Method and apparatus for performing a clean background subtraction
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for subtracting a background comprising:
- locating key points on an image of a known object type;
determining line segments between the key points;
locating boundary points of the image that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminating pixel gaps between the boundary points;
connecting the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
processing the edges to provide a clean-edged extraction of the image from a background image, including using an alpha image to determine a key point, which is selected based on a similarity score for a region in the alpha image; and
reducing noise from the edges of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments;
wherein at least one key point is located based at least in part on a key point template comprising a plurality of pixels and specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the specially configured key point template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value and the other pixels in the specially configured key point template have a second value.
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Abstract
A background subtraction apparatus of the present invention includes a key point locator for locating key points on a known object type, a boundary point locator for locating boundary points of the known object that make up the edges of the known object, and an edge processor for processing the edges to provide a clean-edged extraction of the known object from a background image. Preferably, the key point locator includes an alignment detector for detecting alignment of an image of the known object type with a skeleton image. Still more preferably, the skeleton image is an exoskeleton image and the known object type is a human being.
287 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method for subtracting a background comprising:
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locating key points on an image of a known object type;
determining line segments between the key points;
locating boundary points of the image that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminating pixel gaps between the boundary points;
connecting the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
processing the edges to provide a clean-edged extraction of the image from a background image, including using an alpha image to determine a key point, which is selected based on a similarity score for a region in the alpha image; and
reducing noise from the edges of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments;
wherein at least one key point is located based at least in part on a key point template comprising a plurality of pixels and specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the specially configured key point template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value and the other pixels in the specially configured key point template have a second value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A background subtraction apparatus comprising:
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an image acquisition device for acquiring an image of a known object type; and
a processor configured to;
locate key points on the image;
determine line segments between the key points;
locate boundary points of the image that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminate pixel gaps between the boundary points;
connect the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
process the edges to provide a clean-edged extraction of the image from a background image including using an alpha image to determine a key point, which is selected based on a similarity score for a region in the alpha image; and
reduce noise from the edges of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments;
wherein at least one key point is located based at least in part on a key point template comprising a plurality of pixels and specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the specially configured key point template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value and the other pixels in the specially configured key point template have a second value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer implemented process instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for subtracting a background, the method comprising:
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locating key points on an image of a known object type, including using an alpha image to determine a key point, which is selected based on a similarity score for a region in the alpha image;
determining line segments between the key points;
locating boundary points of the image that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminating pixel gaps between the boundary points;
connecting the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
processing the edges to provide a clean-edged extraction of the image from a background image; and
reducing noise from the edges of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments;
wherein at least one key point is located based at least in part on a key point template comprising a plurality of pixels and specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the specially configured key point template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value and the other pixels in the specially configured key point template have a second value. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A computer-implemented method for subtracting an image of a known object type from a background image, the method comprising:
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locating, with a computer, key points on an image of a known object type based on a similarity score for a region in an alpha image of the known object type and a template of a key point;
determining line segments between the key points;
locating boundary points of the image of the known object that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminating pixel gaps between the boundary points;
reducing noise from the edges of the image of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments; and
connecting the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
wherein the template comprises a plurality of pixels and is specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value, and the other pixels in the template have a second value. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A background subtraction apparatus, comprising:
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means for acquiring an image of a known object type;
means for locating key points on an image of a known object type based on a similarity score for a region in an alpha image of the known object type and a template of a key point;
means for determining line segments between the key points;
means for locating boundary points of the image of the known object that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
means for eliminating pixel gaps between the boundary points;
means for reducing noise from the edges of the image of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments; and
means for connecting the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
wherein the template comprises a plurality of pixels and is specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value, and the other pixels in the template have a second value.
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58. A background subtraction apparatus, comprising:
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an image acquisition device for acquiring an image of a known object type; and
a processor configured to;
locate key points on an image of a known object type based on a similarity score for a region in an alpha image of the known object type and a template of a key point;
determine line segments between the key points;
locate boundary points of the image of the known object that comprise edges of the known object by using the line segments;
eliminate pixel gaps between the boundary points;
reduce noise from the edges of the image of the known object, after determining the key points, using an edge strength, the alpha image, and the line segments by aligning a snake to the line segments; and
connect the boundary points to obtain a closed loop of pixels;
wherein the template comprises a plurality of pixels and is specially configured for that key point; and
wherein the pixels in the template that make up a shape associated with the key point have a first value, and the other pixels in the template have a second value. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60)
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Specification