System and method for selectively obscuring a video signal

• US 6,727,935 B1
• Filed: 06/28/2002
• Issued: 04/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Digeo Incorporated (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Allen, Paul G., Billmaier, James A., Regan, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US10/186,299
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.714, 348/14-1-, 348/14.1, 348/14-1-, 348/33, 348/169, 348/170, 348/164, 348/172, 382/103
• US Class Current: 348/14.03
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S17/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/88 Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

An object may be identified with a camera that is sensitive to both visible and invisible light. The camera receives a target of invisible light, either from an invisible light illuminator attached to the object, or via radiation from the object itself. The system processes the invisible light to position and size a halo with respect to the location of the object. The type of halo used may be determined by user selection. The system then modifies the visible component of the video signal from the camera to obscure the portion that lies outside the halo, thereby concealing the surroundings of the object.

Claims

1. A system for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal, the system comprising:

a camera, sensitive to invisible light, that captures a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components;

a tracking subsystem that processes the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

a halo positioning module that automatically positions a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

a signal modification module that obscures a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illuminator disposed on the object to project the target of invisible light.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the illuminator comprises a reflector, the system further comprising:

a stationary invisible light emitter that generates invisible light reflected by the reflector to project the target.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a portable invisible light emitter that generates invisible light to project the target.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an identification module to identify the object based on the at least one characteristic of the target.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the illuminator is attached to an article worn by a person, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of a pair of glasses, a tie clip, and a piece of jewelry.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the illuminator comprises a coating applied directly to skin of a person, wherein the coating projects invisible light.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the object is selected from the group consisting of a remote control device and a set of keys.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the camera comprises:

a wide frequency charge-coupled device (CCD) that generates the visible component and the invisible component of the video signal.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the camera comprises:

a first charge-coupled device (CCD) that generates the visible component of the video signal; and

a second CCD that generates the invisible component of the video signal.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the halo has a shape selected from the group consisting of a circle, an ellipse, and a polygon.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the object comprises a person engaged in video communication using the camera, the system further comprising:

an illuminator disposed on a head of the person to project the target of invisible light.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the positioning module horizontally positions the halo such that a center of the halo is horizontally aligned with the illuminator.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a person engaged in video communication using the camera and the halo has a shape that resembles at least a potion of an outline of the person.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

an illuminator disposed on a torso of the person to project the target of invisible light.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the invisible light comprises infrared radiation generated by the person.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a reflector disposed on the object to project the target of invisible light;

a stationary invisible light emitter that generates invisible light reflected by the reflector to project the target, wherein the stationary invisible light emitter generates the invisible light at periodic intervals such that the target does not appear in every frame of the video signal, and wherein the tracking subsystem distinguishes a target from other sources of invisible light by determining that the target does not appear in every frame of the video signal.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the halo positioning module continuously repositions the halo in response to motion of the target within the invisible component.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a halo sizing module that automatically establishes a size of the halo based on a distance of the object from the camera.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal modification module gradually increases a level of alteration of the visible component across an edge of the halo.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal modification module obscures the portion of the visible component by replacing the portion with a single color.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal modification module obscures the portion of the visible component by blurring the portion to make objects within the visible component less distinguishable.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal modification module obscures the portion of the visible component by replacing the portion with an image unrelated to the visible component.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a local display device viewable from within a field-of-view of the camera, the local display device displaying at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a communication subsystem that transmits at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal to a remote terminal for display.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the communication subsystem is configured to use a network selected from the group consisting of a cable television network and a direct broadcast satellite network.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a codec that receives television programming from the communication subsystem for display on a local display device viewable from within the first field-of-view, wherein the codec and the tracking subsystem are disposed within a common housing to form a set top box, and wherein the set top box transmits the first signal from the camera to the communication subsystem.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the communication subsystem receives a second video signal from the remote terminal, the system further comprising:

a local display device that displays the second video signal.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the second video signal and at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal arc displayed simultaneously.

30. A system for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal, the system comprising:

a camera, sensitive to invisible light, that captures a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components;

a tracking subsystem that processes the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

a halo positioning module that automatically positions a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target;

a signal modification module that obscures a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo;

a halo selection module;

a database that contains identities and settings for a plurality of objects;

an identification subsystem that receives an identity of the object from the database; and

a setting control subsystem that retrieves the user-selected shape that corresponds to the identity of the object and conveys the user-selected shape to the halo selection module.

