JP2005191892A - Information acquisition device and multi-media information preparation system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To organically unite various kinds of video information and information relating to them regardless of still images or moving images. <P>SOLUTION: An information acquisition device is provided with a photographing device 1, an information providing server S provided on the outside and a network 5 for connecting the photographing device 1 and the information providing server S. Various kinds information, which are local information, the information that clients such as shops, restaurants, public institutions (including a tourist association or the like), stations and hospitals respectively have for instance, that can be referred to generally, are uploaded to the information providing server S. In the case of successively photographing video images in the respective scenes of a certain sightseeing beauty spot for instance by the photographing device 1, the video images 31a-31f in the respective scenes and the description text file of the local information acquired from the local information server S through a communication part 7 are made to correspond and stored in a memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information acquisition apparatus, and more particularly, to a photographing apparatus such as a digital still camera and a digital video camera, and a new utilization technique thereof.

  As a general usage method in a photographing apparatus such as a digital video camera, photographing and recording are performed in time series, and reproduction is generally performed in the order of photographing. At the time of shooting, even when the shooting information is known when and where it was shot, it may be forgotten during playback.

  A technique is generally used in which information related to the shooting date and time of a still image or a moving image is inserted into a part of the shot image, and when the shot image is viewed later, the shooting date and time can be known.

  Further, when shooting a digital still camera or a moving image (including a still image) for shooting a still image, for example, shooting related to a photograph that has been shot at the time of playback by recording the positional information acquired by GPS in association with the shooting. There is an imaging device that can identify the location (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When this apparatus is used, it is possible to check the shooting location where the information is recorded even after shooting by displaying the captured information and the shooting location recorded in association therewith.

JP 2001-235790 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a new multimedia information creation system that can fuse various video information and related information, regardless of whether it is a still image or a moving image, and can further utilize the information. And

  According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first type information acquisition means for acquiring first type information, the first type information, and second type information related in content to the first type information and externally. An information acquisition apparatus comprising: association information generating means for generating association information for associating second type information that can be acquired from the information source; and first storage means for storing the first type information and the association information Is provided.

  A first type information acquiring unit for acquiring first type information; a second type information acquiring unit for acquiring second type information related to the first type information from an external information source; An information acquisition device is provided that includes association information generating means for generating association information that associates one type of information with the second type of information.

  According to the information acquisition apparatus, since the second type information that is related to the acquired first type information from the external information source is acquired and associated with each other, the first type information after the association and the second type information are associated with each other. Species information is organically linked. That is, mere related information is not limited to mere bibliographic information, but is information related to the explanatory content of the first type information, for example.

  According to the present invention, when adding related information related to video data or the like, multimedia information data rich in variations can be easily created by acquiring additional information from the outside and associating these with additional information. There is an advantage that can be.

  In the present specification, if the first type information acquisition means is, for example, an imaging device, the information that is directly captured or recorded by the imaging device is the first type information. On the other hand, the second type information is information that is different from the first type information acquired by the first type information acquisition means, but is acquired in association with the first type information. The type 2 information acquisition means is means for acquiring type 2 information, and is information acquisition means other than the type 1 information acquisition means, and acquires information from an external information source such as the Internet or a wireless LAN. It is means to do.

  “Content-related” means not only bibliographic information such as shooting date and time and shooting location but also information that can explain or supplement the content. The content may be analyzed based on information processing and related information may be added, or the user may independently select it.

  In this specification, since the imaging apparatus is mainly described, it is referred to as acquiring related information added to data captured by the imaging apparatus from the outside. When the recording device is mainly used, video data acquired from the outside may be added to the recorded audio information, and the internal and external are relative expressions. However, in general, video data, particularly high-definition moving image data, has a large amount of data, and therefore, a case where a photographing apparatus such as a digital video camera is mainly used will be described as an example.

  The multimedia information creation system according to the present invention is a system based on a photographing apparatus for photographing image data such as still images and moving images (hereinafter collectively referred to as “photographing data”). Additional information (related information) related to shooting data shot by the shooting device is acquired from the outside of the shooting device, the shooting data and related information are associated with each other, and in the reproduction process, The present invention relates to a system for outputting in a format to which related information is added.

  The related information is not only fixed information regarding the shooting information such as the shooting date and time and the shooting location, but also various information that can be acquired from the outside via a network or the like. By associating the related information with the shooting data, multimedia information can be created and used in various scenes. Hereinafter, an imaging device and its utilization technique according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a basic schematic configuration of a multimedia information creation system using a photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment. 2A and 2B are views showing an example of the appearance of the photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2A is a perspective view, and FIG. 2B is a schematic configuration diagram on the back. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the photographing apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of the monitor screen of the photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation switch provided in the photographing apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a multimedia information creation system A according to the present embodiment includes an imaging device 1 such as a digital video camera and an information source provided outside, for example, an information providing server (regional information web server) S. And a network 5 that connects the imaging device 1 and the information providing server S. The information providing server S has, for example, a database for storing regional information. For example, the information providing server S includes information held by clients such as stores, restaurants, public institutions (including tourist associations), stations, hospitals, and the like. Various information that can be generally referred to is uploaded to the information providing server. Thereby, the information provision server S has the character as a local information web server, for example.

  Next, the structure of the photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 2A, the main body 2 of the photographing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an optical system such as a lens unit 10 and a viewfinder 14 and a monitor 16 in addition to the CCD solid-state photographing apparatus. The image pickup unit 4 is provided, and the recording / playback unit 3 records and plays back image data picked up by the image pickup unit 4. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 2A and 2B, an operation unit 18 including a changeover switch SW is provided on one surface forming the recording / reproducing unit 3. By using the changeover switch SW, for example, shooting between a moving image and a still image is switched.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment, a moving image can be photographed in a state where, for example, the push-down switch SW is pushed from the initial position P1 to the first stop position P2. The still image can be taken by further pressing the switch SW to the second stop position P3. When the hand is released after taking a still image, the camera returns to the first stop position where movie shooting can be performed. By configuring the switch SW as described above, there is an advantage that switching between shooting of a moving image and a still image can be performed quickly and easily.

  Further, by inserting a communication card, for example, a wireless LAN card 7b, into a slot portion 7a that is provided on the back side of the recording / reproducing unit 3 and forms an interface, a communication unit 7 that performs communication with the outside is formed. The communication unit 7 can access the information providing server S through a network such as the Internet via an access point (not shown). In addition, it is preferable that the imaging unit 4 further includes a position information acquisition unit, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System: FIG. 3) 21 that can be built in or externally attached.

  Next, the multimedia information creation procedure by the multimedia information creation system A will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. Detailed procedures will be described later. An example will be described in which a user goes to a sightseeing spot “Nikko” using a photographing apparatus (digital video camera) 1 and photographs various sights in Nikko. With the digital video camera, “Suginamiki” 31a, “Three Monkeys” 31b, “Kegon no Taki” 31c, “Ropeway” 31d, “(Nikko) Toshogu” 31e, “Nikko Edomura” 31f When the images in the above scene are sequentially photographed (in the figure, 31a to 31f are displayed as still images, but in practice, one scene of a moving image may be displayed). The videos 31a to 31f in the respective scenes and the explanation text file of the area information acquired from the area information server S via the communication unit 7 are stored in the memory 3 in association with each other. Next, based on the storage in the memory 3, it is possible to display the area information and the video in association with each other, or convert the text data into audio data and explain the video with the audio data corresponding thereto. It is also possible to generate multimedia information. As a result, the explanation of the area information can be automatically added to the video. This procedure will be described later.

  FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing examples of display on the LCD display monitor 16 when shooting a video. As shown in FIG. 4A, based on the above-described creation of multimedia information, the user uses, for example, text information based on text based on the video display 16a being photographed and the area information acquired in association with the video display 16a. (Telop information) 16b (including the index 16c and the content 16d) can be displayed superimposed on the video.

  At this time, if the user determines that the display by the telop information 16b corresponds to the video, an operation for associating this with the video and storing it in the memory is performed. If it is determined that the relevant information is not suitable for the video, the association is not performed or another telop information different from the currently displayed telop information is acquired as a candidate for association (FIG. 4B ) 16x (see 16c-1 to 4)) may be displayed as a menu, and when an appropriate display corresponding to the video is performed, this may be associated. Alternatively, a plurality of candidate menus (16c-1 to 16c-4) are displayed as related information candidates, and appropriate related information is displayed so as to be selectable, and the user is prompted to select from the displayed candidates. Anyway.

  Hereinafter, an example of a technique for reproducing a moving image and related information in a correlated manner will be described with reference to FIG. As an example, an example of a technique for reproducing (synchronizing) moving image data compressed by the MPEG2 format, which is general high-quality compressed moving image data, and related information (character string based on text) in association with each other Give an explanation. The compression technique based on MPEG2 is a data sequence of one cut 101b, 101d, 101f, 103b, 103d with 5s (seconds) to 10s (seconds) as one unit, and indexes 101a, 101c provided between these data sequences. , 101e, 101g, 103a, 103c.

  Here, in MPEG2, data compression is performed by using only the difference from the previous data in time series as the subsequent data. For example, by looking at the change over time in the amount of data, It can be determined at which point the scene has changed greatly, that is, whether a scene change has occurred. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, when it is detected that the data amount increases in 103b between one scene (101a to 101g) and the next one (103a to 103d), a scene change (characteristic scene change) is detected in 103b. Change). The scene change corresponds to, for example, a change from the cedar row tree scene 31a in FIG. 1 to the three monkey scenes 31b. By inserting the text data 105 (TEXTA) and the text data 107 (TEXTB) in synchronization with the scene change timing, the text data can be superimposed on the moving image data almost accurately. In this case, a large time lag related to synchronization can be prevented by checking on the display monitor 16 as described above, and precise time synchronization can be obtained by this method. Associations may be made based on MPEG time stamp information, or a new index table may be created and managed. In addition, for example, there is a method of determining the scene change timing based on the on / off timing of the switch SW.

  Next, an information creation procedure in the multimedia information creation system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, first, processing is started in step S1. In step S2, it is selected whether or not it is a related information addition mode. If it is not the related information addition mode, the process proceeds to step S3 (step S3 will be described with reference to FIG. 10 in the second embodiment). When the related information addition mode is selected in step S2, the process proceeds to step S4 to select whether or not the moving image mode is selected. If it is not the moving image mode, the process proceeds to the still image mode in step S5, and it is determined in step S6 whether or not it is typical data (data already described in a document or the like) as related information. If the data is typical data, the process proceeds to step S7, and character information is acquired as related information from a book or the like (in this case, characters may be entered and input. Part of the acquired information may be used). ). If it is not typical, the related information is acquired from the information source via the network in step S8, and in either case, the still image and the related information are combined in step S9.

  On the other hand, when the moving image mode is selected in step S4 (step S10), the process proceeds to step S11, and for example, information related to the moving image being photographed is acquired from the network. Next, in step S12, the moving image and the related information are associated with each other and synthesized.

  The processing from step S7 will be described with reference to FIG. In step S21, the process is started. In step S22, information described in a publication such as a ticket or a pamphlet is photographed by a camera. In step S23, the photographed information is acquired as image data, and in step S24, the image data is converted into characters using a character recognition function such as OCR. In step S25, the character information converted in step S24 is stored in the memory as text information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S26 or S27, where characters are superimposed on the video, or text information is converted to audio information in step S27, and then the audio is reproduced in accordance with the video in step S28.

  As described above, according to the multimedia information creation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the video information captured by the imaging device and the related information acquired from the outside that is related to the video information are obtained in advance. It can be associated. When creating multimedia information by combining video information and content-related related information on the spot or after shooting, there is no need to rely only on the user's memory and the editing is very easy There is. As will be described later, a home server at home may be used as the information source (server S).

