IP Library Granted Patent US 9,332,227
Granted Patent B2
US 9,332,227 · App. 14/623,079 · Granted May 3, 2016

Dynamic facial feature substitution for video conferencing

Inventors: Hernan A. Cunico (Holly Springs, NC); Asima Silva (Holden, MA)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
H04N7/157G06K9/00255G06K9/00281G06K9/00315G06K9/6201G06T7/0042G06T7/20H04L12/18H04L65/4038H04L65/601H04N7/152H04N7/155G06Q99/00G06T2207/10016G06T2207/30201
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,332,227
App. No.
14/623,079
Granted
May 3, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

In an approach to determine facial feature substitution in a video conference, a computer receives one or more pre-recorded videos of an attendee of a video conference. The one or more pre-recorded videos include at least one pre-recorded video of an attendee speaking. The computer determines an avatar for use in place of a video of the attendee in the video conference. Furthermore, the computer determines one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos of the attendee corresponding to at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference. The computer substitutes the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos into the avatar, the substitution corresponding to the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video conference.

Claims (20)

1. A method for facial feature substitution in a video conference, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computing devices, one or more pre-recorded videos of an attendee of a video conference, the one or more pre-recorded videos including at least one pre-recorded video of an attendee speaking;

determining, by one or more computing devices, an avatar for use in place of a video of the attendee in the video conference;

determining, by one or more computing devices, one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos of the attendee corresponding to at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference; and

substituting, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos into the avatar, the substitution corresponding to the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein substituting, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos into the avatar further comprise:

creating, by one or more computing devices, a co-ordinate map of one or more key facial elements of the attendee in the one or more pre-recorded videos;

creating, by one or more computing devices, a co-ordinate map of one or more key facial elements of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference;

matching, by one or more computing devices, the co-ordinate map of the one or more pre-recorded videos to the co-ordinate map of the video of the attendee in the video conference; and

substituting, by one or more computing devices, based, at least in part, on the matched co-ordinate maps, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos into the avatar.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos corresponding to the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference further comprises using one or more facial recognition algorithms to correlate facial expressions and facial movements in the video to the one or more pre-recorded videos.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos corresponding to the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference further comprises using at least one of natural language processing and speech recognition to match corresponding one or more words in the video of the attendee to one or more words in the one or more pre-recorded videos.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos corresponding to the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference further comprises using sentiment analysis to correlate the sentiment of the video of the attendee to sentiment of the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by one or more computing devices, the one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos of the attendee corresponding to at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee in the video of the attendee in the video conference further comprises using three dimensional facial recognition algorithms to correlate the video of the attendee with one or more portions of the one or more pre-recorded videos.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more pre-recorded videos of the attendee further include the attendee exhibiting one or more facial expressions.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring, by one or more computing devices, the video of the attendee in a video conference;

determining, by one or more computing devices, whether the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee changed;

responsive to determining, by one or more computing devices, the at least one targeted facial feature of the attendee changed, determining at least one additional portion of the one or more pre-recorded videos of the attendee corresponding to the changed at least one targeted facial feature; and

substituting, by one or more computing devices, the at least one additional portion of the one or more pre-recorded videos into the avatar.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 16, 2015
From: CUNICO, HERNAN A.; SILVA, ASIMA
To: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 034966/0869 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 14320233 · Jun 30, 2014
Related Publication 20150381939A1 · Dec 31, 2015