Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to recording images, associated methods, computer programs and apparatus. Certain disclosed examples may relate to portable electronic devices, for example so-called hand-portable electronic devices which may be hand-held in use (although they may be placed in a cradle in use). Such hand-portable electronic devices include so-called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, smartphones and other smart devices, and tablet PCs.

The portable electronic devices/apparatus according to one or more disclosed examples may provide one or more audio/text/video communication functions (e.g. tele- communication, video-communication, and/or text transmission (Short Message Service (SMSyMultimedia Message Service (MMS)/e-mailing) functions), interactive/non- interactive viewing functions (e.g. web-browsing, navigation, TV/program viewing functions), music recording/playing functions (e.g. MP3 or other format and/or (FM/AM) radio broadcast recording/playing), downloading/sending of data functions, image capture function (e.g. using a (e.g. in-built) digital camera), and gaming functions.

Background

Many electronic devices are capable of taking photographs, such as digital cameras and camera-equipped smartphones. Such devices often include a flash to provide light when taking a photograph in darker conditions.

The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more examples of the present disclosure may or may not address one or more of the background issues.

Summary

In a first example there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinate image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device. By this coordination, a portable image capture device may take a photograph of a scene which is illuminated by light from one or more proximal portable illumination devices. Indirect lighting from the proximal portable illumination devices can thus result in a better image being captured than if direct lighting is solely used (e.g. from a flash of the camera/device taking the photograph).

The coordination between the illumination device(s) flashing a light source and the image capture device taking a photograph is achieved using illumination signalling between the devices. By use of this signalling, the coordination of the illumination device(s) each determining if they are able to provide illumination assistance for the image capture device can occur. As an example, a group of people may wish to take a photograph of the same scene each using a flash-equipped smartphone camera. One person in the group may take an image using his smartphone while the scene is illuminated by the flashes of the other smartphones which are in a position to assist (for example, they are (at the appropriate time) pointing at the scene and are in a mode in which their respective flashes can be used to illuminate the scene).

The illumination assistance signalling may comprise an indication of one or more of: the location of the scene and a time at which the image capture is to take place. Thus, the image capture may be coordinated by one or more devices in the group sharing information about the location of the scene (e.g., relative to that particular device), and/or the time for image capture.

The apparatus may be in respect of the portable image capture device and the illumination assistance signalling may comprise an indication of one or more of:

the location of the scene as determined and transmitted in respect of the portable image capture device; and the time at which the image capture is to take place as determined and transmitted in respect of the portable image capture device.

For example, an image capture device (or a server for an image capture device) may request other nearby devices to fire a flash to light a scene at time=x seconds. The illumination devices may receive this signalling and, if they each determine that they are directed to the same scene (that is, they can assist in illuminating / they are in a position to illuminate the scene for the image capture device), they may fire their respective flashes/illumination light sources at the time indication of time=x seconds provided in the illumination signalling by the image capture device.

The apparatus may be in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices and the illumination assistance signalling may comprise transmission of the time at which the image capture is to take place as determined and transmitted in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices.

For example, an image capture device may request other nearby devices to fire a flash to light a scene at time=x seconds. A particular illumination device (or a server for the particular device) may determine that it is not in a position to provide illumination for that scene at time x (for example, it may be moving behind a barrier) but may be able to do so in time=x+1 seconds from receiving the request (due to the device moving past the barrier). The illumination device may transmit this information to the image capture device so it takes the photograph at time =1 second later than initially scheduled so that the other particular illumination device can assist in lighting the scene.

The apparatus may be in respect of the portable image capture device and the illumination assistance signalling may comprise transmission of request illumination assistance signalling in respect of the portable image capture device and receipt of reply illumination assistance signalling from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices, the respective illumination assistance signalling being used to coordinate the image capture for the scene.

The apparatus may be in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices and the illumination assistance signalling may comprise receipt of request illumination assistance signalling in respect of the portable image capture device and transmission of reply illumination assistance signalling from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices, the respective illumination signalling being used to coordinate the image capture for the scene.

The apparatus may be in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices and the illumination assistance signalling may comprise receipt of request illumination assistance signalling in respect of the portable image capture device and, based on this receipt, the apparatus may be configured to:

determine, in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices, whether the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene; and

if it is determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist, cause the one or more proximal portable illumination devices to illuminate the scene in a coordinated manner to allow image capture of the scene by the portable image capture device.

Illuminating a scene in a coordinated manner may be interpreted that there is an investigation of whether the one or more proximal portable illumination devices can provide illumination to light a scene for capture by the portable image capture device. Not all portable illumination devices need to "flash" at the same time.

The coordinated illumination of the scene may be done by determining whether the one or more proximal portable illumination devices will be in position to assist at a time indicated in respect of the portable image capture device by the request illumination assistance signalling or at a time indicated in reply illumination assistance signalling from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices.

