Simulating short depth of field to maximize privacy in videotelephony
First Claim
1. A videophone, comprising:
- a camera arranged for capturing a video image comprising a plurality of pixels; and
an image processing module arranged for applying privacy filtering to the video image to simulate a depth of field effect, the privacy filtering including(a) segregating a portion of the video image, and (b) blurring the segregated portion of the video image by increasing the circle of confusion associated with the segregated portion of the video image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An arrangement for simulating a short depth of field in a captured videophone image is provided in which the background portion of the image is digitally segregated and blurred to render it indistinct. Thus, the displayed video of a user in the foreground is kept in focus while the background appears to be out of focus. Image tracking or fixed templates are used to segregate an area of interest that is kept in focus from the remaining captured video image. Image processing techniques are applied to groups of pixels in the remaining portion to blur that portion of the captured video image. Such techniques include the application of a filter that are alternatively selected from convolution filters in the spatial domain (e.g., mean, median, or Gaussian filters), or frequency filters in the frequency domain (e.g., low-pass or Gaussian filters). User-selectable control is optionally implemented for controlling the type of foreground/background segregation technique utilized (i.e., dynamic face-tracking or fixed template shape), degree of blurring applied to the background, and on/off control of the background blurring.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A videophone, comprising:
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a camera arranged for capturing a video image comprising a plurality of pixels; and an image processing module arranged for applying privacy filtering to the video image to simulate a depth of field effect, the privacy filtering including (a) segregating a portion of the video image, and (b) blurring the segregated portion of the video image by increasing the circle of confusion associated with the segregated portion of the video image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in one or more processors disposed in an electronic device, performs a method for providing privacy to a videotelephony call, the method comprising the steps of:
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capturing a video image with a videophone camera; applying an object detection algorithm to segregate a target portion of the video image from a remaining portion of the video image; digitally filtering the remaining portion of the video image by increasing the circle of confusion associated with the remaining portion to provide privacy for subject matter contained therein; and compositing the target portion with the filtered remaining portion to generate a composite video image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for simulating depth of field effects in a video image, the method comprising the steps of:
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utilizing an image sensor to capture the video image having a substantially infinite depth of field; spatially segregating a portion of the video image into an image buffer; applying image processing to the segregated video portion to increase a circle of confusion associated with the segregated portion so as to shorten an apparent depth of field of the video image; and refreshing the image buffer with the image-processed video portion. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification