JP2008078954A - Image management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize an image management system which efficiently extracts an image, while maintaining independence of a video image monitoring network and a sensor network. <P>SOLUTION: Video image recording means 21-1 to 21-n record images photographed by imaging devices such as cameras, etc., sensor log recording means 22-1 to 22-n record event information from a sensor node, if primary search conditions are input by a search condition input means 23, a secondary search condition creation means 26 automatically creates secondary search conditions from the first search conditions, an image search means 25 searches images from the video image recording means 21-1 to 21-n based on the secondary search conditions, and an image display means 24 displays the searched and extracted images. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management system that manages images captured by a surveillance camera, for example, and more particularly to an image management system that extracts only images that meet a search condition from images recorded in time series for each imaging device.

  To trace the trajectory of a specific person or object from the recorded images of the surveillance camera, select an image that shows the specific person or object from the images recorded in time series for each surveillance camera, and then select all the cameras that are subject to this. In general, the extracted image is rearranged in time series.

  Conventional techniques mainly provide a GUI environment that efficiently realizes the above-described work, and humans visually confirm the selection of images.

  In addition, although the said inventor recognized and described that the inventor was already known, since the appropriate literature was not found, description of prior art literature information is not described.

  However, the above-mentioned image selection operation has a problem that it takes time and labor since all the recorded images to be checked are visually confirmed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and an object thereof is to provide an image management system capable of efficiently extracting an image.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image management system according to the present invention is an image management system that extracts an image that matches a search condition, and records image information that records an image and event information detected by a sensor. Sensor log recording means, search condition input means for inputting search conditions, primary search conditions input from the search input means, secondary search condition generation means for automatically generating secondary search conditions from the sensor log recording means, and primary or secondary The image search unit includes an image search unit that searches for an image from the image recording unit according to the next search condition, and an image display unit that displays the image.

  Furthermore, in the image management system according to the present invention, the secondary search condition includes a camera ID and time information.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image management system according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that images a predetermined area, an image recording unit that records an image output from the imaging unit, and a wireless terminal held by a person A device, a wireless receiving means for receiving a signal transmitted wirelessly from the wireless terminal device, and an information management means for managing person's entrance / exit information based on the signal received by the wireless receiving means. Based on the entry / exit area information, only an image in which a desired person is captured can be extracted from the recording means.

  As described above, according to the image management system according to the present invention, the selection operation of an image, which has been conventionally required manually, is automatically performed using a sensor. Images can be extracted.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an entrance / exit management system as an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, fixed sensor nodes 51, 52, and 53 are installed as wireless receiving means at the entrances and exits of three rooms Room1, Room2, and Room3, and each room has a camera 1 (ID) as an imaging means for imaging the inside. Number 1), camera 2 (ID number 2), and camera 3 (ID number 3) are installed. A person holds mobile nodes 101, 102, and 103 as wireless terminal devices. In this embodiment, the fixed sensor node can detect the entrance / exit of the mobile node by reading the ID of the mobile node. As such a known example, there is an entrance / exit management system using RF-ID.

  In the mobile nodes 101 to 103, identification information (ID data) uniquely assigned to each person is previously written in the memory.

  The mobile nodes 101 to 103 have an antenna unit, and have a function of intermittently wirelessly transmitting ID data to the fixed sensor nodes 51 to 53. As a wireless transmission from a mobile node, for example, a method using a transmission radio wave from a fixed sensor node such as a passive RF-ID may be used, or an active RF-ID or a ZigBee terminal may be used. Thus, a method of emitting radio waves from a mobile node having a power source may be used. In addition, as a timing of transmission from the mobile node, a passive method responding to a request from the fixed sensor node may be used, or a method of actively transmitting from the mobile node is used. May be.

  The cameras 1 to 3 are devices having an imaging unit and a video data output unit. As the cameras 1 to 3, for example, an analog type camera may be used, or an image codec that digitizes captured video and performs compression processing as necessary in addition to the imaging unit and the video data output unit A network-type camera equipped with may be used. Alternatively, in these cameras, a camera with a pan head provided with a so-called PTZ control unit for pan, tilt, and zoom may be used. Moreover, there is no limitation in particular as a kind of camera, For example, special cameras, such as an infrared camera, may be used.

