RAPID AUTO-FOCUS USING CLASSIFIER CHAINS, MEMS AND/OR MULTIPLE OBJECT FOCUSING
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A object-based auto-focus method, comprising:
- (a) acquiring a digital image including data corresponding to one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object” and
“
object data”
) that appears to be out of focus;
(b) applying one or more focus condition classifier programs to the object data;
(c) identifying the object data as corresponding to said object within the digital image;
(d) determining an out of focus condition for the object also as a result of the applying of the one or more focus condition classifier programs;
(e) correcting the out of focus condition of the object based on the determining, to thereby generate a corrected object image appearing to be sharply focused; and
(f) electronically capturing, combining with another image, storing, transmitting, applying an object recognition program to, editing, or displaying the corrected object image, or combinations thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A smart-focusing technique includes identifying an object of interest, such as a face, in a digital image. A focus-generic classifier chain is applied that is trained to match both focused and unfocused faces and/or data from a face tracking module is accepted. Multiple focus-specific classifier chains are applied, including a first chain trained to match substantially out of focus faces, and a second chain trained to match slightly out of focus faces. Focus position is rapidly adjusted using a MEMS component.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. A object-based auto-focus method, comprising:
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(a) acquiring a digital image including data corresponding to one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object” and
“
object data”
) that appears to be out of focus;(b) applying one or more focus condition classifier programs to the object data; (c) identifying the object data as corresponding to said object within the digital image; (d) determining an out of focus condition for the object also as a result of the applying of the one or more focus condition classifier programs; (e) correcting the out of focus condition of the object based on the determining, to thereby generate a corrected object image appearing to be sharply focused; and (f) electronically capturing, combining with another image, storing, transmitting, applying an object recognition program to, editing, or displaying the corrected object image, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An object detection method, comprising:
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acquiring a digital image; extracting a sub-window from said image; applying two or more shortened face detection classifier cascades, trained to be selectively sensitive to a focus condition of one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object”
);based on the applying, determining a probability that a specific object with a certain focus condition is present within the sub-window; based on the determining, applying an extended object detection classifier cascade trained for sensitivity to said certain focus condition; providing a final determination that the specific object exists within the image sub-window; and repeating steps (b)-(e) one or more times for one or more further sub-windows from the image or one or more further focus conditions, or both. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming one or more processors to perform an auto-focus method, wherein the method comprises:
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(a) acquiring a digital image including data corresponding to one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object” and
“
object data”
) that appears to be out of focus;(b) applying one or more focus condition classifier programs to the object data; (c) identifying the object data as corresponding to said object within the digital image; (d) determining an out of focus condition for the object also as a result of the applying of the one or more focus condition classifier programs; (e) correcting the out of focus condition of the object based on the determining, to thereby generate a corrected object image appearing to be sharply focused; and (f) electronically capturing, combining with another image, storing, transmitting, applying an object recognition program to, editing, or displaying the corrected object image, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. One or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming one or more processors to perform an object detection method, wherein the method comprises:
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(a) acquiring a digital image (b) extracting a sub-window from said image (c) applying two or more shortened face detection classifier cascades, trained to be selectively sensitive to a focus condition of one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object”
),(d) based on the applying, determining a probability that a specific object with a certain focus condition is present within the sub-window; (e) based on the determining, applying an extended object detection classifier cascade trained for sensitivity to said certain focus condition; (f) providing a final determination that the specific object exists within the image sub-window; and (g) repeating steps (b)-(e) one or more times for one or more further sub-windows from the image or one or more further focus conditions, or both. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:
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a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images; a processor; and one or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming one or more processors to perform an auto-focus method, wherein the method comprises; (a) acquiring a digital image including data corresponding to one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object” and
“
object data”
) that appears to be out of focus;(b) applying one or more focus condition classifier programs to the object data; (c) identifying the object data as corresponding to said object within the digital image; (d) determining an out of focus condition for the object also as a result of the applying of the one or more focus condition classifier programs; (e) correcting the out of focus condition of the object based on the determining, to thereby generate a corrected object image appearing to be sharply focused; and (f) electronically capturing, combining with another image, storing, transmitting, applying an object recognition program to, editing, or displaying the corrected object image, or combinations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A digital image acquisition device, comprising:
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a lens and image sensor for acquiring digital images; a processor; and one or more non-transitory processor-readable media having code embedded therein for programming one or more processors to perform an object detection method, wherein the method comprises; acquiring a digital image; extracting a sub-window from said image; applying two or more shortened face detection classifier cascades, trained to be selectively sensitive to a focus condition of one or more faces or other specific objects of interest, or both (hereinafter “
object”
);based on the applying, determining a probability that a specific object with a certain focus condition is present within the sub-window; based on the determining, applying an extended object detection classifier cascade trained for sensitivity to said certain focus condition; providing a final determination that the specific object exists within the image sub-window; and repeating steps (b)-(e) one or more times for one or more further sub-windows from the image or one or more further focus conditions, or both. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification