US20140055554A1 - System and method for communication using interactive avatar - Google Patents

Abstract

A video communication system that replaces actual live images of the participating users with animated avatars. A method may include selecting an avatar, initiating communication, capturing an image, detecting a face in the image, determining facial characteristics from the face, including eye movement and eyelid movement of a user indicative of direction of user gaze and blinking, respectively, converting the facial features to avatar parameters, and transmitting at least one of the avatar selection or avatar parameters.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• The present application claims the benefit of PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/CN2011/084902, filed Dec. 29, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD
• The present disclosure relates to video communication and interaction, and, more particularly, to a system and method for communication using interactive avatars.
BACKGROUND
• The increasing variety of functionality available in mobile devices has spawned a desire for users to communicate via video in addition to simple calls. For example, users may initiate “video calls,” “videoconferencing,” etc., wherein a camera and microphone in a device transmits audio and real-time video of a user to one or more other recipients such as other mobile devices, desktop computers, videoconferencing systems, etc. The communication of real-time video may involve the transmission of substantial amounts of data (e.g., depending on the technology of the camera, the particular video codec employed to process the real time image information, etc.). Given the bandwidth limitations of existing 2G/3G wireless technology, and the still limited availability of emerging 4G wireless technology, the proposition of many device users conducting concurrent video calls places a large burden on bandwidth in the existing wireless communication infrastructure, which may impact negatively on the quality of the video call.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
• Features and advantages of various embodiments of the claimed subject matter will become apparent as the following Detailed Description proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts, and in which:
• FIG. 1A illustrates an example device-to-device system consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure;
• FIG. 1B illustrates an example virtual space system consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure;
• FIG. 2 illustrates an example device in consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure;
• FIG. 3 illustrates an example face detection module consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure;
• FIG. 4 illustrates an example system implementation in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and
• FIG. 5 is a flowchart of example operations in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.
• Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• By way of overview, the present disclosure is generally directed to a system and method for video communication and interaction using interactive avatars. A system and method consistent with the present disclosure generally provides detection and/or tracking of a user's eyes during active communication, including the detection of characteristics of a user's eyes, including, but not limited to, eyeball movement, gaze direction and/or point of focus of the user's eyes, eye blinking, etc. The system and method is further configured to provide avatar animation based at least in part on the detected characteristics of the user's eyes in real-time or near real-time during active communication.
• In one embodiment an application is activated in a device coupled to a camera. The application may be configured to allow a user to select an avatar for display on a remote device, in a virtual space, etc. The device may then be configured to initiate communication with at least one other device, a virtual space, etc. For example, the communication may be established over a 2G, 3G, 4G cellular connection. Alternatively, the communication may be established over the Internet via a WiFi connection. After the communication is established, the camera may be configured to start capturing images. Facial detection is then performed on the captured images, and facial characteristics are determined. The detected face/head movements, including movement of the user's eyes and/or eyelids, and/or changes in facial features are then converted into parameters usable for animating the avatar on the at least one other device, within the virtual space, etc. At least one of the avatar selection or avatar parameters are then transmitted. In one embodiment at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters are received. The remote avatar selection may cause the device to display an avatar, while the remote avatar parameters may cause the device to animate the displayed avatar. Audio communication accompanies the avatar animation via known methods.
• FIG. 1A illustrates device-to-device system100 consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Thesystem100 may generally includedevices102 and112 communicating vianetwork122.Device102 includes at leastcamera104, microphone106 anddisplay108.Device112 includes at leastcamera114,microphone116 anddisplay118. Network122 includes at least oneserver124.
• Devices102 and112 may include various hardware platforms that are capable of wired and/or wireless communication. For example,devices102 and112 may include, but are not limited to, videoconferencing systems, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, smart phones, (e.g., iPhones®, Android®-based phones, Blackberries®, Symbian®-based phones, Palm®-based phones, etc.), cellular handsets, etc.
• Cameras104 and114 include any device for capturing digital images representative of an environment that includes one or more persons, and may have adequate resolution for face analysis of the one or more persons in the environment as described herein. For example,cameras104 and114 may include still cameras (e.g., cameras configured to capture still photographs) or video cameras (e.g., cameras configured to capture moving images comprised of a plurality of frames).Cameras104 and114 may be configured to operate using light in the visible spectrum or with other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum not limited to the infrared spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum, etc.Cameras104 and114 may be incorporated withindevices102 and112, respectively, or may be separate devices configured to communicate withdevices102 and112 via wired or wireless communication. Specific examples ofcameras104 and114 may include wired (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, Firewire, etc.) or wireless (e.g.,
• WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) web cameras as may be associated with computers, video monitors, etc., mobile device cameras (e.g., cell phone or smart phone cameras integrated in, for example, the previously discussed example devices), integrated laptop computer cameras, integrated tablet computer cameras (e.g., iPad®, Galaxy Tab®, and the like), etc.
