FLOW LINE ANALYSIS SYSTEM AND FLOW LINE DISPLAY METHOD

• US 20170330434A1
• Filed: 03/23/2016
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic i-PRO Sensing Solutions Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: TAKAHASHI, Hideaki, TAYAMA, Tetsuo, OGUCHI, Takae, HAGISU, Shinpei
• Application Number:
  US15/536,572
• Publication Number:
  US 20170330434A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/50 of still image data
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/292 Multi-camera tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19604 involving reference image or background adaptation with time to compensate for changing conditions, e.g. reference image update on detection of light level change
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19645 Multiple cameras, each having view on one of a plurality of scenes, e.g. multiple cameras for multi-room surveillance or for tracking an object by view hand-over
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19682 Graphic User Interface [GUI] presenting system data to the user, e.g. information on a screen helping a user interacting with an alarm system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19686 Interfaces masking personal details for privacy, e.g. blurring faces, vehicle license plates
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

Displayed is a flow line analysis image in which the privacy of a person reflected in a wide imaging region is appropriately protected, and staying information or passing information of a person in the wide imaging region can be easily and accurately recognized. A camera includes an imaging section that captures an image of a differing imaging region for each camera, a background image generating section that repeatedly generates a background image of a captured image of the imaging region at predetermined timings, a flow line information analyzing section that extracts flow line information regarding a staying position or a passing position of a moving object in the imaging region of the camera, included in the captured image, and a transmitter that transmits the background image and the flow line information of the moving object to a server at a predetermined transmission cycle. A server includes an image generating section that acquires flow line analysis images based on superimposition between the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object for each camera, and generates a wide-region flow line analysis image by using the plurality of acquired flow line analysis images, and a display control section that displays the wide-region flow line analysis image on a display section.

Claims

1. A flow line analysis system comprising:

a plurality of cameras; and

a server that is connected to the cameras,

wherein each of the cameras

captures an image of a differing imaging region,

repeatedly generates a background image of a captured image of the imaging region,

extracts flow line information regarding a staying position or a passing position of a moving object in the imaging region of the camera, included in the captured image, and

transmits the generated background image and the extracted flow line information of the moving object to the server at a predetermined transmission cycle, and

wherein the server

acquires flow line analysis images based on superimposition between the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object for each camera,

generates a wide-region flow line analysis image by using the plurality of acquired flow line analysis images, and

displays the generated wide-region flow line analysis image on a display section.

2. The flow line analysis system of claim 1, further comprising:

a recorder that stores the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object for each camera in correlation with each other,

wherein, in response to an operation of designating the date and time and the plurality of cameras, the server acquires, from the recorder, the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object, corresponding to captured images obtained by the plurality of cameras at the designated date and time, generates the wide-region flow line analysis image by using flow line analysis images based on superimposition between the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object acquired from the recorder, and displays the wide-region flow line analysis image on the display section.

3. The flow line analysis system of claim 1,

wherein at least one of the cameras is an omnidirectional camera which can capture an omnidirectional image of the imaging region of the camera, and

wherein the server converts an omnidirectional image of the imaging region captured by the omnidirectional camera into a plane image, generates the wide-region flow line analysis image by using the plane image as a result of the conversion, and displays the wide-region flow line analysis image on the display section.

4. The flow line analysis system of claim 1,

wherein the camera counts the number of detected moving objects included in the captured image obtained by the camera, and transmits information regarding the counted number of detected moving objects to the server, and

wherein the server displays, on the display section, the wide-region flow line analysis image in which the number of detected moving objects is further superimposed by using the information regarding the number of detected moving objects transmitted from the camera.

5. A flow line display method for a flow line analysis system in which a plurality of cameras are connected to a server, the method comprising:

causing each of the cameras

to capture an image of a differing imaging region,

to repeatedly generate a background image of a captured image of the imaging region,

to extract flow line information regarding a staying position or a passing position of a moving object in the imaging region of the camera, included in the captured image, and

to transmit the generated background image and the extracted flow line information of the moving object to the server at a predetermined transmission cycle; and

causing the server

to acquire flow line analysis images based on superimposition between the background image of the captured image and the flow line information of the moving object for each camera,

to generate a wide-region flow line analysis image by using the plurality of acquired flow line analysis images, and

to display the generated wide-region flow line analysis image on a display section.