Person recognition apparatus

• US 20030039380A1
• Filed: 08/23/2002
• Published: 02/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Sukegawa, Hiroshi, Sato, Toshio, Ogata, Jun, Yokoi, Kentaro, Dobashi, Hironori, Okazaki, Akio
• Granted Patent: US 7,120,278 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/28 Determining representative reference patterns, e.g. by averaging or distorting; Generating dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/172 Classification, e.g. identification

Abstract

When authentication data of a person O to be authenticated is registered as dictionary data, this authentication data of the person to be authenticated is acquired and collated with the registered dictionary data. In accordance with the collation result, the dictionary data is updated.

Claims

1. A person recognition apparatus having an authentication data input unit which acquires authentication data, and a dictionary storage which stores dictionary data for authentication, said person recognition apparatus authenticating a person to be authenticated on the basis of authentication data acquired from the person by said authentication data input unit and the dictionary data stored in said dictionary storage, comprising:

a dictionary formation unit which forms new dictionary data for authentication on the basis of authentication data acquired by said authentication data input unit;

an authenticator which, after the dictionary data is formed by said dictionary formation unit, reacquires authentication data by said authentication data input unit, and collates the reacquired authentication data from said authentication data input unit with the dictionary data formed by said dictionary formation unit; and

a dictionary updating unit which, in a case where the collation by said authenticator is successful, updates the dictionary data by using the authentication data acquired by said authentication data input unit after the dictionary data is formed by said dictionary formation unit.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a case where the collation by said authenticator is unsuccessful, authentication data is reacquired from the person by said authentication data input unit, and subjected to collation performed by said authenticator.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises:

a display which displays authentication data acquired by said authentication data input unit to a person to be authenticated; and

a selector which selects whether to form dictionary data of the person to be authenticated on the basis of the authenticated data displayed on said display, and

in which, in a case where said selector selects formation of the dictionary data, said dictionary formation unit forms new dictionary data based on the authentication data displayed on said display.

4. A person recognition apparatus having an authentication data input unit which acquires authentication data, a dictionary storage which stores dictionary data for authentication, and an authenticator which authenticates a person to be authenticated on the basis of authentication data acquired from the person by said authentication data input unit and the dictionary data stored in said dictionary storage, comprising:

a determination unit which, in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by said authenticator, determines whether to update dictionary data stored in said dictionary storage;

a dictionary updating unit which updates the dictionary data found to be updated by said determination unit, on the basis of the authentication data acquired by said authentication data input unit;

a dictionary update log storage which stores a dictionary update log indicating contents of the dictionary data updated by said dictionary updating unit; and

a display which, in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by said authenticator, displays the authentication result and a dictionary update log of the last dictionary update stored in said dictionary update log storage.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, which further comprises an image input unit which acquires at least a face image of the person to be authenticated whose dictionary data is updated by said dictionary updating unit, and

in which said dictionary update log storage stores a dictionary update log containing a face image, which is acquired by said image input unit, of the person to be authenticated whose dictionary data is updated.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the dictionary update log contains a face image of a person to be authenticated whose dictionary data is updated, information indicating the date and time of update of the dictionary data, and information indicating the location of update of the dictionary data.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said display displays the authentication result including that face image of the person to be authenticated, which is acquired by said image input unit, and a dictionary update log stored in said dictionary update log storage and containing a face image of a person who belongs to a preset group.

8. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said dictionary update log storage stores the update log in a portable information recording medium of a person to be authenticated.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, which further comprises a confirmation unit which confirms whether a person who has selected update of the dictionary data by said selector is a person to be authenticated who is authenticated by said authenticator, and

in which said dictionary updating unit updates the dictionary data in a case where said confirmation unit has confirmed that the person who has selected update of the dictionary data by said selector is the person to be authenticated who is authenticated by said authenticator.

10. An apparatus according to claim 4, which further comprises:

a second authentication data input unit which, in a case where the person to be authenticated is not authenticated by said authenticator, acquires second authentication data different from the authentication data from the person; and

a second authenticator which authenticates the person to be authenticated on the basis of the second authentication data acquired by said second authentication data input unit, and

in which in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by said second authenticator and the number of times the person is authenticated by said second authenticator is not less than a preset predetermined value, said dictionary updating unit updates dictionary data of that person stored in said dictionary storage on the basis of authentication data input by said authentication data input unit.

