JP2007213181A - Privacy protection image generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a privacy protection image generation device for generating a privacy protection image for properly satisfying a request for protection of individual's privacy. <P>SOLUTION: The privacy protection image generation device comprises: a photographed image reception part 11 for receiving a photographed image; a user specification part 13 for specifying an image area of a person included in the photographed image, and for specifying user identification information corresponding to the image area of the specified person by using user characteristic information having the user identification information and characteristic information of user's image; a privacy protection image generation part 16 for generating a privacy protection image which has been changed from at least a part of the image area of the user identified by the user identification information in the photographed image according to a privacy policy corresponding to the user identification information specified by the user specification part 13; and a privacy protection image output part 17 for outputting the privacy protection image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a privacy-protected image generation apparatus that generates a privacy-protected image that is an image in which privacy is protected.

In recent years, surveillance systems that take pictures of street corners and perform surveillance based on the pictures have been used for crime prevention. In such a surveillance system, the privacy of some of the persons who have been photographed is protected by performing mosaic processing etc. that cannot recognize the face, and the others are A monitoring system that does not perform any processing has been developed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). With such a monitoring system, an image useful for crime prevention can be obtained while protecting the privacy of the individual.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-62560 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  On the other hand, the demand for privacy protection may vary greatly depending on the individual. For example, some people may not want anyone to see their images taken. In addition, other people may be able to see their images taken by acquaintances such as family and friends, but may not want to be seen by those who do not know. The reverse, that is, some people do not want their acquaintances to see their images, but may think that they may be seen by those who do not know. Also, for example, a kindergarten teacher should be able to see a picture of his face by the kindergarten's parents when the kindergarten activities with the kindergarten are photographed, but wearing a swimsuit in the swimming class You may think that you don't want to see images other than the face.

  As described above, the conventional monitoring system can uniformly protect the privacy of individuals, but there is a problem in that each individual's request for privacy protection cannot be appropriately satisfied.

  This problem can be prominent in a certain community (for example, a residential area, a school, a company, etc.) when a person belonging to the community performs monitoring using images taken in the community. This is because in such a situation, personal actions may be seen by acquaintances in the same community, and personal privacy may be infringed compared to monitoring at security companies. is there.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a privacy-protected image generation device capable of generating an image that appropriately satisfies each individual's request for privacy protection from a captured image. The purpose is to do.

  To achieve the above object, a privacy-protected image generation apparatus according to the present invention includes a captured image reception unit that receives a captured image that is an image captured by a camera, user identification information that is information for identifying a user, and the user identification. A user feature information storage unit for storing user feature information, which is information associated with feature information that is information about a feature of an image relating to a user identified by the information, and a captured image received by the captured image reception unit A user specifying unit that specifies a predetermined image area included in the user and uses the user characteristic information to specify user identification information corresponding to the specified predetermined image area, user identification information, and the user identification information Privacy policy, which is information indicating the privacy policy regarding the display of images related to identified users -The captured image reception unit receives the user policy information storage unit that stores user policy information, which is information associated with the information, and privacy policy information corresponding to the user identification information specified by the user specification unit. A privacy-protected image generating unit that generates a privacy-protected image that is an image obtained by changing at least a part of an image area related to a user identified by the user identification information in the captured image, and the privacy-protected image generating unit And a privacy protection image output unit that outputs a privacy protection image.

  With such a configuration, the image area related to each user can be changed in accordance with the privacy policy of each user, and a privacy-protected image that appropriately satisfies the requirements for personal privacy protection can be generated. As a result, each individual's privacy can be appropriately protected according to each privacy policy.

  In the privacy protection image generating apparatus according to the present invention, the privacy policy information may include change content information that is information related to a change content of an image area related to a user.

  With such a configuration, each user can set how images related to himself / herself are displayed in the privacy protection image, and each user's privacy can be appropriately protected according to their privacy policy. It can be done.

  The privacy-protected image generating apparatus according to the present invention further includes a request information receiving unit that receives request information that is information that requests output of the privacy-protected image and includes user identification information of a user who makes the request. The privacy policy information includes change necessity information that is information indicating correspondence between user identification information and necessity of change of an image area related to the user, and the privacy protection image generation unit includes the request information reception unit. The user identification included in the request information received by the request information receiving unit is performed when the change of the image area related to the user is requested by the change necessity information with respect to the user identification information included in the received request information. Regarding the information, the change of the image area related to the user is not requested by the change necessity information. May not be performed the change in focus.

  With such a configuration, each user can set whether or not the image related to the user needs to be changed in the privacy protection image for each user who requested the privacy protection image, and the privacy of each user can be set. It may be possible to protect appropriately according to the privacy policy.

  The privacy-protected image generating apparatus according to the present invention further includes a request information receiving unit that receives request information that is information that requests output of the privacy-protected image and includes user identification information of a user who makes the request. The privacy policy information associates user identification information with change content information that is information related to the content of the image area change related to the user, and the privacy-protected image generation unit uses the privacy policy information to execute the request. When the change content information is associated with the user identification information included in the request information received by the information reception unit, the change according to the change content information may be performed.

  With such a configuration, each user can set how each image related to himself / herself is displayed in the privacy-protected image for each user who requested the privacy-protected image, and each user's privacy can be set according to their privacy. It can be protected appropriately according to policy.

  In the privacy protection image generating apparatus according to the present invention, the image relating to the user is an image of the user, the predetermined image area is an image area of a person, and the image area relating to the user is an image area of the user. There may be.

  With this configuration, the image area of each user is changed according to each user's privacy policy, and the privacy of each user can be appropriately protected.

  In the privacy protection image generating apparatus according to the present invention, the image relating to the user is an image of the user's property, the predetermined image area is an image area of the predetermined object, and the image area relating to the user is: It may be an image area of the user's property.

  With this configuration, the image area of each user's property (for example, the user's car license plate or the user's house nameplate) is changed according to each user's privacy policy. Privacy can be adequately protected.

  According to the privacy protection image generation apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to generate a privacy protection image that is an image in accordance with the privacy policy of each individual from the photographed image, and appropriately request the privacy protection of each individual. Can be satisfied.

  Hereinafter, a privacy protection image generation apparatus according to the present invention will be described using embodiments. In the following embodiments, components and steps denoted by the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repetitive description may be omitted.

(Embodiment 1)
A privacy-protected image generating apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a captured image reception unit 11, a user feature information storage unit 12, a user identification unit 13, a user policy information storage unit 14, and a request information reception unit. 15, a privacy protection image generation unit 16, and a privacy protection image output unit 17.

  The captured image reception unit 11 receives a captured image that is an image captured by a camera. This captured image may be a moving image or a still image. When the captured image is a still image, the captured image reception unit 11 may receive the still image periodically, for example, every 10 seconds, and the occurrence of some event (for example, the person who has been captured A still image may be received using, for example, a change in the captured image as if it were moving. The captured image may be digital data or analog data. In the latter case, it is assumed that the captured image is digitized by the user specifying unit 13 or the privacy protection image generating unit 16. In the present embodiment, the captured image reception unit 11 periodically receives a captured image of a still image as digital data captured by a camera. 1 shows a case where the captured image receiving unit 11 receives a captured image from one camera, but the captured image receiving unit 11 may receive two or more captured images from two or more cameras. Good. For example, the photographed image receiving unit 11 may receive information transmitted from the camera via a wired or wireless communication line, may receive information output from the camera as it is, and the photographed image is accumulated. Information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.) may be received. Note that the captured image reception unit 11 may or may not include a device (for example, a modem or a network card) for reception. The captured image reception unit 11 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

  The user feature information storage unit 12 stores user feature information. Here, the user characteristic information is information having user identification information, which is information for identifying a user, and user characteristic information identified by the user identification information in association with each other. The feature information is information about the feature of the user's image. The feature information may be, for example, feature points such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. of the user's face image, and feature quantities related to the position and shape of each feature point. Information regarding characteristics such as height and body shape may be included, or information on an image itself such as a user's face may be included. The user characteristic information storage unit 12 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.). The storage in the user feature information storage unit 12 may be temporary storage of user feature information read from an external storage device or server, or may be long-term storage. The process in which the user feature information is stored in the user feature information storage unit 12 does not matter. For example, the user feature information may be stored in the user feature information storage unit 12 via a recording medium, and the user feature information transmitted via a communication line or the like is stored in the user feature information storage unit 12. Alternatively, the user feature information input via the input device may be stored in the user feature information storage unit 12.

  The user specifying unit 13 specifies an image area of a person included in the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit 11. That is, the user specifying unit 13 specifies the image area of the person shown in the captured image. The specification of the image area of the person may be, for example, the specification of the image area of the entire person, or the specification of the image area of a part of the person (for example, a face). As a method for specifying an image area of a person's face, for example, a method of extracting a face image area using feature points such as a person's eyes, nose, mouth, ear, or the like, or extracting a face image area using a skin color of the face. There are methods. In addition, as a method for specifying an entire image area of a person, for example, a method of extracting a background difference, a method of holding a pattern indicating a person's shape, and specifying an image area of the person by pattern matching, There is a method of extracting a face area and extracting an entire person area based on the extracted face area. When using the method of extracting the background difference, the captured image is preferably a moving image. In addition, when a method for extracting a background difference is used, the background difference is extracted from the moving image, but the privacy-protected image may be a still image. For example, the user specifying unit 13 extracts the background difference from the captured image of the moving image received by the captured image receiving unit 11, and the privacy protection image generating unit 16 configures the captured image of the moving image received by the captured image receiving unit 11. A privacy protection image, which will be described later, may be generated from the captured image of the still image. As a method for extracting the entire area of the person based on the extracted face area of the person, for example, a method of extracting the image area of the entire person by extending the outline of the face using an outline extraction algorithm, There is a method in which a pattern indicating the shape of the human body is held and an image area of the entire person following the face image area extracted by the pattern matching is extracted. It goes without saying that a person's image area may be specified using other methods. A method for specifying a person's image area is conventionally known, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The user specifying unit 13 uses the user feature information stored in the user feature information storage unit 12 to specify user identification information corresponding to the specified person image area. More specifically, the user specifying unit 13 compares the characteristics of the image area of the specified person with the characteristics indicated by the characteristic information included in the user characteristic information. As the user identification information corresponding to the image area, the user identification information corresponding to the feature information is specified. Here, “matching” may include not only the case where both are completely the same, but also the case where the similarity between both is equal to or greater than a threshold value. For example, when the feature information included in the user feature information is information indicating the feature amount of a person's face, the user specifying unit 13 calculates a similar feature amount from the image area of the specified person, When the feature quantity indicated by the feature information included in the user feature information matches, the user identification information corresponding to the identified person image area is identified as the user identification information corresponding to the matching feature quantity. . If the feature information is user image information, the user specifying unit 13 determines whether the feature amount calculated from the image area of the person in the captured image matches the feature amount calculated from the feature information; User identification information may be specified. Similarly, when the feature information is other information, the user specifying unit 13 specifies user identification information corresponding to the specified image area of the person. Here, the fact that the user specifying unit 13 specifies the user identification information corresponding to the specified person image area means, for example, that the user specifying unit 13 corresponds the information for identifying the person image area and the user identification information. For example, it may be stored in a storage medium (not shown). Note that the user identification information is not necessarily specified for the image areas of all persons specified by the user specifying unit 13. This is because the feature of the image area of the person specified by the user specifying unit 13 may not match the feature indicated by any feature information included in the user feature information.

  The user policy information storage unit 14 stores user policy information. Here, the user policy information is information having user identification information and user privacy policy information identified by the user identification information in association with each other. The privacy policy information is information indicating a privacy policy regarding the display of the user's image. The privacy policy information may include, for example, change content information that is information related to the change content of the user's image area. The change content information may include, for example, information indicating a part to be changed, information indicating what kind of abstraction is performed in the change, information indicating whether to leave a silhouette in the change, and the like. Examples of the site to be changed include the whole body, face, part of face (for example, only eyes), body (part below face), and the like. Further, abstraction processing performed in the change includes, for example, mosaic processing, blurring processing, and painting processing. Mosaic processing, blurring processing, painting processing, and the like are conventionally known, and detailed description thereof is omitted. When leaving the silhouette, the image that leaves the outline of the person is changed. When not leaving the silhouette, the image that does not leave the outline of the person is changed. The privacy policy information may be set for each user who views the captured image. For example, Mr. A does not want to see the whole body (an area including both the head and the neck), but Mr. B looks at the body (an area below the neck that does not include the head). This is because sometimes you don't want to be. Details of the privacy policy information will be described later. The user policy information storage unit 14 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.). The storage in the user policy information storage unit 14 may be temporary storage of user policy information read from an external storage device or server, or may be long-term storage. The process in which the user policy information is stored in the user policy information storage unit 14 does not matter. For example, user policy information may be stored in the user policy information storage unit 14 via a recording medium, and user policy information transmitted via a communication line or the like is stored in the user policy information storage unit 14. Alternatively, the user policy information input via the input device may be stored in the user policy information storage unit 14.

  Note that the user feature information storage unit 12 and the user policy information storage unit 14 may be realized by the same recording medium or may be realized by separate recording media. In the former case, the area of the recording medium in which the user characteristic information is stored becomes the user characteristic information storage unit 12, and the area of the recording medium in which the user policy information is stored becomes the user policy information storage unit 14.

  The request information receiving unit 15 receives request information. Here, the request information is information for requesting output of a privacy protection image, which will be described later, and is information including user identification information of a user who makes the request. The user identification information of the user who makes the request may be, for example, information for identifying the individual user, or identifies an information processing terminal operated by the user and a device on which a privacy-protected image requested for output is displayed. It may be information. In the case where there are a plurality of cameras, the request information may include information related to which camera's captured image generated based on the captured image of the privacy protection image. For example, the request information receiving unit 15 may receive information input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc.), or may receive information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line. Alternatively, information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.) may be received. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the request information receiving unit 15 receives request information transmitted from the information processing terminal via a network. Note that the request information receiving unit 15 may or may not include a device (for example, a modem or a network card) for receiving. Further, the request information receiving unit 15 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a predetermined device.

  The privacy protection image generation unit 16 generates a privacy protection image. Here, the privacy-protected image is an image obtained by changing at least a part of the image area of the user in the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit 11. The user whose at least part of the image area is changed is the user specified by the user specifying unit 13. The user specified by the user specifying unit 13 is a user identified by the user identification information specified by the user specifying unit 13. The image area of the user may be an image area specified by the user specifying unit 13 or may be an image area newly specified by the privacy protection image generating unit 16. In the latter case, for example, the user specifying unit 13 specifies only the human face image region as the person image region, and the privacy protection image generating unit 16 sets the person whole body image region as the person image region. May be specified. The privacy protection image generation unit 16 changes at least a part of the specified image area of the user in the captured image based on the privacy policy information corresponding to the user. The privacy protection image generation unit 16 may change the entire image area of the user specified by the user specifying unit 13 or may change only a part thereof. In the latter case, for example, the privacy protection image generation unit 16 may change the face or body area of the user image area. As described above, as a method of extracting a face or body region from a user image region, a method of extracting a face image region using facial feature points, or a ratio of the face part length to the body length (for example, And a method of extracting a face image region and a body image region using a ratio of the face to the whole image region being about 1/7. If the image area of the whole body is specified and the face image area can be extracted, the body image area can be extracted as a result. The privacy policy information corresponding to a user is privacy policy information corresponding to user identification information for identifying the user. The privacy protection image generation unit 16 reads the privacy policy information from the user policy information storage unit 14 and uses it. A specific method by which the privacy protection image generation unit 16 generates the privacy protection image will be described later.

  The privacy protection image output unit 17 outputs the privacy protection image generated by the privacy protection image generation unit. Here, the output may be, for example, display on a display device (for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display), transmission via a communication line to a predetermined device, printing by a printer, or output to a recording medium. It may be accumulated. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the privacy protection image output unit 17 transmits the privacy protection image to the information processing terminal that is the transmission source of the corresponding request information. The privacy protection image output unit 17 may or may not include an output device (for example, a display device or a printer). The privacy protection image output unit 17 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives these devices.

  Next, the operation of the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. Here, it is assumed that the captured image reception unit 11 periodically receives a captured image of a still image from the camera.

  (Step S101) The request information receiving unit 15 determines whether request information has been received. If the request information is received, the process proceeds to step S102. If not, the process of step S101 is repeated until the request information is received.

  (Step S102) The captured image reception unit 11 determines whether a captured image has been received. If a captured image is received, the process proceeds to step S103. If not, the process of step S102 is repeated until a captured image is received.

  (Step S103) The user specifying unit 13 specifies an image region of a person included in the captured image. Further, the user specifying unit 13 specifies user identification information corresponding to the specified image area of the person. By this process, among the persons shown in the photographed image, the user registered in advance in the user characteristic information is specified. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S104) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 generates a privacy protection image from the photographed image. By this processing, the image area of the user registered in advance in the captured image is changed according to the privacy policy of the user. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S105) The privacy protection image output unit 17 outputs the privacy protection image generated by the privacy protection image generation unit 16.

  (Step S106) An end information receiving unit (not shown) determines whether or not end information, which is information indicating that the output of the privacy protection image is to be ended, has been received. If the end information is accepted, the process proceeds to step S101. If not, the process returns to step S102.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the case where a privacy-protected image of a still image is output has been described. However, when a privacy-protected image of a moving image is output, for example, the processing in steps S103 to S105 is performed with end information. You may make it perform repeatedly continuously until it is received.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of step S103 of FIG.
(Step S <b> 201) The user specifying unit 13 specifies an image area of a person in the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit 11. When the captured image includes image areas of a plurality of persons, each is specified.

(Step S202) The user identifying unit 13 sets the counter I to “1”.
(Step S203) The user specifying unit 13 determines whether the feature of the image area of the I-th person specified in step S201 matches any of the feature information stored in the user feature information storage unit 12. If they match, the process proceeds to step S204, and if not, the process proceeds to step S205.

  (Step S204) The user specifying unit 13 specifies user identification information corresponding to the image area of the I-th person. Specifically, the user specifying unit 13 reads out user identification information corresponding to the feature information determined to match the feature of the image area of the I-th person from the user feature information storage unit 12, and retrieves the user identification information from the I-th person. Is stored in a recording medium (not shown) in association with information for identifying the image area of the person.

(Step S205) The user specifying unit 13 increments the counter I by one.
(Step S206) The user specifying unit 13 determines whether or not an image area of the I-th person exists in the captured image. If it exists, the process returns to step S203. If it does not exist, the series of processing ends.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing detailed processing of step S104 of FIG.
(Step S301) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 determines whether or not one or more pieces of user identification information are specified by the user specifying unit 13. If it is specified, the process proceeds to step S302. If not, the process for generating a privacy-protected image ends. In this case, the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit 11 is directly used as a privacy protection image.

(Step S302) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 sets the counter J to “1”.
(Step S303) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 reads the privacy policy information corresponding to the Jth user identification information from the user policy information storage unit 14 among the user identification information specified by the user specification unit 13. In reading out the privacy policy information, only the necessary part of the privacy policy information may be read out.

(Step S304) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 changes the image area corresponding to the J-th user identification information specified by the user specification unit 13 according to the privacy policy information read out in step S303.
(Step S305) The privacy-protected image generation unit 16 increments the counter J by 1.

  (Step S306) The privacy protection image generation unit 16 determines whether or not the J-th user identification information specified by the user specification unit 13 exists. If it exists, the process returns to step S303, and if it does not exist, the series of processing ends.

  Note that the processing in the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 4 is an example, and processing according to another sequence may be performed. For example, two or more pieces of request information may be received and two or more privacy protection images may be output in parallel. In such a case, for example, the processes in steps S103 to S105 may be repeated for the number of received request information.

  Next, the operation of the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described using a specific example. In this specific example, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of information processing terminals and the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 are connected by a wired or wireless network. This network may be, for example, the Internet or an intranet.

  In this specific example, a system using a plurality of information processing terminals and the privacy protection image generation device 1 so that residents in this region can see a photographed image taken by a camera installed in a certain region. Is built. Each resident can view the photographed image photographed by the camera by transmitting the request information from his / her information processing terminal to the privacy protection image generating apparatus 1.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of user feature information stored in the user feature information storage unit 12. As shown in FIG. 5, in the user feature information, user identification information and feature information are associated with each other. The feature information “F001” is information about the feature of the image of the user identified by the corresponding user identification information “U001” (hereinafter also referred to as “user U001”. The same applies to other users). It is.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of user policy information stored in the user policy information storage unit 14. As shown in FIG. 6, in the user policy information, user identification information for identifying a user who can be seen by other people in the privacy protection image is associated with the privacy policy information. Further, the privacy policy information has request source user identification information (that is, user identification information for identifying a user who views a privacy-protected image) and change content information in association with each other. The change content information includes information indicating a part to be changed, information indicating an abstraction method in the change, and information indicating whether or not to leave a silhouette at the time of change. For example, in the first record of the user policy information shown in FIG. 6, when the user U002 requests the output of the privacy-protected image, the privacy of the body image of the user U001 that has been subjected to the blurring process while leaving the silhouette. It shows that a protected image is generated. Therefore, the user U002 can see the face of the user U001 when the user U001 is reflected in the captured image. The privacy protection image generation unit 16, when the change content information is associated with the user identification information included in the request information received by the request information reception unit 15 according to the privacy policy information, the image corresponding to the change content information Change the area.

  First, it is assumed that the user U002 operates his / her information processing terminal and executes processing for transmitting request information requesting output of a privacy protection image. Then, the information processing terminal reads the user identification information “U002” stored in advance on a predetermined recording medium, and sends a request information packet including the user identification information and a request to output a privacy protection image. The packet is transmitted to the address of the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 registered in advance.

  The request information packet transmitted from the information processing terminal is received by the request information receiving unit 15 of the privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 (step S101), and the user identification information “U002” included in the request information is generated as a privacy-protected image. Passed to part 16. Then, the user specifying unit 13 specifies the person's image area and the user identification information at the timing when the new captured image shown in FIG. 7 is received by the captured image receiving unit 11 (step S102). (Step S103).

  Specifically, the user specifying unit 13 first specifies an image area of a person as shown in FIG. 8 (step S201). In FIG. 8, the image areas of three persons are specified. Next, the user specifying unit 13 determines whether or not the feature of the image area matches any of the feature information shown in FIG. 5 in order from the image area of the left person. In this case, it is assumed that the feature of the image area of the leftmost person matches the feature information “F001” (step S203). Then, the user specifying unit 13 reads the user identification information “U001” corresponding to the feature information “F001” from the user feature information storage unit 12, and associates it with the image area of the leftmost person with a recording medium (not shown). Store (step S204). Assume that the features of the image areas of other persons do not match any feature information. The user specifying unit 13 passes the specified user identification information “U001” and information indicating the image area of the corresponding person to the privacy protection image generating unit 16.

  The privacy protection image generating unit 16 determines that the user identification information specified by the user specifying unit 13 exists (step S301), and the user identification information “" specified by the user specifying unit 13 from the user policy information shown in FIG. Of the privacy policy information corresponding to “U001”, change content information corresponding to the user identification information “U002” received from the request information receiving unit 15 is read (step S303). Then, the privacy protection image generation unit 16 executes “body blurring process leaving a silhouette” indicated by the read change content information for the image area of the user U001 received from the user specifying unit 13 (step S304). Here, in this specific example, it is assumed that the privacy-protected image generation unit 16 generates a privacy-protected image using the image area of the person specified by the user specifying unit 13.

  Specifically, the privacy protection image generation unit 16 specifies a body region from the image region of the user identified by the user identification information “U001”, and executes a blurring process on the body part. The method for specifying the body region is as described above. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of the privacy protection image generated as described above. As shown in FIG. 9A, the blurring process is performed while leaving a silhouette on the body of the user U001 at the leftmost of the captured image.

  The privacy protection image is transmitted by the privacy protection image output unit 17 to the information processing terminal of the user U002, which is the address of the transmission source of the request information packet (step S105). As a result, the privacy protection image shown in FIG. 9A is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal. Therefore, the user U002 can see the face of the user U001, but the details of what kind of clothes are worn are not known.

  As described above, the process of specifying the user in the captured image and the process of generating and outputting the privacy-protected image are executed every time the captured image is received by the captured image receiving unit 11.

  It should be noted that when a user looking at a privacy-protected image finds a suspicious person, etc., information on mechanisms that activate alarm devices installed in the community or report to security companies, police, etc. A processing terminal etc. may have.

  Further, here, the case where the request information is transmitted from the information processing terminal of the user U002 has been described, but when the request information is transmitted from the information processing terminal of the user U003, the display of the information processing terminal of the user U003 is performed. The privacy protection image shown in FIG. 9B is displayed. In the privacy protection image in FIG. 9B, the user U001 is painted without leaving a silhouette. When the request information is transmitted from the information processing terminal of the user U004, the privacy protection image shown in FIG. 9C is displayed on the display of the information processing terminal of the user U004. In the privacy-protected image in FIG. 9C, the user U001 has been subjected to mosaic processing with the face leaving a silhouette.

  Further, in the user policy information shown in FIG. 6, request information is transmitted from the information processing terminal of the user identified by the user identification information that is not included in the privacy policy information associated with the user identification information “U001”. In this case, the privacy protection image generation unit 16 does not change anything about the image area of the user U001 and transmits the photographing information as it is as a privacy protection image to the requesting information processing terminal.

  Further, in this specific example, a case has been described in which the change content information includes information indicating a part to be changed, information indicating an abstraction method in the change, and information indicating whether or not to leave a silhouette at the time of change. However, the change content information may be composed of one or more pieces of information, or may include information other than the information. For example, the change content information may include additional information that is information to be added to the image. The additional information may be, for example, the user's name and gender displayed in the person's image area, or may be an image of a user's favorite mark or animal. By generating a privacy-protected image using the additional information included in this change content information, the user's image area is abstracted, and the user's name, the user's favorite animal, etc. are displayed in the image area. Will be.

  Further, in this specific example, the case where the privacy protection image generation unit 16 performs abstraction such as blurring, mosaic, and filling according to the change content information has been described, but other abstractions may be performed. For example, the user's image area may be erased to generate a privacy-protected image as if the user does not exist. This erasing method is conventionally known as image processing of moving images, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Also, for example, when a user's image area is filled without leaving a silhouette, the user's existence itself can be determined by determining the shape (eg, circle, triangle, square, etc.) and size of the area to be filled. Although it can be known by painting, the user's posture, fine position, etc. may not be known to the person who is viewing the privacy protection image. In these cases, it is assumed that corresponding change content information is set in the user policy information.

  As described above, according to the privacy-protected image generating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to generate a privacy-protected image that protects each user's privacy according to each user's privacy policy information. Accordingly, it is possible to generate an image that appropriately satisfies the privacy protection requirements of each individual from the captured image.

  In recent years, an increasing number of cities have many cameras for surveillance installed on the street corners, but even if such a large number of images are collectively monitored at a security company or a public office, oversight often occurs. Become. Therefore, it is desirable for people belonging to the community to view images taken in each community. In such a case, as described in the above-mentioned problem, a privacy protection problem occurs. . However, the privacy of each individual can be appropriately protected by using the privacy protection image generating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As described above, the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 is particularly effective when a person belonging to a community performs monitoring using an image photographed in the community.

  In this embodiment, the privacy policy information of the user policy information has been described as including the user identification information of the request source of the request information and the change content information. However, the user policy information is information other than this. There may be. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, only the change content information may be included in the privacy policy information. For example, when the user U001 image is included in the captured image, the user policy information shown in FIG. 10 generates a privacy-protected image in which the whole body is mosaic-processed while leaving a silhouette for the image area of the user U001. Means. As described above, when the request source user identification information included in the request information is not used, the request information received by the request information receiving unit 15 may not include the request source user identification information. The privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 may not include the request information receiving unit 15 and may continue outputting the privacy-protected image to a predetermined information processing terminal, display, or the like.

  The privacy policy information may include change necessity information that is information indicating correspondence between the user identification information and the necessity of changing the image area of the user. The change necessity information may be any information as long as the user can know whether or not to change the image area of the user. For example, the change necessity information may be, for example, information indicating necessity of change in association with each user identification information of the request source, or information indicating user identification information of the request source that is not changed. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 11, it may be information indicating the user identification information of the request source that performs the change. As described above, when the privacy policy information includes the change necessity information which is information indicating the correspondence between the user identification information and the necessity of changing the image area of the user, the privacy protection image generation unit 16 Regarding the user identification information included in the request information received by the request information receiving unit 15, when the change of the image area of the user is requested by the change necessity information, the image area is changed, and the request information receiving unit 15 With respect to the user identification information included in the request information received by the user, if the change of the image area of the user is not requested by the change necessity information, the image area is not changed. Note that the contents of the change when the user changes the image area are determined in advance, such as “a whole body mosaic process that leaves a silhouette”, and the change process is executed by the privacy protection image generation unit 16. Will be.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the privacy policy information may be information having a request source user attribute instead of the request source user identification information. By setting the privacy policy information using the user attribute in this way, the user does not need to set the change content information for each user who requested the request information, and the user's effort concerning the setting of the privacy policy information is eliminated. Will be reduced. In FIG. 12, the user U001 does not change anything about the image area of the user U001 for the family, and performs a blurring process on the friend leaving a silhouette for the image area of the user U001. For the neighbors, the process of filling the whole body without leaving a silhouette is performed on the image area of the user U001, and for other persons, the mosaic process of the face with the silhouette remaining is performed on the image area of the user U001. It is shown that. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, there is a separate information for associating the user attribute of the request source with the user identification information of the request source. As a result, the user identification information corresponds to the change content information. It will be attached. Therefore, even in this case, it can be said that the privacy policy information is information that associates the user identification information with the change content information of the user's image area.

  In addition, the user policy information stored in the user policy information storage unit 14 is configured to be changed by each user by accessing the privacy protection image generating apparatus 1 through an information processing terminal or the like. It is preferable. Note that a method of changing information via a network or the like has been conventionally known, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  In the above description, the case where the abstraction process such as mosaic or blurring is performed on the user's own image area has been described. However, the image area on which the abstraction process is performed may be the user's car or the user's car number. It may be a plate or a house nameplate. This is because the user sometimes thinks that he / she does not want other people to see his / her license plate or house nameplate. That is, the “user image” in the above description may be the “image related to the user”. The “user-related image” includes the above-described “user image”, “user-owned image”, and the like. The “image of the user's property” is, for example, an image of the license plate of the user's car or an image of the nameplate of the user's house. Further, the “person image area” in the above description may be a “predetermined image area”. This “predetermined image area” is an image area for which privacy protection is required by a privacy policy or the like. The “predetermined image area” includes the “person image area” and the “predetermined image area” described above. The “image area of the predetermined object” is, for example, an image area of a car license plate, an image area of a house nameplate, or the like. As a method for the user specifying unit 13 to specify those image areas, a method using pattern matching, a method using background difference, and a characteristic color for the image area are used, as in the case of specifying an image area of a person. A method or the like can be used. Further, the “user image area” in the above description may be the “image area related to the user”. The “image area related to the user” includes the “user image area” described above, the “image area of the user's property”, and the like. The “image area of the user's property” is, for example, the image area of the license plate of the user's car, the image area of the nameplate of the user's house, or the like. Thus, the privacy protection image generation device may be as follows. That is, the privacy protection image generation apparatus includes a captured image reception unit that receives a captured image that is an image captured by a camera, user identification information that is information for identifying a user, and an image relating to a user that is identified by the user identification information. A user feature information storage unit that stores user feature information that is information associated with feature information that is information about the features of the image, and a predetermined image area included in the captured image received by the captured image reception unit. A user identification unit that identifies and identifies user identification information corresponding to the identified predetermined image area using the user characteristic information, user identification information, and display of an image relating to the user identified by the user identification information Is associated with privacy policy information, which is information indicating the privacy policy User policy information storage unit for storing user policy information, which is information, and privacy policy information corresponding to the user identification information specified by the user specifying unit, the user identification information in the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit A privacy-protected image generating unit that generates a privacy-protected image that is an image obtained by changing at least a part of the image area related to the user identified by the user, and privacy protection that outputs the privacy-protected image generated by the privacy-protected image generating unit And an image output unit.

  In the above embodiment, each process or each function may be realized by centralized processing by a single device or a single system, or may be distributedly processed by a plurality of devices or a plurality of systems. It may be realized by doing.

  The privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment may be a stand-alone apparatus or may be an apparatus that constitutes a server in a server / client system.

  In the above embodiment, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. Note that the software that implements the privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 in the above embodiment is the following program. That is, the program specifies a captured image reception step for receiving a captured image that is an image captured by a camera and a predetermined image area included in the captured image received in the captured image reception step. User identification information that is information to be identified and user characteristic information that is information having information associated with image characteristics relating to the user identified by the user identification information in association with each other. The user identification step for identifying the user identification information corresponding to the image area of the user, the user identification information, and the privacy policy information that is information indicating the privacy policy regarding the display of the image relating to the user identified by the user identification information are associated with each other. From the user policy information that is The privacy policy information corresponding to the user identification information identified in the user identification step is read, and at least a part of the image area related to the user identified by the user identification information in the captured image received in the captured image reception step is changed. A privacy protection image generation step for generating a privacy protection image, which is a protected image, and a privacy protection image output step for outputting the privacy protection image generated in the privacy protection image generation step.

  In the above program, the output step for outputting information and the accepting step for receiving information do not include at least processing performed only by hardware, for example, processing performed by a modem or an interface card in the output step. .

  Further, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like) is read out. May be executed by

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of a computer that executes the program and realizes the privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The above-described embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed on the computer hardware.

  14, a computer system 100 includes a computer 101 including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) drive 105 and an FD (Flexible Disk) drive 106, a keyboard 102, a mouse 103, and a monitor 104.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a computer system. 15, in addition to the CD-ROM drive 105 and the FD drive 106, a computer 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112 for storing a program such as a bootup program, A CPU (Random Access Memory) 113 that is connected to the CPU 111 and temporarily stores application program instructions and provides a temporary storage space, a hard disk 114 that stores application programs, system programs, and data, a CPU 111 and a ROM 112. Etc. to each other. The computer system 100 may include a network card (not shown) that provides a connection to the LAN together with the monitor 104 or instead of the monitor 104.

  A program that causes the computer system 100 to execute the functions of the privacy-protected image generation apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the CD-ROM 121 or FD 122, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 105 or FD drive 106, and a hard disk. 114 may be transferred. Instead, the program may be transmitted to the computer 101 via a network (not shown) and stored in the hard disk 114. The program is loaded into the RAM 113 at the time of execution. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 121, the FD 122, or the network.

The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS), a third party program, or the like that causes the computer 101 to execute the function of the privacy protection image generation apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment. The program may include only a part of an instruction that calls an appropriate function (module) in a controlled manner and obtains a desired result. How the computer system 100 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the privacy-protected image generation apparatus according to the present invention can generate an image that appropriately satisfies the privacy protection requirements of each individual from the captured image, and is used in a monitoring system that monitors for crime prevention. It is valid.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a privacy-protected image generation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the privacy protection image generation apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the privacy protection image generation apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the privacy protection image generation apparatus by the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the user characteristic information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the user policy information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the picked-up image in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the picked-up image in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the privacy protection image in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the user policy information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the user policy information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the user policy information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the information which matches the user attribute of a request origin, and user identification information in the embodiment Schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of the computer system in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a structure of the computer system in the embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Privacy protection image generation apparatus 11 Captured image reception part 12 User characteristic information storage part 13 User specification part 14 User policy information storage part 15 Request information reception part 16 Privacy protection image generation part 17 Privacy protection image output part

Claims (7)

A captured image reception unit that receives a captured image that is an image captured by a camera;
User feature information storing user feature information which is information having user identification information which is information for identifying a user and feature information which is information about a feature of an image related to the user identified by the user identification information. An information storage unit;
A user identification unit that identifies a predetermined image area included in the captured image received by the captured image reception unit, and that uses the user feature information to identify user identification information corresponding to the identified predetermined image area;
User policy information storage unit that stores user policy information that is information having user identification information and privacy policy information that is information indicating a privacy policy related to display of an image related to the user identified by the user identification information. When,
The privacy policy information corresponding to the user identification information specified by the user specifying unit has changed at least a part of the image area related to the user identified by the user identification information in the captured image received by the captured image receiving unit. A privacy protection image generation unit that generates a privacy protection image that is an image;
A privacy-protected image generation apparatus comprising: a privacy-protected image output unit that outputs a privacy-protected image generated by the privacy-protected image generation unit. The privacy protection image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the privacy policy information includes change content information that is information related to a change content of an image area related to a user. A request information receiving unit that receives request information that is information requesting output of the privacy-protected image and includes user identification information of a user who makes the request;
The privacy policy information includes change necessity information that is information indicating correspondence between user identification information and necessity of change of an image area related to the user,
The privacy protection image generation unit performs the change when the change of the image area related to the user is requested by the change necessity information with respect to the user identification information included in the request information received by the request information reception unit, The privacy protection image according to claim 1, wherein the user identification information included in the request information received by the request information receiving unit is not changed when the change of the image area related to the user is not requested by the change necessity information. Generator. A request information receiving unit that receives request information that is information requesting output of the privacy-protected image and includes user identification information of a user who makes the request;
The privacy policy information associates the user identification information with the change content information that is information about the content of the image area change related to the user,
The privacy protection image generation unit responds to the change content information when the change content information is associated with the user identification information included in the request information received by the request information reception unit according to the privacy policy information. The privacy protection image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change is performed. The image relating to the user is an image of the user;
The predetermined image area is an image area of a person,
The privacy protection image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image area related to the user is an image area of the user. The image relating to the user is an image of the user's property,
The predetermined image area is an image area of a predetermined object,
The privacy-protected image generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image area related to the user is an image area of a property owned by the user. On the computer,
A captured image reception step for receiving a captured image that is an image captured by a camera;
The user identification information, which is information for identifying a predetermined image area included in the photographed image received in the photographed image reception step and identifying the user, and information about the characteristics of the image relating to the user identified by the user identification information. A user specifying step of specifying user identification information corresponding to the specified image area using the user feature information, which is information associated with certain feature information;
Identified in the user identification step from user policy information that is information having user identification information and privacy policy information that is information indicating a privacy policy related to display of an image relating to the user identified by the user identification information. Privacy protection image which is an image obtained by reading out privacy policy information corresponding to user identification information and changing at least a part of an image area related to the user identified by the user identification information in the captured image received in the captured image reception step Generating a privacy-protected image,
A program for executing a privacy protection image output step of outputting the privacy protection image generated in the privacy protection image generation step.