Partial Body Image Restoration for Skeleton Estimation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing skeleton estimation methods for personal authentication struggle with accuracy when image data includes only part of a person's body, leading to reduced authentication reliability.

Innovation Solution

An estimating device that acquires image data lacking parts of a person's body, restores the missing parts using a whole body restoration model, and estimates skeleton data using a skeleton estimation model, enabling accurate authentication by calculating similarity between estimated and registered skeleton data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If skeleton estimation is performed directly on image data containing only partial body images, then processing speed is improved, but estimation accuracy deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing speedVSAvoidskeleton estimation accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by restoring missing body parts in the image data before skeleton estimation is performed. The restoration unit completes partial body images using learned relationships from training data, ensuring that the skeleton estimation model receives complete body information. This preliminary restoration step enables accurate skeleton estimation without requiring manually prepared whole-body images during actual authentication operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The restoration unit acts as an intermediary between the input image data and the skeleton estimation model. It transforms partial body images into complete body representations by filling in missing regions based on learned patterns, thereby mediating the information gap between partial inputs and the requirements of the skeleton estimation algorithm.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If image data with entire body is required for skeleton estimation model learning, then estimation accuracy is improved, but data preparation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveskeleton estimation accuracyVSAvoiddata preparation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates virtual copies of missing body parts by learning from training data containing whole-body images. During the training phase, the system learns the relationships between visible and hidden body parts, enabling it to generate accurate restorations of missing regions. This copying approach allows the model to work with partial images during authentication while maintaining accuracy equivalent to whole-body image processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The training process performs preliminary learning of body structure relationships in advance. By training on whole-body images during the offline phase, the system acquires knowledge about how different body parts relate to each other, which is then applied during authentication to restore missing parts from partial images without requiring manual preparation of complete body images at runtime.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12183000B2Estimating device, estimating method, and estimating program
Publication Date: 2024.12.31 NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS INC
  • US12183000B2 patent drawing
  • US12183000B2 patent drawing
  • US12183000B2 patent drawing

AI summary

An estimating device includes processing circuitry configured to acquire image data lacking part of a body of a person, restore a defective part of the body of the person in the image data by using the image data acquired as an input, and using a whole body restoration model for restoring the defective part of the body of the person in the image data, and estimate skeleton data by using the image data restored as an input, and using a skeleton estimation model for estimating the skeleton data related to a skeleton of the person.