Image capture system, image presentation method, and program

• US 20100157075A1
• Filed: 12/09/2009
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yoshizumi, Shingo
• Granted Patent: US 8,638,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/211.900
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/147 Details of sensors, e.g. sensor lenses fingerprint or palmprint sensors G06V40/13; vascular sensors G06V40/145; eye sensors G06V40/19
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/262 Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects

Abstract

An image capture system includes: an automatic photography controlling section for executing an automatic photography operation to thereby obtain captured-image data from an image resulting from image capture performed by an image-capture section; a display section having a display screen section on which the image is displayed; a moving mechanism section having a mechanism for moving a movement unit so that a display direction of the display section is changed in conjunction with an image-capture direction; a captured-image display controlling section for controlling the display section so that the image of the obtained captured-image data is displayed on the display screen section; and a movement controlling section for controlling the moving mechanism section so as to move the movement unit so that the display direction is directed toward a subject person in a mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed.

Claims

1. An image capture system comprising:

automatic photography controlling means for executing an automatic photography operation in response to a predetermined trigger to thereby obtain captured-image data from an image resulting from image capture performed by an image-capture section;

a display section having a display screen section on which the image is displayed, the display screen section being provided so that a display direction thereof is different from a direction in which the image capture is performed by the image-capture section;

a moving mechanism section having a mechanism for moving a movement unit so that the display direction is changed in conjunction with the image-capture direction, the movement unit having the image-capture section and the display screen section;

captured-image display controlling means for executing display control on the display section so that the image of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography controlling means is displayed on the display screen section; and

movement controlling means for controlling the moving mechanism section so as to move the movement unit so that the display direction is directed toward a subject person in a mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen portion.

2. The image capture system according to claim 1, further comprising subject-position obtaining means for obtaining an absolute subject position indicating a subject position relative to a reference position of the moving mechanism section,

wherein the movement controlling means controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is directed toward the absolute subject position.

3. The image capture system according to claim 2, further comprising center obtaining means for obtaining, when the number of subjects in the image of the captured-image data is one, a single center of the subject and for obtaining, when the number of subjects in the image of the captured-image data is more than one, an overall center of the subjects,

wherein the subject-position obtaining means obtains the absolute subject position on a basis of a position of the moving mechanism section when the captured-image data is obtained and a position of the center in the image of the captured-image data.

4. The image capture system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the subject-position obtaining means obtains the absolute subject position of a newly photographed subject, as captured-image data is obtained by automatic photography;

the movement controlling means controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is sequentially directed toward each obtained absolute subject position; and

the captured-image display controlling means displays at least one of the images of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, in each state in which the display direction is directed toward the absolute subject position.

5. The image capture system according to claim 4, further comprising captured-image subject-position information generating means for generating captured-image subject-position information indicating the absolute subject position obtained for the subject in each image of the captured-image data;

and

the captured-image display controlling means displays the image of the captured image data selected from the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, on a basis of the absolute subject position toward which the display direction is directed and the captured-image subject-position information.

6. The image capture system according to one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising storage instruction operating means for allowing, when the captured-image display controlling means displays the image of the captured-image data on the display screen section, an operation to be performed to give an instruction indicating whether or not the captured-image data is to be recorded and stored into a storage medium.

7. The image capture system according to claim 6, further comprising re-photography instruction operating means for allowing, when the captured-image display controlling means displays the image of the captured-image data on the display screen section, an operation to be performed to give an instruction for re-executing the automatic photography operation without recording and storing the captured-image data into the storage medium.

8. The image capture system according to claim 7, further comprising modification instruction operating means for giving, when the operation is performed on the re-photography instruction operating means to give the instruction for re-executing the automatic photography operation, an instruction for modifying image composition to be obtained for the image of the captured-image data during the re-execution of the automatic photography operation.

9. The image capture system according to one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

image-composition determining means for determining image composition when a subject is detected in the image resulting from the image capture performed by the image-capture section; and

image-composition controlling means for controlling at least the moving mechanism section so that the determined image composition is obtained,

wherein the automatic photography controlling means executes the automatic photography operation in response to a trigger indicating that the determined image composition is obtained by the control performed by the image-composition controlling means.

10. The image capture system according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the movement controlling means controls the moving mechanism section so that a movement speed of the movement unit in the mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen section is higher than a movement speed of the movement unit in another mode.

11. The image capture system according to one of claims 1, 2, and 6 to 10, further comprising:

individual recognition processing means for executing individual recognition processing on a subject in the image to obtain individual recognition data;

captured-image subject individual recognition information generating means for generating captured-image subject individual recognition information containing the individual recognition data in association with the corresponding captured-image data; and

search controlling means for executing search control for searching for, from the image, a subject that matches the corresponding individual recognition data contained in the captured-image subject individual recognition information, by controlling at least the moving mechanism section,

wherein the moving controlling means controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is sequentially directed toward each subject found by the search controlling means, and

the captured-image display controlling means displays at least one of the images of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, in each state in which the display direction is directed toward the subject.

12. The image capture system according to one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising an image capture apparatus having the movement unit and a platform apparatus having the moving mechanism section, the image capture apparatus and the platform apparatus being physically independent from each other.

