Patent US846947A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6292575B1
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US
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Real-time facial recognition and verification system
Assignee: Idemia Identity and Security USA LLC
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Filing: 1998-07-20
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Granted: 2001-09-18
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Expires: 2018-07-20
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for acquiring, processing, and comparing an image with a stored image to determine if a match exists. In particular, the system refines the image data associated with an object based on pre-stored color values, such as flesh tone color. The system includes a storage element for storing flesh tone colors of a plurality of people, and a defining stage for localizing a region of interest in the image. A combination stage combines the unrefined region of interest with one or more pre-stored flesh tone colors to refine the region of interest based on color. This flesh tone color matching ensures that at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest having flesh tone color is incorporated into the refined region of interest. Hence, the system can localize the head, based on the flesh tone color of the skin of the face in a rapid manner. According to one practice, the refined region of interest is smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest.
Inventors
- 👤 Jay F. Bortolussi
- 👤 Francis J. Cusack, Jr.
- 👤 Dennis C. Ehn
- 👤 Thomas M. Kuzeja
- 👤 Michael S. Saulnier
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 00:38
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G06V40/161; G06V40/162; G06V40/168; G06V40/169; G06V40/18; G06V40/19
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 61
Claim 1
Independent Claim
176 words
A system for refining an object within an image based on color, the system comprising: a storage element for storing flesh tone colors of a plurality of people, defining means for defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, combination means for combining the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors stored in the storage element to refine the region of interest to ensure that at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest having flesh tone color is incorporated into the refined region of interest, and a motion detector for detecting motion of the image within a field of view, the motion detector comprises: a differencing means for subtracting selected pixel values associated with generally spatially adjacent images and for generating a difference value therefrom, and a threshold means for comparing the difference value with a threshold value to determine motion within the field of view.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
176 words
A system for refining an object within an image based on color, the system comprising: a storage element for storing flesh tone colors of a plurality of people, defining means for defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, combination means for combining the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors stored in the storage element to refine the region of interest to ensure that at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest having flesh tone color is incorporated into the refined region of interest, and a motion detector for detecting motion of the image within a field of view, the motion detector comprises: a differencing means for subtracting selected pixel values associated with generally spatially adjacent images and for generating a difference value therefrom, and a threshold means for comparing the difference value with a threshold value to determine motion within the field of view.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the refined region of interest being smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising an image acquisition element for acquiring the image.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
15 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the storage element comprises a look-up-table.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the storage element comprises a memory element for storing a color histogram constructed from the plurality of people, the histogram being representative of the distribution of colors that constitute flesh tone.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising blob means for connecting together selected pixels of the object in the image to form a selected number of blobs therein.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising the detected motion signifying the presence of the object within the field of view, and blob means for connecting together a selected number of pixels of the object in the detected image to form a selected number of blobs therein, wherein one of the blobs corresponds to the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system in accordance with claim 7 , wherein said unrefined region of interest corresponds to a head of a person, and the object corresponds to an eye of the person.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system in accordance with claim 7 , wherein the combination means is adapted to combine one of the blobs with the flesh tone colors to construct the refined region of interest.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
47 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising first histogram means for sampling the flesh tone colors of the plurality of people and for generating a first flesh tone color histogram, and first transform means for transforming the first color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
A system in accordance with claim 7 , further comprising normalizing means for normalizing the first color histogram.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
A system in accordance with claim 10 , further comprising conversion means for converting the histogram to a normalized function according to Bayes Rule.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
A system in accordance with claim 10 , wherein the flesh tone colors correspond to a face of a person within an image, the system further comprising second histogram means for generating a second color histogram not associated with the face within the image.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
A system in accordance with claim 13 , further comprising second transform means for transforming the second color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
50 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising histogram means for generating a histogram of colors corresponding to at least one of a face of a person in the image and a non-face portion of the image, and transforming means for transforming the histogram into ST color space.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising histogram means for generating a histogram of colors corresponding to the object in the image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
22 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising means for adjusting the flesh tone colors stored within the storage element.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
