Wearable apparatus and method for capturing image data using multiple image sensors

• US 10,674,056 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2019
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OrCam Technologies Ltd
• Original Assignee: OrCam Technologies Ltd
• Inventors: Wexler, Yonatan, Shashua, Amnon
• Primary Examiner(s): Moyer, Andrew M
• Application Number:
  US16/416,608
• Publication Number:
  US 20190273855A1
• Time in Patent Office: 379 Days
• Field of Search: 382103, 382154
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/7864 T.V. type tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/014 comprising information/image processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0178 Eyeglass type eyeglass details G02C
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/18 Packaging or power distribution
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/188 Mounting of power supply units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/53 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/532 Query formulation, e.g. graphical querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/217 Validation; Performance evaluation; Active pattern learning techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/011 Emotion or mood input determined on the basis of sensed human body parameters such as pulse, heart rate or beat, temperature of skin, facial expressions, iris, voice pitch, brain activity patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/005 Input arrangements through a video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 : Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 : Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0246 : Traffic
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 : User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 : Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 : based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10004 : Still image; Photographic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10016 : Video; Image sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30232 : Surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 : Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/74 : involving reference images or patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/97 : Determining parameters from multiple pictures depth or shape recovery from multiple images G06T7/55; stereo camera calibration G06T7/85
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/776 : Validation; Performance evaluation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 : in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/30 : in albums, collections or shared content, e.g. social network photos or video
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/41 : Higher-level, semantic clustering, classification or understanding of video scenes, e.g. detection, labelling or Markovian modelling of sport events or news items segmenting video sequences G06V20/49
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/64 : Three-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/647 : by matching two-dimensional images to three-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/07 : Target detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/09 : Recognition of logos
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 : Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 : Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/20 : Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2112 : using still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 : for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 : Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 : Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 : Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/58 : Means for changing the camera field of view without moving the camera body, e.g. nutating or panning of optics or image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 : based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 : where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 : Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 : Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 : Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6812 : based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 : by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 : Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 : Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 : for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 : from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

A wearable apparatus and method are provided for capturing image data. In one implementation, a wearable apparatus for capturing image data is provided. The wearable apparatus includes a plurality of image sensors for capturing image data of an environment of a user. Each of the image sensors is associated with a different field of view. The wearable apparatus also includes a processing device programmed to process image data captured by at least two of the image sensors to identify an object in the environment. The processing device is also programmed to identify a first image sensor, which has a first optical axis closer to the object than a second optical axis of a second image sensor. After identifying the first image sensor, the processing device is also programmed to process image data from the first image sensor using a first processing scheme, and process image data from the second image sensor using a second processing scheme.

Claims

1. A wearable apparatus for capturing image data from a plurality of fields of view, the wearable apparatus comprising:

a plurality of image sensors for capturing image data of an environment of a user, wherein each of the image sensors is associated with a different field of view;

an attachment mechanism configured to enable the image sensors to be worn by the user; and

at least one processing device programmed to;

process image data captured by at least one of the image sensors to identify a chin of the user;

activate at least one additional image sensor to capture image data of a portion of the environment in front of the user based on the identification of the chin; and

determine, based on the captured image data of the portion of the environment in front of the user, that a person other than the user is in the environment.

2. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to identify a movement of the chin, and determine that the user is speaking.

3. The wearable apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to activate a microphone based on detecting the movement of the chin.

4. The wearable apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a direction of a sound detected by the microphone; and

activate the at least one additional image sensor that has an optical axis proximate the identified direction.

5. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to identify a movement of the chin, and the at least one additional image sensor has an optical axis proximate a turning direction of the chin.

6. The wearable apparatus of claim 5, wherein the optical axis is within a threshold number of degrees of the turning direction.

7. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a facing direction of a second person in the image data captured by at least one of the image sensors; and

activate the at least one additional image sensor that has an optical axis proximate the facing direction.

8. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a face of a second person in the image data captured by at least one of the image sensors;

detect that the identified face includes a mouth that is opening and closing; and

activate the at least one additional image sensor that includes the second person in its field of view.

9. The wearable apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to adjust a focus of the activated at least one additional image sensor to focus on the second person.

10. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to prioritize processing of image data from the activated at least one additional image sensor over other activated ones of the plurality of image sensors.

11. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a face of a second person in the image data captured by at least one of the image sensors;

detect that the identified face includes a mouth that is opening and closing; and

adjust the at least one image sensor to include the second person in its field of view.

12. The wearable apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to adjust a focus of the adjusted at least one image sensor to focus on the second person.

13. The wearable apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to prioritize processing of image data from the adjusted at least one image sensor over other activated ones of the plurality of image sensors.

14. A wearable apparatus for selecting a direction for capturing image data, the wearable apparatus comprising:

at least one image sensor for capturing image data of an environment of a user;

an attachment mechanism configured to enable the image sensors to be worn by the user; and

at least one processing device programmed to;

process image data captured by the at least one image sensor to identify a chin of the user;

adjust the at least one image sensor to capture image data of a portion of the environment in a particular direction identified based on the identification of the chin; and

determine, based on the captured image data of the portion of the environment in front of the user, that a person other than the user is in the environment.

15. The wearable apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to identify a movement of the chin, and determine that the user is speaking.

16. The wearable apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to activate a microphone based on detecting the movement of the chin.

17. The wearable apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a direction of a sound detected by the microphone; and

adjust the at least one image sensor towards the identified direction.

18. The wearable apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a direction of a sound detected by the microphone; and

activate at least one additional image sensor that has an optical axis proximate the identified direction.

19. The wearable apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to identify a movement of the chin, and the at least one image sensor is adjusted toward an optical axis proximate a turning direction of the chin.

20. The wearable apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processing device is further programmed to:

identify a facing direction of a second person in the image data captured by at least one of the image sensors; and

adjust the at least one image sensor towards the facing direction.