Comparator Patents (Class 382/218)
  • Patent number: 8917917
    Abstract: A method for recognizing heart diseases in a cardiac echo video of a heart with an unknown disease using a spatio-temporal disease model derived from a training echo video, comprising the steps of: generating a plurality of training models for heart diseases, wherein the cardiac echo videos are each derived from a known viewpoint and the disease of the heart is known; analyzing the video of the heart with the unknown disease by fitting a model of shape and motion for each frame and combining the results across the frames; and, reporting the disease using a classification method for choosing among the diseases of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: David James Beymer, Fei Wang, Tanveer Fathima Mahmood
  • Patent number: 8917951
    Abstract: The presently claimed invention provides a method for stitching a plurality of images together in a way with least memory and CPU usage, and minimum file input and output, while still possessing fast computation speed to avoid post-scan delay for whole slide viewing and good stitching quality. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of calculating featureness of each candidate strip of a image by applying a mathematical transformation, calculating offset of the strip with correlation maximum location, calculating stitching reliability of the candidate strip from the pre-defined weighted function of its featureness and the correlation coefficients of each matching block, and determining optimal stitching path with stitching reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited
    Inventors: Zuoping Chen, Xiaohua Wu
  • Patent number: 8917943
    Abstract: A method of making an image-based product includes providing an image collection having a plurality of digital images, each digital image having an image type; providing one or more image-type distributions, each image-type distribution corresponding to a theme and including a distribution of image types related to the theme; using a processor to automatically compare the image types of the digital images in the image collection to the image types in the image-type distribution; using the processor to automatically determine a match between the image types in the image collection and the image types in the image-type distribution; and selecting a group of digital images from the image collection having a distribution of image types specified by the determined matching image-type distribution. The method further includes assembling the digital images in the selected group of images into an image-based product and causing the construction of the image-based product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Fund 83 LLC
    Inventor: Ronald Steven Cok
  • Publication number: 20140369609
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a computing device receives a first image from a client device associated with at least one user of a social-networking system. The computing device performs a content-aware hashing function on the first image and generates a large hash value. The computing device then performs a locality-sensitive hashing function on the large hash value to generate a small hash value. The computing device calculates a distance from the small hash value to a cluster center which is associated with the small hash values for at least one other image. If the distance is greater than a threshold distance, the first image is determined not similar to the at least one other image. The computing device creates a new cluster center for the first image. If the distance is less than the threshold distance, the first image is determined similar to the at least one other image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2014
    Publication date: December 18, 2014
    Inventor: Issac Chao
  • Patent number: 8913846
    Abstract: A system and method for validating GPU rendered display data—e.g., a sequence of frames—by comparing, across substantially all of the pixel locations in a frame, the GPU rendered display data to display data rendered by another processor. In this way, by checking substantially all of the pixel locations in a frame, errors in the display image data can be detected without prior knowledge of the format, layout, etc. of the display data. The system may be capable of operating without receiving input from a user or producing output to a user, and without receiving input from other applications or producing output to other applications. In this way, the validation would be invisible to a user and/or other applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Barco N.V.
    Inventors: Edouard Y-M J Charvet, Lieven W. Demeestere, Maarten Zanders
  • Publication number: 20140363079
    Abstract: Disclosed is a software routine which determines which photographs in a corpus are similar, groups the similar photographs, and which then determines which photographs within a group meet criteria of “better” photographs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2014
    Publication date: December 11, 2014
    Inventors: Alastair SUTHERLAND, Kadir RATHNAVELU, Ed SMITH
  • Publication number: 20140363092
    Abstract: A digital image of the object is captured and the object is recognized from plurality of objects in a database. An information address corresponding to the object is then used to access information and initiate communication pertinent to the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Publication date: December 11, 2014
    Applicant: NANT HOLDINGS IP, LLC
    Inventors: Wayne C. Boncyk, Ronald H. Cohen
  • Publication number: 20140363091
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for detecting a tampering event of a component. In a step, an exemplary embodiment encapsulates a fluorescent dye in one or more microcapsules. In another step, an exemplary embodiment embeds the one or more microcapsules in a translucent polymeric resin. In another step, an exemplary embodiment secures at least part of a component in the translucent polymeric resin. In another step, an exemplary embodiment detects a fluorescence of the fluorescent dye from a microcapsule in the translucent polymeric resin that is ruptured during a tampering with a light source that causes the fluorescent dye to fluoresce.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Publication date: December 11, 2014
    Inventors: Dylan J. Boday, Jason T. Wertz
  • Patent number: 8908902
    Abstract: A device for verifying the integrity of an item of data displayed on a display device controlled by a video controller, the video controller being connected to the display device by an appropriate connection and transmitting to it a video signal including an input interface which allows the device to be connected at a branch of the connection between the video controller and the display device, a reconstruction device which is capable, from the derived video signal, of reconstructing an image corresponding to the image displayed on the display device; an analysis device which is capable of extracting an item of reconstructed data from the reconstructed image, a comparison device which is capable of comparing the reconstructed data with a reference value of the item of data to be displayed and an alarm means which is capable of activating a malfunction alarm in accordance with the result at the output of the comparison device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: ALSTOM Transport SA
    Inventors: Jacques Fifis, Christian Louis Georges Henri Euvrard
  • Patent number: 8908911
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described herein for identifying and filtering redundant database entries associated with a visual search system. An example of a method of managing a database associated with a mobile device described herein includes identifying a captured image; obtaining an external database record from an external database corresponding to an object identified from the captured image; comparing the external database record to a locally stored database record; and locally discarding one of the external database record or the locally stored database record if the comparing indicates overlap between the external database record and the locally stored database record.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Charles Wheeler Sweet, III, Prince Gupta
  • Patent number: 8908007
    Abstract: A transmission device includes an image capturing part that captures a subject and generates a plurality of temporally successive frame images, an analyzer that analyzes a size of a motion of the subject by use of at least two or more of the frame images, a viewing condition receiver that receives viewing conditions from a reception device, and a network bandwidth measurement part that measures a congestion degree of a network. The transmission device further includes a controller that controls a data volume of the plurality of frame images based on the size of the motion of the subject, the viewing conditions, and the congestion degree of the network, to determine a predetermined parameter for encoding, an encoder that encodes the plurality of frame images based on the predetermined parameter, and a transmitter that transmits the plurality of encoded frame images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Taiho Nakazawa
  • Patent number: 8908977
    Abstract: Systems and method for comparing images are disclosed. In particular, certain disclosed embodiments relate to determining whether a user of a mobile device corresponds to a previously authenticated user, the user having been previously authenticated via an identity document. The determination may be made by accessing an integrated circuit component of the identity document, capturing a first image corresponding to a portion of the identity document containing a photographic image of the previously authenticated user, and capturing a second image corresponding to a user of the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Inventor: Russell King
  • Publication number: 20140355891
    Abstract: Techniques to determine a search range for a stereo based matching pyramid. A first disparity estimation value for a first level in a stereo based matching pyramid based on an image may be received. A search range for a second level may be determined using the first disparity estimation value. The search range based on a pyramid level of a second level may be increased. The search range may be increased based on a pyramid level of the second level. A second disparity estimation value may be selected from the search area for the second level. A depth map for the second level may be determined based on the second disparity estimation value. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2011
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Inventors: Dror Reif, Ziv Aviv, David Stanhill
  • Publication number: 20140355076
    Abstract: A character reading method performed by a computer connected to an imaging unit includes repeating processing of recognizing the character included in one-frame image input latest in parallel to input of the moving image, performing matching of a recognition result obtained by every piece of recognition processing in units of characters along a time axis, fixing the recognition result appearing with an appearance ratio larger than a reference value previously decided in the recognition processing continuously performed at least predetermined times, and outputting the fixed recognition result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2013
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: OMRON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki Shibutani, Keiichi Tamai, Kenichi Ukai
  • Publication number: 20140355865
    Abstract: Embodiment for detecting duplicate images include systems for determining that two or more of the images have similar key attributes such as attributes related to certain data in the images or image quality. Further, the embodiments include superimposing at least a portion of a first image of the two or more images over at least a portion of the second image of the two or more images, comparing the first image and second image; and determining whether the first image and the second image are identical.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2013
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: Bank of America Corporation
    Inventors: Kerry M. Cantley, John W. DeZervos, Erin Cassell, John J. Towey, Jr., Lori G. Noesges
  • Patent number: 8903181
    Abstract: The embodiments disclosed herein relates to a method and system for authentication of an object by forming a unique ID for the object. An authentication server identifies a unique natural pattern associated with the object to be verified. For the identified pattern, the authentication server assigns a unique ID. The pattern and unique ID are then stored in a database. The unique ID is then pasted on the object. For authentication, an image of the object with unique ID is captured and is sent to the authentication server for authentication. The authentication server first extracts from the received second image the unique ID, which is then used to retrieve from the database the stored pattern corresponding to it. The pattern in the received second image is then compared with the original pattern retrieved from the database. Based on the comparison, the system confirms authenticity of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Inventor: Venkatesh Gangadharan
  • Publication number: 20140351064
    Abstract: An approach is provided in which an image generation system retrieves a set of street view images that were each taken concurrently from a different direction angle at a single geographical location. The image generation system identifies one or more of the street view images depicting points of interest corresponding point of interest preferences. In turn, the image generation system generates a set of thumbnail images corresponding to the set of street view images and point of interest indicators that indicate which of the set of thumbnail images correspond to the street view images depicting the points of interest.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Barry A. Kritt, Sarbajit K. Rakshit
  • Publication number: 20140347500
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention relate to classification of documents. A user is able to take a snapshot of a document using a smart device. The photo of the document is matched to one or more existing templates. The one or more existing templates are locally stored on the smart device. If the document in the photo is recognized based on pattern matching, then the photo is tagged with an existing classification. The tagged photo can be locally stored on the smart device, uploaded to and backed up in a cloud, or both. The user is able to perform a search for a particular document based on key words rather than to visually review all photos.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2014
    Publication date: November 27, 2014
    Applicant: Synchronoss Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeremi Kurzanski
  • Publication number: 20140341475
    Abstract: A method performed by a system. The method includes comparing at least one query image received from a mobile device with a plurality of planes stored in a memory, matching the query image with at least one of the plurality of planes, and determining a location based on the matching of the query image with the at least one plane. Comparing the at least one query image with the plurality of planes includes executing a warping function between the at least one query image and the plurality of planes to determine at least a first matching score for matching the at least one query image with at least one of the plurality of planes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Applicant: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Ju Shen, Wai-Tian Tan
  • Patent number: 8891816
    Abstract: A parse module calibrates an interior space by parsing objects and words out of an image of the scene and comparing each parsed object with a plurality of stored objects. The parse module further selects a parsed object that is differentiated from the stored objects as the first object and stores the first object with a location description. A search module can detect the same objects from the scene and use them to determine the location of the scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: James Billingham, Helen Bowyer, Kevin Brown, Edward Jellard, Graham White
