PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9154677-B2
Application Number: US-201213623299-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Camera accessory for angled camera viewing

Abstract:
An electronic device may have front and rear surfaces. A front-facing camera may be formed on the front surface and a rear-facing camera may be formed on the rear surface. A display may be mounted on the front face of the electronic device. The cameras may nominally point along axes that run parallel to surface normals for the front and rear surfaces. A removable camera accessory with reflector structures may be mounted over a camera to deflect light and thereby point the camera in an off-axis direction. The removable camera accessory may be supported in a stand or other support structure. Magnetic structures and other structures may be used in coupling the electronic device to the support structures and may be used in coupling the camera accessory to the electronic device.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 capturing image data with a camera in an electronic device that has a planar surface to which a camera accessory with reflector structures is coupled to reflect light for the camera, wherein the camera has a field of view; 
 with support structures, holding the electronic device such that the planar surface extends vertically; 
 with a component in the support structures, projecting an image of a virtual keyboard on a surface, wherein the reflector structures comprise a first reflector that points a first portion of the field of view of the camera towards the virtual keyboard and a second reflector that points a second portion of the field of view of the camera towards a face of a user of the virtual keyboard; and 
 displaying the image data on a display that is mounted on the planar surface, wherein the first and second reflectors point the camera in respective first and second off-axis directions relative to a surface normal associated with the planar surface, and wherein the first and second off-axis directions are at an angle between 5° and 70° relative to the surface normal associated with the planar surface. 
 
     
     
       2. The method defined in  claim 1  wherein the planar surface comprises a front face of the electronic device, wherein the camera is mounted on the front face of the electronic device, and wherein capturing the image data comprises using the camera mounted on the front face of the electronic device and the camera accessory to capture the image data while displaying the image data on the display on the front face of the electronic device. 
     
     
       3. A camera accessory configured to be mounted over first and second cameras in an electronic device having an electronic device housing, wherein the electronic device housing has first and second opposing sides, the camera accessory comprising:
 a camera accessory housing; 
 a first reflector in the camera accessory housing that is configured to reflect light for the first camera to point a portion of a field of view of the first camera in a first off-axis direction; 
 a second reflector in the camera accessory housing that is configured to reflect light for the second camera to point a portion of a field of view of the second camera in a second off-axis direction; and 
 structures that are configured to attach the camera accessory to the electronic device housing, wherein the first camera is on the first side of the electronic device housing and the second camera is on the second side of the electronic device housing, wherein the first reflector overlaps the first camera, and wherein the second reflector overlaps the second camera. 
 
     
     
       4. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  wherein the structures comprises magnetic structures. 
     
     
       5. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  wherein the camera accessory housing has rotational detents. 
     
     
       6. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  further comprising first and second transparent windows, wherein the first transparent window in the camera accessory housing overlaps the first camera. 
     
     
       7. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  wherein the structures comprise clamp structures. 
     
     
       8. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  wherein the structures comprise elastomeric structures. 
     
     
       9. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3  wherein the structures comprise reusable adhesive. 
     
     
       10. The camera accessory defined in  claim 3 , wherein the camera accessory housing has a first portion that is in direct contact with the first side of the electronic device housing when the camera accessory is attached to the electronic device housing, and wherein the camera accessory housing has a second portion that is in direct contact with the second side of the electronic device housing when the camera accessory is attached to the electronic device housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices with cameras and displays. 
     Electronic devices often include cameras and displays. For example, a cellular telephone or tablet computer may have a touch screen display with which a user may view content and provide touch input. Front-facing and rear-facing cameras may be used to capture still and moving digital image data. 
     In a typical electronic device layout, displays are mounted in a planar housing having front and rear surfaces. A front-facing camera may be mounted adjacent to a display on the front surface of a device. A rear-facing camera may be mounted on the rear surface of the device. With this type of layout, the direction of view of the cameras is fixed. The front facing camera points along an axis that is oriented in a direction that is perpendicular to the display and the front face of the device. The rear facing camera points in the opposite direction, perpendicular to the plane of the rear surface of the device. 
