Patent ID: 8077920

Claim:
A method for detecting an object in an image, comprising: performing, by a computer: generating a plurality of scan windows, wherein each of the plurality of scan windows comprises a respective subwindow of the image; performing an initial evaluation step for each of the plurality of scan windows, wherein performing the initial evaluation step for a respective one of the plurality of scan windows comprises determining and storing an estimated likelihood of the object being detected in the respective one of the plurality of scan windows, and wherein a first scan window of the plurality of scan windows has a highest estimated likelihood of the object being detected; selecting the first scan window for a further evaluation step based on the first scan window having the highest estimated likelihood of the object being detected; and performing the further evaluation step for the first scan window, wherein performing the further evaluation step for the first scan window comprises determining and storing an updated estimated likelihood of the object being detected in the first scan window.