Real-time head tracking system for computer games and other applications

Abstract

A real-time computer vision system tracks the head of a computer user to implement real-time control of games or other applications. The imaging hardware includes a color camera, frame grabber, and processor. The software consists of the low-level image grabbing software and a tracking algorithm. The system tracks objects based on the color, motion and / or shape of the object in the image. A color matching function is used to compute three measures of the target's probable location based on the target color, shape and motion. The method then computes the most probable location of the target using a weighting technique. Once the system is running, a graphical user interface displays the live image from the color camera on the computer screen. The operator can then use the mouse to select a target for tracking. The system will then keep track of the moving target in the scene in real-time.

Description

REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 214,991, filed Jun. 29, 2000, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 798,594, filed Mar. 2, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 371,460, filed Aug. 10, 1999, the entire contents of each application being incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to computer vision systems and, in particular, to a real-time head tracking system and method for use in conjunction with computer games and other control applications. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Current imaging systems can convert live scenes into a sequence of digital images which can be processed to track any object in the scene from frame to frame. The techniques used for tracking are numerous. Most of the currently available systems use some characteristic of the subset of the image containin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"This patent describes a real-time computer vision system that can track moving objects in a scene. Unlike other search and locate algorithms, this system uses a target location technique that doesn't involve search. It tracks objects based on their color, motion, and shape in the image. The system uses a unique color matching function that is efficient and robust against noise, occlusion, and rapid motion of the target. The system includes a color camera, frame grabber, and personal computer, and the software includes low-level image grabbing software and the tracking algorithm. The system can be used in a wide range of applications, such as head tracking for game control."

Problems solved by technology

The correlation operation is computationally expensive and usually is performed using specialized hardware.

The disadvantage of such model based tracking methods is the relatively high amount of computation for the mapping from the 3D model to the image.

These techniques are faster than correlation methods but are less robust to changing shape and temporary occlusion by similarly colored objects in the scene.

Each of the modules involved places a large computational load on the computer.

The method also involves a high amount of computation.

The method is computationally expensive correlation is done via hardware.

The amount of computation involved is immense.

Images