JP2005184742A - Image photographing apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image photographing apparatus for correspondingly recording a photographed image and information in an electronic tag that a photographing object has. <P>SOLUTION: If a shutter button 5 is operated into a half pressed state, a tag reader/writer 2 transmits a radio wave toward a photographing lens 3 and reads electronic tag information from an electronic tag that a photographing target has. The read contents of the electronic tag information are displayed on a display section. If photographing is performed while pressing the shutter button 5, the image data of a photographed image and the electronic tag information are correspondingly stored. When reproducing the photographed image, the contents of the electronic tag information can also be displayed together with the photographed image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image capturing device that captures an image of a subject and captures the captured image.

In recent years, electronic tags using RFID (Radio Frequency ID) or the like have become widespread instead of tags using barcodes or the like, and various management systems using electronic tags have been proposed accordingly.
For example, in Patent Document 1, when an RFID tag storing an ID with a unified data format is attached to an article or service and a new product or service is registered in a database or various services are performed, Information is read from the RFID tag and used to register this information in a database or distributed over a network to manage goods and services.
JP 2002-150241 A (paragraphs [0009], [0046] to [0048], FIG. 1)

  As described above, various types of devices that manage articles and services using electronic tags have been proposed. However, in the management method using the electronic tag currently proposed, there is no one that manages information associated with the electronic tag in association with a photographed image related to the article or service to which the electronic tag is attached.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of providing information on a photographed object together with the photographed image when photographing an article or the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a technique for attaching an electronic tag to an article or the like and associating information read from the electronic tag with a photographed image.

In order to solve the above problems, an image photographing apparatus according to the present invention includes photographing means, electronic tag reading means, and image storage means.
The photographing means photographs a subject to be photographed.
The electronic tag reading means reads electronic tag information stored in the electronic tag.

The image storage means stores the image data of the photographed image by the photographing means in association with the electronic tag information read by the electronic tag reading means.
With this configuration, it is possible to store the information in the electronic tag held by the photographed object and the photographed image in association with each other.

  The electronic tag reading means further includes an input means for receiving an operation instruction by a user and an output means for performing display output to the user. When the first instruction is issued from the user by the input means, the electronic tag reading means is Information can be read and the output means can be configured to perform display output based on the electronic tag information.

In the case of this configuration, when there is a second instruction after the first instruction from the user by the input means, the photographing means performs photographing, and the image storage means is read by the electronic tag reading means. The electronic tag information can be stored in association with each other.
In this configuration, the electronic tag information can be read from the electronic tag in accordance with the first instruction of the user, and this electronic tag information can be stored in association with the image data of the photographed image photographed in accordance with the second instruction.

In addition, it is possible to further comprise a reproducing means for displaying both an image based on the image data stored by the image storage means and information based on the electronic tag information stored in association with the image data.
In the case of this configuration, when a captured image is reproduced, a division method based on the electronic tag information read at the time of shooting can be displayed together with the captured image and notified to the user.

  The scope of the present invention also includes a program executed in the image photographing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to record a captured image and information stored in an electronic tag possessed by the photographing object in association with each other.
Further, when reproducing a captured image, information read from the electronic tag at the time of shooting can be displayed to the user. Thereby, it is possible to provide the user with more information on the object to be photographed.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, an electronic tag storing information on an article to be managed as electronic tag information is added. When photographing with an image photographing device such as an electronic camera, the electronic tag information is read from the electronic tag, and the read electronic tag information and the photographed image photographed by the image photographing device are associated with each other and managed. Is displayed.

  In the electronic tag, contents to be notified to the photographer or the person viewing the photographed image are stored as electronic tag information for the article to which the electronic tag is attached, and the image photographing device takes a photograph of the photographing object. As a pre-stage, the electronic tag information is read from the electronic tag and notified to the image capturing device. When the image is taken, the electronic tag information is stored in association with the taken image. Thereby, when displaying a photographed image at a later date, the electronic tag information read at the time of photographing can be seen together.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an image capturing apparatus used in the present embodiment.
The image photographing apparatus 1 shown in the figure is characterized in that a tag reader / writer 2 and a mode switch 6 are provided.
Of these, the mode switch 6 switches on / off of the interlocking mode. When the mode switch 6 is in the interlocking mode OFF, the image capturing apparatus 1 functions as a normal image capturing apparatus such as a camera. When the mode switch 6 is set to the interlocking mode, the following processing for reading out the electronic tag information in the electronic tag held by the object to be photographed and managing it together with the photographed image is performed.

  The tag reader / writer 2 reads electronic tag information from the electronic tag and writes information. Note that the tag reader / writer 2 communicates by radio waves only with the electronic tag possessed by the subject to be photographed by the image photographing device 1, so that it transmits and receives radio waves having directivity in the direction in which the photographing lens 3 faces. It is configured.

FIG. 1B shows an example of a transmission / reception antenna provided in the tag reader / writer 2.
The transmission / reception antenna 21 shown in the figure has directivity by covering the opposite side and both left and right sides of the direction of the photographic lens 3 with a shield plate 22, and is attached to an electronic tag possessed by the photographic subject in the direction of the photographic lens 3. It is configured to transmit and receive radio waves. Note that the configuration of the antenna in the figure is merely an example, and directivity may be given by another configuration. Further, an object may be specified by providing an antenna in the vicinity of the photographing lens 3, increasing directivity by using a transmission / reception radio wave in a high frequency band such as a short wave band or a microwave band, or measuring an electric field strength. Good.

  In the image photographing apparatus 1 in FIG. 1A, when the shutter button 5 is operated halfway with the mode switch 6 set to the interlocking mode, the tag reader / writer 2 is in the direction in which the photographing lens 3 faces. A radio wave is transmitted, a response radio wave is received from an electronic tag attached to the article, and the obtained electronic tag information is stored. This information is displayed on a display unit (not shown) together with a through image taken by the photographing lens 3. When the shutter button 5 is fully pressed in this state, an image is captured and photographed, and the photographed image and electronic tag information read from the electronic tag are associated and stored.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the image capturing apparatus 1 of FIG.
In the example of the figure, the image capturing apparatus 1 includes an A / D converter 13, an image processing unit 15, an input / output control unit 16, an image processing memory 19, an electronic tag memory 20, an image memory 23, a communication interface 24, a memory. The card interface 25 and the tag reader / writer 27 are connected by a bus line 28 and configured to exchange data with each other via the bus 28.

  The lens 10 includes an optical lens made of glass or plastic and a driving device thereof, and is driven in the optical axis direction according to a control instruction from the photographing control unit 14 to perform focusing or realize a zoom function. The CCD 11 converts an optical signal into an electric signal, photoelectrically converts an optical image of a subject formed through the lens 10 and outputs an analog imaging signal corresponding to the optical image of the subject. The imaging process 12 amplifies an analog signal input from the CCD image recording apparatus 11 when a control instruction is issued from the imaging control unit 14, samples it, and outputs it to the A / D converter 13. The A / D converter 13 converts the analog signal input from the imaging control unit 14 into a digital signal. The shooting control unit 14 controls image shooting processing by the image shooting apparatus 1, and executes a program stored therein to control the lens 10 to realize focusing and zoom functions, or the CCD 11. In addition, a shooting function such as controlling the imaging process 12 and recording the captured image in the image memory is realized. The image processing unit 15 performs image processing in consideration of various shooting conditions set in advance on the output from the A / D converter 15 when shooting, and then performs compression processing to perform shooting. Generate image data of an image. In addition, the image processing unit 15 generates image data of an image obtained by synthesizing display information in the electronic tag memory 20 with image data of a through image output from the A / D converter 15 in the image processing memory 19.

  The input / output control unit 16 executes a program stored therein to display various processes in response to an input instruction from the input unit 17 by the user, a through image displayed on the output unit 18 and display of various information. Process control is performed. The input unit 17 is a switch or the like for a user to input an operation, and includes a plurality of operation keys such as a shutter button, a power key, a mode selection key, a cross key, and an enter key. A key input signal corresponding to the key operation is output to the input / output control unit 16. The output unit 18 includes a color LCD and a driving circuit thereof, and displays a subject image captured by the CCD 11 as a through image, or displays a captured image stored in the image memory 23 or a memory card. The output unit 18 includes a speaker that outputs audio, an audio amplifier, and the like. When audio data is included in display information described later, the input / output control unit 16 processes an audio signal generated by processing the audio data. Output from the output unit 18 to the outside. The image processing memory 19 is a memory for storing image data that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 15, and the input / output control unit input / output control unit 16 performs display by the output unit 18 based on the image data in the memory. Or the image data of the photographed image is stored in the image memory 23. The electronic tag memory 20 is a memory for storing information read from the electronic tag by the tag reader / writer 27. The image memory 23 is a memory in which data of a plurality of photographed images photographed by the image photographing device 1 is stored. The communication interface 24 is connected to a communication line to exchange data. The communication interface 24 is connected to a network such as the Internet, and exchanges data with a site on the network. The memory card interface 25 is an interface for mounting a memory card for storing image data. Based on a user instruction, the input / output control unit 16 mounts image data in the image memory 23 by the memory card interface 25. Transfer to memory card. The timer 26 measures the date and time, and the input / output control unit 16 sets the date and time counted by the timer 26 as the system date and time.

The tag reader / writer 27 accesses the electronic tag according to an instruction from the input / output control unit 16, and includes a control unit 271, a memory 272, a transmission / reception unit 273, and an antenna 274.
When there is an instruction to read / write the electronic tag from the input / output control unit 16, the control unit 271 transmits radio waves to the transmission / reception unit 273, converts the radio waves received as a response into digital data by the transmission / reception unit 273, and then stores them in the memory 272. Remember. When the input / output control unit 16 requests data read from the electronic tag, the control unit 271 transfers the data stored in the memory 272 to the electronic tag memory 20.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the electronic tag information stored in the electronic tag added to the object to be photographed by the image photographing device 1 and readable by the tag reader / writer 27.
In the electronic tag, an ID code 31 and display information 32 are stored as electronic tag information. When receiving the radio wave from the tag reader / writer 27 of the image capturing apparatus 1, the electronic tag returns the ID code 31 and the display information 32 as a response.

  The ID code 31 is an identifier that uniquely identifies each electronic tag. The display information indicates various information about the article to which the electronic tag is attached. For example, if the article to which the electronic tag is attached is a product, the advertisement information, price and sales destination (address, URL) of the article are displayed. If the article is an exhibit, etc., if it is a recording medium (CD, DVD, etc.) for content such as images, videos, music, etc., the explanation, part of the music or video, etc. Information is stored in the electronic tag as display information 32. In this embodiment, when an article with an electronic tag is photographed by the image photographing device 1, the display information 32 is stored as additional information of the photographed image, and this display is displayed when the photographed image is displayed at a later date. Information based on the information 32 is also displayed together with the captured image.

  The display information 32 does not store the above-described various information as it is, but stores information (IP address, URL, etc.) indicating the location on the network where these pieces of information are stored, and displays a captured image. In such a case, the information may be read and displayed together via a network.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of data regarding a captured image stored in the image memory 23.
The image memory 23 stores data on a plurality of captured images captured by the image capturing apparatus 1. This data includes image information and electronic tag information. Image information, which is information about a captured image captured by the image capturing apparatus 1, is associated with the electronic tag information read from the electronic tag in the image memory 23. Remembered. The captured image in the image memory 23 is read by an instruction from the input unit 17 by the user and displayed on the output unit 18 together with display information in the associated electronic tag information.

  Alternatively, the data in the image memory 23 is read into an information processing apparatus external to the image capturing apparatus 1 via a memory card mounted on the memory card interface 25 or transmitted by network communication through the communication interface 24. It is done. On the information processing apparatus, the information is displayed together with the associated display information or printed out based on the user's operation instruction.

  In the configuration example of FIG. 4, the data for one captured image includes the image data 41 of the captured image, such as JPEG, as attribute information 42, the shooting date and time, shooting settings (white balance, shutter speed, aperture, etc.), etc. Is remembered. When the mode switch 6 is set to the interlock mode at the time of shooting, the attribute information 42 includes an identifier of the electronic tag generated from the ID code read from the electronic tag. Further, as the electronic tag information read from the electronic tag, an identifier 43 and display information 44 generated from the ID code are stored, and the electronic tag information and the image information are associated by the identifier and the identifier 43 in the attribute information 42. It has been.

  When the user operates the input unit 17 to specify one image for the captured image stored in such a data structure, the image information of the corresponding captured image is displayed on the output unit 18. For this purpose, the electronic tag information read out from the image memory 23 or the memory card mounted on the memory card interface 25 and associated with the identifier of the electronic tag is also read out together. Then, from these information, the image processing unit 15 generates display image data obtained by adding display based on display information to the photographed image and stores it in the image processing memory 19. Display is performed on the output unit 18 based on the data inside.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a captured image.
FIG. 4A shows a display example when an image of a product (bag) is displayed on the output unit 18 and is read out from the electronic tag attached to the bag together with the image of the photographed bag. Display information is displayed on the screen. As this display information, character information 51a such as a description and a price for a bag as a product is displayed together with a photographed image, and link information 52a is set in the character information 51a. When the link information 52a is designated by operating the cross key or the enter key of the input unit 17 from the 18 display screen, the image capturing apparatus 1 is at the network address designated by the link information 52a by the communication interface 24. By connecting to the site and reading the corresponding information and displaying it on the output unit 18, more detailed information about the back can be shown to the user.

  FIG. 6B shows an example in which the photographed image is for a music CD (compact disc). In the case of the figure, the photographed image includes text information such as explanation and price for the content (music) in the CD. In 51b, link information 53b to sample music data for trial listening is set in addition to link information 52b to a site on the network similar to FIG. The link information 53b indicates the position of the audio data in the display information 44 shown in FIG. 4 or the position of the site on the network that holds the audio data, and the user operates the input unit 17. When the link information 53b is designated on the display screen of the output unit 18, the input / output control unit 16 reads the audio data from the position indicated by the link information 53b, and processes the audio data of the sample music generated by processing the audio data. Output from 18 to the outside. The link information 53b may link not only audio data but also still image data and moving image data. In this case, when the user designates the link 53b, the corresponding data is read and output on the output unit 18. Still images and movies are displayed on the screen.

  In the above description, the images of FIGS. 5A and 5B are displayed on the output unit 18 of the image capturing apparatus 1, but the image information and the electronic tag information are read into the information processing apparatus, and this information processing is performed. The same display may be performed on the display screen in the apparatus, information on the network may be read using link information, and various types of information may be reproduced.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the image capturing apparatus 1 when the shutter button 5 of the image capturing apparatus 1 is half-pressed. When the shutter button 5 is pressed halfway, the image capturing apparatus 1 transmits radio waves from the tag reader / writer 27 and reads information from the electronic tag.

The processing shown in FIG. 6 is realized by the input / output control unit 16 executing a program stored in its own internal memory.
When the shutter button 5 is pressed halfway down by the user, this process is started, and the input / output control unit 16 first clears the image processing memory 19 as an initialization process (step S1), and then the electronic tag. The memory 20 is cleared (step S2).

  Next, the input / output control unit 16 takes in the image data output from the A / D converter 13 to the image processing memory 19 in step S3. In step S4, a through image is displayed on the output unit 18 based on the image data. In this state, if the mode button 6 is not set to the interlocking mode (step S5, N), the image capturing device 1 does not perform processing in conjunction with the electronic tag information in the electronic tag held by the object to be captured. The process ends.

  If the mode button 6 is set to the interlocking mode in step S5 (step S5, Y), the tag reader / writer 27 is made to read the electronic tag information from the electronic tag as step S6. As a result, when the information cannot be read because the object to be imaged does not have an electronic tag (step S7, N), this process is terminated.

If the electronic tag information can be read from the electronic tag in step S7 (step S7, Y), the information is transferred from the tag reader / writer 27 to the electronic tag memory 20 and stored in step S8.
Next, the input / output control unit 16 generates an electronic tag identifier based on the ID code read from the electronic tag in step S9, and stores it in the image processing memory 19 (step S10). In step S11, display information read from the electronic tag in the electronic tag memory is displayed on the output unit 18 by superimposing the display information on the image, and the process is terminated.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation process performed in the image photographing apparatus 1 at the time of photographing an image. The processing in FIG. 6 is also realized by the input / output control unit 16 executing a program stored in its own internal memory.
This process is started when the shutter button 5 is pressed by the user. In step S21, the input / output control unit 16 instructs the imaging control unit 14 to perform shooting, and the imaging control unit 14 Thus, the output data from the A / D converter 13 is corrected using parameters set such as white balance, and then compressed to generate image data and store it in the image processing memory 19. The input / output control unit 16 transfers the image data from the image processing memory 19 to the image memory 23 and stores it.

  Next, the input / output control unit 16 determines whether or not an identifier is generated in step S9 of FIG. 6 and stored in the image processing memory 19 for the captured image. (Step S22, N), since this is not the shooting in the interlock mode, this process is terminated.

If an identifier has been generated in step S22 (Y in step S22), the information read from the electronic tag and the photographed image are stored in association with each other, so the display information in the electronic tag memory 20 is stored together with this identifier in the image memory 23. (Step S23).
Next, in step S24, the input / output control unit 16 uses the tag reader / writer 27 to read the information from the electronic tag again and perform collation. Then, the date / time information is read from the timer 6 (step S25), and this is written in the electronic tag together with the ID code of the image photographing apparatus 1 as step S26, and then this processing is terminated. The date and time information and ID code written in the electronic tag in step S26 are used for the purpose of checking when and what image photographing apparatus 1 photographed the article that became the photographing object at a later date.

6 and 7, the image photographing apparatus of the present embodiment can record the image data of the photographed image in association with the electronic tag information read from the electronic tag possessed by the photographing object.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed when an image captured by the image capturing apparatus 1 is reproduced. The processing in FIG. 11 is performed by the image capturing apparatus 1 or an information processing apparatus that has read data of a captured image captured by the image capturing apparatus 1. When the processing is performed in the image capturing apparatus 1, the input / output control unit 16. Is realized by executing a program stored in its own internal memory, and when executed in the information processing apparatus, the CPU executes the program on the memory in the information processing apparatus. .

  When the process shown in FIG. 6 is started, first, image information of an image designated by the user is read in step S31. If no identifier is set in the attribute information in the image information (N in step S32), only the image display process is performed in step S40, and the process proceeds to step S41.

  In step S32, if an identifier is set in the attribute information (step S32, Y), display information in the electronic tag information corresponding to this identifier is read in step S33. If the display information is not link information to a site on the network (step S34, Y), the information indicated by the display information is displayed together with the image data, for example, superimposed on the image as step S37.

  In step S34, if the display information is link information to a site on the network (step S34, Y), connection is made to the link information destination site in step S35, and data indicated by the link information is downloaded (step S34). S36) The display content based on the downloaded data is displayed together with the image data in step S37.

  In this state, if the user designates operation of link information from the display screen (step S38, Y), in step S34, data is read from the link destination indicated by the link information and the data is executed. As processing of this step S34, when data read from the link destination is displayed on the screen or when the read data is audio data or image data, the data is reproduced.

  If the link operation is not performed by the user in step S38 (step S38, N), the processing in steps S31 to S41 is repeated (step S41, N) until the operation input for the end of reproduction is performed by the user (step S41, N). If there is an operation instruction to end the reproduction by the user (step S41, Y), this process ends.

  As described above, since the display information read from the electronic tag at the time of shooting is stored in association with the data of the shot image shot by the image shooting device of the present embodiment, when reproducing and displaying the image, This display information can be displayed together. Therefore, it is possible to add information about the article to be photographed to the photographed image, and to provide more information about the photographed object to the user.

  Note that the image capturing apparatus of the present embodiment may be configured not only as a single apparatus but also as a part of another apparatus, for example, a part of a mobile phone.

(A) is a schematic diagram of an image photographing apparatus of the present embodiment, (b) is a diagram showing an example of a transmission / reception antenna provided in a tag reader / writer. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structural example of an image imaging device. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the electronic tag information memorize | stored in the electronic tag added to a to-be-photographed object. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the data about the picked-up image memorize | stored in the image memory. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a picked-up image. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process of an image imaging device when a shutter button is made into a half-pressed state. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement process performed within an image imaging device at the time of imaging | photography of an image. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed when reproducing | regenerating the image image | photographed with the image imaging device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image photographing device 2 Tag reader / writer 3 Shooting lens 5 Shutter button 6 Mode switch 10 Lens 11 CCD
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Imaging process 13 A / D converter 14 Image | photographing control part 15 Image processing part 16 Input / output control part 17 Input part 18 Output part 19 Memory for image processing 20 Memory for electronic tags 21 Transmission / reception antenna 22 Shield plate 23 Image memory 24 Communication interface 25 Memory Card Interface 26 Timer 27 Tag Reader / Writer 28 Bus Line

Claims (9)

Photographing means for photographing an object to be photographed;
An electronic tag reading means for reading out electronic tag information stored in the electronic tag;
An image photographing apparatus comprising: image data of a photographed image obtained by the photographing means and image storage means for storing the electronic tag information read by the electronic tag reading means in association with each other. Input means for receiving operation instructions from the user;
Output means for performing display output to the user, and
The electronic tag reading means reads the electronic tag information when a first instruction is given from the user by the input means, and the output means performs display output based on the electronic tag information. The image photographing device according to 1.   When there is a second instruction after the first instruction from the user by the input means, the photographing means performs photographing, and the image storage means corresponds to the electronic tag information read by the electronic tag reading means. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image capturing apparatus stores the information.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a reproducing unit that displays both an image based on the image data stored by the image storage unit and information based on the electronic tag information stored in association with the image data. 4. The image photographing device according to any one of 3.   Network reproducing means for connecting to a network is further provided, and if the information indicating the address on the network is included in the electronic tag information, the reproducing means performs data from the position indicated by the information indicating the address on the network. The image capturing device according to claim 4, wherein the information is downloaded and information based on the downloaded data is displayed.   The electronic tag information has link information, and when the user designates the link information for the information displayed by the reproduction means, the reproduction means performs processing based on link destination data to which the link information is linked. The image photographing device according to claim 4, wherein:   The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the link destination data is audio data, and the reproduction unit outputs audio based on the audio data.   8. The image photographing device according to claim 1, further comprising photographing display means for displaying information based on the electronic tag information read by the electronic tag reading means together with a through image. A program executed in the image capturing device,
A function to shoot a shooting object;
A function of reading electronic tag information stored in the electronic tag;
A function of storing image data of a photographed image obtained by the photographing unit in association with the electronic tag information read from the electronic tag;
A program that realizes

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