a digital format and, more particularly, to a portable hand-held appliance for capturing images through digital scanning that has a graphical user interface for displaying the captured images for user manipulation and processing, and communicating those images to another device or appliance. 
     Intangible information is a vital business asset that can be exploited for competitive advantage if managed properly. In the past fifteen years, improvements in information processing have been achieved primarily from the widespread use of microcomputers in the workplace and their application in local and wide area networks. Through such applications as electronic mail (email) and networked access to document storage servers, the electronic communications market has exploded. 
     Nevertheless, business is still far from reaching a“paperless” workplace. For example, according to a 1993 report by BIS Strategic Decisions (hereinafter BIS), an information technology consulting firm, more than 90 billion documents were created in 1992 and more than 1 trillion copies of those documents were made. Moreover, BIS estimated that printing and copying expenses average between 6% and 13% of a typical company&#39;s revenue. These statistics illustrate the economic savings available for those businesses that are able to merge paper and technology in a unified information processing strategy. 
     One tool that has proven useful for translating between paper and electronic information is the digital scanner. Scanner-enabled document distribution endows paper-based documents with the speed and convenience of electronic communications. A desktop scanner or network scanner allows business professionals to scan paper-based documents, manage them-effectively and distribute them in a timely fashion. Users can share and distribute information easily by scanning directly to their email or personal computer (PC) fax applications. The growing popularity of fax modems and email is driving the acceptance of scanner-enabled document distribution in offices of all sizes. Fax/modem capabilities, which are available with virtually all modern PCs, enable users to send and receive faxes directly from a computer—at their desk or while traveling—and to check email remotely. 
     Nevertheless, while scanners are ideal for users who need to disseminate paper-based information to colleagues through PC facsimile and/or email, traditional flatbed scanners lack the convenience and flexibility that users have become accustomed to through such products as notebook computers and cellular phones. Hand-held scanners are an improvement in this regard; however, they are typically dependent on a host computer for displaying the scanned images and for providing power. U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,938 to Hayakawa et al. (hereinafter Hayakawa) discloses a portable image scanner designed to overcome these disadvantages. Specifically, Hayakawa discloses a hand-held cordless image scanner having a display/control screen, a memory for storing scanned images, a self contained power supply and an interface that allows the scanner to be received by a host computer as a memory card for transferring stored images from the scanner to the computer. While Hayakawa&#39;s scanner is effective in breaking the dependency on a host computer for image display and power, it still has several drawbacks. For example, Hayakawa&#39;s scanner offers no image processing features other than the capabilities of storing or discarding a newly scanned image and reviewing those images that have been stored previously. More advanced image processing would necessarily be done after transfer to a host computer. Moreover, Hayakawa does not offer a graphical user interface (GUI) containing icons and/or animations to assist users in operating their device. Finally, transfer of images is limited to those devices having ports for receiving an external memory card or the capability of reading the scanner memory through a memory card drive. 
     Accordingly, what is sought is a portable, hand-held image capturing device that allows users to process or manipulate captured images in the device and the ability to communicate the images directly to some other unit such as a computer, printer, or facsimile machine. In addition, the image capturing device should provide cordless operation and use a standard interface for transferring images to other devices. A GUI is preferred to assist users, particularly novices, in operating the device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Certain novel features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. 
     To achieve the novel features and advantages, the present invention is generally directed to a portable hand-held image capture and communication appliance and method of using same by which images may be captured via capturing means and saved in an internal memory. The appliance includes a processor for manipulating and exhibiting the images on a built-in display screen. Program code stored in the internal memory and executed by the processor includes a capture page module for processing the image data acquired through the scanning means by filtering and discarding redundant image data to form a whole image. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, the capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a first animation. In the preferred embodiment, the first animation is designed as a metaphor to signify the progression of the image data processing taking place in the appliance. The metaphor used in the preferred embodiment is a bar graph in which the bar fills a space in proportion to the progress made in completing the image data processing. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, the capture page module includes a code segment for displaying a second animation in which the most recently captured image is shown displacing a previously captured image from the display. Advantageously, this animation communicates to the user the logical sequencing of the captured images as the new last image in the sequence displaces the previous last image in the sequence. Moreover, the display of the newly captured page or image allows the user to examine the page in detail to verify whether the correct scan path was followed and whether any desired content is missing from the image. 
     Should an error occur during the scanning process, the capture page module invokes an error utility module to display a textual dialog explaining the nature of the error. 
     The appliance according to the present invention has many advantages, a few of which are highlighted hereafter, as examples. 
     One advantage of the invention is that intelligent image processing features, normally reserved for a traditional computer, are provided in a portable, hand-held image capturing appliance. 
     Another advantage of the invention is that images or pages can be acquired using a simple and easy to learn scan technique. 
     Still another advantage of the invention is that animation is used during post capture processing to communicate to the user the results of the scan, including whether an errant scan path was followed and/or image content was missed during the scan. 
     Yet another advantage of the invention is that a GUI is provided, which allows new users to operate the appliance with minimal training or assistance. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1A is an elevation view of the hand-held image capture and communication appliance according to the present invention, which depicts a side of the unit containing the display screen, operation buttons, and navigation buttons; 
     FIG. 1B is an elevation view of the appliance of FIG. 1A depicting the opposing side to that illustrated in FIG. 1A, which contains the capture button for performing an image capture; 
     FIG. 1C is an elevation view of the appliance of FIGS. 1A and 1B depicting an end of the unit, which contains the power switch, 
     FIG. 1D is an elevation view of the appliance of FIGS. 1A,  1 B, and  1 C depicting the opposing end to that illustrated in FIG. 1C, which contains a brightness button for adjusting the visual clarity of the display screen; 
     FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram of the internal hardware and software architecture of the appliance illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D; 
     FIG. 3 is a high-level state diagram of the application software of FIG. 2; 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the tools menus displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates the send menu displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the delete menu displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 7 illustrates the help menu displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIGS. 8A and 8B depict memory usage indicator icons on the display screen of FIG. 1A that provide a memory utilization report for the appliance; 
     FIG. 8C illustrates a thumbnail view of a captured image on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 8D illustrates a zoom view of a captured image on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B are a flow chart describing the page or image capture process using the appliance of FIGS. 1A-1D and controlled by the capture page module of FIG. 2; 
     FIGS. 10A-10D depicts a proper scan path using the appliance of FIGS. 1A-1D; and 
     FIGS. 11A-11B depicts an improper scan path using the appliance of FIGS. 1A-1D; 
     FIGS. 12A-12B depicts another improper scan path using the appliance of FIGS. 1A-1D; 
     FIG. 13 illustrates a post-processing screen following an image or page scan displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 14 illustrates a scan error screen displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 15 illustrates a verification screen for a captured image or page displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1A; and 
     FIG. 16 illustrates a rectangularized version of a captured page displayed on the display screen of FIG.  1 A. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific embodiment thereof is shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. 
     Architecture of the Image Capture and Communication Appliance 
     A portable, hand-held, image capture and communication appliance  22  embodying the principles of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1A through 1D. Specifically, FIG. 1A depicts one side (i.e., front) of appliance  22  where a flat-panel display  24  along with user operation buttons  26 ,  28 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36 ,  38  and user navigation buttons  42 ,  44 ,  46 ,  48  are located. Display  24  is preferably of the flat-panel variety to accommodate the hand size dimensions of appliance  22 . Common types of flat-panel displays suitable for use in the present invention include electroluminescent displays, gas plasma discharge displays, and liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Display  24  is the means by which information, including captured images, text, icons, and animations, is communicated to the user. As used herein, the term“image” encompasses both text (binary) and color, graphic, or grayscale visuals. The user operation buttons comprise an image send or transmit button  26 , an image zoom button  28 , an image rotate button  32 , an image delete button  34 , a help utility button  36  and a tools menu button  38 . Send, zoom, rotate, and delete buttons  26 ,  28 ,  32  and  34  allow the user to electronically manipulate an image or page that has been captured into memory through photoelement array  52 . Note that an image captured in memory is interchangeably referred to herein as a“page” because the image is portrayed in appliance  22  as a physical page of text and/or imagery. Activation of tools button  38  presents the user with a menu that includes possible image operations (e.g., image attachment/grouping, image detachment/ungrouping), changing the mode of appliance  22  (i.e., toggling between text (binary) capture and color, graphic, or grayscale capture modes), calibrating appliance  22 , displaying a screen identifying important specifications such as a model number, hardware or software release number, memory equipage, etc., or other user utilities not deserving of a dedicated external button for activation. Help button  36  provides the user with access to general tutorials, process animations, how-to instructions on the operation of appliance  22 , and context sensitive instruction when help is requested while another operation or menu is active. The navigation buttons include an up button  42 , a down button  44 , a left button  46 , and a right button  48  and are controlled by the user to steer a course through menu items and to view images or pages that have been captured in memory. 
