IMAGING METHOD AND IMAGING APPARATUS

• US 20150015742A1
• Filed: 07/09/2014
• Published: 01/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OM Digital Solutions Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corporation (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: MATSUSHITA, Tetsuya, YAMAMOTO, Sachie, NUMAJIRI, Kyoichi
• Granted Patent: US 9,307,142 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/239
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2621 Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects during image pickup, e.g. digital cameras, camcorders, video cameras having integrated special effects capability

Abstract

An imaging method includes photographing a subject to acquire image data, determining a pointing motion performed by a photographer included in the subject based on the image data, and outputting an instruction signal corresponding to the motion. The method further includes performing the photographing more than once to acquire image data based on the instruction signal, and creating a composite image based on the image data obtained by the performing the photographing more than once and the instruction signal.

Claims

1. An imaging method comprising:

photographing a subject to acquire image data;

determining a pointing motion performed by a photographer included in the subject based on the image data;

outputting an instruction signal corresponding to the motion;

performing photographing more than once to acquire image data based on the instruction signal; and

creating a composite image based on the image data obtained by the performing the photographing more than once and the instruction signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the creating the composite image comprises composing an image showing a subject pointed to by the photographer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining the pointing motion comprises detecting that the photographer continuously points in a circumferential shape.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining the pointing motion comprises alternately detecting that the photographer points and that a touch panel is touched.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining the pointing motion comprises alternately detecting that the photographer points and the photographer performs a separating motion.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the instruction signal comprises information concerning positions to which the photographer has pointed,

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing when a target subject is present at each of the positions, and

the creating the composite image comprises composing images of the target subject at the respective positions.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein

the determining the pointing motion comprises detecting a number of times that the photographer has pointed, and

the creating the composite image comprises composing the images which corresponds to the number of times in number.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the composite image includes frames;

the determining the pointing motion comprises specifying a target subject to which the photographer has pointed;

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing after the target subject is specified, and

the creating the composite image comprises clipping images of the target subject from the respective image data, placing the images of the target subject into the frames, respectively, and thereby creating a combined picture.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

displaying the frames in a display unit; and

detecting a touch input to a touch panel provided in the display unit,

wherein the creating the composite image comprises repeatedly placing the clipped images into the frames subjected to the touch input.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a line of sight of a person included in a range in which the photographer has pointed and outputting a sight line matching signal when the line of sight is directed toward an imaging apparatus, wherein

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing when the sight line matching signal is output, and

the creating the composite image comprises composing images of the person when the line of sight is directed toward the imaging apparatus.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outputting the instruction signal comprises selecting one of photographing modes based on the pointing motion performed by the photographer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein

the photographing modes comprise at least one of a tip emphasizing mode, a combined picture mode, and a full-member mode,

in the tip emphasizing mode,

the instruction signal comprises information concerning positions to which the photographer has pointed,

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing when a target subject is present at the respective positions, and

the creating the composite image comprises composing images of the target subject at the respective positions,

in the combined picture mode,

the combined image includes frames,

the determining the pointing motion comprises specifying the target subject to which the photographer has pointed,

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing after the target subject is specified, and

the creating the composite image comprises clipping images of the target subject from the respective image data, placing the images of the target subject into the frames, respectively, and thereby creating a combined picture, and

in the full-member mode,

the method further comprises determining a line of sight of a person included in a range to which the photographer has pointed and outputting a sight line matching signal when the line of sight is directed toward an imaging apparatus,

the performing the photographing comprises performing photographing when the sight line matching signal is output, and

the creating the composite image comprises composing images of the person when the line of sight is directed toward the imaging apparatus.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein

an optical system used for the photographing comprises a wide-angle lens or a fish-eye lens, and

the photographing is performed while directing an optical axis of the optical system toward a zenith direction.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein an image represented by the image data includes an image of the photographer.

15. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an optical system which forms an image of light from a subject;

an imaging unit which performs photographing for acquiring image data of the subject formed by the optical system;

an operation determination unit which determines a pointing motion performed by a photographer included in the subject based on the image data and outputs an instruction signal corresponding to the motion;

an imaging control unit which causes the imaging unit to perform the photographing more than once based on the instruction signal; and

an image composition unit which creates a composite image based on the image data obtained by the photographing performed more than once and the instruction signal.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the operation determination unit outputs the instruction signal comprising information concerning positions to which the photographer has pointed,

the imaging control unit causes the imaging unit to perform the photographing when a target subject is present at the respective positions, and

the image composition unit composes images of the target subject at the respective positions and thereby creates the composite image.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the composite image includes frames,

the operation determination unit specifies the target subject to which the photographer has pointed,

the imaging control unit causes the imaging unit to perform the photographing after the target subject is specified, and

the image composition unit clips images of the target subject from the respective image data, places the images of the target subject into the respective frames, and thereby creates the composite image which is a combined picture.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a sight line determination unit which determines a line of sight of a person included in a range to which the photographer has pointed and outputs a sight line matching signal when the line of sight is directed toward the optical system, wherein

the imaging control unit causes the imaging unit to perform the photographing when the sight line matching signal is output from the sight line determination unit, and

the image composition unit composes images of the person when the line of sight is directed toward the optical system and thereby creates the composite image.

19. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the optical system comprises a wide-angle lens or a fish-eye lens and is configured to direct an optical axis of the optical system toward a zenith direction while performing the photographing.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a code which causes a computer to execute:

photographing a subject to acquire image data;

determining a pointing motion performed by a photographer included in the subject based on the image data;

outputting an instruction signal corresponding to the motion;

performing photographing more than once to acquire image data based on the instruction signal; and

creating a composite image based on the image data obtained by the performing the photographing more than once and the instruction signal.