Apple Interested in Tilt/Distortion Correction Technology for iPhone Camera

[Joshua Tucker]

A patent application found that was submitted by Apple to the United States Patent and Trademark Office suggests that they are interested in patenting a tilt and distortion correction for the iPhone camera. According to the submitted application to the Patent Office, the basic premise is that this technology will compensate for tilt or distortion and correctly format the picture after it has been taken. The iPhone's various sensors would allow this technology to function. Some methods that were mentioned in the patent were orientation measurement, accelerometer, and possibly an ultrasonic device. Other components that were stated regarded GPS and AF data storage.

Within the patent application, they specified numerous reasons why this technology would be applicable. For example, if one doesn't have a tripod to mount the iPhone to, it will no longer be a problem as the technology can sense the tilt and autocorrect. Corrections will either be made on the spot or stored for future editing. This information has not been determined. It however has been rumored that this will be done automatically.

Because the application describes the user having editing capabilities, the speculation is that this technology will allow user customization and these settings/changes to be stored somewhere on the device for future editing.

The original patent was submitted on December 29, 2009. The accredited inventors are Jason Hau-Peng Chen, Brandon Dean Slack, and David I. Simon.

Source(s): AppleInsider, US Patent & Trademark Office, CNET

[Eagleye]

What if you want a little "tilt" on your photos? Better be an off switch in the camera settings. Neat idea tho, nonetheless.

[PatrickGSR94]

Sounds interesting. I'm surprised Canon, Nikon, and other digital camera makers haven't tried to implement something like this. Obviously they would have to incorporate some sort of gyroscope device in the camera, but still...

What if you want a little "tilt" on your photos? Better be an off switch in the camera settings. Neat idea tho, nonetheless.

Yeah this too. There are times I want some tilt, but other times I try to correct it in Photoshop.

[alien mars18]

Weird, I was pretty sure my Windows Gallery does this, but it just uses walls/window frames to correct it, not GPS or sensors. So that might be the premise of the patent...

[Joshua Tucker]

What if you want a little "tilt" on your photos? Better be an off switch in the camera settings. Neat idea tho, nonetheless.

That's a good point. For photographic effect, maybe a tilt/distortion is needed. Hopefully there will be an on/off toggle or it just stores the data for later editing. That way you can decide to delete the storage or use it to revamp the photo. Great point though; never thought of it that way.

Weird, I was pretty sure my Windows Gallery does this, but it just uses walls/window frames to correct it, not GPS or sensors. So that might be the premise of the patent...

Absolutely. The sensor factor is key. It will be able to distinguish how tilted it is based on the sensors. Then it will be totally precise when readjusting. Using the surrounding image components can not always be the best choice (e.g. the Leaning Tower of Pisa).

[mlauth]

Quiet day today... Nothing posted in 3 hours makes me a sad panda.

[SwatPac]

I wanted this in iOS 5. Hopefully it will be out by iOS 6.