Patent Description:
The face-recognition technology is widely applied in attendance, security, criminal investigation, payment, life services and other fields, wherein cameras are used to collect a facial image of a person and the identity of the person is determined by recognizing facial features of the person in the facial image.

With the development of the information age, requirements on security of personal information are getting higher and higher, and people are beginning to pay attention to the security of personal information. In daily life, the face-recognition technology may lead to a leakage of personal information and personal privacy, and may create a threat to personal safety. With the popularization of transportation means, especially private cars, requirements of preventing vehicle users from sneak shots by roadside cameras during driving are also getting more and more attention. However, there is currently no anti-face-recognition system for vehicle users for effectively protecting personal privacy and personal safety. <NPL> investigates the feasibility of conducting real-time physical attacks on face recognition systems using adversarial light projections.

<CIT>) relates to preventing eye damage from structured light infra-red/near infra-red (IR/NIR) projector system.

Therefore, one object of the present disclosure is to provide an anti-face-recognition system, an anti-face-recognition method and related vehicles that may improve anti-face-recognition for vehicle users.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an anti-face-recognition system for vehicles is provided, the anti-face-recognition system for vehicles configured for reducing a risk of vehicle users being recognized by a camera in an external environment of their own facial data, the anti-face-recognition system comprises: a first projection device which is configured to project interfering electromagnetic waves toward a human face, the interfering electromagnetic waves having an interference effect on the recognition of the human face; an eyeball-tracking device which is configured to detect an eyeball sight direction; and a control device which is communicatively connected to the eyeball-tracking device and is configured to acquire the eyeball sight direction from the eyeball-tracking device, wherein the control device is communicatively connected to the first projection device and is configured to adjust the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction, wherein the first projection device is configured to project rotatable and/ or movable interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face, and the control device is configured to adjust the projection direction of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction so as to cause the interfering electromagnetic waves to rotate and/or move, so that a central axis of the electromagnetic waves is moved further away from eyeball areas, thereby reducing the amount of electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

In some embodiments, the first projection device is configured to project interfering electromagnetic waves with variable intensity toward the human face, and the control device is configured to at least partially reduce the projection intensity of the interfering electromagnetic waves onto the eyeball area according to the acquired eyeball sight direction.

In some embodiments, the interfering electromagnetic waves are configured to apply noise, particularly random noise, to the human face, preferably, the noise is configured as an image noise of a face-recognition image.

In some embodiments, the first projection device is arranged ahead of the human face, preferably, the first projection device is arranged on the steering wheel and/or the dashboard.

In some embodiments, the eyeball-tracking device is configured as a vehicle-mounted camera.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-mounted camera is further configured to detect the fatigue state of the human face, and the control device is configured to analyze the fatigue state and adjust the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the analyzed fatigue state.

In some embodiments, when the control device recognizes that the human face is in a fatigue state, the control device is configured to output an alert indication so as to enhance the projection intensity of the interfering electromagnetic wave toward the human face, especially the projection on the eyeballs.

In some embodiments, the anti-face-recognition system further includes a second projection device which is configured to generate a covering projection surface so as to at least partially cover the human face for obstructing a face-recognition.

In some embodiments, the second projection device is configured as a holographic projection module which is configured to generate a holographic projection, such as a three-dimensional holographic projection. In some embodiments, the second projection device may include a first projector and a second projector which are installed on the roof of the vehicle and configured to generate a three-dimensional projection surface.

In some embodiments, the anti-face-recognition system further includes a vehicle positioning module for providing the current position of the vehicle and a traffic information module for providing the position of a municipal camera, such as the position of a traffic camera.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to control the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to control the operation of the first projection device according to related regulations, wherein if the related regulations do not allow an anti-recognition process against a municipal camera, then when the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a first suspending instruction for suspending the first projection device from projecting the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face; and when the current position of the vehicle is out of the predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a first activation instruction for activating the first projection device to project the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face. If the related regulations do not prohibit an anti-recognition process against a municipal camera, the first projection device may be automatically activated to project the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face. Therefore, the first projection device may be selectively activated or deactivated when the vehicle is positioned within a range of the position of the municipal camera.

