Wandering information provision method

Abstract

A method for providing wandering information is provided. The method includes the following steps: determining whether a subject within an input image wanders; when determining whether the subject wanders repeatedly, if a record of the subject wandering exists in a database, determining that the subject wanders repeatedly; and when providing wandering information about the subject, varying the information provided based on the number of times the subject wanders.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application date of July 13, 2016, application number 201610550220.0, and invention name “Method for detecting repeated wandering and repeated wandering detection device”. Technical Field

[0002] Example embodiments relate to a system and method for detecting a wandering object and providing information about the wandering object differently according to the number of times the object wanders. Background Art

[0003] Nowadays, with surveillance cameras installed everywhere, most criminals survey their target locations before committing crimes. Therefore, it's necessary to identify loitering individuals as suspicious and carefully monitor them. However, existing surveillance equipment and manpower make it difficult to monitor all loitering individuals. Therefore, there is a need for an alarm system that can detect individuals who loiter around a specific area for a specific period of time or longer, or who repeatedly loiter, and alert the user to such individuals. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept provide a system and method for detecting a wandering object, extracting reference features of the object, and differently providing information about the object on a screen according to the number of times the object wanders.

[0005] Various aspects of the inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented exemplary embodiments.

[0006] According to one or more embodiments, a method for detecting repeated wandering is provided. The method may include: detecting an object and position information about the object from an input image; determining whether the object wanders based on the position information about the object; in response to determining that the object wanders, determining whether the object wanders repeatedly by determining whether a database stores information about the same object as the object detected from the input image; and providing information about the object's wandering based on whether the object wanders repeatedly.

[0007] The input image may be a moving image including a plurality of frames, and the step of detecting the object may include: detecting the object and position information about the object from each of the plurality of frames, and in the step of determining whether the object is wandering, if the object meets a preset wandering condition, the object may be determined to be a wandering object.

[0008] The wandering condition may be that the number of consecutive frames in which the object is detected is equal to or greater than a preset critical number.

[0009] The wandering condition may be that a path of the object calculated using position information about the object forms at least one closed curve.

[0010] The steps of detecting an object may include: detecting the object and position information about the object from each frame of the multiple frames, and detecting a reference feature of the object from at least one frame of the multiple frames, wherein the step of determining whether the object wanders repeatedly may include: searching a database to determine whether the database stores information about an object having a reference feature identical to the reference feature of the detected object, and determining that the object wanders repeatedly if the database stores information about an object having a reference feature identical to the detected reference feature; in response to determining that the object wanders repeatedly, storing images of the object detected respectively from the multiple frames in the database; in response to determining that the object does not wander repeatedly, storing the reference feature of the detected object and the images of the object detected respectively from the multiple frames in the database.

[0011] The step of detecting the object may include: detecting a frame image of the object and position information about the frame image from the multiple frames respectively, and detecting a reference feature of the frame image from at least one frame of the multiple frames, and in response to determining that the database does not store information about the object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the detected frame image, storing the reference feature of the frame image and all the frame images detected from the multiple frames respectively in the database.

[0012] The reference features of the object may include clothing features, facial features, gait features, or a combination thereof.

[0013] The step of providing information may include: if it is determined that the object wanders, providing primary information about the object's wandering by arranging all images of the object detected in the step of detecting the object on a single screen with reference to position information about the object; if it is determined in the step of determining whether the object wanders repeatedly that the object wanders repeatedly, providing secondary information about the object's repeated wandering by selecting other images of the object stored in a database other than the images provided in the step of providing the primary information, and arranging the selected images together with the information provided in the step of providing the primary information on a single screen with reference to position information about the object in the selected images.

[0014] The step of detecting the object may include: detecting a frame image of the object and position information about the frame image from the multiple frames respectively, wherein the database may pre-store a frame image of each of the multiple objects and position information about the frame image of the object, wherein the step of providing the information once may include: providing information about the wandering of the object by arranging all frame images of the object detected in the step of detecting the object on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object in the frame image, and the step of providing the information twice may include: providing information about the repeated wandering of the object by selecting other frame images of the object stored in the database except the frame image provided in the step of providing the information once, and arranging the selected frame images together with the information provided in the step of providing the information once on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object in the selected frame images.

[0015] If it is determined in the step of determining whether the object wanders repeatedly that the object wanders repeatedly, the step of providing information may include: displaying all images of the object stored in the database one by one in chronological order on the screen by referring to information about the image of the object and the position of the object stored in the database.

