KR20140049340A - Apparatus and methods of making user emoticon - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a device and a method for generating an emoticon. The device for generating an emoticon of the present invention comprises an image loading unit for loading image data including a face according to a format of the data; an image recognizing unit for detecting distinctive feature information of a predetermined portion of the face from the image data and recognizing the face portion from the image data; an outline detecting unit for detecting a predetermined portion of the face portion and an outline of the face portion from the image data; and an emoticon generating unit for generating an emoticon from the outline or the image data of the face portion corresponding to the outline. As it is possible to generate an emoticon with an expression desired by a user by loading a photograph of the user and recognizing a portion of the user face, the emoticon can reflect the personality of the user, which is something more than the limited characters of existing emoticons. In addition, the device and method of the present invention enable a user to generate an emoticon of a desired expression directly and freely. [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (S110) Load image data; (S120) Detect distinctive feature information; (S130) Recognize a face portion; (S140) Detect an outline; (S150) Generate an emoticon; (S160) Transmit the emoticon

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHODS OF MAKING USER EMOTICON [0002]

The present invention relates to an emoticon generating apparatus and a method for generating an emoticon of the apparatus, and more particularly, to a system and method for generating emoticons of various facial expressions desired by a user using an actual photograph of a user, The present invention relates to a device capable of generating a desired emoticon with a user's own photograph, and a method of generating the emoticon.

In recent years, many people have access to the Internet or use various mobile devices supporting various contents, and applications such as messenger and mail are used in the devices.

Users use various emoticons in applications such as messenger to express their status or mood. An emoticon is a combination of an emotion (Icon) and an icon (Icon).

In the early days of the Internet, text-based emoticons were created that combine letters, symbols, and numbers. For example, a smiley expression uses ";-)" or "^ _ ^", and a crying expression uses a combination of characters such as ":-(", "T_T"

However, recently, a variety of applications such as a messenger supporting a multimedia method support a picture type emoticon, and users interact with each other by using various kinds of emoticon expressing emotions.

Conventional messenger applications support character-based emoticons. The pictorial emoticons are based on characters such as the smiling face of the character, the frowned expression, and the crying expression. In addition, the types and expressions of emoticons used in applications such as conventional messengers are limited.

However, users want various emoticons. Especially, when using emoticons created by using their actual face pictures, emotions can be expressed by reflecting their personality.

 In addition, users have a desire to create emoticons for various facial expressions as well as predetermined facial expressions.

Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for creating an emoticon that allows a user to create an emoticon with his or her own actual photograph, and to create an emoticon of a desired facial expression.

Domestic Registration No. 0471594 (Feb. 2, 2005) Title: A method for providing a data transmission service on a computer network using a user-defined emoticon image and a computer-readable recording medium recording an application program for implementing the same

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an emoticon generation device and a generation method capable of generating a user's emoticon by using his or her own actual photograph to reflect user's personality beyond a limited emoticon character Which is a technical problem.

Further, there is a technical problem in that a user can freely create a facial expression as well as a facial expression by providing an emoticon generating apparatus and a generating method.

Further, there is a technical problem to provide a more convenient emoticon generating device and a generating method by allowing the emoticon generated by a user to be directly transmitted to a desired application.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of generating an emoticon of an emoticon generating apparatus, the method including: (a) loading image data including a face; (b) detecting feature information of a predetermined region of a face from the image data (C) detecting an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data; and (d) detecting an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data, And generating emoticons from the facial region image data.

In the emoticon generation method, in the step (b), the predetermined region may include at least one of eyes, nose, mouth, or ear.

In addition, the emoticon generation method may receive a selection input for a predetermined filter in the step (d), and apply the filter to the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline to generate emoticons.

In the step (d), the filter may change the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.

In the step (d), the filter may change the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline with at least one expression of a smiling facial expression, a crying facial expression or an angry facial expression.

The emoticon generation method may further include displaying the control point in the outline of the predetermined part or face part of the face part detected in step (c) in step (d), receiving the movement input of the control point from the user And generating the emoticon by modifying the facial region image data corresponding to the predetermined region or the outline according to the movement input of the control point.

