Patent ID: 7787656

Claim:
A method for counting people passing through a gateway, the method comprising: capturing substantially vertically downward images of the gateway with a camera; adding a first moving object to an object list when the first moving object crosses a first baseline according to a first image of the captured images; adding a second moving object to the object list when an image of the captured images subsequent to the first image indicates that the second moving object split from another moving object already in the object list; deleting a third moving object from the object list when an image of the captured images subsequent to the first image indicates that the third moving object merged with another moving object already in the object list; comparing each of the moving objects in the object list to predetermined area models for an estimated people count corresponding to each of the moving objects; applying a corresponding bounding box onto each of the moving objects in the object list; calculating color data of each of the moving objects in the object list for generating a corresponding color vector according to a predetermined algorithm; tracking each of the moving objects in the object list according to the corresponding color vector and the corresponding bounding box; and updating the estimated people count to count the people passing through the gateway when the corresponding moving object is tracked as crossing a second base line.