Patent ID: 7242806
Filing Date: 2007-07-10
Classification: G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method of processing an image, comprising: receiving one or more sub images within an image; separating each sub image from the image; associating a template with each sub image; using one or more feature vectors associated with each template to locate one or more features within each of the sub images each feature represented by three pixel coordinates from the sub image being examined, wherein each of the feature vectors is represented as a collection of three pixel coordinates for each sub image, wherein a first pixel coordinate represents a center or origin of the sub image being examined, a second pixel coordinate represents an edge coordinate along a x-axis extending eastward or westward from the origin, and a third pixel coordinate represents a different edge coordinate along a y-axis extending northward or southward from the origin, and wherein each sub image graphically representing an instrument that has a visual reading captured and depicted within the sub image, and a geometric shape for each instrument also reflected in each of the feature vectors to which it relates along with its coverage attributes within the image, wherein the geometric shape and the coverage attributes are derivable from the three pixel coordinates associated with the sub image being examined and defined in the sub image's feature vector; and processing one or more rules associated with one or more of the located features acquired from each of the feature vectors to derive a particular visual reading for a particular sub image representing a particular instrument depicted in the image, wherein each located feature is acquired by comparing the three pixel coordinates identified in the particular sub image to each of the feature vectors and each feature vector's three pixel coordinates.