US6965684B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image processing methods and apparatus for detecting human eyes, human face, and other objects in an image
Assignee: Canon Inc
•
Filing: 2001-09-14
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Granted: 2005-11-15
•
Expires: 2021-09-14
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed is a method, apparatus, and system for detecting a human face in an image. The method includes, for a subset of pixels in the image, deriving a first variable from the gray-level distribution of the image and deriving a second variable from a preset reference distribution that is characteristic of the object. The method further includes evaluating the correspondence between the first variable and the second variable over the subset of pixels and determining if the image contains the object based on the result of this evaluation.
Inventors
- 👤 Xinwu Chen
- 👤 Xin Ji
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 09:35
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T7/00; G06T7/10; G06T7/12; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/16; G06V40/161; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/20; G06T2207/20112; G06T2207/20132; G06T2207/30; G06T2207/30196; G06T2207/30201
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 44
Claim 1
Independent Claim
97 words
A human eye detecting method for detecting human eye in an image, comprising: a reading step of reading the gray level of each pixel in the each column in the image; a segmenting step of segmenting each column into a plurality of intervals, and labeling each of the intervals as valley region, intermediate region or peak region; a merging step of merging the valley region of the each column and the valley region of its adjacent column, and generating an eye candidate region; and a determining step of determining the human eye from the eye candidate regions.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
97 words
A human eye detecting method for detecting human eye in an image, comprising: a reading step of reading the gray level of each pixel in the each column in the image; a segmenting step of segmenting each column into a plurality of intervals, and labeling each of the intervals as valley region, intermediate region or peak region; a merging step of merging the valley region of the each column and the valley region of its adjacent column, and generating an eye candidate region; and a determining step of determining the human eye from the eye candidate regions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step includes the step of labeling each interval as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the gray level of each the interval in a column.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step includes the step of labeling each interval as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the luminance value of each interval in a column.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step includes the step of labeling each interval in a column as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the respective gray level ratios of the interval to its two adjacent intervals.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the segmenting step includes step of labeling each interval in a column as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the respective luminance value ratios of the interval to its two adjacent interval.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to any one of claim 1 , further comprising the step of comparing the gray level of a segment point with that of its two adjacent intervals, and adding the segment point into the adjacent interval which has a gray level close to that of the segment point.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method according to any one of claim 1 , further comprising the step of comparing the gray level of a intermediate region with that of its adjacent valley region and peak valley, and adding the intermediate region into the valley region on the basis of the gray levels of the adjacent valley region, peak region and the intermediate region.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
86 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the merging step comprising steps of setting each valley region in the first column of the image as a seed region respectively; determining whether the valley region of next column of the image can be merged into the seed region; merging the valley region that can be merged into the seed region; setting the non-merged valley region as a seed region; and determining the seed region which has no further merged valley region as an eye candidate region.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of comparing the size of overlap of the valley region and the seed region's predicted region.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of comparing the gray level of the valley region and that of the seed region.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of comparing the gray levels of the valley region, the seed region, the background gray levels of the valley region and the seed region.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining step comprising the step of determining whether the gray level of the eye candidate region is less than the first threshold, where the first threshold is within the range of 100 to 200.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method according to claim 12 , wherein the first threshold is 160.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method according to claim 12 , wherein the determining step further comprising the step of determining whether the background gray level of the eye candidate region is bigger than the second threshold, where the second threshold is within the range of 20 to 80.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method according to claim 14 , wherein the second threshold is 30.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 14 , wherein the determining step further comprising the step of determining whether the difference of background gray level of the eye candidate region and its gray level is bigger than a third threshold, where the third threshold is within the range of 5 to 120.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method according to claim 16 , wherein the third threshold is 20.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method according to claim 16 , wherein the determining step further comprising the step of determining whether the ratio of the width to the height of an eye candidate region is bigger than a fourth threshold, where the fourth threshold is within the range of 1 to 5.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method according to claim 18 , wherein the fourth threshold is 3.33.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method according to claim 18 , wherein the determining step further comprising the step of determining whether the ratio of the size of an eye candidate region to that of its circum-rectangle is bigger than the fifth threshold, where the fifth threshold is within the range of 0.2 to 1.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
