Patents by Inventor Chia-kai Liang

Chia-kai Liang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10200613
    Abstract: The disclosed technology includes techniques for providing improved video stabilization on a mobile device. Using gyroscope data of the mobile device, the physical camera orientation of the mobile device may be estimated over time. Using the physical camera orientation and historical data, corresponding virtual camera orientations representing a camera orientation with undesired rotational movement removed may be modeled using a non-linear filter to provide for mapping of a real image to a stabilized virtual image. The virtual camera orientation may be modified to prevent undefined pixels from appearing in the output image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Xue Tu, Lun-Cheng Chu, Jianing Wei
  • Patent number: 10171738
    Abstract: The subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods and systems for stabilizing video. A computing system determines a stabilized location of a facial feature in a frame of video accounting for its location in a previous frame. The computing system determines a physical camera pose in virtual space and maps the frame into virtual space. The computing system determines an optimized virtual camera pose using an optimization process that determines (1) a difference between the stabilized location of the facial feature and a location of the facial feature when viewed from a potential virtual camera pose, (2) a difference between the potential virtual camera pose and a previous virtual camera pose, and (3) a difference between the potential virtual camera pose and the physical camera pose. The computing system generates the stabilized view of the frame using the optimized virtual camera pose.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Fuhao Shi
  • Patent number: 10129524
    Abstract: According to various embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for enabling interaction with, manipulation of, and control of depth-assigned content in depth-enhanced pictures, such as virtual reality images. Depth-assigned content can be assigned to a specified depth value. When a depth-enhanced picture is refocused at a focus depth substantially different from the specified assigned depth value, the depth-assigned content may be omitted, grayed out, blurred, or otherwise visually distinguished. In this manner, content associated with an in-focus image element can be visually distinguished from content associated with an out-of-focus image element. For example, in at least one embodiment, depth-assigned content is visible only when an image element associated with the content is in focus (or nearly in focus).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
    Inventors: Yi-Ren Ng, Eric Cheng, Chia-Kai Liang, Kayvon Fatahalian, David John Evans, Kira Wampler, Kristen Berman, Kurt Barton Akeley
  • Publication number: 20180255254
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to mitigate lens flare effects. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array and received in a data store. A plurality of flare-affected pixels may be identified in the light-field image. The flare-affected pixels may have flare-affected pixel values. Flare-corrected pixel values may be generated for the flare-affected pixels. Relative to the flare-affected pixel values, the flare-corrected pixel values may at least partially remove the lens flare effects. The flare-corrected pixel values may be used to generate a corrected light-field image in which the lens flare effects are at least partially corrected. The corrected light-field image may be displayed on a display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventors: Jiangtao KUANG, Chia-Kai LIANG
  • Patent number: 10038909
    Abstract: RAW images and/or light field images may be compressed through the use of specialized techniques. The color depth of a light field image may be reduced through the use of a bit reduction algorithm such as a K-means algorithm. The image may then be retiled to group pixels of similar intensities and/or colors. The retiled image may be padded with extra pixel rows and/or pixel columns as needed, and compressed through the use of an image compression algorithm. The compressed image may be assembled with metadata pertinent to the manner in which compression was done to form a compressed image file. The compressed image file may be decompressed by following the compression method in reverse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Kurt Akeley, Brendan Bevensee, Colvin Pitts, Timothy James Knight, Carl Warren Craddock, Chia-Kai Liang
  • Patent number: 10033986
    Abstract: A light-field camera may generate four-dimensional light-field data indicative of incoming light. The light-field camera may have an aperture configured to receive the incoming light, an image sensor, and a microlens array configured to redirect the incoming light at the image sensor. The image sensor may receive the incoming light and, based on the incoming light, generate the four-dimensional light-field data, which may have first and second spatial dimensions and first and second angular dimensions. The first angular dimension may have a first resolution higher than a second resolution of the second angular dimension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Colvin Pitts, Chia-Kai Liang, Kurt Akeley
  • Patent number: 9979909
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to mitigate lens flare effects. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array and received in a data store. A plurality of flare-affected pixels may be identified in the light-field image. The flare-affected pixels may have flare-affected pixel values. Flare-corrected pixel values may be generated for the flare-affected pixels. Relative to the flare-affected pixel values, the flare-corrected pixel values may at least partially remove the lens flare effects. The flare-corrected pixel values may be used to generate a corrected light-field image in which the lens flare effects are at least partially corrected. The corrected light-field image may be displayed on a display screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Lytro, Inc.
