A new Apple patent (number 8295610) at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office shows that Apple is working on ways to beef up face detection in its iOS and OS X products.

The patent is for feature scaling for face detection. Per the patent, a feature used in face detection can be applied to an image portion and can be scaled to fit differently sized image areas. If a feature is positioned with respect to an image area such that a vertex of the feature is aligned with a non-integer pixel location, at least one dimension of the filter can be rounded. A dimension to be rounded further can correspond to a directional component of the feature.

For instance, contrast regions within the feature can be arranged horizontally, such that the vertical dimension represents a directional component. A rounding rule associated with the feature can be used in rounding a dimension corresponding to a directional component, such that a size ratio between the contrast regions is maintained. In some instances, the rounding rule can specify a factor that is a positive integer determined based on the number of contrast regions in the feature.

Ralph Brunner is the inventor.

Also appearing today at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is patent number 8292633 for an audio plug with a cosmetic hard shell. An apparatus, systems and methods for assembling an audio plug with a cosmetic hard shell are provided. A plug may be coupled to a cable. An inner member may be molded about an end portion of the plug and an end portion of the cable.

A strain relief member may be molded about a portion of the cable such that the strain relief member is adjacent to and substantially flush with the inner member. The seam between the inner member and the strain relief member may be covered by coupling a hard, smooth outer shell over a portion of the inner member and a portion of the strain relief member.

Each of the inner member, the strain relief member, and the outer shell may be formed by injection molding, be of a cylindrical shape, and be formed from the same or different materials. The inventors are Wilhelmus M.C. Crooijmans and Kurt Stiehl.