JP2007257312A - Album creation system, album creating method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of the theme of a desired album that can be created from a plurality of images. <P>SOLUTION: This album creation system is provided with: an image storing part for associating a plurality of images with respective imaging environments of the plurality of images to store them; an image classifying part for analyzing respective imaging environments of the plurality of images stored by the image storing part to thereby classify the plurality of images stored by the image storing part in each event based on an imaging environment; the number of images calculating part for calculating the number of images classified by the image classifying part in each event; an event extracting part for more preferentially extracting an event with a larger number of images calculated by the image of number calculating part in each event, and an event presenting part for presenting to the user the event extracted by event extracting part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an album creation system, an album creation method, and a program. In particular, the present invention relates to an album creating system and an album creating method for creating an album from images, and a program for the album creating system.

A system has been proposed in which a customer who desires album creation receives layout data in which images are laid out and creates an album (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the customer himself lays out the images in the album and creates the album based on the layout data laid out by the customer, the album as desired by the customer can be created.
JP 2001-331704 A

  However, in a system in which the customer himself / herself arranges images and determines the album layout as in the system described in Patent Document 1, it takes time and effort for the customer to select and lay out images. In particular, as the number of images managed by the customer increases, the effort increases. Also, it is necessary to first determine what concept album can be created, but such determination becomes more difficult as the number of images increases. Therefore, the system described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the burden on the customer for creating the album increases.

  In a system in which an album creator other than a customer creates an album using images provided by the customer, the album creator must determine the concept of the album from images owned by others. Even in such a system, the burden on the album creator increases as the number of images provided increases.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an album creation system, an album creation method, and a program that can solve the above-described problems. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

  The album creating system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes an image storage unit that stores a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images in association with each other, and a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit. By analyzing each imaging environment, an image classification unit that classifies a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging environment, and the number of images that the image classification unit classifies for each event. , An image number calculation unit to be calculated for each event, an event extraction unit to extract an event with a larger number of images calculated for each event by the image number calculation unit, and an event extracted by the event extraction unit. An event presentation unit to be presented to the user.

  Using an event input unit that allows the user to select and input an event presented to the user by the event presenting unit as an event for creating an album, and an image classified by the image classification unit as an event input from the event input unit And an album creating unit for creating the.

  The image storage unit stores a plurality of images and respective imaging positions of the plurality of images in association with each other, and the image classification unit analyzes each imaging position of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit. Thus, the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit may be classified for each event based on the imaging position.

  An event storage unit that stores an event associated with a location and stores an event related to an area of a predetermined area including the location, and the image classification unit stores each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, The event may be classified into events stored in the event storage unit in relation to the area including the position indicated by the imaging position stored in the image storage unit in association with each image.

  A reference position acquisition unit that acquires a reference position indicating a reference position of a main person in the album, a position indicated by the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit, and a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit A distance difference calculation unit that calculates a distance difference that is a distance between the position indicated by the imaging position for each of the plurality of images, and the event storage unit is associated with the position and has a different area including the position. A plurality of events respectively associated with a plurality of regions are stored, and the image classification unit stores an image having a larger distance calculated by the distance difference calculation unit, and an imaging position in which the image storage unit stores the image in association with the image. You may classify | categorize into the event which the event storage part stores in relation to a wider area including the position to show.

  A reference position acquisition unit that acquires a reference position indicating a reference position of a main person in the album, a position indicated by the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit, and a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit A distance calculation unit that calculates a distance difference that is a distance between the position indicated by the imaging position for each of the plurality of images, and the event extraction unit further includes a distance calculation unit for the images classified by the image classification unit for each event. Events with a larger distance difference calculated by may be extracted with higher priority.

  The image storage unit stores a plurality of images in association with the imaging times of the plurality of images, and the image classification unit analyzes the imaging times of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit. Thus, the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit may be classified for each event based on the imaging time.

  An event storage unit that stores an event associated with a time and associated with a period of a predetermined time width including the time is further provided, and the image classification unit stores each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, The event may be classified into events stored in the event storage unit in relation to a period including the time indicated by the imaging time stored in association with each image in the image storage unit.

  A reference time acquisition unit that acquires the current time, a time difference that is a difference between the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit and the imaging times of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, A time difference calculation unit that calculates each time, and the event storage unit stores a plurality of events associated with a plurality of periods having different time widths including the time in association with the time, and the image classification unit includes: The event storage unit stores an image having a larger time difference calculated by the time difference calculation unit in association with a longer period of time including the time indicated by the imaging time stored in the image storage unit in association with the image. You may classify it as an event.

