JP2004194174A - Method for recording photographing position, and imaging device to which the method is applicable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that value of information is reduced by half if the information lacks uniformity, when various pieces of information are printed on photographed images. <P>SOLUTION: In a photographing position recording system 10, an imaging device 20 specifies the present position based on information received from a GPS satellite 24. When reception of radio waves of the GPS satellite 24 is difficult, the present position is estimated, based on a radio wave map obtained from a map server 22 or past position information. The imaging device 20 associates the position information and time information with the image and stores them in a storage area of an image server 14 through an access point 18 via a radio network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a shooting position recording method and an imaging apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to the technology of digital cameras that utilize GPS and wireless networks.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Photos taken with the camera are stored after being properly arranged after shooting. In many cases, film shooting is classified by film, and digital shooting is managed by dividing into folders according to shooting conditions. Such classification is usually made based on the photographer's memory after shooting.
[0003]
In recent years, there is a camera that prints various types of information regarding photographing conditions on a photograph as information that is helpful in organizing photographs. For example, a technique is known in which information on a shooting position is measured using a GPS (Global Positioning System) and printed on a photograph together with the shooting date and time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-224290 (full text)
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-276391 (full text)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, using GPS, you can receive radio waves from any place on the earth and grasp the position, but you cannot grasp the position in places where it is difficult to receive radio waves, such as behind buildings that shield radio waves or underground. There is a case. The photographer has to manually add location information to a photo taken in such a place or leave it as a photo without location information. If a photo with location information added and a photo without it are mixed, it will be difficult to organize photos based on the location information, and the value of adding location information will be halved.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the convenience of photography. Another object of the present invention is to facilitate classification of images taken with a digital camera. Yet another object is to supplement the GPS positioning function in a network storage type camera.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
One embodiment of the present invention is a photographing position recording method. This method includes a process of obtaining a current time, a process of specifying a current position based on information received from a satellite, a process of associating the current position and the current time with a captured image, Storing the captured image, location, and time in a storage area via a wireless network.
[0008]
The “current time” may be the shooting time or the time when the current position is specified. The “time” may be time information including a date. The “satellite” may be a GPS satellite and may receive information from a plurality of satellites. The information received from the satellite may include information such as latitude, longitude, altitude, and time. The “current position” may be a position at the time of shooting, or may be a position at the time of idling before and after the shooting. The “association” process may be a process of storing position and time information in a part of image data such as a header area of image data, or a process of storing it in a separate file together with identification information of the corresponding image. Also good.
[0009]
The “wireless network” may be a communication method including wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11 or near field communication such as Bluetooth (trademark). The “storage area” mainly assumes an area where data can be stored in an image server on a network.
[0010]
By the above method, information regarding the shooting time and shooting position is automatically saved in the server together with the image. Therefore, the server can automatically classify a plurality of images based on the shooting time or the shooting position. In particular, a digital camera has fewer restrictions on the number of shots, and the network storage type storage area can easily have a larger capacity than a recording medium. The more images there are, the greater the merit of being able to classify them automatically, and there is no need for processing to associate the shooting time and shooting position with images on the server side, so the processing load is small.
[0011]
Another embodiment of the present invention is an imaging apparatus. This device captures an image of a subject to acquire an image, a memory for storing the acquired image, a time management unit for acquiring a current time, and specifies a current position based on information received from a satellite And a positioning unit that associates the current position and current time with an image and stores them in a storage area via a wireless network.
[0012]
This apparatus may be realized as a digital still camera that acquires a digital image. However, a camera capable of recording not only still images but also moving images and sounds may be used. In this specification, these recording objects are comprehensively expressed as “images”. In addition, this apparatus may have a GPS communication module and a wireless network communication module.
[0013]
The positioning unit may estimate the current position based on the information received via the wireless network when it is difficult to identify the current position based on the information received from the satellite. For example, the position of the connection base may be acquired from the connection base of the wireless network, and the current position may be estimated based on the position. The information received via the wireless network may be, for example, a radio wave map indicating the strength of radio waves assumed to be receivable from a satellite for each position on the map. The “connection base” may be an access point that functions as a public wireless LAN base station.
