VIDEO PROCESSING SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20080252723A1
• Filed: 02/22/2008
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Park, Youngchoon
• Granted Patent: US 8,358,342 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/784 the detected or recognised objects being people
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/786 using motion, e.g. object motion or camera motion
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20052 Discrete cosine transform [DCT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/215 Motion-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/238 using non-full search, e.g. three-step search
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/536 from perspective effects, e.g. by using vanishing points
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

A system for processing video information obtained by a video camera based on a representative view from the camera. The system includes a processor a memory communicably connected to the processor. The memory includes computer code for determining a relative depth for at least two different regions of the representative view. The memory further includes computer code for estimating a scale factor for the different regions of the representative view. The memory yet further includes computer code for determining a unit size for the different regions, the unit size based on the estimated scale factor and the determined relative depth of the different regions.

Claims

1. A system for processing video information obtained by a video camera based on a representative view from the camera, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicably connected to the processor, the memory comprising;

computer code for determining a relative depth for at least two different regions of the representative view;

computer code for estimating a scale factor for the different regions of the representative view;

computer code for determining a unit size for the different regions, the unit size based on the estimated scale factor and the determined relative depth of the different regions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a video scene obtained by the video camera is divided into the different regions for processing;

wherein the memory further comprises computer code for dividing each region into units of the determined unit size for the region.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the memory further comprises:

computer code for processing each region on a unit by unit basis.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the computer code for processing identifies an object in each unit that meets at least one of the following criteria:

(1) the object is not a part of a background known for the video scene;

(2) the object is moving between frames of the video scene in a significant way;

(3) the dominant color of the object fills or nearly fills the unit.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the object is at least one of a person, a face, and a vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the scale factor relates a video size to a physical size.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises computer code for storing the determined unit size for the different regions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises computer code for storing at least one of the estimated scale factor and the determined relative depth of the different regions.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises:

computer code for generating a graphical user interface configured to accept user input, wherein the relative depth of the different regions of the representative view is determined based on the user input.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the graphical user interface comprises:

an image of the representative view; and

a grid shown over the image.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the memory further comprises:

computer code for allowing the user to manipulate the shape of the grid to match perspective features of the representative view.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein lines of the grid are used to define a first of the different regions as a near field region and a second of the different regions as a far field region;

and

wherein the unit size for the far field is smaller than the unit size for the near field.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

computer code for detecting an object in the far field of a video frame; and

computer code for transforming the object so that the object approximates the size that the object would be in the near field.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

computer code for defining a cylinder sized to approximate the size of the object;

computer code for relating a number of people to the object based on the cylinder definition.

15. A system for determining a tilt angle of a camera, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicably connected to the processor, the memory comprising;

computer code for generating a graphical user interface configured to accept user input, the graphical user interface comprising an image obtained by the camera and a grid overlaying the image;

computer code for allowing the user to change the grid via the graphical user interface via the grid;

computer code for determining the tilt angle of the camera based on the change made to the grid.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

computer code for storing the tilt angle in the memory.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

computer code for using the tilt angle to transform a subsequent image obtained by the camera, the transformation normalizing the size of an object detected in a far field of the subsequent image to a near field size.

18. A system for processing video data obtained by a source, the results of processing for use by a subsequent processing module, comprising:

a processor and memory communicably coupled to the processor, the memory comprising;

computer code for creating a description of the video data received from the source, wherein the description includes a definition of at least one object in the video data, wherein the object is detected from the video using a computerized process; and

computer code for providing the description to the subsequent processing module.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the subsequent processing module does not reference the video or information other than the description to complete a video processing task relating to the object.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the description is an XML description of the object.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the description includes a description of the shape of the object.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the description includes a first component according to a scalable vector graphics language and a second component according to a synchronized multimedia integration language.

23. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

computer code for generating a compressed copy of the video data in parallel with the computer code for creating a description; and

computer code for providing the compressed copy of the video data to the subsequent processing module in parallel to the description.