Telephone apparatus, image display method and image display processing program

• US 8,548,128 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2010
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Matsushima, Mika
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahee, MD S
• Application Number:
  US12/719,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20100226485A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.11, 379/88.12, 379/88.23, 379/100.01, 379/142.04, 379/88.13, 379/93.17, 379/93.23, 379/136, 379/144.08, 379/167.12, 379/201.04, 379/247, 358/1.1, 455/414.1, 455/415
• US Class Current: 379/88.11
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27475 using interactive graphical means or pictorial representations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/14 including a card reading device

Abstract

A telephone apparatus includes a storage unit, a display unit, a retrieving unit and a display control unit. The storage unit is configured to store a plurality of images therein. The display unit is configured to display at least one of the plurality of images. The retrieving unit is configured to retrieve a relating image from the images stored in the storage unit when an outgoing call is made to or an incoming call is received from other telephone apparatus through a telephone line. The relating image relates to a corresponding image associated with the other party of the outgoing or incoming call. The display control unit configured to perform control to display at least one of the corresponding image and the retrieved relating image on the display unit.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of images therein;

a display unit configured to display at least one of the plurality of images;

a retrieving unit configured to, when an outgoing call is made to or an incoming call is received from another communication apparatus, determine a corresponding image associated with the other party of the outgoing or incoming call, and retrieve a relating image from the images stored in the storage unit by comparing attribute information of the corresponding image with attribute information of the plurality of images stored in the unit, wherein the attribute information is image capturing device information, the corresponding image being different from the relating image, the corresponding image comprising an image of a person'"'"'s face, and the relating image comprising another image of the person'"'"'s face; and

a display control unit configured to perform control to display at least one of the corresponding image and the retrieved relating image on the display unit.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the communication apparatus includes a telephone apparatus in which the outgoing call is made to or the incoming call is received from other communication apparatus through a telephone line.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the attribute information of the corresponding image is camera identification information indicating a camera used for photographing the corresponding image.

4. An image display method for a communication apparatus that comprises a storage unit configured to store a plurality of images and a display unit configured to display the images, said method comprising:

determining, when an outgoing call is made to or an incoming call is received from another communication apparatus, a corresponding image associated with the other party of the outgoing or incoming call;

retrieving a relating image from the images stored in the storage unit, wherein the relating image is related to the corresponding image by comparing attribute information of the corresponding image with attribute information of the plurality of images stored in the unit, wherein the attribute information is image capturing device information, the corresponding image being different from the relating image, the corresponding image comprising an image of person'"'"'s face, and the relating image comprising another image of the person'"'"'s face; and

performing control to display at least one of the corresponding image and the retrieved relating image on the display unit.

5. The image display method according to claim 4,

wherein the communication apparatus includes a telephone apparatus in which the outgoing call is made to or the incoming call is received from other communication apparatus through a telephone line.

6. The image display method according to claim 4,

wherein the attribute information of the corresponding image is camera identification information indicating a camera used for photographing the corresponding image.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium having an image display processing program readable by a computer and enabling, when executed by the computer, the computer to perform operations of a communication apparatus that comprises a storage unit configured to store a plurality of images and a display unit configured to display the images, said operation comprising:

determining, when an outgoing call is made to or an incoming call is received from another communication apparatus, a corresponding image associated with the other party of the outgoing or incoming call;

retrieving a relating image from the images stored in the storage unit, wherein the relating image is related to the corresponding image by comparing attribute information of the corresponding image with attribute information of the plurality of images stored in the unit, wherein the attribute information is image capturing device information, the corresponding image being different from the relating image, the corresponding image comprising an image of a person'"'"'s face, and the relating image comprising another image of the person'"'"'s face; and

performing control to display at least one of the corresponding image and the retrieved relating image on the display unit.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein, when retrieving the relating image, a target image, which is an image of a target object, is extracted from the corresponding image, and the relating image, which includes at least one of an image of a same object as the target object and an image of a same kind of object as that of the target object, is retrieved based on the target image.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein, when retrieving the relating image, attribute information of the images stored in the storage unit is obtained, and attribute information of the corresponding image is compared with the attribute information of the images stored in the storage unit so as to retrieve the relating image.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9,

wherein the attribute informing includes at least one of information of a type of a camera, and information of a photographing date and time.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 9,

wherein the attribute information includes at least one of camera identification information indicating a camera used for photographing the image, photographing time information indicating a time at which the image is photographed, and photographing location information indicating a photographing location of the image, and

wherein the relating image, in which it is determined that content of the attribute information is within a predetermined range with respect to content of the attribute information of the corresponding image, is retrieved.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 11,

wherein the attribute information includes the photographing location information, and

wherein the relating image, in which it is determined that a difference in the latitude between the corresponding image and the relating image is within a predetermined value, and a difference in the longitude between the corresponding image and the relating image is within a predetermined value, is retrieved.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein said operations further comprise obtaining month/date information indicating month and date when the corresponding image and the relating image are respectively photographed, and extracting, from the corresponding image and the relating image, image in which the month and date indicated by the month/date information are within a predetermined range which includes month and date at a current point of time,

wherein the extracted image is displayed on the display unit.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein, when displaying the plurality of images of at least one of the corresponding image and one or more relating images, the plurality of images are sequentially displayed on the display unit per a predetermined number of image groups or the plurality of images are simultaneously displayed on the display unit.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein the operations further comprise registering a telephone number of a registrant registered in advance as the party in association with the corresponding image,

wherein, when the telephone number of the other call party is not registered in the registering unit, a predetermined image is displayed on the display unit.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein the corresponding image is displayed on the display unit before the communication apparatus and the other communication apparatus are connected to each other, and the retrieved relating image is displayed on the display unit after the communication apparatus and the other communication apparatus are connected to each other.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein at least one of the corresponding image and the retrieved relating image are displayed on the display unit until a telephone call with the other party terminates.

18. The non-transitory communication apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein, when retrieving the relating image, face recognition is performed with respect to the corresponding image, and the relating image is retrieved from a storage unit using the result of the face recognition.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein the communication apparatus includes a telephone apparatus in which the outgoing call is made to or the incoming call is received from other communication apparatus through a telephone line.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7,

wherein the attribute information of the corresponding image is camera identification information indicating a camera used for photographing the corresponding image.