Head tracking and color video acquisition via near infrared luminance keying
First Claim
1. A method of detecting and tracking the head location of a user within an area comprising the steps of:
- (a) uniformly illuminating a rear projection screen that is located in a position behind the user with light having a wavelength in the near-infrared spectrum;
(b) projecting an image of a location remote from the user onto at least a portion of the rear projection screen, where the image projector emits light having a wavelength outside of the near-infrared spectrum;
(c) defining the boundary of the head location based on detected near-infrared luminance differences within the area with respect to the rear projection screen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and corresponding method for head tracking and color video acquisition via near infrared luminance keying is disclosed. The head of the local user is tracked in real time by uniformly illuminating a rear projection screen that surrounds a display cube with light having a wavelength in the near-infrared spectrum. A near-infrared image of the head of the local user is acquired by a near-infrared camera equipped with filters that discern the difference between the illuminated rear projection screen and any foreground illumination. A color image of the head of a local user and the projection of a remote location are acquired by a color camera, placed in close proximity to the near-infrared camera. A bounding box is then placed around the head of the local user in the near-infrared image. This bounding box is then translated to the view space of the color camera. This translated image is then used to crop the color image. The cropped color image is then transmitted to the remote location.
36 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of detecting and tracking the head location of a user within an area comprising the steps of:
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(a) uniformly illuminating a rear projection screen that is located in a position behind the user with light having a wavelength in the near-infrared spectrum;
(b) projecting an image of a location remote from the user onto at least a portion of the rear projection screen, where the image projector emits light having a wavelength outside of the near-infrared spectrum;
(c) defining the boundary of the head location based on detected near-infrared luminance differences within the area with respect to the rear projection screen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for detecting and tracking the head location of a user within an area, comprising:
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a rear projection screen located in a position substantially behind the user;
means for illuminating the rear projection screen with light having a wavelength in the near-infrared spectrum;
means for projecting a video of a location remote from the user onto the rear projection screen, the projecting means emitting light having a wavelength outside of the near-infrared spectrum; and
a camera unit located in a position substantially in front of the user, the camera unit including a near-infrared camera and a color camera maintained in a stacked relationship with respect to each other, wherein the near-infrared camera detects head location based on luminance differences between the illuminated rear projection screen and an a video object in relative proximity to the projection screen. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18)
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17. A head detection and tracking system, comprising:
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a rear projection screen located in a position substantially behind a user;
an illuminator operative to uniformly illuminate the rear projection screen with light having a wavelength in the near-infrared spectrum;
a projector operative to project a video image of a location remote from the user onto the rear projection screen, the projector emitting light having a wavelength outside of the near-infrared spectrum; and
a camera unit located in a position substantially in front of the user, the camera unit including a near-infrared camera and a color camera maintained in a stacked relationship with respect to each other, wherein the near-infrared camera detects the head location of the user based on luminance differences between the uniformly illuminated rear projection screen and a video object in relative proximity to the rear projection screen.
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Specification