JP2006148386A - Video photographing apparatus, video photographing method, program for this photographing method, and recording medium recorded with the program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a video image to which proper exposure processing and concealing processing are automatically applied in response to a state of an object. <P>SOLUTION: The video photographing apparatus grasps the intention as to whether or not each object is desirably concealed on the basis of its motion, transmission information and image processing, and applies exposure and concealment processing to each object depending on the state. For example, since only the size of an object A approaching a camera is made larger among three frames of photographed video images by the camera, the apparatus exposes only the object A and conceals the objects fading in the distance. The conceal processing includes a change in the concealed amount in response to the discrimination by a wireless tag for identifying the intention as to whether or not its own region is to be concealed by each object, the discrimination by a wireless tag of particularizing a user, identification of the face of the object or the like by image processing, and a change amount of the distance as to whether the object approaches the camera or leaves the camera or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video photographing apparatus and method for concealing a necessary subject area from a photographed video of a camera, and in particular, the necessity of concealment based on the motion, ID, image recognition, or combination of the subject being photographed. The present invention relates to a video photographing apparatus and a method for judging whether or not according to the situation and automatically enabling a necessary area to be concealed.

  Opportunities to shoot with video cameras, such as street cameras and video phones, are increasing. In addition, some people want to actively shoot because they want to hide a specific area from the viewpoint of privacy protection, broadcast on TV, or show themselves to the other party. As described above, there are subjects that should be concealed and subjects that may be exposed as they are, depending on the subject and surrounding conditions, even in a video shot by the same camera, and these need to be accurately identified and processed.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been proposed that privacy can be secured for photographing with a surveillance camera (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228561, video acquisition in which privacy of the background portion is ensured is realized by focusing on the vicinity of the subject and detecting / removing the background using blur.

Recent cameras for surveillance purposes also sell intruder detection devices or software that consider moving objects in captured images as intruders, display only those parts clearly, and hide other parts. ing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-91504

  In the above prior art, a necessary area cannot be automatically hidden according to the situation. That is, it is necessary to set the focal length artificially for each subject, or to arrange a person or object to be a subject at a predetermined distance.

  In addition, the intruder detection device or software listed in the background art hides objects other than moving objects in the video, and all moving objects are exposed regardless of the intention and situation of the subject being photographed. It will be.

  An object of the present invention is to eliminate such a problem and to obtain a video image capturing apparatus, a video image capturing method, and a video image capturing method capable of automatically and accurately performing an exposure process and a concealment process according to the state of a subject. It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording medium on which the program and the shooting method program are recorded.

  In the present invention, the intention of whether or not each subject is desired to be concealed is grasped by its movement, transmission information, and image processing, and subject exposure and concealment processing are performed according to the situation.

  For example, a person who may be photographed or who wants to be actively photographed tends to move closer to the camera, and a person who does not want to be photographed tends to move away from the camera. Therefore, as shown in the example of the schematic image of the present invention in FIG. 1, only the subject A approaching the camera out of the three frames taken by the camera is enlarged. The intention of whether or not each subject is desired to be concealed is grasped by a method of concealing a subject that is exposed and away.

  Further, each subject has a wireless tag for identifying whether or not to hide his / her area, and is identified by a wireless tag reader installed on the camera side to determine whether or not to conceal.

  In addition, it owns a wireless tag that identifies a user, manages the necessity or degree of concealment for each user, and associates it with the detected area.

  Further, the user is identified by image processing of the subject's face and the like, and is determined in the same manner as described above.

  Also, the amount to be concealed is changed according to the amount of change such as approaching or moving away.

  As described above, the present invention is characterized by the following video imaging apparatus, method, program, and recording medium.

(Invention of the device)
(1) A video processing apparatus for hiding a necessary subject area from a captured video,
Photographing means for obtaining a photographed image;
Area extracting means for extracting the area of the subject imaged by the imaging means;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information about the subject extracted by the area extraction means;
A situation determination means for determining whether to expose or hide the subject area based on information about the subject acquired by the information acquisition means for the subject in the area extracted by the area extraction means;
Video generating means for generating a whole video that hides the subject to be concealed based on the determination by the situation determining means;
It is provided with.

(2) The information acquisition means includes:
Whether or not the subject image is close to the photographing means,
Whether or not the subject image is away from the photographing means,
Whether the subject image is suitable for the photographing means,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies whether or not the subject needs to be concealed,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies the subject,
Recognition by subject image processing,
Means for acquiring information related to the subject by any one or a combination thereof.

  (3) The video generation means includes means for changing a degree of hiding the subject area.

(Invention of method)
(4) A video processing method for hiding a necessary subject area from a captured video,
The shooting process to acquire the shot video,
An area extraction process for extracting the area of the subject being imaged by the imaging process;
An information acquisition process for acquiring information on the subject extracted by the region extraction process;
A situation determination process for determining whether to expose or hide the subject area based on information about the subject acquired in the information acquisition process for the subject in the area extracted by the area extraction process;
A video generation process for generating a whole video that hides the subject to be concealed based on the determination by the situation determination process;
It is provided with.

(5) The information acquisition process includes:
Whether the subject image is close to the shooting means,
Whether the subject image is moving away from the shooting means,
Whether the subject image is suitable for the photographing means,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies whether or not the subject needs to be concealed,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies the subject,
Recognition by subject image processing,
A process of acquiring information on the subject by any one of or a combination thereof.

  (6) The video generation process includes a process of changing a degree of hiding the subject area.

(Invention of the program)
(7) The video image capturing method according to any one of (4) to (6) above is described by a computer program so as to be executable.

(Invention of recording medium)
(8) The video recording method according to any one of the above (4) to (6) is recorded with a program recorded so as to be executable by a computer.

  As described above, whether or not to conceal each photographed subject is acquired as information about the subject, or the degree of concealment is acquired as information about the subject, and further discriminated by the combination, and necessary areas By concealing only the image, it is possible to obtain an image that is automatically and accurately subjected to exposure processing and concealment processing according to the state of each subject.

(Embodiment 1)
In the following, description will be made with reference to a flowchart representing the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, focusing on an embodiment of a method for exposing an approaching subject and concealing an approaching subject.

  (S1) Real-time and continuous acquisition of images taken by a video camera or the like.

  (S2) It is determined whether there is any object in the distance range designated by a distance sensor or the like installed near the video camera.

  (S3 to S5) When it is determined that there is any object, it is determined that there is an approaching subject, and the region is extracted. First, the video is divided into frames, and processing such as edge enhancement is performed to clarify the subject area. And it is used to determine whether there is an enlarged area in the vicinity area compared to the previous frame or whether it is in the vicinity, but it is not essential, but this is not essential, but it can detect accuracy Can be increased. Specifically, a means is used such that when the area of the current frame includes the area of the previous frame or exceeds a certain threshold value, it is regarded as the same subject. In addition, as to whether or not it is enlarged, any means may be applied, but it can also be obtained by simply comparing the area (number of dots) of the region. Here, when the subject is limited to a person, it may be determined whether the face is facing the camera.

  (S6) If there is an approaching subject, the area is managed as an approach area. Although the management method is not mentioned, if the approach area is managed as black (0xFF) and the other parts are managed as white (0x00) for the entire screen as shown in FIG. become.

  Up to this point, the processing is to extract a subject part that is newly approaching.

  (S7 to S9) Next, processing is performed on the already extracted subject portion. If there is no managed approach area, this step is omitted. For the approaching area being managed, it is determined whether the area is narrow. The fact that the area is narrow indicates that the subject is moving away from the camera, and the area is removed from the approach area in order to conceal this area. The above determination is performed for all managed approach areas, and the approach areas are managed.

  (S10) Through the processes up to and including the above, all approach areas managed up to the present time are acquired and combined to create an exposure area. If the approaching area is managed as black (0xFF) and the other areas are managed as white (0x00), as shown in the example in FIG. 3, each coordinate value in the approaching area is processed by the logical operator OR. Easy to get. If any one of the logical operators OR has 0xFF, the value of the coordinate becomes 0xFF, that is, black, and becomes an approach region.

