System, program, and method for generating visual-guidance information

• US 20050163344A1
• Filed: 11/26/2004
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Kayahara, Naoki, Nagahara, Atsushi
• Granted Patent: US 7,460,708 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/40 Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a system to generate visual-guidance information in which the system can be reduced in size and cost and which ensures a proper eye flow. A layout unit operates in such a way that a layout image is segmented into multiple regions; the saliency features and positional information of the partial regions are calculated from image data, and the calculated saliency features are weighted. A starting-point region is then detected from among the multiple partial regions from the calculated saliency features and the reference points of the partial regions are detected from a visual-guidance feature space based on the weighted saliency features and the calculated positional information. Then the distance between the detected reference points is calculated and visual-guidance information is generated from the calculated inter-reference-point distance. The visual-guidance information is expressed as a visual-guidance path that passes through the partial regions in sequence, with a starting-point region as a starting point and a partial region having a shortest inter-reference-point distance from the preceding partial region as the following partial region.

Claims

1. A visual-guidance-information generation system for generating visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through the segmented multiple partial regions of an image, the system comprising:

a saliency-feature acquisition device to acquire saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

a positional-information acquisition device to acquire positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

a visual-guidance-information generation device to generate the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features acquired by the saliency-feature acquisition device and the positional information acquired by the positional-information acquisition device.

3. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a starting-point-region detection device to detect a starting-point region from among the multiple partial regions based on the saliency features,

the visual-guidance-information generation device forming a visual guidance path to guide the line of sight with the starting-point region detected by the starting-point-region detection device as a starting point and generating visual-guidance information indicative of the formed visual guidance path.

4. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 3,

the starting-point-region detection device detecting a region having a highest saliency feature of the multiple partial regions as the starting-point region on the basis of the saliency features.

5. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a reference-point detection device to detect reference points of the partial regions from the visual-guidance feature space in which the saliency features and factors of the positional information are plotted in different axes; and

a inter-reference-point-distance calculation device to calculate distances among the reference points detected by the reference-point detection device,

the visual-guidance-information generation device generating the visual-guidance information based on the inter-reference-point distances calculated by the inter-reference-point-distance calculation device.

6. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 5,

the visual-guidance-information generation device generating visual-guidance information indicative of a visual guidance path that passes through the partial regions in sequence based on the inter-reference-point distances calculated by the inter-reference-point-distance calculation device.

7. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 6,

the visual-guidance-information generation device forming the visual guidance path that passes through the partial regions in sequence, with a prescribed starting-point region of the multiple partial regions as a starting point and with a partial region having the shortest inter-reference-point distance from the preceding partial region as the following partial region, and generating visual-guidance information indicative of the formed visual guidance path.

8. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 7, further comprising:

a starting-point-region detection device to detect the starting-point region from among the multiple partial regions based on the saliency features,

the visual-guidance-information generation device forming the visual guidance path with the starting-point region detected by the starting-point-region detection device as a starting point.

9. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 8,

the starting-point-region detection device detecting a region having a highest saliency feature of the multiple partial regions as the starting-point region on the basis of the saliency features.

10. The visual-guidance-information generation system according to claim 5, further comprising:

a scale change device to change a scale of any of the axes of the visual-guidance feature space.

2. A visual-guidance-information generation system for generating visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through segmented partial regions of an image, the system comprising:

a saliency-feature calculation device to calculate saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

a positional-information calculation device to calculate positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

a visual-guidance-information generation device to generate the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features calculated by the saliency-feature calculation device and the positional information calculated by the positional-information calculation device.

11. A visual-guidance-information generation program for use with a computer to generate visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through the segmented multiple partial regions of an image, the program comprising:

a saliency-feature acquisition program for acquiring saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

a positional-information acquisition program for acquiring positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

a visual-guidance-information generation program for generating the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features acquired in the saliency-feature acquisition and the positional information acquired in the positional-information acquisition.

12. A visual-guidance-information generation program for use with a computer to generate visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through segmented partial regions of an image, the program comprising:

a saliency-feature calculation program for calculating saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

a positional-information calculation program for calculating positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

a visual-guidance-information generation program for generating the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features calculated in the saliency-feature calculation and the positional information calculated in the positional-information calculation.

13. A visual-guidance-information generation method to generate visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through the segmented multiple partial regions of an image, the method comprising:

acquiring saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

acquiring positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

generating the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features acquired in the saliency-feature acquisition and the positional information acquired in the positional-information acquisition.

14. A visual-guidance-information generation method to generate visual-guidance information indicating how the line of sight is guided through segmented partial regions of an image, the method comprising:

calculating saliency features indicative of a degree of focusing attention on the partial regions;

calculating positional information indicative of a position of the partial regions in the image; and

generating the visual-guidance information based on the saliency features calculated in the saliency-feature calculation and the positional information calculated in the positional-information calculation.