     FIG. 1B shows the side of appliance  22  opposite that illustrated in FIG. 1A (i.e., back). The back side of appliance  22  includes image capture button  54 , which is depressed by a user to capture an image through photoelement array  52  and is released once the image is captured. A power switch  56  is included at one end of appliance  22  as shown in FIG. 1C and a brightness control  58  for display  24  is located at the other end of appliance  22  as shown in FIG.  1 D. The positioning of the various buttons, power switch  56 , and brightness control  58  on appliance  22  as shown in FIGS. 1A through 1D is merely exemplary and can be modified as needed to satisfy the ergonomic requirements of the targeted user community. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, the internal architecture of appliance  22  will be described hereafter. Appliance  22  includes a processor  62 , which communicates with a memory  64  via address/data bus  66 . Processor  62  can be any commercially available or custom microprocessor suitable for an embedded application. Memory  64  is representative of the overall hierarchy of memory devices containing the software and data used to implement the functionality of appliance  22 . Memory  64  can include, but is not limited to, the following types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash, SRAM, and DRAM. As shown in FIG. 2, memory  64  holds four major categories of software and data used in appliance  22 : the operating system  68 ; the application software  70 ; the I/O device drivers  72 ; and the image data  74  generated for each capture. Operating system  68  should be designed for real time embedded applications and, preferably, is relatively compact to make the most efficient use of memory  64 . One such example of a real time operating system meeting these criteria is the PSOSYSTEM operating system (pSOSystem® or pSOS®) sold by Integrated Systems, Inc., 3260 Jay Street, Santa Clara, Calif. 95054-3309, which is used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. I/O device drivers  72  include software routines accessed through operating system  66  by application software  70  to communicate with devices such as display  24 , certain memory components  64  and I/O ports such as a serial port or infra red (IR) port for transferring data to another appliance, device or system. The digital representations of the images captured by appliance  22  is denoted by image data  74 . The format used for storing the images should be compatible with application software  70 . One common format used for encoding images is the CCITT standard, which is used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention; however, other public or proprietary standards can be used with equal success. For example, JPEG is a common standard used to encoded graphic or color images. Finally, application software  70  comprises the control programs that implement the various features of appliance  22 . Application software  70  and devices drivers  72  are typically written in a high-level programming language such as C or C++ for development convenience. Nevertheless, some drivers or application modules are sometimes written in assembly or machine language to optimize speed, memory usage or layout of the software in memory. In the preferred embodiment, the present invention uses C language to implement most application software  70  and device drivers  72 . Assembly language is used to implement time-critical code segments. 
     Application software  70  can be broken into several modules corresponding to the various features of appliance  22 , as shown in FIG.  2 . These software modules include an initialization module  76 , a capture page module  78 , a thumbnail view module  82 , a zoom view module  84 , a page rotation module  86 , an attach page module  88 , a detach page module  92 , a delete page module  94 , a send page module  96 , an error utility module  98 , a help utility module  102  and a menu/navigation interface module  104 . A brief overview of each of the aforementioned modules follows hereafter. 
     Initialization module  76  contains the boot software that is invoked when appliance  22  powers up. This module works closely with operating system  68  and device drivers  72  to perform any hardware initialization for processor  62 , memory devices  64 , display  24 , and software initialization for global resources, such as message queues and buffers, system tasks, and memory partitions. Capture page module  78  controls the acquisition of images through photoelement array  52  and their conversion into a suitable format for storage in memory  64 . The operation of capture page module  78  will be discussed in detail hereinafter. Thumbnail view module  82  provides the default visual for pages and icons shown on display  24 . For example, FIGS. 8A and 8B show a memory usage indicator icon for the cases where memory  64  is empty (i.e., no captured pages in memory) and where memory  64  holds  25  captured pages. In FIG. 8C, thumbnail view module  82 presents an entire captured page on display  24 . Zoom view module  84  allows the user to magnify a portion of a page as illustrated in FIG.  8 D. Page rotation module  86  allows the user to rotate a page either in thumbnail or zoom view in 90° increments. Attach page module  88  allows the user to logically join pages together to form a group of pages that can be manipulated as an individual unit. Conversely, detach page module  92  allows the user to separate a page or pages from a previously formed group. Delete page module  94  allows the user to purge a page or group of pages from memory  64 . Send page module  96  allows the user to transfer a page or group of pages to another appliance, device or system through the serial or IR communication ports of appliance  22 . Error utility module  98  provides notification to the user when the user attempts an invalid operation. Help utility module  102  provides the user, in real time, with general instructions through text and animation for operating appliance  22  and context sensitive instructions for performing a specific operation. Lastly, menu/navigation interface module  104  provides the user with graphical menus for performing various operations and processes the user&#39;s response thereto. Moreover, menu/navigation interface module  104  responds to navigation buttons  42 ,  44 ,  46 , and  48  that allow the user to steer a course through the graphical menus and view the stored pages. 
