EP0654749A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
An image processing method and apparatus
Assignee: Hitachi Europe Ltd
•
Filing: 1994-11-22
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2014-11-22
Abstract
Abstract A real time output containing data relating to states of facial parts is generated. A facial area detection unit (11) has monitoring (51-57) and determining (59-61) processing circuits operating in a pipelining manner to determine position of the facial area. The monitoring circuits (51-57) monitor pixel value frequency using 3D histogram and backprojection processing. The generating facial area signal has masks applied by a unit (12) which supplies data to mouth area and eye area detection units (14,15). Each of these operate on similar principles to the facial area detection unit (11).
Inventors
- 👤 Hiroshi Sako
- 👤 Anthony Smith
- 👤 Mark Whitehouse
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 10:40
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G06V40/161; G06V40/168
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
An image processing apparatus (1) comprising means for receiving facial image data, and processing means for processing the facial image data, characterised in that, said receiving means (10) comprises means for receiving a colour facial image data stream in digital format; said processing means (3) comprises:- a plurality of image data processing circuits (11-15) interconnected for processing the image data in a pipelining manner to provide a real time output, the circuits comprising :- means (51-57) for monitoring colour values in the image data to identify image data pixels representing facial parts, and means (59-61) for determining states of the facial parts by monitoring positional coordinates of the identified pixels; and the apparatus (1) further comprises:- an output device (6) for outputting the determined facial part state data in real time.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the monitoring means (51-57) comprises means for monitoring frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the monitoring means (51-54) comprises means for carrying out colour histogram matching to monitor frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the monitoring means (51) comprises means for carrying out three-dimensional colour histogram matching to monitor frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the monitoring means further comprises a backprojection means (51) for comparing a generated histogram with a template histogram generated off-line.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the determining means further comprises a counter (60) for determining the area of the facial part or parts.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means (10) for normalising the received colour facial image data stream.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
77 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processing circuits comprise :- a facial area detection unit (11) comprising circuits for carrying out facial area detection operations on the image data; and a facial part detection unit (14, 15) connected to said facial area detection unit and comprising processing circuits for determining states of a facial part within the detected facial area using the image data and an output signal from said facial area detection unit.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 further comprising a mask generating unit (12) connected between the facial area and facial part detection units.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 comprising two facial part detection units, namely :- a mouth area detection unit (14); and an eye area detection unit (15).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the apparatus further comprises a mask generating unit (12) connected between the facial area detection unit (11) and the facial part detection units, (14, 15) said mask generating unit unit (12) comprising means for generating an eyes mask signal and a mouth mask signal.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the mouth area and eye area detection units (14, 15) are connected in the apparatus to operate on the same image data in parallel.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises means (61) for carrying out a consistency check to validate determined positional data.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
28 words
An apparatus as claimed in claims 8 to 13 wherein each processing unit comprises means (61) for carrying out a consistency check on positional data which it generates.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein the consistency check means comprises a processor (61) programmed to compare the positional data with reference positional data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
40 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the monitoring means comprises means (55, 56, 57) for carrying out binary erosion and binary dilation steps to generate image data in which noise is reduced and the subject area is recovered.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising image data processing circuits (13) for determining location of a coloured fingertip represented in the input image data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising image processing circuits (11-15) for facial area and separate image processing circuits (13) for coloured fingertips, said circuits being connected to process the input image data in parallel.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 17 further comprising a result processor (5) comprising means for receiving facial part and coloured fingertip positional data to generate an output signal representing proximity of a coloured fingertip to facial parts for assistance in communication of sign language.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a video device (2) for generating the image data stream.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the video device is a camera (2) having an analog to digital converter.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
56 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 20 wherein the video device is a camera (2), and the camera is mounted on a frame (7) adjacent a light source (8) so that it is directed upwardly at an angle so that the face of a person seated next to the frame is within the field of view.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of processing facial image data, the method comprising the steps of: receiving (20) a digital colour image data stream; monitoring (22) colour values in the image data to identify image data pixels representing facial parts; determining (22) states of the facial parts by monitoring positional coordinates of the identified pixels, said monitoring and determining steps being carried out by processing circuits interconnected for processing the image data in a pipelining manner; and outputting (38) in real time a signal representing the determined facial part state data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method as claimed in claim 23, wherein the monitoring and determining steps are carried out to initially identify facial area (22) and position, and subsequently to identify facial parts and determine states of the facial parts.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the monitoring step comprises the sub-steps (22(a)-22(g)) of monitoring frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the monitoring step comprising the sub-steps of carrying out colour histogram matching (22(a)) to monitor frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the monitoring step comprises the sub-steps of carrying out three-dimensional colour histogram matching to monitor frequency of occurrence of pixel values in the image data.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the monitoring step comprises the sub-steps of carrying out three-dimensional colour histogram matching in which there is backprojection (22(b)) with comparison of a generated three-dimensional colour histogram with a template histogram generated off-line.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.