JP2002373168A - Method and system for retrieving picture based on position information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize picture retrieval based on position information using the tag of position information management in a preservation format of a picture. SOLUTION: This picture retrieving system is constituted of a home page 2 opened to the public on a Web 1, a Web browser 3, an Exif retrieval DB 4, and a user terminal equipment or the like. Then, latitude/longitude information is set at a GPS extended tag part in an Exif format so that an original picture with position information can be generated, and the picture is opened to the public on the home page on the Web 1, and the file of the original picture with the position information is retrieved, and the retrieved file is acquired, and information related to GPS described in the Exif format of the original picture with the position information is extracted, and preserved in the Exif retrieval DB 4 (steps S1-S5). Then, a user retrieves the Exif retrieval DB 4 by using arbitrary spot information such as the present position as a key, and acquires the photographic spot list of places near the arbitrary spot.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position information search technology, and more particularly to a technology effective when applied to a search technology based on position information of a digital image with latitude and longitude.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique studied by the present inventor, the following techniques can be considered as a position information search technique. For example, a location information search system as an example of information searches for the nearest store or facility centered on an arbitrary point (latitude and longitude) in the order of a linear distance or a distance (time) from the center point, and is an object. The latitude and longitude of stores and facilities are specified from addresses or obtained by plotting each point on an electronic map.

[0003]

However, as a result of the present inventor's study on the above-described position information search technology, the following has been clarified. For example,
In the location information search system as described above, the places that the user wants to search are not only the shops and facilities shown on the house map, but also the places that are difficult to identify by the address such as the photographing point of the landscape photograph. It may be.

[0004] Further, when the target object is wide such as a park, a golf course, and a complex, it is difficult to know where to guide the user only with data such as an address, and a representative point of a building or a facility (for example, a center point). ), Etc., points that are meaningless to the user.

[0005] In addition, when guiding a photographing point of such a landscape photograph or a part of a large facility, presenting an image to a user is very effective.

Accordingly, the present inventor has noticed that a storage format of an image captured by a digital still camera or the like and a place for managing position information obtained from a GPS or the like are defined as a part of the storage format of the image. The present inventor has conceived that it is possible to perform an image search based on position information using a position information management tag in an image storage format.

That is, regarding the position information, the fundamental idea of specifying the latitude and longitude from the address is reversed,
It is possible to specify the latitude and longitude by simply taking a picture with a digital still camera or the like, and to provide an innovative service that can guide a user to a point that he really wants to guide. Therefore, since the latitude and longitude can be acquired at the point where the image was taken, the user can be guided to the point just by guiding the user to that point or releasing the shutter at an arbitrary point in a wide facility.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of realizing an image search based on position information using a tag for position information management in an image storage format.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the following features in a configuration having a database and a terminal device built on a network in order to achieve the above object.

That is, in the image search method based on position information according to the present invention, an original image with position information is generated by adding position information to an image, and the original image with position information is made public on a network. The searched original image with position information is searched, heading information necessary for image search is extracted from the searched original image with position information, the heading information is stored in a database, and the stored heading information is stored in a terminal. Each step includes searching from the device based on the point information of an arbitrary point, and acquiring image information with position information of a place near the arbitrary point.

In the image search method based on the position information, the original image with position information includes image data in a predetermined storage format, and latitude and longitude data defined as a part of the storage format of the image data. It is. Further, the image data and the latitude / longitude data are obtained from a combination of a digital still camera and a device such as a GPS unit capable of acquiring position attributes (latitude / longitude), or software capable of acquiring position attributes such as electronic map software. It is something that you get.

In the image search method based on the position information, the heading information includes items necessary for the search, such as the latitude, longitude, and title of the original image with position information.

In the image search method based on the position information, the image information with position information includes a list of heading information of a place near an arbitrary point and a thumbnail corresponding to the original image with position information of each point in the list. It consists of images and the like. Further, the image information with position information includes information that can access the original image with position information corresponding to the thumbnail image.

Further, in the image search method based on the position information, a tag capable of searching for the image information with the position information is used by using the point information included in the original image with the position information published on the network as a base point. This makes it possible to dynamically create a communication plaza for people photographed near the base point.

Further, in the image search system based on position information according to the present invention, an original image with position information generated by adding position information to an image is disclosed on a network, and a network is stored in a database. The original image with position information published above is searched, and the heading information necessary for the image search extracted from the searched original image with position information is stored, and the terminal device further stores the heading information stored in the database. Is searched based on the point information of an arbitrary point, and image information with position information of a place close to the arbitrary point is obtained.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a system for realizing an image search method according to an embodiment of the present invention and a schematic configuration and a schematic procedure of an example of an image search method in this system will be described. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a system for realizing an image search method and an image search method in this system.

A system for realizing the image search method according to the present embodiment employs, for example, an Exif format which is a format for storing images for freely exchanging images with a digital still camera and peripheral devices. This is an image search system based on positional information using GPS data defined in the Exif format extended tag portion.

This image search system includes a home page 2 including an original image with position information generated by adding position information to an image, published on Web 1 as an example of a network; The Web browser 3 includes a Web browser 3 for displaying an original image, an Exif index DB 4 for storing heading information necessary for an image search extracted from the searched original image with position information, a user terminal device (not shown), and the like.

The image search method in this image search system is performed according to the following procedure.

(1) A latitude and longitude are assigned to a location for managing the GPS data defined in the Exif extended tag part, and an original image with position information of the latitude and longitude is generated (step S1). This original image with position information is made public on the homepage 2 established by the owner of each image (step S2).

(2) The owner of the image informs the provider of the image search service of the fact that the original image with the position information in Exif format has been made public on his homepage 2.
The RL is notified (step S3).

(3) Based on the notified URL, an Exif file search program is used to search for these Exif format original image files with position information (step S).
4) Acquire the searched file, extract GPS related information described in the Exif format of the original image with position information (step S5), and save it in the Exif index DB4. These processes are executed by, for example, the provider of the image search service as an example. An Exif file search program, an Exif index DB 4 and the like are provided by the provider of the image search service, and software for processing is also provided by the image search service. Created by the provider.

(4) The Exif index DB 4 is searched using arbitrary point information such as the current position as a key (step S6),
A list of photographing spots near the arbitrary point is obtained as information. This process is executed by the user as an example. Therefore, the user can use the Exif index DB4
Can be obtained to obtain information of the photographing spot list. Also, the homepage 2 of the owner of the image on Web1
To access the original image with position information.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 8, details of an example of an image search method in the image search system according to the present embodiment will be described in order. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing data of an original image with position information, FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams for explaining generation of an original image with position information, and FIG. 4 is a Web of the original image with position information. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the above disclosure, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the conversion of heading data into a database by searching for an original image with position information, and FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a search from an arbitrary point. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a different-dimensional community.

1. Generation of Original Image with Position Information (FIGS. 2 and 3) The original image with position information 5 includes, for example, data included in an Exif-format image as shown in FIG. The data about the image includes Exif
Version, FlashPix Version
There are various data such as maker name, model name, software, maker note,. The data related to the position information defined by the extended tag portion includes various data such as north / south latitude, latitude, east / west longitude, longitude,..., And a positioning map corresponding to GPS Version.

The generation of such an original image 5 with position information is performed, for example, by a mechanism as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, the GPS unit 12 is connected to the digital still camera 11, and the latitude and longitude information obtained by the GPS unit 12 is added to the Exif image captured by the digital still camera 11. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3B, the latitude and longitude information is added to the image in the Exif format by using the map software 13 and pointing to an arbitrary point on the map software 13. Thus, the original image 5 with position information can be generated.

In the generation of the original image 5 with position information, by including data as shown in FIG. 2 in the image photographed by the digital still camera 11, the photographing position information can be determined only by looking at the image data. become.

2. Publication of the original image with position information on the Web (FIG. 4) Publication of the original image with position information 5 on Web1
For example, as shown in FIG. 4 as an example, the data of the original image 5 with position information generated as described above is
Publish on home page 2 on 1.

3. Creating a database of index data by searching for the original image with position information (FIG. 5) The database of index data by searching for the original image 5 with position information is, for example, a database as shown in FIG.

(1) In the acquisition of image data, a file of the original image 5 with position information published on the homepage 2 on the Web 1 is acquired (step S11). In this case, a method of obtaining an image file by notifying the URL containing the original image 5 with position information from the owner of the Web 1 or a method of obtaining an image file by a search program for the notified URL may be used. is there.

(2) In the Exif analysis, the original image 5 with position information of the acquired file is analyzed (step S12), and it is checked whether or not latitude and longitude information is added to the image in the Exif format (step S13). .

(3) In the DB addition, as a result of the check, E
In the case of the original image 5 with position information in xif format, an item to be searched for the image is extracted from the items in Exif format and stored in the Exif index DB 4 as index data (step S14). At this time, the data to be saved include, for example, latitude, longitude, shooting date and time,
There are a URL, a photo title, a photographer, a comment, and the like, and the information up to is extracted as essential items. In addition, a thumbnail image is automatically generated from the original image 5 with position information, and is stored in the thumbnail image DB 6 as a list display image.

4. Retrieval from an arbitrary point (FIGS. 6 and 7) For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an arbitrary point on a map, a landmark such as a station or a famous place, or a point where a user is currently located, as shown in FIG. , Any position information (latitude, longitude) is transmitted to the server, and the Exif index DB 4 is searched based on the point information.

(1) In obtaining point information, information on the latitude and longitude of an arbitrary point on the map 7 or data such as an address and a postal code which can be converted into the information is obtained (step S2).
1).

(2) In the nearest search, the nearest photographing point data is searched from the Exif index DB 4 based on the latitude and longitude information (step S22).

(3) In the search result display, a list of the closest photographing points of the search result obtained as described above is displayed (step S23). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, search results near the crater of Mt. Fuji are displayed in a list including heading data and thumbnail images. When one image with position information is selected, the original image with position information 5
Can access the home page 2 of the image owner via the Web 1 based on the URL information in which the URL exists, and can display the original image 5 with position information.

5. Use of the original image with location information By using the original image with location information 5, it is possible to navigate the user to the photographing spot in conjunction with route search such as car navigation as well as checking on the map. It becomes possible.

Specifically, the Exi on the map software side
By recognizing the f-type GPS management tag, the position of an arbitrary point on the map can be displayed. In addition, by taking in the Exif format image recorded on the memory card on the car navigation system side, or by taking in the Exif format image from the net, the position can be notified to the car navigation system side and the destination can be set.

6. Different Dimension Community (FIG. 8) As the different dimensional community, there is a method of listing information photographed in the vicinity of an original image with position information published by an image owner on a homepage. This method is executed as follows, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 as an example.

(1) The owner of the image publishes the original image 5 with position information on the home page 2 on the Web 1 and notifies the URL thereof (step S31).

(2) The provider of the image search service sets E
An original image 5 with position information in xif format is obtained (step S32).

(3) The provider of the image search service sets E
The original image 5 with the positional information in the xif format is added to the Exif index DB 4, and the owner of the image is provided with, for example, HTML tag information that enables a nearest search service (step S33).

(4) By embedding the tag in the homepage 2, the owner of the image can list information photographed in the vicinity of the user's own image on the homepage 2 with his or her image as a base point (step). S34). For example, the owner of the image publishes the original image 5 with position information near the point “AAA”, and embeds the tag acquired from the provider of the image search service in the homepage 2.
When the nearest search is performed using the button 8 or the like generated by this tag, it is possible to obtain a list of the images taken near the point “AAA”. With this, it is possible to dynamically create a communication plaza for people who have photographed the area around their own image.

Therefore, according to the system for realizing the image search method of the present embodiment, and the image search method in this system, it is possible to realize the image search based on the position information using the Exif GPS management tag. it can.
As a result, the user can obtain the following effects by using such a mechanism.

(1) It is possible to easily search for the nearest photographing spot from an arbitrary point in the original image 5 with position information published on the Web 1.

(2) By taking in the original image 5 with the positional information of the photographing spot published on the Web 1 and passing the latitude and longitude information to the map, the detailed photographing point can be easily known.

(3) By passing the latitude and longitude of the original image 5 with position information published on the Web 1 to a route search system such as a car navigation system, navigation to the photographing point can be performed.

(4) The user himself / herself publishes the original image 5 with position information on the Web 1 to generate a community centered on an arbitrary point.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described by way of an example based on the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the invention is not limited thereto. It goes without saying that various changes can be made.

[0051]

As described above, according to the image search technique of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) The image search service provider can realize an image search based on position information using a position information management tag in an image storage format.

(2) The user can easily search for the nearest photographing spot from an arbitrary point in the original image with position information published on the network.

(3) A user can easily know a detailed photographing point by fetching an original image with position information of a photographing spot published on a network and passing latitude and longitude information to a map. Become.

(4) The user can obtain the navigation to the photographing point by passing the latitude and longitude of the original image with position information published on the network to a route search system such as a car navigation system. Becomes

(5) By publishing the original image with position information on the network by itself, the user can generate a community centered on a certain point.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a system for realizing an image search method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and an image search method in this system.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing data of an original image with position information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams for explaining generation of an original image with position information in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining disclosure of an original image with position information on a Web in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for describing creation of a database of index data by searching for an original image with position information in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a search from an arbitrary point in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention, following FIG.
It is an explanatory view for explaining search from an arbitrary point.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a different-dimensional community in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Web 2 Home page 3 Web browser 4 Exif index DB 5 Original image with location information 6 Thumbnail image DB 7 Map 8 Button 11 Digital still camera 12 GPS unit 13 Map software

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a database and a terminal device constructed on a network; generating an original image with position information in which position information is added to the image; and publishing the original image with position information on the network. Searching for an original image with position information published on the network, extracting heading information necessary for image search from the searched original image with position information, and storing the heading information in the database. And searching the headline information stored in the database from the terminal device based on the point information of an arbitrary point, and acquiring position information-added image information of a place near the arbitrary point. An image search method based on position information. 2. The image search method based on position information according to claim 1, wherein the original image with position information is image data in a predetermined storage format, and latitude and longitude defined in a part of the storage format of the image data. An image search method based on position information, comprising: data. 3. The image search method based on position information according to claim 2, wherein the image data and the latitude / longitude data are a combination of a digital still camera and a device capable of acquiring a position attribute such as a GPS unit, or An image retrieval method based on position information, wherein the position attribute is obtained from software capable of acquiring position attributes, such as electronic map software. 4. The image search method based on position information according to claim 1, wherein the index information includes items necessary for search, such as the latitude, longitude, and title of the original image with position information. An image search method based on positional information to be performed. 5. The image search method based on position information according to claim 1, wherein the image information with position information includes a list of heading information of a place close to the arbitrary point, and a position information of each point in the list. An image search method based on position information, comprising: a thumbnail image corresponding to an original image. 6. The image search method based on position information according to claim 5, wherein the image information with position information includes information that can access the original image with position information corresponding to the thumbnail image. Image search method based on location information. 7. The image search method based on position information according to claim 1, wherein the tag capable of searching for the image information with position information is based on point information included in the original image with position information published on the network. A method for dynamically creating a communication plaza for people photographed in the vicinity of the base point by using the information retrieval method. 8. A database and a terminal device constructed on a network, wherein an original image with position information generated by adding position information to an image is published on the network, Is searched for the original image with position information published on the network, and the heading information necessary for the image search extracted from the searched original image with position information is stored. An image search based on position information, wherein the stored heading information is searched based on the point information of an arbitrary point, and image information with position information of a place close to the arbitrary point is obtained. system.