46 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the object corresponds to a face of a person within the image, the system further comprising erosion means for applying an erosion operation to the face to separate pixels corresponding to hair from pixels corresponding to face.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising erosion means for applying an erosion operation to reduce the size of an object within the image, thereby reducing the size of the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
27 words
A system in accordance with claim 18 , further comprising dilation means to expand one of the region of interests to obtain the object within the image.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
181 words
A method of refining an object within an image based on color, the method comprising the steps of: storing flesh tone colors of a plurality of people in a storage element, defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, detecting motion of the image within a field of view, connecting together a selected number of pixels of the object in the detected image to form a selected number of blobs therein, wherein one of the blobs corresponds to the unrefined region of interest, and combining one of the blobs that corresponds to the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors stored in the storage element to refine the region of interest to ensure that at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest having flesh tone color is incorporated into the refined region of interest, the refined region of interest being smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
181 words
A method of refining an object within an image based on color, the method comprising the steps of: storing flesh tone colors of a plurality of people in a storage element, defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, detecting motion of the image within a field of view, connecting together a selected number of pixels of the object in the detected image to form a selected number of blobs therein, wherein one of the blobs corresponds to the unrefined region of interest, and combining one of the blobs that corresponds to the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors stored in the storage element to refine the region of interest to ensure that at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest having flesh tone color is incorporated into the refined region of interest, the refined region of interest being smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the step of generating a color histogram from the plurality of people, the histogram being representative of the distribution of colors that constitute flesh tone.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
61 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , wherein the step of detecting motion comprises the steps of subtracting selected pixel values associated with generally spatially adjacent images captured by the image acquisition element and for generating a difference value therefrom, and comparing the difference value with a threshold value to determine whether motion is detected within the field of view.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the steps of sampling the flesh tone colors of the plurality of people, generating a first flesh tone color histogram from the sampling of flesh tone colors, and transforming the first color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method in accordance with claim 24 , further comprising the step of normalizing the first color histogram according to Bayes Rule.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the step of generating a color histogram of the object in the image.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the steps of generating a color histogram of the object in the image, and transforming the second color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the steps of generating a histogram of colors corresponding to at least one of a face of a person in the image and a non-face portion of the image, and transforming the histogram into ST color space.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the step of adjusting the flesh tone colors stored within the storage element.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the step of applying an erosion operation to a face within the image to separate pixels corresponding to hair from pixels corresponding to the face.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method in accordance with claim 21 , further comprising the step of applying a dilation operation to expand one of the region of interests to obtain the face.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
171 words
A facial recognition and identification system for identifying an object in an image, comprising: an image acquisition element for acquiring the image, defining means for defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, combination means for combining one of a selected number of blobs that corresponds to the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors to refine the region of interest to ensure at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest that includes flesh tone color are incorporated into the refined region of interest, the refined region of interest being smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest, said refined region of interest corresponding at least in part to the object, and a recognition module for determining whether the acquired object matches a pre-stored object, whereby said system recognizes the object when the object matches the pre-stored object.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
171 words
A facial recognition and identification system for identifying an object in an image, comprising: an image acquisition element for acquiring the image, defining means for defining an unrefined region of interest corresponding to at least part of the object in the image, the unrefined region of interest including flesh tone colors, combination means for combining one of a selected number of blobs that corresponds to the unrefined region of interest with one or more of the flesh tone colors to refine the region of interest to ensure at least a portion of the image corresponding to the unrefined region of interest that includes flesh tone color are incorporated into the refined region of interest, the refined region of interest being smaller than or about equal to the unrefined region of interest, said refined region of interest corresponding at least in part to the object, and a recognition module for determining whether the acquired object matches a pre-stored object, whereby said system recognizes the object when the object matches the pre-stored object.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
22 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising a detection module for detecting a feature of the object.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
55 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , wherein said detection module comprises: a motion detector for detecting motion of the image within a field of view, and blob means for connecting together a selected number of pixels of the object in the detected image to form the selected number of blobs therein.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
30 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 34 , wherein said detector module further comprises selector means for selecting at least a portion of the object in the image.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
