Patent Abstract:
Systems and devices for, and methods of, image-based processing where a device embodiment comprises: (a) a processor; (b) an addressable memory, the memory comprising a set one or more image references, and where the set of image references comprises a rule of interpretation and a rule of execution; and the processor is configured to: (1) compare captured surface indicia of a sheet with the set of at least one image reference; (2) determine the image reference associated with the surface indicia based on the comparison of the surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference; (3) extract a marking by differencing the surface indicia and the image reference; (4) interpret the extracted marking based on the rule of interpretation associated with the image reference; and (5) invoke the rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    Embodiments pertain to camera-vision devices, systems, and methods, used in collaboration whiteboards, for pre-formatted, reusable, annotatable, movable menus and forms. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Typically, a whiteboard collaboration environment uses a camera, image capture, and/or optical character recognition to tag specific items that are under discussion for action items or for future reference, to select drawing controls, and/or to enter data into a collaboration system. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    Embodiments provide the functionality for inputting information into a camera-vision based collaboration environment. Embodiments pertain to systems and devices for, and methods of, an image-based computer processor configured to capture surface indicia, determine an image reference associated with it, extract a set of one or more markings based on the image reference, and invoke a rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation associated with the image reference. 
         [0004]    Device embodiments may comprise a processor; an addressable memory, the memory comprising a set of one or more image references, and where the set of image references comprises a rule of interpretation and a rule of execution; and where the processor may be configured to: (a) compare captured surface indicia of a sheet with the set of at least one image reference; (b) determine the image reference associated with the surface indicia based on the comparison of the surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference; (c) extract a marking by differencing the surface indicia and the image reference; (d) interpret the extracted marking based on the rule of interpretation associated with the image reference; and (e) invoke the rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation. Some embodiments may be further configured to receive data from at least one of a camera, video capturing device, digital video recorder, scanning camera, webcam, and motion capture device. Some embodiments may compare the surface indicia with at least one image reference via a visual process and by using a detection method further comprising at least one of edge detection, geometric shape detection, and bar code detection. The extraction of the markings may be implemented via at least one of: visual differencing, pattern recognition, optical mark recognition, and optical character recognition. In an embodiment the processor may be further configured to determine a marking on at least a portion of the surface indicia, indicative of immediate invocation of the rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation. 
         [0005]    Method embodiments may comprise: (a) capturing a surface indicia of a sheet; (b) comparing the surface indicia with a set of at least one image reference, where the image reference comprises a set of rules, and where each set of rules comprises a set of at least one rule of interpretation and a set of at least one rule of execution; (c) determining the image reference associated with the surface indicia based on the comparison of the captured surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference; (d) extracting a marking by differencing the surface indicia and the image reference; (e) interpreting the extracted marking based on the set of rules according to the image reference; and (f) invoking the rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation. 
         [0006]    System embodiments may comprise: (a) a set of one or more predefined indicia; (b) a surface configured to receive markings. The system also comprising an image capture device, configured to capture an image of a portion of the sheet element. The system further comprising (a) an image capture device configured to capture surface indicia of a sheet and (b) an image-based computer processing device comprising: a processor and addressable memory, the memory comprising a set of one or more image references, where each member of the set of image references comprises a rule of interpretation and a rule of execution; and the processor may be configured to: (1) compare the surface indicia with the set of at least one image reference; (2) determine the image reference associated with the surface indicia based on the comparison of the surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference; (3) extract a marking by differencing the surface indicia and the image reference; (4) interpret the extracted marking based on the rule of interpretation associated with the image reference; and (5) invoke the rule of execution based on the rule of interpretation. Some embodiments of the sheet element may further comprise flexible, electro-static, and/or nontranslucent material. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, and in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment that also optionally includes a collaboration server, a display at a remote site, and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment, where the whiteboard contains a plurality of sheets; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment, where the system has identified the input form or menu locations on the whiteboard as hot-zones; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment, where one of the sheets has been either relocated or removed and replaced with a new one; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  further shows the embodiment as in  FIG. 5  where a new hot-zone is identified and established for monitoring; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart depicting an exemplary functional block diagram of an image-based collaboration system environment; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet that shows the example input forms and menus designated as hot-zones; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet; 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet; 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet with markings; 
