Techniques to automatically focus a digital camera

Abstract

Various embodiments are directed to techniques to automatically focus a digital camera. In one or more embodiments, a mobile electronics device may comprise a digital camera having a lens component and lens position component. A display may be coupled to the digital camera to reproduce an image with a first focal point. The digital camera may also include a focal point selection module coupled to the display to select a second focal point for the image and a focus control module coupled to the focal point selection module and the lens position component to provide focus control signals to the lens position component to focus the lens component on the second focal point. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A mobile electronic device, comprising:
 a lens component coupled to a lens position component; 
 a touchscreen display to display an image having a first focal point, the image being a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component; and 
 one or more processors to provide:
 a focal point selection module to receive a user input of a first type to select a second focal point, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display; 
 a focus control module coupled to the focal point selection module to provide one or more focus control signals to the lens position component in order to cause the lens position component to automatically focus the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed as the substantially real-time preview of the view through the lens component; 
 a flash component control module coupled to a flash control module component, wherein the flash control module is configured to select a flash level value representing a flash intensity for the flash component based on the second focal point; and 
 
 wherein the one or more processors captures the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input, and performs cropping operations to crop the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position. 
 
     
     
       2. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the touchscreen, display sends coordinates for the second focal point to the focal point selection module, the coordinates corresponding to the location of the first type of user input on the touchscreen display. 
     
     
       3. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to provide a pointing component to control a pointer on the touchscreen display, a location of the pointer on the touchscreen display corresponding to the second focal point. 
     
     
       4. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the focus control signals designate a focal length for the lens component. 
     
     
       5. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising a directional microphone component, and wherein the focus control module is configured to provide focus control signals to focus the directional microphone component on the second focal point. 
     
     
       6. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to provide a white balance control module, the white balance control module being configured to modify a white balance selling value for the image based on the second focal point. 
     
     
       7. A method for operating a mobile device, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:
 displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component;   selecting a second focal point for the image in response to receiving a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;   focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed;   selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point; and   capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input.   
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates for the second focal point. 
     
     
       9. The method of claim  7  27, wherein focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes focusing a directional microphone component on the second focal point. 
     
     
       10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
 displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component;   selecting a second focal point for the image in response to a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;   focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed;   selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point; and   capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input.   
     
     
       11. The storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates for the second focal point. 
     
     
       12. The storage medium of claim  10  37, wherein focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes focusing a directional microphone component on the second focal point. 
     
     
       13. The storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the instructions when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method further comprising modifying a white balance setting value for the image based on the second focal point. 
     
     
       14. A mobile electronic device, comprising:
 a lens component; 
 a touchscreen display to display an image having a first visual focal point, the image being a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component; 
 a directional microphone component; and 
 one or more processors coupled to the lens component, the touchscreen display, and the directional microphone component, the one or more processors being configured to provide:
 a focal point selection module to select a second visual focal point and an audio focal point for the image, wherein the second visual focal point and the audio focal point correspond to different portions of the image; and 
 a focus control module coupled to the focal point selection module to (i) provide focus control signals to the lens component in order to automatically change a focus of the lens component from the first visual focal point to the second visual focal point, and (ii) provide focus control signals to the directional microphone component in order to automatically focus the directional microphone component on a target, in the image, of the audio focal point, while continuing to display the image as the substantially real-time previous of the view through the lens component on the touchscreen display. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The mobile electronic device of  claim 14 , wherein the directional microphone component is configured to track the audio focal point as a position of the audio focal point changes. 
     
     
       16. The mobile electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first type of input includes a single tap, and wherein the second type of input includes a double tap. 
     
     
       17. The mobile electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second focal point corresponds to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       18. The mobile electronic device of claim 1, wherein focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates corresponding to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       19. The mobile electronic device of claim 18, wherein the set of coordinates comprise X, Y coordinates.  
     
     
       20. The mobile electronic device of claim 19, wherein the second focal point corresponds to an area where the image will be in the clearest focus.  
     
     
       21. The mobile electronic device of claim 19, wherein the second focal point comprises an intended center of interest of the image.  
     
     
       22. The mobile electronic device of claim 19, wherein the second focal point comprises an object that the user desires to focus the image on when capturing the image.  
     
     
       23. The mobile electronic device of claim 1, wherein graphic user interface (GUI) elements are shown by the touchscreen display to provide cropping operations.  
     
     
       24. The mobile electronic device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors automatically focus a directional microphone on the second focal point.  
     
