Image processing

1. An image processing method comprising:

capturing, by a camera, an image of a head of a user of a head mountable display device;

detecting, by a detector device, a position of the head mountable display device in the image captured by the camera;

identifying, by a processor device, a region of the user's face that is occluded by the head mountable display device; and

the processor device at least partially replacing a region of the captured image corresponding to the head mountable display device with a corresponding portion of a 3D facial model to provide a modified image.

2. The image processing method of claim 1 , comprising deriving the 3D facial model from captured images of the user's face.

3. The image processing method of claim 1 , in which the 3D facial model is a model of a face other than the user's face.

4. The image processing method of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding portion comprises a superposition of a partly transparent image of the head mountable display device and the 3D facial model.

5. The image processing method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D facial model comprises a mapping of interactions of facial muscles.

6. The image processing method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D facial model includes a representation of portions of a given face other than those portions directly overlaid by the head mountable display in use.

7. The image processing method of claim 1 , in which the identifying step comprises detecting an orientation of the head mountable display device and detecting occlusion of the user's face from a detected orientation of the head mountable display device.

8. The image processing method of claim 1 , in which the identifying step comprises comparing a captured image of the user's face with a reference image.

9. The image processing method of claim 1 , comprising rendering motion of the user's eyes in the modified image.

10. The image processing method of claim 9 , comprising detecting the eye motion using one or more cameras mounted on the head mountable display device.

11. The image processing method of claim 9 , comprising generating the eye motion by a computer.

12. The image processing method of claim 1 , comprising:

detecting facial muscle motion; and

changing generation of the modified image in accordance with the detected facial muscle motion.

13. The image processing method of claim 12 , in which the step of detecting facial muscle motion comprises estimating the facial muscle motion from captured images.

14. The image processing method of claim 12 , in which the step of detecting facial muscle motion comprises detecting the facial muscle motion using electromyography.

15. A machine-readable non-transitory storage medium which stores computer readable instructions thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform an image processing method comprising:

capturing an image of a head of a user of a head mountable display device;

detecting a position of the head mountable display device in the image captured by a camera;

identifying a region of the user's face that is occluded by the head mountable display device; and

at least partially replacing a region of the captured image corresponding to the head mountable display device with a corresponding portion of a 3D facial model, to provide a modified image.

16. An image processing apparatus operable to process an image, comprising:

an image capturing device configured to capture an image of a head of a user of a head mountable display device;

a detector configured to detect a position of the head mountable display device in the image captured by the image capturing device; and

a processor configured to identify a region of the user's face that is occluded by the head mountable display device, the processor being further configured to replace, at least partially, a portion of the captured image corresponding to the head mountable display device with a corresponding portion of a 3D facial model, to provide a modified image.

17. A communications system comprising:

first and second head mountable displays;

one or more cameras configured to capture images of the first and second head mountable displays in use; and

an image processing apparatus comprising:

a detector configured to detect positions of the first and second head mountable displays in the images captured by the one or more cameras; and

a processor configured to:

replace, at least partially, a portion of a captured image corresponding to the first head mountable display device with a corresponding portion of a 3D facial model, to provide a first modified image for display by the second head mountable display, and

replace, at least partially, a portion of a captured image corresponding to the second head mountable display with a corresponding portion of the 3D facial model, to provide a second modified image for display by the first head mountable display.