  A reference time acquisition unit that acquires a reference time indicating a reference time for a main person in the album, and an imaging time of each of a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit with respect to the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit A relative time calculation unit that calculates a relative time for each of the plurality of images, and the event storage unit associates the relative time with the reference time and includes a predetermined time width including the relative time. The image classification unit relates each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit to the period including the relative time calculated by the relative time calculation unit for each of the images. The events may be classified into events stored in the event storage unit.

  In an event in which a plurality of images are classified by the image classification unit, the image classification unit further includes a composition difference identifying unit that identifies a composition difference indicating a composition difference between the plurality of images. The number of images in which the composition difference specified by is larger than the predetermined composition difference may be calculated for each event.

  The album creating method according to the second aspect of the present invention includes an image storage stage in which a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images are stored in association with each other, and a plurality of images stored in the image storage stage. By analyzing each imaging environment, an image classification stage for classifying a plurality of images stored in the image storage stage for each event based on the imaging environment, and a number of images classified for each event in the image classification stage , An image number calculation stage to be calculated for each event, an event extraction stage for extracting events with a higher number of images calculated for each event in the image number calculation stage, and an event extracted by the event extraction stage An event presenting stage for presenting to the user.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for an album creating system for creating an album, wherein the album creating system stores a plurality of images in association with respective imaging environments of the plurality of images. An image classification unit that classifies a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging environment by analyzing each imaging environment of the plurality of images stored in the storage unit and the image storage unit The number of images classified for each event by the image classification unit is calculated for each event, and the event with the larger number of images calculated for each event by the image number calculation unit is extracted with higher priority. The event extraction unit functions as an event presentation unit that presents the event extracted by the event extraction unit to the user.

  Note that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the album creation system which can notify a user of the theme of the desirable album which can be created from several images can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are inventions. It is not always essential to the solution.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a usage environment of an album creating system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The album creating system 100 includes an imaging device 110, a communication line 150, an album creating device 130, and an album output device 140. The album creating system 100 creates an album 180 using the images provided from the user 190 and provides the album 190 to the user 190. Specifically, the imaging device 110 such as a digital still camera records an image captured by an imaging instruction from the user 190 in a recording medium 160 such as a semiconductor memory. Then, the image input device 120 reads the image recorded on the recording medium 160. Then, the image input device 120 uploads the read image and information for identifying the user 190 to the album creating device 130. The album creating apparatus 130 stores the image received from the image input apparatus 120 in association with the user 190.

  Then, the album creating apparatus 130 periodically analyzes image information of a plurality of uploaded images. Then, the album creating apparatus 130 determines a desirable album theme based on the analysis result. For example, the album creating apparatus 130 determines “summer vacation” or the like as the theme of the album when a large number of images that are intensively captured in August have been uploaded. Then, the album creating apparatus 130 periodically transmits to the user 190 an email 170 describing the determined theme. Then, when the user 190 receives the e-mail 170 by the personal computer 170, the user 190 determines whether to create an album with the theme notified by the e-mail 170. When the user 190 decides to create an album with the notified theme, the user 190 notifies the album creating apparatus 130 using the personal computer 170 to that effect. Then, the album creating apparatus 130 creates an album 180 with the determined theme and causes the album output apparatus 140 to output it. The album 180 output by the album output device 140 is sent to the user 190.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a flowchart in which the album creating apparatus 130 notifies the user 190 of the theme of the album. The album creating apparatus 130 stores the order date and time when the user 190 ordered the previous album, and calculates the elapsed time from the previous order date and time (S202). Also, the album creating apparatus 130 calculates the number of images uploaded since the previous order date (S204). Then, the album creating apparatus 130 determines whether or not the elapsed time calculated in S202 exceeds a standard time that is a reference value of elapsed time (S206). If it is determined in S206 that the elapsed time exceeds the standard time, the album creating apparatus 130 classifies the images for each event (S208). Specifically, the album creating apparatus 130 may classify the images into events determined from the image capturing time such as birthday, summer vacation, and seventy-three images, or the event determined from the image capturing position of the imaged region or the like. Images may be classified. In addition, the album creating apparatus 130 may classify the images into events determined from the types of subjects such as people, animals, and buildings included in the images.

  Then, the album creating apparatus 130 counts the number of images classified into each event (S210). Then, the album creating apparatus 130 notifies the user 190 of an event having the largest number of classified images (S212). At this time, the album creating apparatus 130 may calculate a recommendation level according to the number of classified images and notify the user 190 of the calculated recommendation level.

  When it is determined in S206 that the elapsed time is equal to or less than the standard time, it is determined whether or not the number of images calculated in S204 exceeds the standard number of images that is a reference value for the number of images (S222). If it is determined in S222 that the number of images exceeds the standard number of images, the album creating apparatus 130 proceeds to S208, classifies the images for each event (S208), and counts the number of images for each event (S210). ), The recommended event is notified to the user 190 (S212), and the process is terminated. If it is determined in S222 that the number of images is equal to or smaller than the number of standard images, the processing is terminated as it is.

  Note that the album creating apparatus 130 performs the processing shown in the flowchart of this drawing periodically (for example, every week). Further, the album creating apparatus 130 may perform the processing shown in the flowchart of this drawing at the timing when the image is uploaded from the image input apparatus 120. As described above, the album creating apparatus 130 is desirable when more than the number of images required for creating an album has been uploaded or a predetermined period has elapsed since the last time the album was created. The user 190 can be notified of a recommended event that is the theme of the album.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of notification contents for notifying the user 190 of a recommended event. The album creating apparatus 130 notifies the user 190 of the recommendation level 302, the temporary title 304, and the address 306 indicating the location on the Internet where the sample album is stored. For example, the album creating apparatus 130 may notify the user 190 of such information by an e-mail 170, or may present the information to the user 190 by describing the content on a web page accessible by the user 190. Good. The recommendation level 302 may be a value using the number of images classified as events as an index. The temporary title 304 may be a name indicating an event. For example, the album creating apparatus 130 may temporarily call “Kyoto trip” for an event indicating that the image was taken in Kyoto, and “athletic event” for an event indicating that the image was taken at school on the weekend in early October. Determine the title. Also, the album creating apparatus 130 may create sample album data for each event in advance using thumbnail images of the images classified for each event, and store them as a WEB page accessible by the user 190. Then, the album creating apparatus 130 may present an address 306 indicating the WEB page to the user 190. Accordingly, the user 190 can access a sample album of a desired theme by accessing the address 306 described in the e-mail 170 or the WEB page.

  As described above, according to the album creating system 100, the user 190 can be notified of a desired album theme. In the above description, the mode in which an image is uploaded to the album creating apparatus 130 via the image input apparatus 120 has been described. However, the location where the image is uploaded stores an image provided by the user 190, It may be a server connected to the line 150. The server includes a WEB server that provides a WEB page established by the user 190, a data server that is connected to the WEB server and provides data including images to the WEB server, and a personal computer 170. It may be a server connected directly or indirectly to 150. Then, the album creating apparatus 130 may acquire images from the server and periodically determine the theme of the album.

  The album 180 may be a printed material on which an image is printed, or may be a recording medium such as a CD-ROM on which electronic data including image data is recorded. In addition, the album 180 may be provided to the user 190 as electronic data in a format that can be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk. In addition, the function of uploading an image included in the image input device 120 may be included in a kiosk terminal or a computer provided in a store such as Photoshop or a personal computer 170.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a block configuration of the album creating apparatus 130. The album creating apparatus 130 includes an image storage unit 400, an image classification unit 410, a distance calculation unit 420, a reference position acquisition unit 422, a time difference calculation unit 430, a reference time acquisition unit 432, an event extraction unit 440, a composition difference identification unit 450, an image A number calculation unit 460, an album creation unit 470, an event storage unit 480, an event presentation unit 490, and an event input unit 492 are provided.

  The image storage unit 400 stores a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images in association with each other. Specifically, the image storage unit 400 stores a plurality of images in association with the imaging positions of the plurality of images. In addition, the image storage unit 400 stores a plurality of images in association with imaging times of the plurality of images. More specifically, the image storage unit 400 stores the imaging positions and imaging times of the plurality of images as tag information of the plurality of images, attached to the images. The image storage unit 400 stores an image uploaded from the image input device 120, for example.

  The event storage unit 480 stores an event associated with a location having a predetermined area including the location in association with the location. In addition, the event storage unit 480 stores an event associated with a period of a predetermined time width including the time in association with the time.

