IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, ALBUM CREATING APPARATUS, ALBUM CREATING METHOD, ALBUM CREATING SYSTEM AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20110085055A1
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Published: 04/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ayumu Isomura, Hajime Shirasaka, Kenji Kojima, Kideaki Yoshihara, Kimiko Tachikawa, Masahiro Matsushita, Shinsuke Zetsu, Yasuhiko Kaneko
• Original Assignee: Ayumu Isomura, Hajime Shirasaka, Kenji Kojima, Kideaki Yoshihara, Kimiko Tachikawa, Masahiro Matsushita, Shinsuke Zetsu, Yasuhiko Kaneko
• Inventors: Yoshihara, Kideaki, Isomura, Ayumu, Kaneko, Yasuhiko, Shirasaka, Hajime, Matsushita, Masahiro, Kojima, Kenji, Tachikawa, Kimiko, Zetsu, Shinsuke
• Granted Patent: US 8,345,118 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/231.3
• 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: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

An image capturing apparatus includes: an image capturing section for capturing an image; a person determining section for determining whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person; an input notification section for notifying a user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted when the image determining section determines that the image includes the person; a personal identification information input section for causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the input notification section notifies the user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted; and an image storage section for storing the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with the image captured by the image capturing section when the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information.

Claims

1. An album creating apparatus comprising:

an image storage section for storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section;

an album creating section for creating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section; and

a designated personal image extraction section for extracting an designated personal image stored in the image storage section in association with personal identification information indicative of the designated person,

wherein the album creating section includes an image classification section for classifying the related personal image selected by the image selecting section and the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section.

2. The album creating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the album creating section includes an album generating section for generating each page of the album using images classified into each page in the album by the image classification section,

wherein the image classification section for classifying a related personal image selected by the image selecting section and a designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section into different pages in an album.

3. The album creating apparatus according to claim 1 wherein, the related personal information extraction section extracts personal identification information on a first person and a second person closely related to the designated person based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section, the image selecting section selects a first related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the first person and a second related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person, which are extracted by the related personal information extraction section, the album creating section including

an album generating section for generating each page in the album using the images classified into each page by the image classification section,

wherein:

the image classification section for classifying the first related personal image selected by the image selecting section and the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section into one page in the album, and also classifies the second related personal image selected by the image selecting section and the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section into the other page in the album.

4. The album creating apparatus according to claim 1 wherein, the related personal information extraction section extracts personal identification information on a first person and a second person closely related to the designated person based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section, the image selecting section selects a first related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the first person and a second related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person, which are extracted by the related personal information extraction section, the album creating section including

an album generating section for generating one page in the album using the designated personal image, the first related personal image and the second related personal image which are classified into the one page in the album by the image classification section

wherein the image classification section for classifying the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section, and the first related personal image and the second related personal image selected by the image selecting section into one page in the album.

5. The album creating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image classification section classifies the first related personal image and the second related personal image into each page such that the number of first person and the number of second person included in one page is approximately equal based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section.

6. The album creating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the album creating section further includes an area calculating section for calculating an area for a first person and a second person included in the image stored in the image storage section based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section, and wherein the image classification section classifies the first related personal image and the second related personal image into each page such that the area for the first person and the area for the second person are substantially equal in one page based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section and the area calculated by the area calculating section.

7. The album creating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the album creating section further includes an area calculating section for calculating for each page an area for a first person and a second person included in the first related personal image and the second related personal image classified into each page by the image classification section based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section, and wherein the image generating section enlarges or reduces the first personal image and the second personal image to generate the album such that the area for the first person and the area for the second person calculated by the area calculating section are substantially equal in one page.

8. An album creating method comprising:

storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on persons closely related to each other;

extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal identification information stored in the related personal information storing step;

extracting a related personal image stored in the image storing step in association with the personal identification information extracted in the related personal information extracting step;

extracting a designated personal image stored in the image storage section in association with personal identification information indicative of the designated person; and

generating an album including the image extracted in the image extracting step,

wherein the album generating step includes classifying the related personal image extructed by the related personal image extracting step and the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extracting step.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon a computer program comprising a set of instructions when executed by a computer to implement a method for an album creating apparatus for creating an album, the method operates the album creating apparatus to function as:

an image storage section for storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section;

an album creating section for creating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section; and

a designated personal image extraction section for extracting a designated personal image stored in the image storage section in association with personal identification information indicative of the designated person,

wherein the album creating section includes an image classification section for classifying the related personal image selected by the image selecting section and the designated personal image extracted by the designated personal image extraction section.

