Patent ID: 7460705

Claim:
A head-top detecting method for detecting a head-top of a human face from an image with the human face included therein, the method comprising: obtaining the image with the human face without background scenery and without a hat and with the human face facing a front of the image; detecting a face image of an area excluding the head-top of the human face; setting a head-top detecting window with a size including the head-top of the human face at an upper part of the detected face image; calculating an average luminance for each horizontal line of a plurality of horizontal lines within the head-top detecting window, sequentially plotting the average luminance for each horizontal line in a vertically downward direction from a top of the head-top detecting window, and identifying a horizontal line in which the average luminance exceeds a predetermined luminance threshold value as a location of the head-top of the human face; calculating an average hue angle for each horizontal line of the plurality of horizontal lines within the head-top detecting window when the average luminance for each horizontal line of the plurality of horizontal lines does not exceed the predetermined luminance threshold value, sequentially plotting the average hue angle for each horizontal line in the vertically downward direction from the top of the head-top detecting window, and identifying a horizontal line in which the average hue angle exceeds a predetermined hue angle threshold value as the location of the head-top of the human face.