  Next, a modification of the multimedia information creation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The multimedia information creation system according to this modification is a system that uses the GPS 21.

  Position information at the time of shooting can be acquired by the GPS 21. At this time, the captured image and the position information by the GPS 21 are associated with each other. The area information is acquired from the information providing server S based on the position information, and the captured image and the area information are associated and stored. By performing reproduction based on this storage, it is possible to view the photographed image and the area information related to the photographed image in a corresponding format. Alternatively, the captured image and the positional information are stored in association with each other, so that, for example, the regional information is acquired from the information providing server S based on the positional information at the time of reproduction, and the captured image and the regional information are associated and reproduced. It is also possible to do.

  In this case, it is also possible to display position information on the map and call image data corresponding to the position on the map, and based on the image data (for example, when image data is specified, the corresponding position is displayed on the map). It is also possible to perform a map search (by flashing and so on). That is, for example, by displaying a map of sunlight and clicking a position with a mouse or the like, image information and related information can be displayed, and an electronic album using a so-called map as an index can be created.

  In the above modification, the example in which the area information or the like is searched based on the position information at the time of capturing the image is shown. However, instead of the position information, the captured image is analyzed, and based on the analysis result. The related information may be acquired in terms of content, or the user may select from a plurality of candidates. Image content analysis processing, for example, based on the characteristic part in the image and the acquired position information, the feature points are similar from the regional information database containing a lot of image data and the corresponding explanatory data The image to be identified may be specified, and based on this, related information may be extracted from the database. Alternatively, as shown in the video 31e of FIG. 1, if the user is shooting Nikko Toshogu Shrine, characters written on the Nikko Toshogu stone monument, taken consciously or unconsciously, are automatically operated by some user operation or automatically. Alternatively, OCR recognition processing may be performed to acquire a keyword related to the content of the video currently being shot, and related information may be acquired from the outside based on the keyword. At this time, if a plurality of keyword candidates for external database search based on the OCR recognition process are displayed on the monitor unit and the user selects the correct keyword, the reliability of the search process is increased. Alternatively, a simple keyword related to an image currently being photographed by the user may be input or selected from display menu candidates, and information may be acquired from an external database based on the keyword.

  Next, association between image information and position information in the multimedia information acquisition apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. As a method for associating image information, in particular, a moving image and position information, a method of holding a synchronization table on the system can be used as a well-known method. For example, in the case of moving image data compressed by MPEG, there is a break every 0.5 seconds (GOP: Group of pictures). By creating a synchronization table that associates moving image data and related information data using this GOP, it is possible to associate the two.

  Note that the captured video information, the related information, and the association information may be combined according to the acquisition of the shooting and the related information, or the video information is stored on a DV tape, and the association information and the related information are combined. It may be stored in a memory and combined at the time of playback, but all information may be stored on an Internet disk or the like. Alternatively, as described above, the related information may be acquired later based on the association information.

  Next, a multimedia information creation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The first embodiment is a related information addition mode in which related information is added based on photographing information. On the other hand, the system according to the present embodiment is characterized in that it is processing that first acquires related information such as text information and acquires video data (performs photographing) based on the acquired related information. This process will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method for associating video data and text data according to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to the processing from step S3 of FIG.

Starting from step S3 in FIG. 8, processing is started in step S31, and related information is acquired from an information source in step S30, or information on tickets and pamphlets is photographed with a camera in steps S32 to S34 ( In step S32), information is acquired as image data (step S33), and the image data is recognized by OCR and converted to text information (step S34). As shown in FIG. 7, the converted text information is switched at the timing of the period of periods T _A , T _B , T _C ,.

After the process of step S30 or step S34, the process proceeds to step S35, and a corresponding image is taken based on the related information. In step S36, the related information and the corresponding image are synthesized. As shown in FIG. 7, the image information 111a to T _A period, an image information 111b in T _B period, arranging the image information 111c to T _C period. Through the processing described above, for example, an image can be taken based on related information according to a certain rule, and a series of image groups according to a certain rule, a so-called electronic album can be easily created. Note that voice recognition technology or the like may be used instead of character recognition. In addition, the multimedia information creation system according to the present embodiment can be applied to a service for lending a photographing apparatus to passengers such as a regular sightseeing bus.

  Next, a multimedia information acquisition system according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a multimedia information creation system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the photographing apparatus used in the system according to the present embodiment is, for example, a mobile phone (mobile terminal) 11 capable of photographing a still image or a still image and a moving image. Alternatively, the mobile phone 11 and the camera 1 may be used in cooperation. The mobile phone 11 includes a communication unit, an imaging unit, a display unit, a memory, and a control unit. If the mobile phone 11 has a GPS function, a single unit has a system configuration other than the information providing server. Will be. Therefore, the user of the mobile phone acquires regional information in association with position information based on the GPS function while acquiring an image using the communication means of the mobile phone, and this information is stored in the own server (PC) as described above. ) Or the Internet disk 6 or the like. Based on the stored information, for example, the Internet disc can be accessed on a PC, and information obtained by combining video and related information can be reproduced. Since mobile phones generally have a small memory capacity, a method of saving shooting data on an Internet disk or the like is effective. In this case, data can be acquired from the Internet disk and played back during playback.

  The table indicated by reference numeral 6a is a table in which the video information 101b to 103c, the telop information 105 and 107, and the association information 1-1 to 2-2 for associating both are associated with each other. Based on the contents shown in Table 6a, video information and related information can be associated (synchronized) and reproduced.

  Hereinafter, another application example using the multimedia information creation system according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a communication method using moving image mail. As shown in FIG. 12, a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “personal computer”)) is used to capture a moving image by using the image capturing apparatus 201 according to each embodiment of the present invention, This is referred to as a PC.) The moving image mail 212a is transmitted to the photographing device 211 with a communication function 210 via 210 or the hot spot 206b.

  The other party who has received the moving image mail 212a returns an impression of seeing the moving image mail 212a, for example, in the form of returning a video mail 217a with a message by text or voice.

  In this way, by exchanging the video mail and the return of the video mail with a message between the two sides, it is possible to communicate as if both sides are in the immediate vicinity.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an application example regarding content reception. As shown in FIG. 13, an imaging apparatus 201 according to each embodiment of the present invention is used to connect to an on-demand server 221 by connecting to a network 205 via a hot spot 206a using a communication means 207 such as an accompanying wireless LAN 207b. . The on-demand server 221 includes a content server 223 for providing content such as movies, music, and sports for a fee or free of charge according to a user request. The on-demand server 221 transmits the content compressed according to the request from the user side to the photographing apparatus 201 side, and decompresses the content data on the photographing apparatus 201 side. It is possible to watch and enjoy while moving. It is also possible to store live video on a DV tape and view related information acquired via the network 205 as well.

