Rapid auto-focus using classifier chains, MEMS and/or multiple object focusing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of digital image processing using face detection, comprising:
- acquiring a scene with a digital image acquisition device including multiple features;
identifying a first group of pixels that correspond to a first feature of a face within the scene;
adjusting an optic in real time using a MEMS component to a first focus position to focus the device on the first feature;
capturing a first digital image at the first focus position;
applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third focus-specific classifier chain trained to match sharply focused faces; and
when a second face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the second face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of the focus-specific classifier chains; and
one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows;
(i) wherein when the second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or(ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and(a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the second face; and
capturing a second digital image having a second feature at the second focus position;
registering the first and second digital images including the first and second features; and
storing, transmitting, combining, capturing or displaying the first and second digital images together, or combinations thereof.
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Abstract
A smart-focusing technique includes identifying an object of interest, such as a face, in a digital image. A focus-generic classifier chain is applied that is trained to match both focused and unfocused faces and/or data from a face tracking module is accepted. Multiple focus-specific classifier chains are applied, including a first chain trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second chain trained to match slightly out of focus faces. Focus position is rapidly adjusted using a MEMS component.
169 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method of digital image processing using face detection, comprising:
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acquiring a scene with a digital image acquisition device including multiple features; identifying a first group of pixels that correspond to a first feature of a face within the scene; adjusting an optic in real time using a MEMS component to a first focus position to focus the device on the first feature; capturing a first digital image at the first focus position; applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third focus-specific classifier chain trained to match sharply focused faces; and when a second face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the second face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of the focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows; (i) wherein when the second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the second face; and capturing a second digital image having a second feature at the second focus position; registering the first and second digital images including the first and second features; and
storing, transmitting, combining, capturing or displaying the first and second digital images together, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of smart-focusing on a detected face region in a scene, comprising:
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acquiring a digital image using a camera-enabled device including a lens, an image sensor, a memory and a processor; identifying a group of pixels that contain a face, including applying a focus-generic classifier chain trained to match both focused and unfocused faces or accepting data from a face tracking module, or both; applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third trained to match sharply focused faces; and when the face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows; (i) wherein when a second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the second face. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of digital image processing using face detection, wherein the method comprises:
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acquiring a scene with a digital image acquisition device including multiple features; identifying a first group of pixels that correspond to a first feature of a face within the scene; adjusting an optic in real time using a MEMS component to a first focus position to focus the device on the first feature; capturing a first digital image at the first focus position;
applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third focus-specific classifier chain trained to match sharply focused faces; andwhen a second face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the second face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows; (i) wherein when the second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the second face; and capturing a second digital image having a second feature at the second focus position; registering the first and second digital images including the first and second features; and storing, transmitting, combining, capturing or displaying the first and second digital images together, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of smart-focusing on a detected face region in a scene, wherein the method comprises:
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acquiring a digital image using a camera-enabled device including a lens, an image sensor, a memory and a processor; identifying a group of pixels that contain a face, including applying a focus-genetic classifier chain trained to match both focused and unfocused faces or accepting data from a face tracking module, or both; applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third trained to match sharply focused faces; and when the face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows; (i) wherein when a second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the second face. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:
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a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images; a processor; and one or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of digital image processing using face detection, wherein the method comprises; acquiring a scene with a digital image acquisition device including multiple features; identifying a first group of pixels that correspond to a first feature of a face within the scene; adjusting an optic in real time using a MEMS component to a first focus position to focus the device on the first feature; capturing a first digital image at the first focus position; applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces, and a third focus-specific classifier chain trained to match sharply focused faces; and when a second face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the second face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b), as follows; (i) wherein when the second face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when the second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the face; and capturing a second digital image having a second feature at the second focus position; registering the first and second digital images including the first and second features; and
storing, transmitting, combining, capturing or displaying the first and second digital images together, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:
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a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images; a processor; and one or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming a processor to perform a method of smart-focusing on a detected face region in a scene, wherein the method comprises; acquiring a digital image using a camera-enabled device including a lens, an image sensor, a memory and a processor;
identifying a group of pixels that contain a face, including applying a focus-generic classifier chain trained to match both focused and unfocused faces or accepting data from a face tracking module, or both;applying multiple focus-specific classifier chains, including a first trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second trained to match slightly out of focus faces; and when the face is determined not to be sharply focused as significantly matching the first or second focus-specific classifier chains, or both, adjusting focus position using a MEMS component one or more times based on a degree of focus determined at one or more preceding focus positions and, such as to ultimately focus on the face using a series of one or more selected smart-focus adjustments based on application of focus-specific classifier chains; and one or more of (i), (ii)(a), or (ii)(b) as follows; (i) wherein when the face is determined to be substantially unfocused as best matching the first focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises coarsely adjusting to a second focus position and repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains, or (ii) wherein when a second face is determined to be slightly unfocused as best matching the second focus-specific classifier chain, then the adjusting comprises finely adjusting to a second focus position and (a) repeating the applying of the multiple focus-specific classifier chains one or more times until a best match is achieved with the third focus-specific classifier chain;
or(b) repeating the applying of the second focus-specific classifier chain until a focus position is achieved between two slightly unfocused positions in front of and behind the face. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification