Methods and apparatus to count persons in a monitored environment
View Patent ↗Methods and apparatus to count persons in a monitored environment are disclosed. An example apparatus to count the number of people in a monitored environment is described, which includes an image sensor to collect a plurality of pixels, a pseudorandom number generator to pseudorandomly select at least one of a row of the pixels or a column of the pixels, a reader to read first pixel data generated by first pixels of the image sensor at a first time, the first pixels located in at least one of the row of the pixels or the column of the pixels, a comparator to compare the first pixel data with second pixel data generated by the first pixels at a second time different than the first time to generate first change values, and a counter to generate a count of persons based on the first change values.
1. An apparatus to count a number of persons in a monitored environment, comprising:
an image sensor to collect a plurality of pixels;
a pseudorandom number generator to pseudorandomly select at least one of a row of the pixels or a column of the pixels;
a reader to read first pixel data generated by first pixels of the image sensor at a first time, the first pixels located in at least one of the row of the pixels or the column of the pixels;
a comparator to compare the first pixel data with second pixel data generated by the first pixels at a second time different than the first time to generate first change values; and
a counter to generate a count of persons based on the first change values, wherein at least one of the number generator, the reader, the comparator, or the counter is implemented via a logic circuit.
2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further including a storage device to store the first change values and the at least one of the selected row or the selected column.
3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 , wherein the storage device is to store a count of audience members.
4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the counter is to map the first change values to facilitate detection of motion indicative of a person.
5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 , wherein the counter includes a map interpolator to obtain second change values based on the first change values.
6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 , wherein the map interpolator is to generate the second change values by interpolating the first change values.
7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the counter includes a blob discriminator to determine a blob based on the first change values.
8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 , wherein the blob discriminator is to determine whether the blob is indicative of a person.
9. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 , wherein the counter further includes a non-human filter to determine whether the blob does not represent a person.
10. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the counter includes a high-motion filter to determine whether the first change values are indicative of a high-motion event.
11. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first pixel data includes a brightness value and a color value.
12. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , further including a count comparator to determine whether the count of persons is equal to a previous count of persons.
13. A method to count a number of persons in a monitored environment, comprising:
pseudorandomly selecting, with a logic circuit, at least one of a row including a first set of pixels from a plurality of rows or a column including a second set of pixels from a plurality of columns at a first time;
collecting, with the logic circuit, first information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels at the first time;
comparing, with the logic circuit, the first information to second information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels at a second time different than the first time to generate first change values; and
determining, with the logic circuit, whether the first change values are indicative of a person being present in the monitored environment.
14. The method as defined in claim 13 , further including:
pseudorandomly selecting at least one of a second row including a third set of pixels from the plurality of rows or a second column including a fourth set of pixels from the plurality of columns at a third time;
collecting third information sensed by the at least one of the third set of pixels or the fourth set of pixels at the second time; and
comparing the third information to fourth information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels to generate second change values.
15. The method as defined in claim 14 , wherein the determining of whether the first change values are indicative of the person further includes determining whether the first and second change values in combination are indicative of the person in the monitored environment.
16. The method as defined in claim 15 , further including determining whether the second change values are indicative of a second person in the monitored environment.
17. The method as defined in claim 13 , wherein pseudorandomly selecting the at least one of the row including the first set of pixels from the plurality of rows or the column including the second set of pixels from the plurality of columns includes generating pseudorandom numbers corresponding to respective locations of the first or second sets of pixels.
18. The method as defined in claim 13 , further including placing the first change values in a map.
19. The method as defined in claim 13 , further including determining whether the first change values are indicative of a high-motion event.
20. A tangible computer readable storage device including computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
pseudorandomly select at least one of a row including a first set of pixels from a plurality of rows or a column including a second set of pixels from a plurality of columns at a first time;
collect first information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels at the first time;
compare the first information to second information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels at a second time different than the first time to generate first change values; and
determine whether the first change values are indicative of a person being present in the monitored environment.
21. The tangible computer readable storage device as defined in claim 20 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
pseudorandomly select at least one of a second row including a third set of pixels from the plurality of rows or a second column including a fourth set of pixels from the plurality of columns at a third time;
collect third information sensed by the at least one of the third set of pixels or the fourth set of pixels at the second time; and
compare the third information to fourth information sensed by the at least one of the first set of pixels or the second set of pixels to generate second change values.
22. The tangible computer readable storage device as defined in claim 21 , wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to determine whether the first change values are indicative of the person by determining whether the first and second change values in combination are indicative of the person in a monitored environment.
23. The tangible computer readable storage device as defined in claim 20 , wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to pseudorandomly select the at least one of the row including the first set of pixels from the plurality of rows or the column including the second set of pixels from the plurality of columns by generating pseudorandom numbers corresponding to respective locations of the first or second sets of pixels.
24. The tangible computer readable storage device as defined in claim 20 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to place the first change values in a map.
25. The tangible computer readable storage device as defined in claim 24 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to process the map to determine a count of persons present in the map.