• Devices102 and112 may further includemicrophones106 and116. Microphones106 and116 include any devices configured to sense sound.Microphones106 and116 may be integrated withindevices102 and112, respectively, or may interact with thedevices102,112 via wired or wireless communication such as described in the aboveexamples regarding cameras104 and114.Displays108 and118 include any devices configured to display text, still images, moving images (e.g., video), user interfaces, graphics, etc.Displays108 and118 may be integrated withindevices102 and112, respectively, or may interact with the devices via wired or wireless communication such as described in the aboveexamples regarding cameras104 and114.
• In one embodiment,displays108 and118 are configured to displayavatars110 and120, respectively. As referenced herein, an Avatar is defined as graphical representation of a user in either two-dimensions (2D) or three-dimensions (3D). Avatars do not have to resemble the looks of the user, and thus, while avatars can be lifelike representations they can also take the form of drawings, cartoons, sketches, etc. As shown,device102 may displayavatar110 representing the user of device112 (e.g., a remote user), and likewise,device112 may displayavatar120 representing the user ofdevice102. As such, users may view a representation of other users without having to exchange large amounts of information that are generally involved with device-to-device communication employing live images.
• Network122 may include various second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) cellular-based data communication technologies, Wi-Fi wireless data communication technology, etc. Network122 includes at least oneserver124 configured to establish and maintain communication connections when using these technologies. For example,server124 may be configured to support Internet-related communication protocols like Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for creating, modifying and terminating two-party (unicast) and multi-party (multicast) sessions, Interactive Connectivity Establishment Protocol (ICE) for presenting a framework that allows protocols to be built on top of bytestream connections, Session Traversal Utilities for Network Access Translators, or NAT, Protocol (STUN) for allowing applications operating through a NAT to discover the presence of other NATs, IP addresses and ports allocated for an application's User Datagram Protocol (UDP) connection to connect to remote hosts, Traversal Using Relays around NAT (TURN) for allowing elements behind a NAT or firewall to receive data over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or UDP connections, etc.
• FIG. 1B illustrates avirtual space system126 consistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Thesystem126 may includedevice102,device112 andserver124.Device102,device112 andserver124 may continue to communicate in the manner similar to that illustrated inFIG. 1A, but user interaction may take place invirtual space128 instead of in a device-to-device format. As referenced herein, a virtual space may be defined as a digital simulation of a physical location. For example,virtual space128 may resemble an outdoor location like a city, road, sidewalk, field, forest, island, etc., or an inside location like an office, house, school, mall, store, etc.
• Users, represented by avatars, may appear to interact invirtual space128 as in the real world.Virtual space128 may exist on one or more servers coupled to the Internet, and may be maintained by a third party. Examples of virtual spaces include virtual offices, virtual meeting rooms, virtual worlds like Second Life®, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft®, massively multiplayer online real-life games (MMORLGs), like The Sims Online®, etc. Insystem126,virtual space128 may contain a plurality of avatars corresponding to different users. Instead of displaying avatars, displays108 and118 may display encapsulated (e.g., smaller) versions of virtual space (VS)128. For example,display108 may display a perspective view of what the avatar corresponding to the user ofdevice102 “sees” invirtual space128. Similarly,display118 may display a perspective view of what the avatar corresponding to the user ofdevice112 “sees” invirtual space128. Examples of what avatars might see invirtual space128 may include, but are not limited to, virtual structures (e.g., buildings), virtual vehicles, virtual objects, virtual animals, other avatars, etc.
• FIG. 2 illustrates anexample device102 in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Whileonly device102 is described, device112 (e.g., remote device) may include resources configured to provide the same or similar functions. As previously discussed,device102 is shown includingcamera104,microphone106 anddisplay108. Thecamera104 andmicrophone106 may provide input to a camera andaudio framework module200. The camera andaudio framework module200 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed audio and video processing code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to control atleast camera104 andmicrophone106. For example, the camera andaudio framework module200 may causecamera104 andmicrophone106 to record images and/or sounds, may process images and/or sounds, may cause images and/or sounds to be reproduced, etc. The camera andaudio framework module200 may vary depending ondevice102, and more particularly, the operating system (OS) running indevice102. Example operating systems include iOS®, Android®, Blackberry® OS, Symbian®, Palm® OS, etc. Aspeaker202 may receive audio information from camera andaudio framework module200 and may be configured to reproduce local sounds (e.g., to provide audio feedback of the user's voice) and remote sounds (e.g., the sound of the other parties engaged in a telephone, video call or interaction in a virtual place).
• Thedevice102 may further include aface detection module204 configured to identify and track a head, face and/or facial region within image(s) provided bycamera104 and to determine one or more facial characteristics of the user (i.e., facial characteristics206). For example, theface detection module204 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed face detection code (or instruction sets), hardware, and/or firmware that are generally well-defined and operable to receive a standard format image (e.g., but not limited to, a RGB color image) and identify, at least to a certain extent, a face in the image.
• Theface detection module204 may also be configured to track the detected face through a series of images (e.g., video frames at 24 frames per second) and to determine a head position based on the detected face. Known tracking systems that may be employed byface detection module204 may include particle filtering, mean shift, Kalman filtering, etc., each of which may utilize edge analysis, sum-of-square-difference analysis, feature point analysis, histogram analysis, skin tone analysis, etc.
• Theface detection module204 may also include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial characteristics code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to receive a standard format image (e.g., but not limited to, a RGB color image) and identify, at least to a certain extent, one or more facial characteristics in the image. Such known facial characteristics systems include, but are not limited to, the CSU Face Identification Evaluation System by Colorado State University, standard Viola-Jones boosting cascade framework, which may be found in the public Open Source Computer Vision (OpenCV™) package.
• As discussed in greater detail herein,facial characteristics206 may include features of the face, including, but not limited to, the location and/or shape of facial landmarks such as eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, etc., as well as movement of the eyes and/or eyelids. In one embodiment, avatar animation may be based on sensed facial actions (e.g., changes in facial characteristics206). The corresponding feature points on an avatar's face may follow or mimic the movements of the real person's face, which is known as “expression clone” or “performance-driven facial animation.”
• Theface detection module204 may also be configured to recognize an expression associated with the detected features (e.g., identifying whether a previously detected face is happy, sad, smiling, frown, surprised, excited, etc.)). Thus, theface detection module204 may further include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial expression detection and/or identification code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and/or identify expressions in a face. For example, theface detection module204 may determine size and/or position of facial features (e.g., eyes, mouth, cheeks, teeth, etc.) and may compare these facial features to a facial feature database which includes a plurality of sample facial features with corresponding facial feature classifications (e.g. smiling, frown, excited, sad, etc.).
• Thedevice102 may further include anavatar selection module208 configured to allow a user ofdevice102 to select an avatar for display on a remote device. Theavatar selection module208 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed user interface construction code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to present different avatars to a user so that the user may select one of the avatars.
• In one embodiment one or more avatars may be predefined indevice102. Predefined avatars allow all devices to have the same avatars, and during interaction only the selection of an avatar (e.g., the identification of a predefined avatar) needs to be communicated to a remote device or virtual space, which reduces the amount of information that needs to be exchanged. Avatars are selected prior to establishing communication, but may also be changed during the course of an active communication. Thus, it may be possible to send or receive an avatar selection at any point during the communication, and for the receiving device to change the displayed avatar in accordance with the received avatar selection,
• Thedevice102 may further include anavatar control module210 configured to generate parameters for animating an avatar. Animation, as referred to herein, may be defined as altering the appearance of an image/model. A single animation may alter the appearance of a 2-D still image, or multiple animations may occur in sequence to simulate motion in the image (e.g., head turn, nodding, talking, frowning, smiling, laughing, blinking, winking, etc.). An example of animation for 3-D models includes deforming a 3-D wireframe model, applying a texture mapping, and re-computing the model vertex normal for rendering. A change in position of the detected face and/or facial characteristic206, including facial features, may be may converted into parameters that cause the avatar's features to resemble the features of the user's face.
• In one embodiment the general expression of the detected face may be converted into one or more parameters that cause the avatar to exhibit the same expression. The expression of the avatar may also be exaggerated to emphasize the expression. Knowledge of the selected avatar may not be necessary when avatar parameters may be applied generally to all of the predefined avatars. However, in one embodiment avatar parameters may be specific to the selected avatar, and thus, may be altered if another avatar is selected. For example, human avatars may require different parameter settings (e.g., different avatar features may be altered) to demonstrate emotions like happy, sad, angry, surprised, etc. than animal avatars, cartoon avatars, etc.
• Theavatar control module210 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed graphics processing code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to generate parameters for animating the avatar selected byavatar selection module208 based on the face/head position and/orfacial characteristics206 detected byface detection module204. For facial feature-based animation methods, 2-D avatar animation may be done with, for example, image warping or image morphing, whereas 3-D avatar animation may be done with free form deformation (FFD) or by utilizing the animation structure defined in a 3-D model of a head. Oddcast is an example of a software resource usable for 2-D avatar animation, while FaceGen is an example of a software resource usable for 3-D avatar animation.
• In addition, insystem100, theavatar control module210 may receive a remote avatar selection and remote avatar parameters usable for displaying and animating an avatar corresponding to a user at a remote device. Theavatar control module210 may cause adisplay module212 to display anavatar110 on thedisplay108. Thedisplay module212 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed graphics processing code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to display and animate an avatar ondisplay108 in accordance with the example device-to-device embodiment.
• For example, theavatar control module210 may receive a remote avatar selection and may interpret the remote avatar selection to correspond to a predetermined avatar. Thedisplay module212 may then displayavatar110 ondisplay108. Moreover, remote avatar parameters received inavatar control module210 may be interpreted, and commands may be provided todisplay module212 to animateavatar110.
• In one embodiment more than two users may engage in the video call. When more than two users are interacting in a video call, thedisplay108 may be divided or segmented to allow more than one avatar corresponding to remote users to be displayed simultaneously. Alternatively, insystem126, theavatar control module210 may receive information causing thedisplay module212 to display what the avatar corresponding to the user ofdevice102 is “seeing” in virtual space128 (e.g., from the visual perspective of the avatar). For example, thedisplay108 may display buildings, objects, animals represented invirtual space128, other avatars, etc. In one embodiment, theavatar control module210 may be configured to cause thedisplay module212 to display a “feedback”avatar214. Thefeedback avatar214 represents how the selected avatar appears on the remote device, in a virtual place, etc. In particular, thefeedback avatar214 appears as the avatar selected by the user and may be animated using the same parameters generated byavatar control module210. In this way the user may confirm what the remote user is seeing during their interaction.
• Thedevice102 may further include acommunication module216 configured to transmit and receive information for selecting avatars, displaying avatars, animating avatars, displaying virtual place perspective, etc. Thecommunication module216 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed communication processing code (or instruction sets) that are generally well-defined and operable to transmit avatar selections, avatar parameters and receive remote avatar selections and remote avatar parameters. Thecommunication module216 may also transmit and receive audio information corresponding to avatar-based interactions. Thecommunication module216 may transmits and receive the above information vianetwork122 as previously described.
• Thedevice102 may further include one or more processor(s)218 configured to perform operations associated withdevice102 and one or more of the modules included therein.
• FIG. 3 illustrates an exampleface detection module204aconsistent with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Theface detection module204amay be configured to receive one or more images from thecamera104 via the camera andaudio framework module200 and identify, at least to a certain extent, a face (or optionally multiple faces) in the image. Theface detection module204amay also be configured to identify and determine, at least to a certain extent, one or morefacial characteristics206 in the image. Thefacial characteristics206 may be generated based on one or more of the facial parameters identified by theface detection module204aas described herein. Thefacial characteristics206 may include may include features of the face, including, but not limited to, the location and/or shape of facial landmarks such as eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, etc., as well as movement of the mouth, eyes and/or eyelids.
• In the illustrated embodiment, theface detection module204amay include a face detection/tracking module300, aface normalization module302, alandmark detection module304, afacial pattern module306, aface posture module308, a facial expression detection module310, an eye detection/tracking module312 and aneye classification module314. The face detection/tracking module300 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed face tracking code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and identify, at least to a certain extent, the size and location of human faces in a still image or video stream received from thecamera104. Such known face detection/tracking systems include, for example, the techniques of Viola and Jones, published as Paul Viola and Michael Jones,Rapid Object Detection using a Boosted Cascade of Simple Features,Accepted Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2001. These techniques use a cascade of Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost) classifiers to detect a face by scanning a window exhaustively over an image. The face detection/tracking module300 may also track a face or facial region across multiple images.
• Theface normalization module302 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed face normalization code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to normalize the identified face in the image. For example, theface normalization module302 may be configured to rotate the image to align the eyes (if the coordinates of the eyes are known), crop the image to a smaller size generally corresponding the size of the face, scale the image to make the distance between the eyes constant, apply a mask that zeros out pixels not in an oval that contains a typical face, histogram equalize the image to smooth the distribution of gray values for the non-masked pixels, and/or normalize the image so the non-masked pixels have mean zero and standard deviation one.
• Thelandmark detection module304 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed landmark detection code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and identify, at least to a certain extent, the various facial features of the face in the image. Implicit in landmark detection is that the face has already been detected, at least to some extent. Optionally, some degree of localization may have been performed (for example, by the face normalization module302) to identify/focus on the zones/areas of the image where landmarks can potentially be found. For example, thelandmark detection module304 may be based on heuristic analysis and may be configured to identify and/or analyze the relative position, size, and/or shape of the eyes (and/or the corner of the eyes), nose (e.g., the tip of the nose), chin (e.g. tip of the chin), cheekbones, and jaw. The eye-corners and mouth corners may also be detected using Viola-Jones based classifier.
• Thefacial pattern module306 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial pattern code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to identify and/or generate a facial pattern based on the identified facial landmarks in the image. As may be appreciated, thefacial pattern module306 may be considered a portion of the face detection/tracking module300.
• Theface posture module308 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial orientation detection code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and identify, at least to a certain extent, the posture of the face in the image. For example, theface posture module308 may be configured to establish the posture of the face in the image with respect to thedisplay108 of thedevice102. More specifically, theface posture module308 may be configured to determine whether the user's face is directed toward thedisplay108 of thedevice102, thereby indicating whether the user is observing the content being displayed on thedisplay108.
• The facial expression detection module310 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial expression detection and/or identification code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and/or identify facial expressions of the user in the image. For example, the facial expression detection module310 may determine size and/or position of the facial features (e.g., eyes, mouth, cheeks, teeth, etc.) and compare the facial features to a facial feature database which includes a plurality of sample facial features with corresponding facial feature classifications.
• The eye detection/tracking module312 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed eye tracking code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and identify, at least to a certain extent, eye movement and/or eye gaze or focus of the user in the image. Similar to theface posture module308, the eye detection/tracking module312 may be configured to establish the direction in which the user's eyes are directed with respect to thedisplay108 of thedevice102. The eye detection/tracking module312 may be further configured to establish eye blinking of a user.
• As shown, the eye detection/tracking module312 may include aneye classification module314 configured to determine whether the user's eyes (individually and/or both) are open or closed and movement of the user's eyes with respect to thedisplay108. In particular, theeye classification module314 is configured to receive one or more normalized images (images normalized by the normalization module302). A normalized image may include, but is not limited to, rotation to align the eyes (if the coordinates of the eyes are known), cropping of the image, particularly cropping of the eyes with reference to the eye-corner position, scaling the image to make the distance between the eyes constant, histogram equalizing the image to smooth the distribution of gray values for the non-masked pixels, and/or normalizing the image so the non-masked pixels have mean zero and a unit standard deviation.
• Upon receipt of one or more normalized images, theeye classification module314 may be configured to separately identify eye opening/closing and/or eye movement (e.g. looking left/right, up/down, diagonally, etc.) with respect to thedisplay108 and, as such, determine a status of the user's eyes in real-time or near real-time during active video communication and/or interaction. Theeye classification module314 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed eye tracking code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to detect and identify, at least to a certain extent, movement of the eyelids and eyes of the user in the image. In one embodiment, theeye classification module314 may use statistical-based analysis in order to identify the status of the user's eyes (open/close, movement, etc.), including, but not limited to, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), artificial neural network (ANN) and/or support vector machine (SVM). During analysis, theeye classification module314 may further utilize an eye status database, which may include a plurality of sample eye features with corresponding eye feature classifications.
• As previously described, avatar animation may be based on sensed facial actions (e.g., changes infacial characteristics206 of a user, including eye and/or eyelid movement. The corresponding feature points on an avatar's face may follow or mimic the movements of the real person's face, which is known as “expression clone” or “performance-driven facial animation.” Accordingly, eye opening/closing and eye movement may be animated in the avatar model during active video communication and/or interaction by any known methods.
• For example, upon receipt of the avatar selection and avatar parameters from thedevice102, an avatar control module of theremote device112 may be configured to control (e.g. animate) the avatar based on thefacial characteristics206, including the eye and/or eyelid movement of the user. This may include normalizing and remapping the user's face to the avatar face, copying any changes to thefacial characteristics206 and driving the avatar to perform the same facial characteristics and/or expression changes. For facial feature-based animation methods, 2-D avatar animation may be done with, for example, image warping or image morphing, whereas 3-D avatar animation may be done with free form deformation (FFD) or by utilizing the animation structure defined in a 3-D model of a head. Oddcast is an example of a software resource usable for 2-D avatar animation, while FaceGen is an example of a software resource usable for 3-D avatar generation and animation.
• FIG. 4 illustrates an example system implementation in accordance with at least one embodiment.Device102′ is configured to communicate wirelessly via WiFi connection400 (e.g., at work),server124′ is configured to negotiate a connection betweendevices102′ and112′ viaInternet402, andapparatus112′ is configured to communicate wirelessly via another WiFi connection404 (e.g., at home). In one embodiment, a device-to-device avatar-based video call application is activated inapparatus102′. Following avatar selection, the application may allow at least one remote device (e.g.,device112′) to be selected. The application may then causedevice102′ to initiate communication withdevice112′. Communication may be initiated withdevice102′ transmitting a connection establishment request todevice112′ via enterprise access point (AP)406. Theenterprise AP406 may be an AP usable in a business setting, and thus, may support higher data throughput and more concurrent wireless clients thanhome AP414. Theenterprise AP406 may receive the wireless signal fromdevice102′ and may proceed to transmit the connection establishment request through various business networks viagateway408, The connection establishment request may then pass throughfirewall410, which may be configured to control information flowing into and out of theWiFi network400.
• The connection establishment request ofdevice102′ may then be processed byserver124′. Theserver124′ may be configured for registration of IP addresses, authentication of destination addresses and NAT traversals so that the connection establishment request may be directed to the correct destination onInternet402. For example,server124′ may resolve the intended destination (e.g.,remote device112′) from information in the connection establishment request received fromdevice102′, and may route the signal to through the correct NATs, ports and to the destination IP address accordingly. These operations may only have to be performed during connection establishment, depending on the network configuration.
• In some instances operations may be repeated during the video call in order to provide notification to the NAT to keep the connection alive. Media andSignal Path412 may carry the video (e.g., avatar selection and/or avatar parameters) and audio information direction tohome AP414 after the connection has been established.Device112′ may then receive the connection establishment request and may be configured to determine whether to accept the request. Determining whether to accept the request may include, for example, presenting a visual narrative to a user ofdevice112′ inquiring as to whether to accept the connection request fromdevice102′. Should the user ofdevice112′ accept the connection (e.g., accept the video call) the connection may be established.Cameras104′ and114′ may be configured to then start capturing images of the respective users ofdevices102′ and112′, respectively, for use in animating the avatars selected by each user.Microphones106′ and116′ may be configured to then start recording audio from each user. As information exchange commences betweendevices102′ and112′, displays108′ and118′ may display and animate avatars corresponding to the users ofdevices102′ and112′.
• FIG. 5 is a flowchart of example operations in accordance with at least one embodiment. Inoperation502 an application (e.g., an avatar-based voice call application) may be activated in a device. Activation of the application may be followed by selection of an avatar. Selection of an avatar may include an interface being presented by the application, the interface allowing the user to select a predefined avatar. After avatar selection, communications may be configured in operation504. Communication configuration includes the identification of at least one remote device or a virtual space for participation in the video call. For example, a user may select from a list of remote users/devices stored within the application, stored in association with another system in the device (e.g., a contacts list in a smart phone, cell phone, etc.), stored remotely, such as on the Internet (e.g., in a social media website like Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Google+, MSN, etc.). Alternatively, the user may select to go online in a virtual space like Second Life.
• Inoperation506, communication may be initiated between the device and the at least one remote device or virtual space. For example, a connection establishment request may be transmitted to the remote device or virtual space. For the sake of explanation herein, it is assumed that the connection establishment request is accepted by the remote device or virtual space. A camera in the device may then begin capturing images inoperation508, The images may be still images or live video (e.g., multiple images captured in sequence). Inoperation510 image analysis may occur starting with detection/tracking of a face/head in the image. The detected face may then be analyzed in order to detect facial characteristics (e.g., facial landmarks, facial expression, etc.). Inoperation512 the detected face/head position and/or facial characteristics are converted into Avatar parameters. Avatar parameters are used to animate the selected avatar on the remote device or in the virtual space. In operation514 at least one of the avatar selection or the avatar parameters may be transmitted.
• Avatars may be displayed and animated inoperation516. In the instance of device-to-device communication (e.g., system100), at least one of remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters may be received from the remote device. An avatar corresponding to the remote user may then be displayed based on the received remote avatar selection, and may be animated based on the received remote avatar parameters. In the instance of virtual place interaction (e.g., system126), information may be received allowing the device to display what the avatar corresponding to the device user is seeing. A determination may then be made inoperation518 as to whether the current communication is complete. If it is determined inoperation518 that the communication is not complete, operations508-516 may repeat in order to continue to display and animate an avatar on the remote apparatus based on the analysis of the user's face. Otherwise, inoperation520 the communication may be terminated. The video call application may also be terminated if, for example, no further video calls are to be made.
• WhileFIG. 5 illustrates various operations according to an embodiment, it is to be understood that not all of the operations depicted inFIG. 5 are necessary for other embodiments. Indeed, it is fully contemplated herein that in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the operations depicted inFIG. 5 and/or other operations described herein may be combined in a manner not specifically shown in any of the drawings, but still fully consistent with the present disclosure. Thus, claims directed to features and/or operations that are not exactly shown in one drawing are deemed within the scope and content of the present disclosure.
• A system consistent with the present disclosure provides detection and/or tracking of a user's eyes during active communication, including the detection of characteristics of a user's eyes, including, but not limited to, eyeball movement, gaze direction and/or point of focus of the user's eyes, eye blinking, etc. The system uses a statistical-based approach for the determination of the status (e.g. open/closed eye and/or direction of eye gaze) of a user's eyes. The system further provides avatar animation based at least in part on the detected characteristics of the user's eyes in real-time or near real-time during active communication and interaction. Animation of a user's eyes may enhance interaction between users, as the human eyes and the characteristics associated with them, including movement and expression, may convey rich information during active communication, such as, for example, a user's interest, emotions, etc.
• A system consistent with the present disclosure provides advantages. For example, the use of statistical-based methods allows the performance of eye analysis and classifying to be improved by increasing sample collection and classifier re-training. Additionally, in contrast to other known methods of eye analysis, such as, for example, template-matching methods and/or geometry-based methods, a system consistent with the present disclosure generally does not require calibration before use nor does the system require special hardware, such as, for example, infrared lighting or close-view camera. Additionally, a system consistent with the present disclosure does not require a learning process for new user's.
• Various features, aspects, and embodiments have been described herein. The features, aspects, and embodiments are susceptible to combination with one another as well as to variation and modification, as will be understood by those having skill in the art. The present disclosure should, therefore, be considered to encompass such combinations, variations, and modifications. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
• As used in any embodiment herein, the term “module” may refer to software, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform any of the aforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a software package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded on non-transitory computer readable storage medium. Firmware may be embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that are hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices. “Circuitry”, as used in any embodiment herein, may comprise, for example, singly or in any combination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such as computer processors comprising one or more individual instruction processing cores, state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructions executed by programmable circuitry. The modules may, collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), system on-chip (SoC), desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, servers, smart phones, etc.
• Any of the operations described herein may be implemented in a system that includes one or more storage mediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that when executed by one or more processors perform the methods. Here, the processor may include, for example, a server CPU, a mobile device CPU, and/or other programmable circuitry. Also, it is intended that operations described herein may be distributed across a plurality of physical devices, such as processing structures at more than one different physical location. The storage medium may include any type of tangible medium, for example, any type of disk including hard disks, floppy disks, optical disks, compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk rewritables (CD-RWs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor devices such as read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs) such as dynamic and static RAMs, erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, Solid State Disks (SSDs), magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Other embodiments may be implemented as software modules executed by a programmable control device. The storage medium may be non-transitory.
