METHOD FOR PRESERVING PRIVACY WITH IMAGE CAPTURE

• US 20090193055A1
• Filed: 01/24/2008
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Blose, Andrew C., Border, John N., Kuberka, Cheryl J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,814,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system that automatically analyzes digital images containing people or objects to generate derived data from the images including non-imaging numerical data and text data. The image content of the digital image can then be destroyed and the derived data can be stored along with any associated capture metadata for use and/or analysis. By converting images containing people to derived data and associated capture metadata, which does not include images of people or likenesses of people, the privacy of the individual is maintained. The method is useful for security monitoring and advertising.

Claims

1. A method for creating a derived data based on captured images that are deleted, comprising the steps of;

a) obtaining digital images and associated capture metadata;

b) analyzing the digital images and associated capture metadata so as to obtain derived data;

c) deleting said digital images;

d) storing the derived data and associated capture metadata;

e) utilizing said derived data and associated capture metadata.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the derived data comprises:

number of people or faces in the image;

the physical characteristics of the people in the image;

facial expressions and apparent mood of the people;

personal accessories on the people;

types of objects present and characteristics of the objects present in the scene;

scene lighting;

general setting of the scene;

motion characteristics in the scene;

or optically recognized text.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the derived data and associated capture metadata is utilized for one or more of the following:

modifying advertising;

modifying visual content on a display;

modifying auditory content;

gauging the reaction of people to visual and auditory content being presented;

reducing required data communication bandwidth;

reducing data transmission times;

security monitoring;

documenting characteristics of the scene;

identifying the characteristics of people present in the scene; and

identifying objects in the scene.

4. A method for obtaining image content based on captured images that are deleted, comprising the steps of;

a) providing a first database of stored image identifiers, each stored image identifier having associated information;

b) obtaining digital images and associated capture metadata;

c) analyzing the digital images and associated capture metadata so as to obtain derived data;

d) deleting said digital images after said analyzing step;

e) storing the derived data and associated capture metadata;

f) comparing said derived data or associated capture metadata with said stored image identifiers and when one or more of said derived data or associated capture metadata matches one or more of said stored image identifiers, obtaining said associated information from said first database;

g) utilizing said derived data, associated capture metadata or said obtained associated information from said first database.

5. A method of claim 4, wherein said associated information includes images or data that have been obtained with permission.

6. A method of claim 4, wherein utilizing said derived data, associated capture metadata, or said associated information from said first database comprises one or more of the following:

modifying advertising;

modifying visual content on a display;

modifying auditory content;

reducing required data communication bandwidth;

reducing data transmission times;

documenting characteristics of the scene;

security monitoring;

identifying the characteristics of people present in the scene;

gauging the reaction of people to visual and auditory content being presented;

identifying objects in the scene;

searching other databases to obtain more information; and

obtaining related images.

7. A method for retaining image content based on captured images that are deleted, comprising the steps of;

a) obtaining digital images and associated capture metadata;

b) analyzing the digital images and associated capture metadata so as to create derived data;

c) deleting said digital images after said analyzing step;

d) retaining said derived data and said associated capture metadata.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the derived data comprises:

number of people or faces in the image;

the physical characteristics of the people in the image;

facial expressions and apparent mood of the people;

personal accessories on the people;

types of objects present and characteristics of the objects in the scene;

scene lighting;

general setting of the scene;

motion characteristics in the scene and optically recognized text.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein derived data and associated capture metadata is utilized for one or more of the following:

modifying advertising;

modifying visual content on a display;

modifying auditory content;

gauging the reaction of people to visual and auditory content being presented;

reducing required data communication bandwidth;

reducing data transmission times;

documenting characteristics of the scene;

security monitoring;

identifying the characteristics of people present in the scene; and

identifying objects in the scene.