Abstract:
A method for preventing abduction of a person, the method includes the steps of capturing a first image of a first adult and a first person upon entering a premises; inputting the captured first image in a database; capturing a second image of a second adult and a second person upon exiting the premises; and comparing the first and second images for predetermined characteristics for validating that the first adult associated with the first person in the first image is the same as the second adult associated with the second person in the second image.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates generally to the field of infoimaging and, more particularly, to using infoimaging to assist in the prevention of child abduction.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Unfortunately, in today&#39;s society, child abduction is becoming rampant and problematic such that sometimes intrusive protections for the sake of child welfare is adopted. This is evident in the use of video surveillance cameras in parking lots, malls and the like. Businesses such as Wal-Mart of Benton, Ark. have action plans to deal with abductions which might take place upon their premises. Additionally, businesses such as Chuck-E-Cheese™ child entertainment centers have safeguards in place to ensure the safety of children that enter their establishments. Their method is to manually stamp hands of people entering with like identification (such as an identification number only visible under UV light), and manually checking that persons leaving with a child have the same identification as the adult. Likewise, adults with intellectual development disabilities also need protection in that their mental state often causes confusion and their possible unauthorized removal from an area or premises.  
           [0003]    Although the above methods are satisfactory, they have drawbacks. First, the methods are manual that obviously introduces human error in the identification process. Further, the cost of staffing a person strictly for identification is costly and relatively unreliable. Also, in the case of abduction, there is no evidentiary record of the suspect. Obviously, a business or system which possesses such an evidentiary record would cause hesitancy on the part of an abductor to actually commit the act of kidnapping.  
           [0004]    Consequently, a need exits for a method that is automatic and reliable, and also which creates an evidentiary record of a suspect in the unfortunate event of abduction.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, the present invention relates to a method for preventing abduction of a person, the method comprising the steps of: (a) capturing a first image of a first adult and a first person upon entering a premises; (b) inputting the captured first image in a database; (c) capturing a second image of a second adult and a second person upon exiting the premises; and (d) comparing the first and second images for predetermined characteristics for validating that the first adult associated with the first person in the first image is the same as the second adult associated with the second person in the second image.  
           [0006]    These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.  
           [0007]    Advantageous Effect Of The Invention  
           [0008]    The present invention has the advantage of being automatic in the identification of persons entering and leaving a premises. Additionally, the method provides evidentiary records of activities at the premises that discourage acts of kidnapping. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entrance to premises that includes the automatic identification of persons;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exit to premises that includes the automatic identification of persons;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a drawing of an image detailing an adult and child along with personal features useable for purposes of identification; and  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a drawing of an image of an elderly adult along with a disabled person being attended by a purported caregiver. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]    Referring to FIG. 1, detailed is a drawing of the entrance to premises  10 , showing an adult  12  with child  14  entering building  16  through doorway  18 . Upon entering doorway  18 , the adult  12  and child  14  encounter a post  20  holding a dispenser  22  that contains a plurality of bracelets  24  having identification numbers thereon. Although numbers are used, any identification means may be used. Upon entering the premises  10 , the adult  12 , preferably, inputs the number of bracelets  24  needed for their party, two in this instance. The adult  12  and child  14  each take a bracelet  24  having the exact same ID from the dispenser  22  and place them around their wrist or the like. It should be noted at this point that these bracelets also contain RF ID or the like assigned by dispenser  22 . The withdrawal of the ID bracelets  24  prompts a camera  26 , preferably digital, to capture an image of the party in a designated time period, 10 seconds for instance. The withdrawal of the bracelet  24  also prompts its unique ID to be associated with the upcoming image to be captured so that there is linkage between the image and the bracelet. A sign  28  informs the party that an image will be captured in ten seconds upon withdrawal of the bracelet  24  so that all persons in the party are facing the camera  26 . The sign  28  also informs the party of a designated location, preferably marked by some indicator  30  on the floor, so that the camera  26  is properly focused. Alternatively, the adult  12  may push a button  32  on the dispenser  22  for capturing the image so that the parties are facing the camera  26  and in the designated location  30  indicated upon the floor.  
         [0014]    After image capture, the digital image is sent via a cable  34  by camera  26  to a computer  36  having a database  38  for storage of the image. If the image is originally captured as an AgX image, the image is digitized before storage, such digitization is well known in the art and will not be discussed herein.  