11. A method of forming dictionary data for authentication to be used in a person recognition apparatus having an authentication data input unit which acquires authentication data, a dictionary storage which stores dictionary data for authentication, and an authenticator which authenticates a person to be authenticated on the basis of authentication data acquired from the person by the authentication data input unit and the dictionary data stored in the dictionary storage, comprising:

forming new dictionary data for authentication on the basis of authentication data acquired by the authentication data input unit;

reacquiring authentication data by the authentication data input unit, and collating the reacquired authentication data from the authentication data input unit with the formed dictionary data, after the dictionary data is formed; and

updating the dictionary data by using the authentication data acquired by the authentication data input unit after the dictionary data is formed, in a case where this collation is successful.

12. A method of updating dictionary data for authentication to be used in a person recognition apparatus having an authentication data input unit which acquires authentication data, a dictionary storage which stores dictionary data for authentication, and an authenticator which authenticates a person to be authenticated on the basis of authentication data acquired from the person by the authentication data input unit and the dictionary data stored in the dictionary storage, comprising:

determining whether to update dictionary data stored in the dictionary storage, in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by the authenticator;

updating the dictionary data found to be updated by the determination on the basis of the authentication data acquired by the authentication data input unit;

storing in a storage device a dictionary update log indicating contents of update of the dictionary data; and

displaying on a display the authentication result and a dictionary update log of the last dictionary update stored in the storage device, in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by the authenticator.

13. A method according to claim 12, which further comprises:

acquiring second authentication data different from the authentication data from the person, in a case where the person to be authenticated is not authenticated by the authenticator; and

authenticating the person to be authenticated on the basis of the second authentication data acquired from the person, and

in which the updating the dictionary data comprises updating dictionary data of that person stored in the dictionary storage on the basis of the authentication data, in a case where the person to be authenticated is authenticated by the second authentication data and the number of times the person is authenticated by the second authentication data is not less than a preset predetermined value.

14. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least the face of a person;

a face detector which detects the region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a recognition unit which, when an image to be recognized is input by said image input unit, recognizes the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor with registration information held in said registration information holding unit; and

a display which, when said recognition unit is to perform a recognizing process, displays, on the same screen, information indicating the state of the face in the image to be recognized and information indicating the state of the face in the registration information which is held in said registration information holding unit and is to be collated with the image to be recognized.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display further displays on the same screen the image to be recognized input by said image input unit.

16. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display displays, on the same screen, information indicating the size and position of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and information indicating the size and position of the face in the image to be recognized, by frames of different line types.

17. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display displays, on the same screen, information indicating the size and position of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and information indicating the size and position of the face in the image to be recognized, by not less than one straight line or curve different in line type.

18. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display displays the image input by said image input unit only in the size and position of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and displays, on the same screen, information indicating the size and position of a face in the image to be recognized.

19. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display displays the image input by said image input unit only in the size and position of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and displays, on the same screen, information indicating the size and position of the face in the image to be recognized by not less than one straight line or curve.

20. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said display further displays, on the same screen, information indicating the direction of he face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and information indicating the direction of the face in the image to be recognized.

21. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display further displays, on the same screen, information indicating the direction of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and information indicating the direction of the face in the image to be recognized, by a curve which projects in a direction in which the face looks.

22. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said display further displays, on the same screen, information indicating the size and central position of the face in the registration information to be collated with the image to be recognized, and information indicating the size and central position of the face in the image to be recognized.

23. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least the face of a person;

a face detector which detects the region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a recognition unit which, when an image to be recognized is input by said image input unit, recognizes the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor with registration information held in said registration information holding unit; and

a display which, when an image to be registered is to be input by said image input unit, displays, on the same screen, guidance information indicating conditions under which the image to be registered is to be input, and information indicating the state of a face in the image being input by said image input unit.

24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein when an image to be registered is to be input by said image input unit, said display displays, on the same screen, a first circular pattern indicating the position and size of a face preferred as the image to be registered, and a second circular pattern indicating the position and size of a face in the image being input by said image input unit.

25. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein when an image to be registered is to be input by said image input unit, said display) displays, on the same screen, a pattern indicating the direction of a face preferred as the image to be registered, and the image being input by said image input unit.

26. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least the face of a person;

a face detector which detects the region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a determination unit which continuously inputs an image by said image input unit, and determines whether a person to be authenticated exists on the basis of a change with time in the region of the face detected by said face detector; and

a recognition unit which, in a case where said determination unit determines that a person to be authenticated exists, recognizes the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor from the image input by said image input unit with registration information held in said registration information holding unit.

27. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said determination unit starts the recognizing operation by said person recognition apparatus on the basis of a change with time in the center coordinates of a face detected by said face detector.

28. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said determination unit starts the recognizing operation by said person recognition apparatus on the basis of a change with time in a size of a face detected by said face detector.

29. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said determination unit starts the recognizing operation by said person recognition apparatus on the basis of a change with time in a position of a feature point of a face detected by said face detector.

30. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said determination unit starts the recognizing operation by said person recognition apparatus on the basis of a temporal difference between images in the region of a face detected by said face detector.

31. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said determination unit starts the recognizing operation by said person recognition apparatus, in a case where a state in which a temporal correlation value concerning an image in the region of a face detected by said face detector is not less than a predetermined threshold value continues for a predetermined number of frames.

32. A gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least a face of a person;

a face detector which detects a region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image of a person to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a recognition unit which, when an image of a passerby is input by said image input unit, recognizes the passerby by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor with registration information held in said registration information holding unit;

a display which, when said recognition unit is to perform the recognizing process, displays, on the same screen, information indicating a state of the face in the image of the passerby to be recognized, and information indicating a state of the face in the registration information which is held in said registration information holding unit and is to be collated with the image of the passerby to be recognized; and

a gate control unit which control passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result from said recognition unit.

33. A gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least a face of a person;

a face detector which detects a region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a recognition unit which, when an image of a passerby is input by said image input unit, recognizes the passerby by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor with registration information held in said registration information holding unit;

a gate control unit which control passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result from said recognition unit; and

a display which, when an image of a person to be registered is to be input by said image input unit, displays, on the same screen, guidance information indicating conditions under which the image of the person to be registered is to be input, and information indicating a state of a face in the image being input by said image input unit.

34. A gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

an image input unit which inputs an image containing at least a face of a person;

a face detector which detects a region of the face of the person from the image input by said image input unit;

a feature amount extractor which extracts a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result from said face detector;

a registration information holding unit which, when an image of a person to be registered is input by said image input unit, holds as registration information of the person a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor;

a determination unit which continuously inputs an image by said image input unit, and determines whether a passerby exists, on the basis of a change with time in the region of the face detected by said face detector;

a recognition unit which, in a case where said determination unit determines that a passerby exists, recognizes the passerby by collating a feature amount extracted by said feature amount extractor from the image input by said image input unit with registration information held in said registration information holding unit; and

a gate control unit which control passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result from said recognition unit.

35. A person authentication method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image to be registered is input by the image input unit;

recognizing the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted from the image to be recognized with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, when an image to be recognized is input by the image input unit; and

displaying, on the same screen, information indicating a state of the face in the image to be recognized and information indicating a state of the face in the registration information which is held in the registration information holding unit and is to be collated with the image to be recognized, when the recognizing process is to be performed.

36. A person authentication method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image to be registered is input by the image input unit;

recognizing the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted from the image to be recognized with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, when an image to be recognized is input by the image input unit; and

displaying, on the same screen, guidance information indicating conditions under which the image to be registered is to be input, and information indicating the state of a face in the image being input by the image input unit, when an image to be registered is to be input by the image input unit.

37. A person authentication method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image to be registered is input by the image input unit;

determining whether a person to be authenticated exists, on the basis of a change with time in the region of a face detected from a continuous image input by the image input unit; and

recognizing the person to be authenticated by collating a feature amount extracted from the image to be recognized input by the image input unit with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, in a case where it is determined that a person to be authenticated exists.

38. A gate control method for use in a gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image of a person to be registered is input by the image input unit;

recognizing the passerby by collating a feature amount extracted from the image of the passerby with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, when an image of a passerby is input by the image input unit;

displaying, on the same screen, information indicating a state of the face in the image of the passerby, and information indicating a state of the face in the registration information which is held in the registration information holding unit and is to be collated with the image of the passerby, when the recognizing process is to be performed; and

controlling passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result of the recognizing process.

39. A gate control method for use in a gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image to be registered is input by the image input unit;

displaying, on the same screen, guidance information indicating conditions under which the image to be registered is to be input, and information indicating a state of a face in the image being input by the image input unit, when an image to be registered is to be input by the image input unit;

recognizing the passerby by collating a feature amount extracted from the image of the passerby with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, when an image of a passerby is input by the image input unit; and

controlling passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result of the recognizing process.

