US6819783B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Obtaining person-specific images in a public venue
Assignee: Hysterical Sunset Ltd
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Filing: 2003-11-14
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Granted: 2004-11-16
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Expires: 2023-11-14
Abstract
Abstract Collecting images of a patron in an entertainment venue is performed by facial recognition of the patron's face within the images, simplifying the storage and distribution of the images for a patron. In order to enhance the reliability of the facial recognition system, information about the patron that is not directly related to most facial recognition systems, including clothes, height, other associated people, use of glasses and jewelry, disposition of facial hair, and more, can be used. Some of the characteristics used can be specific to a particular date or event, and which will not be more generally characteristic of the patron. The facial recognition system can also be used to identify the patron requesting images to be collected. The present invention also relates to the use of facial recognition in sorting and collecting images from an electronically-stored image collection, enabling the easy retrieval of images that are related to a particular person or set of people.
Inventors
- 👤 David A. Goldberg
- 👤 Martha B. Goldberg
- 👤 Miriam D. Goldberg
- 👤 Benjamin M. Goldberg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 09:59
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/00127; H04N1/00132; G; G03; G03D; G03D15/00; G03D15/001; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/50; G06F16/58; G06F16/583; G06F16/5838; G06F16/5854; G06V; G06V10/00; G06V10/70; G06V10/768; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G07; G07C; G07C11/00; G07C9/00; G07C9/20; G07C9/22; G07C9/25; G07C9/253; G07F; G07F17/00; G07F17/26; G11; G11B; G11B27/00; G11B27/02; G11B27/022; G11B27/028; G11B27/031; H04N1/00137; H04N1/00143; H04N1/00145; H04N1/00148; H04N1/00151; H04N1/00167; H04N1/00169; H04N1/00172; H04N1/00185; H04N1/00188; H04N1/0019; H04N1/00193; H04N1/00204; H04N1/00209; H04N1/00281; H04N1/00283; H04N1/00286; H04N1/00299; H04N1/00326; H04N1/00342; G06V40/172; G07C2011/02; G07C2011/04; G11B2220/00; G11B2220/20; G11B2220/25; G11B2220/2537; G11B2220/2545; G11B2220/90; G11B27/024; G11B27/034; H04N2201/00; H04N2201/32; H04N2201/3201; H04N2201/3204; H04N2201/3205
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
163 words
A method of distributing to a user a specific electronic image comprising a representation of a specific person from among a collection of electronic images containing representations of many persons, the method comprising the steps of: performing facial recognition analysis on each electronic image in the image collection by which a facial identifier is determined for each face represented within each electronic image; storing each electronic image in association with the facial identifier of each person represented within the electronic image; obtaining a reference facial identifier from a source electronic image in which the specific person is represented; selecting the specific electronic image for distribution on the basis of the similarity of the reference facial identifier to a facial identifier associated with the specific electronic image in conjunction with additional information that can be derived from the collection of electronic images, wherein the additional information comprises the association of the specific electronic image for distribution with a facial identifier of a second person.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
163 words
A method of distributing to a user a specific electronic image comprising a representation of a specific person from among a collection of electronic images containing representations of many persons, the method comprising the steps of: performing facial recognition analysis on each electronic image in the image collection by which a facial identifier is determined for each face represented within each electronic image; storing each electronic image in association with the facial identifier of each person represented within the electronic image; obtaining a reference facial identifier from a source electronic image in which the specific person is represented; selecting the specific electronic image for distribution on the basis of the similarity of the reference facial identifier to a facial identifier associated with the specific electronic image in conjunction with additional information that can be derived from the collection of electronic images, wherein the additional information comprises the association of the specific electronic image for distribution with a facial identifier of a second person.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the second person's facial identifier is associated with more than one electronic image in the collection with wich the specific person's facial identifier is also associated.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the specific person's identifier is associated with a second electronic image in the collection with which a third person's facial identifier is also associated, and in which the second and third person's facial identifiers are associated with a third electronic image in the collection.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional information further comprises characteristics of a temporary feature of the specific person, wherein the characteristics of the the feature can be determined from the distribution image.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the temporary feature is selected from the group consisting of colors of clothes, presence of eyeglasses, colors of eyeglasses, hair color, makeup color, jewelry, hat shape, hat color, and facial hair distribution.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the additional information further comprises membership of the facial identifier within a first cluster of facial identifier that has been formed using cluster analysis on facial identifiers from electronic images within the image collection.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein the first cluster of facial identifiers is modified by joining the first cluster and a second cluster using manual input from the user following visual inspection of at least one image from each of the first and second clusters.