13. An image presentation method comprising the steps of:

executing an automatic photography operation in response to a predetermined trigger to thereby obtain captured-image data from an image resulting from image capture performed by an image-capture section;

executing display control so that the image of the obtained captured-image data is displayed on a display screen section, the display screen section being provided so that a display direction thereof is different from a direction in which the image capture is performed by the image-capture section; and

controlling a moving mechanism section having a mechanism for moving a movement unit so that the display direction is changed in conjunction with the image-capture direction, the movement unit having the image-capture section and the display screen section, and controlling the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is directed toward a subject person in a mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen portion.

14. A program causing an image capture system to execute the steps of:

executing an automatic photography operation in response to a predetermined trigger to thereby obtain captured-image data from an image resulting from image capture performed by an image-capture section;

executing display control so that the image of the obtained captured-image data is displayed on a display screen section, the display screen section being provided so that a display direction thereof is different from a direction in which the image capture is performed by the image-capture section; and

controlling a moving mechanism section having a mechanism for moving a movement unit so that the display direction is changed in conjunction with the image-capture direction, the movement unit having the image-capture section and the display screen section, and controlling the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is directed toward a subject person in a mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen portion.

15. An image capture system comprising:

an automatic photography controlling section configured to executing an automatic photography operation in response to a predetermined trigger to thereby obtain captured-image data from an image resulting from image capture performed by an image-capture section;

a display section having a display screen section on which the image is displayed, the display screen section being provided so that a display direction thereof is different from a direction in which the image capture is performed by the image-capture section;

a moving mechanism section having a mechanism for moving a movement unit so that the display direction is changed in conjunction with the image-capture direction, the movement unit having the image-capture section and the display screen section;

a captured-image display controlling section configured to execute display control on the display section so that the image of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography controlling section is displayed on the display screen section; and

a movement controlling section configured to control the moving mechanism section so as to move the movement unit so that the display direction is directed toward a subject person in a mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen portion.

16. The image capture system according to claim 15, further comprising a subject-position obtaining section configured to obtain an absolute subject position indicating a subject position relative to a reference position of the moving mechanism section,

wherein the movement controlling section controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is directed toward the absolute subject position.

17. The image capture system according to claim 16, further comprising a center obtaining section configured to obtain, when the number of subjects in the image of the captured-image data is one, a single center of the subject and to obtain, when the number of subjects in the image of the captured-image data is more than one, an overall center of the subjects,

wherein the subject-position obtaining section obtains the absolute subject position on a basis of a position of the moving mechanism section when the captured-image data is obtained and a position of the center in the image of the captured-image data.

18. The image capture system according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the subject-position obtaining section obtains the absolute subject position of a newly photographed subject, as captured-image data is obtained by automatic photography;

the movement controlling section controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is sequentially directed toward each obtained absolute subject position; and

the captured-image display controlling section displays at least one of the images of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, in each state in which the display direction is directed toward the absolute subject position.

19. The image capture system according to claim 18, further comprising a captured-image subject-position information generating section configured to generate captured-image subject-position information indicating the absolute subject position obtained for the subject in each image of the captured-image data;

and

the captured-image display controlling section displays the image of the captured image data selected from the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, on a basis of the absolute subject position toward which the display direction is directed and the captured-image subject-position information.

20. The image capture system according to one of claims 15 to 19, further comprising a storage instruction operating section configured to allow, when the captured-image display controlling section displays the image of the captured-image data on the display screen section, an operation to be performed to give an instruction indicating whether or not the captured-image data is to be recorded and stored into a storage medium.

21. The image capture system according to claim 20, further comprising a re-photography instruction operating section configured to allow, when the captured-image display controlling section displays the image of the captured-image data on the display screen section, an operation to be performed to give an instruction for re-executing the automatic photography operation without recording and storing the captured-image data into the storage medium.

22. The image capture system according to claim 21, further comprising a modification instruction operating section configured to give, when the operation is performed on the re-photography instruction operating section to give the instruction for re-executing the automatic photography operation, an instruction for modifying image composition to be obtained for the image of the captured-image data during the re-execution of the automatic photography operation.

23. The image capture system according to one of claims 15 to 22, further comprising:

an image-composition determining section configured to determine image composition when a subject is detected in the image resulting from the image capture performed by the image-capture section; and

an image-composition controlling section configured to control at least the moving mechanism section so that the determined image composition is obtained,

wherein the automatic photography controlling section executes the automatic photography operation in response to a trigger indicating that the determined image composition is obtained by the control performed by the image-composition controlling section.

24. The image capture system according to one of claims 15 to 22, wherein the movement controlling section controls the moving mechanism section so that a movement speed of the movement unit in the mode in which the image of the captured-image data is displayed on the display screen section is higher than a movement speed of the movement unit in another mode.

25. The image capture system according to one of claims 15, 16, and 20 to 24, further comprising:

an individual recognition processing section configured to execute individual recognition processing on a subject in the image to obtain individual recognition data;

a captured-image subject individual recognition information generating section configured to generate captured-image subject individual recognition information containing the individual recognition data in association with the corresponding captured-image data; and

a search controlling section configured to execute search control for searching for, from the image, a subject that matches the corresponding individual recognition data contained in the captured-image subject individual recognition information, by controlling at least the moving mechanism section,

wherein the moving controlling section controls the moving mechanism section so that the display direction is sequentially directed toward each subject found by the search controlling section, and

the captured-image display controlling section displays at least one of the images of the captured-image data obtained by the automatic photography, in each state in which the display direction is directed toward the subject.

26. The image capture system according to one of claims 15 to 25, further comprising an image capture apparatus having the movement unit and a platform apparatus having the moving mechanism section, the image capture apparatus and the platform apparatus being physically independent from each other.