JP2015126451A - Recording method for image, electronic equipment and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically record only a life log image which is useful for a photographer.SOLUTION: A monitor image 101 is photographed using a digital camera having a super-wide-angle lens. The monitor image includes a photographer 102, an object image 109 such as an airplane and tree which the photographer is interested in, and a background image 107 other than that. Movement of a line of sight of a photographer toward a subject is identified through the monitor image and watch regions 105a, 105b are defined on the monitor image. Selection images 120, 121 corresponding to the region defined by the watch region are extracted from the monitor image, and are converted into a preservation format and generated recording images 130-150 are recorded. The recording images 131, 132 include only an object image that is extracted through object recognition and interested by the photographer.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for recording an image obtained by photographing a scene such as a daily life or a business scene, and further relates to a technique for recording only an image having a high reproduction value for a photographer without imposing a burden on the photographer.

  In recent years, digital cameras have become standard equipment on mobile phones, smartphones, tablet terminals, etc., and this records daily life situations such as human life, experience, and behavior as moving images, still images, or sounds. It has become easier to use for so-called life logs. The life log mechanism can also be used to record business situations such as meetings and visits later. Hereinafter, recording the business situation is referred to as a business log.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support system that can enlarge and display an image corresponding to a place where the line of sight is directed in a front image of a vehicle. The system determines where the line-of-sight direction detected from the face image of the driver photographed by the face photographing camera is directed to the divided area obtained by dividing the area of the front image photographed by the front photographing camera.

  Using the determined divided area as the attention area, this attention area or image data corresponding to the attention area and its vicinity is extracted from the forward image data and displayed on the display means. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for improving the calculation accuracy of the gaze degree for a subject. This document describes that a gaze degree is calculated based on a change with time of a distance from a subject's gazing point of a subject. Patent Document 3 discloses a life log display device with improved life log data browsing efficiency. This document describes that display priority is variably set according to conditions when the user browses.

JP 2006-172215 A JP 2013-179403 A JP 2012-43018 A

  Since life log images and business log images become enormous as the recording time elapses, it becomes difficult to search for only the image that you want to see later in a short time, or the capacity of the storage medium increases. Although the driving support system of Patent Document 1 can later confirm an object whose line of sight is directed during driving, the amount of data to be stored for recording all captured forward image data, line-of-sight direction data, and imaging coordinates is enormous. Become. In addition, a face camera and a front camera are provided, the face camera directs the optical axis to the center of the driver's face, and the front camera uses a line of sight to focus the center of the image on the area of interest. It is necessary to perform follow-up control so that the optical axis is oriented in the direction of.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method in which an electronic device can easily record only images useful for a photographer. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method in which an electronic device automatically records only images useful for a photographer without the photographer being aware of it. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for recording efficient life log data. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for recording efficient business log data. Furthermore, the objective of this invention is providing the electronic device and computer program which implement | achieve such a method.

  The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus capable of recording an image. Such an electronic device can be a wearable computer used by being attached to a human body, but is a portable electronic device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or a notebook personal computer used in a predetermined place or A desktop personal computer may be used. The electronic device captures the photographer's face and surrounding subjects and outputs a monitor image, and identifies the movement of the photographer's line of sight with respect to the subject from the monitor image and defines a gaze area for the monitor image And a recording image processing unit that generates a recording image to be recorded on the recording device from a part of the monitor image corresponding to the watching region. The recorded image may be a still image or a moving image.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to record only the image of the subject that the photographer gazes at. Since the region of the monitor image watched by the photographer is likely to include an image that is interesting and worth saving, the photographer can easily view only useful recorded images later. The photographer does not need to perform an operation of pressing the shutter, and the electronic device can automatically save only useful recorded images only by acting naturally. The recording device may be housed in the same housing as the electronic device, but may be arranged at a distance so that communication can be performed over a network.

  When the recorded image processing unit does not recognize an object image corresponding to a predetermined target object from a part of the monitor image, it can discard the recorded image without generating a recorded image. The object of interest may be input by the photographer, but may use data related to the action history of the photographer held by the electronic device. The data related to the action history can be GPS data of places frequently visited by photographers, a theme frequently viewed on a website, and the like. When the object image is recognized from a part of the monitor image, the recorded image processing unit can process a part of the monitor image so that the object image is not defective and is focused. Therefore, the electronic device can record a well-balanced recorded image focused on the object image that the user is interested in.

  The gaze area demarcating section can demarcate the gaze area from the gaze condition configured by the discrete amount of the coordinates of the line of sight in the monitor image and the gaze time until the gaze area is demarcated. The electronic device may include a gaze condition adjusting unit that instructs the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition. The gaze area defining unit that has received the instruction for adjusting the gaze condition can relax or enhance the gaze condition by adjusting the discrete amount and / or the gaze time. The gaze condition adjusting unit can function to predict a situation worth generating a recorded image with various information and record only useful recorded images. If the electronic device has a microphone, the gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to relax the gaze condition when recognizing a predetermined person or a predetermined object from the audio data received from the microphone. Can do.

  Also, if the electronic device has a GPS module, the gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition based on the current position of the electronic device recognized from the GPS data received from the GPS module. Can do. If the electronic device has an acceleration sensor, the gaze condition adjustment unit strengthens the gaze condition in the gaze area defining unit when it is determined from the acceleration data received from the acceleration sensor that there is little change in the posture of the digital camera. You can give instructions.

  Further, the gaze condition adjusting unit can instruct the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition when a predetermined motion or predetermined gesture of the person is recognized from the moving image of the person included in the monitor image. When the electronic apparatus has a microphone, a recording / playback processing unit that records the audio data recorded by the microphone in the vicinity of the shooting time of the frame of the monitor image that generated the recorded image in the recording device in association with the recorded image. Can be provided.

  The electronic device may be equipped with two digital cameras that photograph the photographer's face and surrounding subjects, but it may be equipped with a wide-angle lens or ultra-wide-angle lens that can photograph the photographer's face and subject at the same time. For example, it becomes unnecessary to associate the optical axis of each camera, which is necessary for image processing when using a plurality of cameras. A digital camera including an ultra-wide-angle lens can be disposed on the front and back surfaces of the casing of the electronic device so that all objects around the electronic device can be photographed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method in which an electronic device easily records only an image useful for a photographer. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method in which an electronic device automatically records only images useful for a photographer without the photographer being conscious. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for recording efficient life log data. Furthermore, according to the present invention, an efficient method for recording business log data could be provided. Furthermore, according to the present invention, an electronic apparatus and a computer program that realize such a method can be provided.

