Image identifying apparatus and method, order processing apparatus, and photographing system and method

• US 20030103149A1
• Filed: 09/26/2002
• Published: 06/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Hiroaki, Kinjo, Naoto
• Granted Patent: US 7,301,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/231.5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00132 in a digital photofinishing system, i.e. a system where digital photographic images undergo typical photofinishing processing, e.g. printing ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00143 Ordering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00148 Storage information retrieval G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00167 Processing or editing H04N1/00196 - H04N1/00201 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00169 Digital image input
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3214 of a date
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3215 of a time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3247 Data linking a set of images to one another, e.g. sequence, burst or continuous capture mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data

Abstract

In a sightseeing location, theme park or the like, a cameraman takes a picture with any customer as a subject. Photographic image data is stored, together with a photographing date/time and location, to an HDD of an order processing apparatus. A position information service center periodically transmits a position of a cellular phone carried by each customer to the order processing apparatus. The transmitted information, together with a date/time, is stored in the HDD as each customer'"'"'s movement history. In case an image order is requested by a customer through an order receiving terminal or the like, the order processing apparatus collates a movement history of the corresponding customer with each photographing date/time and location of the photographic image data, and extracts only images having that customer as a subject to be list-displayed on a display.

Claims

1. An image identifying apparatus comprising:

an acquiring component which acquires a photographing date/time and photographing location at the time of taking a picture with an unspecified person as a subject;

an image data storage device which stores image data acquired by the photographing; and

an identifying device which identifies, by collating a movement history of a person photographed as a subject with the photographing date/time and the photographing location, which correspond to said stored image data, at least one of

(a) a person who is the subject of the image expressed by the image data, and

(b) image data of an image for which a particular person is the subject.

2. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage device corresponds the image data with the photographing data/time and photographing location in the photographing, by which the image data was obtained, and stores corresponded information.

3. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a photographing apparatus used for the photographing comprises a date/time detecting component which detects the current date/time and a position detecting component which detects the current position, and the acquiring component acquires said detected current date/time of the photographing time, which date/time were detected by the date/time detecting component, and a position at the time of photographing, which position was detected by the position detecting component.

4. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of image data is stored in the image data storage device, and the identifying device collates the movement history of the particular person inputted through an input device with each of the plurality of photographing date/times and locations corresponding to any of the plurality of image data stored in the data storage device, to identify the image data of the image having the particular person as the subject.

5. An image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movement history of a person is automatically recorded to a storage medium, the input device reading the movement history of the particular person from the storage medium.

6. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image identifying apparatus is configured to be externally given a predetermined instruction to use a result of identification by the identifying device, the identifying device carrying out the identification prior to being given the instruction.

7. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a gathering component which gathers movement histories of a plurality of persons, and a movement history storage device which stores the movement histories of the plurality of persons gathered by the gathering component, wherein the identifying device collates a photographing date/time and photographing location corresponding to the image data with each of the movement histories of the plurality of persons stored in the movement history storage device, to identity the person who is the subject in the image represented by the image data.

8. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the gathering component gathers each of the movement histories of the plurality of persons by:

periodically receiving the current position of the individual person;

corresponding said received current position of the individual person with the current date/time and information for identifying said individual person; and

making the movement history storage device store said corresponded information.

9. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the current positions of the individual person to be detected by communication between a portable communication apparatus carried by the individual person and base stations provided at a substantially constant distance.

10. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the current position of an individual person is detected by a position detecting device provided in a portable communication apparatus carried by the individual person.

11. The image identifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring component acquires at least one of a photographing azimuth and photographing magnification at the time of taking a picture with the unspecified person as a subject, and the identifying device uses at least one of the photographing azimuth and photographing magnification acquired by the acquiring component to identify the person as the subject in the image represented by the image data stored in the image data storage device or identify image data of the image having the particular person as the subject.

12. An order processing apparatus comprising:

the image identifying apparatus according to claim 1;

a display control component which causes a display device to display an image having the specified person as the subject depending upon a result of the identification by the identifying device; and

a processing component which carries out a predetermined process according to an order from a customer for the image displayed on the display device.

13. The order processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the image data storage device of the image identifying apparatus corresponds the image data with the photographing date/time and photographing location in the photographin by which said image data was obtained, and stores all three pieces of corresponded data.

14. The order processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processing component carries out, as the predetermined process, a print producing process or a print production requesting process, which use, from among the image data stored in the image data storage device, image data of the image designated by the customer;

and a print delivering or print transmitting process for delivering or transmitting to the customer the image data of the designated image.

15. An order processing apparatus comprising:

the image identifying apparatus according to claim 1;

a distributing device which distributes an image having a certain person as the subject to a customer, based on a result of the identification by the identifying device; and

a processing component which carries out a predetermined process according to an order for the distributed image from the customer.

16. An order processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the image data storage device of the image identifying apparatus stores, the image data in correspondence to the a photographing date/time and location in photographing by which the image data is obtained.

17. The order processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the certain person is the customer.

18. The order processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the certain person is a person previously registered by the customer.

19. The order processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the distributing device distributes the image to an apparatus possessed by the customer.

20. A image identifying method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a photographing date/time and photographing location at the time of taking a picture with an unspecified person as a subject;

storing image data obtained by the photographing in an image data storage device; and

collating the photographing date/time and location corresponding to the image data with a movement history of a person who was taken a picture of as a subject, thereby identifying a person as the subject in an image represented by the image data or image data of an image having a particular person as a subject.

21. A photographing system comprising:

a position signal transmitting apparatus having transmitting means to send a radio signal to represent a position of a target subject as a target of the photographing; and

a photographing apparatus having (a) display means which displays in real-time an image obtained by photographing, (b) adjusting means which adjusts a magnification in photographing, (c) detecting means which detects a self-position, (d) deriving means which derives at least one of a photographing direction and a magnification to place the target subject within a photographing scope depending on a position of the target subject detected based on the radio signal and a self-position detected by the detecting means, and (e) control means which controlls (i) the display means which displays direction information representative of a photographing direction when the photographing direction is derived by the deriving means and (ii) the adjusting means which provides the magnification when the magnification is derived by the deriving means.

22. The photographing system according to claim 21, wherein at least one of the detecting means and the deriving means is provided on an apparatus different from the photographing apparatus.

23. The photographing system according to claim 21, wherein, when the target subject is being displayed on the display means, the control means controls the display means to display related information which relates to the target subject.

24. The photographing system according to claim 23, wherein the deriving means further derives a moving speed of the target subject based on an amount of change of the position of the target subject per predetermined time, and the control means controlls the display means to change a display state of the related information according to the moving speed.

25. A photographing method comprising the steps of:

transmitting, with a position signal transmitting apparatus, a radio signal for indicating a position of a target subject as a target of a photographing;

deriving, with a photographing apparatus, at least one of a photographing direction and a magnification for placing the target subject within a photographing scope based on a position of the target subject detected based on the radio signal and a self-position displaying, when the photographing direction is derived, direction information representative of the photographing direction by display means and adjusting, when the magnification is derived, a magnification of the photographing to the derived magnification.