Remotely controlled crowd-sourced media capture

Abstract

The disclosed technology receives at a second computing device a message from a first computing device comprising at least an indication of a physical motion, a requested motion, or an indication of a camera control operation. The indicated motion can correspond to a physical motion made to the first computing device. The indicated camera control operation can correspond to a camera control operation made at the first computing device. The technology requests to physically move the second computing device if the received message indicates a motion; and controls a digital camera associated with the second computing device if the received message indicates a camera control operation made at the first computing device.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a client computing device, comprising:
 transmitting, to a server, a request to identify one or more candidate computing devices proximate to a specified location;   receiving, from the server, a list of one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   transmitting, to the server, a request to query for capabilities of the one or more candidate computing device proximate to the specified location;   identifying, by the client computing device, desirable capabilities applicable to the one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   transmitting, to the server, the identified desirable capabilities;   receiving, from the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, data feeds;   detecting, by the client computing device, an input operating at the client computing device; and   transmitting, to the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, instructions corresponding to the detected input.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the detected input includes a directional instruction of a physical motion of a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising determining whether the detected input includes an operational instruction of a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising creating a message to send to the server, the message including at least one of the directional instruction or operational instruction of the digital camera. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising transmitting the message to the server to cause the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities to:
 perform the operational instruction of the digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities in response to the determined input including the operational instruction, and   provide an indication of movement of the one or more candidate computing devices in a manner consistent with the requested motion in response to the determined input including the physical motion.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requested data feeds include streaming audio/video. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving the requested data feeds from the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising terminating reception of the data feeds. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the desirable capabilities include at least one of a media format, bandwidth, and minimum acceptable resolution. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a server to perform operations, comprising:
 receiving, from a client computing device, a request to identify one or more candidate computing devices proximate to a specified location;   transmitting, to the client computing device, a list of one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   receiving, from the client computing device, a request to query for capabilities of the one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   receiving, from the client computing device, a request for data feeds from the one or more candidate computing devices having desirable capabilities identified by the client computing device;   transmitting to the client computing device the data feeds from the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities;   receiving, from the client computing device, a message including at least one of a directional instruction of a physical motion or an operational instruction of a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , storing further instructions that, when executed, cause the server to perform further operations, comprising:
 instructing the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities to provide an indication to move the camera a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing device having the identified desirable capabilities in a manner consistent with the physical motion of the directional instruction.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , storing further instructions that, when executed, cause the server to perform further operations, comprising:
 instructing a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing device having the identified desirable capabilities to perform the operational instruction.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the requested data feeds includes streaming audio/video. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , storing further instructions that, when executed, cause the server to perform further operations, comprising:
 receiving an indication to terminate transmission of the data feeds.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 14 , storing further instructions that, when executed, cause the server to perform further operations, comprising:
 terminating the transmission of the data feeds.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the identified desirable capabilities include at least one of a media format, bandwidth, and minimum acceptable resolution. 
     
     
         17 . A method performed by a client computing device, comprising:
 transmitting, to a server, a request to identify one or more candidate computing devices proximate to a specified location;   receiving, from the server, a list of one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   transmitting, to the one or more candidate computing device proximate to the specified location, a request to query for capabilities of the one or more candidate computing device proximate to the specified location;   identifying, by the client computing device, desirable capabilities applicable to the one or more candidate computing devices proximate to the specified location;   transmitting, to the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, the identified desirable capabilities;   receiving, from the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, data feeds;   detecting, by the client computing device, an input operating at the client computing device; and   transmitting, to the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, instructions corresponding to the detected input.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining whether the detected input includes a directional instruction of a physical motion of a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities; and   determining whether the detected input includes an operational instruction of a digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising creating a message to send to the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities, the message including at least one of the directional instruction or the operational instruction of the digital camera. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising transmitting the message to the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities to cause the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities to:
 perform the operational instruction of the digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities in response to the determined input including the operational instruction, and   provide an indication to move the digital camera associated with the one or more candidate computing devices having the identified desirable capabilities in a manner consistent with the directional instruction in response to the determined input including the directional instruction.