The emoticon generation method may further include: (e) after the step (d), transmitting the emoticon generated in step (d) to an application or an external device that is predetermined or selected by the user.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for generating emoticons, comprising: an image loading unit for loading image data including a face according to a format of the data; An outline detection unit for detecting an outline of a predetermined region and a face region of the face region from the image data, and an outline detection unit for detecting an outline of the face region from the image data, And an emoticon generation unit for generating emoticons from the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.

The predetermined region may include at least one of eyes, nose, mouth, or ear.

The emoticon generation unit may receive a selection input for a predetermined filter and generate the emoticon by applying the filter to the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.

The filter of the emoticon generation unit may change the shape of the face region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.

The filter of the emoticon generation unit may change the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline with at least one expression of a smiling facial expression, a crying facial expression or an angry facial expression.

Wherein the emoticon generation unit comprises:

A control point is displayed on the outline of a predetermined part or face part of the face part detected by the outline detecting part,

And generating emoticons by modifying facial region image data corresponding to the predetermined region or the outline according to the movement input of the control point after receiving the movement input of the control point from the user.

The emoticon generation unit may transmit the emoticon generated by the application or the external device that is predetermined or selected by the user after the generation of the emoticon.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting a face, the method comprising: loading image data including a face; detecting feature information of a predetermined region of the face; Detecting an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the facial part from the image data and generating emoticons from facial part image data corresponding to the outline or from the outline, There is provided a recording medium which is recorded by a program and is readable by an electronic apparatus.

As described above, the emoticon generating apparatus and the generating method of the present invention allow the emoticon generating unit and the emoticon generating method of the present invention to emit an emoticon of a user beyond the character of a limited emoticon, A generating device and a generating method.

In addition, it is possible to provide an emoticon generating apparatus and a generating method that allow a user to freely generate an emoticon of a desired facial expression.

In addition, it is possible to provide a more convenient emoticon generating device and a generating method by allowing the emoticon generated by the user to be directly transmitted to a desired application.

1 is a control block diagram of an emoticon generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of a method of generating an emoticon of the emoticon generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an example of displaying an actual photograph loaded in the embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an example of detecting a face part and preset parts in an actual photograph of FIG.
FIG. 5 is another example of detecting a face part and preset parts in the actual photograph of FIG.
FIG. 6 is an example of displaying a control point so that a user can directly create a facial expression on a facial part and preset parts in the actual photograph of FIG.
FIG. 7 is an example of an emoticon generated as a character from the detected face portion in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5;
Fig. 8 is an example of an emoticon generated from an actual photograph from the detected face portion in Fig. 4 or Fig. 5;
FIG. 9 is an example of a selection method for creating a user with an emoticon of a desired facial expression.
10 shows an example in which the emoticon generated by the user is transmitted to the messenger program and used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various embodiments of the invention may be practiced in the practice of this disclosure and that any embodiments described in the description of the invention are illustrative only, It is not intended that the scope be limited to the embodiments.

Each functional unit represented in the present specification is only an example of implementation of the present invention. Therefore, other functional units may be used in other embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, each functional unit may be implemented solely in hardware or software configuration, but may be implemented in combination of various hardware and software configurations that perform the same function.

As used herein, an emoticon generating apparatus usually means an apparatus including at least one computing means, storage means, and display means. The computing means may be a universal central processing unit (CPU), but may also be a programmable device element (CPLD, FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which is suitably implemented for a specific purpose. The storage means may be a volatile memory device or a non-volatile memory or non-volatile electromagnetic storage device.

The emoticon generation apparatus includes a portable terminal device such as a mobile communication terminal, a smart phone, and a tablet computer as well as a computer.

The emoticon generation apparatus may have a communication unit or input means.

The communication unit may include a communication module according to at least one of various communication methods for forming a communication channel with the communication network. For example, the communication unit may include at least one of communication modules supporting various mobile communication systems such as CDMA, GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA. The communication unit may be implemented as an IP-based wired / wireless communication module. Accordingly, the communication unit may be configured as a communication module based on an Internet-based communication method such as WiFi and LAN.

The input means may be formed of various types of input means such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a motion sensor and the like as means for receiving various data (letters, numbers, symbols, etc.) from a user or controlling a method of generating emoticons, When the generating apparatus is manufactured by a touch screen, it may be configured to include a soft key and a side key, a separate hot key, a hot key, or the like implemented on the touch screen. The input means may include a plurality of input keys and function keys for receiving numeric or character information and setting various functions.

The display means is an output means for displaying the processing result of the portable terminal device or providing the information to the user, and displays various types of menus as well as information input by the user or information provided to the user. The display means can provide an execution screen in which an emoticon is generated in the emoticon generating apparatus.

The display means may be formed in the form of a flat panel display panel such as a liquid crystal display (OLED) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED), or may be formed in a structure including a touch panel.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a control block diagram of an emoticon generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the emoticon generating apparatus includes an image loading unit 210, an image recognizing unit 220, an outline detecting unit 230, and an emoticon generating unit 240.

The image loading unit 210 loads image data including a face in response to a user's selection.

The image recognition unit 220 detects feature information of a predetermined region of the face from the image data loaded in the image loading unit 210 and recognizes the face region from the image data.

The outline detecting unit 230 detects an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data.

The emoticon generation unit 240 generates emoticons from the face region image data corresponding to the outline detected by the outline detection unit 230 or the outline.

2 is a flowchart of a method of generating an emoticon of the emoticon generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the emoticon generation method of the emoticon generation apparatus includes an image data loading step S110, a feature information detection step S120, a facial area recognition step S130, an outline detection step S140, , And an emoticon generation step (S150).

Referring to FIG. 3, the emoticon generation apparatus loads image data including an actual face in response to a user's selection in an image data loading step (S110). The image data may be stored image data or directly generated from a camera connected to the image data.

The image data may be in various formats, and does not limit the format of the image data.

The user can display the loaded image data to the user or recognize the face portion included in the image data from the loaded image data without displaying the loaded image data.

Face region recognition may be possible by detecting characteristic information of a specific region predetermined in the feature information detection step S120.

As a conventional technique for recognizing a face, there exist technologies for recognizing a face region using image data including a face, such as an eigen vector and a PCA (Principle Component Analysis) feature vector.

Further, in order to separately discriminate a specific region such as an eye, a nose, a mouth, etc. from the face region, a separate feature vector may be used or a technique different from face region recognition may be used.

The facial part recognition technique or the technique of recognizing a specific part included in a face corresponds to a known technique, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This does not limit the type of face recognition technology or the technique for recognizing a specific region included in a face.

The pre-processing may be performed on the image data before recognizing the face region.

For example, a high-pass filter can be applied to emphasize the contour of image data. Further, a filter for detecting an outline such as a Sobel filter may be applied to the image data before detecting feature information for detecting a face part or a specific part included in the face.

In the feature information detection step (S120), feature information of a predetermined region on the face is detected.

The predetermined region on the face includes at least one of eyes, nose, and mouth.

For example, in order to generate the emoticons, the facial region and the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears included in the facial region can be detected. In addition, in order to generate emoticons, Can be detected.

That is, the face portion to be detected for generation of the emoticons can be set in advance at the position. As an example of the reason, if the nose does not allow deformation, it is possible to preset the eye and mouth only in the face region.

In addition, it is possible to allow a user to select a region to be detected for generating an emoticon.

That is, if the user desires only the change of the eyes and the mouth, the user may select a desired region before loading the image data or after recognizing the face region, and use only the corresponding region selected by the user for emoticon generation.

The interface through which a user selects a specific part may be a general interface of a check box type or a selection interface through a touch or a mouse click directly by the user among specific parts recognized from the image data.

The face recognizes the face region using the feature information detected in the face region recognition step (S130).

Conventional face recognition techniques can be used for facial area recognition.

It detects the outline at the recognized face area.

4 and 5, for example, after the face part and the specific part included in the face are detected and recognized, the outline is detected in the outline detection step S140 from the image data, As shown in FIG.

If the user selects eye, mouth only in the previous step, or if only the eyes and mouth are set to detect the setting, only the face part and eye and mouth outline are detected as shown in FIG.

Or if the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears included in the face region are all set or selected, the outline of the face region and the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are detected as shown in FIG.

Although Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the display of the detected outline on the display means, this may not indicate the outline detected by the display means visible to the user.

That is, the user can select a desired facial expression immediately after detecting the outline internally, and generate emoticons from the actual photographs using the detected outline.

This allows the user to adjust the detected outline in order to generate a more precise emoticon when displaying the detected outline on the display means visible to the user.

