The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 06, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 09, 2001
Patrick Pirim, Paris, FR;
Thomas Binford, Cupertino, CA (US);
Holding B.E.V.S.A., Luxembourg, LU;
Abstract
In a process of detecting a person falling asleep, an image of the face of the person is acquired. Pixels of the image having characteristics corresponding to an eye of the person are selected and a histogram is formed of the selected pixels. The histogram is analyzed over time to identify each opening and closing of the eye, and characteristics indicative of the person falling asleep are determined. A sub-area of the image including the eye may be determined by identifying the head or a facial characteristic of the person, and then identifying the sub-area using an anthropomorphic model. To determine openings and closings of the eyes, histograms of shadowed pixels of the eye are analyzed to determine the width and height of the shadowing, or histograms of movement corresponding to blinking are analyzed. An apparatus for detecting a person falling asleep includes a sensor for acquiring an image of the face of the person, a controller, and a histogram formation unit for forming a histogram on pixels having selected characteristics. Also disclosed is a rear-view mirror assembly incorporating the apparatus.