BMI, body and other object measurements from camera view display
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Publication Number
US-10789725-B2
Publication Date
2020-09-29
Expiration Date
Abstract
Apparatus for determining height, width, weight or body mass index (BMI) of a subject or distance along an object. For BMI, the apparatus includes a digital camera; an application; a processing unit for storing the vertical and horizontal dimensions of known substantially rectangular reference objects. A user interface prompts and receives the type of reference object held by the user or its dimensions. For each of the vertical and horizontal dimensions, a magnitude in pixels and in distance of the reference object to form a ratio and a pixel magnitude of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the subject in the image(s), is used to derive an estimated height and width of the subject from the pixel magnitude of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the subject in the image(s). In some embodiments, the number of pixels occupied by the subject in the image(s) is used with a look-up table.
Core Innovation
The problem addressed is to determine an estimated body size parameter of a subject and to approximate a body mass index (BMI) of the subject without the need for physical measurements with rulers or scales, by using an imaging device and image-based pixel measurements. The background and summary describe a camera-based system in which a digital camera displays the subject entirely in a view display and an application and processing unit estimate body size parameters from the subject’s appearance in captured images.
The core innovation uses a digital camera together with an application and a processing unit that determines a number of pixels occupied by the subject in at least one image. The processing unit determines the estimated body size parameter from at least one look-up table that correlates the number of pixels occupied by the subject with the estimated body size parameter, including separate look-up tables for a front image and a profile image, with the estimated body size parameter determined using at least one of the front image and its look-up table or the profile image and its look-up table.
For BMI approximation, the core innovation includes an optical mechanism using a known optical magnification factor and obtaining a known distance factor between the camera and the subject to be imaged. The processing unit determines an estimated height derived from the known distance factor, the known optical magnification factor, and a pixel-measured distance between a topmost point and a top border or bottommost point, and then determines an estimated weight derived from the estimated height together with at least one of pixel occupancy with a look-up table or contour width measurements derived from image features such as left and right side points and side borders or a maximum continuous horizontal width. BMI is then determined from the determined estimated height and estimated weight.
Claims Coverage
Two independent claims are identified, covering an apparatus that estimates an estimated body size parameter using pixel occupancy mapped to look-up tables from front and profile images, and an apparatus that approximates BMI using camera optics with a known optical magnification factor and a known distance factor, deriving estimated height and estimated weight from pixel measurements and contour-based width representations, and then calculating BMI from the estimated height and estimated weight. Across both independent claims, the inventive features are the pixel-to-look-up-table mapping approach and the optical distance/height/weight derivation framework for BMI.
Front and profile pixel occupancy with separate look-up tables
An apparatus with a digital camera having a view display for displaying the subject entirely within the view display, and an application with program code executed by a processing unit, where the processing unit determines a number of pixels occupied by the subject in at least one image and determines an estimated body size parameter from at least one look-up table correlating the number of pixels occupied with the estimated body size parameter, the at least one image comprises a front image and a profile image, the at least one look-up table comprises a first look-up table correlating the number of pixels occupied in the front image with the estimated body size parameter and a second look-up table correlating the number of pixels occupied in the profile image with the estimated body size parameter, and the estimated body size parameter is determined using at least one of the front image and first look-up table and the profile image and second look-up table.
Optical magnification and distance factor with pixel-measured height and contour-width weight for BMI
An apparatus configured to approximate a body mass index (BMI) of a subject using an optical mechanism, comprising a digital camera with a view display, an application with an interface to the camera with a top border and a side border known or calculated by the application, the application integrated with a filter configured to determine a contour including a topmost point or bottommost point and including left and right side points at a mid-torso area, a distance mechanism comprising either a user input prompt or a distance factor prompt informing the user how far to place the subject, and a processing unit executing the application, storing at least one image and the known optical magnification factor and the known distance factor at the time the image is created; wherein the processing unit determines an estimated height derived from the known distance factor, the known optical magnification factor and a distance measured in pixels from the topmost point to the top border or to the bottommost point, and an estimated weight derived from the estimated height and at least one of pixel occupancy with a look-up table converting the number of pixels occupied with the estimated weight or a width of the contour obtained from left and right side points and pixels from the left side point to a left side border and from the right side point to a right side border or the width obtained from a number of pixels in a maximum continuous horizontal width of the contour, whether the subject poses in a front view or a side view, and the processing unit determines the BMI from the determined estimated height and estimated weight.
The claim coverage establishes two related inventive frameworks: determining an estimated body size parameter by mapping pixel occupancy counts to look-up tables, including separate front and profile look-up tables, and approximating BMI by deriving an estimated height from pixel-measured distances using known optical magnification and a known distance factor, then deriving an estimated weight from either pixel occupancy with a look-up table or contour-width representations, and computing BMI from the estimated height and estimated weight.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
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