Digital image acquisition control and correction method and apparatus

• US 8,005,268 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2010
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FotoNation Limited (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Tessera Technologies Ireland Limited (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Steinberg, Eran, Bigioi, Petronel, Corcoran, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Phuoc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Liew; Alex
• Application Number:
  US12/851,333
• Publication Number:
  US 20110058058A1
• Time in Patent Office: 383 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103, 382115-118, 382124-127, 396155-206
• US Class Current: 382/117
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/98 Detection or correction of errors, e.g. by rescanning the pattern or by human intervention; Evaluation of the quality of the acquired patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/993 Evaluation of the quality of the acquired pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/175 Static expression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/64 Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image

Abstract

An unsatisfactory scene is disqualified as an image acquisition control for a camera. An image is acquired. One or more mouth regions are determined. The mouth regions are analyzed to determined whether they are frowning, and if so, then the scene is disqualified as a candidate for a processed, permanent image while the mouth is completing the frowning.

Claims

1. A method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, the method comprising:

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one eye;

detecting the face, partial face or eye, or combinations thereof;

determining that the eye is currently in a blinking process;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the blinking;

performing temporal analysis of movement of the eye lid; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said blinking process to end based on said temporal analysis of movement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which the eye lid is closing or opening the eye.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of the eye lid for determining when the blinking process will end.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of the eye lid.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an extent to which the eye ball of the eye is showing.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining whether the eye ball is currently being covered or uncovered.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the eye lid.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the eye lid due to movement.

10. A method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, the method comprising:

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one mouth;

detecting the face, partial face or mouth, or combinations thereof;

determining that the mouth is currently frowning;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the frowning;

performing temporal analysis of movement of one or both lips; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said frowning to end based on said temporal analysis of movement of said one or both lips.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which a shape of said one or both lips is changing.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of said one or both lips for determining when the frowning will end.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of said one or both lips at the edges.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining whether the edges of the one or both lips are currently moving downward or upward.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining an extent to which the dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is showing.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining whether said dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is currently being covered or uncovered.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the edges of one or both lips.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the edges of the one or both lips due to movement.

20. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, the method comprising:

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one eye;

detecting the face, partial face or eye, or combinations thereof;

determining that the eye is currently in a blinking process;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the blinking;

performing temporal analysis of movement of the eye lid; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said blinking process to end based on said temporal analysis of movement.

21. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

22. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which the eye lid is closing or opening the eye.

23. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of the eye lid for determining when the blinking process will end.

24. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of the eye lid.

25. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, the method further comprising determining an extent to which the eye ball of the eye is showing.

26. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 25, the method further comprising determining whether the eye ball is currently being covered or uncovered.

27. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the eye lid.

28. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 20, wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the eye lid due to movement.

29. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, the method comprising:

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one mouth;

detecting the face, partial face or mouth, or combinations thereof;

determining that the mouth is currently frowning;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the frowning;

performing temporal analysis of movement of one or both lips; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said frowning to end based on said temporal analysis of movement of said one or both lips.

30. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

31. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which a shape of said one or both lips is changing.

32. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of said one or both lips for determining when the frowning will end.

33. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of said one or both lips at the edges.

34. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 33, the method further comprising determining whether the edges of the one or both lips are currently moving downward or upward.

35. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, the method further comprising determining an extent to which the dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is showing.

36. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 35, the method further comprising determining whether said dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is currently being covered or uncovered.

37. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the edges of one or both lips.

38. The one or more non-transitory processor-readable media of claim 29 wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the edges of the one or both lips due to movement.

39. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:

a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images;

a processor; and

one or more processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform a method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, wherein the method comprises;

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one eye;

detecting the face, partial face or eye, or combinations thereof;

determining that the eye is currently in a blinking process;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the blinking;

performing temporal analysis of movement of the eye lid; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said blinking process to end based on said temporal analysis of movement.

40. The device of claim 39, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

41. The device of claim 39, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which the eye lid is closing or opening the eye.

42. The device of claim 39, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of the eye lid for determining when the blinking process will end.

43. The device of claim 39, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of the eye lid.

44. The device of claim 39, the method further comprising determining an extent to which the eye ball of the eye is showing.

45. The device of claim 44, the method further comprising determining whether the eye ball is currently being covered or uncovered.

46. The device of claim 39, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the eye lid.

47. The device of claim 39, wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the eye lid due to movement.

48. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:

a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images;

a processor; and

one or more processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming the processor to perform a method of selectively disqualifying a scene as a candidate for permanent capture, storage or processing, or combinations thereof, wherein the method comprises;

acquiring a present image of a scene including a face or partial face including at least one mouth;

detecting the face, partial face or mouth, or combinations thereof;

determining that the mouth is currently frowning;

rejecting the present image as a candidate for post-acquisition digital image processing due to the frowning;

performing temporal analysis of movement of one or both lips; and

automatically acquiring a new image to replace the present image after delaying for a period of time, wherein the delaying of said acquiring the new image corresponds to an estimated time for said frowning to end based on said temporal analysis of movement of said one or both lips.

49. The device of claim 48, wherein the present image comprises a relatively low resolution reference/preview image.

50. The device of claim 48, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed at which a shape of said one or both lips is changing.

51. The device of claim 48, wherein the temporal analysis comprises determining a speed of said one or both lips for determining when the frowning will end.

52. The device of claim 48, wherein the temporal analysis comprises a speed and a direction of the movement of said one or both lips at the edges.

53. The device of claim 52, the method further comprising determining whether the edges of the one or both lips are currently moving downward or upward.

54. The device of claim 48, the method further comprising determining an extent to which the dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is showing.

55. The device of claim 54, the method further comprising determining whether said dimple, crease, tongue, one or more teeth, or gums, or combinations thereof, is currently being covered or uncovered.

56. The device of claim 48, wherein the determining temporal analysis of movement comprises determining a direction of movement of the edges of one or both lips.

57. The device of claim 48, wherein the performing temporal analysis comprises determining a degree of blurriness of the edges of the one or both lips due to movement.