     It can be challenging to use devices with this type of conventional layout. Cameras are often not pointed where desired, so use of the cameras can be awkward or impractical for certain applications. Because the direction of view of the cameras is not always as desired, it can be difficult to display satisfactory camera content on the display of a device. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved camera and display systems for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have front and rear surfaces. A front-facing camera may be formed on the front surface and a rear-facing camera may be formed on the rear surface. A display may be mounted on the front face of the electronic device. 
     The front-facing camera may nominally point along an axis that runs parallel to the surface normal for the front surface of the electronic device. The rear-facing camera may nominally point along an axis that runs parallel to the surface normal for the rear surface of the electronic device. 
     A camera accessory such as a removable camera accessory with reflector structures may be mounted over one or more of the cameras. When mounted over a camera, the camera accessory may deflect light and thereby point the camera (i.e., the camera&#39;s field of view) in an off-axis direction. 
     The removable camera accessory may be supported in a stand or other support structure. Magnetic structures and other structures may be used in coupling the electronic device to the support structures and may be used in coupling the camera accessory to the electronic device. The camera accessory may, for example, be coupled to the electronic device using a suction cup, using removable (reusable) adhesive, using a clamp structure, or using other attachment mechanisms. The camera accessory may contain reflector structures that deflect light for the front-facing and/or the rear-facing camera. 
     The camera accessory may be provided with rotational detents that allow the camera accessory to be placed in a desired rotational orientation relative to the electronic device. Magnetic structures may also be configured to allow adjustment of the rotational orientation of the camera accessory. A camera accessory may have an elongated shaft formed from a fiber bundle. The fiber bundle may have a first end that overlaps the camera in an electronic device and an associated light source and a second end in the vicinity of an object to be imaged. 
     A stand or other support structures may be coupled to the electronic device. The support structures may include magnetic structures, a rotatable joint, and other structures for holding and positioning the electronic device and its cameras in a desired location. A counterweight may be used to balance the electronic device relative to the joint. 
     Control circuitry within the electronic device may capture image data from both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras simultaneously. Camera accessory structures may deflect light associated with one or both of the cameras during image acquisition. The control circuitry may simultaneously display image content from both of the cameras on the same display screen using a split-screen format or other format that accommodates the display of multiple images. 
     The camera accessory may be configured to facilitate the capture of three-dimensional image data using a single camera with a split field of view or using multiple cameras that are simultaneously coupled to the camera accessory. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a handheld electronic device with a display and camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device such as a tablet computer with a display and camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with a display and camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of an illustrative system for using an electronic device and display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device that has been provided with a camera accessory that can point a camera in the electronic device in an off-axis direction in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative camera accessory that has been mounted over a camera in an electronic device using a suction cup arrangement in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative camera accessory that has been mounted over a camera in an electronic device using removable adhesive in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a bottom view of a camera accessory having magnets for mounting the camera accessory to an electronic device over a camera in the electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of an illustrative electronic device having magnets located adjacent to a camera to facilitate rotational orientation adjustment and removable attachment of a camera accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of an illustrative camera accessory that has been mounted over a camera in an electronic device by magnetically attaching the accessory to magnetic structures associated with a speaker in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative camera accessory mounted to an electronic device using a configuration of the type shown in  FIG. 10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative camera accessory that has been mounted over a camera in an electronic device using mechanical attachment structures such as clamp structures in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of an illustrative camera accessory with rotational detents that has been mounted over a camera in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view of an edge of an electronic device with magnets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a diagram of an electronic device with magnets that has been attached to a support structure with a support arm in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional side view of a system with an electronic device that has been mounted to a support structure so that a camera accessory that has been mounted to the electronic device can point a camera in the device in a desired off-axis direction in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic device in a system with a downwardly pointing camera accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 18  is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic device in a system in which the electronic device has a camera accessory mounted to a rear-facing camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 19  is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic device that has been provided with a magnifying downwardly pointing camera accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 20  is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic device that has a downwardly pointing camera accessory and is simultaneously using front and rear cameras in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 21  is a diagram of a display that is being used to present a user with content using an illustrative split-screen format in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 22  is a diagram of a system that has a camera accessory implemented as part of a stand in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 23  is a cross-sectional view of an illustrative three-dimensional imaging camera accessory mounted over a camera in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 24  is a diagram of an illustrative system in which a mechanical attachment scheme such as a clamp-based scheme is being used to attach a camera accessory with three-dimensional imaging capabilities to both rear-facing and front-facing cameras in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 25  is a diagram showing how an electronic device may be provided with a camera accessory with an elongated shaft for acquiring image content in hard-to-reach places in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 26  is a perspective view of an illustrative fiber-bundle structure of the type that may be used in the elongated shaft of  FIG. 25  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may include displays and cameras and may be provided with camera accessories to enhance camera capabilities. Cameras can acquire digital image data. The displays may be used to display still and moving images to a user. For example, the displays may be used to display content to users that has been acquired using the cameras and camera accessories. Camera accessories may be provided with optical structures such as reflectors and lenses that modify the direction of view of a camera. Systems that incorporate one or more camera accessories may be used to provide viewers with camera images that might otherwise be difficult or impossible to obtain. Illustrative electronic devices that may be provided with displays and cameras and that may be used in systems with camera accessories are shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
       FIG. 1  shows how electronic device  10  may be a handheld device such as a cellular telephone, music player, gaming device, navigation unit, or other compact device. In this type of configuration for device  10 , housing  12  may have opposing front and rear surfaces. Display  14  and camera  50  may be mounted on a front face of housing  12 . A camera such as camera  50  may also be mounted on an opposing rear face of housing  12 . Display  14  may, if desired, have a display cover layer or other exterior layer that includes openings for components such as button  26 . Openings may also be formed in a display cover layer or other display layer to accommodate a speaker port (see, e.g., speaker port  28  of  FIG. 1 ). 
       FIG. 2  shows how electronic device  10  may be a tablet computer. In electronic device  10  of  FIG. 2 , housing  12  has opposing planar front and rear surfaces. Display  14  and camera  50  may be mounted on the front surface of housing  12 . Device  10  may also be provided with a rear-facing camera on the rear surface of housing  12 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , display  14  may have a cover layer or other external layer with an opening to accommodate button  26  (as an example). 
     The illustrative configurations for device  10  that are shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  are merely illustrative. In general, electronic device  10  may be a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. 
     Electronic devices such as device  10  of  FIGS. 1 and 2  and other electronic devices may be provided with a housing such as housing  12  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Housing  12 , which is sometimes referred to as a case, may be formed of materials such as plastic, glass, ceramics, carbon-fiber composites and other fiber-based composites, metal (e.g., machined aluminum, stainless steel, or other metals), other materials, or a combination of these materials. Device  10  may be formed using a unibody construction in which most or all of housing  12  is formed from a single structural element (e.g., a piece of machined metal or a piece of molded plastic) or may be formed from multiple housing structures (e.g., outer housing structures that have been mounted to internal frame elements or other internal housing structures). 
     Electronic device  10  may be provided with one or more displays such as displays  14  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Display  14  may be a touch sensitive display that includes a touch sensor or may be insensitive to touch. Touch sensors for display  14  may be formed from an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes, a resistive touch array, touch sensor structures based on acoustic touch, optical touch, or force-based touch technologies, or other suitable touch sensor components. Display  14  may include display pixels formed from light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), plasma cells, electrowetting pixels, electrophoretic pixels, liquid crystal display (LCD) components, or other suitable display pixel structures. A display cover layer or other outer display layer may cover the surface of display  14 . The display cover layer or other outer display layer may be formed from a transparent glass sheet, a clear plastic layer, or other transparent member. 