It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the image recording / reproducing system 200 concerning this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the image recording / reproducing system 200 concerning this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the image recording / reproducing system 200 concerning this Embodiment. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of an electronic device 10 in which an image recording / reproducing system 200 is mounted. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining a software configuration of an image recording / reproducing system 200. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the input screen 250 which the function setting part 213 provides as a user interface. It is a figure explaining an example of the method of demarcating the gaze area | regions 105a and 105b from the coordinate of the identified eyes | visual_axis 103. FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the method of demarcating the gaze area | regions 105a and 105b from the coordinate of the identified eyes | visual_axis 103. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image recording / reproducing system 200.

[Outline of image recording and playback system]
1-3 is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the image recording / reproducing system 200 (refer FIG. 5) concerning this Embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a situation where a photographer 102 existing in the vicinity of an electronic device 10 equipped with an image recording / playback system 200 is gazing at a certain area of a surrounding landscape (monitor subject 100). The electronic device 10 may be a pendant computer, a head-mounted display, or a wearable computer that collectively refers to a photographer 102 to be worn on the body. The electronic device 10 is equipped with a camera module 53 (see FIG. 4) equipped with a super-wide-angle lens capable of digital photography, and can photograph a hemispherical monitor subject 100 as shown in FIG. The monitor subject 100 includes the face of the photographer 102 and the scenery that the photographer 102 is viewing.

  The camera module 53 can capture a monitor subject 100 and generate a monitor image 101 (see FIG. 3) in which a plurality of frames are continuous. The image recording / reproducing system 200 can identify the line of sight 103 of the photographer 102 as coordinates on the monitor image 101. The photographer 102 always moves the line of sight 103 when looking at the monitor subject 100, but when looking at an interested subject or a deeply impressed subject, the line of sight 103 is concentrated near the subject. .

  When the line of sight 103 remains in a predetermined area of the monitor subject 100 for a predetermined time or more, the gaze condition defined in the present embodiment is satisfied. It can be considered that there is a probability that the area of the monitor subject 100 in the direction of the line of sight 103 when the gaze condition is satisfied is highly valuable for the photographer 102 to record. In the present embodiment, the regions of the monitor image 101 identified from the range of movement of the line of sight with respect to the monitor subject 100 defined when the gaze condition is satisfied are defined as gaze regions 105a and 105b (see FIG. 3).

  FIG. 2 conceptually shows a state in which a plurality of gaze areas exist at an arbitrary position of the monitor subject 100. The size of each gaze area varies depending on the gaze condition. FIG. 3 shows that the monitor image 101 includes a background image 107, a plurality of object images 109 such as clouds, airplanes, trees, rivers, buildings, cars and flowers, and a face image 102a of the photographer 102. Yes. Here, the object image 109 means an image of an interesting theme (attention object) registered in advance by the photographer 102 or the system, and the background image 107 means the monitor image 101 excluding the object image 109 and the face image 102a. .

  As an example, the image recording / reproducing system 200 extracts a selected image 120 having an angle of view (photographing range of a subject) defined by the gaze area 105 a from the monitor image 101. The selection image 120 includes a tree corresponding to the registered object of interest and an object image 109 of the airplane, but a part of the tree is out of the angle of view. The image recording / reproducing system 200 determines whether or not the selected image 120 includes an object image 109 corresponding to one of the target objects registered in advance.

  When a plurality of object images such as trees and airplanes are registered, the image recording / reproducing system 200 generates a recorded image 130 in which the angle of view of the selected image 120 is adjusted so that no loss occurs in each object image. In another example, the image recording / reproducing system 200 includes a plurality of recorded images 131 and 132 in which the angle of view is adjusted so that the tree and the airplane object image 109 corresponding to the plurality of objects of interest included in the selected image 120 are focused. Is generated.

  In still another example, when the area surrounded by the gaze area 105a of the monitor image 101 includes the object image 109 corresponding to one registered object of interest, the image recording / reproducing system 200 includes the object image 109. A recorded image 140 with the angle of view adjusted so as to be arranged at the center is generated. In still another example, the image recording / reproducing system 200 gazes from the monitor image 101 even when the gaze area 105b defined when the gaze condition is satisfied does not include the object image 109 corresponding to any registered object of interest. The selected image 121 is extracted at an angle of view defined by the area 105b, and a recorded image 150 converted into a recording format convenient for storage is generated.

[Hardware configuration of image recording / playback system]
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of the electronic device 10 in which the image recording / reproducing system 200 is mounted. The image recording / reproducing system 200 records life log data relating to daily life and business log data relating to business such as a meeting or a meeting while the photographer 102 is moving or at a specific place. FIG. 4 illustrates a portable electronic device 10 that is convenient for recording on the move.

  The electronic device 10 includes a main unit 11 and a mounting unit 51. The electronic device 10 may be a dedicated device for the image recording / reproducing system 200 or may be a device in which the function of the image recording / reproducing system 200 is incorporated in a normal computer. The mounting unit 51 may be mounted on a human head, ear, or arm in the form of a hat, glasses, or an armband, or may be held in the hand at the time of shooting.

  Here, an example in which the photographer 102 wearing the mounting unit 51 carries the main body unit 11 while moving is shown, but the main body unit 11 may be disposed far away and connected to the mounting unit 51 through a network. The main unit 11 and the mounting unit 51 are equipped with wireless modules 24 and 62 that perform short-range wireless communication with each other. However, when the photographer 102 carries the main unit 11, the main unit 11 and the mounting unit 51 may be connected by wire. The main unit 11 includes well-known elements such as a CPU 13, a system memory 15, an I / O interface 17, an SSD 19, a touch screen 21, and a wireless module 23 that communicates with a network. The SSD 19 stores software that constitutes a main part of the image recording / reproducing system 200.

