Abstract:
People detection can provide valuable metrics that can be used by businesses, such as retail stores. Such information can be used to influence any number of business decisions such a employment hiring and product orders. The business value of this data hinges upon its accuracy. Thus, a method according to the principles of the current invention outputs metrics regarding people in a video frame within a stream of video frames through use of an object classifier configured to detect people. The method further comprises automatically updating the object classifier using data in at least a subset of the video frames in the stream of video frames.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Data regarding people&#39;s habits, movements, and patterns can be invaluable in the business world. Such data is constantly being collected and developed. This data can be collected using devices as simple as a counter coupled to a turnstile. While such data is limited to simply the count of people walking through a particular point, even this data is not without value. For example, it can be used to identify trends in attendance over time or for particular days in a week. This data may also be used to influence many aspects of a business. For example, if one were to look at metrics in buying, this information could be accounted for in such things as hiring and ordering. 
         [0002]    At the forefront of generating this data is detecting people. This data is only as good as the method used to determine the presence and/or absence of people. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for detecting people in an image. The method comprises outputting metrics regarding people in a video frame within a stream of video frames through use of an object classifier configured to detect people. The method further comprises automatically updating the object classifier using data in at least a subset of the video frames in the stream of video frames. In an embodiment of the invention, the object classifier is updated on a periodic basis. Further, according to the principles of an embodiment of the invention, the object classifier is updated in an unsupervised manner. 
         [0004]    An embodiment of the method of detecting people in a stream of images further comprises positioning a camera at an angle sufficient to allow the camera to capture the stream of video frames that may be used to identify distinctions between features of people and background. While an embodiment of the invention comprises outputting metrics, yet another embodiment further comprises calculating the metrics at a camera capturing the stream of video frames. An alternative embodiment of the invention comprises calculating the metrics external from a camera capturing the stream of video frames. 
         [0005]    Yet another embodiment of the method further comprises processing the metrics to produce information and providing the information to a customer on a one time basis, periodic basis, or non-periodic basis. 
         [0006]    In an alternative embodiment of the invention, updating the object classifier further comprises determining a level of confidence about the metrics. As described hereinabove, an embodiment of the invention updates the object classifier using data in at least a subset of video frames. In yet another embodiment, this data indicates the presence or absence of a person. In an alternative embodiment, the object classifier detects people as a function of histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) features and tunable coefficients. In such an embodiment, updating the classifier comprises tuning the coefficients. 
         [0007]    An embodiment of the invention is directed to a system for detecting people in a stream of images. In an embodiment, the system comprises an output module configured to output metrics regarding people in a video frame within a stream of video frames through use of an object classifier configured to detect people. The system further comprises an update module configured to automatically update the object classifier using data in at least a subset of the video frames in the stream of video frames. An alternative embodiment of the system further comprises a camera positioned at an angle sufficient to allow the camera to capture the stream of video frames used to identify distinctions between features of people and background. In yet another embodiment, the system further comprises a processing module configured to process the metrics to produce information that is provided to a customer on a one time basis, periodic basis, or non-periodic basis. 
         [0008]    In further embodiments of the system, the system and its various components may be configured to carry out the above described methods. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The foregoing will be apparent from the following more particular description of embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating embodiments. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a simplified illustration of a retail scene in which an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting a method of detecting people in a stream of images according to principles of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method of detecting people according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a simplified block diagram of a system for detecting people. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a simplified diagram of a network environment that may be utilized by an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a simplified block diagram of a computer system in which embodiments of the present invention may be embodied. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    A description of example embodiments of the invention follows. 
         [0017]    The teachings of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/683,977 are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
         [0018]    As presented herein, data regarding people relies upon the detection of people. The task of detecting and counting people in a scene, e.g., retail stores is challenging. Various approaches have been developed to detect and count people, and these various approaches generally rely on a variety of sensors, e.g., mechanical sensors, infrared sensors, and cameras; however, existing solutions remain inadequate. 
         [0019]    Many of the approaches using cameras employ a pair of cameras to calculate the distance of objects from the cameras through stereo vision. This depth data is, in turn, used to determine how many people appear in front of the pair of cameras. Such a system must usually be installed overhead in order to capture top-down views, e.g., on the ceiling or roof over a building&#39;s entrances or exits. These installation constraints restrict the application of such a system. 
