Image system with eye protection

• US 9,854,159 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2016
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Inventors: Lin, Han-Chang, Wang, Guo-Zhen, Chen, Nien-Tse
• Primary Examiner(s): Luo, Kate
• Assistant Examiner(s): GADOMSKI, STEFAN J
• Application Number:
  US15/253,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20160373645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 482 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/61 based on recognised objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders

Abstract

An image system including a display device, an image sensor, a face detection engine, an eye detection engine and an eye protection engine is provided. The image sensor captures an image. The face detection engine recognizes a user face in the image. The eye detection engine recognizes user eyes in the image. The eye protection engine turns off the display device when the user eyes are recognized in the image but the user face is not recognized in the image.

Claims

1. An image system comprising:

an image sensor having a predetermined field of view and configured to capture an image;

a display screen; and

a digital signal processor electrically coupled to the image sensor and the display screen, and the digital signal processor comprising;

a face detection engine electrically coupled to the image sensor and configured to recognize a face in the image;

an eye detection engine electrically coupled to the image sensor and configured to recognize eyes in the image; and

an eye protection engine

electrically coupled to the display screen, the face detection engine and the eye detection engine, and

configured to switch off the display screen when the eyes are recognized in the image by the eye detection engine but the face is not recognized in the image after performing face detection by the face detection engine.

2. The image system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a proximity sensor configured to detect whether an object is close to the image system; and

a camera configured to capture a picture to be displayed on the display screen or stored in a memory,

wherein the image sensor is not the proximity sensor or the camera.

3. The image system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the eye protection engine is further configured to switch off the display screen when the face is not recognized by the face detection engine and the eyes are not recognized by the eye detection engine.

4. The image system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined field of view of the image sensor is previously arranged according to an operable range of the image system.

5. The image system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the face detection engine, the eye detection engine and the eye protection engine are activated only when a predetermined Application is executed by the image system.

6. The image system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the image sensor is turned on full-timely when the predetermined Application is executed by the image system.

7. The image system as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the face detection engine is configured to select a window of interest in the image and recognize whether the face is within the window of interest of the image;

the eye detection engine is configured to select the window of interest in the image and recognize whether the eyes are within the window of interest of the image; and

the eye protection engine is configured to switch off the display screen when the eyes are recognized within the window of interest of the image but the face is not recognized within the window of interest of the image.

8. The image system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the window of interest of the image is previously selected according to an operable range of the image system.

9. An image system comprising:

an image sensor having a predetermined field of view and configured to capture an image; and

a digital signal processor electrically coupled to the image sensor, and the digital signal processor comprising;

a face detection engine electrically coupled to the image sensor and configured to recognize a face in the image;

an eye detection engine electrically coupled to the image sensor and configured to recognize eyes in the image; and

a display screen configured to

display with a brightness when (i) the eyes are recognized by the eye detection engine and (ii) the face is recognized by the face detection engine, and

display with a protection brightness below 30% of the brightness when the eyes are recognized by the eye detection engine but the face is not recognized in the image after performing face detection by the face detection engine.

10. The image system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the display screen is switched off when (i) the eyes are not recognized by the eye detection engine and (ii) the face is not recognized by the face detection engine.

11. The image system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the predetermined field of view of the image sensor is previously arranged according to an operable range of the image system.

12. The image system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the face detection engine and the eye detection engine are activated only when a predetermined Application is executed by the image system.

13. The image system as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

a proximity sensor configured to detect whether an object is close to the image system; and

a camera configured to capture a picture to be displayed on the display screen or stored in a memory,

wherein the image sensor is not the proximity sensor or the camera.

14. The image system as claimed in claim 9, wherein

the face detection engine is configured to select a window of interest in the image and recognize whether the face is within the window of interest of the image;

the eye detection engine is configured to select the window of interest in the image and recognize whether the eyes are within the window of interest of the image; and

the display screen is configured to display with the brightness when (i) the eyes are recognized within the window of interest of the image and (ii) the face is recognized within the window of interest of the image.

15. The image system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the window of interest of the image is previously selected according to an operable range of the image system.

16. An operating method of an image system, the image system comprising an image sensor, a display screen and a digital signal processor which is electrically coupled to the image sensor and the display screen, the operating method comprising:

capturing, by the image sensor, an image having hundreds of pixels;

recognizing, by the digital signal processor, a face and eyes in the image; and

showing a notice on the display screen by the digital signal processor when the eyes are recognized in the image but the face is not recognized in the image after performing face detection.

17. The operating method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

switching off the display screen by the digital signal processor when both the face and the eyes are not recognized in the image.

18. The operating method as claimed in claim 16, wherein

the recognizing is to recognize whether the face and the eyes are in a window of interest of the image;

and

the showing is to show the notice on the display screen when the eyes are recognized in the window of interest of the image but the face is not recognized in the window of interest of the image.

19. The operating method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising:

activating the digital signal processor only when a predetermined Application is executed by the image system.