  (S11) A concealment process is performed on portions other than the exposed region obtained as described above. When performing the concealment process, a masking image is generated. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the coordinate value has either 0x00 or 0xFF, and a masking image in which the coordinate of 0x00 is left as it is (transparent) and 0xFF is masked with black (hidden) is created. .

  At present, the value of the coordinates of the exposed area is 0xFF, and the other values are 0x00. Therefore, the masking image as described above uses the logical operator NOT for the entire image of the exposed area as shown in FIG. By reversing 0x00 and 0xFF, a masking image can be obtained.

  (S12 to S14) By performing the logical operator AND process on the masking image obtained in this way and the video frame shot by the camera, a transmission video in which only the exposed area is shot video and the other areas are black. Is generated. This transmission video is transmitted to the transmission partner. The above processing is repeated until there is a trigger for termination.

  As described above, it is possible to create a video that exposes only the subject approaching the camera and hides other parts including the subject that is moving away. Can be created.

  In the above, the method of concealing with one black color has been shown. However, as shown in the example of FIG. 5, the concealment value (0xFF of 0xFF) is masked based on the amount of change in the subject area and the moving speed of the subject area. Value) or another means of concealment processing may be used.

  In addition, it may be determined whether or not the subject area is facing the camera, and if it is facing, exposure or exposure may be performed.

  Further, when the subject area is extracted, an ID indicating whether concealment is necessary may be detected by a wireless tag reader such as an RFID, and it may be determined whether to conceal for each ID.

  Furthermore, a different subject ID may be detected for each subject, and the necessity or degree of concealment set for each subject may be set. For example, when there are subjects A, B, and C identified by ID and unregistered detection areas 1 and 2 that are not identified, the detected patterns and the exposed areas are as shown in FIG.

(Embodiment 2)
In the following, description will be given according to a configuration diagram representing the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, focusing on an embodiment of a method for exposing an approaching subject and concealing an approaching subject.

  The photographing means 1 continuously obtains images taken by, for example, a video camera in real time.

  The object approach detection means 2 determines whether there is any object in the designated distance range using a distance sensor or the like installed near the video camera. When it is determined by the object approach detection means 2 that there is an object within the specified distance, a masking image for exposure or concealment processing is generated with the following configuration.

  The approach area detection unit 3 extracts an area determined by the object approach detection unit 2 that there is a subject that is newly approaching. For this reason, the video is divided into frame units, and region enhancement processing is performed by the contour emphasizing unit 4 to clarify the subject region.

  The area enlargement determination unit 5 determines whether there is an enlarged area in the vicinity of the vicinity, that is, whether there is an approaching subject, as compared with the previous frame. Whether it is in the vicinity or not is used to determine that the subject is the same, and is not essential, but this can improve the detection accuracy. Specifically, a means may be used such that the current subject frame is regarded as the same subject when it includes the previous frame region or includes a certain threshold value or more. Further, when the subject is limited to a person, a process for determining whether the face in the region is facing the camera may be applied as the person front determination unit 6.

  The area detected by the area enlargement determination unit 5 is managed by the approach area management unit 7. Although the management method is not mentioned, if the approach area is managed as black (0xFF) and the other parts are managed as white (0x00) for the entire screen as shown in FIG. become.

  The area reduction determination unit 8 determines whether the area of the approaching area being managed is narrow. The fact that the area is narrow indicates that the subject is moving away from the camera, and is removed from the approach area of the approach area management means 7 in order to conceal this area.

  The exposure area generation means 9 acquires all the approach areas managed up to the present time and combines them to create an exposure area. If the approaching area is managed as black (0xFF) and the other areas are managed as white (0x00), it can be easily obtained by processing the values of the same coordinates in the approaching area with the logical operator OR. If any one of the logical operators OR has 0xFF, the value of the coordinate becomes 0xFF, that is, black, and becomes an approach region.

  The masking image generating means 10 performs a concealing process on the portion other than the exposed area obtained in this way. When performing the concealment process, a masking image is generated. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the coordinate value has either 0x00 or 0xFF, and a masking image in which the coordinate of 0x00 is left as it is (transparent) and 0xFF is masked with black (hidden) is created. .

  Currently, the value of the coordinates of the exposure area is 0xFF, and the other values are 0x00. Therefore, the above masking image is obtained by inverting 0x00 and 0xFF using the logical operator NOT on the entire image of the exposure area. A masking image can be obtained.