In some embodiments, when the current position of the vehicle is out of the predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a first activation instruction for activating the first projection device to project the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face.

In some embodiments, the anti-face-recognition system further includes a vehicle positioning module for providing the current position of the vehicle and a traffic information module for providing the position of a municipal camera, wherein the control device is configured to control the generation of the covering projection surface according to the current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera.

In some embodiments, the control device is configured to control the operation of the second projection device according to related regulations, wherein if the related regulations do not allow an anti-recognition process against a municipal camera, then when the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a second suspending instruction for suspending the second projection device from generating the covering projection surface. In some embodiments, when the current position of the vehicle is out of the predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a second activation instruction for activating the second projection device to generate the covering projection surface. If the related regulations do not prohibit an anti-recognition process against a municipal camera, the second projection device may be automatically activated to generate the covering projection surface. Therefore, the second projection device may be selectively activated or deactivated when the vehicle is positioned within a range of the position of the municipal camera.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, an anti-face-recognition method for vehicles is provided. The anti-face-recognition method is configured for reducing a risk of vehicle users being recognized by a camera in an external environment of their own facial data, the anti-face-recognition method comprises: projecting interfering electromagnetic waves toward a human face, the interfering electromagnetic waves having an interference effect on the recognition of the human face; acquiring an eyeball sight direction; adjusting the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction; and adjusting the projection direction of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction so as to cause the interfering electromagnetic waves to rotate and/or move, so that a central axis of the electromagnetic waves is moved further away from eyeball areas, thereby reducing the amount of electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

In some embodiments, the anti-face-recognition method further includes:.

In some embodiments, the anti-face-recognition method further includes: generating a covering projection surface, preferably a holographic projection surface, so as to at least partially cover the human face for obstructing a face-recognition.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle is provided. The vehicle includes the anti-face-recognition system according to any one of the above embodiments.

The following describes some examples of devices and/or methods with reference to the drawings, and in the drawings:.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings, in which several embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure may be implemented in many different ways, and is not limited to the example embodiments described below. In fact, the embodiments described hereinafter are intended to make the present disclosure to be more complete and to adequately explain the scope of the present disclosure to a person skilled in the art. It should also be understood that, the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide many additional embodiments.

It should be understood that, the wording in the present disclosure is only used for describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. All the terms used in the specification (including technical and scientific terms) have the meanings as normally understood by a person skilled in the art, unless otherwise defined. For the sake of conciseness and/or clarity, well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail.

The term "A or B" used through the present disclosure refers to "A and B" and "A or B" rather than meaning that A and B are exclusive, unless otherwise specified.

The term "exemplary", as used herein, means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any implementation described herein as exemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, there is no intention for the present disclosure to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the part of technical field, the background art, the content of the disclosure or the embodiments.

Herein, certain terminology, such as the terms "first", "second" and the like, may also be used in the following specification for the purpose of reference only, and the terms "first", "second" may refer to multiple "first", "second". For example, the terms "first", "second" and other such numerical terms referring to structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.

Further, it should be noted that, the terms "comprise", "include", "have" and any other variants, as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, unity, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, unities, steps, operations, elements and/or components, and/or groups thereof. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) are used herein according to their ordinary meanings in the field to which examples belong.

It should be noted that the order of the steps of the methods in the present disclosure may be set flexibly, and numbers marking the steps are only for convenience of specification and have no limiting effect.

Next, various aspects according to the present disclosure are explained in detail with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a partial schematic diagram of a vehicle <NUM> according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, a vehicle user <NUM> (here, a vehicle driver) is inside the vehicle. The vehicle <NUM> herein may be a movable transportation means, for example, a car, a passenger coach, a truck, a wagon, a train, a ship, a motorcycle, a tricycle, a bicycle or other movable transportation means. It should be understood that the vehicle user may be any person in the vehicle, e.g., a passenger or a driver.