The determination of being in a position to assist may comprise determining one or more of the location and orientation of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices with respect to the scene at the time of image capture.

The one or more portable illumination devices may be configured to determine that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device by one or more of:

the one or more portable illumination devices determining their positions relative to the portable image capture device;

the one or more portable illumination devices determining their orientations relative to the portable image capture device; the one or more portable illumination device determining the subject within their respective viewfinders to determine if the subject corresponds to that within the viewfinder of the portable image capture device; and

the one or more portable illumination device determining that they will be in an illumination mode at the time of image capture by the portable image capture device.

Being in a position to assist may be interpreted as being in a physical position (e.g. a location/orientation), or being in a figurative "position to assist", such as being in a switched on status, picture-taking status, powered-on status, being able to provide illumination, or not being concealed in a pocket, for example.

The portable image capture device may be configured to provide illumination and may be configured to assist in the illumination of the scene with the one or more portable illumination devices. In other cases, the illumination may be provided by the one or more proximal portable illumination devices and not the portable image capture device.

The illumination assistance signalling may be provided in respect of a pre-defined group of portable illumination devices. Thus, for example, a pre-defined group of portable illumination devices (for example, devices belonging to people who are linked to each other via e.g., social media or a contact list) may be present and configured to provide illumination assistance for a portable image capture device.

One or more of the proximal portable illumination devices and the portable image capture device may be:

a portable electronic device comprising one or more illumination light sources; a mobile phone comprising one or more illumination light sources;

a portable digital assistant comprising one or more illumination light sources;

a smartphone comprising one or more illumination light sources;

a tablet comprising one or more illumination light sources;

a phablet comprising one or more illumination light sources; or

a camera comprising one or more illumination light sources.

An illumination light source may be a flash light/bulb comprised in a device or connected to a device for providing illumination during image capture.

The apparatus may be: in respect of the portable image capture device;

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is an apparatus in communication with the portable image capture device;

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is a module for the portable image capture device;

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is the portable image capture device;

in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices;

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is in communication with the one or more proximal portable illumination devices;

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is a module for the one or more portable illumination devices; or

in respect of the portable image capture device such that it is the one or more proximal portable illumination devices.

For example, when the apparatus is in respect of the portable image capture device, the apparatus may be:

a device or server in communication with the portable image capture device;

a module for the portable image capture device; or

the portable image capture device.

For example, when the apparatus is in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices, the apparatus may be:

a device or server in communication with the one or more proximal portable illumination devices;

a module for the one or more portable illumination devices; or

the one or more proximal portable illumination devices.

According to a further example there is provided a computer readable medium comprising computer program code stored thereon, the computer readable medium and computer program code being configured to, when run on at least one processor perform at least the following: based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinate image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device. A computer program may be stored on a storage media (e.g. on a CD, a DVD, a memory stick or other non-transitory medium). A computer program may be configured to run on a device or apparatus as an application. An application may be run by a device or apparatus via an operating system. A computer program may form part of a computer program product. Corresponding computer programs for implementing one or more of the methods disclosed are also within the present disclosure and encompassed by one or more of the described examples. According to a further example, there is provided a method, the method comprising: based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinating image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device.

According to a further example there is provided an apparatus comprising, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, means for coordinating image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device.

According to a further example there is provided a system comprising:

a portable image capture device; and

one or more portable illumination devices in communication with the portable image capture device;

the system (e.g., the portable image capture device, one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices, and/or apparatus in communication with the same) configured to coordinate image capture for a scene by the portable image capture device using illumination provided by the one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device. According to a further example there is provided an apparatus for a portable image capture device, the apparatus configured to, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinate image capture for a scene by the portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device.

According to a further example there is provided an apparatus for a portable illumination device configured to, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinate image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by the portable illumination device which is proximal to the portable image capture device and which has, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that it is in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device.

The present disclosure includes one or more corresponding aspects, examples or features in isolation or in various combinations whether or not specifically stated (including claimed) in that combination or in isolation. Corresponding means and corresponding function units (e.g., illumination assistance coordinator, illumination assistance signalling transmitter / receiver / transceiver, position to assist determiner, image capturer) for performing one or more of the discussed functions are also within the present disclosure.

The above summary is intended to be merely exemplary and non-limiting.

