KR100278064B1 - Apparatus for detecting eye region and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, when extracting an eye region from a face image using a search box having a size considering the eye region, the search exclusion region is registered, and the eye region searching speed is controlled by controlling the set position of the search box with reference to the registered information. The present invention relates to an improved eye area detection device and method. To this end, the eye region detecting apparatus of the present invention includes a storage unit for storing the search excluded region information in the face image, and a new search region transmitted from the search position setting unit with reference to the information stored in the storage unit. A search area determining unit for determining, an eye area determining unit for determining whether or not the new search area is similar to an eye area when the search area is not a search exclusion area, and a search area determining unit and an eye area determining unit Search position setting unit that sets the position of the search box on the image, and if it is determined that the new search area is not similar to the eye area, the search exclusion area register that stores the coordinate information of the search area in the storage unit and registers the search exclusion area. It includes.

Therefore, there is an effect that can improve the eye area search speed in the face image.

Description

Apparatus and method for detecting eye area {APPARATUS FOR DETECTING EYE REGION AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for detecting an eye region in a face image using a search box, and more particularly, to an eye region detection apparatus and a method for improving a search speed by controlling a setting position of a search box.

In order to detect an eye region in a predetermined face image, a method of extracting an eye region using a search window having a rectangular region has been proposed. In this method, the eye area is detected while constantly moving the entire area from the upper left side of the face to the lower right side of the face image by a predetermined moving amount. However, the amount of movement of the search box is usually set to about 2 to 4 pixels, and it is necessary to check the eye area for each search box one by one so many calculations are made, so it takes a long time before the corresponding eye area is detected. have.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, when extracting the eye region from the face image using a search box having a size considering the eye region, register the search excluded region, search by referring to the registered information It is an object of the present invention to provide an eye area detection apparatus and method for improving the eye area search speed by controlling the setting position of a window.

In order to achieve the above object, the eye region detecting apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a storage unit for storing the information of the search excluded region in the face image; The new search area is compared to the search excluded area by comparing coordinate information of the new search area corresponding to the search window having the size of the eye area set in the face image with the search excluded area information stored in the first storage unit. A search region determination unit to determine whether a corresponding state exists and output a first search position reset control signal in the case of a search excluded region; As a result of the determination of the search area determination unit, when the new search area is not the search exclusion area, it is determined whether the new search area determined by the search area determination unit is similar to the eye area, and the new search area is determined. An eye region determiner configured to output a search position reset control signal; In response to the first search position reset control signal, the position of the search window is moved so that the new search area having the starting point of the end point of the search window currently set as the set position of the search window in the face image can be set. A search position setting unit configured to set a search position to move the search window by a preset movement amount according to the second search position reset control signal to provide the new search region; If the new search area is determined to be not similar to the eye area by the eye area determiner and the coordinate information of the new search area is transmitted from the eye area determiner, the new search area is stored in the storage unit to exclude the new search area. And a search exclusion area registration unit for registering as an area.

In order to achieve the above object, the method for detecting an eye region according to the present invention comprises: setting an initial search position in the face image using a search window having a size considering the eye region when an eye region detection request command is applied from an operator; ; A first checking step of checking whether the search area of the set position is a search excluded area; A first return step of moving the search window to a position having an end point of the currently set search area as a starting point and returning to the first check step if the search area is a search excluded area as a result of performing the first check step; ; A second check step of checking whether the search area is similar to an eye area when the search area is not a search exclusion area as a result of performing the first check step; A first registration step of registering the search area as a search excluded area when the search area is not similar to an eye area as a result of performing the second check step; A second registration step of registering the search area as an eye area candidate area when the search area is similar to the eye area as a result of performing the second check step; And performing a second registration step after the first registration step and the second registration step, moving the predetermined search window by a predetermined amount of movement, and returning to the first check step.

1 is a functional block of an eye region detection apparatus according to the present invention,

2a illustrates an example of a search box setting according to the present invention;

3 is an operation flowchart of an eye area detection method according to the present invention;

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: processor 101: search position setting unit

102: search region determination unit 103: eye region determination unit

104: register to exclude search area 110: first storage unit

120: second storage unit

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an eye region detection apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which a search position of a search box that is set considering a size of an eye region with respect to a predetermined face image is moved by a predetermined amount of movement or jumped by a search window in a moving direction Search position setting unit 101 for setting to move to a location, the first storage unit 110 that stores the search exclusion area as coordinate information, the search position setting with reference to the information stored in the first storage unit 110 Search area determining unit 102 that determines whether the search area of the search position set in the unit 101 corresponds to the search excluded area, and the search area that is not determined as the search excluded area by the search area determining unit 102. An eye region determination unit 103 for determining whether the region is similar to the second region, a second storage unit 120 for storing the search region determined as an area similar to the eye region by the eye region determination unit 103 as a candidate region of the eye region,When the search region information determined to be similar to the eye region is applied from the eye region determiner 103, the search region excludes a search region registration unit 104 that registers the corresponding region as a search excluded region in the first storage unit 110. . In particular, the search position setting unit 101, the search region determination unit 102, the eye region determination unit 103, and the search exclusion region registration unit 104 may be implemented by one processor 100.

