Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, album creating apparatus, album creating method, album creating system and computer readable medium

• US 7,868,924 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2007
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kaneko, Yasuhiko, Shirasaka, Hajime, Yoshihara, Hideaki, Matsushita, Masahiro, Kojima, Kenji, Tachikawa, Kimiko, Zetsu, Shinsuke, Isomura, Ayumu
• Primary Examiner(s): SELBY, GEVELL V
• Application Number:
  US11/898,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20080062283A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,216 Days
• Field of Search: 348/222.1, 348/231.2, 348/231.3, 348/333.02
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• 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 image capturing apparatus, comprising:

an image capturing section for capturing an image;

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

an image storage section connected to the person determining section for storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured by the image capturing section in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

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

a personal identification information input section connected to the image storage 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,

a personal image extraction section for extracting the personal image included in an image newly captured by the image capturing section when the person determining section determines that the image includes any person;

a personal identification information retrieval section for retrieving the personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image newly captured by the image capturing section by comparing the personal image extracted by the personal image extraction section with the image stored in the image storage section;

a retrieved person notification section for notifying the user of the person indicated by the personal identification information retrieved by the personal identification information retrieval section;

a confirmation information input section for causing the user to input confirmation information whether the person notified by the retrieved person notification section is the person included in the image newly captured by the image capturing section; and

an image storage control section for causing the image storage section to store the personal identification information retrieved by the personal identification information retrieval section in association with the image newly captured by the image capturing section when the confirmation information indicates that the person notified by the retrieved person notification section is the person included in the image newly captured by the image capturing section, wherein

the image storage section stores 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, and

the image storage section stores the personal identification information retrieved by the personal identification information retrieval section in association with the image newly captured by the image capturing section.

2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a related personal information storage section for storing personal identification information on a plurality of persons who are probably shown in the same image, wherein

in the case that the personal image extraction section extracts the plurality of persons from the image newly captured by the image capturing section, when the image storage section stores personal identification information on a first person extracted by the personal image extraction section, but does not store personal identification information on a second person extracted by the personal image extraction section,

the personal image extraction section extracts the personal image of the first person included in the image newly captured by the image capturing section, and

the personal identification information retrieval section retrieves the personal identification information indicative of the first person by comparing the personal image of the first person extracted by the personal image extraction section with the image stored in the image storage section, and further retrieves the personal identification information stored in the related personal information storage section in association with the retrieved personal identification information indicative of the first person as the personal identification information on the second person.

3. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a person group recording section for recording a plurality of person groups including personal identification information indicative of at least one of person, respectively;

a person group selecting section for notifying the user of at least one person group recorded on the person group recording section to cause the user to select the same when the personal identification information input section does not input personal identification information; and

a personal identification information selecting section for notifying the user of the personal identification information indicative of at least one person included in the person group selected by the person group selecting section, wherein

the image storage section stores the personal identification information selected by the personal identification information selecting section in association with the image captured by the image capturing section.

4. An image capturing method, comprising:

capturing an image;

determining whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person;

storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

notifying a user that a person included in the image captured by the image capturing section should be inputted when it is determined that the image includes the person;

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured 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;

extracting the personal image included in an image newly captured when it is determined that the image includes any person;

retrieving the personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image newly captured by comparing the personal image extracted with image stored;

notifying the user of the person indicated by the personal identification information retrieved;

causing the user to input confirmation information whether the person notified is the person included in the image newly captured; and

storing the personal identification information retrieved in association with the image newly captured when the confirmation information indicates that the person notified is the person included in the image newly captured, wherein

the personal identification information inputted is stored in association with the image captured when the personal identification is inputted, and

the personal identification information retrieved is stored in association with the image newly captured.

5. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 4, further comprising:

notifying the user that a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step should be inputted when it is determined that the image includes any person in the person determining step; and

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after notifying the user that the person included in the image in the image capturing step should be inputted in the notifying step, wherein

the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step is stored in association with the image captured in the image capturing step when the personal identification information is inputted in the personal identification inputting step.

6. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 4, further comprising:

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of a person, wherein

it is determined whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person when the image is captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after inputting the personal identification information in the personal identification information inputting step, and

the image captured in the image capturing step and the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step are stored in association with each other when it is determined that the image captured in the image capturing step includes the person in the person determining step.

