Patents by Inventor Wellin Hou

Wellin Hou 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).

  • Automated underwater image restoration via denoised deconvolution
    Patent number: 8204328
    Abstract: A method for simultaneously optimizing a digital image taken in or through a scattering medium and obtaining information regarding optical properties of the scattering medium is provided. Data of the digital image is received by a computer. The digital image is evaluated according to an objective image quality metric and a resulting image quality value is compared to a previously stored image quality value for the image. A revised optical transfer function is derived by modeling the optical properties of the medium to be used to generate a restored digital image, which is derived from the original image and the revised optical transfer function. The restored digital image is evaluated according to the objective image quality metric and an optimized restored image is identified. The optical properties associated with the optical transfer function producing the optimized restored image are retrieved and represent a close approximation of the true optical properties of the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Wellin Hou, Alan Weidemann
  • Automated Underwater Image Restoration Via Denoised Deconvolution
    Publication number: 20090252430
    Abstract: A method for simultaneously optimizing a digital image taken in or through a scattering medium and obtaining information regarding optical properties of the scattering medium is provided. Data of the digital image is received by a computer. The digital image is evaluated according to an objective image quality metric and a resulting image quality value is compared to a previously stored image quality value for the image. A revised optical transfer function is derived by modeling the optical properties of the medium to be used to generate a restored digital image, which is derived from the original image and the revised optical transfer function. The restored digital image is evaluated according to the objective image quality metric and an optimized restored image is identified. The optical properties associated with the optical transfer function producing the optimized restored image are retrieved and represent a close approximation of the true optical properties of the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Wellin Hou, Alan Weidemann