A camera <NUM> is schematically shown outside the vehicle, and the camera may capture an image of the vehicle user inside the vehicle, for example, the camera may perform a face-recognition process on the vehicle user. These cameras may be so-called municipal cameras, which may include industrial and commercial cameras, traffic cameras, public security cameras, environmental cameras, sanitary cameras, and infrastructure cameras. Most of these municipal cameras are officially authorized to recognize people's faces in order to implement city management. However, there may also be cameras on a road used to carry out sneak shots to acquire face-recognition data for selling, which leads to a leakage of personal information and personal privacy. For this reason, the present disclosure provides a vehicle-mounted anti-face-recognition system, which effectively reduces a risk of vehicle users being recognized by a camera in an external environment of their own facial data, thereby reducing a risk of leakage of personal information and personal privacy.

An anti-face-recognition system <NUM> according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is described in conjunction with <FIG> and <FIG>. The anti-face-recognition system <NUM> includes a first projection device <NUM> which may be configured as an electromagnetic wave radiator and be configured to project interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> toward a human face. The interfering electromagnetic waves have an interference effect on recognizing the human face. The interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> may be projected directedly onto the human face, or may be projected on an area in front of the human face. The interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> may be configured to apply noise, particularly random noise, to the human face. In some cases, these interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> may be configured as image noise in a recognition image of the human face. In this case, these interfering electromagnetic waves may be visible light noise, for example, and the first projection device <NUM> may project random visible light noise points to the human face. These visible light noise points may be not easy to perceive from a perspective of human perception, while it may be interfering in terms of face-recognition or it may interfere face-recognition. In this way, pixel values of a certain number of pixels in a face image may be effectively changed, thereby reducing a success rate of face-recognition. In some embodiments, these interfering electromagnetic waves may be strong light, infrared light, etc., for example. By using strong light or infrared light to increase an exposure amount, the success rate of face-recognition may also be reduced. In some embodiments, based on a diversity of face-recognition algorithms, the interfering electromagnetic waves may cause distortion in a structure or contour of a three-dimensional image of a human face, thereby reducing the success rate of face-recognition. It should be understood that generation means of interfering electromagnetic waves (such as imaging means and applied or related algorithms) may be upgraded through a vehicle network to counter upgraded face-recognition algorithms or multiple different face-recognition algorithms. In some cases, algorithm switching may be performed for different types of cameras, such as high-definition cameras or cameras with special functions, for example, the algorithm switching may be performed based on location information.

In order to facilitate projecting the interfering electromagnetic waves onto the face of the vehicle user or on the area in front of the face, the first projection device <NUM> may be arranged in front of the face inside the vehicle, so that the interfering electromagnetic waves may be directly projected onto a face area or an area in front of the face. As shown in <FIG>, the first projection device <NUM> may be arranged on the steering wheel of the vehicle, so that the first projection device <NUM> may project electromagnetic waves directly toward the driver's face. In other embodiments, the first projection device <NUM> may also be arranged on the dashboard or on the roof of the vehicle. It is also possible that interfering electromagnetic waves may be indirectly projected onto the face area, for example, be reflected onto the face area. It is also possible that multiple first projection devices are arranged at different positions in the vehicle, and these first projection devices may project the electromagnetic waves onto the face for different face areas and/or for different recognition algorithms and/or by different interference manners/modes, respectively. Therefore, a location of the first projection device inside the vehicle may be diverse and flexible, and is not limited to the current embodiment.

Nevertheless, it is inevitable that the interfering electromagnetic waves may enter into eyeballs of the vehicle user, thereby affecting experience of the vehicle user. When an amount of the electromagnetic waves projected into the eyeball exceeds a certain value, the vehicle user may be subjected to dazzling, trance, and even eyeball damage. Especially for drivers, receiving excessively projected interfering electromagnetic waves may affect driving safety, thereby causing hidden traffic safety danger.

