Tracking apparatus

• US 20070013791A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Original Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Inventors: Tsukiji, Shuichiro, Matsuoka, Miki, Kinoshita, Koichi, Yamashita, Takayoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,940,956 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/239
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/7864 T.V. type tracking systems

Abstract

A tracking apparatus and method in which the possible position of a current face is estimated based on the face positions previously determined as well as plural pieces of ambient information corresponding to the possible positions obtained. The current face position is estimated based on the position of the ambient information that is most similar to the ambient information obtained from previous detections.

Claims

1. A tracking apparatus that tracks a face position in a dynamic picture image, the tracking apparatus comprising:

a face detection device, which detects a face from the image;

a storage device in which ambient information obtained from a region determined by a relative positional relationship with the face position is stored in association with a face position detected by the face detection device; and

an estimation device, which determines a plurality of position candidates of a current face based on a most recently detected face position instead of the face detection by the face detection device, the estimation device obtaining a plurality of pieces of ambient information corresponding to the position candidates, and determining the current face position based on the obtained position candidate in which the ambient information being most similar to the ambient information associated with the most recently detected face position is obtained.

2. A tracking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a motion information obtaining device which obtains motion information of the face based on the most recently detected face position,

wherein the estimation device determines the position candidate based on the most recently detected face position and the motion information.

3. A tracking apparatus according to claims 1 or 2, wherein a feature stored in the storage device is associated with the face position,

the face detection device determines whether or not the detected face is substantially the same as the most recently detected face based on the features of the detected face and the features of the most recently detected face, and

the estimation device estimates the face position which is not detected by the face detection device in the most recently detected faces.

4. A tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the estimation device determines the position candidate as the current face position, and the ambient information which is most similar to the ambient information associated with the most recently detected face position being obtained in the position candidate.

5. A tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the estimation device detects the most face-like region from the position candidate and a neighbor thereof, and the ambient information which is most similar to the ambient information associated with the most recently detected face position being obtained in the position candidate, and the estimation device determining the detected region as the current face position.

6. A tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a relative positional relationship between the face position and the ambient information obtaining region is set such that a relative speed between the face position and the ambient information obtaining region becomes the minimum.

7. A tracking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a range of the ambient information obtaining region is changed according to a face direction.

8. A tracking method of tracking a face position in a dynamic picture image, the tracking method comprising:

detecting a face from the image using an information processing device;

storing ambient information obtained from a region in association with a detected face position detected using the information processing device, the region being determined by a relative positional relationship with the face position;

determining a plurality of position candidates of a current face based on a most recently detected face position using the information processing device;

obtaining a plurality of pieces of ambient information corresponding to the position candidates using the information processing device; and

determining the current face position based on the position candidate using the information processing device instead of the detected face from the step of detecting the face, the ambient information which is most similar to the ambient information associated with the most recently detected face position being obtained in the position candidate.

9. A program which causes an information processing device to track a face position in a dynamic picture image, wherein the program when executed causes the information processing device to execute the steps of:

detecting a face from the image;

storing ambient information obtained from a region determined by a relative positional relationship with the face position in association with a detected face position detected;

determining a plurality of position candidates of a current face based on a most recently detected face position;

obtaining a plurality of pieces of ambient information corresponding to the position candidates; and

determining the current face position based on the position candidate instead of the detected face from the step of detecting the face, the ambient information which is most similar to the ambient information associated with the most recently detected face position being obtained in the position candidate.