[0014]
The positioning unit may detect the intensity of the radio wave actually received from the satellite and infer the current position based on the result of collating this with the radio wave intensity indicated on the radio wave map, or may be specified in the past. Alternatively, the current position may be estimated based on a plurality of positions and their changes determined from time, for example, the mobility of the apparatus.
[0015]
With the above configuration, the current position can be obtained by estimation even in an area where it is difficult to acquire GPS satellite radio waves. Therefore, position information can be added to all the images, and not only the arrangement of the images becomes easier, but also the usefulness of the position information can be enhanced.
[0016]
It should be noted that any combination of the above-described components, and the components and expressions of the present invention are mutually replaced between a method, apparatus, system, computer program, recording medium storing the program, data structure, etc. This is effective as an embodiment of the present invention.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment specifies a shooting position by a GPS communication function, and associates the position information with a shot image together with shooting time information. The captured image is transferred to the image server via the wireless network together with the position information and time information. If the shooting position cannot be specified by GPS, the current position is estimated based on information such as the position of the access point of the wireless network, a map showing the GPS radio wave intensity geographically, the past shooting position and its change, and the like. Thereby, some position information is added to all the images regardless of the shooting environment.
[0018]
FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of the photographing position recording system. In the photographing position recording system 10, the image server 14, the access point 18, the user terminal 12, and the map server 22 are connected to each other via the Internet 16. The imaging device 20 is connected to the Internet 16 via the access point 18 and transmits / receives data to / from the image server 14 or the map server 22. The imaging device 20 and the access point 18 communicate with each other using wireless LAN technology.
[0019]
The imaging device 20 specifies the current position based on information received from the GPS satellite 24 by wireless communication, and acquires position information. The map server 22 holds a radio wave map indicating the intensity of radio waves assumed to be receivable from the GPS satellite 24 for each position on the map. This radio wave map may be, for example, a map that shows the strength of radio waves received from a plurality of GPS satellites 24 for each satellite, or a map that comprehensively shows the strengths of these radio waves. The radio wave map shows correspondence between position coordinates mainly composed of longitude and latitude and radio wave intensity.
[0020]
The user stores an image captured by the imaging device 20 in the image server 14 via the access point 18 and the Internet 16 together with information on the shooting position and the shooting time. Thereafter, the user terminal 12 is used to download the image stored in the image server 14. The imaging device 20 acquires a radio wave map from the map server 22 via the access point 18 and the Internet 16.
[0021]
The configuration of the imaging device 20 can be realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, communication module, or other LSI, and in terms of software by a program having a data transmission / reception function or a position specifying function loaded in the memory. However, the functional blocks realized by the cooperation are illustrated below. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the imaging device 20. The imaging device 20 includes an imaging unit 30, a buffer memory 40, a display processing unit 42, an LCD 50, a time management unit 52, a data transmission / reception unit 54, a positioning unit 62, a wireless network communication unit 76, and a GPS communication unit 78. The imaging unit 30 includes a lens 32 that captures light from a subject and forms an image, a CCD 34 that converts the formed image into an electrical signal, and an image processing unit 36 that performs A / D conversion on the electrical signal and performs compression processing. ,including.
[0023]
The buffer memory 40 is a RAM that temporarily stores still image data or moving image data compressed in JPEG format or MPEG format. The display processing unit 42 decodes the image stored in the buffer memory 40 and displays it on the LCD 50. The display processing unit 42 also uses the buffer memory 40 as a video memory. The wireless network communication unit 76 includes a wireless LAN communication module, and communicates with the access point 18 via an antenna. The GPS communication unit 78 includes a GPS wireless communication module, and communicates with the GPS satellite 24 via an antenna.
[0024]
The time management unit 52 acquires the current time from a built-in clock. However, as another form, the time may be acquired from information received from the GPS satellite 24. The time management unit 52 generates time information based on the acquired time and sends it to the data transmission / reception unit 54.
