Methods and Apparatus for Decorating User Interface Elements with Environmental Lighting

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for decorating user interface elements with environment lighting. In an exemplary embodiment, a method is provided that includes acquiring an image of an environment, analyzing the image using at least one heuristic to determine a light configuration of a light source in the image, and decorating a user interface (UI) element based on the light configuration of the light source to generate a decorated UI element. In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes an image sensor that acquires an image of an environment, a light detector that analyzes the image using at least one heuristic to determine a light configuration of a light source in the image, and a renderer that decorates a UI element based on the light configuration of the light source to generate a decorated UI element.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 acquiring an image of an environment;   analyzing the image using at least one heuristic to determine a light configuration of a light source in the image; and   decorating a user interface (UI) element based on the light configuration of the light source to generate a decorated UI element.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operation of analyzing comprises calculating a relative angle between an image sensor that captured the image and a light source in the image. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the operation of decorating further comprises decorating the UI element with shadow based on the relative angle and the light configuration of the light source. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising configuring an intensity of the shadow based on the light configuration of the light source. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the operation of analyzing comprises calculating a brightness of the image as part of the light configuration. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the operation of decorating further comprises decorating the UI element with surface highlights based on the brightness of the image. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising configuring color of the light source based on data from the image. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising configuring color of a shadow based on data from the image. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising rendering the UI element in a 3D scene. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising storing the rendered images in memory. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the image in memory. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the light configuration in memory. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying the decorated UI element on a display device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the image is captured from a plurality of image sensors. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing the method on a computer. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising performing the method on at least one of a handheld device, smartphone, tablet computer, desktop computer, and laptop computer. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus, comprising:
 an image sensor that acquires an image of an environment;   a light detector that analyzes the image using at least one heuristic to determine a light configuration of a light source in the image; and   a renderer that decorates a user interface (UI) element based on the light configuration of the light source to generate a decorated UI element.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the image sensor is a high-resolution image sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the image sensor is one of an ambient light sensor and a low-pixel-count image sensor. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the image sensor comprises a plurality of image sensors that acquire a plurality of images of the environment. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a memory that stores the image of the environment. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a memory that stores the light configuration. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a memory that stores the decorated UI element rendered from a 3D scene, wherein the UI element comprises an object lit by the light source. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a display. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the apparatus is located in a computer. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the apparatus is located in one of a handheld device, smartphone, tablet computer, desktop computer, and laptop computer.