Information display system, information display apparatus, information provision apparatus and non-transitory storage medium

• US 9,058,686 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2011
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Sakurai, Keiichi, Yamaya, Takashi, Yoshihama, Yuki, Nakajima, Mitsuyasu
• Primary Examiner(s): Shibru, Helen
• Application Number:
  US13/313,279
• Publication Number:
  US 20120140040A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,287 Days
• Field of Search: 348/46, 348/169, 386/230, 386/248
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

The utility of a service using AR is improved. The information display apparatus which applies an information display according to augmented reality (AR) acquires a reference image for matching with a subject in a captured image and scale information which shows a scale of the subject in the reference image from an information provision apparatus. Then, an inputter-outputter of the information display apparatus displays the captured image as well as a distribution of the reference images by a scale of the subject. On this distribution display, a guide display according to the scale of the subject in the captured image is performed. This guide display moves on the distribution display corresponding to a change of an angle of view. Accordingly, it is easily set the angle of view by which the matching using the acquired reference image can be performed appropriately, and the convenience improves.

Claims

1. An information display system for displaying information comprising:

an information display apparatus which includes an imaging unit; and

an information provision apparatus;

wherein the information display apparatus comprises;

a key information acquiring unit which acquires key information corresponding to a subject in a captured image captured by the imaging unit; and

a key information transmitting unit which transmits the key information to the information provision apparatus,

wherein the information provision apparatus comprises;

a reference image storage unit which stores (i) a plurality of reference images including reference subjects and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of the reference subjects and superimposing information corresponding to the plurality of reference images, respectively; and

an information providing unit which selects at least one of the plurality of reference images based on the key information, and which provides to the information display apparatus (i) the at least one selected reference image and (ii) the actual-size-related scale information and the superimposing information corresponding to the at least one selected reference image; and

wherein the information display apparatus further comprises;

a guide displaying unit which displays actual-size-related guide information based on (i) the actual-size-related scale information corresponding to the at least one selected reference image, and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of the captured image;

an image matching unit which matches the subject included in the captured image with the at least one selected reference image in accordance with the displayed actual-size-related guide information; and

a superimposed displaying unit which superimposes and displays the superimposing information corresponding to the at least one selected reference image based on a matching result matched by the image matching unit on the captured image.

2. An information display apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a communicating unit which communicates with an external apparatus; and

a displaying unit;

wherein the communicating unit comprises a data acquiring unit which acquires data from the external apparatus, the data including (i) a plurality of reference images including reference subjects and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of the reference subjects and superimposing information corresponding to the plurality of reference images, respectively; and

wherein the displaying unit comprises;

a guide displaying unit which displays actual-size-related guide information based on (i) the actual-size-related scale information acquired by the data acquiring unit and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of a captured image captured by the imaging unit;

an image matching unit which matches a subject included in the captured image with the plurality of reference images in accordance with the displayed actual-size-related guide information; and

a superimposed displaying unit which superimposes and displays the superimposing information based on a matching result matched by the image matching unit on the captured image.

3. The information display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the guide displaying unit further comprises a distribution displaying unit which displays a distribution of the plurality of reference images based on the actual-size-related scale information acquired by the data acquiring unit, wherein the actual-size-related guide information corresponds to the distribution displayed by the distribution displaying unit.

4. The information display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the guide displaying unit changes the displayed actual-size-related guide information based on a change of an angle of view for the captured image captured by the imaging unit.

5. The information display apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a scale calculating unit which calculates a real scale corresponding to one pixel in the captured image,

wherein the distribution displaying unit displays the distribution of the plurality of reference images according to real scales that respectively correspond to one pixel in the plurality of reference images indicated by the actual-size-related scale information, and the guide displaying unit displays the actual-size-related guide information according to the real scale calculated by the scale calculating unit.

6. The information display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the imaging unit is a stereo camera, and the scale calculating unit calculates the real scale based on a distance to the subject obtained by the stereo camera.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program for causing a computer of an information display apparatus including an imaging unit, a communicating unit which communicates with an external apparatus, and a displaying unit, to perform functions comprising:

acquiring data from the external apparatus, the data including (i) a plurality of reference images including reference subjects and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of the reference subjects and superimposing information corresponding to the plurality of reference images, respectively;

displaying actual-size-related guide information based on (i) the actual-size-related scale information of the reference subjects and (ii) actual-size-related scale information of a captured image captured by the imaging unit;

matching a subject included in the captured image with the plurality of reference images; and

superimposing and displaying the superimposing information based on a result of the matching on the captured image.