           [0019]      FIG. 12  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia with the extracted markings on the sheet; 
           [0020]      FIG. 13  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet with markings; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 14  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia with the extracted markings on the sheet. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  100 . A system embodiment is depicted in  FIG. 1  as comprising a whiteboard  110  that contains a set of one or more sheets  112 , an image capture device  130 , and an image-based computer processing device  140 . Embodiments of the image-based collaboration system  100  may be executed in real time or near real time, and the information may be at least one of received, read and captured from the sheet  112  or a portion thereof. An image capture device  130  is depicted as capturing an image of a portion of the collaboration whiteboard  110 , e.g., a sheet  112  containing a set of one or more predefined indicia. The image capture device  130  may be at least one of a camera, video capturing device, digital video recorder, scanning camera, webcam, and motion capture device. An image-based computer processing device  140  may be configured to compare the captured surface indicia with a set of at least one image references and determine the image reference associated with the surface indicia. By comparing the surface indicia with the set of at least one image reference, and then extracting the difference between them, a set of markings may be identified. Once a marking has been extracted from the surface indicia it may be interpreted based on the image reference. The image reference may additionally contain a rule of execution or a set of instructions associated with the interpretation. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  200  that comprises a whiteboard  210 , an image capture device  230 , an image-based computer processing device  240 , a display at a remote site  250 , e.g., LCD display, a collaboration server  260 , and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage  270 , e.g., collaboration cloud, that may be used for maintaining an associated image reference. In this embodiment the whiteboard  210  may be monitored by an image capture device  230 , e.g., camera-vision system, that is collaborating with an image-based computer processing device  240 , e.g., collaboration computer. The image references may be stored in any one of the collaboration computer  240 , collaboration server  260 , collaboration cloud  270 , or in some combination. Optionally, the resulting output may be displayed on a remote site display  250 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  300  that comprises a whiteboard  310  that contains a set of one or more sheets  312 ,  314 , an image capture device  330 , an image-based computer processing device  340 , a display at a remote site  350 , e.g., LCD display, a collaboration server  360 , and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage  370 , e.g., collaboration cloud that may be used for maintaining an associated image reference. In this exemplary embodiment, the whiteboard  310  is depicted as being monitored by an image capture device  330  that may be controlled by the image-based computer processing device  340 , e.g., a collaboration computer. The image references may be stored in any one of the collaboration computer  340 , a collaboration server  360 , a collaboration cloud  370 , i.e., distributed network storage, or in some combination thereof. Optionally, the resulting output may be displayed on a remote site display  350 . The plurality of sheets  312 ,  314  may contain a set of one or more predefined indicia and a surface configured to receive markings. A user may dispose one or more sheets within or about the collaboration environment that, in this example, includes a whiteboard  310 . The image capture device  330  may detect changes to the disposition and/or orientation of one or more sheets  312 ,  314  on the whiteboard  310 , and capture the surface indicia of the sheet. The predefined indicia may be identified by comparing the surface indicia, e.g., a unique identifying number or symbol with a set of at least one image reference. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  400  that comprises a whiteboard  410  that contains a set of one or more sheets  412 ,  414 , an image capture device  430 , an image-based computer processing device  440 , a display at a remote site  450 , e.g., LCD display, a collaboration server  460 , and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage  470 , e.g., collaboration cloud that may be used for maintaining an associated image reference. In an embodiment the whiteboard  410  is being monitored by an image capture device  430  that may be controlled by the image-based computer processing device  440 , e.g., collaboration computer. The image references may be stored in any one of the collaboration computer  440 , a collaboration server  460 , a collaboration cloud  470 , or in some combination thereof. The whiteboard  410  may contain a plurality of sheets  412 ,  414 , e.g. two input forms or menus, containing a set of one or more predefined indicia and a surface configured to receive markings. The image capture device  430  may detect the changes to the whiteboard  410  and in turn capture the surface indicia of the sheet. The predefined indicia may be identified by comparing the surface indicia, e.g., a unique identifying number or symbol with a set of at least one image reference. The image reference  482  associated with sheet  412  may be determined and the interpretation and/or execution rules are optionally loaded into the memory of the collaboration computer  440 . In the embodiment, the interpretation and/or execution rules  484  associated with sheet  414  may be loaded into the memory of the collaboration cloud  470 . The system is depicted as having identified the input form or menu locations on the whiteboard as hot-zones. It may monitor those hot-zones for any activity, i.e., changes in markings on the identified sheets. Optionally, the system may determine if a de-skew and/or rotation factor may be required to enhance the interpretation of the surface indicia, e.g., the input form or menu, by the system. If so, the system may attach de-skew and/or rotation information to that hot-zone so that all future image capturing of that section may be properly de-skewed and/or rotated before analysis of the content. 
