MULTIMEDIA DEVICE, MULTIPLE IMAGE SENSORS HAVING DIFFERENT TYPES AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20120120271A1
• Filed: 02/16/2011
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kang, Mingoo, PARK, Soungsoo, Kim, Taehyeong, Lim, Kyungyoung, Kim, Sangki
• Granted Patent: US 9,025,023 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris

Abstract

A multimedia device includes a first image sensor to acquire a first image, a second image sensor to acquire a second image, and a processor to determine coordinate information of the person in the first image and to extract a feature of the person in the second image based on the coordinate information. The first and second image sensors have overlapping fields of view, the coordinate information provides an indication of a distance to the person, and the processor compares the extracted feature to reference information and recognizes the person based on the comparison.

Claims

1. A multimedia device, comprising:

a first image sensor to acquire a first image;

a second image sensor to acquire a second image; and

a processor to detect a person in the first image and to extract a feature of the person from the second image, wherein the processor determines coordinate information of the person in the first image and extracts the feature of the person in the second image based on the coordinate information, wherein;

the first and second image sensors have overlapping fields of view;

the coordinate information provides an indication of a distance to the person, and

the processor compares the extracted feature to reference information and recognizes the person based on the comparison.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the feature is at least one body part of the person.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor changes a size of an area in the second image including the feature and recognizes the feature in said area of the second image based on the changed size.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the processor increases the size of the area including the feature.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor extracts skeletal information from the second image and recognizes the person based on the skeletal information.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor:

adjusts at least one value corresponding to the person in the first image based on a distance between the first and second image sensors, and

sends a signal to the second image sensor based on the adjusted value, the second image sensor recognizing the feature of the object based on the adjusted value.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the second image sensor is a color sensor.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor performs a predetermined multimedia function based on the recognized person.

9. The device of clan-n 1, wherein the processor:

controls display of a message on a screen when the person is not recognized, wherein the message requests that information be received identifying the person, said information to be stored in a storage device.

10. A multimedia device, comprising:

a first image age sensor to acquire a first image;

a second image sensor to acquire a second image; and

a processor to detect a person in the first image and extract a feature of the person from the second image when a predetermined condition is satisfied, wherein;

the first and second image sensors have overlapping fields of view;

the processor determines coordinate information of the person in the first image and extracts the feature of the person in the second image based on the coordinate information determined from the first image.

the coordinate information provides an indication of a distance to the person, and

the processor compares the extracted feature to reference information and recognizes the person based on the comparison.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the predetermined condition is a recognition result below a reference value.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the predetermined condition is the distance of the object is greater than a reference value

13. The device of claim 10, wherein a size of the feature in the second image is changed, and wherein the processor recognizes the feature in the second image based on the changed size.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the size change is a size increase.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the processor extracts skeletal information from the second image and recognizes the person based on the skeletal information.

16. The device of claim 10, wherein the processor adjusts at least one value corresponding to the person in the first image based on a distance between the first and second image sensors, and sends a signal to the second image sensor based on the adjusted value, the second image sensor recognizing the feature of the object based on the adjusted value.

17. A method for managing information in a display device, comprising:

acquiring a first image;

acquiring a second image;

detecting a person in the first image;

determining coordinate information of the person in the first image;

extracting a feature of the person from the second image based on the coordinate information;

comparing the extracted feature to reference information; and

recognizing the person based on the comparison, wherein the first and second images are acquired from sensors having overlapping fields of view and wherein the coordinate information provides an indication of a distance to the person.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the feature is at least one body part.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

extracting skeletal information from the second image, and

recognizing the person based on the skeletal information.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

adjusting at least one value corresponding to the person in the first image based on a distance between the first and second image sensors, and

sending a signal to the second image sensor based on the adjusted value, the second image sensor recognizing the feature of the object based on the adjusted value.