JP2000221007A - Image acquisition device and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correct the reflection coefficient or the like so as to produce an invisible-light image correct in distance by acquiring a visible-light image as well as an invisible-light image and using the same. SOLUTION: This image acquisition device acquires an accurate distance value by correction of reflectance on the basis of a correction correspondence table 14 stored beforehand, by use of a switch means 10 for switching an acquisition of an invisible-light image or a visible-light image, an image acquisition means 12 for acquiring the invisible-light image or the visible-light image switched by the switch means 10, and the visible-light image acquired by the image acquisition means 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image acquisition apparatus and method for correcting an invisible light image using a visible light image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art <Conventional input means to computer> As an input device to a computer, a mouse is overwhelmingly used. However, what can be done with a mouse is to serve as a two-dimensional pointing device, such as moving a cursor and selecting a menu.

[0003] Since the mouse can handle two-dimensional information,
It is difficult to select an object having a depth such as an object in a three-dimensional space. In addition, when creating animation, it is difficult to make a natural movement with a mouse to make a character move.

<Existing three-dimensional pointing device>
To compensate for the difficulty of pointing in 3D space, 3
Dimensional pointing devices have been developed.

[0005] However, there is a problem that the cursor and the viewpoint cannot be controlled as desired when actually operated. For example, when trying to turn left or right, the user pushes forward or backward, and the cursor moves in an unexpected direction or the viewpoint moves.

<Wearable Three-Dimensional Input Device> For such a three-dimensional pointing device, a device for inputting using a hand gesture or gesture has been developed. They are called data gloves, data suits, and cyber gloves. These are, for example, data gloves that are glove-like devices with optical fibers running over the surface.

[0007] The optical fiber passes through the finger joint,
Bending a finger changes the conduction of light. By measuring the light conduction, it is possible to determine how much the joint of each finger is bent. The position of the hand itself in the three-dimensional space is measured by a magnetic sensor on the back of the hand. If you decide the gesture and the corresponding instruction, such as moving up with the index finger, you can use the data glove to change the viewpoint in various ways in 3D space and just walk around (walkthrough )be able to.

<Problems of data glove> However, there are some problems. First, the price is expensive, and it is difficult to use it easily for home use. Since the angle of the finger joint is measured, it is assumed that, for example, only the index finger is extended, and the bent state of the other fingers is defined as a forward instruction. Even if you extend your finger to a bite, the angle of the second joint of the index finger is 18
Since it is rarely complete at 0 degrees, it is difficult to recognize that it is extended unless it is completely extended unless you make a play part.

In addition, since the data glove is worn,
Natural operations are hindered. In addition, the light conduction state must be calibrated between the open state and the closed state of the hand each time it is mounted, so that it cannot be used easily. In addition, since the optical fiber is used, there is a problem that if the optical fiber is continuously used, the fiber is cut off and is close to a consumable.

[0010] In addition, even if the gloves are not exactly the same size as the expensive and time-consuming device, the gloves may shift during use and deviate from the calibrated values. It is difficult to recognize fine gestures. Due to various problems, data gloves are not as popular as expected at first despite the fact that they were devices that triggered VR (virtual reality, virtual reality) technology. Also, the price has not been reduced, and there are many problems in terms of usability.

<Problems of Recognition Technique of Gesture and Hand Gesture Using Image> On the other hand, several attempts have been made to input a hand gesture and a gesture without wearing a special device such as a data glove. I have. For example, research has been conducted to analyze a moving image such as a video image to recognize a hand shape. However, these methods have a problem that it is difficult to cut out only a hand in the case of recognizing a target image and a hand gesture from a background image.

For example, consider the case of cutting out using color. Since the color of the hand is flesh color, a method of cutting out only the flesh color part can be considered. However, if there are beige clothes or walls in the background, it is difficult to identify the skin color. Further, even if the adjustment is performed so that beige and flesh color can be distinguished, it is difficult to cut out regularly because the color tone changes if the illumination changes.