• The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such equivalents. Various features, aspects, and embodiments have been described herein. The features, aspects, and embodiments are susceptible to combination with one another as well as to variation and modification, as will be understood by those having skill in the art. The present disclosure should, therefore, be considered to encompass such combinations, variations, and modifications.
• As described herein, various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software elements, or any combination thereof. Examples of hardware elements may include processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth.
• Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
• According to one aspect, there is provided a system for interactive avatar communication interactive avatar communication between a first user device and a remote user device. The system includes a camera configured to capture images, a communication module configured to initiate and establish communication, and to transmit and receive information, between said first and said second user devices. The system further includes one or more storage mediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in one or more operations. The operations include selecting an avatar, initiating communication, capturing an image, detecting a face in the image and determining facial characteristics from the face. The facial characteristics include at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement, converting the facial characteristics to avatar parameters, transmitting at least one of the avatar selection and avatar parameters.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and determining facial characteristics from the face includes determining a facial expression in the face.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on a remote device, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar in a virtual space, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operation of receiving at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and further includes a display, the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operation of displaying an avatar based on the remote avatar selection.
• Another example system includes the foregoing components and the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operation of animating the displayed avatar based on the remote avatar parameters.
• According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus for interactive avatar communication between a first user device and a remote user device. The apparatus includes a communication module configured to initiate and establish communication between the first and the remote user devices and to transmit information between the first and the remote user devices. The apparatus further includes an avatar selection module configured to allow a user to select an avatar for use during the communication. The apparatus further includes a face detection module configured to detect a facial region in an image of the user and to detect and identify one or more facial characteristics of the face. The facial characteristics include eye movement and eyelid movement of the user. The apparatus further includes an avatar control module configured to convert the facial characteristics to avatar parameters. The communication module is configured to transmit at least one of the avatar selection and avatar parameters.
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and further includes an eye detection/tracking module configured to detect and identify at least one of eye movement of the user with respect to a display and eyelid movement of the user,
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and the eye detection/tracking module includes an eye classification module configured to determine at least one of gaze direction of the user's eyes user and blinking of the user's eyes.
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on the remote device, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and the communication module is configured to receive at least one of a remote avatar selection and remote avatar parameters.
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and further includes a display configured to display an avatar based on the remote avatar selection.
• Another example apparatus includes the foregoing components and the avatar control module is configured to animate the displayed avatar based on the remote avatar parameters.
• According to another aspect there is provided a method for interactive avatar communication. The method includes selecting an avatar, initiating communication, capturing an image, detecting a face in the image and determining facial characteristics from the face, The facial characteristics include at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement, converting the facial characteristics to avatar parameters, transmitting at least one of the avatar selection and avatar parameters.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and determining facial characteristics from the face includes determining a facial expression in the face.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on a remote device, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar in a virtual space, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and further includes receiving at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and further includes displaying an avatar based on the remote avatar selection on a display.
• Another example method includes the foregoing operations and further includes animating the displayed avatar based on the remote avatar parameters.
• According to another aspect there is provided at least one computer accessible medium including instructions stored thereon. When executed by one or more processors, the instructions may cause a computer system to perform operations for interactive avatar communication. The operations include selecting an avatar, initiating communication, capturing an image, detecting a face in the image and determining facial characteristics from the face. The facial characteristics include at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement, converting the facial characteristics to avatar parameters, transmitting at least one of the avatar selection and avatar parameters.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and determining facial characteristics from the face includes determining a facial expression in the face.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on a remote device, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar in a virtual space, the avatar being based on the facial characteristics.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and further includes receiving at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and further includes displaying an avatar based on the remote avatar selection on a display.
• Another example computer accessible medium includes the foregoing operations and further includes animating the displayed avatar based on the remote avatar parameters.
• The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such equivalents.