  In this embodiment, the case of three rooms is shown, but the number of rooms may be singular or plural. Moreover, although the case where one camera was installed with respect to one room was shown, you may install a some camera with respect to one room.

  Hereinafter, the case of searching for an image of a person: Hitachi Hanako in Date: July 20, 2006, 10:00 to 10:30, location: Room 1, Room 2, and Room 3 will be described in comparison with the prior art.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration example of a conventional image management system. The image management system in FIG. 3 includes image recording means 21-1 to 21-n for recording images taken by an imaging device such as a camera, search condition input means 23 for inputting search conditions, and images from the image recording means. It comprises an image search means 25 for searching and an image display means 24 for displaying images (this is the image search device 200 shown in FIG. 3).

  As another configuration example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, an image management system including the imaging devices 11-1 to 11-n such as cameras may be used. The video surveillance network 31 connects to the corresponding image recording means 21-1 to 21-n.

  In FIG. 3, the search condition is input from the search condition input unit 23, and the input search condition is supplied to the image search unit 25. The image search means 25 reads an image that matches the supplied search condition from the image recording means 25 and supplies the read image to the image display means 24. The image display unit 24 displays the supplied image. In a conventional image management system, a method of searching for an image by designating time for each of the imaging devices 11-1 to 11-n such as a camera is performed.

  FIG. 4 is an example of the search screen 61 in the search condition input means 23 of FIG. A camera ID and time are input as search conditions.

  FIG. 5A shows a conventional image search result. Conventionally, an image of a person: Hanako Hitachi is visually cut out from the image shown in FIG. 5A and edited as shown in FIG. 5B.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an image management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image management system of FIG. 1 includes image recording means 21-1 to 21-n for recording images taken by an imaging device such as a camera, and sensor log recording means 22-1 to 22- for recording event information from sensor nodes. n, search condition input means 23 for inputting search conditions, secondary search condition generation means 26 for generating secondary search conditions from the primary search conditions input from search condition input means 23, and image recording means 21-1. To 21-n, and an image display unit 24 for displaying an image (this is the image search apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 3).

  As another configuration example, as shown in FIG. 1, an image management system including the video surveillance network system 300 may be used. The imaging devices 11-1 to 11-n such as cameras may The video monitoring network system 300 is constructed by being connected to the corresponding image recording means 21-1 to 21-n.

  As another configuration example, as shown in FIG. 1, an image management system including the sensor network system 400 may be used, and the sensor nodes 12-1 to 12-n are connected to the corresponding sensor log by the sensor network 32. The sensor network system 400 is constructed by being connected to the recording means 22-1 to 22-n.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the conventional image management system, a secondary search condition generation unit 26 and sensor log storage units 22-1 to 22-n are provided.

  In FIG. 1, search conditions are input from search condition input means 23, and the input search conditions are supplied to image search means 25. The image search means 25 supplies the primary search condition, which is the input search condition, to the secondary search condition generation means 26 as necessary. The secondary search condition generation means 26 reads the record information from the sensor log recording means 22-1 to 22-n based on the supplied primary search condition, automatically generates the secondary search condition, and the automatically generated secondary search. Conditions are supplied to the image search means 25. The image search means 25 reads images that match the supplied search conditions from the image recording means 21-1 to 21-n and supplies the read images to the image display means 24. The image display unit 24 displays the supplied image.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a search screen 62 in the search condition input means 23 of the image management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the search condition is to search for images in Room 1, Room 2, and Room 3 on July 20, 2006, 10: 00-10: 30 of a person whose name is Hitachi Hanako. The search conditions are supplied from the search condition input means 23 to the image search means 25.

  Here, FIG. 10 is a processing flow of the secondary search condition generation means 26 (FIG. 10A) and the image search unit (FIG. 10B), which are characteristic parts of the present invention.

  In step S11 of FIG. 10A, the image search means 25 is supplied with the search conditions, name: Hitachi Hanako, date: 2006/7/20 10: 00 to 2006/7/20 10:30, location: Room 1, Analyze Room2 and Room3. In step S12, the image search unit 25 is supplied when it is determined that the image cannot be searched because the camera ID necessary for searching the image recording units 21-1 to 21-3 is not included in the search condition. The search conditions are supplied to the secondary search condition generation means 26.