  • Patent number: 8885944
    Abstract: A template includes a frame a and a frame b, in each of which an image is to be inserted. An object introduction degree (OI) is associated with a frame set ab, which is a combination of the frames a and b. For a pair of images arranged with respect to the frame set ab, the object introduction degree (OI), which is associated with the frame set ab, is calculated according to a characteristic value of each of the images in the pair of images. The calculated object introduction degree is used as an evaluation value of an arrangement pattern in which the pair of images is arranged with respect to the frame set ab.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
    Inventor: Hiroshi Yabu
  • Patent number: 8885950
    Abstract: Provided is a template matching method and a template matching apparatus, where the degree of matching between a template and the actual image upon template matching is maintained at a high level, without depending on a partial appearance of a lower layer. Proposed as one embodiment, is a method and an apparatus for template matching, where either an area is set in which comparison of the template and the image is not conducted, or a second area is set inside the template where comparison different from comparison conducted in a first comparison area is to be conducted, and the template matching is conducted on the basis either of comparison excluding the non-comparison area, or of comparison using the first and second areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Nagatomo, Yuichi Abe, Mitsuji Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20140328536
    Abstract: A method facilitates selection of candidate matches for an individual from a database of potential applicants. A filter is calculated for the individual by processing images of people in conjunction with the individual's preferences with respect to those images. Feature sets are calculated for the potential applicants by processing images of the potential applicants. The filter is then applied to the feature sets to select candidate matches for the individual.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2013
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Inventors: Jacob Whitehill, Javier R. Movellan, Ian Fasel
  • Publication number: 20140328540
    Abstract: Some examples of a sketch-based image segmentation system may segment a hand-drawn sketch based on proximity, intuitive clues and semantic information. For instance, the system may cluster line segments of the sketch if the line segments are within a threshold distance. Further, the system may cluster line segments of the sketch based on a set of intuitive clues. In some implementations, a sketch-based search engine may be utilized to search an image collection to identify images with shape features similar to the sketch and to segment the sketch based on the semantic information associated with the identified images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Changhu Wang, Lei Zhang, Zhenbang Sun
  • Patent number: 8879844
    Abstract: A method and system for calculating oblong-shape rotation angles from optical image data of arbitrary size for user interface applications is described without the need of eigenvector routines and storage of the image data. The oblong shape may be of arbitrary size and location and need not be precisely elliptical. A few running sums are calculated and stored throughout each scan, and the results are obtained in closed form by simple post-scan computation. An algorithmic embodiment can execute on one or more hardware processors with limited or otherwise constrained computation power, available instruction cycles, available memory, etc. Hardware processors may CPUs found in desktops, laptops, tablets, or handheld computing devices. The resulting arrangement may be used for touch or optical user interfaces and other purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Inventor: Lester F. Ludwig
  • Patent number: 8879853
    Abstract: Provided is a system for enumerating local alignments, comprising a local alignment enumeration module for enumerating local alignments, in a case where the cell of a second matrix corresponding to a cell at a transition source indicates that the cell belongs to a local alignment, and in a case where the maximum score calculated is larger than the predetermined value, registers, in the cell of the second matrix corresponding to the cell to be calculated, an identifier of a local alignment registered in the cell of the second matrix corresponding to the cell at the transition source, and further, in a case where the maximum score calculated is larger than a maximum score of the cells belonging to the same local alignment, stores the cell to be calculated as an end point of the local alignment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventor: Makoto Iwayama
  • Patent number: 8879846
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving an image of a tender document; performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the image; extracting an identifier of the tender document from the image based at least in part on the OCR; comparing the extracted identifier with content from one or more data sources; requesting complementary information from at least one of the one or more data sources based at least in part on the extracted identifier; receiving the complementary information; and outputting at least some of the complementary information for display on a mobile device. Exemplary systems and computer program products are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Kofax, Inc.
    Inventors: Jan W. Amtrup, Stephen Michael Thompson
  • Publication number: 20140321760
    Abstract: An object information acquiring apparatus that acquires information inside an object by receiving an acoustic wave that has arrived from inside the object through a layer having an acoustic impedance that is different from that of the object, and analyzing the acoustic wave, the object information acquiring apparatus comprises an acoustic wave probe that receives an acoustic wave and converts the acoustic wave into an electric signal; a whole image generation unit that generates a whole image, which is an image indicating information inside the object, based on the electric signal after the conversion; a partial image generation unit that extracts a partial image, which is a part of the whole image, from the whole image; and a similar image search unit that searches an area similar to the partial image, from the whole image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takuji Oishi
  • Publication number: 20140321761
    Abstract: Techniques for intelligent image search results summarization and browsing scheme are described. Images having visual attributes are evaluated for similarities based in part on their visual attributes. At least one preference score indicating a probability of an image to be selected into a summary is calculated for each image. Images are selected based on the similarity of the selected images to the other images and the preference scores of the selected images. A summary of the plurality of images is generated including the selected one individual image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jingdong Wang, Xian-Sheng Hua
  • Patent number: 8873802
    Abstract: A camera pose tracking apparatus may track a camera pose based on frames photographed using at least three cameras, may extract and track at least one first feature in multiple-frames, and may track a pose of each camera in each of the multiple-frames based on first features. When the first features are tracked in the multiple-frames, the camera pose tracking apparatus may track each camera pose in each of at least one single-frame based on at least one second feature of each of the at least one single-frame. Each of the at least one second feature may correspond to one of the at least one first feature, and each of the at least one single-frame may be a previous frame of an initial frame of which the number of tracked second features is less than a threshold, among frames consecutive to multiple-frames.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jiwon Kim, Guofeng Zhang, Du Sik Park, Ho Young Lee, Haomin Liu, Hujun Bao
  • Patent number: 8873798
    Abstract: A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and apparatus that tracks an object includes utilizing random projections to represent an object in a region of an initial frame in a transformed space with at least one less dimension. One of a plurality of regions in a subsequent frame with a closest similarity between the represented object and one or more of plurality of templates is identified as a location for the object in the subsequent frame. A learned distance is applied for template matching, and techniques that incrementally update the distance metric online are utilized in order to model the appearance of the object and increase the discrimination between the object and the background. A hybrid template library, with stable templates and hybrid templates that contains appearances of the object during the initial stage of tracking as well as more recent ones is utilized to achieve robustness with respect to pose variation and illumination changes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Rochester Institue of Technology
    Inventors: Grigorios Tsagkatakis, Andreas Savakis
  • Patent number: 8873812
    Abstract: An image segmentation method includes generating a hierarchy of regions by unsupervised segmentation of an input image. Each region is described with a respective region feature vector representative of the region. Hierarchical structures are identified, each including a parent region and its respective child regions in the hierarchy. Each hierarchical structure is described with a respective hierarchical feature vector that is based on the region feature vectors of the respective parent and child regions. The hierarchical structures are classified according to a set of predefined classes with a hierarchical classifier component that is trained with hierarchical feature vectors of hierarchical structures of training images. The training images have semantic regions labeled according to the set of predefined classes. The input image is segmented into a plurality of semantic regions based on the classification of the hierarchical structures and optionally also on classification of the individual regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Diane Larlus-Larrondo, Rui Hu, Craig Saunders, Gabriela Csurka
  • Patent number: 8873863
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a system and a method for finger printing for comics. A system for searching comics according to the present disclosure includes: a fingerprint database storing fingerprints extracted from comics, a comics fingerprint extraction unit extracting fingerprints configured of at least one of box frames, cuts, and speech bubbles included in input comic images, a fingerprint based candidate group search unit searching candidate groups among comics stored in the fingerprint database using the extracted fingerprints, and a similarity measuring unit measuring similarity between the searched candidate groups and the comic images corresponding to the extracted fingerprints.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Jee Hyun Park, Yong Suk Yoon, Sang Kwang Lee, Jung Hyun Kim, Seung Jae Lee, Sung Min Kim, Yong Seok Seo, Jung Ho Lee, Young Ho Suh, Won Young Yoo
  • Publication number: 20140314328
    Abstract: Data matching includes receiving a piece of first relational data and a piece of second relational data. The piece of first relational data is associated with a plurality of pieces of first data, and the piece of second relational data is associated with a plurality of pieces of second data. An approximate value of the piece of second relational data is calculated. A similarity is calculated based on the piece of first relational data and the approximate value of the piece of second relational data. A correspondence between a piece of the first data and a piece of the second data is determined based on the calculated similarity. An alignment parameter is calculated based on the determined correspondence, and a first data group including the piece of the first data is matched with a second data group including the piece of the second data based on the alignment parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Publication date: October 23, 2014
