SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RULE-BASED SEGMENTATION FOR OBJECTS WITH FULL OR PARTIAL FRONTAL VIEW IN COLOR IMAGES

• US 20100278426A1
• Filed: 12/12/2008
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flashfoto, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Flashfoto, Inc.
• Inventors: Piramuthu, Robinson
• Granted Patent: US 8,682,029 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30196 Human being; Person
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30201 Face
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/162 using pixel segmentation or colour matching

Abstract

A method of labeling pixels in an image in which pixels in the image that represent human skin of one or more people are detected and one or more regions in the image are identified, where each region in the one or more regions includes all or a portion of a human face of a person in the one or people in the image. Pixels that represent each face in the image are identified using the pixels that represent skin and the regions that include faces of the people, thereby identifying a position of each face in the image. From this, a face mask for each face and a rough body map corresponding to each face is determined using the positions of the identified faces. Further still, a torso map corresponding to each face is determined using determined face positions. Then, the extracted face masks and the torso maps are used to refine a skin map. A person or people map is determined using the skin map and the rough body map.

Claims

1. A method of labeling each pixel in a plurality of pixels in an image depicting one or more people, the method comprising:

(A) detecting a first set of pixels in the image that represent human skin of the one or more people;

(B) identifying one or more regions in the image, wherein each respective region in the one or more regions includes all or a portion of a human face of a person in the one or more people;

(C) determining pixels that represent each face in one or more faces in the image from the pixels in the first set of pixels and the one or more regions identified in the identifying (B), thereby identifying a position of one or more faces in the image corresponding to the one or more people in the image;

(D) extracting (i) a face mask for each face in the one or more faces and (ii) a rough body map corresponding to a face in the one or more faces using the position of the one or more faces identified in the determining (C);

(E) determining a torso map corresponding to each face in the one or more faces using a position of each face in the one or more faces identified in the determining (C);

(F) using the face mask for each face in the one or more faces extracted in the extracting (D) and the torso map corresponding to each face in the one or more faces determined in the determining (E) to refine a skin map for the image;

(G) extracting a person or people map using the skin map and the rough body map, wherein the person or people map includes all or a portion of the one or more people in the image, wherein each pixel in the person or people map is deemed to be in a second set of pixels in the plurality of pixels and each pixel not in the person or people map is deemed to be in a third set of pixels in the plurality of pixels; and

(H) outputting an identity of the second set of pixels or the third set of pixels to a user interface device, a monitor, a tangible computer-readable storage medium, a computer-readable memory, or a local or remote computer system;

or displaying an identity of the second set of pixels or the third set of pixels to a user interface device in user readable form.

2. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, the memory including one or more modules, the one or more modules collectively or individually comprising instructions for carrying out the method of claim 1.

3. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising instructions for carrying out the method of claim 1.