Methods and apparatus for tracking a light source in an environment surrounding a device

An apparatus of a smartphone configured to provide network communication, comprising:

• an image sensor that acquires an image of an environment surrounding a smartphone;
• a motion tracking element coupled to the image sensor that outputs motion data that corresponds to physical motion of the smartphone device;
• a tracker coupled to the image tracking element that analyzes the image to detect a light source associated with the image and calculates a location of the light source relative to the smartphone, and wherein the tracker adjusts the location of the light source relative to the smartphone based on the motion data;
• and
• a display coupled to the tracker and configured to redisplay an updated image based on the previously captured image, the motion data, and the location of the light source relative to the smartphone.

A method for displaying captured images on a smartphone via a light tracking system, comprising:

• acquiring, by an image sensor of the smartphone, an image of an environment representing a surrounding image of the smartphone;
• analyzing the image to detect a feature in the image including identifying and locating a light source;
• determining a relative position and orientation between the light source and the smartphone;
• calculating a location of the feature relative to the smartphone in accordance with the relative position and orientation between the light source and the smartphone;
• displaying the image including the feature on a screen of the smartphone in response to the relative position and orientation between the light source and the smartphone;
• receiving motion data corresponding to movement of the smartphone;
• and
• adjusting the image on the screen to a reflect new location of the feature and the relative position and orientation between the light source and the smartphone based on the motion data.