FACE DETECTION AND TRACKING IN A WIDE FIELD OF VIEW

• US 20070092245A1
• Filed: 10/20/2005
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Morellas, Vassilios, Bazakos, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,806,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/427
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/166 using acquisition arrangements

Abstract

Facial detection and tracking systems and methods within a wide field of view are disclosed. A facial detection and tracking system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention can include a wide field of view camera for detecting and tracking one or more objects within a wider field of view, and at least one narrower field of view camera for obtaining a higher-resolution image of each object located within a subset space of the wider field of view. The wide field of view camera can be operatively coupled to a computer or other such device that determines the subset space location of the individual within the wider field of view, and then tasks one or more of the narrower field of view cameras covering the subset space location to obtain a high-resolution image of the object.

Claims

1. A facial detection and tracking system, comprising:

a wide field of view camera for detecting one or more objects located within a wider field of view; and

at least one narrower field of view camera for obtaining a higher-resolution image of at least one detected object, each narrower field of view camera adapted to cover a subset space of the wider field of view.

2. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein the wide field of view camera continuously operates in a wide-angle mode.

3. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein the wide field of view camera is fixed in position.

4. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein the wide field of view camera is adjustable in position.

5. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein the wide field of view camera is a TBI camera.

6. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein said at least one narrow field of view camera is a TBI camera.

7. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 6, further including a near-IR illuminator.

8. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 7, further including an adjustment module for adjusting the light emitted from the near-IR illuminator.

9. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein said at least one narrower field of view camera comprises a plurality of narrower field of view cameras.

10. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 9, wherein each of said plurality of narrower field of view cameras is disposed in an array.

11. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 10, wherein said array comprises a horizontal array.

12. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 10, wherein said array comprises a vertical array.

13. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 10, wherein said array comprises a two-dimensional array.

14. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 9, wherein said plurality of narrower field of view cameras covers the entire wider field of view in overlapping segments.

15. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 9, wherein said plurality of narrower field of view cameras covers the entire wider field of view in discrete segments.

16. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, further comprising processing means for processing images received from the wide field of view camera and the at least one narrower field of view camera.

17. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional wide field of view camera.

18. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein the wide field of view camera is further configured to track movement of the one or more objects within the wider field of view.

19. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said one or more objects is an individual.

20. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 19, wherein said high-resolution image is a facial image.

21. A facial detection and tracking system, comprising:

a wide field of view camera for detecting one or more objects located within a wider field of view; and

a plurality of narrower field of view cameras for obtaining a higher-resolution image of at least one detected object, each narrower field of view camera adapted to cover a subset space of the wider field of view.

22. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein the wide field of view camera continuously operates in a wide-angle mode.

23. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein the wide field of view camera is fixed in position.

24. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein the wide field of view camera is adjustable.

25. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein the wide field of view camera is a TBI camera.

26. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein each of said plurality of narrow field of view cameras is a TBI camera.

27. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 26, further including a near-IR illuminator.

28. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 27, further including an adjustment module for adjusting the light emitted from the near-IR illuminator.

29. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein each of said plurality of narrower field of view cameras is disposed in an array.

30. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 29, wherein said array comprises a horizontal array.

31. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 29, wherein said array comprises a vertical array.

32. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 29, wherein said array comprises a two-dimensional array.

33. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein said plurality of narrower field of view cameras covers the entire wider field of view in overlapping segments.

34. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein said plurality of narrower field of view cameras covers the entire wider field of view in discrete segments.

35. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, further comprising processing means for processing images received from said plurality of narrower field of view cameras.

36. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, further comprising at least one additional wide field of view camera.

37. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein the wide field of view camera is further configured to track movement of the one or more objects within the wider field of view.

38. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 21, wherein at least one of said one or more objects is an individual.

39. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 38, wherein said high-resolution image is a facial image.

40. A facial detection and tracking system, comprising:

a wide field of view camera adapted to continuously operate in a wide-angle mode for detecting one or more objects located within a wider field of view;

a plurality of narrower field of view cameras for obtaining a higher-resolution image of each detected object, each narrower field of view camera adapted to cover a subset space of the wider field of view; and

processing means for processing images received from the wide field of view camera and the narrower field of view cameras.

41. A facial detection and tracking system, comprising:

a wide field of view camera for detecting and tracking one or more individuals located within a wider field of view; and

at least one narrower field of view TBI camera for obtaining a higher-resolution image of each tracked individual, each TBI camera being adapted to cover a subset space of the wider field of view.

42. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 41, further including a near-IR illuminator.

43. The facial detection and tracking system of claim 42, further including an adjustment module for adjusting the light emitted from the near-IR illuminator.

44. A method for detecting and tracking an object within a wide field of view, comprising the steps of:

detecting an object within the wider field of view using at least one wide field of view camera;

determining the subset space location of the object;

tasking one or more narrower field of view cameras covering the subset space location to scan one or more higher-resolution images of the object; and

processing the images received from the one or more narrower field of view cameras to obtain at least one parameter relating to the object.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein said object is an individual.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said processing step includes the step of performing a skin detection routine to detect and confirm the presence of skin.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein said processing step includes the steps of:

performing a facial recognition routine to detect one or more facial features of the individual; and

comparing the one or more facial features against a set of parameters stored within a facial image database.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein said one or more narrower field of view cameras are TBI cameras.

49. The method of claim 48, further including the step of adjusting the quality and/or amount of near-IR light emitted during the step of tasking one or more narrower field of view TBI cameras covering the subset space location to scan one or more higher-resolution images of the object.

50. A method for facially detecting and tracking one or more individuals within a wide field of view, comprising the steps of:

detecting an individual within the wide field of view using at least one wide field of view camera;

determining the subset space location of the individual;

tasking one or more narrower field of view TBI cameras covering the subset space location to perform a low band and high band near-IR scan of the individual'"'"'s face;

subtracting and fusing the high near-IR image from the low near-IR image;

performing a multi-band feature extraction routine to detect one or more facial features of the individual; and

processing the images to obtain a final video facial image.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising the step of comparing the one or more facial features against a set of parameters stored within a facial image database.

52. The method of claim 50, further including the step of adjusting the quality or amount of near-IR light emitted during the step of tasking one or more narrower field of view TBI cameras covering the subset space location to scan one or more higher-resolution images of the individual.