JP2004336508A - Mobile information processor, photographing control method therefor, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably suppress sneak photographing without imposing a burden on a subject. <P>SOLUTION: It is discriminated whether an image of a subject represents an image of the face of a person on the basis of the image photographed by a CCD camera 22. In the case that the image represents the face of a person, his or her lines of sight are detected, and the recording of the photographed image is inhibited unless the eyes are fixed for a preliminarily set reference time or longer. In the case that the image does not represent the face of a person, a photographing angle 91 is detected, and the recording of the photographed image is inhibited when the angle is a preliminarily set photographing inhibition angle 120. This invention is applicable to a digital mobile phone with a camera. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable information processing apparatus, a photographing control method, a program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to a portable information processing apparatus, a photographing control method, a program, and a recording medium capable of preventing a pirating operation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, mobile phones have become widespread. In particular, the miniaturization of the main body, the enhancement of functions and the improvement of portability are remarkable, and those having a camera function have appeared.
[0003]
However, with the spread of such a camera-equipped digital mobile phone, in addition to a general photographing method, a person who photographs a subject without permission, that is, a person who uses a subject for so-called voyeurism has appeared. .
[0004]
Some voyeurs release images on the Internet without their consent, which has become a social issue.
[0005]
For preventing such voyeurism, for example, it is known to prevent voyeurism by sounding a photographing sound at the time of photographing and making the surroundings recognize that photographing is being performed.
[0006]
In the case of a foldable camera-equipped digital mobile phone, when it is closed, it is half the size of when it is opened. In other words, it has been proposed to avoid voyeurism by making it possible to reduce the size and make it easy to perform voyeurism by enabling photography only when the camera is open (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0007]
Further, it has been proposed that a subject is equipped with a voyeur prevention information generating device, and that the digital cellular phone with a camera is turned off when detecting a voyeur prevention signal from the voyeur prevention information generating device. (For example, Patent Document 2).
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-305565 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2001-169175 A
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, considering the fact that many voyeurs are performed in a station platform during a rush hour, in a train, or in busy traffic, even if a shooting sound is heard, there is a possibility that surrounding people may not notice the sound.
[0010]
In addition, at the present time when a moving image can be taken, only a sound is emitted at the beginning and end of the moving image shooting, and if there is no sound during the shooting, the subject cannot notice the voyeur during the shooting.
[0011]
Further, when the subject wears the voyeur prevention information generating device, the subject is subjected to a load for preventing the voyeur, which is extremely inconvenient for the subject.
[0012]
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is an object of the present invention to further and surely suppress voyeurism without imposing a load on a subject.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The portable information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a photographing unit for photographing a subject; a judging unit for judging whether or not to prohibit recording of an image based on an image obtained by the photographing unit; Prohibiting means for prohibiting recording of an image based on the determination.
[0014]
The determining means determines whether or not the image obtained by the photographing means is a human face, and if the image is a human face, detecting means for detecting a line of sight, and the image is not a human face In this case, a detecting means for detecting the angle of the photographing direction can be further provided.
[0015]
If the line of sight detected by the detecting means is not fixed for a preset reference time or more, the prohibiting means can prohibit the recording.
[0016]
The detecting means detects the angle of the photographing direction of the photographing means with respect to the direction of gravity of the portable information processing device, and if the angle detected by the detecting means is a preset reference angle, the prohibiting means records the image. It can be banned.
[0017]
A photographing control method according to the present invention determines whether to prohibit image recording based on an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject and an image obtained by inputting in the input step processing. And a prohibition step of prohibiting recording of an image based on the determination in the processing of the determination step.
[0018]
A program according to the present invention is configured to determine whether to prohibit image recording based on an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject and an image obtained by the input step processing. And a prohibition step of prohibiting recording of an image based on the determination by the processing of the determination step.
[0019]
The recording medium program according to the present invention includes an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject, and whether or not to prohibit image recording based on the image obtained by the input step processing. It is characterized by including a judging step of judging and a prohibiting step of prohibiting recording of an image based on the judgment by the processing of the judging step.
