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

• US 7,301,569 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2002
• Issued: 11/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Hiroaki, Kinjo, Naoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Ometz; David
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LUONG TRUNG
• Application Number:
  US10/254,580
• Publication Number:
  US 20030103149A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,888 Days
• Field of Search: 348/231.1, 348/116, 348/552, 348/231.5, 455/456.1, 386/46, 386/69, 703/310
• 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,

wherein prior to collating in the identifying device, the movement history and the photographing date/time are independent of each other and wherein the movement history of a person photographed as a subject is acquired independently of said stored image data.

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 acquired by the photographing, 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 4, 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 identify 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 acquired by the photographing, and stores corresponded information.

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. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the movement history comprises a date/time and location of the person photographed.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acquiring component acquires at least one of magnification and speed at the time of taking a picture with the unspecified person as a subject.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the identifying device uses at least one of the magnification and speed to identify the person as the subject.

18. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the movement histories comprise a date/time and location of each of the plurality of persons.

19. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the movement history of a person and the photographing date/time and location is acquired using a Global Positioning System (GPS).