  FIG. 14 shows an application example relating to backup of transmission contents. FIG. 14 shows an image capturing apparatus 201 according to each embodiment of the present invention, which includes an image capturing apparatus 201 provided with communication means 207 such as a wireless LAN 207b. An introduction mail for introducing the shop to a friend, for example, is attached to the data 236, the image data and the introduction mail are sent to the friend using the communication means 207, the home server 231 at home, the PC 230, the hard disk recorder 232, etc. The image data and the introduction mail are sent to the recording / reproducing apparatus 232 by Cc. Based on the data sent to the home, for example, the mail data with moving image and the list 237 thereof can be generated in the memory in the recording / reproducing apparatus 232. These data and list can be used for confirmation of transmission contents and backup. As shown in the figure, while the list 237 is displayed, a data attribute related to the index by the image data and a GUI by displaying an operation icon necessary for the reproduction processing are provided and used as an index at the time of data reproduction. Convenient. In addition, related information acquired from the outside can be included in the introduction mail.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an application example related to reproduction (viewing) of moving image content. As shown in FIG. 15, content recorded using the imaging device 201 according to the present embodiment or by another method is recorded in, for example, a hard disk (HDD) in the PC 240 or a recording unit or recording medium in the recording / reproducing device 242. At this time, as shown by reference numeral 247, a list of contents is created using a typical still screen of contents instead of an index. Also in this case, it is preferable to store the related information in association with the video data as described above. When using the content playback function of the photographing device 201 or the content playback function of another device and carrying these devices, the user designates the video content that the user wants to view (play) based on the content list 247 (this) In this case, the video 245 of the soccer game is designated), and the stream data of the content is sent from the PC 240 or the recording / reproducing device 242 to the photographing device 201 via the network 205 by the communication means 207 including the wireless LAN 207a. Based on this sent information, for example, a replay video of a soccer game requested by the monitor of the photographing apparatus 201 can be viewed. The content may be an image currently being broadcast and currently displayed on a high-definition liquid crystal television (not shown) connected to the PC 240 or the recording / reproducing device. In this case, the live image is real-time on the go. It is also possible to enjoy it.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the video data holding service. As described above, when an Internet disk is used, a large amount of moving image data can be stored externally and referenced at any time. The multimedia data (data obtained by adding related information to image data) created in the above-described embodiments in the content database 251 of the Internet disk is accessed anytime, anywhere by accessing the server holding the Internet disk. Any user who is permitted by authentication or the like can refer to the multimedia information. Therefore, if multimedia information can be stored / referenced / distributed in the future, it can also function as a personal video web, and can be used in common within a group, it can be shared between groups. It can also be used as a web. That is, the user or his / her friend can access the server from the PC 253 via the network 205 to refer to the contents of the content database 251 and reproduce a moving image or a still image together with related information.

  As mentioned above, although demonstrated along this Embodiment, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to these examples, and various deformation | transformation are possible. The multimedia information creation system according to the present embodiment can be realized by an imaging apparatus that can use various communication functions. In each of the embodiments described above, the case of adding audio or character information to video data has been mainly described. However, when adding the same kind of data such as video data to video data, When video data is added to audio data (for example, when an artist's video is acquired and added to a music album from the outside, various applications are possible within the scope permitted by the Copyright Act or the like.

  When adding related information related to video data or the like, multimedia information data rich in variations can be created by acquiring the additional information from the outside and associating these with the related information.

It is a figure which shows the basic schematic structural example of the multimedia information creation system using the imaging device by this Embodiment. 2A and 2B are views showing an example of the appearance of the photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2A is a perspective view, and FIG. 2B is a schematic configuration diagram on the back. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structural example of an imaging device. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the monitor screen of the imaging device by this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the operation switch provided in the imaging device. It is a figure which shows the example of the technique for matching and reproducing | regenerating a moving image and related information. It is a figure which shows the matching method of video data and text data. It is a flowchart figure which shows the information creation procedure in the multimedia information creation system by this Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the process from FIG.8 S7. It is a flowchart figure which shows the process from step S3 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the multimedia information acquisition system by the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the concept of the communication by video mail. It is a figure which shows the application example regarding reception of a content. It is a figure which shows the application example regarding the backup of the transmission content. It is a figure which shows the example of application regarding reproduction | regeneration (appreciation) of a moving image content. It is a figure which shows an example of a video data retention service.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Imaging device, 2 ... Main-body part, 3 ... Recording / reproducing part (memory), 4 ... Imaging part, S ... Information provision server, 5 ... Network, 7 ... Communication part, 16 ... Monitor.

Claims (26)

First type information acquisition means for acquiring first type information;
Association information generation for generating association information for associating the first type information with the second type information having contents related to the first type information and obtainable from an external information source Means,
An information acquisition apparatus comprising: a first storage unit that stores the first type information and the association information.   A second type information acquisition unit for acquiring the second type information from the external information source based on the association information; and an interface unit that forms an interface between the second type information acquisition unit. The information acquisition apparatus according to claim 1. Information synthesizing means for synthesizing the first type information and the second type information based on the association information;
The information acquisition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second storage unit that stores the combined information combined by the information combining unit. First type information acquisition means for acquiring first type information;
Second type information acquisition means for acquiring second type information having contents related to the first type information from an external information source;
An information acquisition device comprising association information generating means for generating association information for associating the first type information and the second type information.   The information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a storage unit that stores the first type information, the second type information having contents related to the first type information, and the association information. Storage means for storing any one or more of the first type information, the second type information having contents related to the first type information, and the association information;
The information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a storage control unit that performs control to store information that is not stored in the storage unit in another storage unit. Storage means for storing the first type information and the association information;
5. The information acquisition apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a storage control unit configured to control the second type information related to the first type information and the information not stored in the storage unit to be stored in another storage unit. . The information acquisition device according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
An information acquisition system comprising: information combining means for generating combined information obtained by combining the first type information and the second type information before or after storage in the storage means.   8. An information processing apparatus, further comprising synthetic information reproduction means for reproducing the synthetic information in addition to the information acquisition apparatus according to claim 3 or 7.   The analysis part which analyzes the content of the said 1st type information is provided, The said 2nd type information is searched based on the analysis of this analysis part, The any one of Claim 1-9 characterized by the above-mentioned. apparatus. Imaging means for obtaining image information;
The image information, and related information including at least one of image information, audio information, and telop information having contents related to the image information, and related information that can be acquired from an external information source. Association information generating means for generating association information to be associated;
A camera having storage means for storing the image information and the association information. The camera according to claim 11,
A communication interface that forms an interface with communication means for acquiring the related information having contents related to the image information based on the association information from an external information source via a network; Camera. Imaging means for obtaining image information;
Relevant information having contents related to the image information, the related information including at least one of image information, audio information, and telop information being acquired from an external information source via a network Communication means;
Association information generating means for generating association information for associating the image information with the related information;
A portable terminal comprising storage means for storing the image information, the related information, and the association information. An external information source providing related information including at least one of audio information and telop information;
Image capturing means for acquiring image information, and related information having contents related to the image information, the related information including at least one of image information, audio information, and telop information being transmitted via the network Communication means for obtaining from an information source, association information generating means for generating association information for associating the image information with the related information, and storage means for storing the image information, the related information, and the association information And a multimedia information creation system. An image analysis unit for analyzing the content of the image information;
The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: a related information search unit that searches for related information associated with the first type information based on an analysis of the image analysis unit. . Position information detecting means for detecting position information when the image information is acquired;
15. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising an association unit that associates the image information with the related information based on the position information. A display unit that displays a plurality of association information candidates used in association with the image information and the related information together with the image information or alone;
17. The operation unit according to claim 11, further comprising: an operation unit that performs an operation for selecting and confirming appropriate association information from the association information candidates displayed on the display unit. The device described. A detection unit for detecting the switching timing of the image information;
18. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: a synchronization unit configured to synchronize the related information with the image information based on a switching timing detected by the detection unit.   The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the switching timing is a switching timing of a feature point of an image or an on / off timing of photographing. A camera having an imaging means for acquiring image information including a still image and a moving image,
A camera having a changeover switch that can perform a switching operation between still image shooting and moving image shooting with one action.   21. The camera according to claim 20, wherein the change-over switch is a push-type button switch, and is a switch that is switched by a push-down operation of the button switch. Obtaining the first type information;
Associating the first type information with second type information having contents related to the first type information;
An information acquisition method comprising: storing the first type information and the association information. Obtaining the first type information;
Obtaining second type information having content related to the first type information from an external information source;
An information acquisition method comprising: associating the first type information and the second type information.   24. A program for causing a computer to execute the steps according to claim 22 or 23. Imaging means;
A communication means for enabling communication with the outside by a built-in or external device;
An information acquisition apparatus comprising: an association unit that associates image data captured by the imaging unit with information acquired from the outside via the communication unit. First type information acquisition means for acquiring first type information;
Association information generating means for generating association information for associating the first type information with the second type information related to the first type information and obtainable from an external information source;
An information acquisition apparatus comprising: a first storage unit that stores the first type information and the association information.

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