In order to avoid such a problem, a measure has been taken to limit the background image, such as placing a blue mat on the background, to facilitate clipping. Also,
Video image recognition processing such as clipping as described above,
The amount of calculation is very large. For this reason, the current state of the art is that the current personal computer cannot process images generated at 30 frames per second. Therefore, it is impossible to perform motion capture or the like by processing a video image in real time.

<Gesture Recognition Using Markers> Also, there are devices that attach color markers and light emitting parts to hands and parts of the body, detect them by images, and capture the shapes and movements of hands and bodies. Has been put to practical use. Used in production sites such as CG animation and TV games, the CG character is moved according to the input human motion.

However, considering that an individual-level user uses such a device, it is a great disadvantage that the user must wear the device every time the operation is performed, which greatly restricts the range of application. Further, as seen in the example of the data glove, the durability of a device which is used by attaching the device to a movable part such as a hand tends to be a problem.

<Range Finder> There is a device called a range finder for inputting a distance image. As a typical principle, spot light or slit light is applied to a target object, and the target object is obtained from the light receiving position of the reflected light by the principle of triangulation. In order to obtain two-dimensional distance information, spot light or slit light is mechanically scanned.

Although this apparatus can generate a distance image with extremely high accuracy, on the other hand, the configuration of the apparatus is large and the cost is high. Also, it takes time to input, and it is difficult to perform processing in real time.

There is also a method in which two cameras are used to capture images from two directions, and three-dimensional information is generated from corresponding points in both images by using trigonometry. But,
Finding the corresponding points in the two images is difficult, especially in a complex background. Also, due to its difficulty, real-time processing requires a great deal of computer power.

<Cut out Character from Image> Next, apart from the input device as described above, problems of the camera technology with respect to the prior art will be described. In the conventional camera technology, in order to combine a character with a background (chroma key), it was necessary to photograph the character in advance with a blue background and to easily cut out the character.

[0020] For this reason, there are restrictions on the shooting location such as in a studio capable of shooting with a blue background. Alternatively, in order to cut out a character from a video shot in a non-blue-back state, the character cutout range has to be manually edited for each frame, which is extremely time-consuming.

Similarly, to generate a character in a three-dimensional space, a method is used in which a three-dimensional model is created in advance, and a picture of the character is pasted (texture mapping) there. . But,
The generation of the three-dimensional model and the texture mapping were troublesome, and could hardly be used for purposes other than those that could be expensive, such as movie production.

<Proposal of Problems> As described above, there has not been a direct instruction type input device which can easily input a gesture or a movement without mounting a special device. In particular, there is no simple device that can easily perform pointing and change of viewpoint in a three-dimensional space. Also, natural movements cannot be given to animated characters or the like using the user's gestures and movements as they are.

Further, in the conventional camera, it is not possible to cut out only a specific character or to easily input depth information of the character. <Invention of imaging apparatus having light emitting means as a solution thereto>
In order to solve the above problems, a device capable of inputting the shape, movement, distance information, and the like of an object without contact has been invented. The input device emits light, and captures light reflected by the target object as an image.

When the surface of the object is a substantially uniform diffuse reflection surface, the intensity of the reflected light is closely related to the distance to the object. Since the reflected light from the place where the object exists has a certain value and there is almost no reflected light from the distant background,
By dividing the image of the reflected light by the threshold value, the shape of the object can be extracted.

Further, by performing image processing on the shape, various feature quantities such as the position and size of the center of gravity, the spread of the shape in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the movement and deformation of the shape are extracted from the time series of the shape. be able to. Further, since the unevenness of the object can be regarded as a difference in the amount of reflected light, a three-dimensional structure of the target object can be obtained.

<Reduction of the influence of external light> Even if light is emitted and the reflected light is simply received, external light such as illumination or sunlight enters into the light, and a correct amount of received light can be obtained. Absent. In order to input an image of reflected light, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are operated by a control signal of a timing generating unit that generates a certain timing. The reflected light image can be obtained by taking the difference between the received light image when the light emitting unit is not emitting light from the received light image when the light emitting unit is not emitting light.

Specifically, for example, a reflected light image can be obtained by operating an image sensor having two capacitors in a cell corresponding to one pixel in synchronization with a light emitting unit. The charge received and generated by the photoelectric conversion unit of the cell is selected so that either one of the two capacitors can be stored.

