Realtime object measurement

Abstract

A system and process of nearsighted (myopia) camera object detection involves detecting the objects through edge detection and outlining or thickening them with a heavy border. Thickening may include making the object bold in the case of text characters. The bold characters are then much more apparent and heavier weighted than the background. Thresholding operations are then applied (usually multiple times) to the grayscale image to remove all but the darkest foreground objects in the background resulting in a nearsighted (myopic) image. Additional processes may be applied to the nearsighted image, such as morphological closing, contour tracing and bounding of the objects or characters. The bound objects or characters can then be averaged to provide repositioning feedback for the camera user. Processed images can then be captured and subjected to OCR to extract relevant information from the image.

That which is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method of communicating adjustments for relative positioning of a handheld electronic device with a camera, and a document, the method comprising:
 continuously receiving, at a processor of the handheld electronic device, a plurality of images of characters on the document;   dynamically detecting edges of the characters while continuously receiving the images;   thickening the edges of the characters;   thresholding the edges of the characters;   displaying, using a display of the handheld camera, the edges of the characters;   determining an average font height of the characters using the edges of the characters; and   determining relative positioning information about positioning of the handheld electronic device relative to the document.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying the relative positioning information. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a focal length range of the camera. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein dynamically detecting edges of the characters includes estimating a gradient of characters in the images. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein dynamically detecting and thickening edges of the characters include using a Sobel operator. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein thickening the edges includes calculating a magnitude of a gradient of the detected edges of the characters. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein thresholding includes using an assumption of a foreground and background in the images. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein thresholding includes removing grayscale from a background of the source image. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein thresholding is repeated on at least one of the images until a nearsighted image is generated. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising morphologically closing characters after thresholding. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a contour of the characters. 
     
     
         12 . A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions embedded on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, said computer-executable instructions for communicating adjustments for relative positioning of a handheld electronic device with a camera, and a document, the computer-executable instructions comprising:
 computer-executable instructions for dynamically detecting edges of characters on the document as a processor of the handheld electronic device continuously receives a plurality of images of the characters from the camera of the handheld electronic device;   computer-executable instructions for thickening the edges of the characters;   computer-executable instructions for thresholding the edges of the characters;   computer-executable instructions for displaying, using a display of the handheld electronic device, the edges of the characters;   computer-executable instructions for determining an average font height of the characters using the edges of the characters; and   computer-executable instructions for determining relative positioning information about positioning of the handheld electronic device relative to the document.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for displaying the relative positioning information on the display. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for dynamically detecting and thickening edges of the characters include using a Sobel operator. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for thickening the edges includes computer-executable instructions for calculating a magnitude of a gradient of the detected edges of the characters. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for thresholding includes computer-executable instructions for using an assumption of a foreground and background in the images. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for thresholding includes computer-executable instructions for removing grayscale from a background of the source image. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for thresholding includes computer-executable instructions thresholding is repeated on at least one of the images until a nearsighted image is generated. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for morphologically closing characters after thresholding. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for determining a contour of the characters. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions for determining the contour includes computer-executable instructions for determining contour points.