PROBLEM STATEMENT

Mobile video calling is the most convenient communication technology available to common people today. But, this doesn’t come any close to real “Face to Face” communication. In face to face, person can move around & control their visual (eye-ball movement & focus) and audio content (adjusting reception sensitivity & directivity dynamically) which makes it real. But, such sensory controls are not possible and very much spatially limited in today’s smart phone.

IDEA
The idea here is to get visual (camera) & audio (MIC) sensors flying around & controlled by both parties to make communication more real.

IMPLEMENTATION

CONTROL SENSOR: The person’s head movement is tracked by inertial (gyro, accelero, magnetometers) sensor and eye movement is tracked by eyeball sensor that are integrated on spectacle/cooler glass. This is battery powered & can be charged wirelessly. This sensor data will be used to control flying sensor on other end.

FLYING SENSOR: The flying sensor has CMOS image sensor and Omni-directional MEMS Microphone integrated. This is battery powered & can be charged through USB. This miniature drone can fit in to 1 cubic inch volume. No image stabilization & processing will be done here to reduce power consumption.

COMMUNICATION MODULE: Most of the hardware/software required here, are already available in smart phone. So, plug in module will be designed to have only the additional electronics required to complete the system. This module will be attached to phone like protective cover. While not in use, control & flying sensor will be plugged in this module and be charged wirelessly & through USB. Smart phone charger & battery bank can be optional features.

Smart phone’s interfaces (WiFi & Mobile data) may be used for connecting to service provider network for actual calling itself, so dedicated wireless interfaces are required for interfacing flying sensor & control sensor with Mobile phone. The communication module will act as USB to WiFi & BT adapter. WiFi will be used to interface with flying sensor (client) due to high data rate requirement and Bluetooth will be used to interface with control sensor.

MOBILE APPLICATION: The smart phone application will allow user to configure & dynamically control switching various peripherals - phone camera, MIC & flying sensor camera, MIC etc. The custom developed algorithm would adjust the flying sensor camera spatial positioning and focus based on caller’s eye ball tracking.

MANUFACTURABILITY: All the subsystems are already proven. These are designed considering DFM and easy upgradability. All 3 subsystems will be housed in consumer graded plastics which supports low cost and high volume production. The electronics will be designed considering DFT.

MARKETABILITY: The communication module acts as charger, battery bank and network adaptor for smart phone. These are needed by every smart phone users which is a huge market. Control sensor has eyeball & inertial sensors which can be targeted for interactive gaming applications. Flying sensor can be targeted for different applications like monitoring assistance for elderly people, vigilance, large industrial equipment supervising, meter reading etc.