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Soon Yong PARK, Kyung Shik ROH
  • Patent number: 8867817
    Abstract: A method for analyzing a display is described. The method includes scanning the display to generate a scanned image of the display. The scanned image may be analyzed to determine a characteristic of the display, such as whether or not the display is defective.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ted John Cooper, Omair Abdul Rahman
  • Publication number: 20140307974
    Abstract: An image recognition device for recognizing respective types of display objects appearing in an image is provided, the image recognition device comprising: a change object selecting unit configured to select a change object, a target whose recognition result is to be modified, from the display objects and to determine that a type of each determined object is a type of one of recognition candidates which has the highest degree of reliability, the determined objects being not the change object; a pair object selecting unit configured to select a pair object from the determined objects, the pair object making a pair with the change object; and a recognition processing unit configured to modify the recognition result of the change object and to identify the change object, on the basis of a pair information list that indicates an object type associated with a type of the pair object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: OMRON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kiyoaki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8861869
    Abstract: Techniques for determining correspondence between image regions are described. A computing system stores images that are comparable to determine corresponding image patches of the images. An approximation algorithm is implemented, and for multiple image patches in a region in a first image, corresponding image patches are determined in a second image. The approximation algorithm performs iterations utilizing a nearby-pixel mapping evaluation and a random-perturbation mapping evaluation to determine and select the corresponding image patches in the second image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Elya Shechtman, Daniel R. Goldman, Connelly Barnes, Adam Finkelstein
  • Patent number: 8861804
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention perform assisted tagging of images, including tagging of people, locations, and activities depicted in those images. A batch of images is received comprising images of faces, including at least some faces that have not yet been tagged. A facial recognition algorithm is applied to the faces to determine matching data comprising possible tags for each untagged face. A logic engine applies logic rules to reduce the likelihood that certain matches are correct. The most likely match from among the possible matches is selected for suggestion to the user for verification. Once verified, the metadata of the image indicating the recognized people within the image is updated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Shutterfly, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrea R. Johnson, Matthew J. Johnson, Nico Toutenhoofd, Clinton L. Fenton
  • Patent number: 8861864
    Abstract: In a particular embodiment, a method includes applying a first feature detector to a portion of an image to detect a first set of features. The first set of features is used to locate a region of interest, and a boundary corresponding to the region of interest is determined. The method also includes displaying the boundary at a display. In response to receiving user input to accept the displayed boundary, a second feature detector is applied to an area of the image encapsulated by the boundary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: John Hong, Onur C. Hamsici, Jose R. dos Santos, Joseph Huang, Chong U. Lee, Yuriy Reznik, Mark K. Murphy, Devender A. Yamakawa
  • Patent number: 8861868
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for patch-based image synthesis. A patch matching technique provides an extended patch search space that encompasses geometric and photometric transformations, as well as gradient domain features. The geometric transformations may include translation, rotation, reflection, scale, and non-uniform scale. The photometric transformations may include gain and bias. Patch-based image synthesis techniques may leverage the extended patch search space in various image synthesis applications. The patch-based image synthesis techniques may also integrate image gradients into the patch representation and replace conventional color averaging with a technique that performs voting for colors and gradients and then solves a screened Poisson equation based on values for colors and gradients when blending patch(es) with a target image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Adobe-Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Elya Shechtman, Daniel R. Goldman, Aliakbar Darabi
  • Publication number: 20140301640
    Abstract: An image evaluation device (101) properly evaluating the graininess (or roughness) of an image is provided. The blurer (102) creates a second image b by blurring a first image a. The differentiator (103) creates a third image c presenting the difference between the first image a and second image b. The pixel value of each pixel of the third image c presents the difference in pixel value between the pixels at the same position in the first image a and second image b. The scanner (104) scans the pixels contained in the third image c, obtains the differences in pixel value between adjoining pixels, and obtains the respective probabilities of occurrence of the differences. The calculator (105) calculates the entropy from the obtained, respective probabilities of occurrence of the differences. The outputter (106) outputs the entropy as the evaluation value of the graininess (or roughness) of the first image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2012
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Applicant: RAKUTEN, INC.
