Patents by Inventor Katharine Ip

Katharine Ip 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: 9031393
    Abstract: An electronic system for enhancing camera focusing on a portable electronic device is disclosed. The system comprises a body, a bus, and a camera module coupled to the bus and comprising a photosensitive substrate and a lens assembly wherein the lens assembly comprises a lens capable of being selectively moved to a distance from the photosensitive substrate for light focus thereon. Further, it comprises an accelerometer coupled to the bus and configured to generate orientation information, said orientation information indicating contemporaneous orientation of the body with respect to a predetermined reference. It also comprises a memory and a processor coupled to the bus. The memory comprises instructions that when executed implement an autofocus program configured to automatically determine the distance based on: 1) image data captured by said camera module; and 2) the orientation information generated by the accelerometer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Guanghua Gary Zhang, Katharine Ip, Michael Lin
  • Publication number: 20140368724
    Abstract: An electronic system for enhancing camera focusing on a portable electronic device is disclosed. The system comprises a body, a bus, and a camera module coupled to the bus and comprising a photosensitive substrate and a lens assembly wherein the lens assembly comprises a lens capable of being selectively moved to a distance from the photosensitive substrate for light focus thereon. Further, it comprises an accelerometer coupled to the bus and configured to generate orientation information, said orientation information indicating contemporaneous orientation of the body with respect to a predetermined reference. It also comprises a memory and a processor coupled to the bus. The memory comprises instructions that when executed implement an autofocus program configured to automatically determine the distance based on: 1) image data captured by said camera module; and 2) the orientation information generated by the accelerometer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Publication date: December 18, 2014
    Inventors: Guanghua Gary Zhang, Katharine Ip, Michael Lin
  • Publication number: 20140119642
    Abstract: Systems for segmenting human hairs and faces in color images are disclosed, with methods and processes for making and using the same. The image may be cropped around the face area and roughly centered. Optionally, the illumination environment of the input image may be determined. If the image is taken under dark environment or the contrast between the face and hair regions and background is low, an extra image enhancement may be applied. Sub-processes for identifying the pose angle and chin contours may be performed. A preliminary mask for the face by using multiple cues, such as skin color, pose angle, face shape and contour information can be represented. An initial hair mask by using the abovementioned multiple cues plus texture and hair shape information may be created. The preliminary face and hair masks are globally refined using multiple techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Publication date: May 1, 2014
    Applicant: FLASHFOTO, INC.
    Inventors: Kuang-chih Lee, Robinson Piramuthu, Katharine Ip, Daniel Prochazka
  • Patent number: 8638993
    Abstract: Systems for segmenting human hairs and faces in color images are disclosed, with methods and processes for making and using the same. The image may be cropped around the face area and roughly centered. Optionally, the illumination environment of the input image may be determined. If the image is taken under dark environment or the contrast between the face and hair regions and background is low, an extra image enhancement may be applied. Sub-processes for identifying the pose angle and chin contours may be performed. A preliminary mask for the face by using multiple cues, such as skin color, pose angle, face shape and contour information can be represented. An initial hair mask by using the abovementioned multiple cues plus texture and hair shape information may be created. The preliminary face and hair masks are globally refined using multiple techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2014
    Assignee: FlashFoto, Inc.
    Inventors: Kuang-chih Lee, Robinson Piramuthu, Katharine Ip, Daniel Prochazka
  • Patent number: 8411986
    Abstract: A method for distinguishing a foreground object from a monochromatic background in a digital image depicting a foreground object in front of said monochromatic background. A outer edge intensity map is created of the foreground object to which a tracing process is conducted. A continuous edge map is created by utilizing the traced edges in the outer edge intensity map. By selecting a path on the continuous edge map based on average edge intensity, a final edge map is created. The pixels comprised within the final edge map are distinguished as the foreground object. Optionally, the final edge map may be refined utilizing certain techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: FlashFoto, Inc.
    Inventors: Katharine Ip, Robinson Piramuthu, Paul King
  • Publication number: 20110299776
    Abstract: Systems for segmenting human hairs and faces in color images are disclosed, with methods and processes for making and using the same. The image may be cropped around the face area and roughly centered. Optionally, the illumination environment of the input image may be determined. If the image is taken under dark environment or the contrast between the face and hair regions and background is low, an extra image enhancement may be applied. Sub-processes for identifying the pose angle and chin contours may be performed. A preliminary mask for the face by using multiple cues, such as skin color, pose angle, face shape and contour information can be represented. An initial hair mask by using the abovementioned multiple cues plus texture and hair shape information may be created. The preliminary face and hair masks are globally refined using multiple techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Inventors: Kuang-chih Lee, Robinson Piramuthu, Katharine Ip, Daniel Prochazka
  • Publication number: 20100316288
    Abstract: A method for distinguishing a foreground object from a monochromatic background in a digital image depicting a foreground object in front of said monochromatic background. A outer edge intensity map is created of the foreground object to which a tracing process is conducted. A continuous edge map is created by utilizing the traced edges in the outer edge intensity map. By selecting a path on the continuous edge map based on average edge intensity, a final edge map is created. The pixels comprised within the final edge map are distinguished as the foreground object. Optionally, the final edge map may be refined utilizing certain techniques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2010
    Publication date: December 16, 2010
    Inventors: Katharine Ip, Robinson Piramuthu, Paul King