Abstract:
A method of performing eyebrow shaping on an image containing a face with eyebrows visible on the face includes loading the image into a computing device having a processor. The processor selects a mask from a predefined list of masks, the mask having a desired eyebrow shape to be used for shaping the eyebrows shown in the image. The processor then adjusts the mask according to a shape of the face to produce an adjusted mask. Next the processor simultaneously superimposes the adjusted mask over the eyebrows and thins the eyebrows by changing an overall vertical height of the eyebrows in order to produce shaped eyebrows. The processor then outputs an enhanced image having the shaped eyebrows.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to image enhancement, and more particularly, to a method of performing eyebrow shaping on an image containing a face with eyebrows visible on the face. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     With the increasing popularity of computing devices, including desktop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, and even mobile phones, users often wish to send and receive pictures to other users. For instance, a mobile phone user may wish to take a self-portrait picture with a camera of the computing device, and then share the picture with others. The picture can be shared via electronic mail (email), a video chat program, or even through social networking sites such as Facebook®. 
     However, users often wish to beautify the pictures before they share the pictures with others, especially the eyebrows shown on the pictures. As a result, there exists a need for an easy way to enable users to enhance images in order to beautify the images to the user&#39; s liking. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore one of the primary objectives of the claimed invention to provide a method and computing device for performing eyebrow shaping on an image containing a face in order to conveniently shape the eyebrows. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment of the claimed invention, a method of performing eyebrow shaping on an image containing a face with eyebrows visible on the face is disclosed. The method includes loading the image into a computing device having a processor. The processor selects a mask from a predefined list of masks, the mask having a desired eyebrow shape to be used for shaping the eyebrows shown in the image. The processor then adjusts the mask according to a shape of the face to produce an adjusted mask. Next the processor simultaneously superimposes the adjusted mask over the eyebrows and thins the eyebrows by changing an overall vertical height of the eyebrows in order to produce shaped eyebrows. The processor then outputs an enhanced image having the shaped eyebrows. 
     According to another exemplary embodiment of the claimed invention, a computing device for performing eyebrow shaping on an image containing a face with eyebrows visible on the face is disclosed. The computing device includes a memory for storing the image and a processor for loading the image and selecting a mask from a predefined list of masks, the mask having a desired eyebrow shape to be used for shaping the eyebrows shown in the image. The processor then adjusts the mask according to a shape of the face to produce an adjusted mask. Next the processor simultaneously superimposes the adjusted mask over the eyebrows and thins the eyebrows by changing an overall vertical height of the eyebrows in order to produce shaped eyebrows. The processor then outputs an enhanced image having the shaped eyebrows. 
     It is an advantage that the present invention provides a simple and efficient method of shaping the eyebrows to beautify the eyebrows while not affecting other regions of the face. In this way, the eyebrows of the image can be reshaped into another shape desired by a user. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a computing device according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an image containing a face with eyebrows visible on the face. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the image having feature points assigned to the eyebrow for representing a shape of the eyebrow. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a mask selected for shaping the eyebrow, and an adjusted mask custom generated for the image based on the mask according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates the enhanced image containing shaped eyebrows after the present invention shaping process has been performed to the eyebrows of the image. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an image containing shaped eyebrows resulting from only performing a thinning process on the eyebrows in order to change a vertical height of the eyebrows. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an image containing shaped eyebrows resulting from only applying the adjusted mask on the eyebrows in order to change a shape of the eyebrows. 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart describing the method of performing eyebrow shaping according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a computing device  10  according to the present invention. The computing device  10  contains a processor  12  for controlling operation of the computing device  10  and for executing commands for the computing device  10 , a user interface  14  for enabling a user to use the computing device  10 , a display  16  for displaying images, and a memory  20 . The memory can store at least one image  22 , at least one enhanced image  24 , and a mask database  26  for storing a plurality of masks utilized for shaping eyebrows. The processor  12  can execute image enhancing processes in order to convert the image  22  into the enhanced image  24 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  illustrates the image  22  containing a face with eyebrows  32  and  34  visible on the face. The eyebrows  32  and  34  shown in the image  22  are the original eyebrows contained in a photograph that was saved as the image  22 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  illustrates the image  22  having feature points P 1 , P 2 , and P 3  assigned to the eyebrow  32  for representing a shape of the eyebrow  32 . The eyebrow  32  will be used as an example in the following discussion although the same procedure used for shaping the eyebrow  32  can also be used to shape the eyebrow  34 . 
