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Precise Image eXtraction and Enhancement Lab

Problem Statement

Digital cameras are making a comeback, valued for their image quality and nostalgic charm, but they still face significant limitations that hinder their usability in today’s fast-paced, interconnected world. One of the main challenges is the lack of accessibility of the images once they are captured. Unlike modern smartphones, which seamlessly integrate with cloud services for instant photo backup and sharing, digital cameras often require manual intervention to transfer images. It can be a burden to upload all of your photos after an event or trip and add them to a massive shared album, individually inviting each person you have taken a picture of. Additionally, the reliance on proprietary or outdated connectors and cables adds to the inconvenience of downloading and sharing images from a digital camera. Many users lose the original cords needed to connect their cameras to laptops or find that these cords are incompatible with newer devices. This forces users to either buy new accessories or rely on external card readers, which adds cost and complexity. For casual users, this technical barrier can lead to frustration, while for professionals, it can slow down workflows and delay the delivery of images to clients. Similarly, digital cameras often have a very limited memory, so only a fixed number of images can be stored on the device. This limitation means that to take new pictures, old ones must be deleted, or pictures must be downloaded off the device and stored on external memory every time it is used. These difficulties of uploading and saving images create a significant usability gap that limits the potential of digital cameras in a world in which immediate, cloud-based solutions exist.

It is also difficult to set up a self-timer photo with just a digital camera and also know that everyone is in frame, especially given that no one is actually holding the camera. When you set up a camera on a bookshelf or ledge so that everyone can be in the photo, you often have to go through several iterations of starting the timer, getting into position, waiting, and then checking to see if the photo turned out well. The taker of the photo also has to rush to push down the timer button and then get into frame, which can be chaotic, resulting in a lower quality photo. Even if the correct framing is obtained, the images are often still low quality because of too bright or dull lighting.

Solution

To address the limitations of traditional digital cameras, we propose developing a smart, WiFi-enabled digital camera that not only takes high-quality images but also integrates seamlessly with cloud services and provides enhanced usability features. Our solution is designed to eliminate the need for extensive manual intervention in photo transfers, simplify group photography, and solve lighting challenges.

Instant Image Upload and Sharing - This solution employs the ESP32 camera module and WiFi to take images and automatically upload them to a cloud integration platform, such as Google Drive or a custom website. As part of this uploading process, an AI facial recognition algorithm developed using OpenCV will be used to recognize who is in each picture and create individual pages of the website or albums for each person. Then, everyone will not have to sort through all the pictures in the entire collection and can easily find the ones relevant to their use. In the event that the camera is not connected to WiFi, there will also be a microSD card onto which the images can be saved so that the internal ESP32 memory is not instantly filled and the images are not lost forever if a connection is not available. This solution eliminates the need for individually downloading and sharing each image, external cords or accessories, and the limited memories of current digital cameras.

Smart Framing and Remote Capture - The proposed solution for the difficulties of taking a self-timer photo and correctly framing the group in a shot will be addressed with a remote shutter button and laser levels. A smartphone app that is independent from the camera will communicate with the ESP32 and the camera over bluetooth, so someone can press the button in the app and the photo will be taken. They will be able to be in the camera shot without having to directly press the button on the camera and then run to be in the picture. Additionally, four laser line levels will be used to project a rectangular outline from the camera. This box will represent the frame that is actually being captured by the camera. This way, all the people will have a better sense of where they are in the frame, allowing for better positioning within the image.

Adjustable Flash Brightness - To address the fact that many digital camera images are overexposed due to the flash being too bright or too dark due to the lack of a flash, an adjustable flash system is proposed. A potentiometer will be used to adjust the brightness for a camera flash LED driver. The user can turn the dial on the potentiometer based on if they want the full flash brightness, no flash, or variable levels in between. This solution will allow bright images or objects to not become washed out and dark images and spaces to clearly, effectively be photographed.