Remote camera control device

• US 6,965,394 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2001
• Issued: 11/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Trajkovic, Miroslav, Gutta, Srinivas, Colmenarez, Antonio
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Application Number:
  US09/822,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20020140803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,691 Days
• Field of Search: 348 1401- 1403, 348/14.05, 348 1407- 141, 348 1414- 1416, 348/169, 348/207.99, 348/207.1, 348/207.11, 348/208.14, 348/211.99, 348/211.8, 34821112-21114, 348373-386, 348/333.03, 396/51, 396/58, 382/103, 382/107, 382117-118, 382/236
• US Class Current: 348/14.05
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/695 Control of camera direction for changing a field of view, e.g. pan, tilt or based on tracking of objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A camera system comprising a camera, a monitor, an image detector, a touch screen, and a remote control. The monitor displays a field of view of a lens of the camera. The image detector provides a viewer image to the remote control whereby the remote control can determine a desired image within the field of view that the viewer is gazing upon. The touch screen enables a viewer of the monitor to point to the desired image of the field of view and provides signal(s) indicative of the pointing. The remote control is operable to activate various drives to pan and/or tilt the camera, or to zoom and/or focus the lens to the desired image and to follow any movement of the image within the field of view.

Claims

1. A device for remotely controlling a camera having a lens, said device comprising:

a monitor operable to display a field of view of the lens, the field of view including images of a plurality of objects;

a processor configured to determine a first image of the images of the plurality of objects that is being gazed upon by a viewer by generating an image of the viewer'"'"'s face, use a pattern recognition technique on the image of the viewer'"'"'s face to determine an orientation of the pupils of the viewer'"'"'s eyes wherein a recognition of a outer corner of either eye is used as a reference to determine an orientation of the pupils of the viewer'"'"'s eyes, use a non-parametric model for background subtraction to extract the first image; and

a touch screen operable to provide one or more signals indicative of a viewer pointing on the touch screen in a direction of the first image for selectively adjusting a zoom and a focus of the lens in a direction of the first image.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to selectively adjusting a pan orientation and a tilt orientation of the camera and selectively adjusting the zoom and focus of the lens as a function of a movement of the first image.