Utilizing accelerometer and gyroscope

Future iOS device users may enjoy greater video stabilization while they are shooting, according to a patent application uncovered by AppleInsider. The technique described by Apple in the patent is different than software-based video stabilizing technology found in products such as iMovie in that it also employs the gyroscope and accelerometer already built into most iOS devices to augment the software analysis, comparing the "noisy" data of an video to a pre-set threshold.

The application of this synced data (the video capture, the data from the gyroscope and accelerometer) would allow the stabilization process to be applied only where the variance exceeds the pre-set threshold, dramatically reducing the system resources required to run it. The technique could not only help avoid obvious shaking, but also help keep video level relative to the ground or surface the user is standing on.

The application for the technique was first files in April, but only published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today. The invention is credited to four employees from Apple's offices in the Cupertino area -- Yuxin Liu, Xiaojin Shi, Hsi-jung Wu and James Oliver Normile. As with many of Apple's patent applications, the possibility exists that the technology -- at least as described in the patent -- may not find its way into any future Apple products. [illustration via Patently Apple]

by MacNN Staff