    Inventor: Hiromi Hirano
  • Publication number: 20140301652
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method for file compression. More specifically, the disclosure introduces to a method for file compression wherein a group of files is identified by comparing a plurality of similarity characteristics. The group of files may then be compressed relative to at least one base file to improve compression efficiency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2013
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Inventors: Murat Mese, Wade Keith Wan
  • Publication number: 20140290536
    Abstract: The process relates to mineral material slurries used in concrete, sealants, paper, paint or plastic applications, wherein the surface of the wet mineral matter slurry displays an increased whitening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2011
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Inventors: Matthias Buri, Samuel Rentsch, Claudia Pudack
  • Publication number: 20140291513
    Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product to automatically evaluate a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image are described. The method includes obtaining a source image and the SEM image taken of the source image. The method also includes evaluating the SEM image based on comparing source contours extracted from the source image and SEM contours extracted from the SEM image to determine whether the SEM image passes or fails.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Maria Gabrani, Virginia Estellers
  • Publication number: 20140294256
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes an image storage unit that stores a plurality images having supplementary information respectively, an image analysis unit that performs an image analysis of each image stored in the image storage unit; and a time correction unit that corrects an imaging time that is included in the supplementary information of the image in such a manner that the plurality of images are arranged in an actual imaging time of the images in a case where the plurality of images are arranged in an order of the imaging time among the supplementary information, based on at least one of a result of the image analysis by the image analysis unit and a GPS information that is included in the supplementary information of the images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: FUJIFILM CORPORATION
    Inventors: KEI YAMAJI, TOMOHIRO NAKAGAWA
  • Patent number: 8849044
    Abstract: A method for comparing a query video and a target video includes partitioning frames of the query video and frames of the target video into blocks and calculating the mean intensity value for each block. A plurality of query time series is produced for the query video, each query time series representing temporal variation in mean intensity value for blocks from the same location in different frames of the query video. A plurality of target time series is produced for the target video, each target time series representing temporal variation in mean intensity value for blocks from the same location in different frames of the target video the query time series and the target time series are used in determining if alignment exists between the query video and the target video.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Alcatel Lucent
    Inventors: Yansong Ren, Fangzhe Chang, Thomas L. Wood
  • Patent number: 8849066
    Abstract: The present invention provides an image processing apparatus which can simply and appropriately analyze an image, an image processing method, and a storage medium. The present invention reduces an original image and enlarges a reduced image obtained by the reduction. The present invention enlarges the original image. The present invention analyzes the original image by comparing a first enlarged image obtained by enlargement of the reduced image with a second enlarged image obtained by enlargement of the original image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Manabu Yamazoe
  • Patent number: 8849032
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of forming an output shape parameterised by control points from an input shape. An input shape is received formed by a plurality of segments. The shape is classified as one of a plurality of predefined template shapes. The method then determines a representative form for the input shape based on a similarity measure between the input shape and the classified template shape. The representative form is selected according to the similarity measure from the group consisting of the classified template shape, and a non-template shape based on the segments of the input shape, the non-template shape having at least one control point derived from at least one control point of the classified template shape. The method then stores the determined representative form as the output shape parameterised by the derived control points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Michael John Blennerhassett
  • Patent number: 8848973
    Abstract: A system for authenticating an optical pattern created by exposing a magnetically sensitive material to one or more magnetic field sources. The system includes illumination sources configured to illuminate the optical pattern, sensors configured to generate sensed optical characteristic data when the optical pattern is illuminated, a memory configured to store a reference optical data associated with a reference optical pattern, and a processor configured to access the memory and compare the reference optical data to the sensed optical characteristic data in order to authenticate the optical pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Correlated Magnetics Research LLC
    Inventors: Larry W. Fullerton, Mark D. Roberts, Robert Scott Evans
  • Patent number: 8847948
    Abstract: Techniques for comparing 3D models are provided. A method for comparing 3D models includes obtaining a first skeleton of a first 3D model, obtaining a second skeleton of a second 3D model, and calculating similarity between the first and the second 3D models based on distance, angle, and inter-position related global constraints of the first and the second skeletons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Nanjing University
    Inventor: Tong Lu