2A to 2F are exemplary views of setting a search box according to the present invention when detecting an eye region.

The operation of the eye region detection apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

First, when a predetermined face image is applied and a user command requesting eye area detection is applied, the search position setting unit 101 selects a search position on the face image by using a search window having a predetermined size in consideration of the eye area. Initially, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the first uppermost search position reset control signal is transmitted from the search region determination unit 102 to be described later, the region 1 of the upper left side of the face image is set as the search position. As shown in FIG. 2C, the search window is moved to a search position where the end point of the currently set area 1 is a starting point. That is, the search position is moved from the end point of the area where the current search box is set to the start point where the new search box is to be set. At this time, the end point of the currently set search window becomes the x-axis direction when moving in the x-axis direction, and becomes the y-axis direction surface when moving in the y-axis direction.

When the second search position reset control signal is transmitted from the eye region determiner 103, the search position setting unit 101 may dx or dy at the previous search box setting position as illustrated in FIGS. 2B and 2D. The search position is moved so that the moved position is a starting point of a new search box.

In addition, when the currently set area corresponds to the last area 5 in the x-axis direction as shown in FIG. 2D, the search window is moved to a search position starting from the (0, dy) coordinate. After the search window is moved in this way, when the first search position reset control signal is transmitted from the search area determiner 102, the x-axis of the search window such that the (x1, dy) coordinate is a starting point as shown in FIG. 2E. Direction by x1 (x width of the previously set search box). However, after the search window is moved to the (0, dy) coordinates, when the first search position reset control signal is transmitted from the eye region determiner 103, the (dx, dy) coordinates are set to the starting point (to be moved by a predetermined movement amount). Move the search box.

As such, when the search position reset control signal is applied from the search region determination unit 102 to be described later, the search position setting unit 101 sets the end position of the corresponding moving direction of the currently set search window to be the start point of a new search window. When the second search position reset control signal is applied from the eye region determiner 103, the search window is moved by a predetermined amount in the corresponding moving direction.

The search area determining unit 102 receives information stored in the first storage unit 110 when the coordinate information and the image information of the search area corresponding to the search window of a predetermined size are applied from the search position setting unit 101. The searcher determines whether the search area corresponds to the search excluded area. That is, since the coordinate information of the area corresponding to the search exclusion area is registered in the first storage unit 110, the search area determination unit 102 registers the coordinate information of the applied search area and the first storage unit 110. The coordinate information is compared to check whether all or part of the search area is included in the search exclusion area.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, since the information on the search exclusion area is not registered in the first storage unit 110, the eye area determination unit 103 may not use the search area. Send information about However, as shown in FIG. 2B, when information of the search area is moved by (dx, 0) coordinates while the area (1) is registered as the search excluded area, the search area determination unit 102 receives the applied search. Since a part of the area is included in the area 1, the first search position reset control is performed by the search position setting unit 101 without determining the search exclusion area and transmitting information on the search area to the eye region determination unit 103. Send a signal.

However, when the search area information for the area 2 is applied as shown in FIG. 2C, only the coordinate information of the area 1 is registered in the first storage unit 110. Since it is not included, the search area information for the area 2 is transmitted to the eye area determination unit 103 without determining the area 2 as the search excluded area, and the search position setting unit 101 transmits the first search location. Do not transmit reset control signal.

When the eye region determiner 103 receives information about a predetermined search region from the search region determiner 102, the eye region determiner 103 checks whether the transmitted search region is a similar region to the eye region. If it is determined that the search area is similar to the eye area, the search area is determined as a candidate area of the eye area and registered in the second storage unit 120 and the second search area setting unit 101 is searched. Transmit search position reset control signal.

However, if the search result is not an area similar to the eye area, the coordinate information of the search area is transmitted to the search excluded area registration unit 104. For example, if it is determined that the area 2 shown in FIG. 2C is similar to the eye area, and it is determined that the area 2 is not similar to the eye area, coordinate information corresponding to the area 2 is searched out. To send). In this case, the eye region determiner 103 transmits the second search position reset control signal to the search position setting unit 101. Therefore, the eye region determination unit 103 always transmits the second search position reset control signal when the eye region determination process for the predetermined search region applied from the search region determination unit 102 is completed.

The search excluded area registering unit 104 registers a new search excluded area by storing coordinate information of the applied search area in the first storage unit 110. After the search exclude region is registered as described above, the new search region position set by the second search position reset control signal of the eye region determiner 103 is stored in the first storage unit 110 in the search region determiner 102. It is determined by the information as the search excluded area.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for detecting an eye area according to the present invention, and a detailed operation thereof will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The following operation is performed when the search position setting unit 101, the search region determination unit 102, the eye region determination unit 103, and the search exclusion region registration unit 104 are operated under a system condition provided in one processor 100. Will be described with an example.