     A high level state diagram for application software  70  is shown in FIG.  3 . This state diagram is useful for gaining a broad understanding of the operation of application software  70  and its associated software modules. These states are representative of tasks or processes in application software  70  that act on messages from a message queue, which are generated as a result of user interaction with appliance  22  (i.e., activation of buttons). Appliance  22  and application software  70  begin and terminate from the off state  106 , which is controlled by the user through operation of power switch  56 . Off state  106  can clearly be entered from any other state in response to a user turning appliance  22  off through switch  56 . When a user turns switch  56  to the on position, the system will pass through a transient initialization state  108  during which time initialization module  76  is invoked to perform its functions. Once system initialization is complete, the system enters the thumbnail view state  112 , which is the default state for viewing any captured images. From thumbnail view state  112 , the system can transition to any one of several possible states depending on the action by the user. For example, the capture button can be pressed to enter capture state  114  to perform an image capture. After the image is captured, the button is released to return to thumbnail view state  112 . If the user wishes to change the orientation of the captured image, then activation of rotation button  32  will rotate the captured image 90° with each invocation. Moreover, now that an image is captured in memory  64 , a user can obtain a magnified view of a portion of the image or page by pressing zoom button  28  to enter zoom view state  116 . Similar to thumbnail view state  112 , the magnified image can also be rotated through application of rotation button  32 . The system will return to thumbnail view state  112  through operation of zoom button  28 . 
     From thumbnail view state  112  or zoom view state  116 , one of four menu states can be entered depending on the choice made by the user. First, activation of tools button  38  will transition the system into tools menu state  118  where a menu of possible page operations and/or features is exhibited on display  24  as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Second, activation of send button  26  will transition the system into send menu state  122  where a menu of options for transferring a page or group of pages to another appliance, device or system is exhibited on display  24  as illustrated in FIG.  5 . Third, activation of delete button  34  will transition the system into delete menu state  124  where a menu of options for deleting a page or group of pages from memory  64  is exhibited on display  24  as illustrated in FIG.  6 . Lastly, activation of help button  36  will transition the system into help menu state  126  where a menu of help topics is exhibited on display  24  as illustrated in FIG.  7 . Once any of the aforementioned menu states is reached, the user can choose a desired menu option by using navigation buttons  42  and  44  and then validating the choice by pressing a confirmation button. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the confirmation button is simply the button by which the present menu on display is accessed. An icon indicating the appropriate confirmation button is displayed in the lower left hand side of the menus as illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 7. Menu states may be exited by simply invoking navigation button  46  to transition to a previous state. 
     An invalid response by the user (i.e., user presses an inactive button) will result in a transition to the default message handler state  128  where the user response is interpreted through the message that was generated internally. Frequently, the invalid response by the user will simply be ignored. Nevertheless, depending on the button that was invoked and the current state of application software  70 , a transition is sometimes made to the error dialog state  132  to notify the user of their error via a message or graphic (e.g., a blinking icon) on display  24 . Alternatively, error dialog state  132  can be entered directly if application software  70  detects an error in the execution of a valid operation. The most common example of this is when the user follows an improper capture path with appliance  22  during the image capture process. 
     The procedure of capturing an image or page with appliance  22  and the control exercised by capture page software module  78  will be described hereafter with frequent reference to (a) the flow charts of FIGS. 9A and 9B; (b) the animation scenes depicting proper and improper scan techniques of FIGS. 10A-10D,  11 A- 11 B, and  12 A- 12 B; the error screen of FIG. 14; and the image or page post-processing, verification, and rectangularization screens of FIGS. 13,  15 , and  16 . 