[0020]
In the portable information processing apparatus, the photographing control method, the program, and the recording medium according to the present invention, it is determined whether or not to prohibit recording of an image based on an image obtained by photographing a subject. Then, a prohibition process for prohibiting image recording is performed.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The correspondence between constituent elements described in the claims and specific examples in the embodiments of the present invention is as follows. This description is for confirming that a specific example supporting the invention described in the claims is described in the embodiment of the invention. Therefore, even if there is a specific example which is described in the embodiment of the invention but is not described here as corresponding to the configuration requirement, the fact that the specific example is It does not mean that it does not correspond to the requirement. Conversely, even if a specific example is described here as corresponding to a configuration requirement, this means that the specific example does not correspond to a configuration requirement other than the configuration requirement. not.
[0022]
Furthermore, this description does not mean that the invention corresponding to the specific examples described in the embodiments of the invention is all described in the claims. In other words, this description is an invention corresponding to the specific example described in the embodiment of the invention, and the existence of the invention not described in the claims of this application, that is, It does not deny the existence of the invention added by the amendment.
[0023]
The portable information processing apparatus according to claim 1 (for example, the digital mobile phone with a camera 1 in FIG. 1) captures an image of an object by using a capturing unit (for example, the CCD camera 22 in FIG. 1). A determination unit (for example, the image recognition unit 131 in FIG. 6) that determines whether to prohibit the recording of the image based on the obtained image, and records the image based on the determination by the determination unit. Prohibiting means (for example, the flag setting unit 138 of FIG. 6 that executes the processing of step S10 of FIG. 7 and the recording unit 141 of FIG. 6 that executes the processing of step S14 of FIG. 7) are provided. I do.
[0024]
The determination means of the mobile information processing apparatus according to claim 2 (for example, the digital mobile phone with a camera 1 in FIG. 1) determines whether or not the subject is a human face. (For example, the line-of-sight detection unit 133 in FIG. 6) and a detection unit (for example, the imaging angle detection unit 136 in FIG. 6) for detecting the angle of the imaging direction when the face is not a human face. It is characterized by having.
[0025]
The detection means of the portable information processing apparatus according to claim 3 (for example, the camera-equipped digital cellular phone 1 in FIG. 1) does not fix the line of sight for a predetermined reference time or more (for example, 5 seconds or more). In this case (for example, when it is determined as NO in step S5 in FIG. 7), the prohibiting unit prohibits the recording (for example, sets a photographing prohibition flag in step S10 in FIG. 7).
[0026]
The detecting means of the portable information processing device according to claim 4 (for example, the camera-equipped digital cellular phone 1 in FIG. 1) is configured to perform the photographing with respect to the gravity direction (for example, the gravity direction 100 in FIG. 3) of the portable information processing device. The angle of the photographing direction (for example, the photographing direction 90 in FIG. 3) of the means (for example, the photographing angle 91 in FIG. 5) is detected, and the angle detected by the detecting means is a predetermined reference angle. In some cases (for example, when the photographing prohibition angle 120 in FIG. 5 is used), the prohibition unit prohibits recording.
[0027]
The photographing control method according to claim 5 is based on an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject (for example, step S1 in FIG. 7), and an image obtained by inputting in the processing of the input step. A determination step (for example, step S3 in FIG. 7) for determining whether to prohibit the recording of the image, and a prohibition step for prohibiting the recording of the image based on the determination in the processing of the determination step (for example, , Steps S10 and S14 in FIG. 7).
[0028]
The program according to claim 6, based on an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject (for example, step S1 in FIG. 7) and an image obtained by inputting by the processing of the input step, A determining step (for example, step S3 in FIG. 7) for determining whether or not to prohibit the recording of the image, and a prohibiting step for prohibiting the recording of the image based on the determination by the processing of the determining step (for example, FIG. 7 steps S10 and S14).
