Chellappa, Zheng and alumnus Ran awarded U.S. Patent # 8,179,440

ECE Minta Martin Professor of Engineering Rama Chellappa, his former advisee Dr. Yang Ran (Ph.D., ’06), and Research Scientist Qinfen Zheng (UMIACS) have been awarded U.S. Patent # 8,179,440, titled, “Method and System for Object Surveillance and Real Time Activity Recognition.” The patent was issued on May 15, 2012.

Method and system for objects surveillance and real-time activity recognition is based on analysis of spatio-temporal images of individuals under surveillance where a spatio-temporal volume occupied by each individual is decomposed by crossing the same at specific heights to form 2-dimensional slices, each containing representation of trajectory of the motion of corresponding portions of the individual body.

The symmetry of the trajectories is analyzed and classified to generate a decision indicative of a type of activity of the individual An effective occlusion handling ability is implemented which permits to then restore the occluded silhouette of an individual.

Professor Rama Chellappa is currently serving as Interim Chair of the ECE Department. Alumnus Yang Ran and Research Scientist Qinfen Zheng are now employed at SAIC/SET Corporation.

For more information, please visit the U.S. patent website.

Published May 23, 2012