Interactive computer vision system

• US 6,130,677 A
• Filed: 10/15/1997
• Issued: 10/10/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Planet Electric Incorporated
• Inventors: Kunz, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Mark K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kimbinh T.
• Application Number:
  US08/943,681
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: 345/435, 345/114, 345/473, 345/474, 345/475, 345/524, 345/433, 348/112, 382/173, 382/174, 382/171, 382/164, 382/282, 382/309
• US Class Current: 345/630
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites

Abstract

A system and method for permitting a subject to interact with an electronic image. In one embodiment, the present invention obtains a first electronic image of a scene including the subject. An alpha image of the subject is generated. From the alpha image a characteristic of the subject is determined. The first characteristic is compared against a control box. The correlation between the first characteristic and the control box controls the interaction between the subject and the first electronic image. In another embodiment, the subject interacts with a second electronic image that is different from the first electronic image. In another embodiment, the interaction between the subject and the electronic image is the control of a cartoon character added to the electronic image. In a further embodiment, the cartoon character changes its appearance based upon the characteristic of the subject.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for digitally compositing a sub-image onto a destination image comprising:

an alpha image generator for creating an alpha image of a sub-image from an input image, wherein the alpha image generator separates the sub-image from a background of the input image and providing the alpha image; and

a characterizer for determining a first characteristic of the alpha image, the first characteristic being further descriptive of the sub-image;

a comparator for comparing the first characteristic with a control box applied to the input image, such that the systems responds to the first characteristic based upon a correlation between the first characteristic and the control box; and

an image blender for blending the sub-image in the input image that contains the sub-image onto a destination image using said alpha image, thereby compositing said sub-image and the characteristic of the sub-image onto said destination image.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the alpha image is a plurality of pixels representing the sub-image.

3. A system as recited in claim 1 further comprising an image transformer for transforming the alpha image before compositing the sub-image onto the destination image.

14. A computer readable medium including a computer readable code device configuring a computer to function as the computing device as recited in claim 1.

4. A computer-implemented system for interaction between a subject and an electronic image, the system comprising:

an image capturing device, the image capturing device generating an electronic image of a scene, the scene including the subject, whereby an electronic subject image is part of the electronic image of the scene; and

a computing device, the computing device determining a characteristic of the electronic subject image indicative of the subject, wherein the subject interacts with the system by varying the characteristic.

5. A system as recited in claim 4, the system further comprising an electronic display, wherein the electronic display displays the electronic image and the subject interacts with the electronic image by varying the characteristic.

6. A system as recited in claim 4, wherein the computing device compares the characteristic with a hot box such that the interaction between the system and the subject is determined by the characteristic and the hot box.

7. A system as recited in claim 6, wherein the computing device compares the characteristic with a hot box such that the interaction between the system and the subject is determined by the characteristic and the hot box, and the system further comprising an electronic display, wherein the electronic display displays the electronic image and the hot box such that the subject interacts with the electronic image by varying the characteristic in relation to the hot box.

8. A system as recited in claim 6, wherein the hot box is varied to conform to the subject to allow interaction between the subject and the system.

9. A system as recited in claim 6, wherein the subject interacts with the system in real time.

10. A computer implemented system for permitting a subject to interact with an electronic image, wherein a characteristic of the subject is determined and compared against a control box such that the interaction between the subject and the electronic image is controlled by the correlation between the characteristic and the control box.

11. A computer implemented method for generating an electronic image that interacts with a subject, the method comprising:

electronically imaging a scene including a subject, wherein the electronic image of the scene and an alpha image of the subject is created;

determining a first characteristic of the subject from the alpha image, the first characteristic being indicative of the subject;

comparing the first characteristic with a control box applied to the electronic image, wherein the subject interacts with the electronic image by changing the first characteristic.

15. A computer readable medium including a computer readable code device configuring a computer to perform a method as recited in claim 11.

12. A computer implemented method for generating an electronic image that interacts with a subject, the method comprising:

electronically imaging a scene including a subject, whereby an electronic image of the scene and an alpha image of the subject is created, wherein the alpha image is comprised of a plurality of pixels;

determining a first characteristic of the subject from the alpha image, the first characteristic being indicative of the subject;

applying a control box to the electronic image;

displaying a destination image, the destination image including the electronic image, a subject image that is a representation of the subject and the control box, such that the subject may visually interact with the destination image by varying the first characteristic of the subject in relation to the control box.

13. A computer-implemented digital video method for generating an electronic image that interacts with a subject, the method comprising:

creating a background model by examining a plurality of frames of an average background image;

obtaining a frame of an input image that contains a subject to be characterized;

creating an alpha image such that a value of each pixel in the alpha image is set according to a value corresponding to a pixel from the input image and a value corresponding to a pixel from the average background image;

deriving a set of templates such that the set of templates comprises the shape of the subject being characterized;

setting the values of pixels in the alpha image according to the set of templates such that portions of the alpha image contained within the templates are adjusted so that the pixels do not represent holes in the subject;

deriving a first characteristic of the subject from a selected one of the set of templates of the alpha image;

comparing the first characteristic with a control box, wherein the subject interacts with the electronic image by changing the first characteristic; and

blending the subject in the input image onto the destination image.