10. An album creating system comprising:

an image capturing section for capturing an image;

a person determining section for determining whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person;

an input notification section for notifying a user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted when the person determining section determines that the image includes any person;

a personal identification information input section for causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the input notification section notifies the user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted;

an image storage section for storing the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with the image captured by the image capturing section when the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by the user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section; and

an album generating section for generating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section,

wherein the album creating section includes;

a person determination section for determining whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes at least the person closely related to the designated person; and

a trimming image generating section for generating a trimming image which includes at least the person closely related to the designated person and in which the person more closely related to the designated person are enhanced.

11. An album creating apparatus comprising:

an image storage section for storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section; and

an album creating section for creating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section,

wherein the album creating section includes;

a person determination section for determining whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes at least the person closely related to the designated person; and

a trimming image generating section for generating a trimming image which includes at least the person closely related to the designated person and in which the person more closely related to the designated person are enhanced.

12. The album creating apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the album creating section includes:

an album generating section for generating an album using the trimming image generated by the trimming image generating section,

the person determination section determines whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes both of the designated person and the person closely related to the designated person,

the trimming image generating section generates a trimming image which includes the designated person and the person closely related to the designated person and in which the designated person is distinctly trimmed from the image when the person determining section determines that the one image selected by the image selecting section includes both of the designated person and the person closely related to the designated person.

13. The album creating apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the related personal information storage section stores related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other in association with degree of relationship between the closely related persons, the album creating section including

an album generating section for generating an album using the trimming image generated by the trimming image generating section,

wherein the person determining section determines whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes both of a first person and a second person who is less closely related to the designated person than the first person;

the trimming image generating section generates a trimming image which includes the first person and a second person and in which the first person is enhanced more than the second person, when the person determining section determines that the one image selected by the image selecting section includes both of the first person and the second person.

14. An album creating method comprising:

storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on persons closely related to each other;

extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal identification information stored in the related personal information storing step;

extracting the image stored in the image storing step in association with the personal identification information extracted in the related personal information extracting step; and

generating an album including the image extracted in the image extracting step,

wherein the album generating step includes;

determining whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes at least the person closely related to the designated person; and

generating a trimming image which includes at least the person closely related to the designated person and in which the person more closely related to the designated person are enhanced.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon a computer program comprising a set of instructions when executed by a computer to implement a method for an album creating apparatus for creating an album, the method operates the album creating apparatus to function as:

an image storage section for storing personal identification information indicative of a person included in an image in association with the image;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by a user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section; and

an album creating section for creating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section,

wherein the album creating section includes;

a person determination section for determining whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes at least the person closely related to the designated person; and

a trimming image generating section for generating a trimming image which includes at least the person closely related to the designated person and in which the person more closely related to the designated person are enhanced.

16. An album creating system comprising:

an image capturing section for capturing an image;

a person determining section for determining whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person;

an input notification section for notifying a user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted when the person determining section determines that the image includes any person;

a personal identification information input section for causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the input notification section notifies the user that the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted;

an image storage section for storing the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with the image captured by the image capturing section when the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information;

a related personal information storage section for storing related personal information associated with the personal identification information on the persons closely related to each other;

a related personal information extraction section for extracting the personal identification information on a person closely related to a designated person who is designated by the user based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section;

an image selecting section for selecting the image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information extracted by the related personal information extraction section; and

an album generating section for generating an album including the image selected by the image selecting section,

wherein the album generating section includes;

a person determination section for determining whether one image selected by the image selecting section includes at least the person closely related to the designated person; and

a trimming image generating section for generating a trimming image which includes at least the person closely related to the designated person and in which the person more closely related to the designated person are enhanced.