Conventionally, various outline detection techniques exist, but the outline detection result may not be accurate or the user may not be satisfied depending on the illumination of the image data, the pose of the face, and the surrounding environment.

For example, in FIG. 6, the control point may be displayed on the detected outline as shown in FIG. 5 so that the user can adjust the outline. The user can adjust the outline to accurately reflect the shape of each part of the image data by moving the control point of the outline corresponding to the face part, the eyes, and the mouth.

The control point can provide an interface by which the user can finely adjust the number by changing the number according to each part.

The emoticons are generated using the outline corresponding to the face region detected in the emoticon generation step (S150) or a predetermined region in the face.

In order to generate an emoticon, the user can select and input desired facial expressions from the user.

Taking FIG. 9 as an example, the user may be allowed to select a smiling expression, a crying expression, a winking expression, and an angry expression to the user. In FIG. 9, the expression is graphically displayed in order to allow a user to intuitively select a desired facial expression, but a user's selection may be inputted into a general text type list.

The generated emoticons may be in the form of a character (or caricature) composed of the outline, or may be a form in which an actual facial appearance is modified.

7 is an example of a character type emoticon of smiling expression generated from the outline.

It is possible to store the conversion model corresponding to the expression selected by the user in advance.

When the user selects a facial expression, it loads the conversion model of the selected facial expression and converts the detected outline into the desired facial expression using the corresponding conversion model.

For example, a smiley conversion model can be a form in which the left and right mouth tails rise upwards. In this case, the outline corresponding to the mouth of the detected outline may be matched to the spline curve of the mouth included in the transformation model, and then the outline corresponding to the mouth may be deformed.

In this case, in order to generate a natural emoticon, the degree of change of the outline corresponding to the mouth is measured by a force model, and the outline corresponding to the face portion around the mouth is also transformed by applying the force have.

If the difference between the detected outline and the spline curve of the transformation model is small, the deformation may be small.

The conversion according to the conversion model may be applied only to a predetermined region in the face or only to a region set in the conversion model.

 8 is an example of an emoticon generated as a real photograph from the detected face portion in Fig.

It is possible to store the conversion model corresponding to the expression selected by the user in advance.

When the user selects a facial expression, the user loads the conversion model of the selected facial expression, and converts the image data portion corresponding to the detected outline and outline into the desired facial expression using the conversion model.

For example, a smiley conversion model can be a form in which the left and right mouth tails rise upwards. In this case, the outline corresponding to the mouth of the detected outline may be matched to the spline curve of the mouth included in the transformation model, and then the outline corresponding to the mouth may be deformed.

Also, the force corresponding to the deformation of the outline may be measured, and the image data corresponding to the outline may be transformed according to the force.

Also, in this case, in order to generate the emoticon modified with natural image data, the image data corresponding to the peripheral face portion can be also transformed by applying the force according to the distance to the outline corresponding to the mouth. For example, the region close to the outline corresponding to the mouth deforms the image data to receive a large force according to the conversion model, and the outline and the farthest portion corresponding to the mouth deform the image data to receive a small force according to the conversion model can do.

Since the direction of the force to be converted may be different depending on the detected portion of the outline, the image data in the vicinity of the outline corresponding to the mouth may also be converted in different directions.

If the difference between the detected outline and the spline curve of the transformation model is small, the deformation may be small.

The conversion according to the conversion model may be applied only to a predetermined region in the face or only to a region set in the conversion model.

Therefore, it is possible to generate unique emoticons composed of real photographs as well as character-type emoticons composed of outlines only.

The emoticon generation step may be generated by applying a filter. Spline curve models can measure natural forces by measuring force, but mask type filters can more easily transform image data or outlines.

In this case, the filter may be predetermined according to the facial expression selected by the user, and may change the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline according to the selected facial expression.

In addition, it is possible to automatically change the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline according to the facial expression selected by the user, and to provide an interface by which the user can directly modify the desired region have.

FIG. 6 is an example of providing control pointers 610 to the outline for which the value is detected.

The user can move the desired control pointer 610 to convert the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline to the facial expression desired by the user. In the case of converting the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the mouth-out line corresponding to the mouth, it is possible to change the shape by moving the control pointer 603 of the mouth of the tail, When converting the corresponding facial region image data, it is possible to change the shape by moving the control pointer 602 of the eye tail. Or if the face shape itself is to be converted, the control pointer 601 of the outline of the face shape may be moved.