     
       25. The mobile electronic device of claim 24, wherein focusing the directional microphone comprises creating null points at different frequencies to cancel various sounds around the second focal point.  
     
     
       26. A method for operating a mobile device, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:
 displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component as a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component;   selecting a second focal point for the image in response to receiving a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;   automatically focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed as the substantially real-time preview of the view through the lens component;   selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;   capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input; and   cropping the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position.    
     
     
       27. The method of claim 26, wherein the second focal point corresponds to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       28. The method of claim 26, wherein the focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates corresponding to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       29. The method of claim 28, wherein the set of coordinates comprise X, Y coordinates.  
     
     
       30. The method of claim 29, wherein the second focal point corresponds to an area where the image will be in the clearest focus.  
     
     
       31. The method of claim 29, wherein the second focal point comprises an intended center of interest of the image.  
     
     
       32. The method of claim 29, wherein the second focal point comprises an object that the user desires to focus the image on when capturing the image.  
     
     
       33. The method of claim 26, wherein graphic user interface (GUI) elements are shown by the touchscreen display to provide cropping operations.  
     
     
       34. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
 automatically focusing a directional microphone on the second focal point.    
     
     
       35. The method of claim 34 wherein focusing the directional microphone comprises:
 creating null points at different frequencies to cancel various sounds around the second focal point.    
     
     
       36. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
 displaying, on a touchscreen display, an image having a first focal point, the image being provided by a lens component as a substantially real-time preview of a view through the lens component;   selecting a second focal point for the image in response to a first type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second focal point corresponding to a location on the image displayed on the touchscreen display;   automatically focusing the lens component from the first focal point to the second focal point while the image is being displayed as the substantially real-time preview of the view through the lens component;   selecting a flash level value representing a flash intensity for a flash component based on the second focal point;   capturing the image, based on the flash level value, in response to a second type of user input on the touchscreen display, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input; and   cropping the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position.    
     
     
       37. The storage medium of claim 36, wherein the second focal point corresponds to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       38. The storage medium of claim 36, wherein the focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates corresponding to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       39. The storage medium of claim 38, wherein the set of coordinates comprise X, Y coordinates.  
     
     
       40. The storage medium of claim 39, wherein the second focal point corresponds to an area where the image will be in the clearest focus.  
     
     
       41. The storage medium of claim 39, wherein the second focal point comprises an intended center of interest of the image.  
     
     
       42. The storage medium of claim 39, wherein the second focal point comprises an object that the user desires to focus the image on when capturing the image.  
     
     
       43. The storage medium of claim 36, wherein graphic user interface (GUI) elements are shown by the touchscreen display to provide cropping operations.  
     
     
       44. The storage medium of claim 36, wherein the instructions when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform a method further comprising:
 automatically focusing a directional microphone on the second focal point.    
     
     
       45. The storage medium of claim 44, wherein focusing the directional microphone comprises:
 creating null points at different frequencies to cancel various sounds around the second focal point.    
     
     
       46. The mobile electronic device of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors crops the image in response to a user using cropping controls of a graphical user interface (GUI) shown by the touchscreen display.  
     
     
       47. The mobile electronic device of claim 46, wherein the one or more processors crops the image in response to the user using the touchscreen display to indicate a desired size of cropped image by sliding corners of the image to a desired position.  
     
     
       48. The mobile electronic device of claim 14, wherein the second visual focal point is selected in response to a first type of user input on the touchscreen display.  
     
     
       49. The mobile electronic device of claim 48, wherein the second focal point corresponds to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       50. The mobile electronic device of claim 48, wherein the focusing the lens component on the second focal point includes generating a set of coordinates corresponding to coordinates of the first type of user input.  
     
     
       51. The mobile electronic device of claim 50, wherein the set of coordinates comprise X, Y coordinates.  
     
     
       52. The mobile electronic device of claim 51, wherein the second focal point corresponds to an area where the image will be in the clearest focus.  
     
     
       53. The mobile electronic device of claim 51, wherein the second focal point comprises an intended center of interest of the image.  
     
     
       54. The mobile electronic device of claim 51, wherein the second focal point comprises an object that the user desires to focus the image on when capturing the image.  
     
     
       55. The mobile electronic device of claim 14, wherein graphic user interface (GUI) elements are shown by the touchscreen display to provide cropping operations.  
     
     
       56. The mobile electronic device of claim 14, wherein focusing the directional microphone comprises creating null points at different frequencies to cancel various sounds around the second focal point.