VIBRATION-INDUCED ROTATION OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES

摘要

A software application for an electronic device with an integral or attached vibrator automatically controls activation of the vibrator to induce hands-free controlled rotation of the device. In typical embodiments, the device is a smartphone with a camera, and the application activates the vibrator to cause the device to rotate to a series of angular positions, activates the camera to take a series of photographs at those positions, and stitch together those photographs into a composite panoramic photograph. The application monitors the angular position of the device based on inputs from motion and/or position sensors of the device. In other embodiments, the application automatically activates the vibrator to induce hands-free rotation of the device for other uses such as video-conferencing or gaming. And in other embodiments, the application activates the vibrator to cue manual rotation of the device by the user for panoramic photography or other uses.

主权项

1. A method of creating a panoramic photograph with an electronic device using a vibrator, a sensor, and a camera, comprising:
activating the camera to obtain a first photograph with the device in a first-photograph position; activating the vibrator to induce rotation of the device; obtaining, from the sensor, current-position information of the device relative to the first-photograph position; determining if the device has rotated to a pre-defined next-photograph angle based on the current-position information; upon the device reaching the pre-defined next-photograph angle, deactivating the vibrator to stop rotation of the device; activating the camera to obtain a next photograph; and stitching the next photograph to the first photograph to form the panoramic photograph.