[0029]
The program of the recording medium according to claim 7 is based on an input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject (for example, step S1 in FIG. 7), and an image obtained by inputting in the input step. A determining step (for example, step S3 in FIG. 7) for determining whether to prohibit the recording of the image, and a prohibiting step (for example, FIG. 7) for prohibiting the recording of the image based on the determination in the determining step. Steps S10 and S14).
[0030]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0031]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an external appearance of a camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 to which the present invention is applied.
[0032]
The camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 is divided into a display unit 12 and a main body 14 at a center hinge 13, and is foldable via the hinge 13.
[0033]
In the display unit 12, an antenna 21 for transmission and reception is attached to the upper left portion so as to be able to be pulled out and stored, and radio waves are transmitted to and received from the base station via the antenna 21.
[0034]
Further, the display unit 12 is provided with a speaker 23 at an upper central portion, and further above the camera unit 11 which is rotatable within an angle range of substantially 180 degrees. A CCD (Charged Coupled Device) camera 22 of the camera unit 11 can shoot a desired shooting target.
[0035]
Further, the display unit 12 is provided with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 24 in front of the display unit. The LCD 24 displays a radio wave reception state, a remaining battery level, a destination name registered as a telephone directory, a telephone number, and the like. In addition to the transmission history, etc., the contents of the e-mail, a simple homepage, images taken by the CCD camera 22 of the camera unit 11, and various servers, portable terminal devices, digital cameras, video cameras or other portable devices via a public line network. Displays images transmitted from the telephone.
[0036]
On the other hand, the main body 14 is provided with operation keys 26 such as numeric keys "0" to "9", a call key, a redial key, an end and power key, a clear key, and an e-mail key. , The user inputs various instructions using the operation keys 26.
[0037]
In the main body 14, a memo button 28 and a microphone 27 are provided below the operation keys 26. The memo button 28 can record the voice of the other party during the call, and the microphone 27 collects the voice of the user during the call.
[0038]
Further, a rotatable jog dial 25 is provided on the main body 14 above the operation keys 26 so as to slightly protrude from the surface of the main body 14, and is displayed on the LCD 24 in response to a rotation operation on the jog dial 25. Various operations such as a telephone directory list, an e-mail scrolling operation, a page turning operation of a simple homepage, and an image sending operation are executed.
[0039]
For example, the main body 14 selects a desired telephone number from a plurality of telephone numbers in the telephone directory list displayed on the LCD 24 in response to a rotation operation of the jog dial 25 by the user, and presses the jog dial 25 inward of the main body 14. Then, the selected telephone number is determined, and the call processing is automatically performed on the telephone number.
[0040]
The main body 14 has a battery pack (not shown) inserted on the back side, and when the call is ended and the power key is turned on, power is supplied from the battery pack to each circuit unit and the main body 14 is activated. I do.
[0041]
By the way, a memory stick slot 29 for mounting a removable memory stick (trademark of Sony Corporation) 15 is provided on the upper left side of the main body 14. When the memo button 28 is pressed, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 records the voice of the other party on the call on the mounted Memory Stick 15. The camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 records content such as an e-mail, a simple homepage, an image captured by the CCD camera 22, or a sound on the memory stick 15 mounted thereon in response to a user operation.
[0042]
The memory stick 15 is a type of flash memory stick developed by Sony Corporation, an affiliated company of the present applicant. This memory stick 15 is an electrically erasable programmable EEPROM (EEPROM), which is a nonvolatile memory that can be electrically rewritten and erased in a small and thin plastic case having a size of 21.5 × 48 × 2.8 [mm]. Read-only memory), which stores a flash memory element, and enables writing and reading of various data such as images, sounds, and sounds via a 10-pin terminal.
[0043]
Also, the memory stick 15 adopts a unique serial protocol that can ensure compatibility with a device to be used even when the specification of the built-in flash memory is changed due to an increase in capacity or the like. High performance of [MB / S] and a maximum read speed of 2.45 [MB / S] are realized, and high reliability is secured by providing an erasure prevention switch.