7. 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 related personal information storage section stores the 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 related personal information extraction section extracts the personal identification information indicative of the first person closely related to the designated person and the personal identification information on the second person less closely related to the designated person than the first person,

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 extracted by the related personal information extraction section and a second related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person, and

the album creating section more distinctly lays out the first related personal image than the second related personal image in the page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image selected by the image selecting section.

8. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising 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 including:

an 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; and

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.

9. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising 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 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 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; and

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

10. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising 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 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 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; and

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.

11. The album creating apparatus according to claim 10, 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.

12. The album creating apparatus according to claim 10, 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.

13. The album creating apparatus according to claim 10, 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.

14. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the album creating section selects the first related personal image and the second related personal image used for a page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image such that the number of first person is more than the number of second person in the page based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section.

15. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the album creating section includes:

an area calculating section for calculating an area for the first person and an area for the second person in a page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image based on the related personal information stored in the related personal information storage section and the image stored in the image storage section, and

an album generating section for selecting the first related personal image and the second related personal image used for the page such that the area for the first person is larger than the area for the second person, which are calculated by the area calculating section.

16. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the related personal storage section stores related personal information in association with the higher degree of relation in proportion to degree of kindred when the persons are kindred each other.

17. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

The related personal information storage section stores the related personal information associated with the personal identification information indicative of a viewer of the album in association with higher degree of relation than the related personal information which is not associated with the viewer of the album.

18. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the album creating section includes:

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

a trimming image generating section for generating 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; and

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

19. The album creating apparatus according to claim 7, 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:

a person determining section for determining 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,

a trimming image generating section for generating a trimming image which includes the first image and a second image and in which the first image 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, and

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

20. 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 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 is stored,

the personal identification information indicative of the first person closely related to the designated person and the personal identification information on the second person less closely related to the designated person than the first person are extracted,

a first related personal image stored in association with the personal identification information indicative of the first person extracted and a second related personal image stored in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person are selected, and

the first related personal image is more distinctly laid out than the second related personal image in the page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image selected.

21. 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 related personal information storage section stores the 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 related personal information extraction section extracts the personal identification information indicative of the first person closely related to the designated person and the personal identification information on the second person less closely related to the designated person than the first person,

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 extracted by the related personal information extraction section and a second related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person, and

the album creating section more distinctly lays out the first related personal image than the second related personal image in the page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image selected by the image selecting section.

22. 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 related personal information storage section stores the 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 related personal information extraction section extracts the personal identification information indicative of the first person closely related to the designated person and the personal identification information on the second person less closely related to the designated person than the first person,

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 extracted by the related personal information extraction section and a second related personal image stored in the image storage section in association with the personal identification information indicative of the second person, and

the album creating section more distinctly lays out the first related personal image than the second related personal image in the page including the first related personal image and the second related personal image selected by the image selecting section.

23. An image capturing apparatus, comprising:

an image capturing section for capturing an image;

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

an image storage section connected to the person determining section for storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured by the image capturing section in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

a personal identification information input section connected to the image storage section for causing a user to input personal identification information indicative of a person;

a person extraction section for extracting the person from a predetermined region in a pre-image captured by the image capturing section before capturing an image when the personal identification information indicative of the person is inputted by the user in the personal identification information input section; and

a person position identification section for identifying a position of the person in the image captured by the image capturing section by matching the person extracted by the person extracting section with the person included in the image captured by the image capturing section, wherein

the person determining section determines whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person when the image is captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information,

the image storage section stores the image captured by the image capturing section and the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person, and

the image storage section associates the image captured by the image capturing section with the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section and the position of the person identified by the person position identification section and store the same.

24. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

the personal identification information input section causes the user to input plural pieces of personal identification information indicative of a plurality of persons, respectively, and

the image storage section stores the images captured by the image capturing section and the plural pieces of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person.

25. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 23 further comprising the number of person calculating section for calculating the number of persons included in the image captured by the image capturing section when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person, wherein

the image storage section stores the images captured by the image capturing section and plural pieces of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person, provided that the number of persons calculated by the number of person calculating section is more than the number of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section.