Brief Description of the Figures A description is now given, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 illustrates an example apparatus comprising a number of electronic components, including memory and a processor, according to one example of the present disclosure; figure 2 illustrates an example apparatus comprising a number of electronic components, including memory, a processor and a communication unit, according to another example of the present disclosure; figure 3 illustrates an example apparatus comprising a number of electronic components, including memory and a processor, according to another example of the present disclosure;

figure 4a illustrates an example of a portable image capture device and four portable illumination devices according to examples of the present disclosure;

figure 4b illustrates an example of a portable image capture device and two portable illumination devices according to examples of the present disclosure;

figure 4c illustrates an example scheme for illuminating a scene using a test flash and subsequent image capture illuminated by a second adjusted flash according to examples of the present disclosure;

figures 5a-5f illustrate examples of a portable image capture device and two portable illumination devices coordinating image capture using illumination assistance signalling according to examples of the present disclosure;

figures 6a-6b each illustrate an apparatus in communication with a remote computing element;

figure 7 illustrates a flowchart according to an example method of the present disclosure; and

figure 8 illustrates schematically a computer readable medium providing a program. Description of Example Aspects

Many electronic devices are capable of taking photographs, including digital cameras and camera-equipped smartphones. Such devices often include a flash to provide light when taking a photograph in darker conditions. Lighting a subject well is a key consideration in taking good photographs.

Using a direct flash to light a subject (such as a flash from a light source which is a part of the device being used to take the photograph) can result in photographs which suffer from unnatural lighting. Indirect lighting (such as light from a source which is not part of the device being used to take the photograph) can be used for better looking photographs.

If a user is out and about, and wishes to take a photograph, then the user may use a flash which is part of his device (such as a smartphone). This is a direct light source and may not provide the best quality lighting for the photograph. A user in a studio with dedicated lighting arranged around the studio can use the dedicated lighting to indirectly light a subject for photography, but this is clearly not practical outside a studio setting. A user who is not in a studio may wish to have indirect lighting for his photograph to improve image/photography quality. Such a user may, for example, be carrying a digital camera to take photographs of a party, or wish to use his smartphone to take pictures on impulse at a concert or ceremony. Examples discussed herein may be considered to, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinate image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device.

For example, it may be that there is a crowd of people all taking photographs of a subject. Example scenarios include a crowd at a concert, parents taking photographs at a children's party, family and friends photographing a bridal party at a wedding, and a sporting event. A portable image capture device, such as a camera or camera-equipped smartphone, can be used to take a photograph of a scene. The illumination for the photograph can be provided by one or more portable illumination devices, such as any device with a flash. These illumination devices are proximal to the portable image capture device. The image capture for the scene is coordinated based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, so that the illumination devices, where possible, provide illumination for the photograph taken by the portable image capture device. It has been determined that the portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling. In some examples there may only be one portable illumination device. The portable image capture device and the one or more portable illumination devices are in communication with each other over an ad-hoc network, for example. Illumination assistance signalling may therefore be transmitted/received over the ad-hoc network. In other cases the members of the network may have pre-agreed to be part of the network to offer such assistance (i.e. an ad-hoc network created from a pre-defined network group). The signalling, for example, may be transmitted by Bluetooth signalling or RFID signalling. Other examples depicted in the figures have been provided with reference numerals that correspond to similar features of earlier described examples. For example, feature number 100 can also correspond to numbers 200, 300 etc. These numbered features may appear in the figures but may not have been directly referred to within the description of these particular examples. These have still been provided in the figures to aid understanding of the further examples, particularly in relation to the features of similar earlier described examples. Figure 1 shows an apparatus 100 comprising memory 107, a processor 108, input I and output O. In this example only one processor and one memory are shown but it will be appreciated that other examples may utilise more than one processor and/or more than one memory (e.g. same or different processor/memory types). In this example the apparatus 100 is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for a portable electronic device with a touch sensitive display. In other examples the apparatus 100 can be a module for such a device, or may be the device itself, wherein the processor 108 is a general purpose CPU of the device and the memory 107 is general purpose memory comprised by the device. The display, in other examples, may not be touch sensitive.

The input I allows for receipt of signalling to the apparatus 100 from further components, such as components of a portable electronic device (like a touch-sensitive or hover- sensitive display) or the like. The output O allows for onward provision of signalling from within the apparatus 100 to further components such as a display screen, speaker, or vibration module. In this example the input I and output O are part of a connection bus that allows for connection of the apparatus 100 to further components.

The processor 108 is a general purpose processor dedicated to executing/processing information received via the input I in accordance with instructions stored in the form of computer program code on the memory 107. The output signalling generated by such operations from the processor 108 is provided onwards to further components via the output O. The memory 107 (not necessarily a single memory unit) is a computer readable medium (solid state memory in this example, but may be other types of memory such as a hard drive, ROM, RAM, Flash or the like) that stores computer program code. This computer program code stores instructions that are executable by the processor 108, when the program code is run on the processor 108. The internal connections between the memory 107 and the processor 108 can be understood to, in one or more examples, provide an active coupling between the processor 108 and the memory 107 to allow the processor 108 to access the computer program code stored on the memory 107.