[0044]
Therefore, since the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 is configured to be able to mount such a memory stick 15, data can be shared with other electronic devices via the memory stick 15. it can.
[0045]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 of FIG.
[0046]
In the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1, a power supply circuit unit 41, an operation input control unit 43, an image encoder 44, and a camera interface unit 45 are provided for a main control unit 42 that controls the display unit 12 and each unit of the main body 14. , A storage unit 46, an LCD control unit 47, a Bluetooth communication unit 48, a tilt sensor control unit 49, an image decoder 61, a demultiplexing unit 62, a modulation / demodulation circuit unit 64, and an audio codec 67 are connected to each other via a main bus 40. ing. The image encoder 44, the image decoder 61, the demultiplexing unit 62, the recording / reproducing unit 63, the modulation / demodulation circuit unit 64, and the audio codec 67 are connected to each other via a synchronous bus 60.
[0047]
When the end of the call and the power key are turned on by the user's operation, the power supply circuit section 41 supplies power to each section from the built-in battery pack so that the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 can operate. To start.
[0048]
The main control unit 42 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The CPU executes various processes according to a program stored in the ROM or a program loaded from the storage unit 46 to the RAM. The RAM also appropriately stores data and the like necessary for the CPU to execute various processes.
[0049]
Under the control of the main control unit 42, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 converts the audio signal collected by the microphone 27 into digital audio data by the audio codec 67 in the audio communication mode, and converts this into digital audio data by the modem circuit unit 64. After performing spread spectrum processing and performing digital-to-analog conversion processing and frequency conversion processing in the transmission / reception circuit section 65, the signal is transmitted via the antenna 21.
[0050]
Also, the digital mobile phone with camera 1 amplifies the received signal received by the antenna 21 in the voice communication mode, performs frequency conversion processing and analog-to-digital conversion processing, performs spectrum despreading processing in the modulation / demodulation circuit section 64, and performs voice codec processing. After being converted into an analog audio signal by 67, this is output via the speaker 23.
[0051]
Further, when sending an e-mail in the data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 transmits text data of the e-mail input by operating the operation keys 26 and the jog dial 25 via the operation input control unit 43 to the main unit. It is sent to the control unit 42.
[0052]
The main control unit 42 performs a spread spectrum process on the text data by the modulation / demodulation circuit unit 64, performs a digital / analog conversion process and a frequency conversion process on the transmission / reception circuit unit 65, and then transmits the text data to the base station via the antenna 21.
[0053]
On the other hand, when receiving an e-mail in the data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 performs a spectrum despreading process on the received signal received from the base station via the antenna 21 by the modulation / demodulation circuit unit 64 to obtain the original signal. After restoring the text data, the text data is displayed on the LCD 24 via the LCD control unit 47 as an electronic mail.
[0054]
Thereafter, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 can also record the received e-mail on the memory stick 15 via the recording / reproducing unit 63 according to the operation of the user.
[0055]
On the other hand, when transmitting image data in the data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 supplies image data captured by the CCD camera 22 to the image encoder 44 via the camera interface unit 45.
[0056]
When not transmitting image data, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 directly displays image data captured by the CCD camera 22 on the LCD 24 via the camera interface unit 45 and the LCD control unit 47.
[0057]
The image encoder 44 converts the image data supplied from the CCD camera 22 into encoded image data by compressing and encoding the image data using a predetermined encoding method such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 or MPEG4. To the demultiplexer 62.
[0058]
At this time, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 simultaneously transmits the sound collected by the microphone 27 during the shooting by the CCD camera 22 to the demultiplexing unit 62 as digital sound data via the sound codec 67.
[0059]
The demultiplexing unit 62 multiplexes the encoded image data supplied from the image encoder 44 and the audio data supplied from the audio codec 67 by a predetermined method, and multiplexes the resulting multiplexed data by the modem circuit 64. After performing spread spectrum processing and performing digital-to-analog conversion processing and frequency conversion processing in the transmission / reception circuit section 65, the signal is transmitted via the antenna 21.
