Abstract: A system and method tracks the movements of a driver or passenger in a vehicle (ground, water, air, or other) and controls devices in accordance with position, motion, and/or body or hand gestures or movements. According to one embodiment, an operator or passenger uses the invention to control comfort or entertainment features such the heater, air conditioner, lights, mirror positions or the radio/CD player using hand gestures. An alternative embodiment facilitates the automatic adjustment of car seating restraints based on head position. Yet another embodiment is used to determine when to fire an airbag (and at what velocity or orientation) based on the position of a person in a vehicle seat. The invention may also be used to control systems outside of the vehicle.

Abstract: An image processing method is intended to extract an irradiation area in an image easily and accurately. A calculation unit 202 calculates secondary difference values of density values representing respective areas in three areas of a rectangular shape arranged in parallel on an image, determined by a calculation area input unit 200 and a calculation area determination unit 201, between adjacent rectangular areas and the secondary difference values thus calculated are stored in a memory unit 203. Then a judgment unit 204 judges one end point of an irradiation area from the secondary difference values thus stored and an irradiation area determination unit 205 determines the irradiation area, based on a plurality of end points thus judged.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for adapting point geometry for storing address density information. Preferred embodiments store this density information in a 4-dimensional point data type provided by a spatially-enabled object relational database system, and leverage built-in functions and data types of the database system for operating on the data type. The address density may be computed while processing address data which is presented in textual format, or alternatively, from street geometry data which has been derived from such address data. The address density may be used in many different applications, such as e-business, targeted advertising, urban planning, facilities enhancements, and so forth. The point geometry representation of the street density information supports retrievals which do not rely on proprietary file formats or binary files, thereby enabling faster retrievals and reduced resource consumption requirements.

Abstract: Specific information such as the type of performed image processing, and date is disassembled to bits, and the resulting bits are placed, e.g., in the least significant bit positions of pixels within processed image data. By this arrangement, when image processing is performed on original image data, it can be determined from processed image data what processing was executed on the image data.

Abstract: A radiation image is partitioned into a plurality of subregions. A certain subregion, which is among the plurality of the subregions, is set as a blackening region, which is to be subjected to a blackening process, or as a non-blackening region, which is not to be subjected to the blackening process. Subregions, which are adjacent to each other among the plurality of the subregions, are set alternately as a blackening region and a non-blackening region by taking the certain subregion as a reference subregion. The blackening process is performed on the subregion, which has thus been set as the blackening region.

Abstract: A method, system and computer readable medium for computerized processing of chest images including obtaining a digital first image of a chest (S100); producing a second image which is a mirror image (S300) of the first image; performing image warping on one of the first and second images to produce a warped image (S400) which is registered to the other of the first and second images; and subtracting the warped image from the other image to generate a subtraction image (S600).

Abstract: A system for the automated determination of retroreflectivity values for reflective surfaces disposed along a roadway repeatedly illuminates an area along the roadway that includes at least one reflective surface using a strobing light source. Multiple light intensity values are measured over a field of view which includes at least a portion of the area illuminated by the light source. A computer processing system is used to identifying a portion of the light intensity values associated with a reflective surface and analyze the portion of the light intensity values to determine at least one retroreflectivity value for that reflective surface.

Abstract: Visibie artifacts in images created using image processing based on motion vector maps may be reduced by providing one or more mechanisms for correcting the vector map. In general, the set of motion vectors is changed by selecting one or more portions of the image. The vectors corresponding to the selected one or more portions are modified. Various image processing operations, such as motion compensated interpolation, may be performed using the changed set of motion vectors.

Abstract: A copyright protection method for digital media is disclosed. The present invention is designed to solve the problems of the existing media protection systems and to satisfy all of media owners, distributors, and consumers. The copyright protection method according to the present invention can be applied to any type of digital media and makes no assumptions on any particular media properties. The method employs symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic protection techniques as well as a digital watermarking method. Cryptography is used to provide the security of the copyright information access for media managers. Digital watermarking is used to modify the played or recorded media signals to keep track a list of involved playing devices in order to detect any illegal copy maker and to identify any legal copy from illegal copies.

Abstract: In an apparatus and a method for modeling momentary conditions of a medical object dependent on at least one time-variable body function, at least one further status value of the time-variable body function is calculated on the basis of the geometry of the medical object that is acquired from data obtained with a medical imaging method for at least one status value of the time-variable body function, and the geometry of the medical object is made available approximately synchronously with the currently measured status value of the time-variable body function.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring target animals, including livestock animals and full carcasses, and more specifically livestock animals such as cattle and hogs using a single camera system. More particularly, the method of the invention is directed toward obtaining key measurements of the target animal, such as animal weight, animal hip height and animal hip width.

