JP2004023449A - Image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to obtain profitable information by accessing a network from location information which is acquired in the case of photographing an image. <P>SOLUTION: The location information obtained from a GPS is added to image data which are photographed by a digital camera S1, the name of a place of photographing or a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a home page of the Internet where information or a file associated thereto is stored is displayed from the location information of the image data by an image management program S22 of a personal computer S2 and by referring to the home page, the required information or file is downloaded in response to an instruction of the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image processing method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of CCD sensor technology and the spread of personal computers (hereinafter, personal computers), digital cameras have been widely used in business, entertainment, and hobbies. Especially when traveling, compared to a conventional compact camera, the photographed image can be confirmed on the display screen on the spot, and the photograph can be taken without worrying about costs such as film and development costs. There is also an advantage that editing can be performed by a user on a personal computer.
[0003]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an image signal is recorded by a digital camera or the like, a technique of recording the image signal together with information on a shooting condition in which the image signal is recorded is known.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, photographed image data has additional information at most about exposure, white balance, photographing mode, and photographing time in addition to the image signal. For example, when you take a commemorative photo at a travel destination, you do not know where the location is or what the town or tourist attraction is. In addition, when a photographed image is output by a printer, and a user creates an original album or the like, simply printing it on a blank sheet does not look good, but preparing an album cover or mount is troublesome. is there. Furthermore, when traveling abroad, local languages and songs are symbols of different cultures as well as landscapes. Even if a digital camera is equipped with a recording function, such voices and music cannot be easily recorded.
[0005]
On the other hand, a method of determining a position using a satellite called a GPS method is also used in mobile phones, car navigation systems, and the like. However, a current digital camera cannot record information on a point where an image signal is recorded, and thus cannot read position information, for example, latitude, longitude, or altitude, at which the image signal is recorded. Was. Further, even if position information can be obtained technically, the recorded image information may not be effectively used.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. It is possible to obtain positional information, quickly access a network based on the purpose of use of an image recorded from the information, and bring useful information to a user. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image processing method that can be used.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is an apparatus, a system, and a method for recording position information together with image information and providing useful information to a user on a network based on the information, comprising the steps of obtaining position information, A process for accessing the network from the beginning and a process for downloading the useful information to the user from the network are provided so as to minimize the burden on the user and to provide a useful service to the user from the image position information. is there.
[0008]
The above configuration is shown again in the following (1) to (9).
[0009]
(1) An image processing method for recording and reproducing image information,
Record the image information, and record the position information of the point where the image information was obtained,
Acquiring accompanying information based on the position information,
The image information is associated with the accompanying information.
[0010]
(2) In the above (1), the position information is altitude information.
[0011]
(3) In the above (1), the position information is obtained from radio waves generated from a base at a predetermined position.
[0012]
(4) In (1) above, the position information includes latitude and longitude information.
[0013]
(5) In the above (1), the accompanying information is information including any of a document, an image, and a sound.
[0014]
(6) In the above (1), the means for acquiring the accompanying information is acquired using the Internet.
[0015]
(7) In the above (3), the base at the predetermined position is a satellite.
[0016]
(8) In the above (3), the base at the predetermined position base is a ground station.
[0017]
(9) The accompanying information in (5) is stored on a homepage on the Internet.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram when a method of providing a service based on image shooting position information of the present embodiment is realized.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a method for giving useful information to a user using a network based on positional information using GPS information.
[0021]
When the user starts shooting using the digital camera in S1, data indicating the current location of the user is read by the GPS information acquisition unit in S11, and is written in the header portion of the image data by the GPS information writing unit in S12. Position information and time information can be read from the GPS.
[0022]
Images taken by the digital camera S1 can be taken into the hard disk (HD) S21 of the personal computer in S2 by a USB cable, a PC card, or wireless connection. The position information is read from the image data taken into the hard disk S21 by the image management program in S22. From the location information read out in the image management program S22, the location name of the place where the image was taken, information related thereto, and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the Internet homepage where the file is stored can be displayed. Or you can store such data.
[0023]
On the other hand, a homepage storing information and files of various places is prepared on the server in S3, and information and files can be provided according to the access of the user. In other words, guidebooks of various places are stored as TEXT files, photographs depicting the symbols of tourist attractions are stored as GIF files or JPEG files, and voice and music are stored as WAV files in the server.
[0024]
Next, the homepage designated by the URL is browsed by the Internet browsing program in S23. The user accesses the server S3, browses the homepage, and can download necessary information and files according to the user's instruction.
[0025]
The downloaded file may be attached to the downloaded guide text below the image of the tourist attraction, for example, when arranging a plurality of captured images and printing the album, or using the downloaded image as the album cover Is also good. Also, by linking the audio file to the captured image, the audio file may be opened at the same time when the captured image is read by the image management program S22, and the audio and music may be played on the personal computer.
[0026]
At the time of printing, image data is transmitted from the image management program S22 to the printer at S4, and printing is performed.
[0027]
FIG. 3 shows an example. Take a case where the user took a commemorative photo near Mt. Fuji as an example. The position information in the image data is read out from the image management program S22, and the corresponding homepage is accessed by the Internet browsing program S23. From there, you can download a template file with place names and landscape photos. One page of the album can be created by attaching the photographed image to the template file. This may be stored in the hard disk S21 of the personal computer S2, or may be printed by the printer S4. In this way, it is possible to create an album with a more attractive appearance than with simply printing a photographed image on a blank sheet, with the details of the photographing place attached.
[0028]
In this embodiment, the position information of the photographed image is read by the image management program to obtain the URL. However, a method of directly uploading the photographed image to a specific homepage and accessing a desired homepage may be adopted. Alternatively, an image taken on the homepage may be attached to an image serving as a mount of the album posted on the homepage, and the page may be printed to create the album.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, position information is read from an image captured by a digital camera capable of acquiring GPS information, and the information related to the captured image is obtained based on the information via a general-purpose network such as the Internet. The accompanying information file can be downloaded, and a service for increasing the added value of the captured image can be performed.
[0030]
According to the present invention, since a network address such as the Internet is generated from the position information corresponding to the image information, the network can be easily accessed from the image information. Can be created.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing image processing in the above system. FIG. Example [Explanation of symbols]
S1 Digital camera S2 Personal computer S3 Server S4 Printer S11 GPS information acquisition unit S12 GPS information writing unit S21 Hard disk S22 Image management program S23 Internet browsing program

Claims (9)

An image processing method for recording and reproducing image information,
Record the image information, and record the position information of the point where the image information was obtained,
Acquiring accompanying information based on the position information,
An image processing method, wherein the image information is associated with the accompanying information. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the position information is altitude information. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the position information is obtained from a radio wave generated from a base at a predetermined position. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the position information includes latitude and longitude information. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the accompanying information is information including any one of a document, an image, and a sound. 2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the means for acquiring the accompanying information is acquired using the Internet. 4. The image processing method according to claim 3, wherein the base at the predetermined position is a satellite. 4. The image processing method according to claim 3, wherein the base of the predetermined position base is a ground station. 6. The image processing method according to claim 5, wherein the additional information is stored on a homepage on the Internet.

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