Diminishing an appearance of a double chin in video communications

• US 8,687,039 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2011
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: DeGrazia, Bradley Richard, Gatzke, Alan Darryl, Kuhlke, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Hemant
• Application Number:
  US13/154,030
• Publication Number:
  US 20120306991A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 348 1401- 1416, 370259-271, 370351-357, 709201-207, 709217-248
• US Class Current: 348/14.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30201 Face
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/94 based on local image properties, e.g. for local contrast enhancement
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• 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

Techniques for diminishing an appearance of a participant'"'"'s double chin during video conferencing. A participant'"'"'s image is captured with an input device and processed so as to diminish the appearance of a double chin between the participant'"'"'s chin and neck. The processed image with a diminished double chin appearance is outputted to both the participant'"'"'s video conferencing graphical user interface and to the graphical user interface of a remote participant that the participant is communicating with in the video conferencing session. The diminished double chin appearance may be dynamically modified in real time during the video conference.

Claims

1. A method for modifying a video conference image to reduce a double chin characteristic otherwise apparent in the video conference image, the method comprising:

during a video conference, analyzing at least one image frame within the video conference and identifying visual characteristics within the analyzed image frame that correspond to a face of a participant in the video conference;

discerning characteristics of the image frame related to a chin region of the participant;

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin; and

based on determining that a double chin is present, enabling, on a graphical user interface, display of information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant to permit the participant to view the appearance of the chin in the graphical user interface and adjust visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin,

receiving information based on participant'"'"'s interactions with the graphical user interface regarding the adjustment of the visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin,

adjusting the visual characteristics of the chin using the information received based on the participant'"'"'s interactions with the graphical user interface, and

enabling, on the graphical user interface, display of the appearance of the chin with the adjusted visual characteristics of the chin.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the appearance of the chin comprising;

identifying a nose on the face, and

identifying a chin on the face; and

further comprising tracking a movement of the chin on the face.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether stored information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant is accessible;

based on determining that the stored information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant is accessible, accessing the information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant;

responsive to determining that the stored information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant is not accessible,

facilitating creation of a user profile for the participant; and

facilitating storage of information in the created user profile related to the appearance of the chin of the participant.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based upon determining that the amount of shading exceeds the predetermined threshold amount of shading, generating information to indicate there is an appearance of the double chin; and

based upon the generated information and the determined amount of shading, dynamically tuning the visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin based on the amount of shading of the chin.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing information for the adjusted visual characteristics of the chin in the database, wherein the information for the adjusted visual characteristics of the chin in the database is associated with the participant.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing information on a graphical user interface related to a display of a view of the face of the participant prior to adjusting the visual characteristics of the chin.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining whether the identified face of the participant matches a face of a participant stored in one of the user profiles in the database by searching the user profiles in the database to determine that the identified face matches at least one of the user profiles with a predetermined confidence level.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking the identified face; and

dynamically adjusting the visual characteristics of the chin based on the tracking of the identified face.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the dynamic adjustment comprises adjusting at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin to match the adjusted visual characteristics that were generated by the participant in the graphical user interface.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing facial recognition of the participant; and

storing information related to the facial recognition of the participant in a user profile.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the visual characteristics of the chin comprises at least one of a shading condition and a lighting condition of the chin.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the visual characteristics of the chin using the information received based on the participant'"'"'s interactions with the graphical user interface includes at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin.

13. A method for removing an appearance of a double chin feature on a participant of a video conference, the method comprising:

identifying a face of a participant of a video conference;

accessing a database configured to store information related to a facial recognition of a participant;

determining whether the identified face is a face that has information related to the facial recognition stored in the database;

based upon determining that the identified face has information related to the facial recognition in the database,

retrieving the information related to the facial recognition in the database to identify an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant,

identifying an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant using the retrieved information,

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin,

based on determining that a double chin is present, adjusting the appearance of the chin of the participant using the information related to the facial recognition, wherein the adjusting the appearance of the chin comprises at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin, and

storing information in the database related to the adjusted appearance of the chin of the participant; and

based upon determining that the identified face does not have information related to the facial recognition in the database,

performing facial recognition on the identified face of the participant,

identifying an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant using the performed facial recognition,