  The image classification unit 410 analyzes the imaging environment of each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400, and thereby converts the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 for each event based on the imaging environment. Classify. Specifically, the image classifying unit 410 analyzes the imaging positions of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400, thereby obtaining the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 as the imaging positions. Classify by event based on. In addition, the image classification unit 410 analyzes the imaging time of each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400, thereby converting the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 into events based on the imaging time. Sort by each.

  The image classification unit 410 relates to a region including a position indicated by an imaging position stored in the image storage unit 400 in association with each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400. The event storage unit 480 classifies the events. In addition, the image classification unit 410 relates to each of a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 in a period including a time indicated by an imaging time stored in the image storage unit 400 in association with each image. Then, the event storage unit 480 classifies the events.

  Then, the image number calculation unit 460 calculates the number of images classified for each event by the image classification unit 410 for each event. Then, the event extraction unit 440 extracts the event having a larger number of images calculated for each event by the image number calculation unit 460 with higher priority. Then, the event presentation unit 490 presents the event extracted by the event extraction unit 440 to the user 190.

  Then, the event input unit 492 causes the user 190 to select and input the event presented by the event presenting unit 490 to the user 190 as an event for creating an album. Then, the album creation unit 470 creates an album using the images classified by the image classification unit 410 into the events input from the event input unit 492. Therefore, the album creating apparatus 130 can extract a characteristic event from the image provided by the user 190 and notify the user 190 of it.

  Note that the event storage unit 480 stores a plurality of events associated with a plurality of areas each having a different area including the position in association with the position. In addition, the reference position acquisition unit 422 acquires a reference position indicating a position serving as a reference for the main person in the album. For example, the reference position acquisition unit 422 acquires the position of the main person's home. Then, the distance calculation unit 420 is a distance that is a distance between the position indicated by the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit 422 and the position indicated by each imaging position of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400. The difference is calculated for each of a plurality of images. Then, the image classification unit 410 relates to a wider area including the position indicated by the imaging position where the image storage unit 400 stores the image having the larger distance calculated by the distance difference calculation unit in association with the image. The events are stored in the event storage unit 480. For this reason, the image classification unit 410 classifies, for example, an image captured at a location farther from the home position of the main person into an event related to a wider area. Therefore, for example, an image captured when a main person living in Japan goes abroad is divided into events for a wider area than an image captured around the home of the main person. Note that the event extraction unit 440 may further preferentially extract events having a larger distance difference calculated by the distance calculation unit 420 for the images classified by the image classification unit 410 for each event. For this reason, for example, an event related to an image captured when a main person living in Japan goes abroad has higher priority as an event for creating an album than an event related to an image captured around the home of the main person. Extracted.

  In addition, the event storage unit 480 stores a plurality of events associated with a time and associated with a plurality of periods having different time widths including the time. The reference time acquisition unit 432 acquires the current time. Then, the time difference calculation unit 430 calculates a time difference that is a difference between the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit 432 and the imaging times of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 for each of the plurality of images. calculate. Then, the image classification unit 410 includes an image having a larger time difference calculated by the time difference calculation unit 430 in a longer time period including the time indicated by the imaging time stored in the image storage unit 400 in association with the image. The events are classified into events stored in the event storage unit 480. Therefore, for example, an image captured 20 years ago is classified as an event related to a wider time range than an image captured 6 months ago. Thus, according to the album creating system 100, for example, when an album is created from images captured when the user 190 is an elementary school student, an album is created from images captured in the previous year when the user 190 is still an elementary school student. Is created. Then, when the user 190 is an adult, an album is created from images captured throughout the elementary school days. Thus, according to the album creating system 100, an album is created with a theme desirable for the viewer of the album.

  The reference time acquisition unit 432 acquires a reference time indicating a reference time for the main person in the album. For example, the reference position acquisition unit 422 acquires the date and time of the main person's birthday. Then, the time difference calculation unit 430 calculates, for each of the plurality of images, a relative time indicating each imaging time of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 with respect to the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit 432. To do. Event storage unit 480 stores an event related to a period of a predetermined time width including the relative time in association with the relative time with respect to the reference time. Then, the image classification unit 410 is configured so that the event storage unit 480 associates each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit 400 with respect to a period including the relative time calculated for each of the images by the time difference calculation unit. Classify the stored event. For this reason, according to the album creation system 100, it is possible to easily create an album according to the theme of each major person's age. For example, according to the album creating system 100, an album can be easily created from an image taken when a main person is 6 years old with the theme of elementary school entry.