         [0020]    An embodiment of the invention provides a method for detecting people that uses video streams from a camera that is arranged in a down-forward orientation. Such a method may be used in retail stores for detecting the presence or absence of people and/or how many people are in front of the down-forward camera. This is particularly advantageous because many cameras in retail stores are installed in a down-forward orientation such that the camera can capture part of a person&#39;s head and shoulders. Example of cameras that are typically oriented in a down-forward position may be cameras looking at an entry way or a cashier&#39;s desk. 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a simplified illustration of a retail scene  100  in which an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented. The retail scene  100  illustrates a typical retail environment that consumers may encounter in their day-to-day life. As described above, it would be useful for the owner of said retail establishment to have metrics regarding people in her establishment. The retail scene  100  with the entrance  109  further includes a cash register area  111 . The cash register area  111  may be stationed by an employee  108 . The employee  108  likely interacts with the customers  107   a - n  at the cash register area  111 . While a single employee  108  has been illustrated in the scene  100 , embodiments of the invention may be configured to detect multiple people. The scene  100  may include any number of customers  107   a - n , and embodiments of the invention may be configured to detect the people in scenes with crowds of varying densities. The retail scene  100  further includes typical product placement areas  110  and  112  where customers  107   a - n  may browse products and select product for purchase. 
         [0022]    The scene  100  further includes cameras  102   a - n . The scene  100  may include any number of cameras and the number of cameras to be utilized in an environment may be determined by a person of skill in the art. The cameras  102   a - n  have respective fields of view  104   a - n . These cameras  102   a - n  may be oriented such that the respective fields of view  104   a - n  are in down-forward orientations such that the cameras  102   a - n  may capture the head and shoulder area of customers  107   a - n  and employee  108 . The cameras  102   a - n  may be positioned at an angle sufficient to allow the camera to capture a stream of video frames used to identify distinctions between features of people such as the customers  107   a - n  and employee  108  and the background. 
         [0023]    The cameras  102   a - n  further comprise respective updating people classifiers  103   a - n . The updating people classifiers  103   a - n  are configured to be automatically updated based upon data in at least a subset of video frames from streams of video frames captured by the cameras  102   a - n . While the classifiers  103   a - n  are illustrated internal to the cameras  102   a - n , embodiments of the invention may use classifiers that are located externally either locally or remotely with respect to the cameras  102   a - n . As illustrated each camera  102   a - n  has a respective classifier  103   a - n . An alternative embodiment of the invention may utilize a single classifier that may be located at any point that is communicatively connected to the cameras  102   a - n.    
         [0024]    The cameras  102   a - n  are connected via interconnect  105  to metric server  106 . The interconnect  105  may be implemented using any variety of techniques known in the art, such as via Ethernet cabling. Further, while the cameras  102   a - n  are illustrated as interconnected via the interconnect  105 , embodiments of the invention provide for cameras  102   a - n  that are not interconnected to one another. In other embodiments of the invention, the cameras  102   a - n  are wireless cameras that communicate with the metric server  106  via a wireless network. 
         [0025]    The metric server  106  is a server configured to store the metrics  113   a - n  regarding people in a video frame within a stream of video frames captured by the cameras  102   a - n . These metrics  113   a - n  may be determined by the people classifiers  103   a - n . While the metric server  106  is illustrated in the scene  100 , embodiments of the invention may store metrics  113   a - n  on a metric server that is located remotely from the scene  100 . An alternative embodiment of the invention may operate without a metric server. In such an embodiment, metrics, such as the metrics  113   a - n  may be stored directly on the respective cameras  102   a - n  and further accessed directly. 
         [0026]    While a particular camera network has been illustrated it should be clear to one of skill in the art that any variety of network configurations may be used in the scene  100 . 
         [0027]    An alternative embodiment of the invention further processes the metrics  113   a - n  to produce information. This information may include any such information that may be derived using people detection. For example, this information may include the number of people coming through the door  109  at various times of the day. Through use of people tracking, an embodiment of the invention may provide information for the number of customers  107   a - n  that go to the register  111 . Information may also be derived regarding the time customers  107   a - n  linger or browse through the various product placements  110  and  112 . This information may be analyzed to determine effective sales practices and purchasing trends. An embodiment of the invention may further allow for employee  108  monitoring. Such an embodiment may be used to determine the amount of time employees spend at the register  111  or interacting with customers throughout the retail space  100 . 
