Method and apparatus for detecting facial changes
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a headset;
a contactless proximity sensor arranged to be supported by a microphone arm of the headset in the proximity of a face of a user, the sensor comprising a capacitive electrode configured to detect a capacitance between the electrode and a corner of the user'"'"'s mouth indicative of facial movements of the user'"'"'s face while the electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth are at a non-zero distance from one another, wherein the microphone arm of the headset comprises an arm including a microphone, the arm configured to extend over a cheek of the user to the proximity of the mouth of the user; and
a sensor circuitry configured to cause output of a signal indicative of a non-binary range of temporal variations in the distance between the capacitive electrode of the contactless proximity sensor and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth.
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Abstract
In accordance with an example embodiment, there is an apparatus that has a headset, a contactless proximity sensor arranged to be supported by the headset in the proximity of a face of a user, and a sensor circuitry configured to cause output of a signal indicative of temporal variations in the distance between the contactless proximity sensor and the face of the user.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a headset; a contactless proximity sensor arranged to be supported by a microphone arm of the headset in the proximity of a face of a user, the sensor comprising a capacitive electrode configured to detect a capacitance between the electrode and a corner of the user'"'"'s mouth indicative of facial movements of the user'"'"'s face while the electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth are at a non-zero distance from one another, wherein the microphone arm of the headset comprises an arm including a microphone, the arm configured to extend over a cheek of the user to the proximity of the mouth of the user; and a sensor circuitry configured to cause output of a signal indicative of a non-binary range of temporal variations in the distance between the capacitive electrode of the contactless proximity sensor and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 15)
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6. A method, comprising:
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associating facial detection criteria with facial movements; receiving capacitance variation information based on operation of one or more capacitive sensors attached to a headset in the proximity of a face of a user, wherein the headset comprises a microphone arm including a microphone, the microphone arm configured to extend over a cheek of the user to the proximity of the mouth of the user, the one or more capacitive sensors each comprising a capacitive electrode configured to detect a capacitance between the electrode and a corner of the user'"'"'s mouth indicative of facial movements of the user'"'"'s face while the capacitive electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth are at a non-zero distance from one another, and wherein the capacitance variation information comprises a signal indicative of a non-binary range of temporal variations in distance between the electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth; searching for the associated facial changes from the received capacitance variation information using the facial detection criteria; and determining the facial change that is associated with the matched facial detection criteria in question on finding a sufficient correspondence between the facial detection criteria and the received capacitance variation information. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 12, 16)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
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at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following; associating facial detection criteria with facial movements; receiving capacitance variation information based on operation of one or more capacitive sensors attached to a headset in the proximity of a face of a user, wherein the headset comprises a microphone arm including a microphone, the microphone arm configured to extend over a cheek of the user to the proximity of the mouth of the user, the one or more capacitive sensors each comprising a capacitive electrode configured to detect a capacitance between the electrode and a corner of the user'"'"'s mouth indicative of facial movements of the user'"'"'s face while the capacitive electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth are at a non-zero distance from one another, and wherein the capacitance variation information comprises a signal indicative of a non-binary range of temporal variations in distance between the electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth; searching for the associated facial changes from the received capacitance variation information using the facial detection criteria; and determining the facial change that is associated with the matched facial detection criteria in question on finding a sufficient correspondence between the facial detection criteria and the received capacitance variation information. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program code embodied therein for use with a computer, the computer program code comprising:
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code for associating facial detection criteria with facial movements; code for receiving capacitance variation information based on operation of one or more capacitive sensors attached to a headset in the proximity of a face of a user, wherein the headset comprises a microphone arm including a microphone, the microphone arm configured to extend over a cheek of the user to the proximity of the mouth of the user, the one or more capacitive sensors each comprising a capacitive electrode configured to detect a capacitance between the electrode and a corner of the user'"'"'s mouth indicative of facial movements of the user'"'"'s face while the capacitive electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth are at a non-zero distance from one another, and wherein the capacitance variation information comprises a signal indicative of a non-binary range of temporal variations in distance between the electrode and the corner of the user'"'"'s mouth; code for searching for the associated facial changes from the received capacitance variation information using the facial detection criteria; and code for determining the facial change that is associated with the matched facial detection criteria in question on finding a sufficient correspondence between the facial detection criteria and the received capacitance variation information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 17)
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Specification