  Note that the composition difference specifying unit 450 specifies a composition difference indicating a composition difference between the plurality of images in an event in which a plurality of images are classified by the image classification unit 410. Then, the image number calculation unit 460 calculates, for each event, the number of images in which the composition difference specified by the composition difference specifying unit 450 is larger than a predetermined composition difference. For this reason, for example, when there are images obtained by continuous shooting, it is possible to prevent the image number calculation unit 460 from counting duplicate images having similar compositions. Note that the composition difference specifying unit 450 may calculate a difference value of luminance signals between a plurality of images as a composition difference. In addition, the composition difference specifying unit 450 extracts the outline of an object from each of a plurality of images by edge extraction or the like, and performs pattern matching on the extracted object outline to match similar objects and similarities between the plurality of images. You may identify objects that you do not want. Then, the composition difference specifying unit 450 determines whether the plurality of images are based on the degree of coincidence of similar object positions, the number of similar objects, the area of similar objects, the number of dissimilar objects, the area of dissimilar objects, and the like. You may specify the composition difference which shows the difference in composition between each other.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of event information stored in the event storage unit 480 in a table format. The event storage unit 480 stores event names that identify a plurality of events in association with positions. The event name functions as an identifier for the user 190 to identify each event. In addition, the event presentation unit 490 determines the temporary title described with reference to FIG. 3 using the event name. When the album creation unit 470 receives an order for an album from the user 190, the album creation unit 470 determines a title to be given to the album using the event name.

  The event storage unit 480 stores the latitude and longitude of two points that are diagonal to the rectangular area as positions. Then, the event storage unit 480 stores an area name indicating an area having a different area including the rectangular area as an event name. For example, the event storage unit 480 associates the area included in Kiyomizu-dera with “Kiyomizu-dera”, “Kyoto-shi”, which is a wider area including Kiyomizu-dera, and “Kyoto-fu”, which is a wider area-name including Kyoto-shi. , “Japan”, which is a wider area name including Kyoto Prefecture, is stored as the event name. As described above, the event storage unit 480 stores a plurality of area names indicating areas having different sizes corresponding to the respective positions. Therefore, the image classification unit 410 can classify an image group captured at Kiyomizu-dera into an event called “Kiyomizu-dera”, and an image group including images captured at Kiyomizu-dera temple and Kyoto Station is called “Kyoto City”, for example. Can be classified into events.

  FIG. 6 shows another example of event information stored in the event storage unit 480 in a table format. The event storage unit 480 stores event names that identify a plurality of events in association with the time. For example, the event storage unit 480 stores a plurality of dates and times indicating a predetermined time width including the dates and times. Then, the event storage unit 480 stores event names indicating periods having different time widths including the period. For example, the event storage unit 480 stores “October 9”, “October”, “Athletic meet”, “Autumn”, “2005”, and the like as event names in association with October 9, 2005. To do. As described above, the event storage unit 480 stores event names indicating different time widths including the time corresponding to each time. Therefore, the image classification unit 410 can classify the captured image group captured on October 9 into an event “October 9”, and can be captured on October 9 and November 15. The group of images can be classified into events such as “autumn”, for example.

  The event storage unit 480 may store an event name indicating a relative time with respect to the reference time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit 432 in association with the time. The example of this figure is an example when the reference time acquisition unit 432 acquires the birthday of the person who is the subject as the reference time, and the event storage unit 480 stores the age of the subject in association with the time. . For example, the event storage unit 480 stores “6 years old” in association with July 21, 2005. In the example of this figure, the event storage unit 480 stores the event name for the absolute time, but the event storage unit 480 stores the event name in advance in association with the relative time from the reference time. May be. For example, the event storage unit 480 may store “6 years old” as an event name in association with the time from the sixth birthday to the previous day of the seventh birthday.

