Image analysis – Applications – Range or distance measuring
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-18
2002-05-07
Ahmed, Samir (Department: 2623)
Image analysis
Applications
Range or distance measuring
C345S156000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06385331
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand pointing apparatus, and more specifically to a hand pointing apparatus for picking up a person to be recognized and for determining a position or a direction pointed to by the person to be recognized.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been heretofore known a hand pointing input apparatus which comprises a display for displaying predetermined information, an illuminating device for illuminating an information inputting person who comes to the display, and a plurality of image pickup devices for picking up the image of the approaching information inputting person from different directions, wherein a plurality of image pickup devices image pickup images of situations where the approaching information inputting person points with a finger or the like to an optional position on the display, the information inputting person is recognized in accordance with a plurality of images obtained by the image pickup, the position on the display pointed to by the information inputting person is determined, a cursor or the like is displayed on the position pointed to on the display, and the position on the display pointed to is recognized as being clicked at the time of detecting the fact that the information inputting person has performed a clicking action by raising a thumb, whereby a predetermined processing is performed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) Nos. 4-271423, 5-19957, 5-324181 or the like).
According to the above-described hand pointing input apparatus, since the information inputting person can give various instructions to an information processing apparatus and input various information to the information processing apparatus without touching an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, it is possible to simplify the operation for using the information processing apparatus.
However, in an environment where the hand pointing input apparatus is actually operated, an object which is not a subject to be recognized, for example, the luggage of the information inputting person or trash, may exist around the information inputting person who is the subject to be recognized. The surroundings of the information inputting person are also illuminated by an illuminating light emitted from the illuminating device. Thus, if the above-described object which is not the subject to be recognized exists around the information inputting person, this object which is not the subject to be recognized is present as a high-luminance object in the images picked up by the image pickup device. Thus, there is a high possibility that an object which is not the subject to be recognized, is recognized as the information inputting person by mistake.
In order to avoid this wrong recognition of the information inputting person, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the recognition of the information inputting person. For example, it is necessary to perform a complicated image processing such as the total recognition of the information inputting person by the use of a plurality of image features in addition to the luminance (for example, pattern matching or the like based on the subject is outline which is one of the image features). Therefore, since a heavy load is applied to the image processor for performing the image processing such as the recognition based on the picked-up images, this causes a long time to be taken until the instruction from the information inputting person can be determined. In order to reduce the time required for the determination of the instruction from the information inputting person, it is necessary to use an image processor with a higher processing speed. This causes the problem of the cost of the apparatus increasing.
Furthermore, a three-dimensional coordinate of a feature point has been heretofore determined by a calculation from the position of the feature point of the information inputting person on the picked-up image (for example, a tip of his/her forefinger or the like) so as to thereby determine the position on the display pointed to by the information inputting person. However, the calculation processing for determining the three-dimensional coordinate of the feature point is complicated. Due to this fact, a long time is required for the determination of the instruction from the information inputting person in the same manner as the above-described case.
Moreover, a motion raising the thumb has been heretofore predefined as representing a clicking action, and the motion of raising the thumb alone has been thus detected as the clicking. However, the degree of freedom of movement is low, which disadvantageously causes less ease-of-use. On the other hand, if motions other than the motion of raising the thumb are detected as the clicking, the processing to detect the clicking becomes complicated, causing a disadvantageously, long time to be taken before the clicking is detected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was completed in consideration of the above facts. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a hand pointing apparatus having a simple construction and being capable of reducing the time required for the determination of an instruction from a person to be recognized.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a hand pointing apparatus capable of improving the degree of freedom of the movement which the person to be recognized makes in order to give the instruction, without spending a long time in the determination of the instruction from the person to be recognized.
In order to achieve the above described objects, a hand pointing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: illuminating means for illuminating a person to be recognized; a plurality of image pickup means, located in different positions wherein the image pickup range is adjusted for each image so that the person to be recognized who is illuminated by the above-described illuminating means, may be within the image pickup range, and an illuminated range on a floor surface, which is illuminated by the above-described illuminating means, may be out of the image pickup range; and determining means for extracting an image part corresponding to the person to be recognized from a plurality of images based on a plurality of images of situations picked up by the plurality of image pickup means, the situations being indicative of the person to be recognized pointing to either a specific position or a specific direction, and for determining either the position or the direction pointed to by the person to be recognized.
In the first aspect of the present invention, the person to be recognized may point to a specific position on, for example, the surface of a display screen or the like of a display, or may point to a specific direction (for example, the direction in which a specific object exists as seen from the person to be recognized). The determining means extracts the image part corresponding to the person to be recognized from a plurality of images based on a plurality of images of situations picked up by the plurality of image pickup means, where the situations are indicative of the person to be recognized pointing to either the specific position or the specific direction, and the determining means determines either the position or the direction pointed to by the person to be recognized. By calculating a three-dimensional coordinate of a feature point of the person to be recognized (a point whose position is changed in response to the motion by the person to be recognized to point to a specific position or a specific direction, for example, a tip of a predetermined part, (for example, the hand, the finger, or the like), of the body of the person to be recognized making the pointing motion, the tip of a pointer held by the person to be recognized or the like), the determination of the specific position or direction pointed to can be accomplished based on the position of the person to be recognized and the
Harakawa Kenichi
Igawa Norio
Unno Kenichi
Ahmed Samir
Bednarek Michael D.
Pittman LLP Shaw
Takenaka Corporation
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