In this example the input I, output O, processor 108 and memory 107 are all electrically connected to one another internally to allow for electrical communication between the respective components I, O, 107, 108. In this example the components are all located proximate to one another so as to be formed together as an ASIC, in other words, so as to be integrated together as a single chip/circuit that can be installed into an electronic device. In other examples one or more or all of the components may be located separately from one another. Figure 2 depicts an apparatus 200 of a further example, such as a smartphone. In other examples, the apparatus 200 may comprise a module for a smartphone (or PDA or audio/video player), and may just comprise a suitably configured memory 207 and processor 208. The example of figure 2 comprises a display device 204 such as, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), e-lnk or touch-screen user interface. The apparatus 200 of figure 2 is configured such that it may receive, include, and/or otherwise access data. For example, this example 200 comprises a communications unit 203, such as a receiver, transmitter, and/or transceiver, in communication with an antenna 202 for connecting to a wireless network and/or a port (not shown) for accepting a physical connection to a network, such that data may be received via one or more types of networks. This example comprises a memory 207 that stores data, possibly after being received via antenna 202 or port or after being generated at the user interface 205. The processor 208 may receive data from the user interface 205, from the memory 207, or from the communication unit 203. It will be appreciated that, in certain examples, the display device 204 may incorporate the user interface 205. Regardless of the origin of the data, these data may be outputted to a user of apparatus 200 via the display device 204, and/or any other output devices provided with apparatus. The processor 208 may also store the data for later use in the memory 207. The memory 207 may store computer program code and/or applications which may be used to instruct/enable the processor 208 to perform functions (e.g. read, write, delete, edit or process data). Figure 3 depicts a further example of an electronic device 300 comprising the apparatus 100 of figure 1 . The apparatus 100 can be provided as a module for device 300, or even as a processor/memory for the device 300 or a processor/memory for a module for such a device 300. The device 300 comprises a processor 308 and a storage medium 307, which are connected (e.g. electrically and/or wirelessly) by a data bus 380. This data bus 380 can provide an active coupling between the processor 308 and the storage medium 307 to allow the processor 308 to access the computer program code. It will be appreciated that the components (e.g. memory, processor) of the device/apparatus may be linked via cloud computing architecture. For example, the storage device may be a remote server accessed via the internet by the processor.

The apparatus 100 in figure 3 is connected (e.g. electrically and/or wirelessly) to an input/output interface 370 that receives the output from the apparatus 100 and transmits this to the device 300 via data bus 380. Interface 370 can be connected via the data bus 380 to a display 304 (touch-sensitive or otherwise) that provides information from the apparatus 100 to a user. Display 304 can be part of the device 300 or can be separate. The device 300 also comprises a processor 308 configured for general control of the apparatus 100 as well as the device 300 by providing signalling to, and receiving signalling from, other device components to manage their operation.

The storage medium 307 is configured to store computer code configured to perform, control or enable the operation of the apparatus 100. The storage medium 307 may be configured to store settings for the other device components. The processor 308 may access the storage medium 307 to retrieve the component settings in order to manage the operation of the other device components. The storage medium 307 may be a temporary storage medium such as a volatile random access memory. The storage medium 307 may also be a permanent storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a remote server (such as cloud storage) or a non-volatile random access memory. The storage medium 307 could be composed of different combinations of the same or different memory types.

Figure 4a illustrates an example of a portable image capture device 400 and four portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 at a particular event. Each portable image capture device 400 and portable illumination device 410, 420, 430, 440 may be, for example, a smartphone with a flash, a digital camera, or a PDA with a flash. These devices together may be considered to be an ad-hoc system, which can be used for cooperative image capture. The image capture device 400 records the image with cooperation from the illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 which illuminate the subject for capture by the image capture device 400.

The devices 400, 410, 420, 430, 440 are currently in communication with each other in an ad-hoc network, such as a peer-to-peer network (e.g. WiFi Direct) or a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), created using short range radio technology, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) or a Bluetooth network, for example. In some examples, the ad-hoc network may be well synchronised in time, allowing communications between devices in the network to be closely synchronised over very short timescales (e.g., short enough to allow for a first device to fire a flash and a second device in the network to capture an image as illuminated by the flash of the first device).

In this example, a group of people each having a portable device 400, 410, 420, 430, 440 are at a wedding and are taking photographs of the bride and groom (the scene) 450. The portable image capture device 400 is directed towards the scene 450, as are two of the portable illumination devices 410, 420. One of the portable illumination devices 430 is pointing away from the scene 450, and another of the portable illumination devices 440 is not currently in a mode for providing illumination (it may be in the user's pocket, it may have limited battery power left (e.g. 20% power remaining) or may not be in an image capture or illumination mode, for example).

