JP2003348385A - Camera system for calligraphic works and paintings and presentation method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera system for calligraphic works and paintings by which variety of presentation is extended or the presentation is made more enrich, and to provide a presentation method using the camera system. <P>SOLUTION: The camera system 5 is provided with an original platen 51 and a camera 53 for photographing an original placed on the original platen 51, and an image photographed by the camera 53 is projected on a screen 1 by a liquid crystal projector 2. The camera 53 is attached to the original platen 51 through a movable arm 52 to make it possible to photograph the original in other directions except for the original platen 51 and further, the camera 53 is equipped with an optical filter for photographing only light of a specific wavelength such as infrared light to be freely removable in an optical image pickup path of the camera 53. <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 document camera apparatus for photographing a document such as a document placed on a table or a platen and displaying the photographed image on a screen by a projection means, and a presentation using the same. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a presentation in which a presenter gives an explanation or a lecture while pointing a point on an image projected on a screen with an indicator rod or a laser pointer, a document camera is used as one of means for projecting the image on the screen. The device is used. The document camera device is configured to photograph a document such as a document placed on a table or a document table with a moving image camera such as a video camera, and an image captured by the camera is projected onto a screen from a projection device such as a liquid crystal projector. You. However, in such a document camera device, since the camera is conventionally fixed, it is impossible to project a document other than a document placed on a table or a document table as a subject on a screen. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-115603 discloses a document camera device in which a camera can be rotated to change a shooting direction, and the upside down of an image projected on a screen can be corrected according to the direction of the camera. I have.

[0003]

In the document camera apparatus disclosed in the above publication, various objects other than a document placed on a table or a document table can be used as objects by changing the direction of the camera. However, there has been a demand not only for the camera to simply photograph the subject, but also for expanding the variety of presentations by adding functions utilizing the characteristics of the camera, and for developing more fulfilling presentations.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a document camera apparatus and a presentation method using the same, which are capable of expanding the variety of presentations and enriching the presentations.

[0005]

A document camera apparatus according to the present invention includes a camera for photographing a document such as a document, and an image photographed by the camera is projected onto a screen by a projection means. An imaging filter is set by the imaging direction changing means so as to be able to capture images in directions other than the document imaging direction, and an optical filter that can capture only light of a specific wavelength is inserted into and removed from the imaging optical path. It is characterized by being freely provided.
The specific wavelength light is, for example, infrared light. In that case, an optical filter that transmits only infrared light is used.

According to the document camera apparatus of the present invention, for example, a certain operation is given in a state where the photographing direction of the camera is directed to a direction other than the document photographing direction and an optical filter is inserted in the photographing optical path of the camera. By photographing light including the specific wavelength light with a camera, the operation can be reflected on a screen as an image. By applying such an operation, it is possible to increase the diversity of the presentation or to enhance the presentation.

As an application example of the document camera apparatus of the present invention, there is the following presentation method of the present invention. That is, the camera of the document camera apparatus of the present invention is directed in the direction of the presenter, and an optical filter is inserted into an imaging optical path of the camera. While the camera is shooting a state in which the instruction mark which emits light in a pseudo manner is indicated by the camera, the instruction mark is reflected as a point image on the image projected on the screen by the projection means.

According to this presentation method, unlike a laser pointer, a point is not projected onto a screen by projecting a laser beam, so that the danger caused by the laser beam is fundamentally eliminated and safety is established.
In addition, it is possible to correct the camera shake of the point image projected on the screen by a known image processing technique, and to generate the point image into an arbitrary shape such as an arrow or a hand as well as a circle or a line. be able to. Therefore, a stable point image can be projected on the screen, and the point image can be converted into a complicated and various shape. Further, since the data of the image and the point image projected by the projection unit can be easily distributed to a plurality of locations, it is possible to support a multi-screen including a plurality of sets of the projection unit and the screen.

As another presentation method, the camera of the document camera apparatus of the present invention is oriented in the document photographing direction, and the photographed image of the document is projected as a still image from the projection means onto the screen. An optical filter is inserted into the camera, and the presenter reflects the instruction mark as a point image on a still image while photographing a state in which the presenter instructs a document on an instruction mark that emits light with a specific wavelength. Can be

As still another presentation method, the camera of the document camera apparatus of the present invention is oriented in the document photographing direction, and the photographed image of the document is projected as a still image from the projecting means on the screen. Insert the optical filter and move the indication mark while the presenter emits light with a specific wavelength to the document,
There is a form in which the state is photographed by a camera, and the locus of the instruction mark is reflected in a still image.

The document camera device of the present invention may have a storage unit for storing images, or may be connected to an external device such as a personal computer that holds images. Besides the image taken by the camera,
The image may be a stored image stored in the storage unit or an external image input from an external device. Therefore, the point image and the like can be reflected on the stored image and the external image as described above. In this case, the stored image and the external image do not need to be stopped because they are not related to the image captured by the camera. .

As described above, various unprecedented presentation methods can be developed by applying the document camera apparatus of the present invention.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an entire presentation system including a document camera device according to an embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral P is a presenter, 1 is a screen, 2 is a liquid crystal projector (projecting means) for projecting a liquid crystal image on the screen 1, 3 is a control operation unit, and 4 is a personal computer. The PC 4 generates image data,
The image data is input from the personal computer 4 to the control operation unit 3. Then, the image data processed by the control operation unit 3 is input to the liquid crystal projector 2, and an image based on the image data is projected from the liquid crystal projector 2 onto the screen 1.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a document camera device. As shown in FIG. 2, the document camera device 5 includes a document table 51.
Arm (photographing direction changing means) 52
And a camera 53 supported through the camera.
The control operation unit 3 is housed inside a document table 51, and the liquid crystal projector 2 and the personal computer 4
It is connected to the. The arm 52 has an inverted L-shape in which a horizontal portion 52b extending forward (in the direction of the presenter P) is attached to the upper end of a vertical portion 52a extending in the up-down direction. Horizontal part 5
2b is attached to the vertical portion 52a so as to be freely rotatable horizontally. The expansion and contraction of the vertical portion 52a and the horizontal rotation of the horizontal portion 52b are manually performed, and can be fixed at any position. Regarding the horizontal portion 52b, the platen 51
In order to be able to take an image of the original placed on the paper, it is fixed in a state of extending forward.

The camera 53 includes a horizontal portion 52b of the arm 52.
Is mounted at the tip of the camera so as to be swivelable through a camera platform or the like (imaging direction changing means) in a range where the imaging direction exceeds the horizontal direction from downward to forward. , Can be manually switched to one of the two horizontal positions facing forward. The camera 53 is provided with an optical filter (not shown) capable of photographing only infrared light so as to be freely inserted into and removed from the imaging optical path of the camera 53. The camera 53 has a zoom function and an autofocus function.

1 and 2, the presenter P has a communication box 6 in his hand. At the tip of the communication box 6, an infrared light emitting section 61 composed of an LED or the like is provided. The light emitting section 61 emits infrared light for setting reference points A and B, which will be described in detail later, and is used as an instruction mark. As shown in FIG.
Based on the diagonal connecting B, the virtual screen 11 is set on the right side of the presenter P by the presenter P. As shown in FIG. 3, the virtual screen 11 has a rectangular X axis (horizontal axis) and a Y axis (vertical axis) for the presenter P to give a pseudo point indication by the light emitting unit 61 of the communication box 6. This is a two-dimensional space, which is basically a range covered by the movement of the right arm of the presenter P.

In the communication box 6, as shown in FIG.
A reference point setting switch 62 for causing the light emitting unit 61 to emit light to set the reference points A and B, and a pointer switch 63 for giving a point instruction are provided. When the reference point setting switch 62 is turned on, infrared light of a reference point setting wavelength is emitted from the light emitting unit 61. When the pointer switch 63 is turned on, infrared light of a wavelength different from the reference point setting wavelength is emitted. Light is emitted from 61.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the front surface of the document table 51, a light receiving section 52 for receiving each of the infrared lights described above, and the light receiving section 54 recognizes infrared light having a wavelength for setting a reference point (photographing). ) Is provided with a recognition display unit 55 for notifying the user by blinking. The light receiving unit 54 includes a photodiode or the like,
The recognition display unit 55 includes an LED or the like. Recognition display section 5
The recognition signal of No. 5 and the image captured by the camera 53 are input to the control calculation unit 3. The zoom function and the autofocus function of the camera 53 are controlled by the control calculation unit 3 so as to automatically search for the reference point A initially set by the light emitting unit 61 and arrange the reference point A at a predetermined position within the angle of view. It has become.

The communication box 6 has an image changeover switch for selecting either an image projected from the liquid crystal projector 2 on the screen 1, image data of the personal computer 4 or an image taken by the camera 53. (Not shown) are provided. When the image switch is turned on, infrared light having a wavelength different from that when the reference point setting switch 62 and the pointer switch 63 are turned on is emitted from the light emitting unit 61, and the emitted light is received by the light receiving unit 54 of the document table 51. Then, the light receiving signal is input to the control operation unit 3.

The control calculation section 3 generates XY coordinates of the virtual screen 11 based on the reference points A and B photographed by the camera 53 by a general image analysis technique. Then, the position of the light emitting unit 61 moving on the virtual screen 11 is always photographed by the camera 53 and is input to the control calculation unit 3, and the control calculation unit 3 calculates the coordinates of the light emission unit 61 on the coordinates of the virtual screen 11. Calculate one by one. And the control operation unit 3
Is a processing unit that processes the image data of the personal computer 4 and the coordinate data of the light emitting unit 61 and calculates the calculated light emitting unit 6 in the image of the personal computer 4.
A point image is synthesized with the coordinates of 1.

Next, an example of a method of using the above system will be described.
The description will be made separately for “point instruction at a position distant from the document camera device” and “point instruction for a document placed on the document camera device”.

(1) Point Instruction at a Position Remote from Document Camera The operation of point instruction using the virtual screen will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

A. Setting of virtual screen First, the presenter P operates the screen switch 1 of the liquid crystal projector 2 by the image switch of the communication box 6.
Is switched to the image data of the personal computer 4. In addition, the camera 53 is set to a horizontal position, and the vertical portion 52a of the arm 52 is expanded and contracted as necessary.
2b is rotated horizontally, and the camera 53 is directed toward the presenter P. Then, the optical filter is inserted into the imaging optical path of the camera 53. From the state in which the camera 53 is shooting wide-angle shooting in the direction of the presenter P, the presenter P stops the communication box 6 held in the right hand at the lower left of the right space, turns on the switch 62 for setting the reference point, and emits light. The reference point A, which is the position of the part 61, is marked (step S
1). The camera 53 automatically searches for the light emitting unit 61 while performing pan and tilt angle conversion as needed (step S2). The light emitting unit 61 in which the camera 53 is the reference point A
Is photographed (step S3), the recognition display section 55 is turned on (step S4). The position of the reference point A is input to the control calculation unit 3.

Next, once the reference point setting switch 62 is
After setting the FF, the presenter P extends his right arm to stop the light emitting unit 61 of the communication box 6 at the upper right of the space on the right side, and turns on the reference point setting switch 62 to turn the reference point setting switch 62 into a reference point which is a diagonal corner point with respect to the reference point A. Mark point B (step S
5). When the camera 53 captures an image of the light emitting unit 61 that is the reference point B (step S6), the recognition display unit 55 turns on (step S7). The position of the reference point B is input to the control calculation unit 3.

Subsequently, the camera 53 is automatically zoomed up and panned and tilted as necessary, and the virtual screen 11 set based on the diagonal line connecting the reference points A and B is displayed on the image of the camera 53. A large image is taken in the corner (step S8). FIG. 3 shows a photographing range V of the camera 53 in this state, and the presenter P is included in the photographing range V, but is omitted in FIG. Next, the control calculation unit 3 generates the XY coordinates of the rectangular virtual screen 11 shown in FIG. 3 based on the diagonal connecting the fixed reference points A and B captured by the camera 53 (step S).
9). As described above, the fixed virtual screen 11 is set on the right side of the presenter P, and the virtual screen 11
Is always photographed by the camera 53 in which the optical filter is inserted.

The virtual screen 11 can be set in advance as a fixed one, in which case the setting work of the virtual screen 11 by the presenter P is not required each time.

B. Point Instruction by Presenter The presenter P issues a point instruction to move the light emitting unit 61 on the virtual screen 11 with the pointer switch 63 of the communication box 6 turned ON. The position of the light emitting unit 61 is always photographed by the camera 53 and is input to the control calculation unit 3, and the control calculation unit 3 calculates the coordinates of the light emitting unit 61 on the coordinates of the virtual screen 11 (step S10). Further, the control calculation unit 3 converts the coordinates of the light emitting unit 61 into coordinates on the screen 1, and generates the coordinates of the point image (step S11).

On the other hand, the personal computer 4 outputs the image data to the control operation unit 3. This image data is image data that does not include a point image projected on the screen 1. Then, the control calculation unit 3 combines a predetermined point image with the position of the coordinates of the point image in the image (step S12). Thus, image data is generated.
This image data is output to the liquid crystal projector 2, and the liquid crystal projector 2 projects an image obtained by combining the point image with the image of the personal computer 4 on the screen 1 (Step S).
13). Thereby, the light emitting unit 6 on the virtual screen 11
A point image is projected on a point on the screen 1 corresponding to the position of No. 1. The presenter P gives a point instruction by appropriately moving the light emitting unit 61 of the communication box 6 while watching the point image projected on the screen 1.

(2) Pointing Instruction to Document Placed on Document Camera Device Next, an operation of projecting the document placed on the document table 51 of the document camera device 5 onto the screen 1 and directly instructing the document to point is performed. Will be described. This operation is performed, for example, when projecting a handwritten document or the like not stored in the personal computer 4 onto the screen 1 during the presentation.

First, the camera 53 is turned downward, and the arm 52 is appropriately operated so that the camera 53 can take a picture of a document placed on the document table 51. Then, in the same manner as described above, the virtual screen is set within the shooting range of the camera 53 on the document table 51. Such a setting of the virtual screen is preferably performed in advance because the shooting range of the camera 53 is limited to the document table 51 and is fixed. When photographing a document, the optical filter is removed from the imaging optical path of the camera 53, and the presenter P changes the image projected on the screen 1 from the liquid crystal projector 2 to the image captured by the camera 53 by the image switch of the communication box 6. Switch. Thus, the document placed on the document table 51 is projected from the liquid crystal projector 2 onto the screen 1.

Next, the control arithmetic section 3 processes the image captured by the camera 53 as a still image, and outputs the still image to the liquid crystal projector 2 to project it on a screen. Thereafter, the optical filter is inserted into the image pickup optical path of the camera 53, the light emitting unit 61 of the communication box 6 is appropriately moved on the document, and a point instruction is performed. As a result, a point image corresponding to the position of the light emitting unit 61 captured by the camera 53 is synthesized with the still image of the document projected on the screen 1. As described above, the original image captured by the camera 53 is processed as a still image, and then the light emitting unit 61 is photographed by the camera 53 having the optical filter inserted therein to synthesize a point image with the still image. The problem that the hand of P is reflected on the screen and the original document is difficult to see does not occur. Further, when the virtual screen is made to coincide with a subject such as a manuscript, it is possible to directly instruct on the manuscript.

The above operation is a point instruction by the light emitting unit 61, but characters can be drawn by moving the light emitting unit 61 continuously on the document while emitting light. In this case, the camera 53 captures the light emitting unit 61 as image data and sets the light emitting unit 61 on the coordinates of the virtual screen on the document.
Are calculated to generate a point image, and the point image immediately before the moving light emitting unit 61 and the above point image are combined. By repeating this, a point image is continuously projected on a point on the screen 1 corresponding to the light emitting unit 61 moving on the document, and the image becomes a locus of movement while the light emitting unit 61 emits light. Thus, characters and the like can be drawn. Such an operation can also be executed in the case of the above-mentioned "point instruction at a position distant from the document camera apparatus".

An embodiment of the present invention has been described above. According to this embodiment, the document placed on the document table 51 of the document camera 5 can be projected onto the screen 1 as a matter of course. By photographing the light emitting unit 61 simulated by the presenter P with the camera 53 of No. 5, a point image for presentation can be projected on the screen 1.

In the present system in which the point image is projected onto the screen 1 as described above, the laser beam is not projected on the screen unlike a laser pointer, so that the danger caused by the laser beam is basically eliminated. , Safety is established. Further, the coordinates of the virtual screen 11 and the moving light emitting unit 61 taken by the camera 53 are obtained by image processing technology. Therefore, in the process of the image processing technology, camera shake of the light emitting unit 61 is corrected, and the point image is converted to a circle. It is possible to generate any shape such as an arrow or a hand as well as a line or a line. Therefore, a stable point image can be projected on the screen 1 and the point image can be converted into a complicated and various shape.

In the case of "pointing at a position remote from the document camera device", the set virtual screen 11 is fixed, so that the presenter P can move freely with respect to the virtual screen 11. In particular, since the presenter P moves in the direction away from the camera 53, the moving range in the horizontal direction (X direction) can be widened, so that it is easy to specify a point in that direction. Further, when the virtual screen 11 is set, the presenter P can move to make the horizontal distance between the reference points A and B longer than the length of the arm.
, The resolution of the virtual screen 11 is increased, and the coordinates of the virtual screen 11 calculated by the control calculation unit 3 can be refined. As a result, the followability of the light emitting unit 61 becomes high, and the movement of the point image becomes smoother.

Further, since the camera 53 automatically searches for and shoots the reference point A in order to shoot the reference point A to be set first, the reference point A can be easily captured within the angle of view of the camera 53. And a wide range of virtual screens 11 can be supported. Furthermore, since the camera 53 has a zoom function, by setting the angle of view of the camera 53 to a wide angle when the virtual screen 11 is set, it becomes easy to capture the reference points A and B, thereby also allowing the virtual screen 11 to cover a wide range. 11 can be supported. In addition, the resolution of the virtual screen 11 by the camera 53 is increased by zooming up at the time of setting the virtual screen 11 and largely photographing the virtual screen 11 within the angle of view of the camera 53.

Further, since the data of the image projected by the liquid crystal projector 2 and the data of the point image can be easily distributed to a plurality of locations, it is possible to support a multi-screen having a plurality of sets of the screen 1 and the liquid crystal projector 2. .

In the above embodiment, the operation of the optical filter (insertion / removal of the camera 53 into / from the imaging optical path) can be remotely controlled by the communication box 6. With this configuration, the camera 53 is set in the horizontal position,
By rotating the horizontal part, the presenter, the audience, or the entire venue can be photographed by the camera 53, and the image can be projected on the screen 1, whereby the presentation can be further enhanced.
The operation of the arm 52 (expansion and contraction of the vertical portion 52a and the rotation of the horizontal portion 52b) and the swing operation of the camera 53 may be remotely controlled by the communication box 6.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By directing the camera in a direction other than the platen and further applying an optical filter, the camera shoots light containing a specific wavelength light that has given a certain action, and the action is displayed on the screen as an image. It can be reflected, and by applying this operation, there is an effect that the diversity of the presentation can be expanded and the presentation can be enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a presentation system to which a document camera device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a presentation system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a shooting range of a camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the presentation system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Screen, 2: Liquid crystal projector (projection means),
5: Document camera device, 11: Virtual screen, 51: Original table, 52: Arm (shooting direction changing means), 53: Camera, 61: Light emitting unit (instruction mark), P: Presenter.

   ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Nagashima             1-324 Uetakecho, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture             Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5C022 AB62 AB65 AC55 CA07

Claims (6)

[Claims] A camera for photographing a document such as a manuscript;
In a document camera device in which an image photographed by the camera is projected onto a screen by a projecting means, the camera is set by a photographing direction changing means so as to be able to photograph in a direction other than the document photographing direction. A document camera device, characterized in that an optical filter capable of photographing only light of a specific wavelength is detachably provided in an image pickup optical path. 2. In addition to an image captured by the camera, a storage image stored in a storage unit of the device or an external image input to the device from an external device is projected from the projection unit onto the screen. The document camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 3. The document camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific wavelength light is infrared light. 4. A presentation method using the document camera device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the camera is directed toward a presenter, and the optical filter is inserted into an imaging optical path of the camera. On a virtual screen set within the angle of view of the camera, a state in which the presenter simulates an instruction mark that emits light with light containing the specific wavelength is photographed by the camera, and the instruction mark is projected by the projection unit. A presentation method using a document camera device, wherein a point image is reflected on a projected image on a screen. 5. A presentation method using the document camera device according to claim 1, wherein the camera is oriented in the document photographing direction, and a photographed image of the document is obtained as a still image from the projecting means. Projecting onto the screen, meanwhile, inserting the optical filter into the image pickup optical path of the camera, while shooting with the camera the state in which the presenter points to an instruction mark that emits light containing the specific wavelength for a document. A presentation method using a document camera device, wherein an instruction mark is reflected on the still image as a point image. 6. A presentation method using the document camera device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the camera is pointed in the document photographing direction, and a photographed image of the document is obtained as a still image from the projecting means. Projecting onto the screen, meanwhile, inserting the optical filter into the image pickup optical path of the camera, moving the indication mark while emitting light containing the specific wavelength with respect to the document, and photographing the state with the camera. Wherein the locus of the instruction mark is reflected in the still image.