     Capturing a Page with the Appliance 
     A user initiates a page capture through activating image capture button  54  on the back of appliance  22 . Thus, as represented by decision diamond  134  in FIG. 9A, the process begins with capture page module  78  (see FIG. 2) processing a message indicating that capture button  54  has been activated. Depending on the current state of application software  70 , a page capture may not be a valid operation as indicated by decision diamond  136 . If page capture button  54  is not currently active or live, the user&#39;s attempt to capture a page is ignored. In the preferred embodiment, unless the system is in the process of actively sending a page to another device, which is encompassed in send menu state  122  of FIG. 3, or communicating an error to the user, which is represented by error dialog state  132  of FIG. 3, application software  70  will abort the current task and begin a page capture. Note that even if the system is currently displaying the send menu, as shown in FIG. 5, to start a send operation, a page capture initiation will override this state unless data is currently being transferred between appliance  22  and another device. Thus, if page capture button  54  is active, the process continues by following termination A where, as discussed in the foregoing, the current operation is aborted in step  138 . 
     Unless appliance  22  is currently being used to capture a new image, it is unnecessary to power photoelement array  52  (see FIG.  1 A). Accordingly, it is necessary in step  142  to redirect power from display  24  to photoelement array  52  at the beginning of the image capture process. Step  144  represents the capture process performed by the user, which will continue until capture button  54  is released, which is determined at decision diamond  146  or photoelement array  52  detects that appliance  22  has been lifted off the page or another capture error has occurred (e.g., scan speed was too fast, out of memory, too much rotation in the scan path, etc.), as represented by decision diamond  147 . Help utility module  102  provides an instructional animation that demonstrates both proper and improper techniques for executing an image scan. Scenes from this animation are provided in FIGS. 10A-10D,  11 A- 11 B, and  12 A- 12 B. Note that this animation does not run automatically as part of the image capture process. Instead, the animation is provided as part of the help feature accessed through help button  36 . 
     Turning first to FIGS. 10A-10D, the preferred scan path is illustrated in the collection of animation scenes shown therein. There are two requirements that must be followed to perform a successful scan: First, the user must maintain appliance  22  in engagement with the target image to be acquired. Second, the entire image must be traversed with photoelement array  52 . As shown in FIG. 10A, the user activates capture button  54  while appliance  22  is in engagement with the target. In FIG. 10B, the user is shown to make a first stroke or pass with appliance  22  thereby acquiring the left side of the image. Next, appliance  22  is slid to the right where a second stroke or pass is made to acquire the right side of the image. In the preferred embodiment, the two strokes should overlap by at least ½ inch to ensure that the entire image is captured and properly stitched together. Capture page module  78  detects the overlap and discards redundant image data when reconstructing a digital representation of the image. Once the entire image has been traversed, the user releases capture button  54  as shown in FIG. 10D to end the image capture procedure. While the scanning procedure just described is the preferred technique, alternative paths can be taken along the target image as long as the entire image is covered and appliance  22  remains in engagement with the target. Nevertheless, wandering paths that result in numerous sections of overlap or require extensive backtracking with appliance  22  to traverse the entire image will necessitate more extensive processing in filtering out redundant image data as capture page module  78  reconstructs the captured image. 
     FIGS. 11A-11B and  12 A- 12 B illustrate two common mistakes made by the user in scanning a new image. In FIG. 11A, the user is shown to leave the target image with appliance  22  thus acquiring unwanted image data. The error is highlighted in FIG. 1B with the X over the errant scan region. FIG. 12A illustrates a scan path that is very close to the preferred scan path shown in FIGS. 10A-10D. Notice, however, that in FIG. 12A the user failed to overlap the second stroke or pass made along the right side of the image with the initial stroke or pass made over the left side of the image. As a result, the center portion of the image is not acquired as indicated by the X in FIG.  12 B. 