     Next, in order to shape the eyebrows  32  and  34 , a mask containing a desired mask shape is selected from the mask database  26 . Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a mask  40  selected for shaping the eyebrow  32 , and an adjusted mask  42  custom generated for the image  22  based on the mask  40  according to the present invention. Similar to the feature points P 1 , P 2 , and P 3  assigned to the eyebrow  32  as shown in  FIG. 3 , the mask  40  also has feature points P 4 , P 5 , and P 6  that represent a shape of the mask  40 . Since the mask  40  represents a general eyebrow shape, and cannot be directly applied to all faces without some adjustment, an adjustment process is performed for generating the adjusted mask  42  from the mask  40 . 
     The feature points P 1 , P 2 , and P 3  of the eyebrow  32  are matched with the feature points P 4 , P 5 , and P 6  of the mask  40  in order to modify a size of the mask  40  according to a size of the eyebrow  32 . Next, the shape of the mask  40  is adjusted slightly in order according to the shape of the face shown in the image  22  to produce the adjusted mask  42 . The adjusted mask  42  will then be used in the shaping process for shaping the eyebrow  32 . A similar process is also used for adjusting a mask corresponding to the eyebrow  34 . Please note that the example above using three feature points for both the mask  40  and the eyebrow  32  is not intended to be limiting. The number of feature points used can be fewer or more than three in the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  illustrates the enhanced image  24  containing shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  after the present invention shaping process has been performed to the eyebrows  32  and  34  of the image  22 . When performing the present invention shaping process, the adjusted mask  42  is superimposed over the eyebrows  32  and  34  of the image  22 . At the same time, the hairs in the eyebrows  32  and  34  are thinned such that the vertical height of the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  is less than is less than the vertical height of the eyebrows  32  and  34 . As can be seen from comparing the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  in the enhanced image  24  shown in  FIG. 5  to the eyebrows  32  and  34  in the image  22  shown in  FIG. 2 , the vertical height of the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  is less than that of the eyebrows  32  and  34 . Furthermore, after performing the thinning process, the hairs of the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  are made to fit within the shape of the adjusted mask  42 . 
     The present invention shaping process therefore superimposes the adjusted mask  42  while at the same time thinning the eyebrows  32  and  34  to produce the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54 . The adjusted mask  42  provides the basic shape of the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54 , while the thinning process reduces the vertical height of the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54 . 
     For the sake of comparison, please refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  illustrates an image  60  containing shaped eyebrows  62  and  64  resulting from only performing a thinning process on the eyebrows  32  and  34  in order to change a vertical height of the eyebrows  32  and  34 . As can be seen from comparing the shaped eyebrows  62  and  64  of the image  60  of  FIG. 6  to the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  in the enhanced image  24  of  FIG. 5 , the lack of the adjusted mask  42  being applied in the image  60  of  FIG. 6  has produced the shaped eyebrows  62  and  64  with a less appealing shape. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  illustrates an image  70  containing shaped eyebrows  72  and  74  resulting from only applying the adjusted mask  42  on the eyebrows  32  and  34  in order to change a shape of the eyebrows  32  and  34 . As can be seen from comparing the shaped eyebrows  72  and  74  of the image  70  of  FIG. 7  to the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54  in the enhanced image  24  of  FIG. 5 , the lack of the thinning process being applied in the image  70  of  FIG. 7  has produced the shaped eyebrows  72  and  74  with a larger vertical height. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  is a flowchart describing the method of performing eyebrow shaping according to the present invention. Steps in the flowchart will be explained as follows. 
     Step  100 : Start. 
     Step  102 : Select a mask  40  with a desired mask shape from the mask database  26 . 
     Step  104 : Create an adjusted mask  42  based on the selected mask  40  and the shape of the face shown in the image  22 . 
     Step  106 : Superimpose the adjusted mask  42  on the eyebrows  32  and  34  of the image  22  and simultaneously thin the eyebrows  32  and  34  in order to produce the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54 . 
     Step  108 : Output the enhanced image  24  containing the shaped eyebrows  52  and  54 . 
     Step  110 : End. 
     The present invention can be implemented in any kind of computing device  10  such as a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, and a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a mobile phone. Any computing device  10  that has a memory for storing images and a processor for executing the image enhancement process can be used with the present invention enhancement method. Furthermore, the present invention can enhance not only images obtained from photographs, but also can enhance computer generated images. 
     In summary, the present invention provides a simple and efficient method of shaping eyebrows to beautify the eyebrows while not affecting other regions of the face. In this way, the eyebrows of the image can be reshaped into another shape desired by a user. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.