First, in step 301, when the eye region detection request command is applied from the operator, the processor 100 sets the initial search position as shown in Fig. 2A. In the next step 302, the search area determining unit 102 checks whether the initial search position set in the step 301 is the search excluded area with reference to the information stored in the first storage unit 110. .

As a result of the check, in the case of the search exclusion area, the process proceeds to step 303 and checks whether the location where the current search window is set is the search window area that can be set last in the face image. In this case, the search window area that can be set last becomes an area where the search box at the bottom right of the face image can be set.

If the result of the check in step 303 is not the last area that can be set, the process proceeds to step 304 and the search position is set so that the search box starting from the end point as described above of the currently set search area can be set. Move it. In step 302, the above-described process is repeated for the search area in which the search window is newly set.

However, if the result of the check in step 303 is the last possible area, the process proceeds to step 305 where the eye is used in the conventional manner by using the eye area candidate area registered in the second storage unit 120. The area detection process is performed and the operation is finished.

On the other hand, if the result of the check in step 302 indicates that the search area is not the search exclusion area, the process proceeds to step 306 to check whether the search area is similar to the eye area using previously proposed methods. As a result of the check, if the search area is similar to the eye area, the process proceeds to step 308 through step 307 to register the area as a candidate eye area in the second storage unit 120 and to step 309. Proceed.

However, if the result of the check in step 306 is that the search area is not similar to the eye area, the process proceeds to step 310 through step 307 to register the area as the search excluded area. That is, after the coordinate information of the corresponding area is stored in the first storage unit 110 and registered as the search excluded area, the process proceeds to step 309.

In step 309, the processor 100 checks whether the position where the current search box is set is the last area. As a result of the check, in the case of the last region, the flow proceeds to step 305 to perform the same operation as described above. However, if the result of the check in step 309 is not the last area, the process proceeds to step 311 and moves to the next search position. At this time, the movement to the next search position is made by the predetermined movement amount. Then, the process returns to step 302 to repeat the above process for the new search area obtained by moving the search window.

As described above, the present invention registers an area that is not similar to the eye area in the detection of the eye area by using a search box having a size in consideration of the eye size as the search excluded area, and a part of the position where the search box is newly set is registered. If it is included in the excluded search area information, it is not checked whether it is similar to the eye area, and the position of the next search box that is set next is not moved by a predetermined amount, but by moving the end point of the currently set search box as a starting point. Therefore, compared to the past, the area to check whether or not similar to the eye area is reduced, thereby improving the eye area search speed in the face image.

Claims (3)

In the eye region detection device for the face image, A storage unit which stores information on search exclusion area in the face image; The new search area is compared to the search excluded area by comparing coordinate information of the new search area corresponding to the search window having the size of the eye area set in the face image with the search excluded area information stored in the first storage unit. A search region determination unit to determine whether a corresponding state exists and output a first search position reset control signal in the case of a search excluded region; As a result of the determination of the search area determination unit, when the new search area is not the search exclusion area, it is determined whether the new search area determined by the search area determination unit is similar to the eye area, and the new search area is determined. An eye region determiner configured to output a search position reset control signal; In response to the first search position reset control signal, the position of the search window is moved so that the new search area having the starting point of the end point of the search window currently set as the set position of the search window in the face image can be set. A search position setting unit configured to set a search position to move the search window by a preset movement amount according to the second search position reset control signal to provide the new search region; If the new search area is determined to be not similar to the eye area by the eye area determiner and the coordinate information of the new search area is transmitted from the eye area determiner, the new search area is stored in the storage unit to exclude the new search area. An eye region detection apparatus, comprising: a search-excluded region registration unit for registering as an region. In the eye region detection method for the face image, Setting an initial search position in the face image using a search window having a size in consideration of the eye area when an eye region detection request command is received from an operator; A first checking step of checking whether the search area of the set position is a search excluded area; A first return step of moving the search window to a position having an end point of the currently set search area as a starting point and returning to the first check step if the search area is a search excluded area as a result of performing the first check step; ; A second check step of checking whether the search area is similar to an eye area when the search area is not a search exclusion area as a result of performing the first check step; A first registration step of registering the search area as a search excluded area when the search area is not similar to an eye area as a result of performing the second check step; A second registration step of registering the search area as an eye area candidate area when the search area is similar to the eye area as a result of performing the second check step; And a second return step of moving the predetermined search window by a predetermined movement amount after performing the first registration step and the second registration step, and returning to the first check step. The method of claim 2, wherein the eye area detection method, A third check step of checking whether a corresponding search area is a search area that can be last set in the face image after performing the first check step, the first registration step and the second registration step; Detecting the eye region using information registered as the eye region candidate region when the search region is a search region that can be finally set as a result of performing the third check step; And as a result of performing the third check step, if the corresponding search area is not a search area that can be set last, proceeding to the second return step.

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