HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING OF REGIONS OF INTEREST

• US 20170085790A1
• Filed: 09/23/2015
• Published: 03/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Bohn, David D.
• Application Number:
  US14/863,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20170085790A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/25 Determination of region of interest [ROI] or a volume of interest [VOI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/815 for controlling the resolution by using a single image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums

Abstract

Examples are disclosed that relate to obtaining high-resolution images of regions of interest in a physical space. One disclosed example provides an imaging system, comprising a first camera, a second line-scan camera configured to capture a higher-resolution image than the first camera, a logic subsystem, and a storage subsystem. The storage subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to, obtain, via the first camera, a lower-resolution image of a physical space, identify one or more regions of interest in the physical space based on the lower-resolution image, and, for each of the one or more regions of interest, obtain, via the second line-scan camera, a higher-resolution image of at least a portion of the region of interest.

Claims

1. An imaging system, comprising:

a first camera;

a second line-scan camera configured to capture a higher-resolution image than the first camera;

a logic subsystem; and

a storage subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to;

obtain, via the first camera, a lower-resolution image of a physical space;

identify one or more regions of interest in the physical space based on the lower-resolution image; and

for each of the one or more regions of interest, obtain, via the second line-scan camera, a higher-resolution image of at least a portion of the region of interest.

2. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the storage subsystem further holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to:

for each region of interest of the one or more regions of interest,

determine one or more characteristics of the region of interest based on the lower-resolution image of the physical space; and

adjust one or more optical parameters of the second line-scan camera based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest.

3. The imaging system of claim 2, wherein the one or more characteristics includes a distance of the region of interest from the first camera.

4. The imaging system of claim 2, wherein the one or more optical parameters include one or more of a focus length, a zoom level, an f-number, and a sampling rate.

5. The imaging system of claim 2, further comprising an illumination source, and

wherein the storage subsystem further holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to, adjust one or more illumination parameters of the illumination source based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest.

6. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the storage subsystem further holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to:

for each of the one or more regions of interest, determine biometric information characterizing an object in the region of interest based on the higher-resolution image of the at least a portion of the region of interest.

7. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the first camera is a thermal camera.

8. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the first camera is a depth camera.

9. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the first camera is a visible light camera.

10. On an imaging system, a method for imaging a physical space, the method comprising:

obtaining, via one or more cameras, an image of the physical space;

identifying a plurality of regions of interest in the physical space based on the image of the physical space;

for each region of interest of the plurality of regions of interest,

determining one or more characteristics of the region of interest based on the image of the physical space;

adjusting one or more optical parameters of the one or more cameras based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest; and

obtaining, via the one or more cameras, an image of at least a portion of the region of interest to the exclusion of another region.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more optical parameters include one or more of a focus length, a zoom level, an f-number, and a sampling rate.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more characteristics includes a distance of the region of interest from the lower-resolution camera.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the imaging system includes an illumination source, and wherein the method further comprises, for each region of interest of the plurality of regions of interest, adjusting one or more illumination parameters of the illumination source based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more cameras include a first camera and a second line-scan camera configured to capture a higher-resolution image than the first camera, wherein the image of the physical space is obtained via the first camera, wherein the one or more optical parameters of the second line-scan camera are adjusted based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest, and wherein the image of the at least a portion of the region of interest is obtained via the second line-scan camera.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more cameras includes a single higher-resolution, line-scan camera, wherein obtaining the image of the physical space includes processing pixel information from the single higher-resolution, line-scan camera corresponding to the physical space, and wherein for each region of interest, obtaining an image of at least a portion of the region of interest includes processing pixel information from the single higher-resolution, line-scan camera corresponding to the at least the portion of the region of interest, and ignoring pixel information from the single higher-resolution, line-scan camera corresponding to a region outside the region of interest.

16. An imaging system, comprising:

a first camera;

a second line-scan camera configured to capture a higher-resolution image than the first camera;

a logic subsystem; and

a storage subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to;

obtain, via the first camera, a lower-resolution image of a physical space;

identify a plurality of regions of interest in the physical space based on the lower-resolution image;

for each region of interest of the plurality of regions of interest,

determine one or more characteristics of the region of interest based on the lower-resolution image of the physical space;

adjust one or more optical parameters of the second line-scan camera based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest; and

obtain, via the second line-scan camera, an image of at least a portion of the region of interest to the exclusion of another region.

17. The imaging system of claim 16, wherein the one or more characteristics includes a distance of the region of interest from the first camera.

18. The imaging system of claim 16, wherein the one or more optical parameters include one or more of a focus length, a zoom level, an f-number, and a sampling rate.

19. The imaging system of claim 16, further comprising an illumination source, and wherein the storage subsystem further holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to, adjust one or more illumination parameters of the illumination source based on the one or more characteristics of the region of interest.

20. The imaging system of claim 16, wherein the storage subsystem further holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to,

for each of the one or more regions of interest, determine biometric information characterizing an object in the region of interest based on the higher-resolution image of the at least a portion of the region of interest.