[0025]
The positioning unit 62 includes a movement calculation unit 64, an interval setting unit 66, an aggressiveness setting unit 68, a position estimation unit 70, a radio wave detection unit 72, and a position specifying unit 74. The position specifying unit 74 generates position information of the current position based on information received from the GPS satellite 24. The radio wave detector 72 detects the intensity of the radio wave received from the GPS satellite 24. The position estimation unit 70 estimates a current position using a plurality of methods described later when position specification by the position specification unit 74 is difficult. The position specifying unit 74 or the position estimating unit 70 sets the reliability of the generated position information, and sends the position information to the data transmitting / receiving unit 54. As the reliability of the position information, “5” is set when specified by the radio wave of the GPS satellite 24, and the reliability from “4” to “1” is set according to the estimation method if the position information is based on the estimation. Set.
[0026]
The movement calculation unit 64 calculates the mobility or movement path of the imaging device 20 based on a plurality of position information and time information acquired in the past and their changes. The interval setting unit 66 sets a cycle when the position specifying process by the position specifying unit 74 is periodically executed. For example, the time interval until the next position identification may be determined according to the radio wave intensity detected by the radio wave detection unit 72. For example, the time interval until the next position specification may be determined according to a plurality of position information and time information acquired in the past and their changes, that is, movement speed, acceleration, and the like. For example, the timing at which the moving distance exceeds a predetermined threshold may be set as the next position specifying timing, and the period may be set by predicting the time exceeding the threshold. In this case, the threshold value is an error in position information.
[0027]
The aggressiveness setting unit 68 sets an aggressiveness in position estimation by the position estimation unit 70. Here, the degree of aggressiveness is a parameter that determines which one of a plurality of methods for estimating the position should be selected. For example, a degree such as “3”, “2”, or “1” is set. The degree may be a numerical value indicating the accuracy of the estimation result. This aggressiveness may be set manually by the user, or may be set automatically according to the shooting environment.
[0028]
The data transmission / reception unit 54 includes an image transfer unit 56, a map acquisition unit 58, and a correspondence setting unit 60. The correspondence setting unit 60 associates the image stored in the buffer memory 40 with the time information generated by the time management unit 52 and the position information generated by the position specifying unit 74 or the position estimation unit 70. The data is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 40 until the data is transferred to the image server 14. The image transfer unit 56 transfers the set of images, position information, and time information stored in the buffer memory 40 to the image server 14.
[0029]
The map acquisition unit 58 acquires a radio wave map including the current position from the map server 22. As a result of the movement of the imaging device 20, when the current position is no longer included in the already acquired radio wave map, the map acquisition unit 58 reacquires the radio wave map. For example, the map acquisition unit 58 may transmit position information of the current position to the map server 22 and receive a radio wave map corresponding to the position.
[0030]
Based on the above configuration, a plurality of methods for estimating the current position will be described.
As a first method, the position estimation unit 70 estimates the current position based on the position of the access point 18. The access point 18 has position data indicating its own position, and has a function of returning position data in response to a request from the terminal or a function of transmitting a beacon signal including the position data. The position estimation unit 70 receives position data from the access point 18. The position estimation unit 70 estimates the relative position of itself relative to the access point 18 based on the strength of the beacon signal received from the access point 18. When a beacon is received from a plurality of access points 18, each position and intensity are detected, and the current position is estimated by determining that the position is closer to the higher intensity side. The reliability of the position information estimated by the above method is set to “4”.
[0031]
As a second method, the current position is estimated based on a plurality of positions specified or estimated in the past and their changes determined from the time. The position estimation unit 70 acquires the current position and the current time when the imaging device 20 is activated or idling, and stores the current position and the current time in the buffer memory 40 as a set of position information and time information. When the position specifying unit 74 cannot specify the position from the radio wave of the GPS satellite 24, the image is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 40, and the position estimating unit 70 acquires the position information and time acquired before and after the image capturing timing. A set of information is read from the buffer memory 40. The position estimation unit 70 calculates elements such as a moving speed, a moving direction, and acceleration as estimation conditions based on these pieces of information, and estimates the current position based on the estimation conditions and the shooting time.
[0032]
The estimated position is checked against a radio wave map, and it is verified whether the position is indeed a place where the radio wave is weak. If the position is originally a place where the radio wave should be strong, it is determined that the estimation result is not appropriate and the position information is corrected. As a correction method, the nearest place may be searched for among places where the radio wave is weak. The reliability of the position information estimated by the above method is set to “3”.
[0033]
As a third method, a moving route is assumed geometrically, and a photographing position is estimated from the moving route. The position estimation unit 70 reads a plurality of pieces of position information from the buffer memory 40, arranges them with points on a virtual drawing, and assumes a line connecting each point with a spline curve or a straight line as a movement path. For an image to which position information is not added, a point on the movement path is determined from the shooting time, and the position is added to the image as position information. The reliability of the position information estimated by the above method is set to “2”.
[0034]
As a fourth method, a position is estimated by assuming those intermediate points as shooting positions based on position information acquired in the past. The position estimation unit 70 reads position information before and after shooting from the buffer memory 40 and calculates an intermediate point between these positions. The position information is added to the image. The reliability of the position information estimated by the above method is set to “1”.
[0035]
Which method is estimated is determined according to the radio wave reception status and the aggressiveness set by the aggressiveness setting unit 68. In principle, regardless of the degree of aggressiveness, we try to specify the position by the information of the GPS satellite 24 and guess by the first method. If these are not good, if the aggressiveness is “3”, the second method, “2” If it is “3”, it is estimated by the fourth method. Eventually, position information is added to all images regardless of accuracy.
[0036]
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the contents of the radio wave map. The radio wave map 80 indicates a radio wave intensity for each partial area included in a certain area including the current position. The partial area is divided along an object that shields radio waves, such as a building or terrain. The radio wave map 80 shows the positions and shapes of, for example, first to fourth buildings 82, 84, 86, 88 as partial areas. The position is indicated by latitude, longitude, and altitude.
[0037]
The radio wave map 80 shows positions and shapes of, for example, the underground shopping street 92 and the underground shopping street entrance 90 as partial areas. A plurality of partial regions may overlap three-dimensionally, and each region may exhibit a different radio wave intensity. Three-dimensional overlap is distinguished by a difference in altitude. However, when the imaging device 20 is actually located in the underground shopping center 92, radio waves cannot be received from the GPS satellite 24, and the altitude cannot be acquired. In this case, the current position may be estimated based on the position of the underground shopping area entrance 90 that is a boundary connecting the underground shopping area 92 and the ground. The radio wave map 80 may include information related to a structure such as a wooden structure or a reinforcing bar specified for each building.
[0038]
FIG. 4 schematically shows the data structure of the radio wave map. The radio wave map data 100 includes an underground shopping area data 102 indicating the position of the underground shopping area, 90% area data 104 indicating the position of the partial area where the electric wave intensity is 90%, and an 80% area indicating the position of the partial area where the electric wave intensity is 80%. The data 106 includes partial area data classified by radio wave intensity. Further, for example, if the partial area is rectangular, the latitude, longitude and altitude data are included for a plurality of end points, and if the partial area is circular, the latitude, longitude, radius and altitude data of the center point are included.
[0039]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for starting the imaging device 20 according to the present embodiment. First, a flag indicating the presence / absence of valid position information and a flag indicating the presence / absence of an effective radio wave map are reset (S10). In order to specify the current position, a process of acquiring new position information is executed (S12), and a process of acquiring a new radio wave map including the current position is executed (S14).
[0040]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure regarding the position information acquisition processing in S12 of FIG. Based on the radio wave intensity detected by the radio wave detector 72, the current position is identified by communication with the GPS satellite 24 (S20). If the current position can be specified (S20Y), the reliability of the position information is set to “5” (S26). If the current position cannot be specified (S20N), the position is estimated by the first method described above (S22). When the current position can be estimated based on information acquired from the access point 18 (S22Y), the reliability of the position information is set to “4” (S26). If the current position cannot be estimated from the information acquired from the access point 18 (S22N), the subroutine shown in FIG.
[0041]
If the current position can be specified or estimated, the current time is acquired (S28), the position information and the time information are associated with each other and stored in the buffer memory 40 (S30), and a flag indicating the presence / absence of the position information is set. (S32).
[0042]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure regarding the radio map acquisition processing in S14 of FIG. First, it is determined whether there is a valid radio wave map (S40). Here, the effective radio wave map is a radio wave map stored in the buffer memory 40 and including the current position. If a valid radio map has already been stored (S40Y), a flag indicating the presence or absence of the radio map is set (S46). If a valid radio map is not stored (S40N), an attempt is made to acquire a radio map (S42). If it cannot be obtained (S42N), the subroutine of this figure is terminated. If it can be obtained (S42Y), a flag indicating the presence or absence of a radio wave map is set (S46).
[0043]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure during idling of the imaging apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment. The idling process shown in this figure is executed after the start-up process shown in FIG. The execution timing of the idling process is determined according to the position acquisition cycle. First, a flag indicating the presence / absence of valid position information and a flag indicating the presence / absence of an effective radio wave map are reset again (S50). A process of acquiring new position information is executed (S52). The detailed processing procedure of S52 is as shown in FIG. When the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is not set (S54N), the processing of S56 to S64 described later is skipped, and the interval setting unit 66 sets the position acquisition cycle to a short cycle, for example (S66). On the other hand, when the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is set (S54Y), a process of acquiring a new radio wave map is executed (S56). The detailed processing procedure of S56 is as shown in FIG.
[0044]
The movement calculation unit 64 calculates data such as movement speed, movement direction, and acceleration as estimation conditions (S58). Here, if the number of images stored in the buffer memory 40 with no position information added is M, and the number M is greater than zero (S60Y), position information addition processing is performed on these images (S62). ). The radio wave detection unit 72 detects the intensity of the radio wave received from the GPS satellite 24 (S64), and the interval setting unit 66 sets the position acquisition cycle according to the radio wave intensity (S66).
[0045]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure regarding the position information addition processing in S62 of FIG. When the aggressiveness of position estimation is set to other than “1” (S100N), the position is estimated by the third method described above (S102 to S112). When the aggressiveness of position estimation is set to “1” (S100Y), the position is estimated by the above-described fourth method (S114 to S122).
[0046]
In the case of the third method, a moving route is estimated based on the estimation condition (S102), and the photographing position of the image to which position information is added is estimated (S104). The reliability of the position information generated by this estimation is set to “2” (S106) and added to the image (S108). The number M of images to which position information is not added is decremented (S110), and if the remaining number M is greater than zero, the processing from S104 to S110 is repeated until it becomes zero (S112Y).
[0047]
In the case of the fourth method, based on a plurality of position information acquired before and after the image to which position information is added, the intermediate position is calculated as new position information (S114), and the position information is trusted. The degree is set to “1” (S116), and this is added to the image (S118). The number M of images is decremented (S120), and if the remaining number M is greater than zero, the processing from S118 to S120 is repeated until it becomes zero (S122Y).
[0048]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure at the time of shooting by the imaging apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment. After shooting (S70), time information indicating the shooting time is added to the image (S72). When the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is in the set state (S74Y), the position information of the image is added (S94). If the flag is not set (S74N), a new position information acquisition process is executed assuming that the current position cannot be grasped (S76). The detailed processing procedure of S76 is as shown in FIG.
[0049]
As a result of S76, when the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is set (S78Y), the position information of the image is added (S94). If the flag has not been set yet (S78N), and the aggressiveness of position estimation is set to “3” (S80Y), the position is estimated by the second method described above (from S82). S92). If the aggressiveness is set to a value other than “3” (S80N), the number M of images to which position information is not added is incremented (S84), and the processing at the time of photographing shown in FIG.
[0050]
If the aggressiveness is “3” and the flag indicating the presence / absence of the radio wave map is not set (S82N), the number M of images to which position information is not added is incremented (S84). The processing at the time of shooting shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the flag is set (S82Y), the current position is estimated based on the estimation condition (S86). If there is no consistency between the estimation result and the radio wave map (S88N), the position is corrected based on the map (S90). For example, if the position derived by estimation is shown as a place where the radio wave intensity is certainly weak on the radio wave map, it can be said that there is consistency and it is determined that correction is not necessary. The reliability of the position information thus generated is set to “3” (S92), and the position information is added to the image (S94).
[0051]
(Second Embodiment)
This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a radio wave map is not acquired from the map server 22. Therefore, when the radio wave of the GPS satellite 24 cannot be received, the position is not estimated as actively as the first embodiment, but the position is estimated by simpler processing. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
[0052]
The imaging device 20 according to the present embodiment basically has the same configuration as the imaging device 20 according to the first embodiment. However, the map acquisition unit 58 in FIG. 2 does not have the function or simply does not use the function.
[0053]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for starting the imaging device 20 according to the present embodiment. First, a flag indicating the presence / absence of valid position information is reset (S130). In order to specify the current position, a process for acquiring new position information is executed (S132). The detailed processing procedure of S132 is as shown in FIG.
[0054]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure during idling of the imaging apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment. First, the flag indicating the presence / absence of valid position information is reset again (S140). A process of acquiring new position information is executed (S142). The detailed processing procedure of S140 is as shown in FIG. If the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is set (S144Y), the estimation condition is calculated (S146). If the number of images M is greater than zero (S148Y), the position information for these images Additional processing is performed (S150). The detailed process of S150 is as shown in FIG. If the flag is not set (S144N), the processing from S146 to S150 is skipped. The radio wave detection unit 72 detects the intensity of the radio wave received from the GPS satellite 24 (S152), and the interval setting unit 66 sets the position acquisition cycle according to the radio wave intensity (S154).
[0055]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure at the time of shooting by the imaging apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment. After shooting (S160), time information is added to the image (S162). If the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is set (S164Y), position information is added to the image (S170). If the flag is not set (S164N), a new position information acquisition process is executed assuming that the current position cannot be grasped (S166). The detailed processing procedure of S166 is as shown in FIG.
[0056]
As a result of S166, when the flag indicating the presence / absence of position information is set (S168Y), the position information is added to the image (S170). If the flag is not set yet (S168N), the number M of images is incremented (S172), and the processing at the time of shooting is ended.
[0057]
The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. . Hereinafter, modifications will be described.
[0058]
In the second embodiment, since the current position is estimated without using a radio wave map, no wireless network is used except for image transfer. In the modified example, it may be realized by a configuration that does not have the wireless network communication unit 76 of FIG. In this case, the current position estimation method is the same as that of the second embodiment except that the position information is not estimated by the access point.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, convenience in managing captured images can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a photographing position recording system.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the contents of a radio wave map.
FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure of a radio wave map.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for starting the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure related to position information acquisition processing in S12 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure regarding radio wave map acquisition processing in S14 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure during idling of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure regarding position information addition processing in S62 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure during shooting by the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for starting the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure during idling of the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure at the time of shooting by the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
14 image servers, 18 access points, 20 imaging devices, 22 map servers, 24 GPS satellites, 30 imaging units, 52 time management units, 56 image transfer units, 62 positioning units, 80 radio wave maps.

Claims (9)

The process of getting the current time,
Identifying the current location based on information received from the satellite,
Associating the current position and current time with a captured image;
Storing the associated image, location, and time in a storage area via a wireless network;
An imaging position recording method characterized by comprising: An imaging unit that captures an image of a subject and acquires an image;
A memory for storing the acquired image;
A time management unit for obtaining the current time;
A positioning unit that identifies the current position based on information received from the satellite;
An image transfer unit that associates the current position and current time with the image and stores them in a storage area via a wireless network;
An imaging device comprising: The positioning unit estimates the current position based on information received via a wireless network when it is difficult to specify a current position based on information received from the satellite. The imaging device described. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the positioning unit acquires a position of the connection base from a connection base of a wireless network, and estimates the current position based on the position. The information received via the wireless network is a radio wave map showing the intensity of radio waves assumed to be receivable from the satellite for each position on the map,
The positioning unit detects the intensity of radio waves actually received from the satellite, and estimates the current position based on a result of collating this with the radio wave intensity shown on the radio wave map. The imaging device according to claim 3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the positioning unit estimates the current position based on a plurality of positions specified in the past and their changes determined from time. 7. The positioning unit according to claim 2, wherein the positioning unit specifies the current position at a predetermined period and sets the predetermined period according to the strength of radio waves received from the satellite. The imaging device described. 7. The positioning unit according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the positioning unit specifies the current position at a predetermined period and sets the position according to a plurality of positions specified in the past and their changes determined from time. An imaging apparatus according to claim 1. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the positioning unit sets a positive degree regarding the estimation in advance and determines the estimation procedure according to the positive degree.

Images