Patent Document ID: 20130089258
Application ID: 13270417
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for removing a visual object from a visual data stream, comprising: receiving a live visual data stream containing a present image and subsequent images, wherein each of the images contains pixels in two dimensions; selecting a visual object to be removed by defining a contour of the visual object in the present image; determining a binary mask based on the contour of that visual object; calculating a resolution pyramid of the present image, wherein the resolution pyramid comprises several layers from a coarsest layer to a finest layer; selecting regions outside the mask for replacing a region within the mask, wherein the selecting is started at the coarsest layer of the resolution pyramid; replacing the region within the mask by content of the selected regions, wherein the content is weighted by a measure of matching quality between the region to be replaced and the selected region, and wherein the selecting is started at the coarsest layer of the resolution pyramid; repeating the selecting and the replacing successively at each of the finer layers of the resolution pyramid and finishing at the finest layer, wherein the repeated replacing is also based on the content replaced at the next coarser layer; receiving a subsequent image of the live visual data stream; and repeating the step of determining a binary mask, the step of calculating a resolution pyramid, and the steps of repeated selecting and repeated replacing, for a received subsequent image, wherein the repeated replacing is also based on content replaced in a preceding image.