Abstract: A computer-assisted method for detecting copyright protection in digital images receives a digital image, searches for capture device information associated with the digital image, calculates one or more image characteristics of the digital image, and verifies copyright ownership and usage authorization of the digital image in response to the capture device information and the calculated image characteristics.

Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for detecting fraud. A first optical character recognition module optically recognizes a character imprinted with a magnetic ink on a medium using a first optical character recognition algorithm. A second optical character recognition module also optically recognizes the character using a second optical character recognition algorithm. In addition, a magnetic ink character recognition module magnetically recognizes the character using a magnetic recognition algorithm. A voting module determines if the character is potentially fraudulent based on the recognition results of the first optical character recognition module, the second optical character recognition module, and the magnetic ink character recognition module. If the character is potentially fraudulent, a results module communicates a fraud indicator.

Abstract: A method of enlarging an image field of a camera by combining partial images. This method includes continuously rotating at least two refractive prisms such that an optical axis of the at least two prisms scans in a cycloidal pattern. Furthermore the method includes capturing and combining a plurality of partial images. Finally, the cycloidal pattern is formed as an astroid pattern with a plurality of vertexes. The partial images are generated at the time of the reversal movement during the scanning in the astroid pattern, which limits unsharpness in the images kept to less than the size of a pixel.

Abstract: There is provided a novel approach for automatic human face authentication. Taking a 3D triangular facial mesh as input, the approach first automatically extracts the bilateral symmetry plane of the face surface. The intersection between the symmetry plane and the facial surface, namely the Symmetry Profile, is then computed. By using both the mean curvature plot of the facial surface and the curvature plot of the symmetry profile curve, three essential points of the nose on the symmetry profile are automatically extracted. The three essential points uniquely determine a Face Intrinsic Coordinate System (FICS). Different faces are aligned based on the FICS. The Symmetry Profile, together with two transversal profiles, namely the Forehead Profile and the Cheek Profile compose a compact representation, called the SFC representation, of a 3D face surface. The face authentication and recognition steps are finally performed by comparing the SFC representation of the faces.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for deblocking and edge enhancement of block based digital video includes determining that two blocks share a common boundary; measuring edge activity of the common boundary, comparing the measured edge activity to a first threshold, filtering one or more pixels of the two blocks with a low pass filter if the edge activity is below the first threshold, and enhancing one or more pixels of the two neighboring blocks if the edge activity is at or above the first threshold.

Abstract: In an apparatus for suppressing noise in an input image signal representing a radiographic image: at least one first characteristic of the input image signal is obtained by calculation based on information indicating an exposure dose with which the radiographic image has been produced; at least one second characteristic of a smoothing filter is adapted to the input image signal based on the at least one first characteristic; and the input image signal is processed by using the smoothing filter so as to smooth the radiographic image. In addition, a plurality of band-limited image signals respectively representing a plurality of band-limited images belonging to a plurality of different frequency bands are generated based on the input image signal, each of the plurality of band-limited image signals is processed by using the smoothing filter so as to smooth each of the plurality of band-limited images.

Abstract: A system and method for determining the image resolution of a check image using MICR characters. The disclosed system includes an extracting system for extracting a magnetic ink code recognition (MICR) code line from the document image, wherein the extracting system provides coordinate values for each of a plurality of MICR characters in the MICR code line; a calculating system for calculating a set of resolution values based on the coordinate values of the MICR characters; and a statistical analysis system that calculates a representative resolution value from the set of resolution values.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of analyzing an object data set in which a tubular structure having a plurality of branches and bifurcations occurs, wherein the object data set assigns data values to positions in a multi-dimensional space, which data values relate to an object to be examined. The invention relates further to a corresponding apparatus and computer program.

Abstract: When the studied motion is periodic, such as for a beating heart, it is possible to acquire successive sets of two dimensional plus time data slice-sequences at increasing depths over at least one time period which are later rearranged to recover a three dimensional time sequence. Since gating signals are either unavailable or cumbersome to acquire in microscopic organisms, the invention is a method for reconstructing volumes based solely on the information contained in the image sequences. The central part of the algorithm is a least-squares minimization of an objective criterion that depends on the similarity between the data from neighboring depths. Owing to a wavelet-based multiresolution approach, the method is robust to common confocal microscopy artifacts. The method is validated on both simulated data and in-vivo measurements.

Abstract: A computer-assisted method for detecting copyright protection in digital images receives a digital image, searches for capture device information associated with the digital image, calculates one or more image characteristics of the digital image, and verifies copyright ownership and usage authorization of the digital image in response to the capture device information and the calculated image characteristics.