For at least partially reducing the amount of the interfering electromagnetic waves projected into the eyeballs, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> includes an eyeball-tracking device <NUM> which is configured to track movement of an eyeball or to detect an eyeball sight direction. In addition, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> includes a control device <NUM> which is communicatively connected to the eyeball-tracking device <NUM> and is configured to acquire the eyeball sight direction from the eyeball-tracking device. The control device <NUM> controls a projection operation of the first projection device according to the acquired eyeball sight direction, for example, the control device <NUM> adjusts the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face.

Additionally the first projection device <NUM> is configured to project rotatable and/or movable interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> toward the human face. Therefore, the control device <NUM> adjusts the projection direction of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction so as to avoid projecting onto the eyeball at least partially. That is to say, the control device <NUM> outputs an adjustment command to cause the interfering electromagnetic waves to rotate and/or move, so that a central axis of the electromagnetic waves is moved further away from eyeball areas, thereby reducing the amount of electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

Additionally or alternatively, the first projection device <NUM> is configured to project interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> with variable intensity toward the human face, and the control device <NUM> is configured to at least partially reduce the projection intensity of the interfering electromagnetic waves onto the eyeball area according to the acquired eyeball sight direction. That is to say, the control device <NUM> may output an adjustment command to at least partially reduce the radiation intensity of the interfering electromagnetic waves, thereby reducing the intensity of the electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

Additionally or alternatively, the eyeball-tracking device <NUM> may be configured as a vehicle-mounted camera. Preferably, the vehicle-mounted camera may be further configured to detect the fatigue state of the human face, and thus the control device <NUM> may be configured to analyze the fatigue state and adjust the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the analyzed fatigue state. Preferably, when recognizing that the human face is in a fatigue state, the control device <NUM> is configured to output an alert indication so as to enhance the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves <NUM> toward the human face, especially the projection on the eyeballs. Therefore, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> additionally has a function of improving driving safety.

Additionally or alternatively, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> may advantageously include a second projection device <NUM> which is configured to generate a covering projection surface <NUM> so as to at least partially cover the human face for obstructing a face-recognition. As shown in <FIG>, the second projection device <NUM> may be installed on the roof of the vehicle, so as to generate at least one covering projection surface <NUM> over the human face for avoiding sneak shots by outside cameras. In the present embodiment, the second projection device <NUM> may include a first projector <NUM> and a second projector <NUM> and generate a three-dimensional projection surface by the two projectors. The covering projection surface may cause an outside camera to be unable to accurately capture an image of the human face, thereby reducing the success rate of the face-recognition thereof.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first projection device <NUM> and the second projection device <NUM> may be respectively responsible for different face areas, so as to reduce interference to eyeballs as much as possible. Therefore, by combining the projections of the first projection device <NUM> and the second projection device <NUM>, an effect of anti-face-recognition may be improved.

According to the present disclosure, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> may be activated when the vehicle is launched. Of course, the anti-face-recognition system may also be activated manually or automatically according to result of environmental detection. However, as mentioned above, a camera targeted by the present disclosure are not municipal cameras used for city management. Therefore, it is advantageous to avoid "accidentally shielding" some municipal cameras as much as possible.

In this respect, the anti-face-recognition system <NUM> according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may further include a vehicle positioning module <NUM> and a traffic information module <NUM>. The vehicle positioning module <NUM> may be any appropriate positioning system, such as GPS positioning system, Beidou positioning system, and so on. The vehicle position module <NUM> may provide a current position of the vehicle. The traffic information module <NUM> may be a map module (e.g., a high-precision map) or a navigation module, and various data are stored in the map module or the navigation module. In addition, the traffic information module <NUM> may be a storage device in which traffic data transmitted from a remote server are stored. The traffic information module may store data related to positions of various municipal cameras, such as a position of a traffic camera.

The control device <NUM> may acquire the current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera from the vehicle positioning module and the traffic information module, and control the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera. When related regulations do not allow an anti-recognition process against a specific municipal camera, for example, when the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a first suspending instruction for suspending the first projection device from projecting the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face; and when the current position of the vehicle is out of the predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a first activation instruction for activating the first projection device to project the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face.

