Patent Application
20080056530
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Several exemplary embodiments of the invention are described with reference to
The invention discloses a scenario simulation system and method for a multimedia device. An embodiment of a multimedia device takes, but is not limited to, a cellular phone as an example.
Outline detection device 110 may be a special photo lens or a figure divider, analyzing and separating a plurality of images retrieved from an image source, wherein the image source is taken by an image input device 180 (such as a digital camera, a conventional film camera, and the like), to a foreground image and a background image, or retrieving a selected image 190 provided by a system provider to be a foreground image or a background image. Outline detection device 110 analyzes and separates the images using, but is not limited to, an outline detection method, a pattern matching method, or a fixed background abstraction method, which are well known and are not further described in the following. The image outline detection is mainly applied to outline detection on human faces, comprising feature extracting, outline modeling, texture constraining, and criterion detecting and connecting. Outline modeling detects different features based on characteristics of different models to retrieve outlines. Texture constraining is collocated to constrain textures that are hard to be removed by the outline modeling, for extracting outlines effectively. To obtain more accurate critical points, the outline is rendered based on a plurality of rectified critical points which are corrected by directional characteristics of the critical points after the critical points are obtained, and the overall outline is rendered based on the rectified critical points. The pattern matching determines score degrees of an outline image to implement measurement or numeric comparison for calculating increment amount of each pixel of compared images. In this embodiment, a character is compared with a reference character in a movie. The fixed background abstraction extracts foreground frames (such as characters, themes, and so forth) and background frames (such as landscapes, airports, train stations, and so forth), respectively, according to color keys. Separated foreground and background images are stored in foreground storage medium 120 and background storage medium 130 respectively.
Foreground selector 140 and background selector 150 select foreground images and background images from foreground storage medium 120 and background storage medium 130 respectively according to different conditions, such as incoming phone numbers, user selections, or random.
Image mixer 160 mixes a foreground image selected by foreground selector 140 with a background image selected by background selector 150 as an output image. Alternatively, outline detection device 110 extracts a real-time image (a currently retrieved real image of the user) from image input device 180 to be a foreground image. Image mixer 160 can also mix the real-time image (the foreground image) with a background image retrieved by background selector 150 as a simulation image. Additionally, outline detection device 110 can extract a real-time image (a currently retrieved real image of the user's location) from image input device 180 to be a background image. Inage mixer 160 mixes the real-time image (the background image) with a foreground image retrieved by foreground selector 140 as another simulation image.
Image output module 170 displays mixed images on a panel of the multimedia device or transmits mixed images to a remote multimedia device.
In this embodiment, each of the foreground storage medium 120 and background storage medium 130 can be a flash memory or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Each of the foreground selector 140 and background selector 150 can be a multiplexer.
Referring to
If the real location of the local user is hidden while communicating with the remote user, the local user abstracts foreground image A1 thereof using outline detection device 110, selects a background image B3 from background storage medium 130 using background selector 150, and mixes foreground image A1 and background image B3 as a simulation image using image mixer 160. The simulation image is then transmitted using image output module 170, and displayed on the multimedia device of the remote user, as shown in
An image is retrieved from an image source (step S1), such as a digital camera, a photo camera, or a system provider. The image is analyzed and separated to a foreground image and a background image, stored in a foreground storage medium and a background storage medium respectively (step S2). The foreground storage medium and the background storage medium store a plurality of foreground images and background images respectively. A foreground image and a background image are retrieved from the foreground storage medium and the background storage medium using a foreground selector and a background selector respectively (step S3). The foreground image is mixed with the background image as an output image using an image mixer (step S4). The output image is then transmitted to a remote multimedia device (step S5).
Referring to
Referring to
Except for the user image and the location image, an embodiment of the method can further replace images of clothes, hair, or other location objects with selected images. Additionally, the foreground image, the background image, or both can be automatically abstracted or replaced with selected images according to user settings.
An embodiment of the system prevent a terminal user from retrieving real video data of a local user while communicating that automatically transmits predefined video data to the terminal user based on user settings, providing better security and flexibility.
Methods and systems of the present disclosure, or certain aspects or portions of embodiments thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, hard drives, firmware, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing embodiments of the disclosure. The methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may also be embodied in the form of program code transmitted over some transmission medium, such as electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing and embodiment of the disclosure. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to specific logic circuits.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95132572 | Sep 2006 | TW | national |