    Inventors: Jiangtao Kuang, Chia-Kai Liang
  • Publication number: 20180115714
    Abstract: The disclosed technology includes techniques for providing improved video stabilization on a mobile device. Using gyroscope data of the mobile device, the physical camera orientation of the mobile device may be estimated over time. Using the physical camera orientation and historical data, corresponding virtual camera orientations representing a camera orientation with undesired rotational movement removed may be modeled using a non-linear filter to provide for mapping of a real image to a stabilized virtual image. The virtual camera orientation may be modified to prevent undefined pixels from appearing in the output image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Xue Tu, Lun-Cheng Chu, Jianing Wei
  • Publication number: 20180082405
    Abstract: An image such as a light-field image may be processed to provide depth-based blurring. The image may be received in a data store. At an input device, first and second user input may be received to designate a first focus depth and a second focus depth different from the first focus depth, respectively. A processor may identify one or more foreground portions of the image that have one or more foreground portion depths, each of which is less than the first focus depth. The processor may also identify one or more background portions of the image that have one or more background portion depths, each of which is greater than the second focus depth. The processor may also apply blurring to the one or more foreground portions and the one or more background portions to generate a processed image, which may be displayed on a display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Kent Oberheu, Kurt Akeley, Garrett Girod, Nikhil Karnad, Francis A. Benevides, JR.
  • Patent number: 9888179
    Abstract: The disclosed technology includes techniques for providing improved video stabilization on a mobile device. Using gyroscope data of the mobile device, the physical camera orientation of the mobile device may be estimated over time. Using the physical camera orientation and historical data, corresponding virtual camera orientations representing a camera orientation with undesired rotational movement removed may be modeled using a non-linear filter to provide for mapping of a real image to a stabilized virtual image. The virtual camera orientation may be modified to prevent undefined pixels from appearing in the output image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Xue Tu, Lun-Cheng Chu, Jianing Wei
  • Patent number: 9858649
    Abstract: An image such as a light-field image may be processed to provide depth-based blurring. The image may be received in a data store. At an input device, first and second user input may be received to designate a first focus depth and a second focus depth different from the first focus depth, respectively. A processor may identify one or more foreground portions of the image that have one or more foreground portion depths, each of which is less than the first focus depth. The processor may also identify one or more background portions of the image that have one or more background portion depths, each of which is greater than the second focus depth. The processor may also apply blurring to the one or more foreground portions and the one or more background portions to generate a processed image, which may be displayed on a display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: Lytro, Inc.
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Kent Oberheu, Kurt Akeley, Garrett Girod, Nikhil Karnad, Francis A. Benevides, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20170302903
    Abstract: According to various embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for enabling interaction with, manipulation of, and control of depth-assigned content in depth-enhanced pictures, such as virtual reality images. Depth-assigned content can be assigned to a specified depth value. When a depth-enhanced picture is refocused at a focus depth substantially different from the specified assigned depth value, the depth-assigned content may be omitted, grayed out, blurred, or otherwise visually distinguished. In this manner, content associated with an in-focus image element can be visually distinguished from content associated with an out-of-focus image element. For example, in at least one embodiment, depth-assigned content is visible only when an image element associated with the content is in focus (or nearly in focus).
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Inventors: Yi-Ren Ng, Eric Cheng, Chia-Kai Liang, Kayvon Fatahalian, David John Evans, Kira Wampler, Kristen Berman, Kurt Barton Akeley
  • Publication number: 20170280136
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, a light-field image may be compressed and/or decompressed to facilitate storage, transmission, or other functions related to the light-field image. A light-field image may be captured by a light-field image capture device having an image sensor and a microlens array. The light-field image may be received in a data store. A processor may generate a first refocus image pool with a plurality of refocus images based on the light-field image. The processor may further use the first refocus image pool to compress the light-field image to generate a bitstream, smaller than the light-field image, which is representative of the light-field image. The processor or a different processor may also be used to generate a second refocus image pool with a second plurality of images based on the bitstream. The second refocus image pool may be used to decompress the bitstream to generate a reconstructed light-field image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Publication date: September 28, 2017
    Inventor: Chia-Kai Liang
  • Patent number: 9712820
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, a light-field image may be compressed and/or decompressed to facilitate storage, transmission, or other functions related to the light-field image. A light-field image may be captured by a light-field image capture device having an image sensor and a microlens array. The light-field image may be received in a data store. A processor may generate a first refocus image pool with a plurality of refocus images based on the light-field image. The processor may further use the first refocus image pool to compress the light-field image to generate a bitstream, smaller than the light-field image, which is representative of the light-field image. The processor or a different processor may also be used to generate a second refocus image pool with a second plurality of images based on the bitstream. The second refocus image pool may be used to decompress the bitstream to generate a reconstructed light-field image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: Lytro, Inc.