[0016] According to one or more embodiments, a repeated wandering detection apparatus is provided, which may include: an object detector configured to detect an object and position information about the object from an input image; a wandering determiner configured to determine whether the object wanders based on the position information about the object; a repeated wandering determiner, in response to the wandering determiner determining that the object wanders, the repeated wandering determiner configured to determine whether the object wanders repeatedly by determining whether a database stores information about the same object as the object detected from the input image; and an information provider configured to provide information about the wandering of the object based on whether the object wanders repeatedly.

[0017] The input image may be a motion image including a plurality of frames, the object detector may detect an object and position information about the object from each of the plurality of frames, and the wandering determiner may determine that the object wanders if the object detected by the object detector satisfies a preset wandering condition.

[0018] The wandering condition may be that the number of consecutive frames in which the object is detected is equal to or greater than a preset critical number.

[0019] The wandering condition may be that a path of the object calculated using position information about the object forms at least one closed curve.

[0020] The object detector may detect an object and position information about the object from each frame of the multiple frames, and detect a reference feature of the object from at least one frame of the multiple frames, wherein the repeatedly wandering determiner may include: a first determiner configured to search for the detected reference feature in a database and determine whether the database stores information about an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the detected object; a second determiner configured to determine that the object is a repeatedly wandering object in response to the first determiner determining that the database stores an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the detected object; and a data storage configured to store images of the object detected from the multiple frames respectively in the database in response to the second determiner determining that the object is a repeatedly wandering object, and to store the reference feature of the object and the images of the object detected from the multiple frames respectively in the database in response to the second determiner determining that the object is not a repeatedly wandering object.

[0021] The object detector may detect a frame image of an object and position information about the frame image from the multiple frames respectively, and detect reference features of the frame image from at least one frame of the multiple frames. If the database does not store information about an object having the same reference features as the reference features of the detected frame image, the data storage may store the reference features of the frame image and all the frame images detected from the multiple frames respectively in the database.

[0022] The reference features of the object may include clothing features, facial features, gait features, or a combination thereof.

[0023] The object detector may detect an object and position information about the object from each of the multiple frames, wherein the information provider may include: a first information provider, in response to the wandering determiner determining that the object wanders, configured to provide information about the wandering of the object by arranging all images of the object detected by the object detector on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object; and a second information provider, in response to the repeated wandering determiner determining that the object repeatedly wanders, configured to provide information about the repeated wandering of the object by selecting other images of the object stored in a database other than the images provided by the first information provider, and arranging the selected images together with the information provided by the first information provider on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object in the selected images.

[0024] The object detector may respectively detect a frame image of the object and position information about the frame image from the multiple frames, wherein the database may pre-store a frame image of each of the multiple objects and position information about the frame image, the first information provider may provide information about the wandering of the object by arranging all frame images of the object detected by the object detector on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object in the frame image, and the second information provider may provide information about the repeated wandering of the object by selecting other frame images of the object stored in the database except the frame image provided by the first information provider, and arranging the selected frame images together with the information provided by the first information provider on a single screen with reference to the position information about the object in the selected frame images.

[0025] Other aspects will become apparent and more readily understood from the accompanying drawings, claims, and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] These and / or other aspects will become clearer and more readily understood through the following description of exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0027] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a repetitive wandering detection system according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0028] Figure 2 and Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating how an object detector according to an exemplary embodiment detects an object and information about a position of the object from an input image;

[0029] Figure 4 and Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of wandering conditions that can be used by a wandering determiner;

[0030] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a repetitive wandering determiner according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0031] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating a process of storing an image of an object detected by an object detector in a database according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0032] Figure 8 and Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which an information provider provides information on wandering;

[0033] Figure 10A and Figure 10B is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen on which an information provider provides information on wandering according to another embodiment;

[0034] Figure 11is a flow chart illustrating a method of detecting repetitive wandering according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0035] Figure 12 is a diagram showing a method according to an exemplary embodiment Figure 11 Detailed flowchart of process S20 shown in FIG;

[0036] Figure 13 is a diagram showing a method according to an exemplary embodiment Figure 11 Detailed flowchart of the process S30 shown in FIG;

[0037] Figure 14 is a diagram showing a method according to an exemplary embodiment Figure 11 Detailed flowchart of the process S40 is shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals represent the same elements throughout. In this regard, the exemplary embodiments proposed may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Therefore, exemplary embodiments are described below with reference only to the accompanying drawings to explain various aspects of the present invention. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant listed elements. When a statement such as "at least one of..." precedes a series of elements, it modifies the entire list of elements rather than a single element in the series of elements. In addition, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the subject matter of the exemplary embodiments, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or configurations will be excluded.