Then, the charge received and generated when the light emitting section emits light is stored in the first capacitor, and the charge received and generated when the light emitting section is not emitting light is stored in the second capacitor. If a mechanism for outputting the difference between the two charge amounts when reading out the charge from the cell is prepared, the difference between the two capacitors, that is, image data of only the reflected light can be obtained.

[0029]

By the way, in the reflected light image obtained by the reflected light, the distance of the object can be measured by using that the intensity of the reflected light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. is there. I = k / D2 (I: intensity of reflected light, k:
As can be seen from the above equation, when the reflection coefficient of the object (D: distance to the object) is the same, the intensity of the reflected light can be directly replaced by the distance. But,
If the reflection coefficients are different, it is difficult to directly replace the intensity of the reflected light with the distance.

There is no problem when an object having a constant reflection coefficient such as a hand or a face is a target. However, for example, if the user wears glasses or images a body as well as a hand or face, clothing is also an object to be imaged.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain not only invisible light but also visible light images, and to correct the reflection coefficient or the like using the images to generate a distance-incorrect invisible light image.

[0032]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a switching means for switching an invisible light image or an image acquisition of a visible light image, and an invisible light image switched by the switching means. Alternatively, an image acquisition unit for acquiring a visible light image, and a correction unit for correcting an invisible light image based on a correction correspondence table stored in advance using the visible light image acquired by the image acquisition unit. It is characterized by having.

Further, a distance image acquiring means for acquiring a distance image by invisible light, a visible light image acquiring means for acquiring a visible light image, and a visible light image acquired in advance by the visible light image acquiring means. A correction unit configured to correct the distance image acquired by the distance image acquisition unit based on the stored correction correspondence table.

[0034]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment <Description of Basic Principle> First, the basic principle and basic configuration of an imaging apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described. This imaging apparatus has means for emitting invisible light, and images reflected light from the object. By operating the light emitting unit and the imaging unit synchronously, the light emitting unit and the image pickup unit are separated from external light such as indoor lighting and sunlight, and only the light reflected by the light emitting unit is captured.

The reflected light image is taken as input information into a device such as a computer, or the image is processed into various forms or information is extracted from the image to obtain information for operating the device. Use.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of the imaging apparatus. The light emitted from the light emitting unit 1 is reflected on the target object 2 and is imaged on the light receiving surface of the reflected light image detecting unit 4 by the light receiving optical system 3. The reflected light image detection unit 4 calculates the intensity distribution of the reflected light,
That is, the reflected light image is detected. A mechanism for extracting only reflected light by separating it from external light in the reflected light image detection unit will be described later.

The reflected light image detector 4 continuously outputs the amount of reflected light from each pixel of the reflected light image. The output from the reflected light image detection unit 4 is amplified by the amplifier 5 and the A / D converter 6
After being converted into digital data, the data is stored in the memory 7. The stored data is read from the memory 7 at an appropriate timing. The read data is processed in, for example, a characteristic information generation unit (not shown). The control section 9 performs these overall controls at appropriate timing.

In the reflected light image detecting section, cells which are unit light receiving sections corresponding to one pixel of an image are two-dimensionally arranged. In this respect, it is similar to other imaging devices such as a CCD image sensor. The difference is that the cell structure has a mechanism for extracting only reflected light by separating it from external light.

The cell includes a photoelectric conversion unit, a storage direction control unit, and a first cell.
And a second charge storage unit and a selection output unit. The photoelectric conversion unit converts incident light into electric charge. First and second
The charge storage section is means for storing the charges generated in the photoelectric conversion section. The storage direction control unit is means for controlling whether the charge generated in the photoelectric conversion unit is stored in the first charge storage unit or the second charge storage unit. The selection output section is means for selecting either the first charge storage section or the second charge storage section and reading out the charge outside the cell.

The following operation is performed to obtain one reflected light image. First, the light emitting section 1 emits pulse light. While emitting light, the charge generated in the photoelectric conversion unit is stored in the first charge storage unit. Next, while no light is emitted, the charge generated in the photoelectric conversion unit is stored in the second charge storage unit.

As described above, in the first charge storage section, the amount of charge received by reflected light and external light such as room illumination and sunlight is:
The second charge accumulating portion accumulates the amount of electric charge that has received only external light. When reading charges from the cell, the two charge storage amounts are read in order and the difference is taken out by an external difference circuit. When the accumulation amount of the second charge accumulation unit is subtracted from the accumulation amount of the first charge accumulation unit, only the reflected light component is extracted.

In the above description, the charge is stored once in the first charge storage section and the second charge storage section, but the number is not limited to this. For example, accumulation in two charge accumulation units is 1
It may be repeated 0 times.

Further, the number of times of charge storage in the first charge storage section and the second charge storage section may be different. For example, first, 1 ms is stored in the first charge storage section, then 2 ms is stored in the second charge storage section, and 1 second is stored again in the first charge storage section.
ms may be stored. In this case, it is hard to be affected by the fluctuation of the external light.

The light emitting section emits invisible light which is invisible to human eyes. More specifically, an LED that emits near-infrared light is preferable in terms of its cost and ease of incorporation into an apparatus. Since it is invisible light, the user does not need to feel glare. More preferably, the light receiving optical system (lens) is provided with a wavelength-selective optical filter (not shown).
When near-infrared light is used, this filter passes near-infrared light, which is an emission wavelength, and blocks visible light and far-infrared light. Therefore, much of the external light that becomes noise is cut off.

The configuration of the imaging device described above is only an example. In practice, devices for obtaining reflected light images in various forms can be configured. In this patent, since the invention mainly focusing on the positional relationship between the light emitting unit and the light receiving optical system (lens) is described, the detailed configuration of the imaging element itself does not matter.

In the above description, an image pickup device having two charge storage units in a unit cell has been described as an example. However, for example, only one charge storage unit is provided in a cell, and a mechanism for obtaining a difference is described below. May be prepared. With the same concept, this imaging device can be configured using an existing CCD image sensor or the like. <Use of reflected light image> Reflected light from an object greatly decreases as the distance to the object increases. When the surface of the object scatters light uniformly, the amount of light received per pixel of the reflected light image decreases in inverse proportion to the square of the distance to the object. Therefore, when an object is placed in front of the input device, the reflected light from the background becomes almost negligible, and a reflected light image from only the object can be obtained.

For example, when a hand is brought in front of the input device, a reflected light image from the hand is obtained. At this time, each pixel value of the reflected light image represents the amount of reflected light received by the unit light receiving cell corresponding to that pixel.

The amount of reflected light is affected by the properties of the object (specular reflection, scattering, absorption, etc. of the light), the direction of the object surface, the distance of the object, and the like. In the case of an object, the amount of reflected light has a close relationship with the distance to the object.

Since a hand or the like has such a property, the reflected light image when the hand is extended reflects the distance of the hand, the inclination of the hand (distance is partially different), and the like. Therefore, by extracting these pieces of characteristic information, it is possible to input and generate various information.

Representative examples of how to process the reflected light image are extraction of distance information and extraction of an area. As mentioned earlier,
If the object has a uniform and uniform scattering surface, the reflected light image can be regarded as a distance image. Therefore, the three-dimensional shape of the object can be extracted. If the object is a hand,
The inclination of the palm can be detected. The tilt of the palm appears as a partial difference in distance.

If the pixel value changes when the hand is moved, it can be regarded that the distance has moved. Also, since there is almost no reflected light from a distant object such as the background, the shape of the object can be easily cut out by processing to cut out an area above a certain threshold from the reflected light image. For example, if the object is a hand, it is extremely easy to cut out a silhouette image thereof. Further, since the pixel value is closely related to the distance, it is possible to obtain information on the unevenness of the object. This indicates that a three-dimensional shape can be obtained.

Further, various characteristic information can be extracted from the reflected light image. There are various methods for extracting the characteristic information or the characteristic information. For example, you can extract the shape area and the position of the center of gravity, the horizontal and vertical directions, and their temporal changes. In addition, the position of the fingertip can be detected from the shape of the hand. It is also possible to obtain a feature amount that also uses distance information.

Information such as gestures and pointing is generated from these pieces of characteristic information, so that a computer or the like can be operated. It is also possible to extract and use the three-dimensional information of the target object. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to computers but also to various products such as devices such as AV devices and home electric appliances, medical devices to be operated in a non-contact manner, and devices in factories and the like that are to be operated when they are dirty.

<Explanation of Converting Brightness into Distance> As described above, in this apparatus, light is emitted by the light emitting unit, and the reflected light of the target object is acquired as an image. Therefore, the reflected light increases when the object is near, and decreases when the object is far away.
Assuming that the object surface is perpendicular to the optical axis and that the surface is a perfect diffusion surface, the amount of light received by the light receiving cell (corresponding to one pixel of the reflected light image) that receives the reflected light from the object surface Is inversely proportional to the square of the distance to the object plane.

In practice, the object surface may not be a perfect diffusion surface, and the amount of reflected light attenuates unless the object surface is perpendicular to the optical axis. In addition, if the light emitting unit does not uniformly illuminate the target space, the amount of reflected light changes depending on the position of the target object. Therefore, it is necessary to perform various corrections in order to obtain the accuracy. However, basically, the amount of reflected light, that is, the pixel value has a relationship with the distance.

By using the reflected light as described above, the object can be cut out from the background. On the other hand, instead of reflected light,
Normal image (passive with visible light) imaging is also possible. The present invention enables both normal imaging and imaging of a distance image by reflected light.

FIG. 2 shows a front view and a side view of the present invention. The housing is sealed so that light from the surroundings does not leak. A radiation plate or the like for dissipating heat is installed in a portion that generates heat, such as a power supply. LED 1 which is a light emitting unit around lens 3
Are lined up multiple times. A reflected light image detection unit 4 is disposed behind the lens 3.

Below the LED 1, a power ON / OFF indicator 31 for indicating whether the power is on or not is provided.
For example, when the power is on, the light turns green, and when the power is off, the light turns off.
/ OFF can be confirmed. Power ON / O
The switch of the FF can be attached to the rear of the housing. Alternatively, it is also possible to turn on / off by software from a computer such as a connected personal computer.

Further, in order to remove noise due to external light such as a fluorescent lamp, it is necessary to detect the frequency of the external light.
The external light detection unit 32 for this purpose is installed on the same side as the lens, in this example, on the upper side opposite to the power ON / OFF indicator 31.

FIG. 3 shows a switch section of the switching section 10 for switching between invisible light and visible light imaging. By switching the switching unit 10 manually or automatically, the invisible light imaging filter and the visible light imaging filter are switched, and imaging can be performed.

The image obtained as described above is shown in FIG.
Shown in FIG. 4A is an image obtained by capturing visible light, and FIG.
Is an image captured by invisible light. In the visible light imaging, a normal image is obtained, while in FIG. 4B, it can be seen that an image in which only the hand is cut out from the background can be captured.

FIG. 5 shows an image of another object, and its value is represented by 256 gradations (8 bits) from 0 to 255. FIG. 5A is a visible light image. In this case, since the image is a monochrome image as shown in FIG. 4A, the obtained value corresponds to the luminance value of the object. on the other hand. FIG. 5B is an invisible light image. This value corresponds to the intensity of the reflected light reflected on the object surface.

A method for correcting the intensity of the reflected light shown in FIG. 5B using the luminance value of the visible light shown in FIG. In a visible light image, a white object has a high reflectance for near-infrared light, and a black object has a low reflectance for near-infrared light.

That is, when the luminance value of the visible light is high (white color), the reflectance is high, so that the intensity of the obtained reflected light is reduced (the correction coefficient is reduced), and conversely, the luminance value is low. (Black), since the reflectance is low, the correction can be performed by increasing the intensity of the obtained reflected light (increase the correction coefficient). FIG. 6 shows an example of a correspondence table between the luminance values of visible light and the correction coefficients.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of the correction processing, and FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment for realizing this processing. The distance image acquisition unit 11 and the visible light image acquisition unit 1 for acquiring an image as shown in FIG.
2, a switching unit 10 for switching between them, an image storage unit 14 for storing the acquired image and the corrected image, and a distance image correction unit 15 for correcting the distance image using a correction coefficient as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, it is composed of a presenting unit 16 for presenting the acquired images and an information managing unit 13 for managing these.

In step S701, the matrix Iij of the reflected light image read out, the matrix Vij of the visible light image, the correction coefficient Wij are cleared, and the matrix suffix (suffix) ij is initialized. Here, it is assumed that the size of the matrix is M × N.

Next, in step S702, the reflected light image Iij obtained by the distance image obtaining unit 11 and the visible light image Vij obtained by the visible light image obtaining unit 12 are read. here,
Since a value from 0 to 255 is set in each element of the Iij or Vij matrix, when the read result is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B or FIG. 5A.

Next, based on the luminance value of Vij, the distance image correction unit 15 refers to the correspondence table of FIG.
The value of ij is set (step S703), and Iij is corrected using this value (step S704). This process
ij is sequentially increased or decreased to correct all M × N elements, and the finally obtained Iij is output (step S
709), and the process ends.

FIG. 6 shows an image of a mouse which is an input device such as a personal computer. FIG. 6A and FIG.
In (b), each part with a white circle corresponds to a mouse button. In FIG. 6A, since the entire mouse is white, the brightness is high. On the other hand, the button portion is murine and the brightness is low at 56. In the corresponding portion, the intensity of the reflected light is as low as 116 in FIG. The correction coefficient corresponding to the luminance value 56 is shown in FIG.
1.56. When correction is performed using this correction coefficient, 116 *
1.56 = 181, and a value corresponding to the intensity of the reflected light whose luminance value has been corrected, that is, a distance value can be obtained.

<Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, only the luminance value of a monochrome image is used. Even if the colors are the same, the brightness values are different depending on whether illumination is performed or not. In other words, the luminance value is higher in the illuminated area than in the non-illuminated area.

Further, the luminance value differs depending on the direction of the surface with respect to the illumination. The brightness is highest when the surface is perpendicular to the illumination light beam, and the brightness value decreases as the angle shifts from this. In the case of an object having a curved surface, such as a face, the brightness value differs even for the same skin color.

As described above, in the first embodiment, since only the luminance value of the monochrome image is used, the influence of the illumination directly affects the luminance value. In order to avoid such a problem, a visible light image is captured for each of R, G, and B colors, and correction is performed using luminance values for each color.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of the second embodiment.
In the first embodiment, only one visible light image acquisition unit 12 is provided, whereas in the second embodiment, the visible light R image acquisition unit 17 that captures images for each of R, G, and B, and the visible light The difference is that a G image acquisition unit 18 and a visible light B image acquisition unit 19 are provided.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the acquired image. It has been simplified for ease of explanation. As shown in FIG. 10E, the target is white on the upper left, blue on the lower left, green on the upper right, red on the lower right, illumination on the right side, and no illumination on the left side.

FIG. 10A is an image acquired by the visible light R image acquiring unit 17, and FIG. 10B is a visible light G image acquiring unit 18.
10 (c) is a visible light B image acquisition unit 1.
9 is an image acquired, FIG.
Is an acquired image.

As the distance image, the upper half is convex and the lower half is concave. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the process of the second embodiment. In the initialization, the image Rij acquired by the visible light R image acquisition unit 17, the image Gij acquired by the visible light G image acquisition unit 18,
In order to read the image Bij acquired by the visible light B image acquiring unit 19 and the image Iij acquired by the distance image acquiring unit 11, the respective matrices, the visible light image Vij, and the correction coefficient Wij
Is initialized (step S80).
1).

Next, Iij, Rij, Gij, and Bij are read (step S802), and the maximum values of the read Rij, Gij, and Bij are set to Vij (step S803). Thereafter, the flow of performing the correction using the value of Vij is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows the result of the correction. FIG.
(A) is a visible light image Vij. FIG. 12B shows a correction coefficient Wij calculated from Vij, and FIG. 12D shows a correction result obtained by performing correction using the correction coefficient Wij. FIG. 12 (c) shows the result of correction using only the luminance value for comparison. In this case, the distance value in the right half is corrected closer to the actual value due to the influence of illumination, but this is not the case in FIG.

Also, since the color of the object does not change,
If the distribution of the three-dimensional shape and the color of the object is known, it is possible to perform correction by acquiring only the distance image thereafter. 7 and 11 in the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by a computer-executable program, and the program can be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium.

The storage medium in the present invention includes a magnetic disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Hard disk, optical disk (CD-ROM, CD-
R, DVD, etc.), a magneto-optical disk (MO, etc.), a semiconductor memory, or any other storage medium that can store programs and that can be read by a computer.

An OS (operation system) running on the computer, database management software, MW (middleware) such as a network, etc., according to the instructions of the program installed in the computer from the storage medium realizes the present embodiment. May be executed.

Further, the storage medium in the present invention is not limited to a medium independent of a computer, but also includes a storage medium in which a program transmitted via a LAN or the Internet is downloaded and stored or temporarily stored.

Further, the number of storage media is not limited to one, and a case where the processing in the present embodiment is executed from a plurality of media is also included in the storage medium of the present invention, and the configuration of the medium may be any configuration. Good.

The computer according to the present invention comprises:
The computer executes each process in the present embodiment based on a program stored in a storage medium, and may have any configuration such as an apparatus such as a personal computer or a system in which a plurality of apparatuses are connected to a network. Is also good.

The computer in the present invention is not limited to a personal computer, but also includes an arithmetic processing unit, a microcomputer, and the like included in information processing equipment, and generically refers to equipment and devices capable of realizing the functions of the present invention by a program. are doing.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distance value can be easily corrected by using the visible light image.
Since the dimensional information can be obtained, the effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration of an input device having a light emitting unit and an imaging unit to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view and a side view showing an overview of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overview of the present invention as viewed from directly above.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing imaging results of the first embodiment with visible light and invisible light.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing, as digital values, imaging results of visible light and invisible light according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a correction coefficient used for correcting a distance image according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating digital values of imaging results of visible light and invisible light according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 12 shows an example of correction in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Light emission part 2 ... Target object 3 ... Light receiving optical system (lens) 4 ... Reflected light image detection part 5 ... Amplifier 6 ... A / D converter 7 ... Memory 8 ... I / F circuit 9 ... Control part 10 ... Switching part REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 distance image acquisition section 12 visible light image acquisition section 13 information management section 14 image storage section 15 distance image correction section 16 presentation section 17 visible light R image acquisition section 18 visible light G image acquisition section 19 ... Visible light B image acquisition unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akira Morishita 1st Toshiba R & D Center, Komukai, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture (72) Inventor Naoko Umeki Tokoba Komukai, Koyuki, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 1-cho, Toshiba R & D Center F-term (reference) 2F065 AA04 AA11 AA53 BB05 DD02 DD04 DD06 FF01 FF04 GG07 GG17 JJ03 JJ26 LL04 LL22 PP22 QQ03 QQ21 QQ24 QQ32 5B057 BA02 BA15 DC17 DC07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A switching means for switching image acquisition of an invisible light image or a visible light image, an image acquisition means for acquiring an invisible light image or a visible light image switched by the switching means, and An image acquisition apparatus comprising: a correction unit configured to correct an invisible light image based on a correction correspondence table stored in advance using the obtained visible light image. 2. A distance image obtaining means for obtaining a distance image by invisible light, a visible light image obtaining means for obtaining a visible light image, and a method using a visible light image obtained by the visible light image obtaining means in advance. An image acquisition apparatus comprising: a correction unit for correcting a distance image acquired by the distance image acquisition unit based on a stored correction correspondence table. 3. An image acquisition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said correction means performs correction using a luminance value of a visible light image. 4. An invisible light image or a visible light image switched by a switching means for switching the acquisition of an invisible light image or an image of a visible light image, and a correction stored in advance using the obtained visible light image. An image acquisition method, comprising correcting an invisible light image based on a correspondence table. 5. A distance image and a visible light image by invisible light are acquired, and the acquired distance image is corrected based on a correction correspondence table stored in advance using the acquired visible light image. Image acquisition method.