         [0028]    An example method of an embodiment of the invention in relation to the scene  100  is described hereinbelow. In an embodiment of the invention, a camera, such as the camera  102   a , captures a stream of video frames. Then a classifier, such as the classifier  103   a , detects the presence or absence of people within a video frame in the captured stream of video frames. Further detail regarding the process of detecting people in a video frame is discussed hereinbelow in relation to  FIG. 2 . Next, the camera  102   a  outputs metrics, such as the metric  113   a , regarding people in the video frame to the metric server  106 . This process can be repeated for every video frame in a stream of video frames or may be done on a periodic or random basis. The method further includes automatically updating the classifier using data in at least a subset of the video frames in the stream of video frames. In an embodiment of the invention, the classifier is updated using edge data of people&#39;s head-shoulder area, which may be referred to as the omega-shape. Because the method may use edge-derived features, it may more accurately detect people in a crowded scene. Further detail regarding updating the classifier is described hereinbelow in relation to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0029]    Because the classifier is updated using data captured from the stream of video frames the classifier can adapt itself to the environment where the stream of video frames is captured. In contrast to existing solutions, where a classifier is not automatically updated, the method of the present invention may operate without pre-configuring the object classifier. Further, because the classifier automatically updates it is capable of adjusting to changing conditions, such as changes in lighting and camera setup. These advantages provide for metric gathering systems that are highly flexible and cheaper to implement. Because pre-configuration and human intervention for updating the classifier are not required, system setup and maintenance is achieved at a lower cost. Further, because many existing surveillance systems use down-forward facing cameras, an embodiment of the invention may be easily implemented in these existing systems. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting a method  215  of detecting people in a stream of images according to principles of the present invention. The method  215  begins with inputting an image ( 216 ). This image may be a video frame from a stream of video frames captured by a camera, such as the cameras  102   a - n . The image is inputted into two processes,  220  and  230  of the method  215 . The process  220  collects training data samples that are used to train and update a people classifier. The process  230  detects people in the image and outputs detection results (metrics) using the people classifier trained with the training data generated by the sub-process  220  as described herein. 
         [0031]    The process  230  begins with inputting an image ( 216 ). After an image is received, image gradient information is calculated and histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) features are extracted ( 231 ). The image gradient information may be calculated and HOG features extracted in any manner as is known in the art. In an embodiment, image gradients are calculated for edge information of objects appearing in a scene, where a scene may be a video frame. Gradients may be directionally calculated, i.e., gradients may be calculated in the horizontal (x) direction and the vertical (y) direction. Thus, one can determine where gradients occur and the orientation of the determined gradients. A HOG feature may be calculated for each scanning window in the scale space of the input image. Calculating a HOG feature for each scanning window in the scale space may allow for a more thorough gradient analysis to be performed. Some image gradients are more easily determined based upon the scale of the input image, thus an embodiment of the invention determines a HOG feature for each scanning window in the scale space so as to ensure that all gradients of the image are determined. Further, an embodiment of the invention allows for tuning by setting a threshold at which gradients are considered in the analysis. For example, in an embodiment, if a gradient is too small it may be ignored. 
         [0032]    HOG features may be represented as a multi-dimensional vector which captures the statistics of image gradients within each window in terms of the gradient orientations and associated magnitudes. These vectors however can become quite large and thus, an embodiment of the invention applies the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) method to these vectors to reduce the dimensionality of the HOG features. The LDA method may be used to reduce the dimension of HOG features through a projection. This dimension reduction may be done with the intention of maximizing the separation between positive training samples and negative training samples, training samples are discussed hereinbelow. These lower dimension HOG features are adopted to train a strong classifier using the Adaboost method. The Adaboost method combines multiple weak classifiers such that the strong classifier has a very high detection rate and a low false detection rate. To achieve target performance, i.e., high detection rate and low false detection rate, multiple strong classifiers are cascaded to form a final classifier. In practice, the classifier may detect people using edge-based HOG features, rather than using motion pixels and/or skin color, this helps to make the classifier more capable of detecting people in a crowded retail environment. 
         [0033]    After the image gradients are calculated and the HOG features are extracted ( 231 ), the next step of the process  230  is to determine whether a people classifier exists ( 232 ). Classifiers as they are known in art can be configured to detect the presence or absence of people. A classifier may be thought of as a function, and thus a people classifier may be thought of as a function, such as A 1 x 1 +A 2 x 2 , or any combination of feature vectors and classifier weights or parameters, the result of which indicates the presence or absence of a person. The variables of the classifier, i.e., x 1  and x 2 , may be equated with the HOG features, and the coefficients, A 1  and A 2  may be tuned to improve the classifier. 