         [0015]    The premises also include an exit  40  that will be discussed in detail in FIG. 2. Now referring to FIG. 2, there is shown the premise  10  having a second camera  42  that captures an image of the exiting party. It is instructive to note that the exit  40  is blocked by a mechanism  44  from exiting until proper identification of the party. Image capture is initiated by some sensing mechanism such as a mat sensor  45 . Second sign  46  instructs adult  12  and child  14  to stand upon second mark  48  (i.e., the mat sensor  45 ) wherein a second digital image is captured. This image is sent to computer  36  via second camera  42  and cable  50  to be likewise stored in database  38 . These first and second digital images, being linked by like ID numbers are next compared to each other by a system such as automatic facial recognition. The linking of the images is accomplished by the RF ID of the bracelet  24  being sensed by a sensor  27  mounted upon both the first camera  26  and second camera  42 , respectively upon entering and exiting. Such facial recognition programs are well known in the art and will not be discussed herein. These faces, being deemed alike, signal mechanism  44  to allow exit from premises  10 . Alternatively, in lieu of an exit-blocking mechanism  44 , there is no per se exit-blocking mechanism, and the group of persons is permitted to exit the premise. In this case, the second camera  42  captures an image for archival purposes so that law-enforcement officials or the like may view the image if necessary.  
         [0016]    In addition, upon capture of the image by the second camera  42 , the database  38  contains images of known abductors and the like. The computer  36  then compares the images of known abductors to the image of the exiting group via facial recognition programs to verify if a known abductor is present in the group. The group may or may not be permitted to exit via the mechanisms described hereinabove.  
         [0017]    Referring next to FIG. 3, a captured image  52  is shown having the adult  12  holding a shopping bag  54  and the child  14 . As illustrated therein, the adult and child have specific hair colors  55  (shown in cross-hatch) or absence  3   0  thereof, hair texture  56  or lack thereof (bald  57 ), specific clothing  58  or clothing colors  60 , glasses  62  or absence thereof  63 , hearing aids  64  or absence thereof, braces  66  or absence thereof, and/or hats  68  or absence thereof. Such features are recognized by a Bayes Classifier in the computer  36  which is input with data for recognizing such features as is well known in the art.  
         [0018]    Alternatively, and referring to FIG. 4, the person susceptible to abduction may be an elderly person  70  or a disabled (mentally or physically) person  72 . Likewise, these persons  70  or  72  would benefit from the apparatus and system of the present invention. In addition, the number of purported caregivers  74  or susceptible persons  14 ,  70  and/or  72  may be any given number, i.e., there can be any number of persons in a group. In which case and as described above, when entering the premise, the number of persons for the party or group would correspondingly be input into the dispenser  22 .  
         [0019]    A still further alternatively embodiment is to have the RF ID initiate image captures by the cameras  26  and  42  respectively upon entering and exiting the premise; the cameras  26  and  42  would obviously be modified to accept remote RF sensing. This would also mean that the signs  28  and  46  would be modified so that the group is informed that, before entering the image capture areas  30  and  48 , they must be looking up so that facial features are captured.  
         [0020]    Still further, instead of one image of the entire group, two or more images may be captured and stored in the database  38 . In this case, the two or more images are stamped with a common reference (for example, a common number) by the camera  26 ; such stamping is well known in digital technology. The dispenser  22  is obviously modified to accept input of multiple images, and this information is sent to a microprocessor of the camera  26  which directs the capturing of multiple images and stamping of a common reference. This common reference is then sent to the database by the microprocessor for mating the two or more images together. For evidentiary purposes, if the common reference was somehow inadvertently or intentionally corrupted, a hardcopy image could be printed for retrieving the hardcopy images. Obviously, upon exiting, the mated images are compared to each other.  
         [0021]    The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.  
       Parts List  
       [0022]    [0022] 10  premise  
         [0023]    [0023] 12  adult  
         [0024]    [0024] 14  child  
         [0025]    [0025] 16  building  
         [0026]    [0026] 18  doorway  
         [0027]    [0027] 20  post  
         [0028]    [0028] 22  dispenser  
         [0029]    [0029] 24  bracelets  
         [0030]    [0030] 26  camera  
         [0031]    [0031] 27  sensor  
         [0032]    [0032] 28  sign  
         [0033]    [0033] 30  indicator  
         [0034]    [0034] 32  button  
         [0035]    [0035] 34  cable  
         [0036]    [0036] 36  computer  
         [0037]    [0037] 38  database  
         [0038]    [0038] 40  exit  
         [0039]    [0039] 42  second camera  
         [0040]    [0040] 44  mechanism  
         [0041]    [0041] 45  mat sensor  
         [0042]    [0042] 46  second sign  
         [0043]    [0043] 48  second mark  
         [0044]    [0044] 50  cable  
         [0045]    [0045] 52  captured image  
         [0046]    [0046] 54  shopping bag  
         [0047]    [0047] 55  hair colors  
         [0048]    [0048] 56  hair texture  
         [0049]    [0049] 57  bald  
         [0050]    [0050] 58  clothing  
         [0051]    [0051] 60  clothing color  
         [0052]    [0052] 62  glasses  
         [0053]    [0053] 63  absence of glasses  
         [0054]    [0054] 64  hearing aids  
         [0055]    [0055] 66  braces  
         [0056]    [0056] 68  hats  
         [0057]    [0057] 70  elderly person  
         [0058]    [0058] 72  disabled person  
         [0059]    [0059] 74  purported caregiver