My point was idea vs invention. One of those you cannot patent... the other you can.
Still wrong. Can you patent the idea of a car? Yes you can. Things are always obvious to outsiders after it's explained to them at which point it becomes an "idea". An "idea" is not a precise definition at all. This is what you have to consider.
Still wrong. Can you patent the idea of a car? Yes you can. Things are always obvious to outsiders after it's explained to them at which point it becomes an "idea". An "idea" is not a precise definition at all. This is what you have to consider. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-or-transformation_test
How is it wrong?
I pulled this line directly from the USPTO website:
"A patent cannot be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion."
For a patent to even be considered... it needs to be a new invention, or a new and useful process, or a new composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement to something.
You can't walk into the patent office and just say "car"
Another alternative would be to allow the cameras from multiple phones to be grouped together over a peer-peer network and synchronized to form a single imaging array to form a better and perhaps somewhat 3D image of the subject. Another alternative would be a variation of the panorama feature - instead of standing still while sweeping the camera across the scene you keep the subject in the center of the viewfinder while you walk perpendicular to the subject. This would create a subtle synthetic aperture effect. Yet another interesting variation of the panorama would be to allow you to walk completely around a subject while keeping the subject in the viewfinder. The camera would then stitch together the frames into a single 3D image. This would be a great way to capture a 3D image and would be especially interesting for things like people, sculptures, cars, etc.
To do that you'd need hyperprecise location, maybe using the different delays in between phones through bluetooth, WIFI, various Geolocation systems and the cell network to do so. If the phone could get your location within 10 cm (and very minute angle difference), you could do fantastic things by collating the camera outputs together. They could even precisely 3D map a whole large location in one shot at one instant, even mapping people inside the scene from all sides : incredible.
Comments
My point was idea vs invention. One of those you cannot patent... the other you can.
Still wrong. Can you patent the idea of a car? Yes you can. Things are always obvious to outsiders after it's explained to them at which point it becomes an "idea". An "idea" is not a precise definition at all. This is what you have to consider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine-or-transformation_test
How is it wrong?
I pulled this line directly from the USPTO website:
"A patent cannot be obtained upon a mere idea or suggestion."
From here: http://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents#heading-4
So how can you patent the "idea" of a car?
For a patent to even be considered... it needs to be a new invention, or a new and useful process, or a new composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement to something.
You can't walk into the patent office and just say "car"
Another alternative would be to allow the cameras from multiple phones to be grouped together over a peer-peer network and synchronized to form a single imaging array to form a better and perhaps somewhat 3D image of the subject. Another alternative would be a variation of the panorama feature - instead of standing still while sweeping the camera across the scene you keep the subject in the center of the viewfinder while you walk perpendicular to the subject. This would create a subtle synthetic aperture effect. Yet another interesting variation of the panorama would be to allow you to walk completely around a subject while keeping the subject in the viewfinder. The camera would then stitch together the frames into a single 3D image. This would be a great way to capture a 3D image and would be especially interesting for things like people, sculptures, cars, etc.
To do that you'd need hyperprecise location, maybe using the different delays in between phones through bluetooth, WIFI, various Geolocation systems and the cell network to do so. If the phone could get your location within 10 cm (and very minute angle difference), you could do fantastic things by collating the camera outputs together. They could even precisely 3D map a whole large location in one shot at one instant, even mapping people inside the scene from all sides : incredible.