KR20050005091A - Image telephone terminal and method for transmitting an image using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An image telephone terminal and a method for transmitting an image using the same are provided to substitute a significant image for one's own face in case that the one's own face do not displayed while talking over the image telephone and to transmit the substituted image to the image telephone terminal. CONSTITUTION: A camera(10) obtains an image. A pre-processor(12) changes the face area of the image obtained by the camera into another image. The first selection member(MUX)(23) selects one of the image obtained from the camera or the image output by the pre-processor. An image compressing member(24) compresses the image selected by the first selecting member. A transmission member(25) transmits the compressed image. A user interface(21) inputs a transmission mode selection command and a substitution area selection command. A memory(22) stores at least one or more substitution images.

Description

Image telephone terminal and method for transmitting an image using the same

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video telephone terminal, and more particularly to a video transmission method in a video telephone terminal capable of transmitting another meaningful image (for example, current mood state, etc.) instead of a face.

In recent years, due to the development of communication technology and the development of video compression / restore technology, a video telephone terminal capable of exchanging images with each other through screen communication with a counterpart has been developed and widely used.

A general video telephone terminal system implementing such a video telephone is shown in FIG.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first video telephone terminal 1 and the second video telephone terminal 5 may communicate with each other while simultaneously performing telephone communication with each other.

In more detail, the first video telephone terminal 1 includes a camera 2, an image compression unit 3, and a transmitter 4, and the second video telephone terminal 5 includes a receiver 6. ), An image restoration unit 7 and a screen display unit 8 are included.

Here, for convenience of explanation, the first video telephone terminal 1 and the second video telephone terminal 5 have been divided, but in practice, each of the first and second video telephone terminals 1 and 5 has a camera 2. The image compressing unit 3, the transmitting unit 4, the receiving unit 6, the image restoring unit 7, and the screen display unit 8 are all included.

In order to transmit the caller's video to the called party, the first video telephone terminal 1 acquires the caller's video through the camera 2, and the obtained video is compressed by the video compression unit 3, It is transmitted to the second video telephone terminal 5 via the transmitter 4.

The second video telephone terminal 5 receives the compressed image transmitted from the transmission unit 4 through the receiving unit 6 and then decompresses the image by the image restoring unit 7 to restore the original image. The restored image is displayed on the screen display unit 8.

Of course, the process of transmitting the image from the second video telephone terminal 5 to the first video telephone terminal 1 is the same as the method described above.

In such a video telephone system, a video call system often does not want to provide its face image to the other party.

For example, if the caller is in the bathroom, receives a phone call while sleeping, or if the woman does not wear makeup, for example.

In such a situation, the caller does not want to provide his / her face image to the other party.

As such, a method of not providing an image of one's face to the counterpart has been conventionally designed.

For example, a 'PRIVACY MODE' or alternative image is devised by the caller's input.

In other words, when a 'PRIVACY MODE' is implemented using a still image, a still image prepared in advance instead of an input image of a camera is provided to the counterpart. In addition, in the case of using a substitute video, a compressed bitstream that is a pre-stored video is provided without compressing the video.

However, this method does not show the person's face to the other party, but at the time of the telephone communication only send a meaningless image to the other party, there was a room to often offend the other person.

Therefore, there is a strong demand for the development of a technology capable of providing a more meaningful image without showing the person's face to the other party and not hurting the other party's mood.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the video telephone terminal and video transmission using the same can be replaced by another meaningful alternative video when the face does not show his face in the video call The purpose is to provide a method.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a general video telephone terminal system.

2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a video telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting an image in a video telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an exemplary view illustrating how images are synthesized when an image is transmitted from a video telephone terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an exemplary view showing the synthesis of various alternative images according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Name of the code for the main part of the drawing>

10: camera 13: face area extraction unit

14: alternative image selection unit 15: synthesis unit

16, 23: first and second selector 22: memory

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, the image transmission method in the video telephone terminal, the step of determining whether the face region exists for the acquired image, if the face region exists as a result of the determination, Synthesizing the acquired image with a substitute image selected by the sender, and transmitting the synthesized image.

The synthesizing of the substitute image may include extracting a face region from the acquired image, loading a substitute image corresponding to the substitute image selection command of the caller, and loading the loaded substitute image on the face of the acquired image. Inserting into the area. The method may further include adjusting the loaded substitute image to the size of the extracted face region before the inserting step.

Preferably, the substitute image is one of character face images provided with at least one.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a video telephone terminal includes a camera for acquiring an image, a means for modifying a face area of an image acquired from the camera, an image obtained from the camera, or an image modified from the deforming means. And a transmission unit for transmitting the image selected by the first selection unit.

