초록 ▼

Embodiments of the invention include systems and methods for automatically detecting persons and/or other objects in a video signal. Automatic color compensation is applied to the video signal based on measured color of a reference area of the video signal. Generally the reference area is an area of

Embodiments of the invention include systems and methods for automatically detecting persons and/or other objects in a video signal. Automatic color compensation is applied to the video signal based on measured color of a reference area of the video signal. Generally the reference area is an area of the video signal that does not change often over time. The color compensated video signal is then analyzed for the appearance of objects and persons. In some instances the persons are identified using facial or other type of recognition. Counters or other trackers may provide real-time information, such as how many people are currently on a particular floor of a building.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of automatic object detection in video comprising: receiving a video signal at a video input, the video signal including objects lit under varying lighting conditions;measuring a color of a reference area within the video signal;providing the measured color as a color reference input to

1. A method of automatic object detection in video comprising: receiving a video signal at a video input, the video signal including objects lit under varying lighting conditions;measuring a color of a reference area within the video signal;providing the measured color as a color reference input to a color processor; andadjusting a color signal of data generated from the video signal using the measured color by accepting from a user a first weighting value of how locally or globally to apply the measured color, by accepting from the user a second weighting value of how much to apply a spatial surround filter to data generated from the video signal, and by allowing the user to control how much effect to apply to the data generated from the video signal based on the first weighting value and the second weighting value. 2. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 1 in which measuring a color of a reference area within the video signal comprises measuring a white signal of the reference area. 3. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 2 in which measuring a white signal comprises calculating a white value from two or more color separated signals. 4. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 1, further comprising detecting human objects using the adjusted color signal and a human-skin color reference. 5. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 4, in which the human-skin color reference is a plurality of different skin color references. 6. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 1, further comprising classifying human objects using the adjust color signal and a human characteristic database. 7. The method of automatic object detection according to claim 1, further comprising keeping a present count of a number of persons within a building under surveillance. 8. A method of face detection, comprising: receiving a video signal at a video input, the video signal including one or more human faces lit under varying lighting conditions;measuring a color of a reference area within the video signal;providing the measured color as a color reference input to a color processor; andadjusting a color signal of data generated from the human faces of the video signal using the measured color by accepting from a user a first weighting value of how locally or globally to apply the measured color, by accepting from the user a second weighting value of how much to apply a spatial surround filter to data generated from the video signal, and by allowing the user to control how much effect to apply to the data generated from the video signal based on the first weighting value and the second weighting value. 9. The method of face detection according to claim 8 in which measuring a color of a reference area within the video signal comprises measuring a white signal of the reference area. 10. The method of face detection according to claim 9 in which measuring a white signal comprises calculating a white value from two or more color separated signals. 11. The method of face detection according to claim 8, further comprising associating one or more faces from the adjusted color signal with one or more stored facial identities. 12. A system for automatic object detection, comprising: a video input structured to accept a video signal;one or more video models structured to generate video data from the video signal;a color reference generator structured to abstract color data from a pre-selected portion of the video data;a spatial center filter structured to modify the video data;a spatial surround filter structured to modify the video data;a first mixer having inputs coupled to a white value input extracted from the video signal and to an output of the spatial surround filter, and having an output, the first mixer further having a first mixing control structured to accept a first mixing input from a user;a second mixer having inputs coupled to the output of the first mixer and to an output of the spatial center filter, and having an output, the second mixer further having a second mixing control structured to accept a second mixing input from a user;a temporal processor structured to modify the video data over time using color data abstracted from the color reference generator and depending on the first mixing input and the second mixing input; andan object detector coupled to the temporal processor and structured to compare the modified video data against pre-stored object criteria. 13. The system of claim 12 in which the color reference generator produces a different output when ambient lighting within the video signal changes. 14. The system of claim 12 in which the pre-selected portion of the video data is a portion of a wall. 15. The system of claim 12, in which the color reference generator is an automatic color reference generator. 16. The system of claim 15 in which the automatic color reference generator is structured to determine a target area of the video signal that has relatively fewer changes over time as compared to other portions of the video signal, and to use the determined target area as the pre-selected portion of the video data. 17. The system of claim 12 in which the color reference generator is formed from white components of a set of cone responses of the video signal. 18. The system of claim 12 in which the object detector comprises a facial recognition database, and in which the pre-stored object criteria are facial features. 19. The system of claim 12 in which the object detector comprises a skin detector, and in which the pre-stored object criteria include human identifying information. 20. The system of claim 12 in which the object detector comprises an object counter structured to count a number of pre-defined objects that appear on the video signal.