METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR PROVIDING HAND SEGMENTATION FOR GESTURE ANALYSIS

• US 20100166258A1
• Filed: 12/30/2008
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Chai, Xiujuan, Fang, Yikai, Wang, Kongqiao, Wang, Hao
• Granted Patent: US 8,379,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/113 Recognition of static hand signs

Abstract

A method for providing hand segmentation for gesture analysis may include determining a target region based at least in part on depth range data corresponding to an intensity image. The intensity image may include data descriptive of a hand. The method may further include determining a point of interest of a hand portion of the target region, determining a shape corresponding to a palm region of the hand, and removing a selected portion of the target region to identify a portion of the target region corresponding to the hand. An apparatus and computer program product corresponding to the method are also provided.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising a processor configured to:

determine a target region based at least in part on depth range data corresponding to an intensity image, the intensity image comprising data descriptive of a hand;

determine a point of interest of a hand portion of the target region;

determine a shape corresponding to a palm region of the hand; and

remove a selected portion of the target region to identify a portion of the target region corresponding to the hand.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the shape corresponding to the palm region of the hand by determining a circle from among a plurality of circle features extracted from the target region.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to remove the selected portion of the target region by determining a cutting direction for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to determine the cutting direction based on characteristics of the target region by selecting a horizontal or vertical cutting direction based on a ratio between height and width of a bounding box confining the target region.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to remove the selected portion of the target region by determining a cutting position for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region and a relationship between a center of the palm region and the point of interest of the hand portion of the target region.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to perform gesture recognition for the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand based on comparing recognized features in the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand to stored features corresponding to a predefined gesture.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to execute a user interface command based on a recognized gesture.

8. A method comprising:

determining a target region based at least in part on depth range data corresponding to an intensity image, the intensity image comprising data descriptive of a hand;

determining a point of interest of a hand portion of the target region;

determining a shape corresponding to a palm region of the hand; and

removing a selected portion of the target region to identify a portion of the target region corresponding to the hand.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the shape corresponding to the palm region of the hand comprises determining a circle from among a plurality of circle features extracted from the target region.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein removing the selected portion of the target region comprises determining a cutting direction for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the cutting direction based on characteristics of the target region comprises selecting a horizontal or vertical cutting direction based on a ratio between height and width of a bounding box confining the target region.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein removing the selected portion of the target region comprises determining a cutting position for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region and a relationship between a center of the palm region and the point of interest of the hand portion of the target region.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising performing gesture recognition for the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand based on comparing recognized features in the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand to stored features corresponding to a predefined gesture.

14. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising:

program code instructions for determining a target region based at least in part on depth range data corresponding to an intensity image, the intensity image comprising data descriptive of a hand;

program code instructions for determining a point of interest of a hand portion of the target region;

program code instructions for determining a shape corresponding to a palm region of the hand; and

program code instructions for removing a selected portion of the target region to identify a portion of the target region corresponding to the hand.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein program code instructions for determining the shape corresponding to the palm region of the hand includes instructions for determining a circle from among a plurality of circle features extracted from the target region.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein program code instructions for removing the selected portion of the target region includes instructions for determining a cutting direction for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein program code instructions for determining the cutting direction based on characteristics of the target region includes instructions for selecting a horizontal or vertical cutting direction based on a ratio between height and width of a bounding box confining the target region.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein program code instructions for removing the selected portion of the target region includes instructions for determining a cutting position for removal of the selected portion based on characteristics of the target region and a relationship between a center of the palm region and the point of interest of the hand portion of the target region.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising program code instructions for performing gesture recognition for the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand based on comparing recognized features in the portion of the target region corresponding to the hand to stored features corresponding to a predefined gesture.

20. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a target region based at least in part on depth range data corresponding to an intensity image, the intensity image comprising data descriptive of a hand;

means for determining a point of interest of a hand portion of the target region;

means for determining a shape corresponding to a palm region of the hand; and

means for removing a selected portion of the target region to identify a portion of the target region corresponding to the hand.