IMAGING APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A SCENE WHERE A PERSON APPEARS AND A DETECTING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20090110247A1
• Filed: 04/01/2008
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KIM, MYEONG-BO
• Granted Patent: US 8,422,735 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 the additional signal being a character code signal

Abstract

An imaging device for detecting a scene where a person appears, and a detecting method thereof, are provided. The imaging device compares a representative image of a person, with persons detected in the generated images, to detect scenes where the person appears. Information about the detected scene is stored, along with the generated images. A list of the detected persons is provided to a user, to enable the user to select and edit images that include the selected persons.

Claims

1. An imaging device, comprising:

a first storage unit to store representative images, each representative image including a face of an identified person;

an imaging unit to generate images;

a second storage unit to store the generated images as scenes; and

a control unit to detect persons included in the scenes, to compare the detected persons to the representative images stored in the first storage unit, so as to identify the detected persons, and to control the second storage unit to store information related to the identified persons that are included in the scenes, along with the generated images.

2. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein, if a detected person is not identified, the control unit adds one of the images that includes the unidentified person, to the representative images stored in the first storage unit, so as to identify the unidentified person.

3. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein the control unit detects which of the scenes include the previously unidentified person, and controls the second storage unit to store information about the detected scenes with the recorded images.

4. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit provides a list of persons appearing in the scenes; and

if at least one of the persons is selected from the list, the control unit edits the recorded images that include the selected person, using the information about the detected scenes.

5. The imaging device of claim 4, wherein the list includes an image that includes the face of one of the persons appearing in the list.

6. The imaging device of claim 4, wherein the editing process comprises at least one of a save operation, a playback operation, a delete operation, and a skip operation, for scenes that include at least the selected person.

25. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the imaging device is a camcorder housing the first storage unit, the second storage unit, the control unit, and the imaging unit.

7. A detecting method, comprising:

generating images;

storing the generated images as scenes;

detecting persons included in the generated images;

comparing the detected persons with stored representative images, that include faces of identified persons, to identify the detected persons;

detecting scenes that include at least one of the identified persons; and

storing information about the detected scenes, along with the generated images.

8. The detecting method of claim 7, wherein, if a face of a person appearing in the generated images is not identified, the method further comprises adding at least one of the images that includes the face of the unidentified person, to the representative images, so as to identify the unidentified person.

9. The detecting method of claim 8, further comprising detecting scenes in which the previously unidentified person appears, and storing information about the detected scenes with the generated images.

10. The detecting method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a list of persons appearing in the scenes; and

if a person is selected from the list, editing a scene in which the selected person appears, using the information about the detected scenes.

11. The detecting method of claim 10, wherein the list includes an image that includes the face of one of the persons appearing in the list.

12. The detecting method of claim 10, wherein the editing process comprises at least one of a save operation, a playback operation, a delete operation, and a skip operation.

13. An imaging device, comprising:

a first storage unit to store a representative image;

an imaging unit to generate images;

a second storage unit to store the generated images; and

a control unit to detect an object included in the generated images, to identify the detected object by comparing the detected object with the representative image, and to store information identifying which of the generated images include the identified object, in the second storage unit.

14. The imaging device of claim 13, wherein the control unit identifies and detects a person as the object.

15. The imaging device of claim 14, wherein the information comprises a database file linking the identified person and the corresponding generated images having the identified person, and is stored on the second storage unit, amongst the generated images.

16. The imaging device of claim 13, wherein the recorded images are stored as scenes.

17. The imaging device of claim 14, wherein the control unit detects the person using facial recognition.

18. The imaging device of claim 13, wherein if the control unit cannot identify the detected object using the representative image, the control unit stores an image of the detected object, as another representative image, in the first storage medium.

19. A detecting method, comprising:

generating images in an image forming device;

storing the generated images in a first medium of the image forming device;

detecting a person included in the generated images, using a processor of the image forming device;

comparing the detected person with representative images stored in a second medium to identify the detected persons, using the processor of the image forming device;

determining which of the images include the identified persons, to obtain a result linking the identified person to the corresponding representative image, using the processor of the image forming device; and

storing the result along with the generated images, in the first medium.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

selecting one of the detected persons from a list of the detected persons; and

editing the generated images that include the selected person, using the result of the determination.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

adding an image of one of the detected persons to the stored representative images, if the detected person is not identified.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the first medium is detachable from the image forming device.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the generated images are videos.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the generated images are still images.