Initializing Camera Subsystem for Face Detection Based on Sensor Inputs

• US 20130063611A1
• Filed: 09/09/2011
• Published: 03/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Papakipos, Matthew Nicholas, Garcia, David Harry
• Granted Patent: US 9,596,084 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/207.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/30 Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0381 Multimodal input, i.e. interface arrangements enabling the user to issue commands by simultaneous use of input devices of different nature, e.g. voice plus gesture on digitizer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3231 Biological data, e.g. fingerprint, voice or retina network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using biometrical features in a packet data network H04L63/0861
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/00 Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

In one embodiment, while a mobile electronic device is in a first operation state, it receives sensor data from one or more sensors of the mobile electronic device. The mobile electronic device in a locked state analyzes the sensor data to estimate whether an unlock operation is imminent, and in response to a positive determination, initializes the camera subsystem so that the camera is ready to capture a face as soon as the user directs the camera lens to his or her face. In particular embodiments, the captured image is utilized by a facial recognition algorithm to determine whether the user is authorized to use the mobile device. In particular embodiments, the captured facial recognition image may be leveraged for use on a social network.

Claims

1. A method comprising, by a computing system:

monitoring one or more sensors;

in response to detection of inputs from at least one of the one or more sensors, initializing an image capture device operably connected to the computing system;

monitoring the image capture device input to detect a human face; and

capturing an image with the camera upon detection of a human face.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least an accelerometer, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting acceleration above a predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a gyrometer, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting an angular acceleration around one or more axis of the computing system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a light sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from low to high light levels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a microphone, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from low audio amplitude to high audio amplitude.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a microphone, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from muffled to clear audio.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a touch sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a touch.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a proximity sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from a detection of a nearby object to an absence of nearby objects.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

uploading the captured image to the profile of the user on a social network.

10. A non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions operable, when executed by one or more computing systems, to:

monitor one or more sensors;

in response to detection of inputs from at least one of the one or more sensors, initialize an image capture device operably connected to the computing system;

monitor the image capture device input to detect a human face; and

capture an image with the camera upon detection of a human face.

11. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least an accelerometer, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting acceleration above a predetermined threshold.

12. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a gyrometer, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting an angular acceleration around one or more axis of the computing system.

13. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a light sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from low to high light levels.

14. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a microphone, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from low audio amplitude to high audio amplitude.

15. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a microphone, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from muffled to clear audio.

16. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a touch sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a touch.

17. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least a proximity sensor, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting a transition from a detection of a nearby object to an absence of nearby objects.

18. The media of claim 10, the instructions further operable, when executed by the one or more computing systems, to:

upload the captured image to the profile of the user on a social network.

19. An apparatus comprising:

one or more sensors;

non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions operable, when executed by one or more computing systems, to;

monitor the one or more sensors;

in response to detection of inputs from at least one of the one or more sensors, initialize an image capture device operably connected to the computing system;

monitor the image capture device input to detect a human face; and

capture an image with the camera upon detection of a human face.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least an accelerometer, and detecting one or more inputs comprises detecting acceleration above a predetermined threshold.