Removing identifying information from image data on computing devices using markers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10395405-B2
Application number	US-201715445915-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2017
Priority date	Feb 28, 2017
Publication date	Aug 27, 2019
Grant date	Aug 27, 2019

Abstract

An approach is provided for removing information from image data using markers. As used herein, the term “marker” refers to a physical object included in an image of one or more objects when the image is captured. Markers are used to identify, either directly, indirectly, or both, information to be removed from image data. The approach is applicable to any type of information, such as information that identifies one or more individuals, referred to herein as “identifying information.”

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories storing instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause:
retrieving first image data for an image of one or more objects, wherein the image of the one or more objects includes one or more markers that were present in the image of the one or more objects when the image of the one or more objects was captured, and wherein the one or more markers are represented in the first image data;
determining, based upon the one or more markers included in the image of the one or more objects, identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects; wherein the identifying information identifies one or more persons,
generating, based upon the first image data and the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects, second image data that includes the first image data but without the identifying information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is contained in one or more markers from the one or more markers.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is outside the one or more markers; and
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is determined based upon identification or location information contained in the one or more markers.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the identification or location information contained in the one or more markers is in encoded form.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more markers include one or more of one or more cards, one or more tags, one or more stickers, one or more watermarks, or non-visible information.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more markers include two or more markers; and
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is defined by locations of the two or more markers in the image of the one or more objects.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more markers include two or more markers;
the one or more memories store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause determining one or more angles at which the image of the one or more objects was captured; and
the determining, based upon the one or more markers in the image of the one or more objects, identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects includes determining, based upon the two or more markers in the image of the one or more objects and the one or more angles at which the image of the one or more objects was captured, the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more markers specify other information in the image of the one or more objects; and
the one or more memories store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause designating the image of the one or more objects for subsequent manual processing to remove the other information from the image of the one or more objects.

9. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, cause:
retrieving first image data for an image of one or more objects, wherein the image of the one or more objects includes one or more markers that were present in the image of the one or more objects when the image of the one or more objects was captured; and wherein the one or more markers are represented in the first image data;
determining, based upon the one or more markers included in the image of the one or more objects, identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects; wherein the identifying information identifies one or more persons,
generating, based upon the first image data and the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects, second image data that includes the first image data but without the identifying information.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein at least a portion of the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is contained in one or more markers from the one or more markers.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein:
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is outside the one or more markers; and
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is determined based upon identification or location information contained in the one or more markers.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the identification or location information contained in the one or more markers is in encoded form.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the one or more markers include one or more of one or more cards, one or more tags, or one or more stickers, one or more watermarks, or non-visible information.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein:
the one or more markers include two or more markers; and
the identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects is defined by locations of the two or more markers in the image of the one or more objects.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein:
the one or more markers include two or more markers;
the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause determining one or more angles at which the image of the one or more objects was captured; and
the determining, based upon the one or more markers in the image of the one or more objects, identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects includes determining, based upon the two or more markers in the image of the one or more objects and the one or more angles at which the image of the one or more objects was captured, the identifying information to be removed from the image.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein:
the one or more markers specify other information in the image of the one or more objects; and
the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media store additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause designating the image for subsequent manual processing to remove the other information from the image of the one or more objects.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:
retrieving first image data for an image of one or more objects, wherein the image of the one or more objects includes one or more markers that were present in the image of the one or more objects when the image of the one or more objects was captured, and wherein the one or more markers are represented in the first image data;
determining, based upon the one or more markers included in the image of the one or more objects, identifying information to be removed from the image of the one or more objects, wherein the identifying information identifies one or more persons;
generating, based upon the first image data and the identifying information to be removed from the image of the on

Assignees

• Knodt Kurt
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Knodt Kurt

Classifications

• G06V30/224

  of printed characters having additional code marks or containing code marks · CPC title

• G06V30/40

  Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition · CPC title

• G06T7/70

  Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) · CPC title

• G06T2207/30204

  Marker · CPC title

• G06T11/60 Primary

  Creating or editing images; Combining images with text · CPC title