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein the first cluster of facial identifiers is sorted on the basis of age, and wherein additional facial identifiers are added to the cluster on the basis of their similarity to a predetermined number of facial identifiers selected from the group consisting of the oldest images, most recent images, or most dissimilar images.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined number of facial identifiers is less than 5.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the source electronic image is not within the collection.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 10 , wherein the source electronic image is transmitted via the Internet.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the source electronic image is within the collection, and wherein the user manually chooses the specific person representation from the source image following visual inspection of the image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 12 , wherein images from the collection are sorted for presentation to the user on the basis of the facial identifiers associated with the images.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 13 , wherein images with the largest number of facial identifiers that the user has not previously been presented are presented to the user, wherein the user can efficiently locate the specific person in the collection of images by inspecting only a subset of the images.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein images for distribution are selected on the basis of the number of facial identifiers associated with the images.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting utilizes a similarity metric for relating the likelihood of match of two different facial identifiers, wherein the value of the similarity metric relative to a predetermined value determines whether the facial identifiers are considered to match.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein the additional information alters the similarity metric between the reference facial identifier and a facial identifier associated with the distribution image.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference facial identifier is determined from the analysis of multiple images comprising facial representations of the specific person.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 18 , wherein the one of the multiple images was previously selected from the image collection in a step of selecting.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
186 words
A system for distributing to a user a specific electronic image comprising a representation of a specific person from among a colletion of electronic images containing representations of many persons, comprising: a facial recognizer that generates a facial identifier for each facial representation within each image; a storage device that stores each electronic image in association with the facial identifier of each person represented within the electronic image; a reference facial identifier, which is obtained from a source electronic image in which the specific person is represented; and a selector which receives the facial identifiers associated wich each image from the storage device and which further receives the reference facial identifier and which determines which image to distribute, wherein the selector selects the specific electronic image for distribution on the basis of the similarity of the reference facial identifier to a facial identifier associated wich the specific electronic image in conjunction with additional information that can be derived from the collection of electronic images, wherein the additional information comprises the association of the specific electronic image for distribution with a facial identifier of a second person.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
186 words
A system for distributing to a user a specific electronic image comprising a representation of a specific person from among a colletion of electronic images containing representations of many persons, comprising: a facial recognizer that generates a facial identifier for each facial representation within each image; a storage device that stores each electronic image in association with the facial identifier of each person represented within the electronic image; a reference facial identifier, which is obtained from a source electronic image in which the specific person is represented; and a selector which receives the facial identifiers associated wich each image from the storage device and which further receives the reference facial identifier and which determines which image to distribute, wherein the selector selects the specific electronic image for distribution on the basis of the similarity of the reference facial identifier to a facial identifier associated wich the specific electronic image in conjunction with additional information that can be derived from the collection of electronic images, wherein the additional information comprises the association of the specific electronic image for distribution with a facial identifier of a second person.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the second person's facial identifier is associated with more than one electronic image in the collection with which the specific person's facial identifier is also associated.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
50 words
The of claim 20 , wherein the specific person's facial identifier is associated with a second electronic in the collection with which a third person's facial identifier is also associated, and in which the second and third person's facial identifiers era associated with a third electronic image in the collection.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 20 , additionally comprising a camera, wherein the camera obtains a reference image of the specific person and the reference facial identifier is obtained from the reference image by the facial recognizer.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 20 , additionally comprising an Internet connection, wherein the selector receives the source electronic image from the user through the Internet connection.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-11-16 | 2008-05-17 | 2008-11-16 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-11-16 | 2012-05-17 | 2012-11-16 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-11-16 | 2016-05-17 | 2016-11-16 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |