U.S. patent application number 13/215025 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-23 for method and apparatus for encoding/decoding image data.
This patent application is currently assigned to IQ BIOMETRIX, INC.. Invention is credited to Pierre COTE.
Application Number | 20120045138 13/215025 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 30770791 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120045138 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
COTE; Pierre |
February 23, 2012 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING/DECODING IMAGE DATA
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for encoding
images, more particularly to an encoding unit in conjunction with a
library of pictorial entities and image qualifiers. The method and
apparatus provide encoding an image by using a code factor table in
conjunction with a set of element codes. The resulting image code
allows the set pictorial elements of an image and their associated
image qualifiers to be represented by a compact code uniquely
representing a given configuration of pictorial elements. The use
of the resulting image code facilitates the transmission and
storage of images requiring only the code to be sent or stored. The
invention further provides a computer readable medium comprising a
program element that direct a computer to implement the encoding
process.
Inventors: |
COTE; Pierre; (Quebec,
CA) |
Assignee: |
IQ BIOMETRIX, INC.
Kingwood
TX
|
Family ID: |
30770791 |
Appl. No.: |
13/215025 |
Filed: |
August 22, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12636302 |
Dec 11, 2009 |
8005303 |
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13215025 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
382/232 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 19/44 20141101;
G06T 9/001 20130101; G06T 11/60 20130101; G06T 9/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
382/232 |
International
Class: |
G06K 9/36 20060101
G06K009/36 |
Claims
1. A medium for storing information, comprising: at least one code
defining a composite image.
2. The medium of claim 1, wherein the code includes a plurality of
element codes, each element code defining a respective feature in
the composite facial image.
3-38. (canceled)
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for
encoding/decoding image data. It is particularly applicable to the
encoding/decoding of images that can be separated into their
constituent parts as may be used in composite picture systems used
in law enforcement, artistic creations, recreation and
education.
BACKGROUND
[0002] It is known in the art to create images on the basis or
components that are assembled to form a complete image. For
example, a common technique for synthesizing single images of faces
involves horizontally dividing the image of a face into bands for
different features of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and
chin, respectively. Paper strips containing exemplary features are
then be combined to form a composite drawing of a face. Yet another
example involves a program element running on a computing platform
which allows a user to select individual components and combining
them on a pre-selected face. In a typical interaction, the user
first selects the shape of the face then eyes, nose, mouth and
other components and combines them to form a facial image. Many
variations on this theme can be used as described in Kakiyama et
al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,767, Yoshino et al. U.S. Pat. No.
5,644,690, Sato et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,662 and Belfer et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,036 whose contents are hereby incorporated by
reference. For example, the Sato et al. Patent, entitled Electronic
Montage composing apparatus, describes a system for creating a
montage image of a face using a plurality of basic parts stored in
a library.
[0003] In constructing an image, pictorial entities are selected
from a library of pictorial entities as assembled into images.
These images may then be stored on a computer readable medium,
commonly referred to as a database or repository. Often, the
storage of an image requires significant amounts of memory, often
necessitating large repositories. For example, a composite picture
system used in a police department often requires maintaining
records of thousands of individuals. The images are typically
stored in files in some graphical format such as a "bitmap", "gif"
or "jpeg" are other format. Although such encoding schemes provide
a compressed representation of the image, the memory required for
storing the image remains significant. In addition, compression
methods of the type described above generally degrade the quality
of the image. The size and quality of images is also particularly
significant when the images are transmitted from one site to
another via a digital link. For example, a given police station may
transmit a composite picture to another police station in order to
share information about a given suspect.
[0004] Thus, there exists a need in the industry to refine the
process of encoding images such as to reduce the memory
requirements for storage and the bandwidth required for the
transmission of the image.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The invention provides a novel method and an apparatus for
encoding images.
[0006] For the purpose of the specification, the expression "basic
elements" is used to describe a part of a specific image. In the
preferred embodiment, a basic element is comprised of a pictorial
entity conditioned by a set of image qualifiers. Examples of
pictorial entities in a facial image are noses, eyes, mouths and
eyebrows. In the preferred embodiment, pictorial entities are
grouped into classes. For example, in composite picture system, all
nose pictorial entities are grouped into the "NOSE" class and all
the eye pictorial entities are grouped in the "EYE" class. Each
class of pictorial entities is associated to a set of image
qualifiers that are used to condition the pictorial entities in the
associated class. The image qualifiers may include position
qualifiers, zoom qualifiers, color qualifier and the likes.
[0007] For the purpose of this specification, the basic elements
used in the special case of a facial image are referred to as
"basic morphological elements".
[0008] For the purpose of this specification, the word "symbol" is
used to designate a representation of an object, image, qualifier
or the likes. In a specific example, a symbol may be an index
mapped to a memory location storing data elements such as a
pictorial entity or image qualifier.
[0009] According to a broad aspect, the invention provides, a
computer readable storage medium comprising a program element
suitable for use on a computer having a memory. The program element
is operative to create a first input to receive a set of element
codes. The element codes characterized a portion of an image and
included at least one symbol. A given symbol is a representation of
a certain characteristic of the portion of the element code. A
given symbol can acquire a set of possible values indicative of
variations of the certain characteristic with which it is
associated. The program element is also operative to create a
second input to receive code factors associated to respective
symbols of the set of element codes. A given code factor is
assigned a value that exceeds the highest value that the symbol
with which it is associated can acquire. The program element is
operative to process the set of element codes to derive an image
code. The image code is a compressed digital representation of the
image, and is derived at least in part on the basis of the
plurality of code factors. The image code can then be released as
the output.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the image code is a number in a
given base. Preferably, a large base is used in order to obtain a
reduced number of characters in the image code.
[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the encoding
method and apparatus is integrated into a picture system. The
picture system creates images on the basis of images of basic
individual parts, herein referred to as basic elements. In the
preferred embodiment, the picture system includes a library of
pictorial entities and qualifiers, an image builder unit, an
encoding unit, a decoding, unit and a factor table.
[0012] Each basic element in an image is assigned, a unique
identifier, herein referred to as element code. The element code
contains information data elements, herein referred to as
symbols.
[0013] In a specific embodiment, the element code for each basic
element includes a symbol that characterizes the pictorial element.
In a preferred embodiment, the element code includes a plurality if
symbols. In a specific example two (2) symbols are used namely an
pictorial entity symbol and a position qualifier symbol. The
element code may contain additional symbols without detracting
from, the spirit of the invention. For example symbols
representative of other image qualifiers may be used such as color,
zoom and other image effects may be used. An image is constructed
by a set of basic elements. The basic elements present in a given
facial image are said be "active" in the given image. The set of
active elements is stored, in a data structure suitable for chat
purpose. In a specific example this data structure is an image data
table. The image data table stores for each class a record, each
record containing a set of fields, each field describing the active
pictorial entity and qualifiers.
[0014] The number variations in each of the symbols for each of the
classes is stored in a table, herein referred to as a code factor
table. The code factor table provides information about the number
of possible variations in an image. For each class, the code factor
table stores a record, each record containing a set of fields, each
field describing a maximum factor. The maximum factor in the code
factor table is the largest identifier used for the given factor.
Each symbol in the image data table is mapped to a factor in the
code factor table.
[0015] According to another broad aspect, the invention provides an
apparatus for encoding an image, the image comprising a set of
basic elements, each basic element of the set of basic elements
being associated to an element code. An encoding unit receiving as
input the code factors and the element codes. The encoding unit
processes the set of element codes to derive an image code, the
image code being a compressed digital representation of the image
derived at least in part on the basis of said plurality of code
factors. The encoding unit then outputs the image code.
[0016] According to another broad aspect, the invention provides a
method for encoding an image, the image comprising a set of basic
elements, each basic element of the set of basic elements being
associated to an element code. A processing step receives as input
the code factors and the element codes to derive an image code. The
image code is a compressed digital representation of the image
derived at least in part on the basis of said plurality of code
factors. The image code is the released.
[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the image code can be used to
reproduce the image described by the image code. Image data may be
obtained by combining the code factors and the image code with a
decoding device. The image data is obtained by applying the inverse
operations in the reverse order than those applied in the encoding
process to the image code.
[0018] The image coda allows each image to be described with a very
small number of characters permitting the rapid transmission of the
image over a data transmission medium. The receiving device has a
decoding unit that is capable of extracting data information from
the image code.
[0019] According to another broad aspect, the invention provides a
method, apparatus and computer readable medium for decoding an
image, the image comprising a set of basic elements, each basic
element of the set of basic elements being associated to an element
code. A processing step receives as input the code factors and the
image code to derive the element codes. The element codes are then
released.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] These and other features of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description considered
in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be
understood, however, that the drawings are designed for purposes of
illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the
invention for which reference should be made to the appending
claims.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows an apparatus including an embodiment of the
invention;
[0022] FIG. 2 shows a high-level block diagram of functional units
of the image system including an image encoder in accordance with
the spirit of the invention;
[0023] FIG. 3 shows a high-level block diagram of functional units
of the image system including an image decoder in accordance with
the spirit of the invention;
[0024] FIG. 4 shows a detailed block diagram of the encoding
process in accordance with the spirit of the invention;
[0025] FIG. 5 shows a detailed block diagram of the decoding
process in accordance with the spirit of the invention;
[0026] FIGS. 6a and 6b show flow diagrams for the creation of an
image and the facial code in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention;
[0027] FIG. 7 shows an alternative apparatus including an
embodiment of the invention;
[0028] FIG. 8 shows apparatuses including an embodiment of the
invention connected by a data transmission medium.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] In the preferred embodiment, the encoding method and
apparatus in accordance with the invention is integrated into a
picture system for creating images on the basis of images of
individual parts, herein referred to as basic elements. For the
sake of simplicity, the specification will describe an embodiment
of the invention integrated into a composite picture system. It is
to be understood that the encoding method and apparatus may be used
in systems for creating images on the basis of individual
constituent parts other than a composite picture system without
detracting from the spirit of the invention.
[0030] In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the composite
picture system includes a general-purpose digital computer
including a processor 100 linked to a machine-readable storage
element 108 that may be in the form of a mass storage device such
as a hard-drive, a CD-ROM or any other suitable storage medium. The
system, further includes a device for visualizing the facial image
such as a computer monitor 110 or a printing device. The preferred
embodiment also provides data input on which a user interface 112
is supported in order to allow the user to select through a touch
screen, keyboard, pointing device or other input means, the
individual basic morphological elements and to view the combined
result on the display screen 110. The latter 110 is likely to be
part of the data input. Optionally, the system further provides a
data transmission medium 114 such as a telephone line, LAN, digital
cable, optical cable, wireless transmission device or any other
suitable means for transmitting an image from the general purpose
digital computer to a receiving device. The computer readable
medium 108 storing the composite picture system includes of a set
of modules namely a library of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers 104 and program instructions 102 interacting with the
library of pictorial entities and image qualifiers to create a
facial image. The computer readable medium 108 may also include
symbols where each symbol is associated to a respective one of the
pictorial entities and image qualifiers in the library of pictorial
entities and image qualifiers 104. The computer readable medium
further comprising a set of code factors, each code factor being
associated to a set of symbols, a given code factor being larger
that the largest symbol in the set with which it is associated. The
computer readable medium further comprises an encoding program
element 116 to encode a facial image.
[0031] In the preferred embodiment the composite picture system
comprises an electronic library, of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers 104. Each pictorial entity in the library is an image of
a facial part or an accessory such as glasses, earrings or other.
The pictorial entities in the library 104 are organized into
morphological classes, each class describing a part of the face. In
a preferred embodiment, the following basic morphological classes
are used: hairstyle, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin,
moustache, beard, wrinkles and glasses. The pictorial entities are
stored on a computer readable medium. The images may be compressed
in a format suitable for graphical storage such as a bitmap (BMP),
GIF of JPEG file format. Other file formats may be used here
without detracting from the spirit of the invention.
[0032] In the preferred embodiment, each pictorial entity is
identified with a pictorial entity symbol. Typically, the pictorial
entity symbol is a sequence of alphanumeric characters. The
pictorial entity symbols are stored on a computer readable medium
in the database of symbols. Each image qualifier in the library is
a characteristic of a corresponding class. The image qualifiers in
the library 104 may be organized into qualifier types, each
qualifier type describing a certain characteristic of the pictorial
entity. In a preferred embodiment, the following qualifier types
are used: position and color. Other image qualifiers such as zoom
and the likes may be used without detracting from the spirit of the
invention. The image qualifiers are stored on a computer readable
medium. In the preferred embodiment, each image qualifier is
identified with an image qualifier symbol. Typically, the image
qualifier symbol is a sequence of alphanumeric characters. The
image qualifier symbols are stored on a computer readable medium in
the database of symbols.
[0033] In a preferred embodiment, a basic morphological element
includes a pictorial entity and a set of image qualifiers. The
image qualifiers condition the pictorial, entity to alter the
visual effect of the latter. For example the image qualifier may
modify the position, color zoom or any other visual effect of the
pictorial entity. The purpose of the specification, the expression
"basic morphological element" is used to refer to the pictorial
entity conditioned by the image qualifiers. Each basic
morphological element is associated to an element code. The element
code contains a set of symbols. In a specific example, the element
code for each basic morphological element includes two (2) symbols
namely a pictorial entity symbol and a position qualifier symbol.
The pictorial entity symbol identifies the pictorial entity within
a given class in the library of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers. Preferably, the pictorial entities of a given class are
each assigned a unique symbol. The symbols need not be consecutive
provided they can be ordered and the largest symbol assigned to a
pictorial entity of a given class can be determined. The position
qualifier symbol provides information on the position of the
pictorial entity in the facial image. Preferably, the number of
possible positions for a pictorial entity of a given class is
predetermined. In a specific example, there may be 5 possible
positions for the eyes in a facial image. Each position is assigned
a position qualifier symbol such as a number from 1 to 5 and each
position qualifier symbol corresponds to a position the pictorial
entity with which it is associated can acquire. The element code
may contain additional symbols without detracting from the spirit
of the invention. For example, the element code may contain a
"zoom" qualifier indicating the zoom level of the pictorial
entity.
[0034] A facial image is constructed by a set of basic
morphological elements. The basic morphological element present in
a given facial image is said be "active" in the given image. The
set of active basic morphological elements is stored in a data
structure suitable for that purpose. In a specific example this
data structure is an image data table. The image data table stores
for each class a record. Each records describes an element code,
each record containing a set of fields, each field describing the
pictorial entity symbol, position-qualifier symbol and any other
symbol. The entries in the image data table are referred to as
active element symbols. The table below shows a specific example of
an image data table.
TABLE-US-00001 Pictorial entity Position qualifier Class symbol
symbol EYES 34 2 LIPS 2 1 GLASSES 111 17
[0035] As shown above, a basic morphological element of class
"EYES" with a pictorial entity symbol "34" which is positioned at
position "2" is active in the facial image.
[0036] The number variations in each of the symbols for each of the
classes is stored in a table, herein referred to as a code factor
table. The code factor table provides information about the number
of possible variations in a facial image. For each class, the code
factor table stores a record, each record containing a set of
fields, each field describing a maximum factor. The maximum factor
in the code factor table is the largest symbol assigned to an image
qualifier or pictorial entity for a given class. Alternatively, the
maximum factor is larger that the largest symbol assigned to an
image qualifier or pictorial entity for a given class. This will
best be understood in conjunction with a specific example. The
table below shows an example of a code factor table.
TABLE-US-00002 Maximum pictorial Maximum position Class entity
factor qualifier factor EYES 900 5 LIPS 600 26 GLASSES 200 23
[0037] In the above table, there are three classes namely "EYES",
"LIPS" and "GLASSES" having "900", "600" and "200" pictorial
entities respectively as their maximum factor. In this specific
example, the pictorial entities are assigned numerical symbols no
larger that the maximum factor for each respective class. In the
case where pictorial entities are not assigned consecutive
numerical symbols, the second column would contain the largest
pictorial entity symbol assigned to the pictorial entities of the
respective class. The third column includes the maximum position
qualifier factor. Class "LIPS" for example has "26" as is maximum
position qualifier factor. In this specific example, positions for
the individual pictorial entities are pre-determined. Each
pre-determined position is given a numerical position symbol that
is between 1 and the maximum position qualifier factor in the code
factor table.
[0038] As shown, in FIG. 2, a facial code 206 for a given facial
image may be created by combining the code factors 200 and the
image data 202 with an encoding device 204. In a preferred
embodiment, the encoding device 204 derives the facial code in
accordance with the process described in FIG. 4.
[0039] The facial code is first initialized, at a based value 400.
Preferably, this base value is zero (0). Following this, the
encoding method begins with the first class of the pictorial
entities 402 and the first symbol of the element code of the class
404. The facial code is first multiplied 406 by the corresponding
factor value in the code factor table. An example in conjunction
with the factor table below will better illustrate this step
406.
TABLE-US-00003 Maximum pictorial Maximum position Class entity
factor qualifier factor EYES 900 5 LIPS 600 26 GLASSES 200 23
[0040] If class "EYES" for the pictorial entity is being
considered, then the facial code is multiplied by the pictorial
entity factor "900". Following this, the pictorial entity symbol
from the image data table is added 408 to the facial code. An
example in conjunction with the image data table below will better
illustrate this step 408.
TABLE-US-00004 Pictorial entity Position qualifier Class symbol
symbol EYES 34 2 LIPS 2 1 GLASSES 111 17
[0041] If class "EYES" for pictorial entity is being considered,
then the pictorial entity symbol "34" is added to the facial code.
The system then proceeds to step 410 that checks if there are any
symbols, remaining for the current class. In the affirmative, the
system proceeds to step 412 that determines which symbol to
consider next. In the example above, the following symbol to
consider is the position qualifier symbol. The system then restarts
at step 406. In the event that all symbols for the current class
have been processed, step 410 is answered in the negative and the
system proceeds to step 414. Step 414 checks if there are any
classes remaining. In the affirmative the system proceeds to step
416 that determines which class to consider next. In the example
above, the next class to consider is the "LIPS" class. The system
then restarts at step 404 with the first symbol of the element code
of the new class. In the event that all classes have been
processed, step 414 is answered in the negative and the system
proceeds to step 418 with the complete facial code.
[0042] As a variant, the facial code may be further comprise
version number information for the purpose of differentiating
between different version numbers of the composite picture system.
This in turn permits to insure that a composite picture system
using the facial code produced by the process described above is
not induced in error if its version is not the same than that of
the composite picture system that created the image. In a specific
example, the version number information is integrated to the facial
code by multiplying the code by a specific number.
[0043] In the preferred embodiment, the facial code is a number in
a given base. Preferably, a large base is used in order to obtain a
reduced number of characters in the facial code. In a specific
example, the facial code is a number in base "62" with characters
{0-9, a-z, A-Z}. Other bases may be used without detracting from
the spirit of the invention. It is to be noted that the
computations in steps 406 and 408 of the encoding process may
result in very large numbers in the order of 10E+66 or bigger for
large systems. It may therefore be preferable to provide some
specialized functions for the computation of the multiplication and
addition operations for these numbers in order to avoid the
possibility of overflow. The implementation of such computations
will be readily available no the person skilled in the art to which
this invention pertains.
[0044] As a variant, characters, in the facial code that may be
visually confusing are replaced by non-alphanumeric characters. For
instance the letter "O" and the number "0" are similar in
appearance as are the letter "I", the letter "1" and the digit "1".
In a specific example, the characters in the facial code that may
be visually confusing are replaced by non-alphanumeric characters
such as "+", "=", "@" and so once the code is computed.
[0045] In a preferred embodiment, the facial code can be used to
reproduce the facial image described by the facial code. As shown
in FIG. 3, facial image data 304 may be obtained by combining the
code factors 200 and the facial code 302 with a decoding device
300. The facial image data 304 is obtained by applying the inverse
operations in the reverse order than those applied in the encoding
process to the facial code. In a preferred embodiment, the decoding
device 300 derives the facial image data 804 in accordance with the
process described in FIG. 5.
[0046] The facial code is first obtained 500. Following this, the
decoding process begins with the last class of the pictorial
entities 502 and the last symbol of the element code of that class
504. The facial code is first divided 506 by the factor value in
the code factor table associated to the symbol being considered. An
example in conjunction with the factor table below will better
illustrate this step 506.
TABLE-US-00005 Maximum pictorial Maximum position Class entity
factor qualifier factor EYES 900 5 LIPS 600 26 GLASSES 200 23
[0047] If class "GLASSES" for the position qualifier is being
considered, then the facial code, is divided by the factor "23".
Following this, the remainder of the division performed in step 506
is stored as the corresponding position qualifier symbol in the
image data table 508. The system then proceeds to step 510 that
checks if there are any symbols remaining for the current class. In
the affirmative, the system proceeds to step 512 that determines
which symbol to consider next. In the example above, the following
symbol to consider is the pictorial entity symbol. The system then
restarts at step 506. In the event that all symbols for the current
class have been processed, step 510 is answered in the negative and
the system proceeds to step 514. Step 514 checks if there are any
classes remaining. In the affirmative the system proceeds to step
516 that determines which class to consider next. In the example
above, the next class to consider is the "LIPS" class. The system
then restarts at step 504 with the last symbol of the element code
of the new class. In the event that all classes have been
processed, step 514 is answered in the negative and the system
proceeds to step 518 with the image data table including the
complete description of the image described by the facial code. The
image data table can then be used by the composite picture system
to access the library of pictorial entities and image qualifiers
104 and produce a facial image.
[0048] As shown in FIG. 3, the image data 304 is stored in an image
data table that can be accessed by an image builder unit 306. The
image builder unit 306 accesses the library of pictorial entities
and image qualifiers 104 of the composite picture system to extract
the pictorial entities specified by the image data. The image
builder also extracts the image qualifiers specified by the image
data and is operative to condition the pictorial entities on the
basis of the these extracted image qualifiers. Following this the
builder unit 300, outputs an image which may be displayed to the
user of the composite picture system. Extracting data elements from
a database on the basis of symbols is well known in the art to
which this invention pertains.
[0049] In the event that the facial code comprises version number
information, the reverse operation used to imbed the version number
in the facial code is applied to the facial code during the
decoding process. In a specific example where the version number
information is integrated in the facial code by multiplying the
code by a specific number, the decoding process involves dividing
the facial code by that number.
[0050] In the event that characters in the facial code that may be
visually confusing were replaced by non-alphanumeric characters,
the reverse operation is performed on the facial code.
[0051] An example of a typical interaction will better illustrate
the functionality of the encoding module implemented by the program
instructions 102 of composite picture system and using the data
components 104 106.
[0052] In a typical interaction, as shown in FIG. 6a, once the
composite picture system is activated 600, the user selects a set
of pictorial entities 602 through a user interface. The interface
to the composite picture system may be a keyboard, pointing device,
touch screen or any other suitable input means. The received input
may be an address of the memory location where a given pictorial
entity is located or some other way of identifying it. The
selection is entered in the image data table in association with
corresponding qualifier symbols. Preferably, the pictorial
entities, in a given class as assigned default qualifier symbols.
Once the system has received the request, the entries in the image
data table are used to locate in the library of pictorial entities
and image qualifiers, the entries corresponding with the received
input. When pictorial entity or image qualifier, is selected it is
considered to be active. Following this, the selected pictorial
entities and image qualifiers are combined to form a facial image.
The combination is performed by positioning each active pictorial
entity in a same frame at the location specified by the position
qualifier in the image data table. The system then displays the
facial image to allow the user to view it 604. Alternatively, after
each selection of a pictorial entity, the systems displays it to
allow the user to view the image as it stands with the current
selection of pictorial entities. At condition 606, if the user is
satisfied with the appearance of the facial image, the composite
picture is complete 610. The completeness of the image may be
indicated by a user inputting a command indicative that the image
is complete. The image data table is then processed by the encoding
process to compute the facial code 612. The user of the system may
then make use of the facial image and facial code as he pleases.
For example, the user may print the resulting facial image, he may
store the image by storing the facial code computed at step 612 or
he may transmit the image to an external site by transmitting the
facial code. In the event that the user is not satisfied with the
appearance of the facial image, condition 606 is answered in the
negative and the user may modify the facial image 608. The
modification of the facial image may comprise different operations.
For example, the user may replace a pictorial entity by another of
the same class; he may remove a pictorial entity all together; the
element may be displaced in the vertical or horizontal direction.
In a specific example, the user interface may include a means, such
as arrows in the user interface, for displacing the pictorial
entities in the vertical and horizontal directions. The arrows may
be linked to functional modules that modify the position of the
selected image in the screen. When the pictorial entity is
displaced, the corresponding position qualifier symbol in the image
table is also modified such as to reflect to current positioning of
the pictorial entity. The user may select via a pointing device or
other input means the element, he wishes to displace in the facial
image. The user then uses the displacement arrows to position the
pictorial entity in the desired position in the facial image. Many
variations in the user interface are possible and implementations
different from the one presented above do not detract from the
spirit of the invention. For every modification performed in step
608, the image data table is updated accordingly. Once the facial
image has been modified by selecting a revised set of pictorial
entities and image qualifiers, the latter are combined to form a
facial image. The system then displays the facial image as
described in the image data table to allow the user to view it at
step 604. Alternatively, after each selection of a pictorial entity
or and image qualifier, the systems displays it to allow the user
to view the updated image as it stands with the current selection.
The process continues until the user is satisfied with the image
and condition 606 is answered in the affirmative the system
proceeds to step 610.
[0053] As a variant, as shown in FIG. 6b, the facial code may be
computed incrementally as the user selects pictorial entities and
image qualifiers and modifies the facial image. Following step 602,
the image data table is processed 652 by the encoding unit to
compute the facial code corresponding to the data in the image data
table. The facial image may then be modified in accordance with
steps 604 606 and 60S described previously. Following step 608, the
image data table is reprocessed by the encoding unit 650 to compute
the facial code corresponding to the updated data in the image data
table. In this variant, the facial code for the image being created
is computed as the user creates the image. Once the use stops
entering new modifications, the code is readily computed without
the need for the user to input a command indicative that the image
is complete.
[0054] In another typical interaction, the composite picture system
may receive as input the facial code describing a facial image.
Using this facial code, the composite picture system reconstructs
the facial image. Therefore, the user interface may also include a
means for entering the facial codes. The facial code is first
decoded by the process described in connection with FIG. 5. The
decoding process produces an image, data table containing
information for generating the facial image. The system accesses
the library of pictorial entities and image qualifiers and extracts
the pictorial entities and image qualifiers corresponding to the
data contained in the image data table. The image is then displayed
to the user which may make use of it as he please by modifying it,
storing it, printing it or transmitting it.
[0055] FIG. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of an apparatus
including an embodiment of the invention. Such an apparatus
comprises a user interface 706 such as a touch screen, mouse,
keyboard are any other suitable input means for communicating with
the user of the image system. The user interface communicates with
an image builder unit 702 operative to generate graphical data on
the basis of a given set of input data elements. The image builder
unit may be implements on a general purpose computing platform
running an application software of may be a dedicated CPU unit
programmed specifically for the purpose of generating images. The
Image builder unit 702 communicates with an output unit 704 such as
a display unit or a printer unit to send the generated graphical
data for output to the user. The image builder unit also
communicates with a library of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers 700. The library of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers 700 may be implemented on a computer readable medium
such as a hard disk, CD-ROM, non-volatile RAM or any other suitable
device. The image builder unit 708 also communicates with a
computer readable medium including image data 708. The image data
specifies the pictorial entities that are active in the given image
as well as any other relevant image qualifier such as position and
zooming. The image data 708 may also be modified by the image
builder unit 702 to update its entries on the basis of inputs
received by the image builder unit 702 from the user through the
user interface 706. The image data 708 can be accessed by and
encoder 710 operative to encode the image data according to the
process described in this specification. The encoder may be
implemented on a general purpose computing platform running an
application software in accordance with the process described or
may be a dedicated CPU unit programmed specifically for the purpose
of encoding image data. The encoder 710 outputs the image code. The
encoder may further communicate with a communication unit 716 such
as a modem, network card or any other suitable communication
devices suitable for transmitting data information over a
communication channel 718. The image data 708 can be accessed by a
decoder 714 operative to decode an image code according to the
process described in this specification. The decoder 714 may be
implemented on a general purpose computing platform running an
application software in accordance with the process described or
may be a dedicated CPU unit programmed specifically for the purpose
of decoding image codes. The decoder 714 outputs the image data
that is inputted to the computer readable medium containing image
data. The decoder may further communicate with the communication
unit 716 in order to receive image codes. The encoder 710 and
decoder 714 also communicate with a computer readable medium
including element code factors 712.
[0056] The facial code produced by the process described above
allows each facial image to be described with a very small number
of characters compared to a graphical representation permitting the
rapid transmission of the composite picture over data transmission
medium. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a police station at site A
804 using an embodiment of the invention can transmit the entire
composite picture of a suspect to police station at site B 802 by
simply sending the facial code for that facial image either
verbally or through an electronic communication means 800. At the
reception, police station at site B 800 enters the code into the
composite picture system that displays the composite picture. The
data transmission medium 800 between site A 802 and site B 804 may
be a telephone line with a set of modems, and Ethernet connection,
the Internet or any other communication medium suitable for the
transfer of data. In the above example, site A 804 and site B 802
have on their local site a composite picture system of the type
described in FIG. 1 or FIG. 7 of the drawings. A copy of the
library of pictorial entities and image qualifiers is stored at
each site and only the code needs to be transferred.
Advantageously, the invention further allows the storage of a
facial image by storing the facial code only on a computer readable
medium. This may result in substantial savings in terms of memory
requirements for storing the images since only a single instance of
each pictorial entity and image qualifier needs be stored, the
instance being in the library of pictorial entities and image
qualifiers.
[0057] Although the present invention has been described in
considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions
thereof, other versions are possible. For example, the method and
apparatus described may be used in a system to encode a given image
provided the image is build on the basis of constituent parts. In
these types of application the library of pictorial entities and
image qualifiers would include the appropriate set of pictorial
entities and image qualifiers. Therefore, the spirit and scope of
the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the
preferred versions contained herein.
[0058] The reader's attention is directed to all papers and
documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this
specification in connection with this application and which are
open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents
of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by
reference.
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