The deforming means includes means for determining whether a face region exists for the acquired image, means for synthesizing the acquired image and a substitute image selected by the caller when the face region exists as a result of the determination and the determination. And a second selector for selecting one of the acquired image or the synthesized image output from the synthesizing means according to the determination result of the means.

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

2 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a video telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the video telephone terminal includes a camera 10 for acquiring an image and a pre-processor 12 for transforming a face region of the image acquired from the camera 10 into another image. And a first selector (MUX) 23 for selecting one of an image acquired from the camera 10 or an image output from the preprocessor 12, and by the first selector 23. An image compressor 24 and a transmitter 25 compressing the selected image.

In addition, the video telephone terminal includes at least one user interface 21 for inputting a transmission mode selection command and a replacement image selection command of the first selection unit 23 by the caller, and at least one alternative image selectable by the caller. It further includes the memory 22 stored above. Here, the substitute image refers to character face images, and may be formed of an emoticon, for example, as shown in FIG. 4C. These alternative images are character face images having different expressions, and may be represented by a smiling expression, a crying expression, a happy expression, a pouty expression, or a sleepy expression. By showing emoticons with various expressions to your partner instead of your face, you can tell your current mood without hurting the other person's feelings compared to simply showing a still image or video to the other person. It is possible to provide a video.

In particular, the preprocessor 12 determines whether there is a face region based on the image acquired from the camera 10, and if the face region exists as a result of the determination, extracts the face region 13. ), A substitute image selecting unit 14 for loading a substitute image corresponding to the substitute image selecting command input from the user interface 21 from the memory 22, and from the substitute image selecting unit 14; A synthesizer 15 for synthesizing the selected substitute image instead of the face region extracted from the face region extractor 13 and an acquisition input to the face region extractor according to a determination result of the face region extractor 13 And a second selector 16 for selecting one of an image or a synthesized image output from the synthesizer 15.

In addition, the preprocessor 12 may be further provided with means for adjusting the replacement image to the size of the extracted face region before it is synthesized by the synthesis unit 15. By such adjusting means, the substitute image may be adjusted to be equal to the size of the extracted face region.

Accordingly, the caller may select one of an image acquired from the camera 10 or an image output from the preprocessor 12 through the first selector 23.

If the caller selects an image output from the preprocessor 12, the image obtained from the camera 10 is input to the preprocessor 12.

The image input to the preprocessor 12 determines whether the face region exists by the face region extractor 13.

If the face region does not exist in the image input to the preprocessor 12 as a result of the determination, the image input to the preprocessor 12 is input to the second selector 16 as it is.

In contrast, when a face region exists in an image input to the preprocessor 12, the input image is input to the substitute image selector.

At this time, when the caller inputs a desired replacement image selection command through the user interface 21, the replacement image selection unit 14 inquires the memory 22 according to the replacement image selection command and selects the caller. Load the replacement image.

The loaded substitute image is synthesized with the image inputted to the preprocessor by the synthesis unit 15. That is, the synthesizer 15 is inserted into the loaded substitute image instead of the face region extracted from the face region extractor 13.

The image synthesized from the combiner 15 is input to the second selector 16. In this case, the second selector 16 selects one of an image input as it is from the face region extractor 13 and an image synthesized from the synthesizer 15 and inputs the input to the first selector 23. Will be.

In this case, the second selector 16 may input two images according to the determination result of the presence or absence of the face region in the face region extractor, that is, the image input as it is from the face region extractor 13. And one of images synthesized from the synthesis unit 15 are selected. In other words, when it is determined that the face region does not exist in the input image by the face region extractor, the image input as it is from the face region extractor 13 is selected, whereas the face region exists. Next, the synthesized image is selected from the combining unit 15.

Meanwhile, the image corresponding to the transmission mode selected by the user is output by the first selector 23 to be compressed and transmitted through the image compressor 24 and the transmitter 25.

The video telephone terminal mentioned above can be applied regardless of which terminal is provided with a camera 10 and can perform a video telephone call with the other party. That is, the video telephone terminal may be one of a camera phone, a landline phone or a personal computer.

A method of transmitting an image in a video telephone terminal according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting an image in a video telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is an exemplary view for explaining how images are synthesized when an image is transmitted from a video telephone terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 4A shows an image acquired from a camera, FIG. 4B shows a face region extracted from the acquired image, FIG. 4C lists images to replace the face region, and FIG. 4D shows a substitute image. This figure shows how the image is synthesized. 3 illustrates a method of transmitting an image via the preprocessor 12 by controlling the first selector 23 through the user interface 21 so that the caller does not show his or her face to the counterpart.

3 and 4, first, an image of a caller is acquired from the camera 10 (S 31). In this case, as shown in Fig. 4A, the torso part including the face is acquired as an image.