     A schematic diagram of an illustrative configuration that may be used for electronic device  10  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry  29 . Control circuitry  29  may include storage and processing circuitry for controlling the operation of device  10 . Control circuitry  29  may, for example, include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Control circuitry  29  may include processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio codec chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Control circuitry  29  may be used to run software on device  10 , such as operating system software and application software. Using this software, control circuitry  29  may present information to a user of electronic device  10  on display  14 . For example, control circuitry  29  may display camera content and other content on display  14 , may process digital image data to generate three-dimensional images, split-screen images, and other content. 
     Input-output circuitry  30  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output circuitry  30  may include communications circuitry  32 . Communications circuitry  32  may include wired communications circuitry for supporting communications using data ports in device  10 . Communications circuitry  32  may also include wireless communications circuits (e.g., circuitry for transmitting and receiving wireless radio-frequency signals using antennas). 
     Input-output circuitry  30  may also include input-output devices  34 . A user can control the operation of device  10  by supplying commands through input-output devices  34  and may receive status information and other output from device  10  using the output resources of input-output devices  34 . 
     Input-output devices  34  may include sensors and status indicators  36  such as an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an accelerometer, and light-emitting diodes and other components for gathering information about the environment in which device  10  is operating and providing information to a user of device  10  about the status of device  10 . 
     Audio components  38  may include speakers and tone generators for presenting sound to a user of device  10  and microphones for gathering user audio input. 
     Display  14  may be used to present images for a user such as text, video, and still images. Sensors  36  may include a touch sensor array that is formed as one of the layers in display  14 . 
     User input may be gathered using buttons and other input-output components  40  such as touch pad sensors, buttons, joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, touch sensors such as sensors  36  in display  14 , key pads, keyboards, vibrators, cameras, and other input-output components. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram of a system in which an electronic device has been provided with a camera accessory to redirect the direction in which a camera in the electronic device is pointed from its normal on-axis direction (i.e., to alter the direction of view of the camera to an off-axis direction and to optionally the field of view of the camera). As shown in  FIG. 4 , device  10  in system  70  may have a housing with front and rear surfaces such as planar front surface  52  and opposing planar rear surface  54 . Display  14  may be mounted on front surface  52 . Support structures (not shown in  FIG. 4 ) may be used to maintain device  10  in an orientation that allows a viewer such as viewer  66  that is observing device  10  in direction  68  to view content on display  14 . 
     Planar front and rear surfaces  52  of device  10  may each be characterized by a surface normal. For example, front face  52  may be characterized by surface normal  72  and rear face  54  may be characterized by surface normal  74 . A surface normal is a vector that is perpendicular to an associated plane. For example, surface normal  72  is perpendicular to the plane of front face  52  and surface normal  54  is perpendicular to the plane of rear face  54 . Because housing  12  has a flat shape, surface normals  72  and  74  are both perpendicular to the plane in which housing  12  lies. 
     Cameras such as camera  50  of  FIG. 4  may be mounted within housing  12  of device  10  so that they are pointed directly outward, along an axis that is parallel to the surface normal of the housing surface in which they are mounted. For example, device  10  may have a rear-facing camera with lenses and an image sensor that are pointed directly outward from rear surface  54 , parallel to surface normal  74 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , front-facing camera  50  of device  10  may have image sensor and lens structures that are configured so that camera  50  points directly outward from surface  52  in direction  60 , parallel to surface normal  72  (i.e., parallel to axis Z in the coordinate system of  FIG. 4 ). 
     Cameras that point directly outwards from device  10  in this way may not capture images from a desired location. Challenges may arise, for example, when it is desired to capture images of subjects located in the position of object  64  with camera  50 . 
     To ensure that content such as object  64  of  FIG. 4  can be captured using camera  50 , electronic device  10  may be provided with a camera accessory such as camera accessory  56 . Camera accessory  56  may include a reflector such as reflector  58 . Reflector  58  may be formed from reflective optical structures such as one or more mirrors and/or one or more prisms that reflect light for camera  50 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , reflective structures such as reflector  56  may be configured to redirect the field of view of camera  50  so that camera  50  is no longer pointing in direction  60 . The direction in which camera  50  is pointed by camera accessory  56  may be selected to ensure that camera  50  can capture images of interest. In the example of  FIG. 4 , reflector  58  of camera accessory  56  has been oriented so that camera  50  is pointing in direction  62  towards object  64 , rather than original direction  60 . 
