Image processing system

Abstract

In a people counting system, a plurality of vision sensors is arranged to provide sensor coverage of an area. Each is arranged to provide individual sensor coverage of a portion of the area within its field of view. Each of a plurality of local image processors is connected to a respective one of the vision sensors. Each of the local image processors is configured to apply a local person detection algorithm to at least one image captured by its respective vision sensor, thereby generating a local presence metric representative of a number of people detected in the at least one image. A central processor is configured to estimate the total number of people in the area covered by the vision sensors by applying an aggregation algorithm to the local presence metrics generated by the local image processors. As it is critical that user privacy be taken into account when utilising such people counting technology, an opt-out is enabled. For instance, there may be users who do not want to reveal any information that may be perceived give away information related to their presence. In this context, a user is a person in the environment where people counting may be implemented. The disclosure applies not only to people counting, but to other contexts where people may be monitored, for example, a CCTV environment.