26. An image capturing apparatus, comprising:

an image capturing section for capturing an image;

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

an image storage section connected to the person determining section for storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured by the image capturing section in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

a personal identification information input section connected to the image storage section for causing a user to input personal identification information indicative of a person;

a person notification section for notifying the user of the personal identification information in association with the person determined by the person determining section;

a confirmation information input section for causing the user to input whether the personal identification information notified by the person notification section indicates the person determined by the person determining section; and

an image storage control section for causing the image storage section to store the image captured by the image capturing section and the personal identification information notified by the person notification section in association with each other when the confirmation information inputted by the confirmation information input section indicates that the personal identification information notified by the person notification section indicates the person determined by the person determining section, wherein

the person determining section determines whether the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person when the image is captured by the image capturing section by a predetermined timing after the personal identification information input section inputs the personal identification information, and

the image storage section stores the image captured by the image capturing section and the personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person.

27. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 26, wherein

the personal identification information input section causes the user to input plural pieces of personal identification information indicative of a plurality of persons, respectively, and

the image storage section stores the images captured by the image capturing section and the plural pieces of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person.

28. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 26 further comprising the number of person calculating section for calculating the number of persons included in the image captured by the image capturing section when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person, wherein

the image storage section stores the images captured by the image capturing section and plural pieces of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section in association with each other when the person determining section determines that the image captured by the image capturing section includes any person, provided that the number of persons calculated by the number of person calculating section is more than the number of personal identification information inputted by the personal identification information input section.

29. An image capturing method, comprising:

capturing an image;

determining whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person;

storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

causing a user to input personal identification information indicative of a person;

extracting the person from a predetermined region in a pre-image captured before capturing an image when the personal identification information indicative of the person is inputted by the user; and

identifying a position of the person in the image captured by matching the person extracted with the person included in the image captured, wherein

it is determined whether the image captured includes any person when the image is captured by a predetermined timing after the personal identification information is inputted,

the image captured and the personal identification information inputted are stored in association with each other when it is determined that the image captured includes any person, and

the image captured is associated with the personal identification information inputted and the position of the person identified and the same is stored.

30. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 29, further comprising:

notifying the user that a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step should be inputted when it is determined that the image includes any person in the person determining step; and

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after notifying the user that the person included in the image in the image capturing step should be inputted in the notifying step, wherein

the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step is stored in association with the image captured in the image capturing step when the personal identification information is inputted in the personal identification inputting step.

31. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 29, further comprising:

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of a person, wherein

it is determined whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person when the image is captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after inputting the personal identification information in the personal identification information inputting step, and

the image captured in the image capturing step and the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step are stored in association with each other when it is determined that the image captured in the image capturing step includes the person in the person determining step.

32. An image capturing method, comprising:

capturing an image;

determining whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person;

storing personal identification information of a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step in association with the image captured thereby in a form suitable for creating an album;

causing a user to input personal identification information indicative of a person;

notifying the user of the personal identification information in association with the person determined;

causing the user to input whether the personal identification information notified indicates the person determined; and

storing the image captured and the personal identification information notified in association with each other when the confirmation information inputted indicates that the personal identification information notified indicates the person determined, wherein

it is determined whether the image captured includes any person when the image is captured by a predetermined timing after the personal identification information is inputted, and

the image captured and the personal identification information inputted are stored in association with each other when it is determined that the image captured includes any person.

33. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 32, further comprising:

notifying the user that a person included in the image captured in the image capturing step should be inputted when it is determined that the image includes any person in the person determining step; and

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of the person included in the image captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after notifying the user that the person included in the image in the image capturing step should be inputted in the notifying step, wherein

the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step is stored in association with the image captured in the image capturing step when the personal identification information is inputted in the personal identification inputting step.

34. The image capturing method as set forth in claim 32, further comprising:

causing the user to input personal identification information indicative of a person, wherein

it is determined whether the image captured in the image capturing step includes any person when the image is captured in the image capturing step by a predetermined timing after inputting the personal identification information in the personal identification information inputting step, and

the image captured in the image capturing step and the personal identification information inputted in the personal identification information inputting step are stored in association with each other when it is determined that the image captured in the image capturing step includes the person in the person determining step.