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  500  as in  FIG. 4 , that comprises a whiteboard  510  that contains a set of one or more sheets  512 ,  516 , an image capture device  530 , an image-based computer processing device  540 , a display at a remote site  550 , e.g., LCD display, a collaboration server  560 , and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage  570 , e.g., collaboration cloud that may be used for maintaining an associated image reference. In  FIG. 5 , the sheet  414  on the bottom right corner of  FIG. 4  is depicted as being removed and replaced with a new sheet  516  on the bottom left corner. The image reference  582  associated with sheet  512  may be determined and the interpretation and/or execution rules are optionally loaded into the memory of the collaboration computer  540 . The removed sheet  414  and the spatial location of that collaboration environment is given a provisional deletion status. The image reference and the interpretation and/or execution rules  484  associated with the removed sheet  414  may be provisionally deleted  590  from the current workspace. Optionally, the interpretation and/or execution rules  484  may be retained in cache. The image capture device  530  may detect the changes to the whiteboard  510  and in turn capture the surface indicia of the new sheet  516 . The predefined indicia may be identified by comparing the surface indicia, e.g., a unique identifying number or symbol with a set of at least one image reference. The image reference  586  associated with the new sheet  516  may be determined and the interpretation and/or execution rules are optionally loaded into the memory of the collaboration server  560 . In this example, a sheet may also be relocated from one area of the whiteboard  510  to another and the image capture device  530  may then detect the changes to the whiteboard  510  and in turn capture the surface indicia of the relocated sheet. 
         [0027]      FIG. 6  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary image-based collaboration system environment  600 , that comprises a whiteboard  610  that contains a set of one or more sheets  612 ,  616 , an image capture device  630 , an image-based computer processing device  640 , a display at a remote site  650 , e.g., LCD display, a collaboration server  660 , and one or more offsite nodes and/or data storage  670 , e.g., collaboration cloud that may be used for maintaining an associated image reference. New surface indicia  616  may then be placed on the whiteboard and further identified.  FIG. 6  further shows the embodiment of  FIG. 5  where a new hot-zone may be identified and established for monitoring. The image reference  682  associated with sheet  612  and the interpretation and/or execution rules, as determined previously, are optionally loaded into the memory of the collaboration computer  640 . The system is depicted as having identified the input form or menu locations on the whiteboard as hot-zones. It may now monitor those hot-zones for any activity, i.e., changes in markings on the identified sheets  612  and  616 . The interpretation and/or execution rules  696  for sheet  616  are determined and the extracted marking may be interpreted based on the rule of interpretation and the associated rule of execution is optionally invoked. 
         [0028]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart depicting an exemplary functional block diagram of an image-based collaboration system environment  700 . The system may capture a surface indicia of a sheet by way of an image capture device (step  710 ). The surface indicia may then be compared with a set of at least one image reference (step  720 ). The image reference associated with the surface indicia may be determined based on the comparison of the surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference (step  730 ). In the next step, a marking may be extracted from the surface indicia based on the comparison of the surface indicia and the set of at least one image reference (step  740 ). The extracted marking may then be interpreted based on the rule of interpretation associated with the image reference (step  750 ). The rule of execution may then be invoked based on the rule of interpretation (step  760 ). 
         [0029]    In an embodiment the sheet element may be flexible vinyl, Mylar®, poly sheets, or other similar materials. The physical attributes of the sheet may be nontranslucent and may include a set of light colors, e.g., white. Light colors would allow the computer vision system to locate the menu on the whiteboard easier, e.g., by comparing chromatic differences. The sheet may optionally have a natural electro-static capability so that it may be attached and removed from the surface of the whiteboard using just the electro-static charge. The surface may be compatible with the use of various style markers and erasers, for example, dry-erase, glossy, water-proof, and washable. The sheet may optionally be made out of a thick material to resist bubbling and wrinkling. 
         [0030]      FIG. 8  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet  800 . The sheet  800  may have a unique identifying symbol, e.g., any one of, name  810 , identification number  815 , barcode  820 , or in some combination printed on the sheet. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system, and used to identify the image reference associated with the sheet. Optionally, highlighting color(s) may also be used in conjunction with the above methods to add to the ability of the system to locate, identify and validate the sheets. In this embodiment, the sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  810 ,  815 ,  820 , boundary markings  840 , and/or heavy border lines  830  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. Thus the system may de-skew and/or rotate to normalize the view of the surface indicia as needed based on these objects. Hot-zones  860  within the sheet  800  may be identified where markings may be received and captured from the surface indicia of the sheet  800 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 9  depicts another embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet  900 . The sheet  900  may have a unique identifying symbol, e.g., one of at least a set of name  910 , identification number  915 , barcode  920 , or in some combination printed on it. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system, and used to identify the image reference associated with the sheet to the system. In this embodiment, the sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  910 ,  915 ,  920 , and/or boundary markings  940  and/or heavy border lines  930  to allow the computer-vision system to determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. The hot-zones  960  on the surface indicia of the sheet  900  may be marked at any time. 
         [0032]    In an embodiment, the sheet may have a “do it now” object  950 , where the input forms or menus may require complex or multiple user changes before the inputs or changes are ready to be processed. These input forms or menus may have a “do it now” object  950  as an indicator to the system signifying that the data is ready for processing. If the user has marked the “do it now” object  950 , the image based computer processing device identifies the markings and determines the associated reference. In certain embodiments, once the processing of the user inputs are completed, the system may then provide feedback to the user that the data has been processed, e.g., an audio beep. In some “do it now” embodiments, hot-zones  960  may be identified and markings may be received and captured from the surface indicia of the sheet  900 . In an embodiment, the “do it now” action may be implemented so that upon receiving the feedback from the system, e.g., an audio beep that indicates or announces that the data has been processed, the user resets the “do it now” button by erasing the mark from the input forms or menu or by removing the sheet and replacing it or some other reset functionality. The system may ignore any further changes to the hot-zone  960  until the “do it now button” is once again set by the user. In this example, the changes may be processed at this point. In other embodiments, the “do it now” action is depicted such that upon receiving the feedback from the system, e.g., an audio beep that indicate or announces that the data has been processed and thereafter, the user may take no further action to reset the “do it now” functionality. The system may ignore any further changes to the hot-zone  960  until the “do it now” button is first cleared, and then reset by the user. At that point the changes may be processed similarly to the first time the “do it now” object  950  was marked. 
         [0033]    While each surface indicia may be designated a hot-zone  960  and monitored for changes, the image references themselves may define actual areas within the sheet  900 . Where changes are made to the content, it may initiate some action or activity, or indicate data to be entered into the system. For example, in  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , the sample sheets are designated as having at least one “hot-zone”  860 ,  960 . Within each captured image, which may be a portion of the collaboration whiteboard, specific areas of the sheet are monitored for changes which may trigger the action or activity, or indicate data to be entered into the system. 