In this case, the acquired image is input to the preprocessor 12 and it is determined whether a face region exists in the acquired image (S 32).

When the face region exists in the acquired image by this determination, the face region is extracted from the acquired image by the face region extracting unit 13, and the state of the extracted face region is illustrated in FIG. 4B (S 33).

When the face region is extracted as described above, the caller selects a substitute image to replace the extracted face region, and the substitute image selection command is input through the user interface 21.

Then, the substitute image selecting unit 14 receiving the input of the substitute image selection command determines whether the substitute image selected by the user exists by searching the memory 22, and if the substitute image selected by the user exists, the substitute image is selected. (S 34).

In this case, the replacement images stored in the memory 22 are illustrated in FIG. 4C. As shown in Figure 4c, the replacement image may be made of a variety of emoticons that can indicate the mood of the caller. For example, alternative images such as a happy face, a sad face, a depressed face, a crying face, and a sleepy face may be stored in the memory 22.

The preprocessor 12 adjusts the replacement image selected from the memory 22 to match the size of the face region extracted from the acquired image (S35).

When the size of the replacement image is adjusted as described above, the preprocessor 12 synthesizes the size of the replacement image adjusted to the face region of the image acquired from the camera 10 (S36). In other words, the substitute image is inserted into the face region of the acquired image. That is, as shown in FIG. 4D, the replacement image may be inserted into the face region of the acquired image, so that the face region may be synthesized into the replacement image and the remaining portion of the acquired image may be synthesized into the original acquired image.

Since the synthesized image is an image in which a face region exists in the acquired image, the synthesized image is selected by the second selector 16, and the image compressor 24 passes through the first selector 23. It is input to, and is compressed in the image compression unit 24 and then transmitted to the other party through the transmission unit 25 (S 37).

On the other hand, if it is determined in S32 that the face area does not exist in the acquired image, the acquired image is selected by the second selecting unit 16 as it is and the image compressing unit via the first selecting unit 23. Compressed and transmitted through the 24 and the transmission unit 25.

As shown in FIG. 5, the caller may arbitrarily select alternative images including at least one or more instead of his or her face area, and may transmit to the counterpart an image obtained by synthesizing alternative images representing various current moods.

When the sender does not want to show his or her face to the other party through such a series of processes, the sender synthesizes the acquired image into a pre-stored alternative image and transmits the more meaningful image to the other party without hurting the other party's mood. Can provide.

As described above, according to the video telephone terminal and the image transmission method using the same according to the present invention, the current mood state to the other party by synthesizing and transmitting a substitute image provided in advance instead of the face area of the acquired image Not only that, but also allows you to make video phone calls comfortably without hurting the other person.

Accordingly, although the other party cannot see the caller's face, the call can be made more reliable by making a call while considering the caller's current mood.

Claims (11)

In the method for transmitting the image acquired from the camera provided in the video telephone terminal, Determining whether a face region exists for the acquired image; Synthesizing the acquired image and the substitute image selected by the caller when the face region exists as a result of the determination; And Transmitting the synthesized image Image transmission method in a video telephone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein the synthesizing of the substitute image comprises: Extracting a face region from the acquired image; Loading an alternative image corresponding to the caller's alternative image selection command; And Inserting the loaded substitute image into a face region of the acquired image; Image transmission method in a video telephone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 2, wherein before the inserting step, Adjusting the loaded substitute image to the size of the extracted face region Image transmission method in a video telephone terminal, characterized in that it further comprises. The video transmission method of claim 1, wherein if the face region does not exist, the acquired video is transmitted as it is. The method of claim 1, wherein the video telephone terminal is one of a camera phone, a landline telephone, or a personal computer. The method of claim 1, wherein the substitute image is one of character face images provided with at least one of the substitute images. A camera for acquiring an image; Means for modifying a face area of an image acquired from the camera; A first selector for selecting one of an image acquired from the camera or an image deformed from the deforming means; And A transmitter for transmitting an image selected by the first selector Video telephone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein the deforming means, Means for determining whether a face region exists for the acquired image; Means for synthesizing the acquired image and the substitute image selected by the caller when the face region exists as a result of the determination; And A second selector for selecting one of the acquired image or the synthesized image output from the combining means according to a determination result of the determining means Video telephone terminal comprising a. The method of claim 8, wherein the synthesizing means, Means for extracting a face region from the acquired image; Means for loading a substitute image corresponding to the sender's substitute image selection command; And Means for inserting the loaded replacement image into a face region of the acquired image Video telephone terminal comprising a. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the loaded replacement image is adjusted to a size of the extracted face region. The video telephone terminal further comprises The video telephone terminal of claim 8, wherein the substitute image is one of character face images provided with at least one or more characters.