Bounding-Box Color and Depth Transmission for Target Detail

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current depth capturing devices capture the depth of a whole scene and do not focus on a specific target, while existing target tracking methods are prone to interference from similar color backgrounds.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that captures color and depth information by using an image capturing device and a depth capturing device, identifies a target, and applies bounding boxes to focus depth measurements on the target, utilizing transfer functions to enhance detail in regions of interest.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Area of stationary object

If depth capturing devices capture the depth of a whole scene, then the coverage area is increased, but the measurement precision for specific targets is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecoverage areaVSAvoiddepth measurement precision
Core Design Contradiction:
Area of stationary objectVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the scene into multiple depth maps, each corresponding to a specific target object identified through color image analysis. Instead of capturing one uniform depth map for the entire scene, the system segments the depth information by creating separate depth maps for each detected target, thereby maintaining high measurement precision for specific targets while still covering the whole scene.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies different quality levels to different regions of the scene. High-resolution depth maps are generated specifically for identified target objects, while other regions may have lower resolution or no depth information. This local quality approach ensures that measurement precision is optimized for areas of interest (targets) without unnecessarily capturing high-detail depth information for the entire scene.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Speed

If target tracking methods use color features, then the target identification speed is improved, but the reliability is reduced due to interference from similar color backgrounds

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetarget identification speedVSAvoidtarget identification reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple types of information to identify and track targets: color image data for initial detection, depth map data for spatial verification, and shape analysis for confirmation. By merging these different data sources, the system maintains the speed advantage of color-based detection while adding reliability through multi-modal verification that can distinguish targets from similar-color backgrounds.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces depth information as an intermediary verification layer between color detection and final target identification. The depth maps provide additional spatial context that acts as a mediator to confirm whether color-detected regions are actual targets or background artifacts, thereby improving reliability without sacrificing the initial detection speed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Measurement precision

If depth measurements are focused on specific targets using bounding boxes, then the measurement precision is improved, but the device complexity is increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedepth measurement precisionVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary target identification using color image analysis before generating depth maps. By pre-identifying target locations and creating bounding boxes in the color space first, the system can then focus depth map generation only on these predefined regions. This preliminary action simplifies the overall process by avoiding the need for complex real-time coordinated processing of full-scene depth and color data simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4312427B1System and method for transmitting color and depth information
Publication Date: 2025.10.15 TMRW FOUNDATION IP SARL
  • EP4312427B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4312427B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4312427B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A system for transmitting color and depth information, comprising: an image capturing device capturing a full color image frame of a scene; a depth capturing device capturing a grayscale depth image frame of the scene; a target identifying module for identifying a target in the scene; a bounding box generator configured for generating a bounding box encapsulating the target and for creating bound grayscale depth images and bound full color images; a depth colorizer converting the bound grayscale depth images into a bound full color depth image by linking and normalizing the depth dimension of the bounding box to a transferred color gamut by implementing a transfer function; an image merger that merges the bound full color images and bound full color depth images together into bound merged full color images; and an image encoder compressing the bound merged full color images into an image bitstring.