     Returning to the flow chart of FIG. 9A, once the user releases capture button  52 , disengages appliance  22  from the target, or encounters any other capture error, the capture is terminated in step  148  and power is redirected to display  24  in step  152 . During this post capture period, capture page module  78  processes the acquired image by discarding redundant image data due to overlap during scanning and adds control data to save the new page in sequence with previously acquired pages. While this processing is taking place, however, the user can choose to discard the newly acquired image. As shown in FIG. 13, a post-processing animation is shown on display  24  that represents the processing carried out under the control of capture page module  78  during the post capture period. A horizontal bar graph is used to communicate the progress of the new page processing. Inasmuch as the task of processing the newly acquired image data requires a finite amount of processing time, the animated bar graph can be correlated to track this processing interval with a suitable degree of precision. Accordingly, once the bar substantially fills the block in which it is contained, post capture processing is complete. It will be appreciated that alternative progress icons can be used, such as an hour glass or a digital percentage readout, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The bar graph block further notifies the user that post capture processing can be canceled and the newly acquired image discarded through invocation of navigation button  46 . This option is represented in the flow chart of FIG. 9A as decision diamond  154 . Thus, throughout the time that the post-processing animation is on display in step  156 , the user can choose to end the processing and discard the image by simply pressing navigation button  46 , which results in display  24  returning to the previous view (i.e., the content of display  24  prior to initiation of an image capture) in step  158  by following termination C in FIG.  9 B. To assist the user in making this decision, the bar graph is superimposed over a portion of a highlight or outline (i.e., no image content is displayed) of the scan path (see FIG.  13 ), providing an early indication that portions of the desired image could be missing and the captured page should be discarded. 
     If the captured image is not discarded, post capture processing will complete and the process will continue at termination D of FIG.  9 B. At decision diamond  162 , capture page module  78  determines whether an error occurred during the scan and, if so, transfers control to error utility module  98  where an error screen such as the example shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on display  24  in step  164 . Examples of errors identified in the preferred embodiment of the present invention include the following: a) appliance  22  cannot navigate across the target medium; b) the user lifted appliance  22  from the scan target while capture button  52  was depressed; c) the maximum scan speed was exceeded; d) the maximum capture size was exceeded; and e) memory  64  is full. 
     Capture page module  78  then displays a verification screen as shown in FIG. 15 in step  166  even if an error occurred because the verification may help a user understand the consequence of the error. Furthermore, the captured page may nevertheless be satisfactory for the user&#39;s purpose in spite of the error. The verification screen provides a fully processed view of the captured image that illustrates the path followed by the user in performing the image capture. The verification screen therefore allows the user to examine their scan results in detail for such errors as an incorrect capture path or missing content to determine whether the page should be kept or discarded. To reinforce the logical relationship between the captured images, a thumbnail view of the last page captured is briefly displayed on display  24  with the newly captured page shown to slide onto the display from the right thereby displacing the last page captured to the left. This animation conveys to the user that the verification screen of the newly captured image represents a new last page in the sequence of captured pages. The page shown in FIG. 15 is an example of a poor scan technique as portions of the image are clearly missing. As represented by decision diamond  168 , some operations attempted by the user while the verification screen is on display results in the page transforming through an animation into a rectangularized page as shown in FIG. 16 in step  172 . This includes such operations as a power cycle, an automatic shutdown, viewing another page, attaching to a previous page, capturing another page, or sending a page or group of pages to an external appliance or device. The verification screen will remain on display if other operations such as accessing a menu through any of buttons  26 ,  34 ,  36 , and  38  (see FIG. 1A) or a zoom or rotation operation is attempted through buttons  28  and  32  respectively. The rectangularization process places a border around the verification image to portray the image as it would be embodied in a printed page. Thus, for example, if the user decides after reviewing the verification screen that the newly captured image should be discarded, control will be passed to delete page module  92  upon activation of delete button  34  where the newly captured page can be deleted following the same process used to delete any captured page. 
     Application software  70 , which comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. 
     The principles of the present invention have been disclosed herein as embodied in a portable, hand-held image capture and communication appliance that provides the flexibility of traditional hand-held scanners yet offers an array of intelligent features not heretofore known in the art. For example, images or pages can be acquired using the capture and communication appliance using a simple and easy to learn scan technique that can be executed using a single hand. Moreover, the appliance is capable of discarding redundant image data from overlapping paths taken during image capture thereby allowing the user to focus on traversing the entire target image. Once the image capturing process is complete, animation is used during post capture processing to communicate to the user the results of the capture, including whether an errant capture path was followed and/or image content was missed during the capture. If an error occurs, an error screen is displayed to explain the nature of the problem to the user, however, the image is still displayed in case the user has sufficient information captured. 
     In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without substantially departing from the principles of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7