         [0034]    Returning to the step  232 , when there is no people classifier available the method returns ( 234 ). This return may bring the process back to waiting for a next image ( 216 ). The absence of a people classifier does not necessarily indicate that there is no people classifier at all, it may simply indicate that the classifier has no coefficients, as described above, or has had no training. Such a result may occur where, for example, a camera carrying out the method is deployed in the field with a classifier without any prior training. This result however is not problematic, because as explained herein, the classifier may be automatically trained once deployed. For example, if a camera is deployed with a classifier with no prior training, it may be determined upon the first run of the method that no classifier exists, however, after some time, the classifier may be automatically updated, and then the classifier will have some values with which the presence or absence of people can be determined. 
         [0035]    If it is determined at ( 232 ) that a people classifier exists, the process proceeds and applies the classifier to the HOG features to detect the presence or absence of people ( 233 ). After the classifier is applied to the HOG features the results of the detection are output ( 235 ). This output may be to a metric server as described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 1 , or may be to any communicatively connected point to the apparatus that is performing the method  215 . The method may be carried out in cameras such as the cameras  102   a - n , or may be carried out remotely from the cameras. 
         [0036]    While the above described process  230  is being performed, the other sub-process  220  of the method  215  may be simultaneously occurring. In an embodiment of the invention, the process  230  is carried out at a much higher rate than the sub-process  220 . For example, in an embodiment of the invention, where for example a camera is collecting a stream of video frames, the sub-process  230  may be carried out for every video frame in the stream of video frames, and the sub-process  230  may be carried out for every one hundred video frames in the stream of video frames. The rates at which the method  215  and its associated sub-processes  220  and  230  are carried out may be chosen accordingly by a person of ordinary skill in the art. Further, the rates at which the processes  220  and  230  occur may be automatically determined based upon for example the time of day, or the currently available processing power. 
         [0037]    The function of process  220  is to develop training samples. Training samples are developed to tune the classifier used in the process  230  at step  233 . While both processes  220  and  230  detect people, in an embodiment of the invention the sub-process  220  may be more processor intensive, however, resulting in more accurate detection of people. Thus, an embodiment of the method  215  uses the more accurate, albeit more processor intensive, people detection methods of process  220  to train the classifier of process  230 . 
         [0038]    The process  220  is a method wherein training samples can be developed inline, i.e., when an apparatus is deployed. Thus, as described above, if a classifier is not available at ( 232 ), the classifier may be automatically trained using the sub-process ( 220 ). To this end, the process  220  may use alternative features to identify a person in a video frame for positive sample collection. The process  220  begins with an inputted image ( 216 ). From this image, motion pixels and skin color pixels may be extracted ( 221 ). In an embodiment of the invention, a background subtraction method may be employed to detect the motion pixels. From the extracted motion and skin color pixels, motion blobs and color blobs can be formed ( 223 ). With these blobs, the head-shoulder area can be detected via omega-shape recognition ( 224 ). The process  220  may also use template matching ( 222 ) to detect head-shoulder via omega-shape recognition ( 224 ). Additionally, facial blobs may also be identified for further confirmation of a head-shoulder object. Further detail regarding these techniques is given in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/683,977 the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
         [0039]    The process of collecting training samples may also benefit from the outputs of the people classifier ( 237 ). According to an embodiment of the invention, the outputs of the people classifier may also have an associated confidence level in the accuracy with which a presence or an absence of a person has been detected. This confidence level information may be used to determine classifier outputs that are used in collecting training samples ( 237 ) 
         [0040]    Described hereinabove is the process  220 , of collecting positive training samples, i.e., samples that detect the presence of a person. The method  215  also benefits from negative samples, i.e., samples detecting the absence of a person. Negative samples may be collected randomly both in the time domain and in the spatial domain. For example, any image patch without motion or any motion image patch that is confirmed not belonging to any head-should part of people may be considered a candidate for a negative sample. 
         [0041]    As presented above this process may be conducted online, i.e., when the camera or associated apparatus performing people detection is deployed. Training samples may also be collected offline, i.e., before the camera or associated apparatus is deployed. Collecting samples offline may also comprise the collection of training samples by another camera or device and then using these results to train a subsequent classifier. If training data is available from offline collection, a base classifier to be used in the above described method can be trained in advance by applying the above process to this data. Thus, this classifier may serve as a seed classifier which can be further updated on the fly, as described above, if more camera-specific training samples are developed using the process  220  described hereinabove. However, a seed classifier may not be well suited for a camera or apparatus carrying out the above described process if the training data used to seed the classifier were not directly obtained from this camera, or if the training data was obtained using a prior camera configuration or setup. Because of these problems, an embodiment of the invention collects training data, i.e., positive and negative samples as described above using the process  220 , and updates the classifier automatically. 
