# US 2026/0073540 A1 · Imaging device, imaging method, and information processing device

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- Number: US 2026/0073540 A1
- Document ID: US20260073540A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 19/241,857
- Filed: 2025-06-18
- Published: 2026-03-12
- Earliest claimed: 2018-09-18
- Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Satoshi SATO; Takeo AZUMA; Nobuhiko WAKAI; Kohsuke YOSHIOKA; Noritaka SHIMIZU; Yoshinao KAWAI; Takaaki AMADA; Yoko KAWAI; Takeshi MURAI; Hiroki TAKEUCHI
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20260073540A1

## CPC

- G06T 7/55: from multiple images
- G01C 3/06: Use of electric means to obtain final indication
- G01S 17/48: Active triangulation systems, i.e. using the transmission and reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
- G01S 17/89: for mapping or imaging
- G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
- G06T 5/77: Retouching; Inpainting; Scratch removal
- G06T 7/521: from laser ranging, e.g. using interferometry; from the projection of structured light
- H04N 5/2226: {Determination of depth image, e.g. for foreground/background separation (determining depth by image analysis in general G06T7/50; segmentation by image analysis in general G06T7/10)}
- H04N 23/11: for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths
- H04N 23/56: provided with illuminating means
- H04N 23/74: by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
- H04N 23/81: for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation
- H04N 25/61: the noise originating only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4"
- G06T 2207/10028: Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
- G06T 2207/10048: Infrared image
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A depth acquisition device includes a memory and a processor. The processor performs: acquiring timing information indicating a timing at which a light source irradiates a subject with infrared light; acquiring, from the memory, an infrared light image generated by imaging a scene including the subject with the infrared light according to the timing indicated by the timing information; acquiring, from the memory, a visible light image generated by imaging a substantially same scene as the scene of the infrared light image, with visible light from a substantially same viewpoint as a viewpoint of imaging the infrared light image at a substantially same time as a time of imaging the infrared light image; detecting a flare region from the infrared light image; and estimating a depth of the flare region based on the infrared light image, the visible light image, and the flare region.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information processing method comprising:
capturing an image of an object by a first camera;
projecting infrared light from a light source onto the object;
acquiring, by using a time of flight (ToF) distance measuring method, distance information indicating a distance to the object by receiving the infrared light reflected on the object, the infrared light having been emitted from the light source; and
determining presence or absence of at least one of a flare region, a non-flare region, a distant object, or an image blur based on the image and the distance information,
wherein the first camera is a visible light camera that captures a visible light image of the object.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising
outputting a corrected image of the object according to the presence or the absence of at least one of the flare region, the non-flare region, the distant object, or the image blur.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The information processing method according to claim 2,
wherein when the determining determines the presence of the flare region, the corrected image corrects a distance to the flare region based on the image, the distance information, and the flare region.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The information processing method according to claim 1,
wherein in the acquiring the distance information, an infrared light image is captured by the acquiring.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The information processing method according to claim 4,
wherein the capturing of the infrared light image is performed by a second camera.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The information processing method according to claim 5,
wherein the first camera captures the image of the object from a substantially same viewpoint as the second camera receives the infrared light reflected from the object.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The information processing method according to claim 5,
wherein the first camera captures the image of the object at a substantially same time as the second camera receives the infrared light reflected from the object.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The information processing method according to claim 5,
wherein the first camera captures the image of the object from a substantially same viewpoint and at a substantially same time as the second camera receives the infrared light reflected from the object.

### Claim 9 (depends on 5)

The information processing method according to claim 5,
wherein the first camera captures the image of the object from a substantially same scene as the second camera receives the infrared light reflected from the object.

### Claim 10 (depends on 4)

The information processing method according to claim 4, wherein in the determining the presence or the absence of the flare region, the determining determines, as the flare region, a region having a luminance not less than a first threshold in the infrared light image.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The information processing method according to claim 4,
wherein in the determining the presence or the absence of the flare region, the determining determines, as the flare region, a region having a luminance not less than a first threshold and satisfying a predetermined condition in the infrared light image, and
the predetermined condition is that a correlation value between (i) an image feature amount in a first region of the infrared light image and (ii) an image feature amount in a second region of the visible light image is less than a second threshold, the second region corresponding to the first region.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The information processing method according to claim 11,
wherein the image feature amount in the first region of the infrared light image is an edge included in the first region, and
the image feature amount in the second region of the visible light image is an edge included in the second region.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The imaging information method according to claim 11,
wherein the image feature amount in the first region of the infrared light image is a luminance in the first region, and
the image feature amount in the second region of the visible light image is a luminance in the second region.

### Claim 14

An information processing device comprising:
a processor;
a memory connected to the processor,
wherein, by using the memory, the processor:
acquires an image of an object captured by a first camera;
acquires, by using a time of flight (ToF) distance measuring method, distance information indicating a distance to the object by receiving infrared light reflected on the object, the infrared light having been emitted from a light source; and
determines presence or absence of at least one of a flare region, a non-flare region, a distant object, or an image blur based on the image and the distance information, and
wherein the first camera is a visible light camera that captures a visible light image of the object.