[0039] It will be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.

[0040] In the following description, technical terms are used only to explain specific exemplary embodiments and do not limit the present inventive concept. Unless otherwise indicated, terms in the singular may include plural forms. The meaning of "including" or "comprising" specifies attributes, fixed numbers, steps, processes, elements, components, and combinations thereof, but does not exclude other attributes, fixed numbers, steps, processes, elements, components, and combinations thereof.

[0041] Exemplary embodiments can be implemented as functional blocks and various processing operations as shown in the accompanying drawings. Functional blocks can be implemented using various hardware and / or software configurations that perform specific functions. For example, exemplary embodiments can adopt integrated circuit configurations that can perform various functions under the control of a microprocessor or other control device, such as memory, processing, logic, lookup tables, etc. In a similar manner to the elements of the embodiments that can be performed using software programming or software elements, the embodiments can be implemented using scripting languages ​​or programming languages ​​(such as C, C++, Java, assembly, etc.) that include various algorithms implemented by a combination of data structures, processes, processing, routines, or other programming configurations. Functional aspects can be implemented by algorithms executed in one or more processors. In addition, exemplary embodiments can adopt conversion technology to establish an electronic environment, process signals, and / or process data. Terms such as "mechanism," "element," "device," and "configuration" can be used broadly and are not limited to mechanical or physical configurations. Such terms can have the meaning of a series of software routines related to a processor, etc.

[0042] The term "repeated wandering" is used herein to describe a situation where an object that has wandered around a specific area at least once wanders around the specific area again.

[0043] Conventional loitering alarms measure the time period a subject remains within the field of view (FOV) of a camera in a predetermined area and determine whether the subject is loitering in that area based on the measured time period. Specifically, if a subject remains within the FOV of a camera in that area for a critical time period or longer, the subject is determined to be loitering. However, in this case, if the subject loiters before repeatedly loitering, the repeated loitering will not be detected. Furthermore, repeated loitering may be detected as the loitering of another subject. Consequently, accurate monitoring or surveillance is difficult.

[0044] Yet, according to exemplary embodiment, the wandering detection system detects both wandering and wandering of the object.In addition, if it is determined that the object wanders repeatedly, the information about the previous wandering of the object is also provided to the user, so it is possible to more effectively monitor or supervise.

[0045] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a wandering detection system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0046] Reference Figure 1 The repeated wandering detection system includes a repeated wandering detection device 1 and an image acquisition device 2.

[0047] Image acquisition device 2 can capture the surrounding area, scene (space), or various objects included in the scene (e.g., stationary objects such as the ground, walls, obstacles, or moving objects such as people or animals). Image acquisition device 2 may be a device including an image sensor, such as a camera. Image acquisition device 2 may be connected to repetitive wandering detection device 1 via a wired or wireless communication scheme.

[0048] Reference Figure 1 The repeated wandering detection apparatus 1 may include an object detector 10, a wandering determiner 20, a repeated wandering determiner 30, and an information provider 40. The object detector 10 detects an object and position information about the object. The wandering determiner 20 uses the position information about the detected object to determine whether the object is wandering. If the detected object is determined to be wandering, the repeated wandering determiner 30 searches a database for an object identical to the detected object to determine whether the detected object is repeatedly wandering. Finally, the information provider 40 provides information about the detected object's repeated wandering based on the determination result.

[0049] The repeated wandering detection system includes a database. The database may be included in the repeated wandering detection device 1 or connected to the repeated wandering detection device 1 via a wired or wireless communication method.

[0050] The object detector 10 detects an object and information about the position of the object.

[0051] Figure 2 and Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating how the object detector 10 detects an object and information about the position of the object from an input image.

[0052] Reference Figure 2 , an object detector 10 detects an object 12 from an input image 11 .

[0053] The input image 11 may be a moving image including a plurality of frames. In this case, the input image 11 may be one frame among the plurality of frames.

[0054] The object detector 10 can detect the object 12 by detecting a motion region from an input image. Any motion region detection method can be used without limitation. For example, a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) or a codebook model can be used.

[0055] Reference Figure 3 , the object detector 10 detects information 13 about the position of the object 12 from the input image 11. The center point of the object 12 or any other point can be detected as the position of the object 12. In addition, the user can set any point as the origin for calculating the position of the object 12.

[0056] The object detector 10 may detect an object 12 and information 13 about a position of the object 12 from each of a plurality of frames.

[0057] Return to reference Figure 1 , the wandering determiner 20 determines whether the object 12 wanders based on the information 13 about the location of the object 12.

[0058] For example, if the object 12 detected by the object detector 10 satisfies a preset wandering condition, the wandering determiner 20 may determine that the object 12 wanders.

[0059] The wandering condition can be set by the user. For example, if the number of consecutive frames in which object 12 is detected is equal to or greater than a preset threshold number, it can be determined that object 12 is wandering. However, for this condition, the frames detecting object 12 do not need to be consecutive frames. As another example, these frames can be frames in which object 12 is detected within a preset time. As another example, the path along which object 12 moves can be calculated based on information 13 regarding the position of object 12 detected by object detector 10. If this path forms at least one closed curve, it can be determined that object 12 is wandering.

[0060] Figure 4 and Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of wandering conditions that can be used by the wandering determiner 20 .

[0061] Reference Figure 4 , assuming that the object 12 moves in the direction from the upper left position to the lower right position of the input image 11, and the object 12 is detected from 5 consecutive frames. If the critical number as a reference for wandering determination is 4, then Figure 4 It is shown that the object 12 is detected from 5 consecutive frames, so the wandering determiner 20 can determine that the object 12 wanders.

[0062] Reference Figure 5 , it is assumed that the object 12 moves along a path 22 that sequentially passes through the upper left position, the lower middle position, the upper middle position, and the lower left position of the input image 11, and the path 22 forms a closed curve 23. That is, since the path 22 forms at least one closed curve 23, it can be determined that the object 12 is wandering. In addition, although referring to Figure 4 The described wandering condition (critical number = 4) was used to determine Figure 5 Whether the object 12 shown in FIG. 1 is wandering, but it is determined that the object 12 is wandering.

[0063] If the wandering determiner 20 determines that the object 12 wanders, the object detector 10 further detects reference features of the object 12 from at least one of the plurality of frames. The repeated wandering determiner 30 uses the reference features to determine whether the object 12 repeatedly wanders (described later).

[0064] Return to reference Figure 1 If the wandering determiner 20 determines that the object 12 wanders, the repeated wandering determiner 30 determines whether the database stores the same object as the object 12 detected from the input image 11 to determine whether the object 12 repeatedly wanders.

[0065] Reference Figure 6 The repeated wandering determiner 30 includes a first determiner 31, a second determiner 32, and a data storage 33. After determining that the subject 12 is a wandering subject, the first determiner 31 searches a database to determine whether the database stores an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the subject 12 detected by the object detector 10. If the database stores an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the subject 12, the second determiner 32 determines that the subject 12 detected by the object detector 10 is repeatedly wandering. If the subject 12 detected by the object detector 10 is determined to be a repeatedly wandering subject, the data storage 33 stores the images of the subject 12 detected from multiple frames in the database. If the subject 12 detected by the object detector 10 is not determined to be a repeatedly wandering subject, the database storage 33 stores the reference feature of the subject 12 and the images of the subject 12 detected from multiple frames in the database. In this case, the reference feature may include one or a combination of the subject 12's clothing, face, and gait.

[0066] Figure 7 3 is a diagram illustrating a process of storing reference features of the object 12 and images of the object 12 acquired from a plurality of frames in the database 34 when it is determined that the object 12 detected by the object detector 10 is not wandering.

[0067] As described above, if the wandering determiner 20 determines that the object 12 wanders, the object detector 10 also detects reference features of the object 12 from at least one frame of the plurality of frames 16 .

[0068] Data storage 33 stores clothing features 14 of object 12 detected by object detector 10 from one of the plurality of frames 16 in portion 35 of database 34. Similarly, data storage 33 may store facial features 15 of object 12 detected by object detector 10 from one of the plurality of frames 16 in portion 35 of database 34. There is no limitation on the method of providing clothing or facial features. In other words, any method may be used.