40. A gate control method for use in a gate control apparatus for recognizing a passerby and controlling passage of the passerby, comprising:

inputting an image containing at least a face of a person by an image input unit;

detecting a region of the face of the person from the image input by the image input unit;

extracting a feature amount of the face of the person on the basis of the detection result;

holding as registration information of the person in a registration information holding unit a feature amount extracted from the image to be registered, when an image to be registered is input by the image input unit;

determining whether a person to be authenticated exists, on the basis of a change with time in the region of a face detected from a continuous image input by the image input unit;

recognizing the person by collating a feature amount extracted from the image to be recognized input by the image input unit with registration information held in the registration information holding unit, in a case where it is determined that a person to be authenticated exists; and

controlling passage of the passerby in accordance with the recognition result of the recognizing process.

41. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to these users, and which also stores, for a face image having a similar face image, information indicating the existence of the similar face image;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a first face collator which, in a case where information indicating the existence of a face image similar to a face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is not stored in said storage unit, collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

a second face collator which, in a case where information indicating the existence of a face image similar to a face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is stored in said storage unit, collates, by a collating process different from the process performed by said first face collator, the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit.

42. An apparatus according to claim 41, wherein

said first face collator determines whether the collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether a degree of collation between the face image photographed by said photographing unit and the face image corresponding to the identification information is not less than a first threshold value, and

said second face collator determines whether the collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether a degree of collation between the face image photographed by said photographing unit and the face image corresponding to the identification information is not less than a second threshold value higher than the first threshold value.

43. An apparatus according to claim 41, wherein

said first face collator determines whether the collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether a degree of collation between the face image photographed by said photographing unit and the face image corresponding to the identification information is not less than a predetermined threshold value, and

said second face collator calculates degrees of collation between the face image photographed by said photographing unit and all face images stored in said storage unit, and determines whether the collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether the degree of collation with the face image corresponding to the identification information is a maximum and a difference from the second largest collation degree is not less than a predetermined value.

44. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

an information giving unit which determines degrees of collation between the face images stored in said storage unit, and, in a case where a collation degree not less than a predetermined value exists, gives, to the corresponding face image, information indicating the existence of a similar face image;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a first face collator which, in a case where a face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is not given information indicating existence of a similar face image, collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

a second face collator which, in a case where a face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is given information indicating existence of a similar face image, collates, by a collating process different from the process performed by said first face collator, the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit.

45. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users, and also stores, for a face image having a similar face image, information indicating the existence of the similar face image;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user;

a first face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a plurality of face images stored in said storage unit; and

a second face collator which, in a case where information indicating the existence of a face image similar to the face image collated by said first face collator is stored in said storage unit, performs face image collation by a collating process different from the process performed by said first face collator.

46. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information;

a determination unit which determines degrees of collation between a face image to be stored in said storage unit and other face images already stored in said storage unit;

a setting unit which sets a threshold value for the face image to be stored in said storage unit, on the basis of those degrees of collation between that face image and the other face images, which are determined by said determination unit;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

a face collator which performs a collating process for determining whether collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether the degree of collation between the face image of the user photographed by said photographing unit and a face image registered in said storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is not less than the threshold value set by said setting unit.

47. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein for a face image found by said determination unit to have a face image having a collation degree not less than a predetermined value, said setting unit sets a threshold value higher than that for a face image having no such face image as having a collation degree not less than the predetermined value.

48. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

an input unit which inputs identification information and additional information of a user;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

a face collator which collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit.

49. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user, and which sets a default face image of face images of a user corresponding to each identification information;

an input unit which inputs at least identification information;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a first face collator which, in a case where additional information is input in addition to the identification information by said input unit, collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

a second face collator which, in a case where only the identification information is input by said input unit, collates a face image set as a default face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit.

50. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user and additional information of a face image to be collated;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a face collator which collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

an updating unit which, in a case where the collation by said face collator is unsuccessful, updates the face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information stored in said storage unit on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit.

51. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user and additional information of a face image to be collated;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a face collator which collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit;

an authenticator which, in a case where the collation by said face collator is unsuccessful, performs authentication to check whether the user photographed by said photographing unit is the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

an updating unit which, in a case where the user is authenticated by said authenticator, updates the face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information stored in said storage unit, on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit.

52. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user and additional information of a face image to be collated;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a face collator which collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

an additional registration unit which, in a case where the collation by said face collator is unsuccessful, gives additional information to the face image photographed by said photographing unit and stores the face image in said storage unit in one-to-one correspondence with the identification information.

53. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a registration unit which stores in said storage unit another face image of a user whose face image is stored in said storage unit, in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user and additional information of a face image to be collated;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a face collator which collates a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by said input unit with the face image photographed by said photographing unit;

an authenticator which, in a case where the collation by said face collator is unsuccessful, performs authentication to check whether the user photographed by said photographing unit is the user corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit; and

an additional registration unit which, in a case where the user is authenticated by said authenticator, gives additional information to the face image photographed by said photographing unit and stores the face image in said storage unit in one-to-one correspondence with the identification information.

54. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores a face image of an authentic user;

a second storage unit which stores a face image of a suspicious person;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user;

a first face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said first storage unit;

a second face collator which, in a case where it is found by said first face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit does not match the face image stored in said first storage unit, collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said second storage unit; and

an alarming unit which generates an alarm in a case where it is found by said second face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit matches the face image stored in said second storage unit.

55. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores a face image of an authentic user;

a second storage unit which stores a face image of a suspicious person;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user;

a first face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said first storage unit;

a second face collator which, in a case where it is found by said first face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit does not match the face image stored in said first storage unit, collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image stored in said second storage unit;

an alarming unit which generates an alarm in a case where it is found by said second face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit matches the face image stored in said second storage unit;

a third storage unit which stores the face image photographed by said photographing unit in a case where it is found by said second face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit does not match the face image stored in said second storage unit; and

a registration unit which stores in said second storage unit a face image of a suspicious person selected from face images stored in said third storage unit.

56. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores a face image of a user;

a second storage unit which stores information indicating a user present in a predetermined region;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user entering the predetermined region;

a face collator which, when a face image is photographed by said photographing unit, specifies a person present in the predetermined region on the basis of stored contents of said second storage unit, and collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image stored in said first storage unit and other than that of the user stored in said second storage unit;

a permitting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit matches the face image other than that of the user present in the predetermined region, permits entrance of the person whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit; and

a rejecting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit does not match the face image other than that of the user present in the predetermined region, rejects entrance of the person whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit.

57. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores face images of users permitted to enter a predetermined region in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a second storage unit which stores information indicating users present in a predetermined region;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user entering the predetermined region;

a photographing unit which, in a case where the person corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is not stored in said second storage unit as a person present in the predetermined region, photographs a face image of the user whose identification information is input by said input unit;

a face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image stored in said first storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a permitting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the two face images match, permits entrance of the person whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit; and

a rejecting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the two face images do not match, or in a case where the person whose identification information is input by said input unit is stored in said second storage unit as a person present in the predetermined region, rejects entrance of the person whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit.

58. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores a face image of a user;

a second storage unit which stores information indicating a user present in a predetermined region;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user leaving the predetermined region;

a face collator which, when a face image is photographed by said photographing unit, specifies a user present in the predetermined region on the basis of stored contents of said second storage unit, and collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image stored in said first storage unit and corresponding to the user present in the predetermined region;

a permitting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit matches the face image of the user present in the predetermined region, permits leaving of the user whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit; and

a rejecting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the face image photographed by said photographing unit does not match the face image of the user present in the predetermined region, rejects leaving of the user whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit.

59. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a first storage unit which stores face images of users permitted to enter a predetermined region in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a second storage unit which stores information indicating users present in a predetermined region;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user leaving the predetermined region;

a photographing unit which, in a case where the user who has input the identification information by said input unit is stored in said second storage unit as a user present in the predetermined region, photographs a face image of the user who has input the identification information by said input unit;

a face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image stored in said first storage unit and corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit;

a permitting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the two face images match, permits leaving of the user whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit; and

a rejecting unit which, in a case where it is found by said face collator that the two face images do not match, or in a case where the user who has input the identification information by said input unit is not stored in said second storage unit as a user present in the predetermined region, rejects leaving of the user whose face image is photographed by said photographing unit.

60. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user;

a sensor which senses existence of a user photographable by said photographing unit;

a first face collator which, in a case where the existence of a user is sensed by said sensor, causes said photographing unit to photograph a face image of the user, and collates the photographed face image with all the face images stored in said storage unit;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user; and

a second face collator which, in a case where identification information is input by said input unit while said first face collator is executing a collating process, interrupts the collating process by said first face collator, and collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit.

61. A person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

a storage unit which stores face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to the users;

a photographing unit which photographs a face image of a user;

a sensor which senses existence of a user photographable by said photographing unit;

a first face collator which, in a case where the existence of a user is sensed by said sensor, causes said photographing unit to photograph a face image of the user, and collates the photographed face image with all the face images stored in said storage unit;

an input unit which inputs identification information of a user in a case where the collation by said first face collator is unsuccessful; and

a second face collator which, in a case where identification information is input by said input unit, collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with a face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit.

62. An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein

said storage unit separately stores a face image of a user to be collated by said first face collator, and a face image of a user to be collated by said second face collator, and

said first face collator performs collation with a face image to be collated stored in said storage unit.

63. A person recognition system having a face image collating apparatus which photographs a user'"'"'s face image and collates the photographed face image with a face image stored beforehand in a collating dictionary, a server apparatus connected to said face image collating apparatus, and an information terminal connectable to said server apparatus, wherein

said information terminal comprises:

a photographing unit which photographs a user'"'"'s face image;

a personal dictionary formation unit which forms a personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

a transmitter which transmits the personal dictionary formed by said personal dictionary formation unit to said server apparatus, and

said server apparatus comprises a collating dictionary formation unit which receives the personal dictionary transmitted from said information terminal, and forms a dictionary for use in said face image collating apparatus by integrating personal dictionaries transmitted from a plurality of information terminals.

64. A person recognition system having a face image collating apparatus which photographs a user'"'"'s face image and collates the photographed face image with a face image stored beforehand in a collating dictionary, a server apparatus connected to said face image collating apparatus, and an information terminal connectable to said server apparatus, wherein

said information terminal comprises:

a photographing unit which photographs a user'"'"'s face image;

a receiver which receives a personal dictionary formation program from said server apparatus;

a personal dictionary formation unit which activates the personal dictionary formation program received by said receiver, and forms a personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

a transmitter which transmits the personal dictionary formed by said personal dictionary formation unit to said server apparatus, and

said server apparatus comprises a collating dictionary formation unit which receives the personal dictionary transmitted from said information terminal, and forms a dictionary for use in said face image collating apparatus by integrating personal dictionaries transmitted from a plurality of information terminals.

65. A person recognition system having a face image collating apparatus which photographs a user'"'"'s face image and collates the photographed face image with a face image stored beforehand in a collating dictionary, a server apparatus connected to said face image collating apparatus, and an information terminal connectable to said server apparatus, wherein

said information terminal comprises:

a photographing unit which photographs a user'"'"'s face image;

a registration unit which registers a face image into a personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit;

a face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image registered in said personal dictionary;

an updating unit which, when face collation is performed by said face collator, updates the personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit in accordance with an instruction from the user; and

a transmitter which transmits the personal dictionary to said server apparatus, and

said server apparatus comprises a collating dictionary formation unit which receives the personal dictionary transmitted from said information terminal, and forms a dictionary for use in said face image collating apparatus by integrating personal dictionaries transmitted from a plurality of information terminals.

66. A person recognition system having a face image collating apparatus which photographs a user'"'"'s face image and collates the photographed face image with a face image stored beforehand in a collating dictionary, a server apparatus connected to said face image collating apparatus, and an information terminal connectable to said server apparatus, wherein

said information terminal comprises:

a photographing unit which photographs a user'"'"'s face image;

a registration unit which registers a face image into a personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit;

a face collator which collates the face image photographed by said photographing unit with the face image registered in said personal dictionary;

a determination unit which, on the basis of the result of the face collation by said face collator, determines whether the face collation by the face image registered in the personal dictionary is stable;

an updating unit which, in a case where said determination unit determines that the face collation by the face image registered in the personal dictionary is unstable, updates the personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by said photographing unit; and

a transmitter which, in a case where said determination unit determines that the face collation by the face image registered in the personal dictionary is stable, transmits the personal dictionary to said server apparatus, and

said server apparatus comprises a collating dictionary formation unit which receives the personal dictionary transmitted from said information terminal, and forms a dictionary for use in said face image collating apparatus by integrating personal dictionaries transmitted from a plurality of information terminals.

67. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprises:

storing, in a storage unit, identification information corresponding to a user'"'"'s face image and given to each user, and, for a user'"'"'s face image having a similar face image, information indicating existence of the similar face image;

inputting identification information of a user from an input unit;

causing a photographing unit to photograph a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by the input unit;

collating, by a first collation method, the face image photographed by the photographing unit with the face image stored in the storage unit and corresponding to the identification information of the use, in a case where information indicating the existence of a face image similar to the face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is not stored in the storage unit; and

collating, by a second collation method, the face image photographed by the photographing unit with the face image stored in the storage unit and corresponding to the identification information of the user, in a case where information indicating the existence of a face image similar to the face image corresponding to the identification information input by said input unit is stored in the storage unit.

68. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

storing a user'"'"'s face image in a storage unit in one-to-one correspondence with identification information;

determining the degree of collation of a face image to be stored in the storage unit with another face image already stored in the storage unit;

setting a threshold value for the face image to be stored in the storage unit, on the basis of the degree of collation between this face image and the other face image;

inputting identification information of a user by an input unit;

causing a photographing unit to photograph a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by the input unit; and

performing a collating process for determining whether collation is successful or unsuccessful by checking whether a degree of collation between the user'"'"'s face image photographed by the photographing unit and the face image stored in the storage unit and corresponding to the user'"'"'s identification information is not less than the threshold value.

69. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

storing, in a storage unit, face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to these users;

storing, in the storage unit, another face image of a user whose face image is stored in the storage unit in one-to-one correspondence with additional information corresponding to each face image of the user and with identification information of the user;

inputting identification information and additional information of a user by an input unit;

causing a photographing unit to photograph a face image of the user corresponding to the identification information input by the input unit; and

collating a face image corresponding to the identification information and additional information input by the input unit with the face image photographed by the photographing unit.

70. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

storing a face image of an authentic user in a first storage unit;

storing a face image of a suspicious person in a second storage unit;

photographing a face image of a user by a photographing unit;

collating the face image photographed by the photographing unit with the face image stored in the first storage unit;

collating the face image photographed by the photographing unit with the face image stored in the second storage unit, in a case where it is found by this collating process that the face image photographed by the photographing unit does not match the face image stored in the first storage unit; and

generating an alarm in a case where it is found by this collating process that the face image photographed by the photographing unit matches the face image stored in the second storage unit.

71. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

storing a face image of a user in a first storage unit;

storing information indicating a user present in a predetermined region in a second storage unit;

causing a photographing unit to photograph a face image of a user entering the predetermined region;

specifying a person present in the predetermined region on the basis of the stored contents of the second storage unit, and collating the face image photographed by the photographing unit with a face image stored in the first storage unit and other than that of the user stored in the second storage unit, when a face image is photographed by the photographing unit;

permitting entrance of the user whose face image is photographed by the photographing unit, in a case where it is found by this collating process that the face image photographed by the photographing unit matches the face image other than that of the user present in the predetermined region; and

rejecting entrance of the user whose face image is photographed by the photographing unit, in a case where it is found by the collating process that the face image photographed by the photographing unit does not match the face image other than that of the user present in the predetermined region.

72. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition apparatus for recognizing a person by a face image, comprising:

storing, in a storage unit, face images of users in one-to-one correspondence with identification information given to these users;

sensing the existence of a user photographable by a photographing unit;

photographing a face image of the user by the photographing unit;

collating the photographed face image with all the face images stored in the storage unit; and

interrupting the collating process, and collating the face image photographed by the photographing unit with a face image corresponding to the identification information input by the input unit, in a case where identification information is input by a input unit while the collating process is being executed.

73. A person recognition method for use in a person recognition system having a face image collating apparatus which photographs a user'"'"'s face image and collates the photographed face image with a face image stored beforehand in a collating dictionary, a server apparatus connected to the face image collating apparatus, and an information terminal connectable to the server apparatus, comprising:

causing the information terminal side

to photograph a user'"'"'s face image by a photographing unit,

to form a personal dictionary on the basis of the face image photographed by the photographing unit, and

to transmit the formed personal dictionary to the server apparatus; and

causing the server apparatus side

to receive the personal dictionary transmitted from the information terminal, and form a dictionary for use in the face image collating apparatus by integrating personal dictionaries transmitted from a plurality of information terminals.