Identification apparatus and identification image displaying method

• US 7,894,640 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2006
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Itou, Katsuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): AZARIAN, SEYED H
• Application Number:
  US12/375,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20090304239A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,671 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/106, 382/107, 382/115, 382/116, 382/117, 382/118, 382/151, 382/162, 382/168, 382/177, 382/181, 382/189, 382199-203, 382/209, 382/232, 382/254, 382/274, 382/276, 382/305, 382/312, 348/211.99, 348/231.6
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/166 using acquisition arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/67 by interactive indications to the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00183 Photography assistance, e.g. displaying suggestions to the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00347 with another still picture apparatus, e.g. hybrid still picture apparatus circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between image input and image output device H04N1/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/448 Rendering the image unintelligible, e.g. scrambling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/4493 Subsequently rendering the image intelligible using a co-operating image, mask or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0089 Image display device

Abstract

It is an object of an identification apparatus of the present invention to realize a face identification in such a way that a system user does not worry that other people take a glance at a user'"'"'s own face image when the user gets the face image for use in face identification. An identification apparatus of the present invention includes a capturing device 22 for capturing an image, a face template database 254 for storing various images, an alternative image generation controlling portion 251 for specifying a first area, which contains at least a part of a face, out of the image captured by the capturing portion and then replacing the first area of the image captured by the capturing portion with an image stored in the face template database 254, and a displaying device 23 for displaying an image generated by the alternative image generation controlling portion 251.

Claims

1. An identification apparatus for conducting an image identification, comprising:

a capturing portion which captures an image;

an image storing portion which stores various alternative images;

a face image specifying portion which specifies a first area, which contains at least a part of a face, out of the image captured by the capturing portion;

an image generating portion which replaces the first area of the image captured by the capturing portion with an alternative image stored in the image storing portion, and which aligns said alternative image with a second area of the image that is calculated on the basis of a distance between a first point in the image and a second point in the first area of the image; and

a displaying portion which displays a new image generated by the image generating portion.

2. The identification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first point coincides with a guide point that serves as an index with which the image captured by the capturing portion is aligned in an image identification.

3. The identification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second point coincides with a center of the first area.

4. The identification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image generating portion further aligns said alternative image with a third area of the image, which is generated by translating the second area in parallel in response to a positional relationship between the first point in the image and a third point in the image.

5. The identification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the third point coincides with another guide point that is different in position from the first guide point and serves as an index with which the image captured by the capturing portion is aligned in an image identification.

6. The identification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image generating portion still further aligns said alternative image with a fourth area, which is enlarged/reduced around either a center of the second area or a center of the third area as basic points.

7. The identification apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an identification image storing portion which stores reference images that are referred to in identifying the image; and

an identifying portion which conducts an image identification based on the image captured by the capturing portion and a reference image stored in the identification image storing portion.

8. An identification image displaying method of conducting an image identification, comprising:

capturing an image;

specifying a first area containing at least a part of a face out of the captured image;

calculating a second area of the captured image on the basis of a distance between a first point in the captured image and a second point in the first area;

replacing the second area of the captured image with another image; and

displaying an image containing the second area that is replaced with another image.