In this example, an apparatus is configured to coordinate image capture for the scene 450 by the portable image capture device 400 using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices 410, 420 which are proximal to the portable image capture device 400 based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling. Two of the portable illumination devices 410, 420 in this example have determined that they are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene 450 for the portable image capture device 400 based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling. For example, the apparatus may be in respect of the portable image capture device 400 (it may be a module for the portable image capture device 400, may be comprised in the portable image capture device 400 or may be the portable image capture device 400). The apparatus may be separate to, and in communication with, the portable image capture device 400 (e.g., a remote server). In all such examples, the apparatus may coordinate image capture by transmitting illumination assistance signalling from the portable image capture device 400 to the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 to request if those illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 can provide illumination assistance for an image which the portable image capture device 400 is about to take. The apparatus may then receive illumination assistance signalling from the portable illumination devices 410, 420 to confirm they can provide illumination assistance. The apparatus may receive illumination assistance signalling from the portable illumination devices 430, 440 confirming that they cannot provide illumination assistance signalling, or the apparatus may not receive any such signalling from illumination devices 430, 440 which are unable to assist. In the case of no receipt of signalling from the proximal illumination devices, the image capture device 400 may go ahead with image capture either without any illumination, or with illumination provided from a light source which is part of the image capture device, or may not capture an image.

As another example, the apparatus may be in respect of one or more of the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 (it may be a module for the one or more portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440, may be comprised in one or more of the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 or may be one or more of the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440). The apparatus may be separate to, and in communication with, one or more of the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 (e.g. a remote server). In such examples, the apparatus may coordinate image capture by receiving illumination assistance signalling from the portable image capture device 400 at the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 to request if those illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 can provide illumination assistance for an image which the portable image capture device 400 is about to take. The apparatus may then transmit illumination assistance signalling from one or more of the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 to confirm they can provide illumination assistance, or to indicate that they cannot assist. In other cases, they may first provide the assistance at the appropriate time without confirming their ability to assist.

In some examples, the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 may determine if they are a position to assist the image capture by the portable image capture device 400 by determining their respective locations and/or orientations with respect to the scene 450 at the time of image capture. For example, the portable image capture device 400 may transmit a signal to the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 indicating what it is about to take a photograph of (the scene 450). This signal may indicate a position (e.g., as x, y, z coordinates or as latitude and longitude coordinates) and an orientation determined from a gyroscope or compass comprised in the portable image capture device 400, for example. Each portable illumination device 410, 420, 430, 440 may then determine firstly that they are in a mode configured to provide illumination (which device 440 is not). The remaining portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430 may then determine their respective locations and orientations (and device 430 may then, from its orientation, determine that it is not in a position to provide illumination assistance). The portable illumination devices 410, 420 which are suitably located and oriented to help illuminate the scene 450 for the portable image capture device 400 and which are in a mode for providing illumination may then transmit illumination assistance signalling back to the portable image capture device 400 to indicate that they can help to illuminate the scene 450. Of course, if they are not in an appropriate mode, the portable illumination devices may be put into the appropriate mode to allow them to assist. An indication e.g., audio or haptic feedback, may be given to the user of the portable image capture device 400 to notify them that the proximal illumination devices are going to be assisting. This may occur whether or not the illumination devices are already in a mode to assist.

In some examples, the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 may determine if they are a position to assist the image capture by the portable image capture device 400 by determining the scene which is present in their respective viewfinders, and determining if that matches the scene present in the viewfinder of the portable image capture device 400. For example, portable image capture device 400 may transmit a signal (by virtue of the illumination assistance signalling) to the portable illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 indicating what is currently displayed in its viewfinder. This signal may represent a copy of the scene which the portable image capture device 400 is about to capture. Each portable illumination device 410, 420, 430, 440 may then determine if they can each see at least part of a corresponding image in their respective viewfinders. If so, they may then transmit illumination assistance signalling back to the portable image capture device 400 to indicate that they can help to illuminate the same scene 450 (or just flash at the appropriate time without sending any signalling back to the image capture device). Determining whether the viewfinder scenes between the image capture device 400 and each of the illumination devices 410, 420, 430, 440 correspond may be performed by pattern/shape matching, and/or by determining that one or more of the colour range, colour locations within the image, luminosity values, or other quality of the viewfinder images match above a predetermined threshold, for example.

In some examples, the portable image capture device 400 may be configured with a flash and may also assist in the illumination of the scene with the one or more portable illumination devices, for example by firing a flash to illuminate the scene during image capture along with one or more assisting illumination devices. Figure 4b illustrates an example of a portable image capture device 400 and two portable illumination devices 415, 435 at a wedding event. As in figure 4a, the image capture device 400 is configured to record an image with cooperation from the illumination devices 415, 435, which can illuminate the subject for capture by the image capture device 400.

In this example, the illumination devices 415, 435 consider the location of the scene 405 to be captured in relation to their current positions. In figure 4b, the image capture device 400 is focussed on the scene of the bridal couple 405, and not on the scene of the group of guests 425 behind them. Information regarding what scene 405 the image capture device 400 is focussed on is provided to the illumination devices 415, 435.