31. A system for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components, the system comprising:

a tracking subsystem that processes the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

a halo positioning module that automatically positions a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

a signal modification module that obscures a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

32. An obscuring subsystem for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components, the obscuring subsystem comprising:

a halo positioning module that receives a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets, and automatically positions a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

a signal modification module that obscures a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

33. A method for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal, the method comprising:

capturing a video signal depicting an object with a camera sensitive to invisible light, the video signal having visible and invisible components;

processing the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

automatically positioning a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

obscuring a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising disposing an illuminator on the object to project the target of invisible light.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the illuminator comprises a reflector, the method further comprising:

generating invisible light with a stationary invisible light emitter; and

reflecting the invisible light with the reflector to project the target.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the illuminator comprises a portable invisible light emitter, the method further comprising:

generating invisible light with the portable invisible light emitter to project the target.

37. The method of claim 33, further comprising identifying the object based on the at least one character of the target.

38. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

attaching the illuminator to an article worn by a person, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of a pair of glasses, a tie clip, and a piece of jewelry.

39. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

applying the illuminator directly to skin of a person in the form of a coating that projects invisible light.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein the object is selected from the group consisting of a remote control device and a set of keys.

41. The method of claim 33, wherein capturing the video signal comprises:

generating the visible component and the invisible component with a wide frequency charge-coupled device (CCD).

42. The method of claim 33, wherein capturing the video signal comprises:

generating the visible component with a first charge-coupled device (CCD); and

generating the invisible component with a second CCD.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein positioning the halo comprises providing a halo with a shape selected from the group consisting of a circle, an ellipse, and a polygon.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the object comprises a person engaged in video communication using the camera, the method further comprising:

disposing an illuminator on a head of the person to project the target of invisible light.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein positioning the halo further comprises horizontally positioning the halo such that a center of the halo is horizontally aligned with the illuminator.

46. The method of claim 33, wherein the object comprises a person engaged in video communication using the camera, wherein positioning the halo comprises providing a halo with a shape that resembles at least a portion of an outline of the person.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

disposing an illuminator on a torso of the person to project the target of invisible light.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein capturing the first video signal comprises receiving the invisible light in the form of infrared radiation generated by the person.

49. The method of claim 33, wherein positioning the halo comprises providing a halo with a user-selected shape.

50. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

continuously repositioning the halo in response to motion of the target within the invisible component.

51. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

automatically establishing a size of the halo based on a distance of the object from the camera.

52. The method of claim 33, wherein obscuring the portion of the visible component comprises gradually increasing a level of alteration of the visible component across an edge of the halo.

53. The method of claim 33, wherein obscuring the portion of the visible component comprises replacing the portion with a single color.

54. The method of claim 33, wherein obscuring the portion of the visible component comprises blurring the portion to make objects within the visible component less distinguishable.

55. The method of claim 33, wherein obscuring the portion of the visible component comprises replacing the portion with an image unrelated to the visible component.

56. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

displaying at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal on a local display device viewable from within a field-of-view of the camera.

57. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

transmitting at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal to a remote terminal for display.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein transmitting at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal to a remote terminal comprises utilizing a network selected from the group consisting of a cable television network and a direct broadcast satellite network.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

receiving television programming from the network for display at a location viewable from within a first field-of-view of the camera, wherein the television programming is received in a set top box that transmits the video signal to the network.

60. The method of claim 57, further comprising:

receiving a second video signal from the remote terminal for display on a local display device.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the second video signal and at least a subset of the visible component of the video signal are displayed simultaneously.

62. A method for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal, the method comprising:

capturing a video signal depicting an object with a camera sensitive to invisible light, the video signal having visible and invisible components;

processing the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

automatically positioning a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target;

obscuring a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo;

providing a database that contains identities and settings for a plurality of objects;

receiving an identity of the object from the database; and

retrieving the user-selected shape that corresponds to the identity of the object.

63. A method for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components, the method comprising:

processing the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

automatically positioning a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

obscuring a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

64. A method for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components, the method comprising:

receiving a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

automatically positioning a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

obscuring a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.

65. A system for automatically obscuring a portion of a video signal, the system comprising:

means for capturing invisible light that captures a video signal depicting an object, the video signal having visible and invisible components;

means for processing the invisible component to determine a position of a specific target of invisible light projected from the object, wherein the target includes at least one characteristic that distinguishes it from other targets;

means for automatically positioning a halo in the visible component with respect to the position of the target; and

means for modifying the visible component to obscure a portion of the visible component that lies outside the halo.