[0060]
On the other hand, in the data communication mode, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 modulates a received signal received from the base station via the antenna 21 when receiving data of a moving image file linked to, for example, a simple homepage. The spectrum despreading process is performed by the section 64, and the resulting multiplexed data is sent to the demultiplexing section 62.
[0061]
The demultiplexing unit 62 separates the multiplexed data into encoded image data and audio data, supplies the encoded image data to the image decoder 61 via the synchronization bus 60, and converts the audio data into audio data. It is supplied to the codec 67.
[0062]
The image decoder 61 generates reproduced moving image data by decoding the encoded image data using a decoding method corresponding to a predetermined encoding method such as MPEG2 or MPEG4, and outputs the reproduced moving image data to the LCD 24 via the LCD control unit 47. To supply. Thereby, for example, the moving image data included in the moving image file linked to the simplified homepage is displayed.
[0063]
At this time, the audio codec 67 simultaneously converts the audio data into an analog audio signal, and supplies the analog audio signal to the speaker 23. Thereby, for example, the audio data included in the moving image file linked to the simplified homepage is reproduced.
[0064]
Also in this case, similarly to the case of the e-mail, the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 can record the data linked to the received simple homepage on the memory stick 15 via the recording / reproducing unit 63 according to the setting of the user. It is possible.
[0065]
The storage unit 46 appropriately stores a program for controlling the digital mobile phone 1 with camera, image data, and the like received from various servers via the base station.
[0066]
The Bluetooth communication unit 48 performs communication processing via Bluetooth (trademark).
[0067]
The tilt sensor control unit 49 detects the gravity direction 100 of the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 at the time of shooting, as shown in FIG. 3, based on information from a mercury switch 50 as a tilt sensor for detecting a tilt. After detecting the gravitational direction 100, the tilt sensor control unit 49 detects the shooting direction 90 of the CCD camera 22, and determines whether to record an image obtained by shooting.
[0068]
The mercury switch 50 is configured as shown in FIG. That is, in the mercury switch 50, mercury 112 is sealed inside a spherical glass container 110, and a number of electrodes 111 are implanted on the inner wall of the glass container 110. Further, the air inside the glass container 110 is exhausted and sealed. The mercury 112 always moves and positions in the direction of gravity in the glass container 110, and comes into contact with some electrodes 111.
[0069]
At the time of photographing, the inclination sensor control unit 49 supplies a current to the electrode 111. Since the mercury 112 is in contact with at least two or more electrodes 111, a current flows between them. As a result, the direction in which the electrode 111 in which the current flows is the direction of the gravity direction 100, and the gravity direction 100 can be detected three-dimensionally.
[0070]
The photographing direction 90 with respect to the gravity direction 100 is detected as shown in FIG.
[0071]
As shown in FIG. 5, the angle in the direction of gravity 100 is set to 0 degree, the angle is measured in the clockwise direction when viewed from the right side of the display unit 14, and the angle in the direction opposite to the direction of gravity 100 is set to 180 degrees. You. In addition, the range from 135 degrees to 225 degrees is set as the shooting prohibited angle 120, and shooting is performed when the shooting angle 91 (the angle between the gravity direction 100 and the shooting direction 90) is within the range of the shooting prohibited angle 120. Images are forbidden to record. Of course, the shooting prohibition angle 120 is not limited to the range of 135 degrees to 225 degrees.
[0072]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the main control unit 42 in FIG. 2 in a photographing process.
[0073]
The input unit 130 inputs image data temporarily recorded in an internal memory (VRAM incorporated in the LCD control unit 47). That is, the image data of the image captured by the CCD camera 22 is constantly input to the VRAM of the LCD control unit 47 via the camera interface unit 45 and is updated. The input unit 130 supplies the image data to the image recognition unit 131.
[0074]
The image recognizing unit 131 recognizes, for example, color information such as the skin color of a human face and the color of hair, and the positions of eyes and mouth from the supplied image data.
[0075]
The image determination unit 132 determines whether or not the image includes a human face based on the recognition result of the image recognition unit 131. When the image includes a human face, the image data is supplied and the line of sight is detected. If the human face has not been recognized, the image determination unit 132 causes the gravity direction detection unit 135 to determine the direction of gravity.
[0076]
The gaze detection unit 133 detects the gaze of the subject by detecting white eyes and black eyes from the eyes based on the position data of the eyes recognized by the image recognition unit 131, for example, from the image data.
[0077]
The gaze detection time determination unit 134 determines the detection times of the white and black eyes based on the detection result of the gaze by the gaze detection unit 133. For example, the reference time is set to 5 seconds, and if there is no change in the ratio of the white eyes on both sides of the black eye of at least 5 seconds, it is determined that the line of sight is fixed. Then, the gaze detection time determination unit 134 outputs a signal indicating the determination result to the flag setting unit 138.
[0078]
The gravitational direction detector 135 detects the gravitational direction based on the information from the tilt sensor controller 49 and supplies the gravitational direction to the photographing angle detector 136. The photographing angle detecting unit 136 detects a photographing angle from the supplied information and supplies the detected photographing angle to the photographing angle determining unit 137.
[0079]
Based on the supplied shooting angle, the shooting angle determination unit 137 determines, for example, whether or not the shooting angle is within a predetermined shooting prohibition angle, and sends a signal indicating the determination result to the flag setting unit 138. Output.
[0080]
When the gaze detection time determination unit 134 determines that “the gaze is fixed”, the flag setting unit 138 sets an image capture enable flag, and the imaging angle determination unit 137 sends a signal indicating that the angle is a prohibition angle. Is input, a shooting prohibition flag is set. When a signal indicating that the shooting button has been turned on is input from the operation input control unit 43, the shooting button determination unit 139 supplies the flag information supplied from the flag setting unit 138 to the flag determination unit 140.
[0081]
The flag determination unit 140 determines whether or not to perform a normal photographing process based on the supplied flag information. That is, it is determined whether or not the image data acquired by the input unit 130 is to be recorded. The recording unit 141 prohibits photographing (recording) or photographing (recording) of an image based on the determination result of the flag determining unit 140.
[0082]
Next, the photographing process will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. The process in FIG. 7 is started when a start switch (power switch) of the CCD camera 22 of the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 is turned on.
[0083]
In step S1, the input unit 130 inputs image data temporarily recorded in an internal memory (VRAM incorporated in the LCD control unit 47). In step S2, the image recognition unit 131 recognizes a human face image from the image data acquired by the input unit 130 in step S1. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the image recognition unit 131 recognizes the contour 152 of the subject by detecting edges from the image data. Next, it is determined whether or not the hair 153 is located near the upper third of the outline 152. When there is a predetermined range of a predetermined color range that is considered to be hair such as black or brown, it is determined that there is hair.
[0084]
Further, it is determined whether there is a predetermined amount or more of a color preset as a skin color below the hair 153, and if so, it is determined that the skin 154 is present. Next, in the vicinity of the hair 153, a mass of two colors formed of a set of three colors of white, black, and white, that is, the left eye 155L and the right eye 155R are recognized substantially horizontally. It is determined whether or not there is a color preset as a lip color below a predetermined distance from a substantially middle point of a line connecting the left and right eyes 155L and 155R, and if so, the size is determined. Is done. When the size is the predetermined size, it is determined that the mouth 156.
[0085]
If there is a portion corresponding to the shadow formed by the nostril above the mouth 156 by a predetermined distance, it is determined to be the nostrils 158L and 158R.
[0086]
Furthermore, when the nostrils 158L and 158R are located at the center of the inverted triangle 157 formed by the left and right eyes 155L and 155R and the mouth 156, the image is recognized to include the human face 151.