Based on this information, the illumination device 415 directed to the bridal party 405 calculates that it is in a position to assist in illuminating the scene 415 which the image capture device 400 is about to take a photograph of, whereas the other illumination device 435 directed to the group of guests 425 calculates that it is not in a position to assist (because it is pointing at the guests 425 standing away from the bridal couple 405). The calculation may be based on the position of the focus of the image capture device 400 and the respective positions/orientations of the illumination devices 415, 435, for example. Therefore, when the image capture device 400 takes a photo of the bridal couple 405, one illumination device 415 will flash to provide illumination for the scene 405, but the other illumination device 435 will not flash.

Also, if the image capture device 400 changes focus to focus on the group of guests 425, this information may be provided to the illumination devices 415, 435, in which case the illumination device 415 directed to the bridal couple 405 will not illuminate when the image capture device 400 takes a photograph, but the other illumination device 435 directed to the group of guests 425 will illuminate to assist the image capture device 400 in taking a photograph. In some examples as illustrated in figure 4c, there may be a sequence of signalling between the portable image capture device 460 and one or more illumination devices 470. For example, the image capture device 460 may transmit signalling to the one or more illumination devices 470 causing them to provide a first flash (as a test flash). The image capture device 460, one or more of the illumination devices 470, and/or another observing device 480, may detect the effect of the test flash (for example, by recording/capturing a test image, or by otherwise analysing the effect of the test flash). As a result, it may be determined that adjusting the exposure time of the image capture device 460, and/or if the illumination devices 470 flashed in a different way, (e.g. at different times, or with different flash strengths) may improve the illumination of the image. For example, it may be determined that if a particular illumination device 470 flashed 0.5s later than it did on the test flash, and/or another particular illumination device 470 flashed with a lower power than in the test flash, the illumination of the scene overall may be improved. After determining how the illumination devices may adjust their flashes to improve the illumination of the scene overall, these flash parameter adjustments may be communicated (by virtue of the illumination assistance signalling) to the illumination devices 470. The image capture device 460 may then capture the scene as illuminated by a second, adjusted, set of flashes from the illumination devices 470. In some examples there may be more than one test flash.

Figures 5a-5f illustrate examples of a portable image capture device 500 and two portable illumination devices 510, 520 coordinating image capture using illumination assistance signalling according to examples of the present disclosure. In other examples, only the location, or only the time of image capture, may be communicated.

Figure 5a illustrates that the apparatus is in respect of the portable image capture device, and the illumination assistance signalling comprises an indication of the location of the scene, and the time at which the image capture is to take place, both as determined and transmitted in respect of the portable image capture device.

Thus in this example, the portable image capture device 500 instructs the illumination devices 510, 520 of what it needs them to do in order to illuminate the scene for image capture. In this example, the illumination devices 510, 520 each determine, based on the received location and time signalling from the image capture device 500, how they should adjust their own flash parameters (time of flash, location and direction/orientation of flash) to assist in the illumination of the scene for capture by the image capture device 500.

The image capture device 500 determines that it is currently positioned 532 to capture an image of a particular scene. It transmits the location of the scene and/or the current location of the image capture device 500 by illumination assistance signalling 534 to the illumination devices 510, 520. Such location specific signalling may cause the illumination devices 510, 520 to each calculate where they need to be, and where their flashes/illumination light sources need to be directed, orient their respective flash directions to illuminate the scene for image capture based on the transmitted location of the scene and/or the image capture device 500. For example, each illumination device 510, 520 may, based on the location of the scene, adjust the direction of its flash by tilting/rotating the flash, or may provide instructions to a user of the illumination device 510, 520 (such as on screen or audio instructions to "rotate left", for example) to better direct their flashes/illumination light sources at the scene to be captured by the image capture device 500.

The time of image capture in this example is also transmitted by illumination assistance signalling 534 by the image capture device 500 to the illumination devices 510, 520. Such a time may indicate "image capture in 2 seconds", for example. The time indication signalling may be used, for example, to instruct the illumination devices of a time limit by which they should be in position to help illuminate the scene for the image capture device 510, otherwise they should not flash. Figure 5b illustrates that the apparatus is in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520, and the illumination assistance signalling comprises transmission of the time at which the image capture is to take place as determined and transmitted in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520. Thus in this example, it is the one or more illumination devices 510, 520 which determine 538 the time of image capture of a scene which they are to illuminate. In this example, the image capture device 500 determines, based on the received time signalling 540 from the portable illumination devices 510, 520, at what time it should capture an image. For example, the respective one or more illumination devices 510, 520 may determine that, for example, device 510 should fire a flash at t=1 .00 s and device 520 should fire a flash at t=1 .05 s, and that the image should be captured at t=1 .10 s. It may be that a particular one of a plurality of illumination devices collates the flash fire times from the illumination devices and determines the time at which the image capture device should capture the image. Figure 5c illustrates that the apparatus can be in respect of the portable image capture device 500, and the illumination assistance signalling comprises transmission of request illumination assistance signalling 542 in respect of the portable image capture device and receipt of reply illumination assistance signalling 544 from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520. The respective illumination assistance signalling 542, 544 is used to coordinate the image capture for the scene. Figure 5c also illustrates that the apparatus can be in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520, and the illumination assistance signalling comprises receipt of request illumination assistance signalling 542 in respect of the portable image capture device 500 and transmission of reply illumination assistance signalling 544 from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520, the respective illumination assistance signalling 542, 544 used to coordinate the image capture for the scene.