  Needless to say, the event storage unit 480 may store events in association with combinations of time and position. For example, the event storage unit 480 may store an event name “athletic meet” in association with a combination of a time indicating the beginning of October and a position indicating an elementary school. As described above in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, according to the album creating system 100, an image group can be classified into various events.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of events extracted by the event extraction unit 440. The image classification unit 410 classifies an image into each event stored in the event storage unit 480. At this time, the image classifying unit 410 classifies an image having an imaging time included in the time and time width indicated by each event or an imaging position included in the area indicated by each event into the event. For example, images are classified into events stored in the event storage unit 480 such as October, Sports Day, Shichigosan, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto City, and the like. In the example of this figure, the images included in the image groups 2, 3, and 5 are images taken at the time of 753 in different years, and the image classification unit 410 uses the same event “753” as the images. Classify into: Then, the image number calculation unit 460 calculates the number N of images classified into each event for each event.

  Then, the event extraction unit 440 calculates, for each event, a time width T of an imaging time when a plurality of images classified into each event is captured. The time width T may be a difference in imaging time between an image captured first in time and an image captured last in a plurality of images classified into the same event. Then, the event extraction unit 440 calculates a value n obtained by dividing the number N of images by the time width T as an extraction index for extracting the event for which an album should be created. The event extraction unit 440 extracts a predetermined number of events in descending order of the extraction index. For this reason, the album creating system 100 can present the event having a higher temporal imaging density to the user 190 with higher priority. Note that the event extraction unit 440 may extract a predetermined number of events in descending order of the calculated extraction index among events having the number N of images equal to or greater than a predetermined number. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the event extraction unit 440 from extracting an event that includes only an insufficient number of images for creating an album.

  Note that the event extraction unit 440 may calculate the extraction index using the distance from the reference position such as the home of the user 190 acquired by the reference position acquisition unit 422 to the imaging position where the image is captured as an index. Specifically, the event extraction unit 440 calculates, for each event, an average latitude and an average position indicating the average longitude obtained by averaging the latitudes and longitudes indicated by the imaging positions of the plurality of images classified by the image classification unit 410 as events. . Then, the event extraction unit 440 may calculate a difference D between the average position and the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit 422 as an extraction index. In addition, the event extraction unit 440 may calculate a value obtained by averaging the calculated n and D with a predetermined weight as an extraction index. Note that the event extraction unit 440 may calculate the extraction index as a recommendation level. For example, the event extraction unit 440 calculates α × N / T + β × D as a recommendation degree using α and β as weighting coefficients.

  In addition, when classifying into events related to the position stored in the event storage unit 480, the image classification unit 410, for each of a series of images captured continuously among images captured at the position indicated by each event, You may classify into events. According to this classification method, the group of images captured at Kiyomizu-dera in January 2005 and the group of images captured at Kiyomizu-dera in January 2006 can be classified as different events. For example, the image classification unit 410 can be classified into “Kiyomizu Temple 2005” and “Kiyomizu Temple 2006”. The image classification unit 410 may classify two or more of a plurality of series of image groups into the same event (for example, the same “Kiyomizu Temple”), but the image classification unit 410 regards the image groups as the same event. Whether to classify or to classify a plurality of image groups into the same event may be determined based on the imaging time of the image stored in the image storage unit 400.

  Specifically, when the difference between the average value of the imaging times and the current time is larger, the image classifying unit 410 classifies the images for each event from a plurality of images that are captured with a longer time width. As a specific example, when classifying the above image group in 2006, the image classification unit 410 classifies into another event such as “Kiyomizu Temple 2005” and “Kiyomizu Temple 2006”. In the case of classification in 2016, it is classified as the same event “Kiyomizu Temple”. As a result, the image classification unit 410 can classify images in a form that does not cause a sense of incongruity when the viewer browses. Note that the image classification unit 410 may classify images included in a wider area as events captured in the same area for a series of images captured in an area farther from the home of the user 190. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the image classification unit 410 classifies the image groups 4 and 5 into different image groups according to the time of classification as an event, or an image including the image groups 4 and 5 as the image group 7. Classify into the same image group.

  As described above, the album creating system 100 can create an album having a desirable theme based on image information.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a hardware configuration of the album creating apparatus 130 according to the present embodiment. The album creating apparatus 130 includes a CPU peripheral unit including a CPU 1505, a RAM 1520, a graphic controller 1575, and a display device 1580 connected to each other by a host controller 1582, and a communication connected to the host controller 1582 by an input / output controller 1584. An input / output unit having an interface 1530, a hard disk drive 1540, and a CD-ROM drive 1560, and a legacy input / output unit having a ROM 1510, a flexible disk drive 1550, and an input / output chip 1570 connected to the input / output controller 1584. .