The image data of the facial region corresponding to the outline or the outline can be converted according to the movement of the control pointer 610. In addition to the control pointer that the user moves, the surrounding control pointer is also moved according to the movement of the control pointer You can move together to create a natural emoticon.

After the emoticons are generated, the emoticons may be transmitted from an application selected in advance or selected by the user, or emoticons generated by an external device.

Accordingly, the emoticon generated as shown in FIG. 10 can be directly used as an emoticon in another application.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a face image, the method comprising: loading image data including a face; detecting feature information of a predetermined region of the face; A method for processing an input of a portable terminal device, comprising the steps of: detecting an outline of a predetermined portion and a face portion of a facial region; and generating emoticons from facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline, And recorded on a recording medium readable by the electronic apparatus.

The emoticon generation method of the emoticon generation apparatus can be created by a program, and the codes and code segments constituting the program can be easily deduced by a programmer in the field. Further, a program relating to an input processing method of the portable terminal apparatus may be stored in an information storage medium (Readable Media) readable by the electronic apparatus, and read and executed by the electronic apparatus.

Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the embodiments described above are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

The present invention allows an emoticon having various facial expressions desired by a user to be created using the actual photograph of a user and enables the emoticon generated by the user to be directly transmitted to another application such as a messenger to be used so that a user can select a desired emoticon And can be used for an emoticon generating apparatus and an emoticon generating method that can be generated.

210: image loading unit 220:
230: Outline detection unit 240: Emoticon generation unit
310, 410, 510: image data corresponding to an actual photograph
420, 520: detected outline
601, 602, 603, 610: control pointers

Claims (15)

An image loading unit loading image data including a face according to the format of the data;
An image recognition unit for detecting feature information of a predetermined part of a face from the image data and recognizing a face part from the image data;
An outline detecting unit that detects an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data; And
An emoticon generation unit for generating an emoticon from the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline;
And an emoticon generating device.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the predetermined portion includes at least one of eyes, nose, mouth, or ear.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the emoticon generation unit comprises:
Receiving a selection input for a predetermined filter,
Wherein the emoticon generating unit generates the emoticon by applying the filter to the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the filter of the emoticon generation unit changes the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the filter of the emoticon generation unit changes the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline with at least one expression of a smiling facial expression, a crying facial expression or an angry facial expression.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the emoticon generation unit comprises:
A control point is displayed on the outline of a predetermined part or face part of the face part detected by the outline detecting part,
After receiving the movement input of the control point from the user,
And generates emoticons by modifying facial region image data corresponding to the predetermined region or the outline according to the movement input of the control point.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The emoticon generation unit, after generating the emoticon,
Wherein the emoticon generating unit transmits the emoticon generated by an application or an external device that is predetermined or selected by the user.
(a) loading image data including a face;
(b) detecting feature information of a predetermined region of the face from the image data and recognizing a face region from the image data;
(c) detecting an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data; And
(d) generating an emoticon from the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline;
A method of generating an emoticon of an emoticon generating device including
9. The method of claim 8,
In the step (b)
Wherein the predetermined region includes at least one of eyes, nose, mouth, or ear, the emoticon generating method of the emoticon generating apparatus
9. The method of claim 8,
The step (d)
Receiving a selection input for a predetermined filter,
And generating the emoticon by applying the filter to the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the filter changes the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline in the step (d)
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the filter changes the shape of the facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline with at least one expression of a smiling facial expression, a crying facial expression or an angry facial expression in the step (d) How to create emoticons
9. The method of claim 8,
The step (d)
A control point is displayed on the outline of a predetermined part or face part of the face part detected in step (c)
After receiving the movement input of the control point from the user,
Generating emoticons by modifying facial region image data corresponding to the predetermined region or the outline according to the movement input of the control point
14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13,
After the step (d)
(e) transmitting the emoticons generated in the step (d) to an application or an external device that is predetermined or selected from a user, and generating an emoticon of the emoticon generating device
(a) loading image data including a face;
(b) detecting feature information of a predetermined region of the face and recognizing the face region from the image data;
(c) detecting an outline of a predetermined part and a face part of the face part from the image data; And
And generating an emoticon from facial region image data corresponding to the outline or the outline is recorded as a program and readable in an electronic device.

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