[0069] Furthermore, data storage 33 may store gait features 17 of object 12 detected by object detector 10 from a plurality of frames 16 in portion 35 of database 34 .

[0070] In addition to reference features of object 12 , images of object 12 (or pattern / box images of object 12 ) detected from plurality of frames 16 may be stored in portion 35 of database 34 .

[0071] In the repeated wandering determination process, reference features such as clothing features 14, facial features 15, and gait features 17 stored in the database 34 and the image of the object 12 are used to determine whether the database 34 stores an object having the same reference features as the reference features of the object 12.

[0072] In another exemplary embodiment, object detector 10 may detect a frame image of object 12 and information regarding the position of the frame image from multiple frames 16. That is, object detector 10 may detect object 12 in the form of a frame image. Object detector 10 may also detect reference features of the frame image from at least one of the multiple frames 16. If it is determined that database 34 does not store an object having the same reference features as the reference features of the frame image, data storage 33 stores the reference features and the frame image detected from the multiple frames 16. However, if database 34 stores an object having the same reference features as the reference features of the frame image, object 12 is determined to be a repeatedly wandering object, and data storage 33 stores the frame images detected from the multiple frames 16 in database 34.

[0073] Return to reference Figure 1 , the information provider 40 provides wandering information about the subject 12 based on whether the subject 12 has repeatedly wandered. That is, if the subject 12 has a record of wandering and repeatedly wandering (i.e., wandering again), the information provider 40 also provides information about the subject 12's previous wandering, unlike the case where the subject 12 has no record of wandering. In other words, the information provider 40 can provide the user with information about the subject 12's current wandering and information about the subject 12's previous wandering. The user can then make a more accurate decision by comparing the information about the subject 12's current wandering with the information about the subject 12's previous wandering.

[0074] For example, information provider 40 includes a first information provider that provides information about current wandering and a second information provider that provides information about previous wandering. If subject 12 is determined to be wandering, first information provider arranges all images of subject 12 detected by subject detector 10 on a single screen, referring to information 13 about the location of subject 12. In this way, first information provider provides information about subject 12's wandering.

[0075] The second information provider provides other images of the subject 12 stored in database 34, in addition to the image provided by the first information provider. The second information provider provides the images with reference to information regarding the image's location. Because the repeated wandering determiner 30 stores all images of the subject 12 in database 34, the image of the subject 12 provided by the first information provider is excluded to avoid providing duplicate information. The information provider 40 provides information regarding repeated wandering by arranging the information provided by the first information provider and the information provided by the second information provider on a single screen. In addition to the information provided by the first and second information providers, the information provider 40 can also provide additional information, such as the number of wanderings.

[0076] Figure 8 and Figure 9 An example of a screen in which the information provider 40 provides information on wandering is shown.

[0077] Figure 8 1 is an example diagram showing a first information provider providing information about current wandering. Referring to information 13 regarding the location of an object 12 determined to be a wandering subject, the first information provider provides all images 41 of the object 12 detected by the object detector 10 (information about current wandering) on ​​a single screen. In this way, the first information provider provides information about wandering.

[0078] Figure 9 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a second information provider provides information about wandering. The second information provider provides an image 42 of the object 12 stored in the database 34 in addition to the image 41 provided by the first information provider. The second information provider provides the image 42 with reference to information about the location of the image 42.

[0079] Furthermore, the information provider 40 may provide additional information 43 such as the number of wandering times in addition to the information provided by the first information provider and the second information provider.

[0080] According to another exemplary embodiment, the information provider 40 may provide information about wandering by arranging all block images of the objects 12 detected by the object detector 10 on a single screen with reference to information about the positions of the block images.

[0081] The second information provider can provide a frame image of an object stored in database 34, in addition to the frame image provided by the first information provider. In this case, the second information provider provides the frame image with reference to information regarding the position of the frame image. In this case, the second information provider can provide information on a single screen along with the information provided by the first information provider. In this way, the second information provider can provide information regarding wandering.

[0082] In another exemplary embodiment, if it is determined that the object 12 wanders repeatedly, the information provider 40 may provide information about the repeated wandering by displaying all images of the object 12 stored in the database 34 one by one in chronological order with reference to the information about the image and position of the object 12 stored in the database 34.

[0083] Figure 10A and Figure 10B FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen in which the information provider 40 provides information about wandering according to another exemplary embodiment. The information provider 40 may be as follows: Figure 10A and 10B As shown, a plurality of frames are displayed continuously on the screen, and then a plurality of frames are displayed on the screen. In this way, the information provider 40 can display the images of the object 12 stored in the database 34 one by one in chronological order with reference to the position information about the images. Figure 10A shows an example of a specific frame being displayed on the screen, Figure 10B An example is shown in which the next frame is displayed on the screen.

[0084] Furthermore, as described above, the information provider 40 may also provide the image of the subject 12 along with additional information such as loitering time.

[0085] Figure 11 is a flow chart illustrating a method for detecting repetitive wandering, which can be performed by using Figure 1 The repeated wandering detection system shown above is implemented. Figures 1 to 10B The same description as given will not be repeated here.

[0086] Object detector 10 detects object 12 and information 13 regarding the position of object 12 from input image 11 (S10). Object 12 can be detected in various forms using various methods. For example, object 12 can be detected in the form of a frame image using a motion detection method. Detected object 12 is the object of wandering determination and repeated wandering determination (described in detail later). Information 13 regarding the position of object 12 is used in wandering detection and in providing information regarding wandering to the user (described in detail later).

[0087] The wandering determiner 20 determines whether the subject 12 is wandering based on the information 13 regarding the position of the subject 12 (S20). For example, when the path along which the subject 12 moves is calculated using the information 13 regarding the position of the subject 12, if the path forms at least one closed curve, the subject 12 is determined to be wandering. As another example, if the number of consecutive frames in which the subject 12 is detected is equal to or greater than a preset critical number, the subject 12 may be determined to be wandering.

[0088] If the wandering determiner 20 determines that the object 12 wanders, the object detector 10 further detects reference features of the object 12 from at least one of the plurality of frames. The repeated wandering determiner 30 uses the reference features to determine whether the object 12 repeatedly wanders (described in detail later).

[0089] If the wandering determiner 20 determines that the subject 12 wanders, the repeated wandering determiner 30 determines whether the database 34 stores the same object as the subject 12 to determine whether the subject 12 repeatedly wanders (S30). At this time, if an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the subject 12 is found in the database 34, it is determined that the database 34 stores the same object as the subject 12. The reference feature may be a clothing feature, a facial feature, and / or a gait feature.

[0090] Finally, the information provider 40 provides different wandering information about the subject 12 depending on whether the subject 12 wanders repeatedly (S40). For example, if the subject 12 is determined to be a repeatedly wandering subject, all images of the subject 12 related to the current wandering and all images of the subject 12 related to the previous wandering may be displayed on a screen (preferably, but not necessarily, a single screen) so that the images can be compared. In addition, time information may be provided for more efficient management and monitoring.

[0091] Figure 12 It shows Figure 11 Detailed flowchart of operation S20 is shown in FIG. If object 12 satisfies a preset wandering condition, wandering determiner 20 determines that object 12 is wandering. For example, if the number of consecutive frames in which object 12 is detected is equal to or greater than a preset critical number ( S21 ), or if the path along which object 12 moves forms at least one closed curve ( S22 ), wandering determiner 20 may determine that object 12 is wandering ( S24 ). If object 12 does not satisfy any of the aforementioned wandering conditions, it is determined that object 12 is not wandering ( S23 ). If wandering determiner 20 determines that object 12 is wandering, object detector 10 further detects a reference feature of object 12 from at least one of the plurality of frames.

[0092] Figure 13 It shows Figure 11 If the wandering determiner 20 determines that the object 12 wanders, the repeated wandering determiner 30 determines whether the database 34 stores the same object as the object 12 detected from the input image 11 to determine whether the object 12 repeatedly wanders.

[0093] For example, the repeated wandering detector 30 searches the database 34 to determine whether the database 34 stores an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the object 12 detected by the object detector 10 (S31). If the database 34 stores an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the object 12, the repeated wandering determiner 30 determines that the object 12 repeatedly wanders (S32). However, if the database 34 does not store an object having the same reference feature as the reference feature of the object 12, the reference feature of the object 12 is stored in the database 34 (S33). Finally, the repeated wandering determiner 30 stores the images of the object 12 detected from the plurality of frames in the database 34 (S34).

