JP2003333556A - Mobile phone and wireless communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile phone with a video phone function for displaying a background different from a present background in a natural manner in the case that the user of the mobile phone desires not to show the surrounding scene to the opposite party during speech. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile phone is provided with: a background eliminating apparatus 21 for eliminating the background on the basis of the contour of a person from the image of the person photographed by an image input apparatus 4; a background image database 22 storing at least a kind of the background image, and an image composite apparatus 23 for compositing the image of the person from which the background is eliminated with a background image stored in the background image database to produce an image with a different background. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile phone having a videophone function and a wireless communication method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional mobile phone having a videophone function compresses an image signal from a camera and an audio signal from a microphone during data transmission and sends the data to a public network, and receives data through the public network. The data is decompressed to the original data and displayed on the monitor, and the sound is output from the speaker.

By the way, a videophone using a mobile phone is
Due to its nature, the surrounding image and voice are provided to the other party at any place and time, which may cause a discomfort or aversion to the other party.
As a solution to this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 175166. This is a process in which the image captured by the camera is processed to intentionally make it difficult to see a part of the background so as not to convey the surroundings to the other party. On the other hand, the background is masked by combining another image on the front side of the image.

[0004]

However, in this conventional mobile phone, even if the part of the background is intentionally made invisible, it is not a method of replacing the background itself, so that an unnatural impression or discomfort is felt. To the other party,
Furthermore, since it is not always possible to hide the entire background, there is a problem that it may be partially shown to the other party.

Further, the conventional mobile phone has no countermeasure against ambient sound, and even if the other party does not want to hear the surrounding sound at the time of use, when the other party makes a call, the surrounding voice is heard. There is a problem that it will end up.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a background different from the current background can be displayed in a natural form when it is not desired to show the surroundings to the other party during a call. It is an object to provide a mobile phone and a wireless communication method. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone and a wireless communication method that can prevent the ambient sound from being sent when the other party does not want to hear the ambient sound during use.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile phone having a photographing means (image input device 4) and a background image based on an outline of the person photographed by the photographing means. A background removing unit (background removing device 21) for removing, a background image storing unit (background image database 22) storing at least one type of background image, and an image of the person whose background is removed by the background removing unit. An image synthesizing unit (image synthesizing device 23) for synthesizing with the background image stored in the background image storing unit to create an image having a different background;
It is characterized by including.

According to the above arrangement, the background is removed from the photographed image based on the outline of the person, and the image of the remaining person and the background image prepared in advance are combined to generate an image having a different background. Therefore, when you do not want to show the surroundings to the other party during a call, you can display a background different from the current background in a natural form, giving the caller an unnatural impression or discomfort. However, it does not show up partially.

A mobile phone according to a second aspect of the present invention is the mobile phone according to the first aspect, in which contour information storage that stores the contour of the person created based on an image of the person photographed in a situation where the background has no contrast is stored. Means (initial contour information buffer 2
0), and the background removing means removes the background from the image photographed by the photographing means based on the contour of the person stored in the contour information storage means.

According to the above arrangement, the background is removed from the image photographed by the photographing means on the basis of the contour obtained from the image of the person photographed in a situation where the background has no contrast.
The background can be accurately removed, and a natural composite image with less discomfort can be sent.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the mobile telephone according to the first or second aspect, the voice input means (voice input device 2) and the voice input between the time of the incoming call and the start of the call. Noise removal means (ambient sound removal device 12) for acquiring the ambient sound input by the means, and removing the ambient sound from the voice after the start of the call based on the acquired ambient sound. .

According to the above configuration, the ambient sound is removed from the voice after the call is started based on the ambient sound acquired before the start of the call. Therefore, when the caller does not want to hear the ambient sound during use. In addition, it is possible to prevent the ambient sound from being sent. Also, if the surrounding sound may be heard by the other party, the call can be made with less noise.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile phone according to any one of the first to third aspects, further comprising selection means for enabling only voice communication.

According to the above configuration, since only voice communication can be performed, it is possible to prevent the current background from being known to the other party.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment has a function of capturing and transmitting an image in addition to voice, and after performing image / voice processing on an image signal and a voice signal acquired by a camera and a microphone, The data is compressed and transmitted, and includes a voice input device 2, a voice processing unit 3, an image input device 4, an image processing unit 5, a videophone processing unit 6, and a manner reception mode switching unit 7. Configured.

The voice processing means 3 extracts only the voice of the speaker from the voice input from the voice input device 2 such as a microphone, and includes the FFT device 10, the ambient sound information data buffer 11, and the ambient sound removal. Device 12 and IFFT device 1
And 3. Since the voice input from the voice input device 2 still includes the ambient sound, the ambient sound is removed when the user needs it.

The voice processing means 3 samples the ambient voice input from the voice input device 2 between the time when the incoming call is made and the time when the incoming call is accepted, and the FFT device 10
At FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), the frequency information is extracted as ambient sound information and stored in the ambient sound information data buffer 11. Immediately after receiving the incoming call, the FFT device 10 similarly performs FFT processing and inputs the frequency information to the ambient sound removing device 12. The ambient sound removing device 12 removes the ambient sound by taking the difference between the frequency information of the voice and the ambient sound information stored in the ambient sound information data buffer 11 on the frequency axis, and the result is removed by the IFFT device 13 To enter. IFFT device 1
3 performs IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) processing, converts frequency information into voice information, and inputs it to the videophone processing device 6.

On the other hand, the image processing means 5 removes the background by extracting an object such as a person from the image input from the image input device 4 such as a camera, and then the extracted object and another background prepared in advance. Is to remove information that seems uncomfortable with the other party, and includes an initial contour information buffer 20, a background removing device 21, a background image database 22, and a background synthesizing device 23. Composed.

The initial contour information buffer 20 stores the user's initial contour information created based on an image photographed in a state where the background has no contrast. Background removal device 21
Separates the background area from the person area based on the initial contour information stored in the initial contour information buffer 20 and the image captured by the image input device 4. Background image database 22
Stores a previously captured background image or a background image obtained by downloading. The background synthesizing device 23 synthesizes the image of the person area output from the background removing device 21 and the background image stored in the background image database 22 and inputs the synthesized image to the videophone processing device 6. The videophone processing device 6 takes in the image and the voice output from the image processing means 5 and the voice processing means 3 in the same manner as when the image and the voice are taken in by a normal videophone, and outputs the processed data to the communication network. Output.

Details of the background removal processing and the image composition processing will be described below. [Background Removal Processing] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the background removal processing in the image processing means 5. First, edge processing is performed on the input image 30, and the periphery of the initial contour information is searched to obtain an edge image 31. Then, the target contour is extracted from the edge image 31 to obtain the initial contour image 32. Next, the contour is extracted from the initial contour image 32 to obtain the extracted contour image 33. Finally, the outside of the contour is removed as the background to obtain the background-removed image 34. The initial contour image 3
2 is created using an image captured in advance with no background contrast.

[Image Synthesis Processing] FIG. 3 shows the image processing means 5.
3 is a schematic diagram of an image compositing process in FIG. The background removal image 34 obtained by the background removal processing is stored in the background image database 22.
Is combined with another background 40 stored in to obtain a combined image 41 with the background replaced. The composite image 41 is input to the videophone processing device 6.

The manner reception mode switching means 7 switches the sound processing means 3 and the image processing means 5 between insertion and non-insertion in the circuit. In the normal mode, the sound processing means 3 and the image processing means 5 are switched from the circuit. In the manner mode, the voice processing means 3 and the image processing means 5 are inserted into the circuit. If you do not want the other party to see the background during use or hear the surrounding sound, select the manner mode and disconnect the voice processing means 3 and the image processing means 5 from the circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment when receiving a videophone call. In this figure, when an incoming videophone call is detected, it is determined in step 10 whether or not the manner reception mode is set. In the manner reception mode, in step 11, ambient sound is sampled and FFT processing is performed between the incoming videophone call and the incoming call acceptance, and ambient sound information that is the ambient frequency information is created.

After the ambient sound information is created, when an incoming call is accepted in step 12, the communication button is turned on and voice and image processing are performed in step 13. After the incoming call is received, the input voice contains the voice of the speaker and the ambient sound. Therefore, after the FFT processing is performed in the same manner, the ambient sound information created between the incoming call and the incoming call is received on the frequency axis. Removed with IFFT
By processing, data of only the voice of the speaker from which ambient sound is removed is created. Then, in step 14, the voice data and the image data are transmitted (that is, modulated) on a predetermined carrier wave to the communication network. On the other hand, when it is not in the manner reception mode, after the incoming call is accepted in step 14, the process of step 14 is performed. That is, the current sound is transmitted without removing the ambient sound.

As described above, according to the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment, the image input device 4 takes an image based on the outline of the person, which has been acquired from the image captured in advance in the situation where there is no contrast in the background. The background is deleted from the image, and the image of the person who remains after the deletion is combined with the background image prepared in advance to generate an image with a different background, so you can show the surroundings to the other party during the call. When you do not want to, you can display a background different from the current background in a natural way, and you will not have an unnatural impression or discomfort to the other party, and you will not be shown partially.

Further, since the ambient sound is removed from the voice after the call is started based on the ambient sound acquired until the start of the call, the ambient sound when using is not desired to be heard by the other party of the call. You can turn off the sound. Also, if the surrounding sound may be heard by the other party, the call can be made with less noise.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
The mobile phone 50 according to the present embodiment is the same as the above-described first embodiment.
The voice processing means 3 and the image processing means 5 are used. The voice / TV phone switching unit 51 switches between a voice-only phone call and a videophone call, and enables a voice call in which the background sound is removed by the voice processing unit 3 when a voice-only phone call is made. The voice data is input to the voice telephone processing device 53 in the voice call mode, and the voice data is input to the video telephone processing device 53 in the video telephone mode. The moving image / still image switching unit 52 switches between the videophone mode and the still image shooting mode. In the still image shooting mode, the still image with the background replaced is encoded by the still image encoding device 54 and stored in the image database 55. In the videophone mode, image data is input to the videophone processing device 6.

Also in this embodiment, the above-described first embodiment is used.
Similarly, when you do not want to show the surroundings to the other party during a call, you can display a background different from the current background in a natural form, giving the other party an unnatural impression or discomfort. It is not given or partially shown. In addition, it is possible to prevent the ambient sound from being transmitted when the other party does not want to hear the ambient sound during use.

Although the background sound is removed in the manner mode in the first and second embodiments, it may be replaced with another background sound.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The background is removed from the captured image based on the outline of the person, and the image of the remaining person and the background image prepared in advance are combined to generate an image with a different background, so that it is possible to When you don't want to show the surroundings, you can display a background different from the current background in a natural way, giving the caller an unnatural impression or discomfort, or showing it partially. There is nothing to do.

Further, according to the present invention, the ambient sound is removed from the voice after the call is started based on the ambient sound acquired before the start of the call so that the other party can hear the ambient sound during use. If you don't want to, you can turn off ambient sounds.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of background removal processing in the image processing means of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of image composition processing in the image processing means of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of receiving a videophone call in the mobile phone according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a mobile phone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,50 mobile phones 2 voice input device 3 Voice processing means 4 Image input device 5 Image processing means 6 Videophone processing equipment 7 Manner reception mode switching means 10 FFT means 11 Ambient sound information data buffer 12 Ambient sound removal device 13 IFFT means 20 Initial contour information buffer 21 Background Removal Device 22 background image database 23 Background synthesizer 51 Voice / TV phone switching means 52 Video / still image switching means 53 Voice telephone processor 54 Still picture coding device 55 Image Database

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A photographing means, a background removing means for removing a background from an image of a person photographed by the photographing means based on a contour of the person, and a background image storage means for storing at least one kind of background image. And an image synthesizing unit for synthesizing the image of the person whose background is removed by the background removing unit with the background image stored in the background image storing unit to create an image having a different background. A mobile phone characterized by. 2. A contour information storage means for storing the contour of the person created based on an image of the person photographed in a situation where the background has no contrast, and the background removal means stores the contour information in the contour information storage means. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the background is removed from the image photographed by the photographing means based on the stored contour of the person. 3. An audio input unit and an ambient sound input from the audio input unit from the time of receiving a call to the start of a call, and based on the acquired ambient sound, the ambient sound is output from the voice after the start of the call. And a noise removing unit for removing the noise.
Mobile phone described in. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit that enables only voice communication. 5. A wireless communication method for transmitting an image of a person photographed by a camera through a mobile phone, wherein the contour of the person is created in advance from an image captured in a background with no contrast. When background images of different types are created and the person image is taken by the camera, the background is removed based on the contour of the person created in advance, and the image of the person after the background is removed And a background image created in advance are combined to create an image with a different background. 6. An ambient sound input from a microphone between the time of receiving a call and the start of a call is acquired, and the ambient sound is removed from the voice after the call is started based on the acquired ambient sound. The wireless communication method according to claim 5.