Additionally or alternatively, the control device <NUM> may further be configured to control the generation of the covering projection surface according to the current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera. For example, when the current position of the vehicle is within a predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a second suspending instruction for suspending the second projection device from generating the covering projection surface; and when the current position of the vehicle is out of the predetermined range of the position of the municipal camera, the control device is configured to output a second activation instruction for activating the second projection device to generate the covering projection surface.

It should be understood that the control device may be configured as any device with data processing and analysis functions including a processor. For example, the control device may be configured as one or more processors, or the control device may be configured as a computer, a server or even other smart handheld devices. The processor may be connected to a storage module via an interconnection bus. The storage module may include a main memory, a read-only memory, and mass storage devices, such as various disk drives, tape drives, and so on. The "processor" is not limited to CPU or GPU, but may include a digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a network processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The storage device may be a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and a non-volatile memory for storing software. Other conventional and/or customized hardware may also be included.

Next, referring to <FIG>, a flowchart of an anti-face-recognition method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is described in detail.

As shown in <FIG>, the anti-face-recognition method may include:.

In the step <NUM>, the interfering electromagnetic waves may be projected into human face areas by means of the above-mentioned first projection device. In the step <NUM>, the eyeball-tracking device (for example, the vehicle-mounted camera) may be used to detect the eyeball sigh direction. In the step <NUM>, the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves may be controlled by means of the above-mentioned control device.

In the step <NUM>, the interfering electromagnetic waves may be configured to be rotatable and/or movable, so that a projection direction may be adjusted by rotating and/or moving the electromagnetic waves, in this way, a central axis of the electromagnetic waves is moved further away from eyeball areas, thereby reducing the amount of electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

In the step <NUM>, the interfering electromagnetic waves may be configured with variable projection intensity, so that the radiation intensity of the interfering electromagnetic waves may be reduced as required, thereby reducing the intensity of the electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.

Additionally or alternatively, the anti-face-recognition method further includes:.

Preferably, the step <NUM> further includes: step <NUM>, when recognizing the fatigue state of the human face, the projection (namely the projection intensity) of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face, especially the projection on the eyeball, is enhanced.

Additionally or alternatively, the anti-face-recognition method further includes:
step <NUM>, a covering projection surface, preferably a holographic projection surface, is generated, so as to at least partially cover the human face for obstructing a face-recognition.

In the step <NUM>, the above-mentioned second projection device may be used to project the covering projection surface over the human face, thereby at least partially shielding shots of an external camera. According to the present disclosure, the first projection device and the second projection device may be respectively responsible for different face areas, so as to reduce interference to eyeballs as much as possible. Therefore, by combining projections of the first projection device and the second projection device, the effect of anti-face-recognition may be improved.

Additionally or alternatively, the anti-face-recognition method further includes:
step <NUM>, the generation of the covering projection surface is controlled according to the current position of the vehicle and the position of the municipal camera.

Preferably, the step <NUM> further includes:.

Claim 1:
An anti-face-recognition system for vehicles, the anti-face-recognition system for vehicles configured for reducing a risk of vehicle users being recognized by a camera in an external environment of their own facial data, the anti-face-recognition system comprises:
a first projection device which is configured to project interfering electromagnetic waves toward a human face, the interfering electromagnetic waves having an interference effect on the recognition of the human face;
an eyeball-tracking device which is configured to detect an eyeball sight direction; and
a control device which is communicatively connected to the eyeball-tracking device and is configured to acquire the eyeball sight direction from the eyeball-tracking device, wherein the control device is communicatively connected to the first projection device and is configured to adjust the projection of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction, wherein the first projection device is configured to project rotatable and/or movable interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face, and the control device is configured to adjust the projection direction of the interfering electromagnetic waves toward the human face according to the acquired eyeball sight direction so as to cause the interfering electromagnetic waves to rotate and/or move, so that a central axis of the electromagnetic waves is moved further away from eyeball areas, thereby reducing the amount of electromagnetic waves directly projected into the eyeballs.