For example, the image capture device 500 may send request illumination assistance signalling requesting that the illumination devices 510, 520 provide illumination for image capture. The request may comprise signalling instructing, for example "please fire a flash from your position when I take a photograph in 0.5 s time from transmission of this message", or may simply comprise signalling requesting "are you able to provide a flash in the next 5 seconds?".

Each illumination device 510, 520, either which is able to assist in the illumination, or regardless of whether it is able to assist or not, then sends a reply back 544 to the image capture device 500. The reply 544 may be a passive reply providing information, such as "Yes, I will flash at the requested time", or "I can/can not flash", for example, or the reply 544 may be an active reply providing instruction, such as "I will flash in 0.5 s and you will capture the image in 0.55 s from receipt of this reply", or "wait 3 s and request again, I am not currently able to assist".

As another example, an image capture device 500 may send a request to one or more illumination devices 510, 520, including the location and orientation of the image capture device 500. The illumination device(s) 510, 520 in communication with the image capture device 500 may transmit a reply to the image capture device 500 stating their respective locations and orientations. The image capture device 500 may then determine which of the illumination devices 510, 520 should be used to illuminate the scene and transmit a further response to those devices instructing them to fire a flash (e.g., at a particular time), and after receipt of these instructions by the illumination devices 510, 520, the image capture device may capture the image as illuminated by the appropriate illumination devices 510, 520. Figures 5d-5f illustrate that the apparatus is in respect of one or more of the proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520 and the illumination assistance signalling comprises receipt of request illumination assistance signalling 546 in respect of the portable image capture device 500. Based on this receipt, the apparatus is configured to determine 548, in respect of the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520, whether they are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene. If it is determined that they are in a position to assist, the apparatus causes the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520 to illuminate the scene 552, 556, 558 in a coordinated manner to allow image capture of the scene by the portable image capture device 550.

The coordinated illumination of the scene may be done by determining whether the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520 will be in a position to assist at a time indicated in respect of the portable image capture device 500 by the request illumination assistance signalling 546. If so, the illumination devices 510, 520 need not necessarily send any signal to the image capture device, but may simply provide a flash at the time designated in the request illumination assistance signalling 546. If it is determined that an illumination device 510, 520 is not in a position to assist, as shown in figure 5e, the apparatus may cause the illumination device 510, 520 to, for example, send a reply back 554 to the image capture device 500 to indicate that it will not provide illumination assistance, or to request a delay so that it may be re-positioned or otherwise reconfigured such that it can, at a the later time, provide illumination assistance. The process may repeat after a specified interval to check that the devices 500, 510, 520 are prepared for coordinated image capture/illumination. In other examples, if the illumination devices 510, 520, cannot provide illumination assistance, they may merely not provide any help 552 or provide any reply 500. The coordinated illumination of the scene may be done by determining whether the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520 will be in a position to assist at a time indicated in reply illumination assistance signalling 554 from the one or more proximal portable illumination devices 510, 520 as shown in figure 5e. If so, the illumination devices 510, 520 instruct the image capture device when to capture the image according to the time 556 at which each of the illumination devices have each determined when to flash.

Figure 5f shows that the image capture device 500 may transmit request illumination assistance signalling 560 to one of the illumination devices 510, which then in turn passes that request on 562 to another illumination device 520. Each illumination device 510, 520 may then determine whether it is in a position to provide illumination or not (and as in figure 5e, may communicate this information back to the image capture device 500). One illumination device 510 may broadcast 562 the request 546 in parallel to two or more other illumination devices, or the request 560, 562 may be passed on from one illumination device 510 to another 520 in series. Figure 6a shows an example of an apparatus 600 in communication with a remote server 604. Figure 6b shows an example of an apparatus 600 in communication with a "cloud" 610 for cloud computing. In figures 6a and 6b, apparatus 600 (which may be apparatus 100, 200 or 300) is also in communication with a further apparatus 602. In some examples the further apparatus 602 may be, for example, an image capture device, an illumination device, or a component of such a device such as a touch screen display, viewfinder display, or lens/image capture system, for example. In some examples more than one further apparatus 602 (such as an image capture device and one or more illumination devices) may be in communication with the apparatus 600. In some examples, the apparatus 600 and further apparatus 602 may both be comprised within the same device, for example as part of a portable communications device, PDA or digital camera. Communication may be via a communications unit, for example. In some examples the apparatus 602 may be able to communicate directly with the remote server 604 or cloud 610, for example if the apparatus 600 is an image capture device, if the apparatus 602 is an illumination device, and if calculations for the coordinated illuminated image capture are performed at the remote server 604 or cloud 610.