13 words
The method according to claim 20 , wherein the fifth threshold is 0.4.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
92 words
Apparatus for detecting a human eye in an image, comprising: reading means for reading the gray level of each pixel in the each column in the image; segmenting means for segmenting each column into a plurality of intervals, and labeling each of the intervals as valley region, intermediate region or peak region; merging means for merging the valley region of the each column and the valley region of its adjacent column, and generating an eye candidate region; and determining means for determining if a human eye exists in the eye candidate regions.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
92 words
Apparatus for detecting a human eye in an image, comprising: reading means for reading the gray level of each pixel in the each column in the image; segmenting means for segmenting each column into a plurality of intervals, and labeling each of the intervals as valley region, intermediate region or peak region; merging means for merging the valley region of the each column and the valley region of its adjacent column, and generating an eye candidate region; and determining means for determining if a human eye exists in the eye candidate regions.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the segmenting means includes means for labeling each interval as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on, the gray level of each interval in a column.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the segmenting means includes means for labeling each interval as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the luminance value of each interval in a column.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the segmenting means includes means for labeling each interval in a column as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the respective gray level ratios of the interval to its two adjacent intervals.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
45 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the segmenting means includes means for labeling each interval in a column as one of valley region, intermediate region and peak region based on the respective luminance value ratios of the interval to its two adjacent intervals.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
47 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , further comprising means for comparing the gray level of a segment point with that of its two adjacent intervals, and adding the segment point into the adjacent interval which has a gray level close to that of the segment point.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
56 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , further comprising means for comparing the gray level of an intermediate region with that of its adjacent valley region and peak valley, and adding the intermediate region into the valley region on the basis of the gray levels of the adjacent valley region, peak region and the intermediate region.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
95 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the merging means comprises: means for setting each valley region in the first column of the image as a seed region respectively; means for determining whether the valley region of a next column of the image can be merged into the seed region; means for merging a valley region that can be merged into the seed region; means for setting a non-merged valley region as a seed region; and means for determining the seed region which has no further merged valley region as an eye candidate region.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus according to claim 29 , further comprising means for comparing the size of overlap of the valley region and the seed region's predicted valley region.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus according to claim 29 , further comprising means for comparing the gray level of the valley region and that of the seed region.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus according to claim 29 , further comprising means for comparing the gray levels of the valley region, the seed region, the background gray levels of the valley region and the seed region.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
42 words
The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein the determining means comprises means for determining whether the gray level of the eye candidate region is less than a first threshold, where the first threshold is within the range of 100 to 200.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 33 , wherein the first threshold is 160.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus according to claim 33 or claim 34 , wherein the determining means further comprises means for determining whether the background gray level of the eye candidate region is bigger than a second threshold, where the second threshold is within the range 20 to 80.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 35 , wherein the second threshold is 30.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
52 words
The apparatus according to claim 35 or claim 36 , wherein the determining means further comprises means for determining whether the difference of background gray level of the eye candidate region and its gray level is bigger than a third threshold, where the third threshold is within the range 5 to 120.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 37 , wherein the third threshold is 20.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
51 words
The apparatus according to claim 37 or claim 38 , wherein the determining means further comprises means for determining whether the ratio of the width to the height of an eye candidate region is bigger than a fourth threshold, where the fourth threshold is within the range of 1 to 5.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 39 , wherein the fourth threshold is 3.33.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus according to claim 39 or claim 40 , wherein the determining means further comprises means for determining whether the ratio of the size of an eye candidate region to that of its circum-rectangle is bigger than a fifth threshold, where the fifth threshold is within the range of 0.2 to 1.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
13 words
The apparatus according to claim 41 , wherein the fifth threshold is 0.4.
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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) | 2008-11-14 | 2009-05-16 | 2009-11-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2012-11-14 | 2013-05-16 | 2013-11-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2016-11-14 | 2017-05-16 | 2017-11-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |