Methods, computer-accessible medium and systems for facilitating dark flash photography

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9602734-B2
Application number	US-201615152372-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	Jan 9, 2009
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to methods, computer-accessible medium and systems for dark flash photography. For example, described herein is an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus for providing illumination and obtaining an image, which can include, e.g., a first arrangement configured to emit a flash of light including ultra-violet light and/or infra-red light to illuminate a scene and/or one or more subjects, and a second arrangement configured to obtain an image of the illuminated scene and/or one or more subject. A duration of time and/or an intensity level of the flash can be selected, e.g., so that wavelengths of the flash can be substantially invisible to a human eye. For example, the visibility of the flash perceived by the human eye can be, e.g., approximately 200 times less than the visibility of a standard flash of light having substantially the same amount of energy as the flash.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for imaging at least one portion of a target, comprising:
at least one light emitting arrangement configured to generate an ultraviolet (UV) light and an infrared (IR) light to impact the at least one portion;
at least one sensor arrangement configured to receive (i) a further light from the at least one portion that is based on the UV light and the IR light provided to the at least one portion and (ii) an ambient light; and
a computer processing arrangement configured to:
generate at least one first image based on the further light,
generate at least one second image based on the ambient light,
determine a relationship between spectral bands corresponding to the at least one first image and the at least one second image, and
generate a third image using the at least one first image and the at least one second image based on the relationship.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to identify noise associated with the at least one second image based on the relationship.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processor arrangement is further configured to at least one of reduce or remove the noise from the at least one second image.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to utilize an edge structure of the at least one first image to remove or reduce the noise.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing arranged is further configured to generate the third image by selecting less than all edges of the at least one second image.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to select the less than all the edges in order to avoid at least one of at least one shadow or at least one specularity.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one shadow is an artifact in the at least one second image.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the third image includes a plurality of colors from only the at least one first image.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a wavelength of the ambient light is between 400 nanometers and 700 nanometers.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a wavelength of the UV light is between 360 nanometers and 400 nanometers.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a wavelength of the IR light is between 700 nanometers and 800 nanometers.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the relationship between spectral bands comprises a correlation between spectral bands corresponding to the at least one first image and the at least one second image.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to generate the third image using a Fast Fourier transform.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to generate the third image using a lookup-table, and wherein the lookup-table comprises precomputed values stored in a storage arrangement.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to generate the third image using a continuation procedure which repeats until the third image is at least one of substantially denoised or substantially deconvoluted.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the spectral bands include (i) a first spectral band for the IR light, (ii) a second spectral band for the UV light, and (iii) a third spectral band for the ambient light, and wherein the first spectral band, the second spectral band and the third spectral band are different from one another.

17. An apparatus for imaging at least one portion of a target, comprising:
at least one light emitting arrangement configured to generate an ultraviolet (UV) light and an infrared (IR) light to impact the at least one portion;
at least one sensor arrangement configured to receive (i) a further light from the at least one portion that is based on the UV light and the IR light provided to the at least one portion and (ii) an ambient light; and
a computer processing arrangement configured to:
determine a relationship between spectral bands corresponding to the further light and the ambient light, and
generate at least one image using the further light and the ambient light based on the relationship.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to identify noise associated with the further light based on the relationship.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the processor arrangement is further configured to at least one of reduce or remove associated with the further light.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein at least one of (i) a wavelength of the ambient light is between 400 nanometers and 700 nanometers, (ii) a wavelength of the UV light is between 360 nanometers and 400 nanometers, or (iii) a wavelength of the IR light is between 700 nanometers and 800 nanometers.

21. A non-transitory computer-accessible medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for imaging at least one portion of a target, wherein, when the executable instructions are executed by a processing arrangement, the processing arrangement is configured to perform procedures comprising:
(a) generating an ultraviolet (UV) light and an infrared (IR) light to impact the at least one portion;
(b) receiving (i) a further light from the at least one portion that is based on the UV light and the IR light provided to the at least one portion and (ii) an ambient light;
(c) determining a relationship between spectral bands corresponding to the further light and the ambient light; and
(d) generating at least one image using the further light and the ambient light based on the relationship.

22. The computer-accessible medium of claim 21 , wherein the processing arrangement is further configured to:
generate at least one first image based on the further light; and
generate at least one second image based on the ambient light,
wherein the relationship between the spectral bands is determined between spectral bands corresponding to the at least one first image and the at least one second mage.

23. A method for imaging at least one portion of a target, comprising:
(a) generating an ultraviolet (UV) light and an infrared (IR) light to impact the at least one portion;
(b) receiving (i) a further light from the at least one portion that is based on the UV light and the IR light provided to the at least one portion and (ii) an ambient light;
(c) determining a relationship between spectral bands corresponding to the further light and the ambient light; and
(d) using a computer hardware arrangement, generating at least one image using the further light and the ambient light based on the relationship.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:
generating at least one first image based on the further light; and
generating at least one second image based on the ambient light,
wherein the relationship between the spectral bands is determined between spectral bands corresponding to the at least one first image and the at least one second mage.

25. A system for imaging at least one portion of a target, comprising:
a computer hardware arrangement configured to:
(a) generate an ultraviolet (UV) light and an infr

Assignees

• Univ New York

Inventors

• Fergus Robert
• Krishnan Dilip

Classifications

• H04N23/741

  by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors · CPC title

• H04N23/74

  by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N23/70

  Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene · CPC title

• G03B15/03 Primary

  Combinations of cameras with lighting apparatus; Flash units · CPC title

• H04N23/20

  for generating image signals from infrared radiation only · CPC title