Apparatus, control method, and storage medium for acquiring and storing position information in association with image data

• US 8,891,823 B2
• Filed: 05/24/2012
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sato, Ryosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): ANSARI, TAHMINA N
• Application Number:
  US13/479,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20120308081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 908 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00323 with a measuring, monitoring or signaling apparatus, e.g. for transmitting measured information to a central location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3277 The additional information being stored in the same storage device as the image data

Abstract

A position information acquiring apparatus comprises: a first acquiring unit configured to acquire first position information of the position information acquiring apparatus upon image capturing; a first storage unit configured to store image data generated by the image capturing and the first position information in a memory in association with each other; a second acquiring unit configured to acquire second position information of the position information acquiring apparatus upon image capturing; and a second storage unit configured to store the second position information in the memory in association with the image data when the second position information higher in accuracy than the first position information is acquired after the first storage unit stores the image data and the first position information in association with each other.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to;

start a first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus upon image capturing;

acquire first position information of the apparatus using the first mode for acquiring position information;

store image data generated by the image capturing and the first position information in the memory in association with each other;

acquire second position information of the apparatus using a second mode for acquiring position information, wherein the second position information is higher in accuracy than the first position information;

stop the first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus, in accordance with the acquired second position information; and

store the second position information in the memory in association with the image data in a case where the second position information is acquired after the image data is stored.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second position information is stored in the memory in association with the image data by overwriting the first position information which is stored in the memory in association with the image data.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image capturing unit configured to generate image data by image capturing,

wherein the first position information is acquired upon image capturing by the image capturing unit, and

wherein, after the first position information is acquired, the second position information is acquired upon image capturing by the image capturing unit.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the second position information is acquired within a predetermined time after the image capturing, the second position information is stored in the memory to be associated with the image data.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to determine an error range of the first position information, and

wherein, when a position indicated by the second position information falls within the determined error range the second position information is stored in the memory to be associated with the image data.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to detect movement of the apparatus, and

wherein, when movement of the apparatus is not detected after image capturing by an image capturing unit, the second position information is stored in the memory to be associated with the image data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to:

measure a moving amount by which an image capturing apparatus has moved; and

correct the acquired second position information based on the measured moving amount,

wherein the corrected second position information is stored in the memory in association with the image data.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second position information is stored in the memory in association with the image data according to a time difference between a time when the image data is generated and a time when the second position information is acquired.

8. A method for controlling an apparatus, comprising:

starting a first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus upon image capturing;

acquiring first position information of the apparatus using the first mode for acquiring position information;

storing image data generated by the image capturing and the first position information in a memory in association with each other;

acquiring second position information of the apparatus using a second mode for acquiring position information, wherein the second position information is higher in accuracy than the first position information;

stopping the first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus, in accordance with the acquired second position information; and

storing the second position information in the memory in association with the image data in a case where the second position information is acquired after the image data is stored.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus to:

start a first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus upon image capturing;

acquire first position information of the apparatus using the first mode for acquiring position information;

store image data generated by the image capturing and the first position information in a memory in association with each other;

acquire second position information of the apparatus using a second mode for acquiring position information, wherein the second position information is higher in accuracy than the first position information;

stop the first mode for acquiring position information of the apparatus, in accordance with the acquired second position information; and

store the second position information in the memory in association with the image data in a case where the second position information is acquired after the image data is stored.