Claims (23)

1-22. (canceled)

23. A system for interactive avatar communication between a first user device and a remote user device, said system comprising:

a camera configured to capture images;

a communication module configured to initiate and establish communication between said first and said remote user devices and to transmit and receive information between said first and said remote user devices; and

one or more storage mediums having stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following operations comprising:

selecting an avatar;

initiating communication;

capturing an image;

detecting a face in said image;

determining facial characteristics from said face, said facial characteristics comprising at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement;

converting said facial characteristics to avatar parameters; and

transmitting at least one of said avatar selection and avatar parameters.

24. The system ofclaim 23, wherein determining facial characteristics from said face comprises determining a facial expression in said face.

25. The system ofclaim 23, wherein determining facial characteristics from said face comprises determining at least one of gaze direction and blinking of said eyes based on statistical-based analysis selected from the group consisting of linear discriminant analysis (LDA), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM).

26. The system ofclaim 23, wherein said avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on a remote device, said avatar being based on said facial characteristics.

27. The system ofclaim 23, wherein said avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar in a virtual space, said avatar being based on said facial characteristics.

28. The system ofclaim 23, wherein the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operations:

receiving at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.

29. The system ofclaim 28, further comprising a display, wherein the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operations:

displaying an avatar based on said remote avatar selection.

30. The system ofclaim 29, wherein the instructions that when executed by one or more processors result in the following additional operations:

animating said displayed avatar based on said remote avatar parameters.

31. An apparatus for interactive avatar communication between a first user device and a remote user device, said apparatus comprising:

a communication module configured to initiate and establish communication between said first and said remote user devices;

an avatar selection module configured to allow a user to select an avatar for use during said communication;

a face detection module configured to detect a facial region in an image of said user and to detect and identify one or more facial characteristics of said face, said facial characteristics comprising at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement of said user; and

an avatar control module configured to convert said facial characteristics to avatar parameters;

wherein said communication module is configured to transmit at least one of said avatar selection and avatar parameters.

32. The apparatus ofclaim 31, further comprising an eye detection/tracking module configured to detect and identify at least one of eye movement of said user with respect to a display and eyelid movement of said user.

33. The apparatus ofclaim 32, wherein said eye detection/tracking module comprises an eye classification module configured to determine at least one of gaze direction of said user's eyes user and blinking of said user's eyes.

34. The apparatus ofclaim 33, wherein said determination of said gaze direction and blinking of said user's eyes by said eye detection/tracking module is based on statistical-based analysis selected from the group consisting of linear discriminant analysis (LDA), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM).

35. The apparatus ofclaim 31, wherein said avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on said remote device, said avatar being based on said facial characteristics.

36. The apparatus ofclaim 31, wherein said communication module is configured to receive at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.

37. The apparatus ofclaim 36, further comprising a display configured to display an avatar based on said remote avatar selection.

38. The apparatus ofclaim 37, wherein said avatar control module is configured to animate said displayed avatar based on said remote avatar parameters.

39. A method for interactive avatar communication, said method comprising:

selecting an avatar;

initiating communication;

capturing an image;

detecting a face in said image;

determining facial characteristics from said face, said facial characteristics comprising at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement;

converting said facial characteristics to avatar parameters; and

transmitting at least one of said avatar selection or avatar parameters.

40. The method ofclaim 39, wherein the avatar selection and avatar parameters are used to generate an avatar on a remote device, said avatar being based on said facial characteristics.

41. The method ofclaim 39, further comprising receiving at least one of a remote avatar selection or remote avatar parameters.

42. The method ofclaim 41, further comprising displaying an avatar based on the remote avatar selection.

43. The method ofclaim 42, further comprising animating said displayed avatar based on said remote avatar parameters.

44. At least one computer accessible medium storing instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

selecting an avatar;

initiating communication;

capturing an image;

detecting a face in said image;

determining facial characteristics from said face, said facial characteristics comprising at least one of eye movement and eyelid movement;

converting said facial characteristics to avatar parameters; and

transmitting at least one of said avatar selection or avatar parameters.

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