  The concealment processing means 11 performs a logical operator AND process on the masking image obtained in this way and the video frame photographed by the camera, thereby concealing that only the exposed region is the photographed image and the other region is black. Processing is performed to generate a transmission video.

  The video transmission means 12 transmits this transmission video to the transmission partner.

  In this way, it is possible to create a video that exposes only the subject that is approaching the camera and hides other parts including the subject that is moving away. Can be created.

  In the above description, the method of concealing with one black color has been described. However, the concealment value to be masked (0xFF value) may be changed, or another concealment processing unit may be used.

  The present invention can be realized using a computer by configuring some or all of the processing functions of the method shown in FIG. 2 as a program. In addition, a program for realizing the processing functions of each part in the computer is recorded on a recording medium readable by the computer, for example, a flexible disk, MO, ROM, memory card, CD, DVD, removable disk, etc. It can be stored or provided, and can be distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

  The present invention automatically determines whether or not to perform a concealment process on a photographed subject according to the intention of the subject or the photographing situation, thereby protecting privacy of street cameras and active exposure in a videophone. It is possible to provide a video photographing apparatus capable of flexibly responding to various demands of a subject to be photographed, a photographing method thereof, a program of the photographing method, and a recording medium on which the program of the photographing method is recorded. it can.

1 is a schematic image of the present invention. The processing flow which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The example of the production | generation of the exposure area | region in embodiment. The example of the production | generation of the masking image and transmission image | video in embodiment. The example of the setting of the concealment value for every user in embodiment. The example of a user's concealment permission setting and result in embodiment. The apparatus block diagram which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image | photographing means 2 Object approach detection means 3 Approach area detection means 4 Outline emphasis means 5 Area expansion determination means 6 Person front determination means 7 Approach area management means 8 Area reduction determination means 9 Exposure area generation means 10 Masking image generation means 11 Concealment processing Means 12 Video transmission means

Claims (8)

A video processing device for hiding a necessary subject area from a captured video,
Photographing means for obtaining a photographed image;
Area extracting means for extracting the area of the subject imaged by the imaging means;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information about the subject extracted by the area extraction means;
A situation determination means for determining whether to expose or hide the subject area based on information about the subject acquired by the information acquisition means for the subject in the area extracted by the area extraction means;
Video generating means for generating a whole video that hides the subject to be concealed based on the determination by the situation determining means;
A video photographing apparatus comprising: The information acquisition means according to claim 1,
Whether or not the subject image is close to the photographing means,
Whether or not the subject image is away from the photographing means,
Whether the subject image is suitable for the photographing means,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies whether or not the subject needs to be concealed,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies the subject,
Recognition by subject image processing,
A video photographing apparatus comprising means for acquiring information related to the subject by any one of or a combination thereof.   3. The video photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video generation means includes means for changing a degree of hiding the subject area. An image processing method for hiding a necessary subject area from a captured image,
The shooting process to acquire the shot video,
An area extraction process for extracting the area of the subject being imaged by the imaging process;
An information acquisition process for acquiring information on the subject extracted by the region extraction process;
A situation determination process for determining whether to expose or hide the subject area based on information about the subject acquired in the information acquisition process for the subject in the area extracted by the area extraction process;
A video generation process for generating a whole video that hides the subject to be concealed based on the determination by the situation determination process;
A video shooting method comprising: The information acquisition process according to claim 4,
Whether the subject image is close to the shooting means,
Whether the subject image is moving away from the shooting means,
Whether the subject image is suitable for the photographing means,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies whether or not the subject needs to be concealed,
Acquisition of a wireless tag that identifies the subject,
Recognition by subject image processing,
A video photographing method comprising a step of acquiring information on the subject by any one of or a combination thereof.   6. The video shooting method according to claim 4, wherein the video generation process includes a process of changing a degree of hiding the subject area.   A program characterized in that the video shooting method according to any one of claims 4 to 6 is written in a computer program and can be executed. A recording medium having recorded thereon a program in which the video photographing method according to any one of claims 4 to 6 is executable by a computer.

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