     By using camera accessory  56  to change the direction in which camera  50  is pointing, camera accessory  56  may allow viewer  66  to view content such as object  64  that is of interest for viewing on display  14 . As an example, camera  50  can capture images of the hands of a worker that are located at the position of object  64 . Viewer  66  (e.g., the worker or another person) may view the images of the worker&#39;s hands or other content captured by camera  50  on display  14  in real time. 
     The structures of camera accessory  56  may, if desired, be formed as an integral portion of device  10 . To allow for the occasional possibility of using device  10  in a configuration in which camera  50  reverts to pointing in its nominal on-axis direction, it may be desirable to provide camera accessory  56  as a removable (temporary) structure. Configurations in which camera accessory  56  is a separate removable structure are therefore sometimes described herein as an example. 
     Reflector  58  may be oriented so that camera  50  is pointed in a direction (i.e., direction  62  of  FIG. 4 ) that is oriented at an angle A with respect to surface normal  72  and axis Z. Angle A may be, for example, an angle with a value of 0-90°, an angle with a value of 5-70°, and angle with a value of 25-60°, or an angle with a value of 35-55° (as examples). 
     A cross-sectional side view of device  10  in the vicinity of camera accessory  56  is shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , camera accessory  56  may be mounted on top of camera  50 . Camera accessory  56  may have a housing such as housing  78 . Transparent windows such as windows  80  and  82  may be formed in housing  78  to allow light from external objects to reach camera  50 . Optional lenses such as lenses  84  may be included in camera accessory  56  to modify the field of view of camera  50 . Reflector  58  may be configured so that accessory  56  points camera  50  in a direction such as direction  62  that is oriented at an angle A with respect to surface normal  74  (the Z-axis of  FIG. 5 ). 
     Housing  78  of camera accessory  56  may be formed from metal, plastic, glass, ceramic, other materials, and combinations of these materials. Transparent window structures such as windows  80  and  82  may be formed from clear plastic, transparent glass, or other clear materials. When camera assembly  56  is installed on device  10 , window  80  is preferably aligned with camera  50  (i.e., window  80  overlaps camera  50 ). 
     Camera accessory  56  may be provided with structures that facilitate removable mounting on device  10 . As an example, camera accessory  56  may be provided with a suction cup structure or other elastomeric structure for attaching camera accessory  56  to device  10  such as elastomeric attachment structure  86  of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 7  shows how camera accessory  56  may be provided with a housing having protrusions such as protrusions  78 ′. Removable (reusable) adhesive  90  may be provided in recesses between adjacent protrusions  78 ′. Adhesive  90  may be used to attach camera accessory  56  to surface  52  of housing  12  in device  10  in alignment with camera  50 . Protrusions  78 ′ may serve as stops that help define the position of camera accessory  56  with respect to surface  52 . 
     If desired, magnetic structures (ferromagnetic materials and/or magnets) may be used in coupling camera accessory  56  to device  10 .  FIG. 8  is a bottom view of an illustrative camera accessory showing how the accessory may be provided with magnetic structures. As shown in  FIG. 8 , camera accessory  56  may, as an example, be provided with four magnets or other magnetic structures  92 . Magnetic structures  92  in the configuration of  FIG. 8  have been arranged in two pairs, corresponding to two possible (perpendicular) angular orientations for camera accessory  56  with respect to device  10 . The first pair of structures (structures  92 A) and the second pair of structures (structures  92 B) are oriented at right angles with respect to each other. 