Abstract: The present invention relates to embedding a document with multiple watermark components at different printing stages. A document is preprinted to include a first digital watermark component. The document is then reprinted, perhaps with a lower quality printer, to include a second digital watermark component. In some cases the first component provides an orientation signal that is useful when trying to detect the second component. In other cases the first and second components are related or otherwise used to determine the authenticity of the document. In still other cases, the first and second watermark components carry information useful in determining the type of document, watermark-embedding hints and/or personal or serialized data.

Abstract: Systems and methods provide for remote addressing of an item of mail that include obtaining remotely produced address information. The address information includes a digitally represented graph of a handwritten address and sending the graph to a device adapted to apply the graph to the item of mail.

Abstract: Point matches between images within an image sequence are identified by sparse optical flow computation and employed to compute a fundamental matrix for the epipolar geometry, which in turn is employed to derive an epipolar geometry constraint for computing dense optical flow for the image sequence. The epipolar geometry constraint may further be combined with local, heuristic constraints or robust statistical methods. Improvements in both accuracy and performance in computing optical flow are achieved utilizing the epipolar geometry constraint.

Abstract: A self-contained system uses light reflectivity to examine intensity of a dyed spot on a device membrane surrounded by background area to discern information about the specimen that produced the spot. In a preferred embodiment, a master clock alternatively drives one LED focussed upon the spot center, and then drives two LEDS focused on the background area. Light reflected from the spot and background is detected by preferably two photodetectors (“PDs”) spaced-apart a multiple of 90° azimuthal.

Abstract: An image processor that calculates values that are related to distortion between two image parts. The values are detected in a previous calculation. Those values are then used in the next calculation cycle to detect an early exit. That value, called least, divided by the number of accumulators, and its negative is loaded into the accumulators. When the accumulators reach zero, an early exit is established.

Abstract: A medical decision support system including a computer and a computer program product arranged to provide data derived from examination of digital images of a tissue specimen according to predetermined criteria for histopathological analysis, and a method for assisting in obtaining a pathological diagnosis from a plurality of pictures representing a specimen on a slide, the method including obtaining digitized data corresponding to images of a specimen on a slide placed under a microscope; processing the images; examining the images in accordance with predetermined histopathological criteria; and providing an examination report based on the examination.

Abstract: An automated microscope and computer system captures a set of images for a capture area in a plurality of focal planes. The images can then be integrated into composite images for browsing to simulate viewing an item, such as a biological sample, under a microscope. A corrective filter can be constructed from the images to avoid an effect called “tiling.” Before capture, variable focal plane error can be avoided by collecting z locations for a set of points in the capture area. During image browsing, entire composite images can be loaded into memory in compressed form. Compressed image portions can be pre-decompressed to avoid delay as a browsing user navigates throughout the composite images. Pre-decompression can be done by a thread separate from the thread performing navigation operations.

Abstract: A filtering method and apparatus for selectively filtering a gray scale angiographic image volume (54) that images vascular structures and that also contains extraneous non-vascular contrast is disclosed. A minimum vessel width parameter Wmin (70) is selected. A maximum vessel width parameter Wmax (132) is selected. A range of widths (66) are selected such that each vessel width parameter Wi (194) lies between Wmin (70) and Wmax (132) inclusive. For each Wi (194), an image Ii(x,y,z) (198) is generated that selectively retains imaged vascular structures of diameter Wi (194). The images Ii(x,y,z) (198) are combined to form a filtered image IF(x,y,z) (64) that selectively images the vascular structures.

Abstract: A rock fragmentation analysis system is provided for analyzing blasted rock (or other fragmented particles) to assess quality of a blast for efficient processing of subsequent operations in a mine, a quarry, etc. The system includes a hardware system and an image processing system. The hardware system includes a camera and a lighting system. The lighting system illuminates an area of the mine, quarry, etc. where a load haul dump (LHD) vehicle passes through. Once the LHD vehicle passes through the illuminated area, the camera provides video signals of scoop-top view images of the LHD vehicle to the image processing system via known communication means, such as hard-wired and wireless. The image processing system receives the video signals, captures the scoop-top view images, evaluates the images for subsequent fragmentation analysis, and performs the rock fragmentation analysis. The image processing system performs these functions using several software modules.