[0094] At this time, if the subject 12 is determined to be a repeatedly wandering subject, the images of the subject 12 detected from the plurality of frames are stored in the database 34 in addition to the information about the subject 12 already stored in the database 34. However, if the subject 12 is determined not to be a repeatedly wandering subject, the images of the subject 12 detected from the plurality of frames are stored in the database 34 together with the reference features of the subject 12.

[0095] Figure 14 It shows Figure 11 Detailed flowchart of operation S40 is shown in FIG. The information provider 40 provides different wandering information about the subject 12 depending on whether the subject 12 has repeatedly wandered. That is, if the subject 12 has a history of wandering and wanders again, the information provider 40 also provides information about the subject 12's previous wandering, unlike when the subject 12 has no history of wandering. In other words, the information provider 40 can provide the user with information about the subject 12's current wandering and previous wandering.

[0096] For example, if it is determined that the subject 12 is wandering, the information provider 40 provides all images of the subject 12 on a single screen with reference to the information 13 regarding the position of the subject 12 detected by the object detector 10 to provide information about the wandering (current wandering) of the subject 12 (S41). The information provider 40 determines whether the subject 12 is wandering repeatedly (S42). If it is determined that the subject 12 is wandering repeatedly, the information provider 40 provides images of the subject 12 stored in the database 34 in addition to the images provided in operation S41 with reference to the information regarding the positions of the images (S43). At this time, in addition to the information provided in operations S41 and S42, additional information such as the wandering time may also be provided.

[0097] Unlike conventional loitering alert systems that determine whether an object is loitering based on a time period during which the object appears, the exemplary embodiments described above extract reference features and provide information on the number of loitering events. Therefore, monitoring and surveillance can be performed more efficiently.

[0098] The inventive concept described in the above exemplary embodiments can be applied to various systems for identifying and re-identifying objects. For example, if the FOVs of multiple cameras of a surveillance system are combined into one FOV, wandering objects can be detected more accurately from a wider area.

[0099] Furthermore, the present invention is applicable to any system for accurate counting. For example, all objects entering and exiting the FOV can be detected and stored in the database 34, and objects that repeatedly pass through the FOV are not re-counted. Thus, accurate counting can be performed.

[0100] If the present inventive concept is applied to a surveillance system including a plurality of cameras, a path along which an object moves may be detected by recognizing and re-recognizing the object.

[0101] The repeated wandering detection device and method of the embodiments can also be implemented as computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. A computer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data that can be subsequently read by a computer system. Examples of computer-readable recording media include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and optical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed among networked computer systems, thereby storing and executing the computer-readable code in a distributed manner. In addition, the functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present inventive concept can be easily interpreted by programmers skilled in the art to which the present inventive concept belongs.

[0102] According to the method and apparatus of the above-described exemplary embodiments, it is possible to detect a wandering object, provide a reference feature from the object, and differently provide information about the object on a screen according to the number of times the object wanders.

[0103] It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described herein should be understood in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The description of features or aspects in each exemplary embodiment should generally be understood to be applicable to other similar features or aspects in other exemplary embodiments.

[0104] Although one or more embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept as defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for providing wandering information, comprising the following steps: determining whether the object in the input image is wandering based on whether the object satisfies a preset wandering condition; If it is determined that the object is wandering, then it is determined whether the object is wandering repeatedly, wherein, In the step of determining whether the object wanders repeatedly, if there is a record of the object wandering in the database, it is determined that the object wanders repeatedly; as well as When providing information on the wandering of the subject, wherein, in the information providing step, the information on the subject is provided differently according to the number of times the subject wanders.

2. The wandering information providing method according to claim 1, wherein: In the case of repeated wandering of the subject, The information providing step includes the following steps: Information about a current wandering and information about at least one previous wandering is provided.

3. The wandering information providing method according to claim 2, wherein: The information providing step further comprises the following steps: displaying all images of the object corresponding to each of the at least one previous wandering; and All images of the object corresponding to the current wandering are displayed.

4. The wandering information providing method according to claim 3, wherein: The information providing step further comprises the following steps: displaying adjacent to the image of each of the at least one previous wandering first additional information including a time at which the wandering occurred; and Second additional information including a time at which the current wandering occurs is displayed adjacent to the image of the current wandering.

5. The wandering information providing method according to claim 2, wherein: The information providing step further comprises the following steps: The image of the object corresponding to each of the at least one previous wandering and the image of the object corresponding to the current wandering are sequentially displayed in chronological order.

Images