[0087]
In step S3, the image determination unit 132 determines whether or not the image of the human face has been recognized by the image recognition unit 131 in the recognition processing in step S2. When it is determined in step S3 that the image of the human face has been recognized, in step S4, the gaze detecting unit 133 detects the gaze of the eye 155. That is, the image recognizing unit 131 recognizes the two color clusters formed of a set of three colors of white, black, and white, and as shown in FIG. 9, for example, the right eye 155R (the left eye 155L). ), The temporal change amount of the ratio of the size of the white eye 171L located on the left side of the black eye 172 and the white eye 171R located on the right side of the black eye 172 is calculated.
[0088]
In step S5, the gaze detection time determination unit 134 determines whether or not the gaze has been fixed for a preset time or longer. That is, if the size ratio between the left white eye 171L and the right white eye 171R hardly changes for several seconds or more (for example, 5 seconds or more), it is determined that the line of sight is fixed. When it is determined that the line of sight is fixed, it is assumed that the subject has agreed to the shooting (the subject is assumed to be posing).
[0089]
In addition, for the detection of the line of sight, for example, a method disclosed in JP-A-2003-52635 can be applied.
[0090]
When the line of sight is fixed, for example, for 5 seconds or longer, in step S6, the flag setting unit 138 sets a photographable flag.
[0091]
In step S11, the shooting button determination unit 139 determines whether the shooting button constituting the operation key 26 has been turned on in step S11. If it is determined that the switch has not been turned on, the process returns to step S1, and the processes after step S1 are repeated.
[0092]
When it is determined that the shooting button has been turned on, in step S12, the flag determination unit 140 determines whether or not the flag is set to enable shooting. If the flag is set, the process proceeds to step S13, and the recording unit 141 performs a recording process. That is, the recording unit 141 compresses and encodes the image data acquired by the input unit 130 in step S1 by the image encoder 44 using a predetermined encoding method such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 or MPEG4. The data is converted into encoded image data and recorded in the storage unit 46. Further, the image data can be recorded on the memory stick 15 via the image encoder 44 and the recording / reproducing unit 63 as necessary.
[0093]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the image of the human face has not been recognized (there is a risk of voyeurism), in step S7, the gravity direction detection unit 135 detects the gravity direction 100. Specifically, the tilt sensor control unit 49 detects the direction of gravity 100 based on the position of the mercury 112 in the mercury switch 50.
[0094]
Next, in step S8, the shooting angle detection unit 136 detects the shooting angle 91 of the CCD camera 22. That is, a photographing angle 91 (FIG. 5) is detected from the photographing direction 90 of the CCD camera 22 and the direction of gravity 100. In step S9, the photographing angle determination unit 137 determines whether the photographing angle 91 is within the photographing prohibition angle 120 (within the range of 135 degrees to 225 degrees based on the gravity direction 100), as shown in FIG. Determine whether or not. If the photographing angle 91 does not exist within the photographing prohibition angle 120 (when it is considered that there is little possibility of voyeurism), the process proceeds to step S6, a photographable flag is set, and thereafter, the above-described steps S11 to S13 are performed. Processing is executed.
[0095]
Further, when it is determined in step S9 that the photographing angle 91 is within the photographing prohibition angle 120, for example, it is assumed that photographing is going to be performed from an unnatural angle from below (the subject is voyeurized). It is assumed that it is going to be done). Therefore, in this case, in step S10, the flag setting unit 138 sets a photography prohibition flag.
[0096]
Thereafter, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the shooting button has been turned on. If it is determined that the shooting button has not been turned on, the process returns to step S1, and the processing in step S1 and thereafter is repeated. When it is determined that the shooting button is turned on, in step S12, the flag determination unit 140 determines whether the flag is set to enable shooting. If the flag is set to the shooting prohibition flag, the process proceeds to step S14, where the recording unit 141 controls the LCD control unit 47 to display a message "cannot be shot" on the LCD 24 and terminates. That is, in this case, photographing (recording) is prohibited.