         [0034]      FIG. 10  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet  1000 , as in  FIG. 8 . This exemplary sheet contains menu options with the specialized purpose of assisting in creating a drawing, graph, chart, etc. As before, the sheet  1000  may have a unique identifying symbol printed on it, e.g., one of at least a set of name  1010 , identification number  1015 , barcode  1020 , or in some combination, printed on the sheet. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system, and used to identify the image reference associated with the sheet. Optionally, one or more highlighting colors may also be used in conjunction with the above methods, in order to enhance the ability of the system to locate, identify and validate them. In this embodiment, the sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  1010 ,  1015 ,  1020 , and/or boundary markings  1040  and/or heavy border lines  1030  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. Thus the system may de-skew and/or rotate to normalize the view of the surface indicia, as needed based on these objects. Markings  1070  received from the hot-zone area may be captured from the surface indicia of the sheet and extracted. 
         [0035]      FIG. 11  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet  1100  with markings. This exemplary sheet  1100  may also have one of at least a set of unique identifying symbols, e.g., one of at least a set of name  1110 , identification number  1115 , barcode  1120 , or in some combination printed on it. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system that identifies the image reference associated with the sheet. The sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  1110 ,  1115 ,  1120 , and/or boundary markings  1140  and/or heavy border lines  1130  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. Optionally, the sheet may have a “do it now” object  1150  where some input forms or menus may require complex or multiple user changes before it may be ready to be processed. This particular exemplary sheet contains menu options with the specialized purpose of assisting in creating and entering user defined meta-data or tags into the system. Some embodiments may apply optical character recognition (OCR) processing. In some embodiments, the system may include handwritten-text-to-OCR processing to convert the received meta-data to binary text. In another embodiment, the system may detect the image boundaries around each received meta-data entry, and converts the handwriting into a small bitmap. That bitmap may then be used as a tag that is associated with the current set of at least one of action, activity, time-stamp, and document. 
         [0036]      FIG. 12  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia with the extracted markings on the sheet  1200 . This exemplary sheet  1200  may also have one of at least a set of unique identifying symbols, e.g., one of at least a set of name  1210 , identification number  1215 , barcode  1220 , or in some combination printed on it. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system that identifies the image reference associated with the sheet. The sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  1210 ,  1215 ,  1220 , and/or boundary markings  1240  and/or heavy border lines  1230  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. This exemplary sheet contains the interpreted markings from the sheet  1100  in  FIG. 11 . In this embodiment, the “do it now” object  1250  has been marked signifying that the markings have been interpreted and the system is ready to process the markings once again. This particular exemplary sheet  1200  contains the menu options with the text interpreted by OCR processing and converted into binary text. 
         [0037]      FIG. 13  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia of a pre-printed sheet  1300  with markings. This exemplary sheet  1300  may have a unique identifying symbol, e.g., any one of, name  1310 , identification number  1315 , barcode  1320 , or in some combination printed on the sheet. The portion of the surface indicia containing the aforementioned objects may be readable by the computer-vision system, and used to identify the image reference associated with the sheet. The sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  1310 ,  1315 ,  1320 , and/or boundary markings  1340  and/or heavy border lines  1330  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. This particular exemplary sheet contains menu options with the specialized purpose of assisting in creating and entering user defined meta-data or tags into the system. In an embodiment, the system may convert handwritten text to OCR with special software to convert the received meta-data to binary text. In this embodiment the system may receive data, e.g., color names to be identified and applied to electronic ink. 
         [0038]      FIG. 14  depicts an exemplary embodiment of a surface indicia with the extracted markings on the sheet  1400 . This exemplary sheet  1400  may have a unique identifying symbol, e.g., any one of, name  1410 , identification number  1415 , barcode  1420 , or in some combination printed on the sheet. In this embodiment, the sheet may have a combination of identifying marks  1410 ,  1415 ,  1420 , and/or boundary markings  1440  and/or heavy border lines  1430  to allow the computer-vision system to easily determine the orientation and boundaries of the image reference. This particular exemplary sheet contains the menu options along with the color names interpreted by OCR software and converted into binary text. 
         [0039]    It is contemplated that various combinations and/or sub-combinations of the specific features and aspects of the above embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments may be combined with or substituted for one another in order to form varying modes of the disclosed invention. Further it is intended that the scope of the present invention is herein disclosed by way of examples and should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6