Patents Examined by Jonathan C Schaffer
  • Patent number: 7421092
    Abstract: A situation recognition apparatus includes: an optical information acquisition unit configured to acquire optical information; a storage configured to store a plurality of pieces of optical information; a processing unit configured to match a plurality of the pieces of optical information stored in the storage and optical information newly acquired by the optical information acquisition unit; and an output unit configured to output a result of the matching. The storage further stores a probabilistic model that numerically represents transitions between the plurality of pieces of optical information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Clarkson, Makoto Murata, Tamaki Kojima, Wenwu Zhao
  • Patent number: 7412091
    Abstract: Systems and methods for registering hemispheric images obtained using a fisheye lens for panoramic viewing, relating to spatial alignment and colour balancing of complement half-side images derived from the hemispheric images. The systems and methods for spatial alignment determine the displacement of the digitized recorded images using a single translation and rotation model of distortion, which further evaluates the centre of projection, and the extent of translation and rotation. The system and method for colour balancing iteratively increase (or decrease) the values of pixels near the edge (discontinuity) between the two half-sides of an image, each time taking into consideration the average difference of pixel colour across a smaller strip of the edge near the pixel. This invention removes the colour differential but does not remove any detail underlying the features of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2008
    Assignee: iLOOKAbout Inc.
    Inventor: Jeff Hack
  • Patent number: 7409110
    Abstract: An image retrieval system including: a retrieval subject image storing unit storing images corresponding to first and second characteristic information among semantic characteristic information, physical characteristic information and prominence characteristic information; a retrieval key inputting unit inputting the first and second characteristic information as the retrieval key; a characteristic information converting unit obtaining remaining characteristic information, the physical characteristic information and the prominence characteristic information based on the two semantic characteristics, the physical characteristic and the prominence characteristic information; and an image retrieval unit retrieving an image matching or being approximate to third characteristic information other than the first and second characteristic information among the semantic characteristic, the physical characteristic and the prominence characteristic information, from the retrieval subject image storing unit by the charac
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2008
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Naoki Kayahara
  • Patent number: 7397950
    Abstract: Electronic ink layout analysis systems and methods provide flexibility and efficiency in organizing, analyzing, and processing digital ink. These layout analysis systems and methods allow users substantial freedom in entering electronic ink into a pen-based computer system. Using these systems and methods, a user's input digital ink is not constrained by requirements that a user write in a specific screen orientation, that a user write in one specific orientation on all portions of a page, or that a user write using a specific minimum or maximum sized stroke. Rather, the systems and methods freely allow the user to write anywhere on a given page, in any orientation or size, while still enabling effective and efficient handwriting recognition and other processing of the input digital ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Michael M. Shilman, Zile Wei, Yu Zou, Patrice Y. Simard, Sashi Raghupathy, F. David Jones, Charlton E. Lui, Jian Wang
  • Patent number: 7394925
    Abstract: A radiography apparatus with a function for evaluating image quality is provided. To accomplish this, the radiography apparatus includes a radiating-generating unit for emitting radiation, an imaging unit for converting the radiation into image data, a measuring unit for measuring an image-quality evaluating value of the image data, and a determining unit for determining the image quality of the imaging unit based on a plurality of image-quality evaluating values of the image data acquired at a plurality of points in time, where each image-quality evaluating value corresponds to the image data acquired at one of the points in time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinsuke Hayashida