[0097]
In addition, when it is determined in step S5 that the line of sight is not fixed, that is, within a few seconds (for example, within 4 seconds), the ratio of the size of the left white eye 171L and the right white eye 171R is calculated as follows: If there is a large change, it is assumed that the subject does not agree with the shooting (it is assumed that the subject is unwilling to try to shoot when he does not like it). Therefore, in this case as well, a shooting prohibition flag is set in step S10, and shooting (recording) is prohibited in the processing in steps S11 to S13.
[0098]
As described above, since the recording of the image is prohibited based on the photographed image, the voyeur can be easily and reliably prevented without imposing a load on the subject. The same operation and effect can be achieved by limiting the photographing angle. Therefore, regardless of whether the face is a human face, photographing (recording) at a predetermined angle may always be prohibited.
[0099]
As a program storage medium for installing the above-described series of processes in the digital mobile phone 1 with a camera, a flexible disk, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc, a DVD, and the like. ), A semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk in which a program is temporarily or permanently stored can be used.
[0100]
As a means for storing a program in these program storage media, a wired or wireless communication medium such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and the program may be stored via various communication interfaces such as a router or a modem. You may do it.
[0101]
In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the camera-equipped digital mobile phone 1 has been described. However, the present invention is applied to a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) having a photographing unit and various other portable information processing devices. You may do it.
[0102]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a subject can be photographed. In particular, it is possible to suppress shooting (voyeur) in which the consent of the subject is not obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an appearance of a digital mobile phone with a camera to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the camera-equipped digital mobile phone shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a direction of a shooting angle of the digital mobile phone with a camera in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a basic configuration inside a mercury switch.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the appearance of the camera unit shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration in a photographing process of a main control unit in FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing process.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the principle of detection of a human face.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the principle of detection of fixation of the line of sight.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 digital mobile phone with camera, 11 camera unit, 22 CCD camera, 49 tilt sensor control unit, 50 mercury switch, 90 shooting direction, 91 shooting angle, 100 gravity direction, 110 glass container, 111 electrode, 112 mercury, 120 shooting prohibited Angle, 130 input unit, 131 image recognition unit, 132 image determination unit, 133 line-of-sight detection unit, 134 line-of-sight detection time determination unit, 135 gravity direction detection unit, 136 shooting angle detection unit, 137 shooting angle determination unit, 151 human face , 152 outline, 153 hair, 154 skin, 155 eyes, 155R right eye, 155L left eye, 156 mouth, 157 inverted triangle, 158L, 158R nostrils, 171L left white eye, 171R right white eye, 172 black eye

Claims (7)

Photographing means for photographing a subject;
Determining means for determining whether to prohibit recording of the image, based on an image obtained by shooting by the shooting means,
A portable information processing apparatus, comprising: a prohibition unit that prohibits recording of the image based on the determination by the determination unit. The determining means determines whether or not the image obtained by the photographing means is a human face,
When the image is a human face, detecting means for detecting the line of sight,
The portable information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection unit configured to detect an angle of a shooting direction when the image is not a human face. 3. The portable information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the prohibition unit prohibits the recording when the line of sight detected by the detection unit is not fixed for a predetermined reference time or more. The detecting means detects an angle of a photographing direction of the photographing means with respect to a direction of gravity of the portable information processing device,
3. The portable information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the angle detected by the detection unit is a preset reference angle, the prohibition unit prohibits recording. In the imaging control method of the portable information processing device,
An input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject;
A determining step of determining whether to prohibit recording of the image based on the image obtained by the input step,
A prohibition step of prohibiting recording of the image based on the determination by the processing of the determination step. In a computer program that controls shooting of the portable information processing device,
An input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject;
A determining step of determining whether to prohibit recording of the image based on the image obtained by the input step,
A program that includes a prohibition step of prohibiting the recording of the image based on the determination by the processing of the determination step. In a computer program that controls shooting of the portable information processing device,
An input step of inputting an image obtained by photographing a subject;
A determining step of determining whether to prohibit recording of the image based on the image obtained by the input step,
And a prohibition step of prohibiting the recording of the image based on the determination by the processing of the determination step.

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