JP4569737B2 - Videophone device and videophone method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a videophone device and a videophone method, and more particularly to a videophone device and a videophone method realized by a mobile phone, a portable information terminal, a personal computer, or the like.

  Nowadays, many mobile phones with camera are on the market. In addition, mobile phones with video phone functions are also available. Video calls allow you to enjoy a call while looking at the other person's face and sending a self-portrait to the other party.

As prior art documents related to the invention of the present application, there are the following.
JP 2002-010227 A JP 2002-016896 A JP 2003-018272 A JP 09-251534 A

  However, the conventional techniques have the following problems.

The conventional video cellular phone 901 uses a method of displaying a small self-portrait 952 in an area for displaying the partner image 951 (FIG. 1) or a method of displaying the partner image 951 and the self-portrait 952 in different areas (FIG. 2). ing. Therefore,
(1) The self-portrait is small and difficult to see.

  (2) The self-portrait overlaps the partner image.

  (3) If a line of sight is given to the other party's image, the self-portrait may not be seen and the user may not enter the screen.

(4) When looking at the self-portrait, the partner image cannot be seen.
There was a problem. Therefore, the user has to move the line of sight alternately between the partner image and the self-portrait.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when looking at the partner image, the line of sight looks like the line of sight 1, but when looking at the self-portrait, the line of sight moves downward like the line of sight 2. When viewed from the other party, it appears as a downward face.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a videophone device and a videophone method that make it possible to check how a self-portrait is captured by a camera while looking at the partner image.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the face area detecting means from a more input image to the camera detects an area of the face of the caller in the image, and an indicator provided on the upper, lower, left and right display portions, said face Determining whether or not the face area detected by the area detecting means protrudes from the camera angle, and differentiating the color of the indicator in the protruding direction from the color of the indicator in the not protruding direction. A featured videophone device is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a face area detecting step for detecting a face area of a caller in an image input by a camera, indicators provided on the top, bottom, left and right of the display unit, and the face area Determining whether or not the face area detected by the detection step protrudes from the camera angle, and differentiating the color of the indicator in the protruding direction from the color of the indicator in the protruding direction. A videophone method is provided .

Effect of the present invention, even without combined and displayed eye position indicia or face contour displayed on the other party image, i.e., without applying load to the control unit that capable of the display to determine the face position is there.

  This is because the face position indicator can be displayed around the partner image.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 4, when a user performs a video call using a mobile phone with video function (hereinafter referred to as a mobile phone) 100, the position of the eyes is detected from an image input from the image input unit 102 (hereinafter referred to as a self-portrait). Then, an eye position mark 111 indicating the position of the detected eye is synthesized with an image sent from the other party (hereinafter referred to as the other party image).

  FIG. 4 shows a foldable mobile phone, but the present invention can also be applied to a revolver type mobile phone and a slide type mobile phone.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mobile phone of the present invention includes a wireless unit 201, an image input unit 102 including a camera, a display unit 103, a control unit 202, an operation unit 104 including a key switch, and a memory for storing programs and data. The unit 203 is provided. The present invention is mainly realized by the control performed by the control unit 202.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. When enjoying a video call, the encoded partner image is input from the antenna to the wireless unit 201, decoded, and input to the control unit 202. The control unit 202 displays the partner image on the display unit 103. On the other hand, the self-portrait is taken from the image input unit 102 and sent to the control unit 202. The control unit 202 encodes it and transmits it through the wireless unit 201.

  Referring to FIG. 6, first, the self-portrait is captured from the image input unit 102 (step S601). Next, a face area is extracted by the person authentication method described in Patent Document 4 (step S602). Next, it is determined whether or not extraction is possible (step S603). If extraction is possible (NO in step S603), the eye position is detected (step S604). Next, a “mark” indicating the detected middle position between both eyes is combined with the partner image and displayed (step S605). If the face area cannot be extracted (NO in step S603), the eye position mark display is turned off (step S606). This process is repeated during a video call.

  An example of the eye position mark display is shown in FIG.

  Various shapes such as ◯, □, +, and ☆ can be selected for the shape of the eye position mark. The user may be able to select any shape.

  If the face area cannot be extracted, the eye position mark may be changed instead of turning off the eye position mark. For example, when the face area can be extracted, the eye position mark is displayed in green, and when the face area cannot be extracted, the eye position mark is displayed in red.

  Further, the size of the eye position mark may be proportional to the face area extracted by the face position extraction or may be proportional to the size of the display unit 103. By doing so, the user can also visually recognize the distance between the mobile phone and the face.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, the mark of the eye position is displayed, but it is also possible to display a “face outline” by face position extraction as shown in FIG. The figure for displaying “face outline” is, for example, a triangle, a quadrangle, a pentagon, a hexagon, a perfect circle, or an ellipse. By doing this, the user cannot see his / her face on the screen, but his / her face is captured without being out of the camera angle, sent to the other party correctly, and the other party sees all of his / her face. You can check whether or not.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the display area of the contour portion of the display unit 103 can be represented by a horizontal bar indicator and a vertical bar indicator. Also, frame shape indicators are displayed on the top, bottom, left, and right of the display section.For example, when the extracted face protrudes to the right, the right frame indicator is displayed in red and the other frame indicators are green. To display. If the extracted face protrudes to the lower right, the right frame indicator and the lower frame indicator are displayed in red, and the other frame indicators are displayed in green. In this way, the user may be able to recognize in which direction his face protrudes. By doing this, the user cannot see his / her face on the screen, but his / her face is captured without being out of the camera angle, sent to the other party correctly, and the other party sees all of his / her face. Can be confirmed.

  Further, both an eye position mark indicating the position of the user's line of sight and a circle or a frame indicating the contour of the face of the user may be displayed on the screen. By doing so, the user can confirm both the position of his / her line of sight and the position of his / her face.

  In the above embodiment, a videophone using a mobile phone has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to a videophone or camera using a portable information terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) equipped with a camera. The present invention can also be applied to a videophone using a personal computer equipped with the.

  The present invention can be used for a videophone.

It is a 1st figure which shows the screen which the mobile telephone by a prior art example displays. It is a 2nd figure which shows the screen which the mobile telephone by a prior art example displays. It is a figure for demonstrating the eyes | visual_axis of the user of a mobile telephone. It is a 1st figure which shows the screen which the mobile telephone by embodiment of this invention displays. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone by embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a videophone method performed by the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a 2nd figure which shows the screen which the mobile telephone by embodiment of this invention displays. It is the 3rd figure which shows the screen which the mobile telephone by embodiment of this invention displays.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Mobile phone 102 Image input part 103 Display part 104 Operation part 201 Radio | wireless part 202 Control part 203 Memory part

Claims (2)

Face area detection means for detecting a face area of a caller in the image from an image input by a camera;
  Indicators provided on the top, bottom, left and right of the display unit,
  Means for determining whether or not the face area detected by the face area detection means protrudes from the camera angle, and makes the color of the indicator in the protruding direction different from the color of the indicator in the direction not protruding;
  A videophone device comprising:   A face area detecting step for detecting a face area of a caller in the image from an image input by a camera;
  Indicators provided on the top, bottom, left and right of the display unit,
  Determining whether or not the face area detected by the face area detection step protrudes from the camera angle, and making the color of the indicator in the protruding direction different from the color of the indicator in the direction not protruding;
  A videophone method characterized by comprising:

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