    Inventor: Chia-Kai Liang
  • Patent number: 9628684
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein serve to at least partially compensate for departures of an actual main lens of a light-field camera from the properties of an ideal main lens. Light-field data may be captured and processed through the use of product calibration data and unit calibration data. The product calibration data may be descriptive of departure of a main lens design of the light-field camera from an ideal main lens design. The unit calibration data may be descriptive of departure of the actual main lens of the light-field camera from the main lens design. Corrected light-field data may be generated as a result of the processing, and may be used to generate a light-field image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Lytro, Inc.
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Colvin Pitts, Carl (Warren) Craddock, Graham Butler Myhre
  • Publication number: 20170091906
    Abstract: An image such as a light-field image may be processed to provide depth-based blurring. The image may be received in a data store. At an input device, first and second user input may be received to designate a first focus depth and a second focus depth different from the first focus depth, respectively. A processor may identify one or more foreground portions of the image that have one or more foreground portion depths, each of which is less than the first focus depth. The processor may also identify one or more background portions of the image that have one or more background portion depths, each of which is greater than the second focus depth. The processor may also apply blurring to the one or more foreground portions and the one or more background portions to generate a processed image, which may be displayed on a display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Chia-Kai Liang, Kent Oberheu, Kurt Akeley, Garrett Girod, Nikhil Karnad, Francis A. Benevides, JR.
  • Patent number: 9607424
    Abstract: According to various embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for enabling interaction with, manipulation of, and control of depth-assigned content in depth-enhanced pictures. Depth-assigned content can be assigned to a specified depth value. When a depth-enhanced picture is refocused at a focus depth substantially different from the specified assigned depth value, the depth-assigned content may be omitted, grayed out, blurred, or otherwise visually distinguished. In this manner, content associated with an in-focus image element can be visually distinguished from content associated with an out-of-focus image element. For example, in at least one embodiment, depth-assigned content is visible only when an image element associated with the content is in focus (or nearly in focus). According to various embodiments of the invention, many different types of interactions are facilitated among depth-assigned content, depth-enhanced pictures, and other content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Lytro, Inc.
    Inventors: Yi-Ren Ng, Eric Cheng, Chia-Kai Liang, Kayvon Fatahalian, David John Evans, Kira Wampler, Kristen Berman, Kurt Barton Akeley
  • Publication number: 20170026592
    Abstract: According to various embodiments, the system and method disclosed herein process light-field image data so as to mitigate lens flare effects. A light-field image may be captured with a light-field image capture device with a microlens array and received in a data store. A plurality of flare-affected pixels may be identified in the light-field image. The flare-affected pixels may have flare-affected pixel values. Flare-corrected pixel values may be generated for the flare-affected pixels. Relative to the flare-affected pixel values, the flare-corrected pixel values may at least partially remove the lens flare effects. The flare-corrected pixel values may be used to generate a corrected light-field image in which the lens flare effects are at least partially corrected. The corrected light-field image may be displayed on a display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventors: Jiangtao Kuang, Chia-Kai Liang
  • Publication number: 20160353082
    Abstract: A light-field camera may generate four-dimensional light-field data indicative of incoming light. The light-field camera may have an aperture configured to receive the incoming light, an image sensor, and a microlens array configured to redirect the incoming light at the image sensor. The image sensor may receive the incoming light and, based on the incoming light, generate the four-dimensional light-field data, which may have first and second spatial dimensions and first and second angular dimensions. The first angular dimension may have a first resolution higher than a second resolution of the second angular dimension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Inventors: Colvin Pitts, Chia-Kai Liang, Kurt Akeley
  • Publication number: 20160316218
    Abstract: RAW images and/or light field images may be compressed through the use of specialized techniques. The color depth of a light field image may be reduced through the use of a bit reduction algorithm such as a K-means algorithm. The image may then be retiled to group pixels of similar intensities and/or colors. The retiled image may be padded with extra pixel rows and/or pixel columns as needed, and compressed through the use of an image compression algorithm. The compressed image may be assembled with metadata pertinent to the manner in which compression was done to form a compressed image file. The compressed image file may be decompressed by following the compression method in reverse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2016
    Publication date: October 27, 2016
    Inventors: Kurt Akeley, Brendan Bevensee, Colvin Pitts, Timothy James Knight, Carl Warren Craddock, Chia-Kai Liang