84 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 33 , wherein said detection module comprises means for generating one or more eigenheads corresponding to a set of eigenvectors generated from a reference set of images in a multi-dimensional image space, means for scaling said eigenhead to a size generally about that of the object in the image, and comparison means for comparing the eigenhead to the refined region of interest corresponding to the object in the image to determine whether there is a match.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
18 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 36 , wherein said eigenhead is a low resolution eigenhead.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
21 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising location means for locating a feature of the object.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
57 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 38 , wherein said location means comprises means for representing a feature of the region of interest in the object as a plurality of eigenvectors in a multi-dimensional image space, and correlation means for correlating the region of interest with the eigenvectors to locate the feature within the object.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
53 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 39 , further comprising a compression module for generating a set of eigenvectors of a training set of people in the multi-dimensional image space, and projection means for projecting the feature onto the multi-dimensional image space to generate a weighted vector that represents the feature.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
34 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 40 , further comprising discrimination means for comparing the weighted vector corresponding to the feature with a pre-stored vector to determine whether there is a match.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
61 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 34 , wherein the motion detector comprises differencing means for subtracting selected pixel values associated with generally spatially adjacent images captured by the image acquisition element and for generating a difference value therefrom, and threshold means for comparing the difference value with a threshold value to determine motion within the field of view.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
49 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising first histogram means for sampling the flesh tone colors of the plurality of people and for generating a first flesh tone color histogram, and first transform means for transforming the first color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
24 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 43 , further comprising normalizing means for normalizing the first color histogram according to Bayes Rule.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
60 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 43 , wherein the flesh tone colors correspond to a face of a person within an image, the system further comprising second histogram means for generating a second color histogram not associated with the face within the image, and second transform means for transforming the second color histogram into ST color space.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
54 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising histogram means for generating a histogram of flesh tone colors corresponding to at least one of a face of a person in the image and a non-face portion of the image, and transform means for transforming the histogram into ST color space.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
29 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising histogram means for generating a histogram of flesh tone colors corresponding to the object in the image.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
48 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , wherein the object corresponds to a face of a person within the image, the system further comprising erosion means for applying an erosion operation to the face to separate pixels corresponding to hair from pixels corresponding to face.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
42 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising erosion means for applying an erosion operation to the image to reduce the size of an object within the image, thereby reducing the size of the unrefined region of interest.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
39 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising dilation means for applying a dilation operation to expand one of the region of interests to obtain a face image corresponding to the object within the image.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
53 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 39 , wherein said correlation means further comprises means for storing a center-weighted windowing function, means for placing the windowing function over the region of interest, and means for analyzing the region of interest with the windowing function to locate the feature of the object.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
35 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 39 , wherein said correlation means further comprises means for analyzing the region of interest with a center-weighted windowing function to locate the feature of the object.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
36 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 38 , further comprising second location means for determining the location of the feature of the object when the first location module is unable to locate the feature.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
48 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 53 , wherein said second location means comprises means for representing the region of interest in the object as a plurality of eigenvectors in a multi-dimensional image space, and correlation means for correlating the region of interest with the eigenvectors.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
60 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 54 , wherein said second location module further comprises second means for representing a feature of the region of interest in the object as a plurality of eigenvectors in a multi-dimensional image space, and correlation means for correlating the region of interest with the eigenvectors to locate the feature in the image.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
24 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising means for adjusting one of the contrast and brightness of the image.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
26 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising means for correlating the image with a windowing function to generate a correlation map.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
27 words
A facial recognition system in accordance with claim 32 , further comprising means for determining a standard deviation and a mean of pixels that constitute the image.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-09-17 | 2005-03-19 | 2005-09-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-09-17 | 2009-03-19 | 2009-09-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-09-17 | 2013-03-19 | 2013-09-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |