EYELID DETECTION APPARATUS, EYELID DETECTION METHOD AND PROGRAM THEREFOR

• US 20080226139A1
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Suzuki, Tomoharu, Ninagawa, Yuji, Ohue, Kenichi, Adachi, Jun, Kojima, Shinichi, Uozumi, Shigeyasu, Nakanishi, Satoru, Hiramaki, Takashi, Takahashi, Kentaro
• Granted Patent: US 7,957,566 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/117
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/10 Objective types, i.e. instruments for examining the eyes independent of the patients' perceptions or reactions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/163 by tracking eye movement, gaze, or pupil change
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/18 for vehicle drivers or machine operators
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/36 Applying a local operator, i.e. means to operate on image points situated in the vicinity of a given point; Non-linear local filtering operations, e.g. median filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor

Abstract

An eyelid detection apparatus includes a face-image storing apparatus for storing an image of a face of a subject, an eyelid-candidate extracting apparatus for processing the image stored in the face-image storing apparatus to extract a pair of lines, which becomes a candidate of a combination of a line corresponding to an upper eyelid and a line corresponding to a lower eyelid, a parameter calculating apparatus for calculating a parameter, which indicates a possibility that a pan of the image stored in The face-image storing apparatus, the part corresponding to the pair of lines extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting apparatus, includes at least one of outer and inner corners of an eye, and an eyelid detecting apparatus for detecting a position of an eyelid of the subject on the basis of the parameter calculated by the parameter calculating apparatus.

Claims

1. An eyelid detection apparatus comprising:

a face-image storing means for storing an image of a face of a subject;

an eyelid-candidate extracting means for processing the image stored in the face-image storing means to extract a pair of lines, which becomes a candidate of a combination of a line corresponding to an upper eyelid and a line corresponding to a lower eyelid;

a parameter calculating means for calculating a parameter, which indicates a possibility that a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the pair of lines extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting means, includes at least one of outer and inner corners of an eye; and

an eyelid detecting means for detecting a position of an eyelid of the subject on the basis of the parameter calculated by the parameter calculating means.

2. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the parameter calculating means calculates a parameter, which indicates a possibility that a predetermined part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the predetermined part including both ends of the line which is the candidate of the lower eyelid extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting means, includes at least one of the outer and inner corners of the eye.

3. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the parameter calculating means calculates an average of intensity of plural pixels in the predetermined part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the predetermined part including both ends of the line which is the candidate of the lower eyelid extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting means, and calculates the parameter which indicates the possibility that the predetermined part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the predetermined part including both ends of the line which is the candidate of the lower eyelid extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting means, includes at least one of the outer and inner corners of the eye on the basis of the calculated average of the intensity of the plural pixels.

4. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a pattern storing means for storing a pattern which represents a skin region corresponding to a skin part and an eye region corresponding to an eye part, the pattern of which an area is equal to that of the predetermined part including the both ends of the line, wherein

the parameter calculating means calculates a difference between an average of intensity of plural pixels of a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the skin region which is represented by the patter stored in the pattern storing means, and an average of intensity of plural pixels of a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the eye region which is represented by the pattern stored in the pattern storing means;

and wherein

the eyelid detecting means detects the eyelid on the basis of the difference.

5. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a pattern storing means for storing a pattern which represents a skin region corresponding to a skin pare and an eye region corresponding to an eye part, the pattern of which an area is smaller than the predetermined part including the both ends of the line, wherein

the parameter calculating means includes a difference calculating means for applying the pattern stored in the pattern storing means to a part of the predetermined part including the both ends of the line and to calculate a difference between an average of intensity of plural pixels of a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the skin region represented by the pattern, and an average of intensity of plural pixels of a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the eye region represented by the pattern stored in the pattern storing means, the parameter calculating means determines a largest difference of the plural differences calculated by the difference calculating means by scanning the predetermined part including the both ends of the line as a maximum difference;

and wherein

the eyelid detecting means detects the eyelid on the basis of the maximum difference.

6. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 1 wherein

the eyelid detecting means detects right and left eyelids of the subject.

7. The eyelid detection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

eyelid candidates, which have largest and second largest parameters calculated by the parameter calculating means, are detected as the right and left eyelids by the eyelid detecting means.

8. An eyelid detection method, comprising processes of:

processing a face image to extract a pair of lines, which becomes a candidate of a combination of an upper eyelid and a lower eyelid;

calculating a parameter which indicates a possibility that the extracted pair of lines which becomes the candidate of the combination of the upper eyelid and the lower eyelid, includes at least one of outer and inner corners of an eye; and

detecting a position of an eyelid of a subject on the basis of the calculated parameter.

9. A program for instructing a computer to function as:

a face-image storing means for storing an image of a face of a subject;

an eyelid candidate-extracting means for processing the image stored in the face-image storing means and extracting a pair of lines which becomes a candidate of a combination of a line corresponding to an upper eyelid and a line corresponding to a lower eyelid;

a parameter calculating means for calculating a parameter which indicates possibility that a part of the image stored in the face-image storing means, the part corresponding to the pair of lines extracted by the eyelid-candidate extracting means, includes at least one of outer and inner corners of an eye; and

an eyelid detecting means for detecting a position of an eyelid of the subject on the basis of the parameter calculated by the parameter calculating means.