Object detection

A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing a sequence of capture images of the area of interest, wherein each of the capture images capture at least part of the interior of the area of interest;
• identifying one or more border regions in each of the captured images that correspond to the border of the area of interest;
• analyzing the one or more border regions in the captured images and determining if an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest;
• and
• outputting a signal indicating when an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest, wherein at least part of the interior of the area of interest of the capture images is not monitored until a determination is made that an object has entered the one or more border regions.

A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior region, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing at least two images of the area of interest using two separate image capturing devices;
• identifying one or more border regions in each captured image that corresponds to the border of the area of interest, each captured image including at least a portion of the interior region;
• analyzing the one or more border regions of the captured images but not at least part of the interior region to determine when an object enters the area of interest;
• and
• outputting a signal indicating whether or not an object has entered the area of interest.

A system for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior region, comprising:

• capturing means for capturing a capture image of the area of interest;
• and
• analyzing means for analyzing at least a portion of the capture image corresponding to the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object, and for analyzing at least a portion of the capture image corresponding to the interior region of the area of interest for the presence of the object after the object breaches the border;
• wherein the analyzing means does not analyze at least part of the capture image corresponding to at least part of the interior region unless an object breaches the border region.

A system for monitoring an area of interest, comprising:

• image capturing means for capturing at least one image of the area of interest;
• first processing means for processing at least one of the capture images to determine if an object has entered the area of interest;
• second processing means for processing at least one of the capture images to determine if an object has entered the area of interest;
• and
• output means for outputting a signal indicating that an object has entered the area of interest when both the first processing means and second processing means indicate that an object has entered the object of interest.

A method for monitoring an area of interest in a field of view of an image capture device, the method comprising the steps of:

• defining a border in the field of view of the image capture device, wherein the border at least partially defines an interior region of the area of interest;
• monitoring at least a portion of the border region of the area of interest for breach by an object while not monitoring at least part of the interior region of the area of interest;
• and
• monitoring at least a portion of the interior region of the area of interest for the object after the object breaches the border.

A method for monitoring an area of interest having a border and an interior, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing a capture image of the area of interest;
• identifying one or more border regions in the captured image that correspond to the border of the area of interest;
• analyzing the one or more border regions of the captured image and determining if an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest, wherein the one or more border regions of the captured image are analyzed by comparing the one or more border regions of the capture image to corresponding regions of two or more reference images, wherein at least one comparison detects relatively immediate changes, and at least one comparison detects accumulated changes;
• and
• outputting a signal indicating when an object has entered the one or more border regions of the area of interest.