         [0042]    As described hereinabove, the sub-process  220  of the method  215 , collects training samples. These training samples may then be used to learn or update the classifier ( 236 ). The classifier may be updated on a one time, periodic, or non-periodic basis. Further the classifier may be updated in an unsupervised manner. In an embodiment of the invention, updating the classifier comprises tuning coefficients of the classifier. 
         [0043]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method  340  of detecting people according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method  340  outputs metrics regarding people in a video frame through use of an object classifier configured to detect people ( 342 ). The process of detecting people using an object classifier and outputting these metrics may be accomplished using image gradients and HOG features as described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 2 . The method  340  further comprises automatically updating the object classifier using data in at least a subset of the video frames in the stream of video frames. This update may refer to the process ( 236 ) of learning and updating the classifier described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 2 . Further, the data used to update the classifier may be training samples as discussed in relation to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a simplified block diagram of a system  450  for detecting people according to principles of the present invention. The system  450  comprises the interconnect  454  which serves as an interconnection between the various components of the system  450 . Connected to the interconnect  454  is an output module  451 . The output module  451  is configured to output metrics regarding people in a stream of video frames using the communicatively connected classifier  403 . The classifier  403  is configured to detect people and may be embodied as the classifier described hereinabove in relation to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The system  450  comprises an update module  452 . The update module  452  is configured to automatically update the classifier  403  using data in at least a subset of video frames. The updating process may be as described hereinabove and the data used may be positive and negative training data samples collected through use of sub-process  220  described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0045]    The system  450  may further comprise a camera  402  to capture the stream of video frames used by the output module  451  to output metrics regarding people through use of the classifier  403 . While the system  450  is depicted as comprising the camera  402 , according to an alternative embodiment, the camera  402  is separated from the system  450  and communicatively connected such that a stream of video frames captured by the camera  402  can be received at the system  450 . 
         [0046]    An alternative embodiment of the system  450  further comprises a processing module  453 . The processing module  453  can be used to further process the metrics to produce information. This further processing may produce any number of statistics as described in detail hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 1 . In an embodiment of the invention such information may be provided in graphical or table form. 
         [0047]      FIG. 5  is a simplified diagram of a network environment  560  that may be utilized by an embodiment of the present invention. The network environment  560  comprises metric server  506 . Metric server  506  may embody metric server  106  as described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 1 . Metric server  506  is configured to store metric data resulting from embodiments of the invention. These metrics may result from the method  215 , method  340 , and/or system  450 , described hereinabove in relation to  FIGS. 2-4  respectively. Metric server  506  is communicatively connected via network  561  to cloud metric server  562 . Network  561  may be any network known in the art including a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Cloud metric server  562  may comprise the metrics stored on the metric server  506 . Further, the cloud metric server  562  may store metrics from a multitude of metric servers that are communicatively connected to the cloud metric server  562 . 
         [0048]    The cloud metric server  562  is communicatively connected to a customer  563 . The metric server  562  may transfer stored metrics to the customer  563 . Metrics may take any form and may be further processed to produce information that is transferred to the customer  563 . Such further processing may be used to generate graphs, such as graph  564 , and tables, such as table  565 , which may be transferred to the customer  563 . This information may include any number of statistics as described hereinabove in relation to  FIG. 1 . 
         [0049]      FIG. 6  is a high level block diagram of a computer system  670  in which embodiments of the present invention may be embodied. The system  670  contains a bus  672 . The bus  672  is a connection between the various components of the system  670 . Connected to the bus  672  is an input/output device interface  673  for connecting various input and output devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, display, speakers, etc. to the system  670 . A Central Processing Unit (CPU)  674  is connected to the bus  672  and provides for the execution of computer instructions. Memory  676  provides volatile storage for data used for carrying out computer instructions. Disk storage  675  provides non-volatile storage for software instructions, such as an operating system (OS). 
         [0050]    It should be understood that the example embodiments described above may be implemented in many different ways. In some instances, the various methods and machines described herein may each be implemented by a physical, virtual, or hybrid general purpose computer, such as the computer system  670 . The computer system  670  may be transformed into the machines that execute the methods described above, for example, by loading software instruction into either memory  676  or non-volatile storage  675  for execution by the CPU  674 . 
         [0051]    Embodiments or aspects thereof may be implemented in the form of hardware, firmware, or software. If implemented in software the software may be stored on any non-transient computer readable medium that is configured to enable a processor to load the software or subsets of instructions thereof. The processor then executes the instructions and is configured to operate or cause an apparatus to operate in a manner as described herein. 
         [0052]    While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to example embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.