Cooking Appliance Camera Image Anonymization for Privacy Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking devices with cameras can violate privacy by allowing a view of individuals standing in front of the oven, as the camera's field of vision may capture people, potentially leading to unauthorized recognition.
Innovation Solution
A cooking device equipped with a camera and an image processing device that anonymizes specific areas within the cooking space's field of view, particularly the reflective walls, to prevent recognition of individuals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a camera is installed in the cooking appliance to allow users to view the cooking chamber, then users can monitor the cooking process remotely, but privacy of individuals standing in front of the appliance may be violated
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful element (person recognition capability) is extracted from the useful function (cooking monitoring). The image processing device selectively removes personally identifiable information from images while preserving the cooking process visibility, separating the monitoring function from the privacy-infringing recognition function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different processing is applied to different regions of the image. Faces and personally identifiable areas are anonymized while the rest of the cooking chamber remains clearly visible. This local differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of remote monitoring and privacy protection.
2Loss of information
If the camera captures the entire field of view including reflective walls, then complete cooking chamber monitoring is achieved, but image processing complexity increases due to the need to anonymize reflective areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of anonymization areas before full image processing. By first detecting reflective surfaces and determining their coordinates, the system prepares the anonymization mask in advance, reducing the computational complexity of the subsequent image processing operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a simplified representation (mask or coordinate set) of the anonymization areas rather than processing the entire complex image. This copying approach allows the image processing device to work with simplified data structures, reducing computational burden while maintaining complete cooking chamber visibility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively protects the privacy of individuals by ensuring that they are not recognizable in the images captured by the camera, while also allowing users to view the cooking space without compromising personal privacy.
Implementation Method 1
at least one image area to be anonymized or anonymizable comprises at least one fixed image area, wherein the fixed image area corresponds to an area of the reflective oven wall
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a cooking appliance (1) comprising a cooking chamber (2) having a loading opening (4), a cooking chamber door (3) for sealing the loading opening (4), which has a viewing window (5) and a camera (8) directed into the cooking chamber (2), which camera is coupled to an image processing device (9), wherein the image processing device (9) is designed to anonymize at least one image region (BB) in an image (Br) captured by the camera (8). The invention further relates to a method (S1-S5) for operating a cooking appliance (1), wherein a camera (8) captures (S2) at least one image (Br) of a cooking chamber (2) of the cooking appliance (1), at least one image region (BB) is anonymized (S5) in at least one image (Br), and the anonymized image (Ba) is provided (S4) at least to one image display device (S). The invention is in particular advantageously applicable to baking ovens and/or microwave appliances, which in particular can be designed as household appliances.