  The host controller 1582 connects the RAM 1520, the CPU 1505 that accesses the RAM 1520 at a high transfer rate, and the graphic controller 1575. The CPU 1505 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 1510 and the RAM 1520 and controls each unit. The graphic controller 1575 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1505 and the like on a frame buffer provided in the RAM 1520 and displays the image data on the display device 1580. Alternatively, the graphic controller 1575 may include a frame buffer that stores image data generated by the CPU 1505 or the like.

  The input / output controller 1584 connects the host controller 1582 to the hard disk drive 1540, the communication interface 1530, and the CD-ROM drive 1560, which are relatively high-speed input / output devices. The hard disk drive 1540 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1505. The communication interface 1530 is connected to the network communication device 1598 to transmit / receive programs or data. The CD-ROM drive 1560 reads a program or data from the CD-ROM 1595 and provides it to the hard disk drive 1540 and the communication interface 1530 via the RAM 1520.

  The input / output controller 1584 is connected to the ROM 1510, the flexible disk drive 1550, and the relatively low-speed input / output device of the input / output chip 1570. The ROM 1510 stores a boot program executed when the album creating apparatus 130 is started, a program depending on the hardware of the album creating apparatus 130, and the like. The flexible disk drive 1550 reads a program or data from the flexible disk 1590 and provides it to the hard disk drive 1540 and the communication interface 1530 via the RAM 1520. The input / output chip 1570 connects various input / output devices via a flexible disk drive 1550 and, for example, a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and the like.

  A program executed by the CPU 1505 is stored in a recording medium such as the flexible disk 1590, the CD-ROM 1595, or an IC card and provided by the user. The program stored in the recording medium may be compressed or uncompressed. The program is installed in the hard disk drive 1540 from the recording medium, read into the RAM 1520, and executed by the CPU 1505.

  The program executed by the CPU 1505 uses the album creating apparatus 130 as the image storage unit 400, the image classification unit 410, the distance calculation unit 420, the reference position acquisition unit 422, and the time difference calculation unit 430 described with reference to FIGS. , A reference time acquisition unit 432, an event extraction unit 440, a composition difference identification unit 450, an image number calculation unit 460, an album creation unit 470, an event storage unit 480, an event presentation unit 490, and an event input unit 492.

  The program shown above may be stored in an external storage medium. As the storage medium, in addition to the flexible disk 1590 and the CD-ROM 1595, an optical recording medium such as a DVD or PD, a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MD, a tape medium, a semiconductor memory such as an IC card, or the like can be used. Further, a storage device such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet may be used as a recording medium, and the program may be provided to the album creating apparatus 130 via the network.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. Various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a usage environment of an album creation system 100. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the flowchart which notifies the theme of an album to the user. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of a notification which notifies the user 190 of a recommended event. It is a figure which shows an example of the block configuration of the album production apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of event information in a table format. It is a figure which shows another example of event information in a table format. It is a figure which shows an example of the event extracted by the event extraction part. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an album creating apparatus 130. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

100 Album creation system 120 Image input device 130 Album creation device 140 Album output device 160 Recording medium 170 E-mail 180 Album 190 User 400 Image storage unit 410 Image classification unit 420 Distance calculation unit 422 Reference position acquisition unit 430 Time difference calculation unit 432 Reference time Acquisition unit 440 Event extraction unit 450 Composition difference identification unit 460 Image number calculation unit 470 Album creation unit 480 Event storage unit 490 Event presentation unit 492 Event input unit

Claims (13)

An image storage unit that stores a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images in association with each other;
An image classification unit that classifies the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging environment by analyzing each imaging environment of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit; ,
An image number calculation unit that calculates the number of images classified by event by the image classification unit for each event;
An event extraction unit for extracting the event having a larger number of images calculated for each event by the image number calculation unit with higher priority;
An album creation system comprising: an event presentation unit that presents an event extracted by the event extraction unit to a user. An event input unit that causes the user to select and input the event presented to the user by the event presenting unit;
The album creating system according to claim 1, further comprising: an album creating unit that creates an album using an image classified by the image classifying unit as an event input from the event input unit. The image storage unit stores a plurality of images in association with imaging positions of the plurality of images,
The image classification unit analyzes a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit to analyze a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging position. The album creating system according to claim 2, wherein the album creating system classifies the album. An event storage unit that stores an event associated with a location and associated with an area of a predetermined area including the location;
The image classification unit relates to a region including a position indicated by an imaging position stored in the image storage unit in association with each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit. The album creating system according to claim 3, wherein the album is classified into events stored in the event storage unit. A reference position acquisition unit for acquiring a reference position indicating a position serving as a reference of the main person in the album;
A distance difference, which is a distance between the position indicated by the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit and the position indicated by each imaging position of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, is determined for each of the plurality of images. A distance difference calculation unit for calculating,
The event storage unit stores a plurality of events respectively associated with a plurality of regions having different areas including the position in association with the position,
The image classification unit relates to a wider area including a position indicated by an imaging position where the image storage unit stores an image having a larger distance calculated by the distance difference calculation unit in association with the image. The album creation system according to claim 4, wherein the album creation system classifies the events stored in the event storage unit. A reference position acquisition unit for acquiring a reference position indicating a position serving as a reference of the main person in the album;
A distance difference, which is a distance between the position indicated by the reference position acquired by the reference position acquisition unit and the position indicated by each imaging position of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, is determined for each of the plurality of images. A distance calculation unit for calculating,
4. The album creation system according to claim 3, wherein the event extraction unit further preferentially extracts an event having a larger distance difference calculated by the distance calculation unit for the images classified by the image classification unit for each event. The image storage unit stores a plurality of images in association with imaging times of the plurality of images,
The image classifying unit analyzes a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit to analyze a plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging time. The album creating system according to claim 2, wherein the album creating system classifies. An event storage unit that stores an event associated with a time and associated with a period of a predetermined time width including the time,
The image classification unit relates to a period including a time indicated by an imaging time stored in the image storage unit in association with each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit. The album creating system according to claim 7, wherein the album is classified into events stored in the event storage unit. A reference time acquisition unit for acquiring the current time;
A time difference calculation unit that calculates a time difference, which is a difference between the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit and the imaging time of each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit, for each of the plurality of images; Prepared,
The event storage unit stores a plurality of events associated with a plurality of periods respectively associated with a plurality of periods with different time widths including the time,
The image classifying unit relates to a period having a longer time width including a time indicated by an imaging time when the image storing unit stores an image having a larger time difference calculated by the time difference calculating unit in association with the image. The album creating system according to claim 8, wherein the album is classified into events stored in the event storage unit. A reference time acquisition unit that acquires a reference time indicating a reference time for a main person in the album;
A relative time calculation unit that calculates, for each of the plurality of images, a relative time indicating the imaging time of each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit with respect to the time acquired by the reference time acquisition unit. Prepared,
The event storage unit stores an event associated with a period of a predetermined time width including the relative time in association with a relative time with respect to a reference time,
The image classification unit is configured such that each of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit is associated with a period including a relative time calculated by the relative time calculation unit for each of the images. The album creating system according to claim 8, wherein the album creating system classifies the events into stored events. In an event in which a plurality of images are classified by the image classification unit, the image classification unit further includes a composition difference identifying unit that identifies a composition difference indicating a composition difference between the plurality of images.
3. The album creating system according to claim 2, wherein the number-of-images calculation unit calculates, for each event, the number of images in which the composition difference specified by the composition difference specifying unit is larger than a predetermined composition difference. An image storage stage for storing a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images in association with each other;
An image classification stage for classifying the plurality of images stored in the image storage stage for each event based on the imaging environment by analyzing each imaging environment of the plurality of images stored in the image storage stage; ,
An image number calculating step for calculating the number of images classified for each event in the image classification step;
An event extraction step for extracting the event having a larger number of images calculated for each event in the image number calculation step with higher priority; and
An album creation method comprising: an event presentation step of presenting the event extracted in the event extraction step to a user. A program for an album creating system for creating an album, wherein the album creating system is
An image storage unit that stores a plurality of images and respective imaging environments of the plurality of images in association with each other;
An image classification unit that classifies the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit for each event based on the imaging environment by analyzing the imaging environments of the plurality of images stored in the image storage unit,
An image number calculation unit that calculates the number of images classified by event by the image classification unit for each event;
An event extracting unit for extracting the event having a larger number of images calculated for each event by the image number calculating unit with higher priority;
A program for functioning as an event presentation unit for presenting an event extracted by the event extraction unit to a user.

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