       FIG. 9  shows how device  10  may be provided with a mating pair of magnetic structures  94  (e.g., magnets and/or ferromagnetic members). In the example of  FIG. 9 , magnetic structures  94  include a first structure that is located below camera  50  (in dimension Y) and a second structure that is located above camera  50  (in dimension Y). Camera accessory  56  of  FIG. 8  may be mounted over camera  50  in either a first orientation in which magnetic structures  92 A are magnetically coupled to magnetic structures  94  or a second orientation in which magnetic structures  92 B are magnetically coupled to magnetic structures  94 . In the first orientation, camera accessory  56  will have a first rotational orientation with respect to housing  12  in the X-Y plane. In the second orientation, camera accessory  56  will have a second rotational orientation that is perpendicular to the first rotational orientation. If desired, one or more, two or more, or three or more pairs of magnetic structures may be provided on camera accessory  56  and device  10  may have one or more, two or more, or three or more pairs of mating magnetic structures  94  (e.g., to allow one or more, two or more, or three or more angular orientations between camera accessory  56  and device  10 ). 
     Magnetic structures  92  may be magnetically coupled to magnetic structures in device  10  such as magnetic structures associated with a speaker. As shown in  FIG. 10 , for example, camera accessory  56  may have a left-hand portion that overlaps camera  50  and a right-hand portion containing magnetic structures  92  that are configured to couple magnetically with a magnet associated with speaker port  28 . A cross-sectional side view of camera accessory  56  and device  10  of  FIG. 10  taken along line  96  and viewed in direction  98  is shown in  FIG. 11 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , camera accessory  56  may have a portion such as protrusion  102  that is configured to be received within the opening in housing  12  of device  10  that is associated with speaker port  28 . 
     Speaker port  28  may have an associated speaker such as speaker  100  and speaker magnet  94 . Speaker magnet  94  may be magnetically coupled to magnetic structures  92  in camera accessory  56 , thereby holding camera accessory  56  in place on device  10 . The presence of protrusion  102  may help secure camera accessory  56  (e.g., by serving as a registration feature that helps locate camera accessory  56  on device  10 ). 
       FIG. 12  shows how camera accessory  56  may be provided with mechanical attachment structures such as clamp structures  104  to help secure camera accessory  56  to device  10 . Mechanical attachment structures may form a snug fit between camera accessory  56  and the exterior of housing  12  or may include a screw, lever, or other structure for selectively applying pressure to device  10  to attach camera accessory  56  to device  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , camera accessory  56  may be configured to rotate about a rotational axis in directions  108 . To assist a user of device  10  in placing camera accessory  56  in a desired angular orientation, camera accessory  56  may be provided with detent structures such as detents  106 . Detents  106  may create a clicking noise and periodic physical resistance, so as to provide a user with feedback on the location of camera accessory  56 . There may be one detent, two detents, or three or more detents in camera accessory  56  (as examples). 
     It may be desirable to mount electronic device  10  in a stand, to hang electronic device  10  from a support, or to otherwise mount electronic device  10  with support structures. As an example, it may be desirable to attach device  10  to a support arm or other support structure with magnets.  FIG. 14  shows how device  10  may be provided with magnetic structures such as magnets  110  along one or more of the edges of housing  12 . Magnets  100  may have north poles N and south poles S that are oriented in parallel or in other suitable patterns. 
       FIG. 15  shows how a support structure such as support structure  112  may have magnetic structures such as magnets  114  that are configured to mate with magnetic structures  110 . Magnets  114  may have north and south poles that are configured to mate with the poles of magnets  110 . If desired, magnetic structures for accessory  56 , support structures  112 , or device  10  may be formed using ferromagnetic material that mates with a corresponding magnet. 
     It may be desirable to mount device  10  so that device  10  is maintained in a non-vertical position. As shown in  FIG. 16 , device  10  may, as an example, be maintained in a position in which the plane of device  10  has a surface normal such as surface normal  74  that is angled by an angle Y (e.g., 0-90° or 30-60°) with respect to vertical dimension  116 , so that viewer  66  may view display  14  in direction  68 . Camera accessory  56  may be mounted over camera  50  so that camera  50  points in direction  62  to capture images of subjects such as object  64 . 