  The mounting unit 51 includes known elements such as a camera module 53, a microphone 55, operation buttons 57, an acceleration sensor 59, and a GPS module 61. The camera module 53 includes an image sensor such as a CMOS or CCD, an image signal processor, and a USB interface. As an example, the camera module 53 is equipped with a super-wide-angle lens, and can photograph a landscape of a hemispherical monitor subject 100 whose horizontal direction is 360 degrees and whose vertical direction is about 180 degrees. The camera module 53 can capture an image of the monitor subject 100 as a planar monitor image 101 in which distortion is corrected by optical processing, image processing, and an array of image sensors or a combination thereof.

  The camera module 53 is a main body at a frame rate of 30 fps by taking image data of the monitor image 101 such as VGA (640 × 480), QVGA (320 × 240), WVGA (800 × 480), or WQVGA (400 × 240) as an example. Transfer to unit 11. The image recording / reproducing system 200 identifies the position of the line of sight 103 as the coordinates on the monitor image 101 from the direction of the pupil of the eye of the face image 102a. Since the super-wide-angle lens has a wider field of view than the human eye and can simultaneously photograph the subject in the area surrounded by the eyes of the photographer 102 and the gaze areas 105a and 105b, the image recording / reproducing system 200 includes a plurality of cameras. A process for associating the optical axes of the respective cameras, which is necessary when the line of sight is used, is not necessary.

  By using the super-wide-angle lens, it is possible to photograph the subject 102 and the subjects in the gazing areas 105a and 105b with one camera module 53. However, as a premise, the mounting unit 51 has the sight line 103 and the subject in the sight direction. It is necessary to install it at a position where there is no problem with simultaneous shooting. Depending on how the mounting unit 51 is mounted on the body, a wide-angle lens with a narrower angle of view than a super-wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens with a wider angle of view can be employed.

  For example, when the mounting unit 51 is mounted like glasses, a wide-angle lens having a narrower field of view than a super-wide-angle lens can be used, and when hanging from the neck like a pendant, the angle of view It is also possible to adopt a fish-eye lens that is wider than the super-wide-angle lens. When a fisheye lens is used, it can be recorded after correcting image distortion by software. In addition, the camera module 53 may shoot a monitor subject close to a spherical omnidirectional by arranging two ultra-wide-angle lenses and cameras back to back on the housing of the mounting unit 51.

  Many hardware elements are well-known, but in the following, they describe the main functions related to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the microphone 55, the operation button 57, the acceleration sensor 59, and the GPS module 61 can be used for adjusting gaze conditions for defining the gaze areas 105a and 105b. Furthermore, the microphone 55 can be used for recording sound data for recognizing the sound of a specific person or object. Furthermore, the microphone 55 can be used for recording audio data to be recorded together with the recorded images 130 to 150.

  The operation button 57 is used as an input device for defining the gaze areas 105a and 105b by the operation of the photographer 102. The acceleration sensor 59 generates triaxial acceleration data generated in the mounting unit 51. The image recording / reproducing system 200 can determine the degree of swinging of the mounting unit 51 based on the acceleration data, and can determine whether the imaging condition of the camera module 53 is satisfied. At this time, the camera module 53 can wake from the sleep state by a signal from the acceleration sensor 59. Further, the image recording / reproducing system 200 detects a change in posture of the mounting unit 51 from the data of gravitational acceleration generated by the acceleration sensor 59, and reduces or stops the generation frequency of the recorded image when the amount of change in posture is small. can do.

  The GPS module 61 detects the current position of the mounting unit 51 and generates GPS data. The image recording / reproducing system 200 uses the GPS data to determine whether the mounting unit 51 is present at a place considered to be of interest to the photographer 102 or at a place considered to be not so. The frequency of image generation can be adjusted. The SSD 19 records recorded images 130 to 150 and audio data recorded in those shooting time zones.

  In the image recording / reproducing system 200, the main unit 11 and the mounting unit 51 can be mounted on a portable electronic device that can be used while being held by a human, such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a mobile phone. As yet another example, the image recording / reproducing system 200 may be mounted on a notebook personal computer, desktop personal computer, or dedicated image recording device used at a stopped position, particularly when business logging is performed. it can.

[Software configuration of image recording / playback system]
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram for explaining the configuration of the image recording / reproducing system 200. The image recording / reproducing system 200 includes the hardware elements described in FIG. 4 and the software elements stored in the SSD 19. The image recording / reproducing system 200 includes software that forms main functions of a monitor image processing unit 201, a recorded image processing unit 203, a recording / reproducing processing unit 207, a gaze area defining unit 209, a gaze condition adjusting unit 211, and a function setting unit 213. Is included.

  These software are stored in the SSD 19 of the main unit 11 and are executed by the CPU 13. The monitor image processing unit 201, the recorded image processing unit 203, the recording / playback processing unit 207, the gaze area defining unit 209, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211, and the function setting unit 213 need not all be mounted on the main body unit 11, but a part May be mounted on a mounting unit, or may be mounted on a server that is partly or entirely connected via a network.

  The monitor image processing unit 201, the recorded image processing unit 203, the recording / playback processing unit 207, the gaze area defining unit 209, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211, and the function setting unit 213 are the CPU 13, the system memory 15, and the I / O interface 17. It also functions as a hardware element of the image recording / reproducing system 200 in cooperation with the above. The elements configured including the software shown in FIG. 5 are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention includes a case where the elements are divided or integrated within a range that can be predicted by those skilled in the art. Further, some of the elements configured including the software shown in FIG. 5 may be configured by hardware.

  First, the function of the function setting unit 213 will be described. The function setting unit 213 includes an interface that is input by the photographer 102 and an interface that acquires information from the system of the main unit 11. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input screen 250 provided as a user interface by the function setting unit 213. The image recording / reproducing apparatus 200 displays the input screen 250 on the touch screen 21. The photographer 102 can set an operation mode and a recording mode on the input screen 250.

  As an example, the operation mode includes a plurality of recording purposes related to the life log and the business log. In the life log, “daily life”, “shopping”, “travel”, and “walk” are exemplified as recording purposes. In the business log, “conference”, “visit”, “text”, and “inspection work” are exemplified as recording purposes. The photographer 102 sets a recording purpose in a check box 251 of the input screen 250 displayed on the touch screen 21. For each recording purpose, there are provided an object window 253 for inputting an object of interest, a check box 255 for setting sound recording performed together with a recorded image, and adjustment windows 257, 259, and 261 for inputting adjustment information for adjusting gaze conditions. ing.

  The attention object corresponds to information obtained by abstracting a theme that the photographer 102 is particularly interested in, a theme that the photographer 102 wants to leave as an image, or a theme that can be useful information, etc., with a common name or an icon. Furthermore, the object of attention may include feature information for recognizing a face of a specific person. For example, the photographer 102 can input, as an object of interest, an ordinary name of a target that is desired to remain in daily life such as dishes, people, and animals in the object window 253 corresponding to the purpose of recording daily life. By doing so, the image recording / reproducing system 200 can record the family of the photographer 102, visitors, meal contents, pets, and the like as the recorded images 130 to 132.

  Furthermore, the photographer 102 can input a projector and a person in the object window 253 corresponding to the recording purpose of the meeting. By doing so, the image recording / reproducing system 200 can record the screen of the projector used in the conference and the face images of the participants as recorded images 130-140. If feature information for recognizing the face of a specific person is input as the object of interest, the image recording / reproducing system 200 can also record only the person as recorded images 131, 132, and 140.

  Further, the function setting unit 213 uses the interface to the system to acquire and acquire the action history of the photographer 102 extracted from the calendar, GPS data, e-mail, and the browsed website stored in the image recording / reproducing system 200. The object of interest assumed from the information can be automatically added to the related object window 253 for recording purposes.

  When the check box 255 is set, the image recording / reproducing system 200 adds the sound recorded by the microphone 55 at the time near the shooting time of the frame of the monitor image 101 that generated the recorded images 130 to 150. It can be recorded as information. In the adjustment windows 257, 259, and 261, relaxation information, enhancement information, and demarcation information for adjusting gaze conditions can be input as adjustment information in an affirmative format or a negative format.

  The relaxation information is adjustment information that facilitates the establishment of the gaze condition, the enhancement information is adjustment information that makes it difficult to establish the gaze condition, and the demarcation information corresponds to adjustment information that immediately establishes the gaze condition. The adjustment information includes a general name of the object of interest, GPS data for evaluating the geographical position of the mounting unit 51, acceleration data for evaluating the amount of change in posture of the mounting unit 51, and voice for recognizing a person. Feature information or image feature information for recognizing an object can be input. The feature information for voice can include feature information for identifying a heated discussion. The feature information of the image can include feature information for identifying a face of a specific person or feature information for identifying a specific action of a person.

  In one example, GPS data or feature information for recognizing sound or images can be input as relaxation information. Acceleration data or GPS data can be input as reinforcement information. As demarcation information, the name of the object of interest or feature information for recognizing a human motion can be input. The function setting unit 213 sends the contents of the input check boxes 251 and 255, object window 253, adjustment windows 257, 259, and 261 to the recorded image processing unit 203, recording / playback processing unit 207, and gaze condition adjustment unit 211. Set.

  The recording mode is set by setting the type of image to be recorded on the SSD 19 in the check box 263. The recording mode includes one recording image 130 including a plurality of object images corresponding to a plurality of objects of interest, a plurality of recording images 131 and 132 each including an object image corresponding to a single object of attention, and an object image corresponding to a single object of attention. One of the recorded images 140 including the recorded image 140 and the recorded image 150 that records the region surrounded by the demarcated region 105b without determining the presence or absence of the object image can be selected. A plurality of check boxes 263 may be set. The function setting unit 213 sets the contents of the check box 263 in the recorded image processing unit 203 and the recording / playback processing unit 207.

  The monitor image processing unit 201 receives image data transferred by the camera module 53. As an example, the monitor image processing unit 201 records image data received at a frame rate of 30 fps at which moving image reproduction is possible in a buffer provided in the SSD 19 for a predetermined time. The frame rate of the image data can be lowered to such an extent that the tracking of the line of sight 103 is not hindered. The buffer may be provided in a nonvolatile memory other than the SSD 19.

  When starting to transfer the monitor image, the camera module 53 first calibrates the exposure time (exposure amount) of the rolling shutter, the white balance, the gain of the AGC circuit, and the like, and shoots at that time. Get and set the optimal parameter values for your environment. However, in reality, the shooting conditions may change from the beginning of shooting, and the monitor image processing unit 201 may not be able to acquire a monitor image with a desired image quality. To cope with this, the monitor image processing unit 201 can request the camera module 53 to re-execute calibration based on the result of evaluating the monitor image.

  The monitor image processing unit 201 adds a time stamp of the reference time generated by the system to the image data to be recorded in the buffer. The image recording / reproducing system 200 can generate and record a recorded image using the image data recorded in the buffer when the CPU 13 is in an idle state or a low usage rate. The capacity of the buffer can be reduced according to the estimated time until the image recording / reproducing system 200 processes the monitor image 101.

  The image data recorded in the buffer can be erased after the processing of the monitor image 101 (including the case where no recorded image is generated) for generating the recorded images 130 to 150 is completed. Only images 130-150 can be recorded. Note that the monitor image processing unit 201 may store a predetermined number of frames before and after the frame in which the recording image is generated in the SSD 19 so that the images in the frames before and after the recording image can be browsed later.

  When the recorded image processing unit 203 receives the coordinates of the gaze regions 105a and 105b from the gaze region defining unit 209, the recorded image processing unit 203 selects the images of the regions surrounded by the gaze regions 105a and 105b in the monitor image 101 as the selection images 120 and 121. Obtained from the monitor image processing unit 201. The acquired selection images 120 and 121 can be selected from a plurality of consecutive frames acquired by the monitor image processing unit 201 during a predetermined time (gaze time) set to demarcate the gaze areas 105a and 105b. . For example, when the monitor image 101 of 30 frames is used when defining the gaze regions 105a and 105b, the 15th frame image can be set as the selection images 120 and 121.

  The recorded image processing unit 203 has a known object recognition function, and recognizes the object image included in the selected images 120 and 121 when a recording mode for recording any of the selected images 130 to 132 and 140 is set. Thus, the object of interest input to the object window 253 can be compared. When the recording image 130 including a plurality of object images is set as the recording mode, the recording image processing unit 203 includes any one of the object images 109 corresponding to the plurality of objects of interest in the selection images 120 and 121. Determine whether or not. When the recorded image processing unit 203 determines that there is no object image 109 corresponding to any object of interest, the selected images 121 and 121 can be discarded so that the recorded images 130 to 150 are not generated.

  When the recorded image processing unit 203 determines that the object image 109 corresponding to one of the target objects exists in the selected image 120, the recorded image processing unit 203 determines whether or not all of them are within the angle of view of the recording format. When it is determined that the image does not fit in the recording format, the recorded image processing unit 203 shifts the center coordinate of the gaze area 105a and enlarges or reduces the monitor so that the object image corresponding to the object of interest is arranged at the center. A region of the image 101 is extracted and converted into a recording format to generate a recorded image 130. If necessary, the recorded image processing unit 203 performs a rotation process so that the top and bottom of the object image 109 included in the recorded image 130 are correctly aligned within the angle of view of the recording format.

  The recorded image processing unit 203 determines whether any object image 109 corresponding to the object of interest exists in the selected image 120 when a plurality of recorded images 131 & 132 each including the object image 109 is set as the recording mode. Whether or not is determined, the recording images 131 and 132 adjusted so that the top and bottom are aligned with the angle of view of the recording format are generated. At this time, image processing for trimming only the object image 109 from the background image 107 may be performed.

  When one recorded image 140 including one object image 109 is set as the recording mode, the recorded image processing unit 203 sets the object image 109 corresponding to the object of interest in the area surrounded by the gazing area 105a of the monitor image 101. Only when there is, the recorded image 140 processed into the recording format is generated. The recorded image processing unit 203 adjusts the angle of view of the selected image 121 cut out in the gaze area 105b when the gaze condition is satisfied when the recorded image 150 that does not determine whether the object image exists is set as the recording mode. An image 150 is generated.

  At this time, the recorded image processing unit 203 does not determine whether the object image 109 corresponding to the target object exists in the selected image 121 even if the target object is input to the object window 253, but the recorded image 140 is displayed in the object window 253. The object image 109 corresponding to the input object of interest may be included by chance. The recorded image processing unit 203 can request the camera module 53 to re-execute calibration through the monitor image processing unit 201 when the recorded images 130 to 150 having desired image quality cannot be generated. The recorded image processing unit 203 sends the generated recorded images 130 to 150 to the recording / playback processing unit 207.

  The recorded image processing unit 203 has a well-known image analysis function, and analyzes the distribution of brightness, brightness, saturation, or hue between the selection images 120 and 121 generated last time and the selection images 120 and 121 generated this time. If the difference is small, it is determined that the selected images 120 and 121 are similar, and the currently generated selected images 120 and 121 can be discarded. In the selected image 121 extracted when the target object is not set, the recorded image processing unit 203 occupies most of the selected images that are generally considered to be meaningless, such as the sky and the ground. 121 can be discarded.

  The recording / playback processing unit 207 records the recorded images 130 to 150 on the SSD 19 by adding meta information such as date, time, and shooting position information to the folders classified by the recording purpose of the operation mode set by the function setting unit 213. To do. When audio recording is set in the check box 255, the recording / playback processing unit 207 also records the recorded data of the microphone 55 received from the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 as supplementary information of the recorded images 130 to 150. The recording / playback processing unit 207 provides an interface screen when the photographer 102 plays back the recorded images 130 to 150 stored in the SSD 19. The interface screen may include thumbnails of stored recorded images.

  The gaze area defining unit 209 has a known face recognition function, and can recognize the photographer 102 registered in advance and identify the face of the photographer 102 from other persons included in the monitor image 101. The gaze region demarcating unit 209 has a known gaze identification function. From the eye movement of the face image 102a included in the monitor image 101 received from the monitor image processing unit 201, the coordinates of the monitor image 101 are detected using eye tracking technology. The position of the line of sight 103 at is identified. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for demarcating the gaze regions 105 a and 105 b from the coordinates of the identified line of sight 103. The gaze area defining unit 209 calculates the coordinates of the line of sight 103 from the frame of the monitor image 101 acquired every unit time such as 0.1 seconds.

  For example, when the frame rate of the monitor image 101 is 30 fps, the coordinates 104 of the line of sight 103 are calculated from the monitor image 101 every three frames for consecutive frames. The gaze area defining unit 209 sets a gaze time for demarcating the gaze areas 105a and 105b, for example, 1 second, and among the ten coordinates 104 calculated for the gaze time, as shown in FIG. The rectangular area 106a passing through the outer coordinates is specified. When the gaze area defining unit 209 determines that the area of the rectangular area 106a is equal to or less than a predetermined upper limit threshold value or within a predetermined upper and lower threshold value range, it can be considered that the gaze condition is satisfied. The area of the rectangular area 106a corresponds to a discrete amount of the coordinates 104 during the gaze time. If the discrete amount is smaller than the predetermined threshold, it can be considered that the photographer 102 is likely to be viewing a specific subject worth recording.

  The gaze area defining unit 209 defines the rectangular area 106a when the gaze condition is satisfied as the gaze areas 105a and 105b. Note that the gaze regions 105a and 105b may be defined by a shape other than a rectangle. Also, when it is determined that a column-like sentence such as a newspaper is read, assuming that the line of sight 103 moves substantially linearly, the gaze area defining unit 209 is provided with an object recognition function to read the newspaper. If it is determined, the rectangular area 106a may be defined in a range beyond the outermost coordinates in order to include the read range in the recorded image.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, the gaze area defining unit 209 determines that the gaze condition is set when the area of the rectangular area 106b formed by the ten coordinates 104 identified in the predetermined gaze time is larger than a predetermined threshold. The gaze areas 105a and 105b can be prevented from being demarcated because they are not established. In this case, since the movement of the line of sight 103 of the photographer 102 is large, it is assumed that a particularly interesting subject is not seen.

  As shown in FIG. 7C, the gaze area demarcating unit 209 looks apparently when the area of the rectangular area 106c formed by the ten coordinates 104 identified in the predetermined gaze time is smaller than the predetermined value. Although a specific direction is being watched, it is assumed that the photographer 102 is not consciously looking at the landscape but is thinking or meditating so that the gaze areas 105a and 105b are not defined. it can. Note that the threshold of the lower limit of the discrete amount may not be set.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another method for determining whether the gaze condition is satisfied. In FIG. 8, the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed time, and the vertical axis indicates the discrete distance of the coordinate 104 of the line of sight 103. The discrete distance corresponds to a discrete amount of coordinates 104. On the time axis, start times t0, t1, t2,... For starting the determination of the gaze areas 105a, 105b are set for each gaze time, for example, 1 second. The discrete distance indicates the distance with respect to the coordinates of the start time for each coordinate 104 thereafter, with the coordinates 104 at each start time as a reference (discrete distance 0). Upper and lower thresholds Th1 and Th2 are set for the discrete distance.

  For example, the gaze area defining unit 209 has a predetermined number of coordinates 104 in which the discrete distance falls between the threshold Th1 and the threshold Th2 among the ten coordinates 104 acquired at the gaze time between adjacent start times t0 and t1. When the value is greater than or equal to the value, it can be determined that the gaze condition is satisfied, and otherwise it can be determined that the gaze condition is not satisfied. When the gaze condition is satisfied, the rectangular area 106a is set for the ten coordinates 104 or the coordinates 104 that fall within the range of the threshold values Th1 and Th2, as in FIG. 7, and the gaze areas 105a and 105b can be defined. it can. The gaze region demarcating unit 209 can estimate the line of sight 103 from the face normal and the normal of the face set between the eyes instead of the eye tracking technique, and identify the line of sight 103 in a pseudo manner.

  The gaze area defining unit 209 can receive a relaxation instruction, a strengthening instruction, or a defining instruction for adjusting the gaze condition from the gaze condition adjusting unit 211. When receiving the relaxation instruction, the gaze region defining unit 209 can relax the gaze condition by shortening the gaze time or relaxing the threshold of the discrete amount. When receiving the strengthening instruction, the gaze area defining unit 209 can reinforce the gaze condition by increasing the gaze time or increasing the threshold of the discrete amount. When receiving the definition instruction, the gaze area defining unit 209 identifies the coordinates of the line of sight 103 from the predetermined number of frames before and after the received timing by the method described with reference to FIG. 7 or 8, and gaze areas 105a and 105b. Can be defined.

  The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 has a known voice recognition function, face recognition function, object recognition function, and motion recognition function. The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 stores the input of the microphone 55, the operation button 57, the acceleration sensor 59, or the GPS module 61 in the buffer of the SSD 19 with a time stamp generated from the system reference time. The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 includes audio data recorded by the microphone 55, input of the operation button 57, acceleration data detected by the acceleration sensor 59, GPS data generated by the GPS module 61, or the monitor image 101 acquired from the monitor image processing unit 201. In response to the adjustment information input to the adjustment windows 257, 259, and 261 on the input screen 250, the gaze area defining unit 209 is instructed to adjust the gaze condition.

  The gaze condition adjusting unit 211 recognizes the person or the object from the sound data detected by the microphone 55 if, for example, feature information for recognizing the sound of the specific person or the specific object is input to the adjustment window 257. When this is done, a relaxation instruction can be given to the gaze area defining unit 209. As the voice, it is also possible to input feature information indicating the uplift of the voice of the participant when the discussion at the meeting is incandescent. For example, if the feature information for recognizing the face of a specific person is input to the adjustment window 257, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 causes the gaze region definition unit 209 to recognize the presence of the person on the monitor image 101. Can give relaxation instructions. The person at this time can be an important person in business or a person who is paying attention.

  For example, if the GPS data is input to the adjustment window 257, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 recognizes that the mounting unit 51 is present at a predetermined location from the GPS data detected by the GPS module 61. You can give relaxation instructions. At this time, the GPS data input to the adjustment window 257 can be a daily movement range that is input in negative logic and is a place of particular interest to the photographer 102 that is input in positive logic.

  For example, if the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 receives acceleration data indicating the amount of change in the posture of the mounting unit 51 in the adjustment window 259, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 accelerates the generation of the selection images 120 and 121 from the previous generation to the current generation. When it is determined from the acceleration data detected by the sensor 59 that the change in the posture of the mounting unit 51 is small, a strengthening instruction for strengthening the gaze condition can be given to the gaze region defining unit 209. When the change in the posture of the mounting unit 51 is small, it is highly possible that the photographer is looking at the same subject, so that it is possible to avoid the generation of a highly redundant recorded image.

  When receiving the input of the operation button 57, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 can instruct the gaze area defining unit 209 to define the gaze conditions so as to immediately define the gaze areas 105a and 105b. For example, if feature information indicating a specific action of a person is input to the adjustment window 261, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 recognizes the gaze condition in the gaze area defining unit 209 when the presence of the action is recognized from the monitor image 101. Definition instructions can be given.

  The operation to be input in this case can be a natural action performed in an important scene of the meeting where the photographer 102 participating in the meeting takes notes or explains using a projector. For example, if a specific attention object is input to the adjustment window 261, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 sets a gaze condition in the gaze area defining unit 209 when the monitor image 101 includes the object image 109 corresponding to the attention object. Definition instructions can be given. The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 sends audio data to the recording / playback processing unit 207 in response to a request from the recording / playback processing unit 207.

  As described above, the recorded image processing unit 203 may request the camera module 53 to re-execute calibration when the image quality of the recorded images 130 to 150 deteriorates. At this time, if communication between the camera module 53 and the monitor image processing unit 201 is performed by the wireless modules 24 and 62, the timing at which the gaze areas 105a and 105b are demarcated due to a delay in the transfer of the monitor image depending on the communication conditions There is a case where the photographing opportunity is missed after the movement of the line of sight 103 of the person 102.

  In order to cope with this, the image recording / reproducing system 200 mounts the monitor image processing unit 201, the recorded image processing unit 203, the gaze area defining unit 209, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211, and the function setting unit 213 in the mounting unit 51. You can also. In this case, the mounting unit 51 is mounted with a program for realizing each function and hardware such as a CPU, a system memory, and an I / O controller.

[Operation of image recording and playback system]
Next, the operation of the image recording / reproducing system 200 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In block 301, the electronic device 10 starts normal operation. In block 303, the photographer 102 sets an operation mode and a recording mode through the input screen 250. Here, a walk is set in the check box 251 for recording, a check box 255 for audio recording is set, a tree and an airplane are input as objects of interest in the object window 253, relaxation information and the adjustment windows 257 and 259 are input. Assume that different GPS data is input as the reinforcement information. It is assumed that the selected image 131 & 132 is set as the recording mode.

  When the acceleration data detected by the acceleration sensor 59 in block 305 or the acceleration data indicating the swing is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the imaging condition is satisfied and the image recording / reproducing system 200 starts operating. In block 307, the camera module 53 starts photographing the monitor subject 100 and outputs the monitor image 101. The monitor image processing unit 201 adds a time stamp to the received monitor image 101 and stores it in the buffer of the SSD 19.

  Since the audio recording check box 255 is set on the input screen 250, the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 records the microphone 55 including the time zone in which the monitor image processing unit 201 receives the monitor image 101 in block 309. In order to store the audio data in the buffer, a time stamp is added and sent to the recording / playback processing unit 207. The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 adds a time stamp and performs recording / reproduction processing in order to store audio data in the buffer even when audio feature information is input to any of the adjustment windows 257, 259, and 261. Send to section 207. Further, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 adds a time stamp and sends it to the recording / reproduction processing unit 207 in order to store the input data of the operation button 57, the acceleration sensor 59, and the GPS module 61 in the buffer.

  The image recording / reproducing system 200 continues the procedure from the block 301 to the block 309 while the imaging condition is satisfied. The image recording / reproducing system 200 may start the recording image generation process when a predetermined amount of image data is stored in the buffer, but preferably starts the recording process when the usage rate of the CPU 13 decreases. Since the image data, audio data, operation button input data, acceleration data, and GPS data stored in the buffer are all appended with a time stamp of the reference time, the image recording / reproducing system 200 monitors each data. Processing can be performed in synchronization with the timing at which the frame of the image 101 is captured.

  In block 311, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 obtains GPS data input as relaxation information and enhancement information in the adjustment windows 257 and 259, and GPS data indicating the current position of the mounting unit 51 acquired from the GPS module 61. Compare. In block 313, the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 sends either a gaze condition relaxation instruction or a reinforcement instruction to the gaze area defining unit 209 when the GPS data as the relaxation information or the enhancement information matches the GPS data indicating the current position. To do. When the gaze condition adjusting unit 211 determines that the monitor image 101 includes the definition information when the feature information for recognizing the action or the normal name of the object of interest is input as the definition information in the adjustment window 261. Then, the gaze condition defining unit 209 is instructed to define the gaze condition.

  In block 314, the gaze area defining unit 209 identifies the gaze 103 of the photographer from the face image 102a included in the monitor image 101 according to the default gaze condition or the gaze condition instructed from the gaze condition adjustment unit 211, and gaze area 105a. , 105 b are defined and their coordinates are sent to the recorded image processing unit 203. In block 315, the recorded image processing unit 203 extracts the selected image 120 or the selected image 121 in the area surrounded by the gaze area 105a or the gaze area 105b from the monitor image 101.

  Here, since the object of interest of the tree and the airplane is input to the object window 253, the recorded image processing unit 203 in block 317 causes the selection images 120 and 121 to correspond to the object of interest of either the tree or the airplane. It is determined whether or not the object image 109 is included. When it is determined that the object images 109 are included, it is determined whether or not they are included in the selected image 120 without any defect.

  If there is a defect in the object image 109 of the tree or airplane, a selection image that completely includes them is acquired from the monitor image processing unit 201. When the size of the object image 109 in the selected image is small, the selected image further enlarged so that the object image 109 becomes the center is acquired from the monitor image processing unit 201. The recorded image processing unit 203 extracts only tree and airplane object images from the selected image.

  The recorded image processing unit 203 enlarges, reduces, and rotates the selected image to generate recorded images 131 and 132 in which the angle of view and the top of the object image 109 are adjusted, and transfers them to the recording / playback processing unit 207. When the gaze area 105b is defined, the recorded image processing unit 203 discards the extracted selection image 121 because it does not include any object images of trees or airplanes. In block 319, the recording / playback processing unit 207 stratifies the recorded images 131 and 132 into folders and stores them in the SSD 19. At this time, the recording / playback processing unit 207 generates thumbnails of a plurality of selected images to be stored in order to facilitate search during playback, and further stores meta information such as the object of interest, shooting date / time, and shooting location together. be able to.

  In this case, since the audio recording check box 255 is set, the recording / playback processing unit 207 in block 321 also combines the audio data recorded in the vicinity of the time when the gaze area 105a is defined in order to extract the selected image 120. Record in SSD 19. The recording / playback processing unit 207 can discard the monitor image 101, audio data, GPS data, operation button / data, acceleration data, and the like before the time of the frame in which the processing is completed. Therefore, only the recorded images 131 and 132 that the photographer 102 is likely to view later can be recorded in the SSD 19 in a format that can be easily searched and viewed.

  Next, a characteristic operation of the image recording / reproducing system 200 when another recording purpose check box 251 is set will be described. When a conference is set in the check box 251 for recording purposes, for example, it is assumed that a projector and a person are input as objects of interest in the object window 253 and a check box 255 for audio recording is set. Also, feature information for recognizing the important person A in the adjustment window 257 and feature information for recognizing the specific action of the photographer 102 are input as relaxation information, and the important person B is recognized in the adjustment window 261 as voice. It is assumed that feature information for recognizing and feature information for recognizing a specific action are input as demarcation information.

  At this time, when the gaze condition adjustment unit 211 determines in block 311 that there is an utterance of the important person A corresponding to the mitigation information, or when it is determined that there is a specific action of the participant, the gaze region definition unit 209 You can give instructions to relax the gaze conditions. The gaze condition adjustment unit 211 is also used when the photographer 102 takes notes, or when there is an action that can be regarded as a characteristic action in a conference, such as that a participant explains with reference to a projector, or an important person B Can be instructed to define a gaze condition to the gaze area defining unit 209. At this time, if the photographer 102 looks at the paper or projector on which the memo is written, the content can be recorded as a recorded image even if the gaze condition is not defined by the gaze time or discrete amount. Furthermore, since the voice data of the speaker at that time is also recorded, it is possible to look back on the important scenes of the conference by reproducing the recorded image and voice later.

  In addition, the visit is set in the check box 251 for recording, the recorded images 131 and 132 are set in the check box 263 of the recording mode, and the feature information for recognizing the person and the name of the business card are input in the object window 253 Then, the visitor's face and business card can be recorded as a recorded image. At this time, if the voice recording check box 255 is set, the voice when greeting the visitor can also be recorded. If text is set in the check box 251 for the recording purpose, the recorded images 131 & 132 are set in the check box 261 in the recording mode, and the feature information for recognizing characters and photographs is input to the object of interest, Content in a range that the photographer 102 is viewing in text and photographs can be recorded as recorded images 131 and 132.

  If a trip is set in the check box 251 for recording purposes and the ordinary name “temple” is input in the adjustment window 261, the recorded images 130 to 132 and 140 including the temple can be recorded during the trip. If inspection work is set in the check box 251 for recording purposes and bolts, cracks, and rust are entered as objects of interest in the object window 253, visual inspection of important parts of structures such as bridges and tunnels can be performed. You can definitely go and keep a record.

  Up to this point, a still image has been described as an example of a recorded image, but the present invention can also be applied to a moving image. For example, a start and end event of capturing a moving image is generated from an arm / finger gesture performed by the photographer 102 or an operation of the operation button 57, and the line of sight 103 of the photographer 102 is identified and defined in the meantime. It is possible to record a moving image of a subject in the range. For example, when the line of sight 103 looking at a distant view moves slowly, it is possible to record a panoramic recorded image by defining a horizontally long gaze area. At this time, the gaze area defining unit 209 automatically detects zoom-in / out, pan right / left, and pan-up / pan-down control of the camera module 53 by detecting changes in the area of the gaze area, changes in the moving direction, and the like. Can be done automatically.

  Further, the image recording / reproducing system 200 using an ultra-wide-angle lens / camera capable of simultaneously capturing images of the photographer's 102 eyes and line-of-sight direction has been described as an example. Alternatively, a digital camera equipped with a standard lens may be arranged in each of the above, and a subject may be photographed in the gaze area by photographing the line of sight with the front digital camera and photographing the landscape with the rear digital camera. However, in this case, in order to identify the line of sight on the coordinates of the landscape image, processing for matching the optical axes of the two cameras is required.

  Although the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. It goes without saying that any configuration can be adopted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wearable electronic device 11 Main body unit 51 Mounted unit 53 Camera module 55 Microphone 57 Operation button 59 Acceleration sensor 61 GPS module 100 Monitor subject 102 Photographer 102a Photographer's face image 103 Line of sight 104 Line of sight coordinates 105a, 105b 106a to 106c Rectangular area 107 Background image 109 Object image 120, 121 Selected image 130, 131, 132, 140, 150 Recorded image 200 Image recording / playback system 201 Monitor image processing unit 203 Recorded image processing unit 207 Recording / playback processing unit 211 Adjustment unit 213 Function setting unit 250 Input screen

Claims (20)

An electronic device capable of recording images,
A digital camera that shoots the photographer's face and surrounding subjects and outputs a monitor image;
A gaze area defining unit that identifies movement of the photographer's line of sight with respect to the subject from the monitor image and demarcates a gaze area;
An electronic apparatus comprising: a recorded image processing unit that generates a recorded image to be recorded on a recording device from a part of the monitor image corresponding to the gaze area.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the recorded image processing unit discards the recorded image when an object image corresponding to a predetermined object of interest is not recognized from a part of the monitor image.   When the object image is recognized from a part of the monitor image, the recorded image processing unit processes a part of the monitor image so that the object image does not have a defect and is focused. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the recording image in a recording format is generated.   The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined object of interest includes data related to the action history of the photographer held by the electronic device.   The gaze area demarcating unit demarcates the gaze area from a gaze condition configured by a discrete amount of coordinates of the line of sight in the monitor image and a gaze time until the gaze area is demarcated. The electronic device as described in.   The electronic device according to claim 5, further comprising: a gaze condition adjusting unit that instructs the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition. The electronic device has a microphone;
The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to relax the gaze condition when a predetermined person or a predetermined object is recognized from audio data received from the microphone. . The electronic device has a GPS module;
The gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition based on a current position of the electronic device recognized from GPS data received from the GPS module. 7. The electronic device according to 7. The electronic device has an acceleration sensor;
The gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to strengthen the gaze condition when it is determined from the acceleration data received from the acceleration sensor that the change in posture of the digital camera is small. The electronic device according to claim 8.   The gaze condition adjusting unit instructs the gaze area defining unit to adjust the gaze condition when a predetermined motion of the person is recognized from a moving image of the person included in the monitor image. 9. The electronic device according to any one of 9. The electronic device has a microphone;
The recording / playback processing unit that records the audio data recorded by the microphone in the vicinity of the shooting time of the frame of the monitor image that generated the recorded image in association with the recorded image on the recording device. 10. The electronic device according to any one of 10.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera includes a wide-angle lens or an ultra-wide-angle lens that can simultaneously photograph the photographer's face and a subject around the photographer.   The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein digital cameras including the super wide-angle lens are disposed on a front surface and a back surface of a housing of the electronic device.   The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the electronic device is a wearable computer used by being attached to a human body. An electronic device capable of recording images,
A first digital camera provided with a standard lens that can be placed on the surface of the electronic device and photograph a photographer's face;
A second digital camera provided with a standard lens arranged on the back surface of the electronic device and capable of photographing a subject in the direction of the line of sight of the photographer. Monitors output from the first digital camera and the second digital camera A gaze area defining unit that identifies movement of the photographer's line of sight with respect to the subject from an image and demarcates a gaze area in the monitor image;
An electronic apparatus comprising: a recorded image processing unit that generates a recorded image to be recorded on a recording device from a part of the monitor image corresponding to the gaze area. An electronic device equipped with a digital camera is a method for recording images,
The digital camera shooting a monitor image including a photographer's face and surrounding subjects;
Identifying a movement of the photographer's line of sight with respect to the subject from the monitor image and demarcating a gaze area in the monitor image;
Storing a part of the monitor image corresponding to the gaze area as a recorded image. Determining whether a part of the monitor image includes an object image corresponding to an object of interest of the photographer;
The method according to claim 16, further comprising: discarding a part of the monitor image when it is determined that the object image is not included.   18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of generating a recording image of a predetermined recording format after performing a process of enlarging or reducing a part of the monitor image when it is determined that the object image is included.   The step of defining the gaze area includes adjusting the time until the gaze area is defined based on audio data, GPS data, acceleration data, and the monitor image received by the electronic device. The method according to claim 18. To electronic devices that can receive image data from digital cameras,
A function of receiving a monitor image including a photographer's face and landscape taken by the digital camera;
Demarcating a region of the monitor image that the photographer was gazing at;
A computer program for realizing a function including a step of storing the monitor image in an area corresponding to the area being watched.

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