Abstract: A digital watermark extracting apparatus that extract a watermark hidden in host data is provided. A location information generator generates a plurality of candidate watermark locations according to a secret key. An extractor extracts from each of the candidate watermark locations a watermark which has been embedded in a watermarked host signal and detects a soft decision value on the extracted watermark. A decision value evaluator evaluates a sum of the absolute values of the components of the each soft value. A selector determines a true watermark location according to the soft decision value evaluated by the decision value evaluator. The selector provides to an ECC decoder the soft decision value on the watermark extracted from the true watermark location. The ECC decoder error-correction decodes the soft decision value on the extracted watermark and outputs watermark information.

Abstract: Image data representative of features of a respective plurality images are transformed using a two dimension discrete cosine transform (DCT), and the DCT sign coefficients of the respective DCT transforms for the images are selectively used to generate a highly compressed and secure one-dimension binary data representation of a subject image whose image data has undergone a DCT transform. The binary data representation can be, for example, of a face image and is readily applicable to a passport, a credit card, a driver's license, an ID card, and the like, for use in rapid, secure face authentication.

Abstract: The invention concerns a method of inserting a message in an image, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: selecting a set of points in the image as a function of predetermined criteria, so as to form a coordinate system in the image, calculating (S21) an affine transformation between a predetermined coordinate system and the coordinate system formed in the image, generating (S24) a pseudo-random sequence for each symbol of the message to be inserted, in the predetermined coordinate system, projecting (E25) each pseudo-random sequence into the coordinate system formed in the image, by affine transformation, inserting (S27) each symbol of the message to be inserted, as a function of its respective projected pseudo-random sequence.

Abstract: A digital watermarking apparatus that embeds two watermarks in host data is provided. The first watermarking block generates a plurality of watermarking location candidates of the first watermark, and embeds the first watermark into the respective location candidates of the host data, and then selects one candidate with a high level of robustness as the first watermarked host data. The second watermarking block scrambles the watermarking location information on the first watermark and thereby generates a plurality of the second watermark candidates. Then the second watermarking block embeds the respective second watermark candidates in the first watermarked host data and selects one candidate with a high level of robustness as the second watermarked host data.

Abstract: A method of extracting a watermark from watermarked data includes extracting a plurality of watermarks from the watermarked original data, calculating reliability of each of the extracted watermarks, and determining a final watermark based on the calculated reliability of each of the extracted watermarks.

Abstract: A wavelet domain watermark encoder and decoder embed and detect auxiliary signals in a media signal, such as a still image, video or audio signal. A watermark orientation signal is embedded in a wavelet decomposed signal to facilitate detection of the watermark in a geometrically distorted version of the embedded signal. In some configurations, the watermark signal forms a pattern in a transform domain used to perform synchronization of the watermark. The pattern has attributes used to determine orientation of the watermark in a geometrically distorted version of the media signal. The attributes carry two or more auxiliary message symbols in the watermark, and the attributes both carry the two or more auxiliary message symbols and form the pattern used to perform synchronization of the watermark.

Abstract: The present invention provides a vehicle vicinity image-processing apparatus and a recording medium capable of deducing a scene having left the field of vision of a camera mounted on the rear of a vehicle and drawing an image of the area behind the vehicle which includes this deduced part. An image-processing unit 5 first coordinate-converts a picked-up image to create a bird's-eye view image. Two chronologically consecutive bird's-eye view images are created as the bird's-eye view image, and a matching area of the two images is extracted. On the basis of this matching area, a moved area which has left the present field of vision of the camera 1 is extracted. An image of the matching area and the moved area is then drawn on a monitor 3. By this means, it is possible to draw an image including a scene which has left the present field of vision of the camera 1.

Abstract: An object detection apparatus is provided that detects a target object in an image more securely and at higher speed than the conventional one. The human body detection apparatus for detecting a target object in an image includes a template memory portion for memorizing a template consisting of one or more open curves indicating a part of a contour of a human model, an image data reception portion for entering an image to be detected, a head position detection portion for detecting a human body in the image by performing a matching process on the entered image using the template.

Abstract: A character recognition system and method. The system comprises an (OCR) optical character reader system for collecting character data by electro-optically scanning printed characters; a conversion system for converting the character data to a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) format; and a recognition engine for interpreting the converted character data using a MICR algorithm.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing an improved workflow for digital watermarking during a production process. The invention provides a content tracking authority facility that forms a centralized location for storing and distributing watermarks and locations within a payload to place the watermarks. All post-production facilities that are involved in processing a particular payload (e.g., any content that can be watermarked, including video content) connect to the content tracking authority facility to receive watermarks for the content they are processing as well as locations within the content to use to place the watermark.