Figure 6a shows the remote computing element to be a remote server 604, with which the apparatus 600 (and in some examples apparatus 602) may be in wired or wireless communication (e.g. via the internet, Bluetooth, NFC, a USB connection, or any other suitable connection as known to one skilled in the art). In figure 6b, the apparatus 600 is in communication with a remote cloud 610 (which may, for example, be the Internet, or a system of remote computers configured for cloud computing). In some examples the further apparatus 602 may also be in communication with the remote cloud 610. For example, the apparatus which is coordinating image capture may be the remote server 604/cloud 610 which the image capture device 600 and/or one or more illumination devices 602 can communicate with (and via which the image capture device can communicate with the illumination device(s)). Captured images may be stored on the remote server 604 or cloud 610. The image capture device 600 and/or illumination devices 602 may communicate with a remote server 604 or cloud 610 by transmitting parameters such as a location or orientation, so that remote calculation of a flash firing schedule can be carried out. That is, the remote server 604 or cloud 610 may calculate when each of the illumination devices should flash for their given positions and/or at what power the flash should fire. These calculation results may be transmitted back to the illumination devices, and the time of image capture may be transmitted to the image capture device, for example.

Figure 7a illustrates a method 700 according to an example of the present disclosure. The method comprises, based on the transmission of illumination assistance signalling, coordinating image capture for a scene by a portable image capture device using illumination provided by one or more portable illumination devices which are proximal to the portable image capture device and which have, based on the transmission of the illumination assistance signalling, determined that the one or more proximal portable illumination devices are in a position to assist in the illumination of the scene for the portable image capture device. Figure 8 illustrates schematically a computer/processor readable medium 800 providing a program according to an example of this disclosure. In this example, the computer/ processor readable medium is a disc such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or a compact disc (CD). In other examples, the computer readable medium may be any medium that has been programmed in such a way as to carry out the functionality herein described. The computer program code may be distributed between the multiple memories of the same type, or multiple memories of a different type, such as ROM, RAM, flash, hard disk, solid state, etc.

Any mentioned apparatus/device/server and/or other features of particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be provided by apparatus arranged such that they become configured to carry out the desired operations only when enabled, e.g. switched on, or the like. In such cases, they may not necessarily have the appropriate software loaded into the active memory in the non-enabled (e.g. switched off state) and only load the appropriate software in the enabled (e.g. on state). The apparatus may comprise hardware circuitry and/or firmware. The apparatus may comprise software loaded onto memory. Such software/computer programs may be recorded on the same memory/processor/functional units and/or on one or more memories/processors/ functional units. In some examples, a particular mentioned apparatus/device/server may be preprogrammed with the appropriate software to carry out desired operations, and wherein the appropriate software can be enabled for use by a user downloading a "key", for example, to unlock/enable the software and its associated functionality. Advantages associated with such examples can include a reduced requirement to download data when further functionality is required for a device, and this can be useful in examples where a device is perceived to have sufficient capacity to store such pre-programmed software for functionality that may not be enabled by a user.

Any mentioned apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor may have other functions in addition to the mentioned functions, and that these functions may be performed by the same apparatus/circuitry/elements/processor. One or more disclosed aspects may encompass the electronic distribution of associated computer programs and computer programs (which may be source/transport encoded) recorded on an appropriate carrier (e.g. memory, signal).

Any "computer" described herein can comprise a collection of one or more individual processors/processing elements that may or may not be located on the same circuit board, or the same region/position of a circuit board or even the same device. In some examples one or more of any mentioned processors may be distributed over a plurality of devices. The same or different processor/processing elements may perform one or more functions described herein.

The term "signalling" may refer to one or more signals transmitted as a series of transmitted and/or received electrical/optical signals. The series of signals may comprise one, two, three, four or even more individual signal components or distinct signals to make up said signalling. Some or all of these individual signals may be transmitted/received by wireless or wired communication simultaneously, in sequence, and/or such that they temporally overlap one another.

With reference to any discussion of any mentioned computer and/or processor and memory (e.g. including ROM, CD-ROM etc), these may comprise a computer processor, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware components that have been programmed in such a way to carry out the inventive function.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole, in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that the disclosed aspects/examples may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features as applied to examples thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices and methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or examples may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or example as a general matter of design choice. Furthermore, in the claims means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. Thus although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw may be equivalent structures.