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin,

based on determining that a double chin is present, adjusting the appearance of the chin of the participant, wherein the adjusting the appearance of the chin comprises at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin, and

storing information in the database related to the adjusted appearance of the chin of the participant and the facial recognition performed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the identifying the appearance of the chin comprises:

identifying a nose on the face, and

identifying a chin on the face; and

further comprises tracking a movement of the chin on the face.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software comprising instructions for removing an appearance of a double chin feature on a participant of a video conference, the instructions that when executed on a processor cause the processor to perform operations that include:

during a video conference, analyzing at least one image frame within the video conference and identifying visual characteristics within the analyzed image frame that correspond to a face of a participant in the video conference;

discerning characteristics of the image frame related to a chin region of the participant;

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin; and

based on determining that a double chin is present, enabling, on a graphical user interface, display of information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant to permit the participant to view the appearance of the chin in the graphical user interface and adjust visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin,

receiving information based on participant'"'"'s interactions with the graphical user interface regarding the adjustment of the visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin,

adjusting the visual characteristics of the chin using the information received based on the participant'"'"'s interactions with the graphical user interface, and

enabling, on the graphical user interface, display of the appearance of the chin with the adjusted visual characteristics of the chin.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions to:

identifying the appearance of the chin comprising;

identifying a nose on the face, and

identifying a chin on the face; and

further comprising tracking a movement of the chin on the face.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software comprising instructions for removing an appearance of a double chin feature on a participant of a video conference, the instructions that when executed on a processor cause the processor to perform operations that include:

identifying a face of a participant of a video conference;

accessing a database configured to store information related to a facial recognition of a participant;

determining whether the identified face is a face that has information related to the facial recognition stored in the database;

based upon determining that the identified face has information related to the facial recognition in the database,

retrieving the information related to the facial recognition in the database to identify an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant,

identifying an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant using the retrieved information,

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin,

based on determining that a double chin is present, adjusting the appearance of the chin of the participant using the information related to the facial recognition, wherein the adjusting the appearance of the chin comprises at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin, and

storing information in the database related to the adjusted appearance of the chin of the participant; and

based upon determining that the identified face does not have information related to the facial recognition in the database,

performing facial recognition on the identified face of the participant,

identifying an appearance of a chin on the face of the participant using the performed facial recognition,

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin,

based on determining that a double chin is present, adjusting the appearance of the chin of the participant, wherein the adjusting the appearance of the chin comprises at least one of a blurring of the chin, a shading of the chin, a lighting of the chin, and a darkening of the chin, and

storing information in the database related to the adjusted appearance of the chin of the participant and the facial recognition performed.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions identifying the appearance of the chin comprises:

identifying a nose on the face, and

identifying a chin on the face; and

further comprises tracking a movement of the chin on the face.

19. A system for removing an appearance of a double chin feature on a participant of a video conference, the system comprising:

a face tracking module configured to identify a face of a participant of a video conference;

a face recognition module, connected to the face tracking module and a graphic user interface (GUI), configured to;

identify an appearance of a chin on the participant;

determining that a double chin is present by determining that an amount of shading of the appearance of the chin exceeds a predetermined threshold amount of shading of the appearance of the chin;

based upon determining that the amount of shading exceeds the predetermined threshold amount of shading, generating information to indicate there is an appearance of the double chin;

assess a database to determine whether there is information stored in the database related to the appearance of the chin of the participant, wherein the database comprises user profiles with facial recognition information related to the user profiles;

based on determining that there is information stored in the database related to the appearance of the chin of the participant, access the information related to the appearance of the chin of the participant;

based on determining that there is not information stored in the database related to the appearance of the chin of the participant,

create a user profile in the database for the participant, and

store information in the created user profile that is related to the appearance of the chin of the participant;

provide the information, to the GUI, that is related to the appearance of the chin of the participant;

the GUI configured to;

present the appearance of the chin,

receive information to adjust visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin to send information to the face recognition module regarding the adjustment of the visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin, and

present the adjusted visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin; and

the shading module configured to adjust the visual characteristics of the chin based on the presented adjustment information for the visual characteristics of the appearance of the chin.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the identifying the appearance of the chin in the face recognition module comprises:

identifying a nose on the face, and

identifying a chin on the face.