     Support structures  112  may include a support member such as support member  122 . Support member  112  may be a bracket that is attached to a wall, cabinet or shelf, an arm that is part of a stand or other support system, or may be other support structures for supporting device  10  in a desired position. Support structures  112  may include support member  118 . Support member  118  may include magnetic structures  114  that are coupled with respective magnetic structures  110  in device  10 . An optional hinge, ball joint, or other adjustable coupler such as coupler  120  may be used to allow support structure  118  to rotate relative to support structure  122 . 
     When a user adjusts the position of device  10  relative to member  122 , member  118  may rotate with device  10  and housing  12 , thereby ensuring that magnetic structures  114  and magnetic structures  110  rotate together and remain coupled. If desired, device  10  may be attached to support structures  112  using mechanical attachment mechanisms (in addition to or instead of relying on magnetic attachment mechanisms). As an example, support structure enclosure  124  may be attached to member  118 . Device  10  may be held in place by the walls of support structure enclosure  124 , thereby reducing or eliminating the need to use magnetic coupling structures  114 . Optional counterweight  124  may be used to help balance device  10  with respect to joint  120 . 
       FIG. 17  shows how support structures  112  may be used to hold device  10  in a vertical position in which the plane of device  10  is parallel to vertical dimension  116 . In this type of configuration, camera accessory  56  may be used to point camera  50  in direction  62 , perpendicular to surface normal  72  of front surface  52  and perpendicular to the plane of device  10  (i.e., the X-Y plane of  FIG. 17 ). 
     If desired, camera accessory  56  may be mounted on a rear-facing camera such as camera  50  of  FIG. 18 . With this type of arrangement, camera accessory  56  may point camera  50  downwards in direction  62  towards an object to the rear of device  10  such as object  64  while viewer  66  views display  14  on front face  52  of device  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 19 , camera accessory  56  may be provided with optical structures such a lenses  84  that magnify subjects such as object  64 . Object  64  may be, for example, an item that contains printed text. By using magnifying optical structures in camera accessory  56 , the images of object  64  that are displayed on display  14  may be enlarged and easier to read for a viewer with impaired vision. If desired, control circuitry  29  may digitally magnify images in addition to using optical structures such as lenses  84  to magnify image light received by camera  50 . 
       FIG. 20  is a diagram of a system in which device  10  is simultaneously using a front-facing camera such as camera  50 F and a rear-facing camera such as camera  50 R. Cameras  50 F and  50 R may be used to capture images of different objects. One or more camera accessories may be provided to modify the directions in which cameras  50 F and  50 R are pointing. In the example of  FIG. 20 , front-facing camera  50 F does not have a camera accessory and therefore points on-axis at object  64 A. Rear-facing camera  50 R is covered with camera accessory  56 , so rear-facing camera  50 R points in off-axis direction  62  at object  64 B. A viewer such as viewer  66  may view display  14  in direction  68 . 
     With one suitable arrangement, object  64 A may be associated with viewer  66 . For example, object  64 A may be the face of viewer  66  or another person. Object  64 B may be associated with the hands of a person (e.g., viewer  66  or another person). Other subjects may be imaged using the configuration of  FIG. 20  if desired. The use of device  10  in  FIG. 20  to simultaneously gather digital image data for subjects such as a person&#39;s face or hands is merely illustrative. 
     Control circuitry  29  of device  10  may display image data such as the image data captured simultaneously using front-facing camera  50 F and rear-facing camera  50 R (and camera accessory  56 ) using a split-screen layout or other layout that can accommodate multiple simultaneous images. An illustrative split-screen format for displaying content acquired using cameras such as cameras  50 F and  50 R of  FIG. 20  is shown in  FIG. 21 . The portion of display screen  14  labeled “subject A” may be used for displaying images of object  64 A that were acquired using camera  50 F. The portion of the screen labeled “subject B” may be used for displaying images of object  64 B that were acquired using camera  50 R. 
     As shown in the illustrative system of  FIG. 22 , device  10  may be supported using support structures such as device stand  126 . Device stand  126  may have a portion such as portion  132  that rests on surface  140  and a portion such as portion  130  with features such as recess  128  for receiving and supporting device  10 . Camera accessory structures (e.g., one or more reflectors  58 , lenses  84 , etc.) may be embedded within stand structures  130 . The optical structures of accessory  56  may be used to point camera  50  in direction  62 A (e.g., to image a user&#39;s face or other portion of subject  64 ) or may be used to point camera  50  in direction  62 B (e.g., to image a user&#39;s hands or other subject  64 ). Using a pair of reflectors  58 , camera accessory structures  56  may be used to point part of the field of view of camera  50  in direction  62 A while simultaneously pointing a remaining part of the field of view of camera  50  in direction  62 B. 
     As shown in  FIG. 22 , stand  126  may include additional components such as component  134 . Component  134  may provide illumination for a user, may include a projector for projecting images, and may include a camera or other sensor for detecting user input (e.g., from a user&#39;s fingers). Using this equipment, component  134  can implement a virtual keyboard such as keyboard  138 , as illustrated by projected light  136  from component  134 . Stand  126  may also incorporate power supply circuitry for powering device  10  and other components. 
     A camera accessory such as camera accessory  56  of  FIG. 23  may be provided with reflector structures  58  that split the field of view of camera  50  into multiple paths such as paths  62 - 1  and  62 - 2 . This may allow camera accessory  56  to provide camera  50  and device  10  with the ability to capture three-dimensional images. During operation, the image data associated with paths  62 - 1  and  62 - 2  may be processed by control circuitry  29  to display three-dimensional images on display  14  (e.g., by coloring different portions of the image with different colors for viewing through colored glasses, using polarization-based systems, etc.). 
     In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 24 , camera accessory  56  includes reflective structures  58  and optional lenses  84  that allow camera accessory  56  to point front-facing camera  50 F in direction  62 - 1  while simultaneously pointing rear-facing camera  50 R in direction  62 - 2 . Camera accessory  56  may be attached to electronic device  10  using a friction fit, suction cups, removable adhesive, magnets, or other suitable attachment schemes, as described in connection with camera accessories of other configurations. Camera accessory  56  may be used to acquire images from two different vantage points so that control circuitry  29  can form three-dimensional images. 
     A camera accessory may, if desired, be provided with an elongated shaft such as shaft  56 E of  FIG. 25 . Shaft  56 E of  FIG. 25  may be flexible or rigid. Optical fibers or other optical structures within shaft  56 E may allow images that are captured at exit  56 ′ of shaft  56 E to be conveyed to camera  50 . Because shaft  56 E may be long and thin, shaft  56 E may fit through openings such as opening  142  in obstructions such as obstruction  144  to capture image data for hidden objects such as object  64 . 
       FIG. 26  is a perspective view of camera accessory  56  of  FIG. 25  showing how shaft  56 E may contain a bundle of optical fibers  148 . Fibers  148  may extend from shaft exit  56 ′ to surface  52  of housing  12 . As shown in  FIG. 26 , camera  50  may be provided with an associated light source such as light source  146 . Light source  146  may be a light-emitting diode of the type that is used to provide brief illumination of a subject during image capture operations (i.e., light source  146  may serve as a camera flash unit) and/or may provide more prolonged illumination (e.g., when a video clip is being acquired). Light source  146  may emit light in direction  152  while camera  50  is operating in direction  150 . Light  152  may be conveyed along the length of shaft to exit  56 ′, where light  152  may be emitted to illuminate objects in the vicinity of exit  56 ′. Camera  50  may gather images that have been conveyed along shaft  56 E by fiber bundle  148 . The fiber bundle may take the place of reflector  58  by pointing camera  50  in an off-axis direction (e.g., by orienting exit  56 ′ in a desired direction). 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20120920
Publication Date: 20151006
Grant Date: 20151006
Priority Date: 20120920
Inventors: MERZ NICHOLAS G. L.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04N23/51", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/17", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/51", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/17", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N5/2254", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/565", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N5/2252", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/17", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/565", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/565", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 50274115