  In the process of step 1 in FIG. 10B, the secondary search condition generation unit 26 analyzes the supplied search condition and uses the items included in the search condition in the sensor log recording units 22-1 to 22-3. To the corresponding ID.

  Here, FIG. 7A is a correspondence table of ID: 101 to 103 used in the mobile node held by the search condition item and the person, and FIG. 7B is a sensor log recording unit 22-1. FIG. 7C shows an example of a correspondence table of camera IDs: 1 to 3 used in the image search means 25 and location information. It is. In this embodiment, the correspondence table is provided in the secondary search condition generation means 26. The secondary search condition generation means 26 uses the correspondence table FIG. 7A to convert the name: Hanako Hitachi to the corresponding mobile node ID: 101.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a log recorded in the sensor log recording means 22-1 to 22-3. Events from each sensor node are recorded in order of time.

  Next, in step S2 of FIG. 10A, the secondary search condition generation unit 26 obtains ID: 101 from the log corresponding to the date of the search condition from the sensor log information recording units 22-1 to 22-3. What is included is read out (FIG. 9A).

  In the process of step S3, the secondary search condition generation unit 26 targets the read log (FIG. 9A) and uses the correspondence table FIG. To get.

  In the process of step S4, the secondary search condition generation unit 26 acquires the corresponding camera ID from the location information of the sensor node using the correspondence table FIG. 7C, and the data corresponding to the log and the camera ID. Is created (FIG. 9B).

  Further, the secondary search condition generation unit 26 converts the data corresponding to the log and the camera ID into a format that can be used for the search by the image search unit 25, and supplies this to the image search unit 25 as a secondary search condition. (FIG. 9C).

  In S13 of FIG. 10B, the image search means 25 reads the images that match the secondary search conditions supplied from the secondary search condition generation means 26 from the image recording means 21-1 to 21-3, and reads the read images. Is supplied to the image display means 24. The image display unit 24 displays the supplied image. Thus, the image of FIG. 5B is displayed.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the processing sequence of this embodiment. Processing is realized by adding (A), which is a characteristic part of the present invention, to the conventional sequence.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to extract and display only an image in which a desired person is picked up from the recording means without performing a work that conventionally required manual work.
The present invention realizes an efficient image management system by using both recorded data in image search while maintaining the independence of the video surveillance network system and the sensor network system.
In addition, it is possible to shift from an existing image management system to an efficient image management system using sensor information at low cost.
Since a user-friendly user interface can be provided, a human error occurrence suppression effect can be expected in image search work.

  Further, since the apparatus can be connected to an independent video surveillance network system and a sensor network system, there is an advantage that both systems can be added or changed independently.

  In addition, each unit in the above apparatus may not be realized by independent hardware, and a plurality of units may be realized by one hardware by any combination.

  In this embodiment, an example of an entrance / exit management system is shown as an image management system, and a person is used as an image search target. From the wireless terminal devices of the mobile sensor nodes 101 to 103 held by the person, The wireless receiving means is configured by the function of the fixed sensor nodes 51 to 53 that receive signals transmitted wirelessly, and the imaging means is configured by the function of the cameras 1 to 3 that capture an image of a predetermined area.

  In this embodiment, a person is set as an image search target. However, the image search target may be an object such as an animal, an object, or a car instead of a person.

  Here, the configurations of the system and the device according to the present invention are not necessarily limited to those described above, and various configurations may be used. The present invention can also be provided, for example, as a method or method for executing the processing according to the present invention, a program for realizing such a method or method, or a recording medium for recording the program. It is also possible to provide various devices and systems.

  The application field of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described fields, and the present invention can be applied to various fields. As an application example, it can be realized as a management system for logistics, parking lots, roads, etc., or as a monitoring system for children, demented deaf persons, test venues, etc.

  In addition, as various processes performed in the system and apparatus according to the present invention, for example, the processor executes a control program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) in hardware resources including a processor and a memory. A controlled configuration may be used, and for example, each functional unit for executing the processing may be configured as an independent hardware circuit.

  The present invention can also be understood as a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD (Compact Disc) -ROM storing the control program, and the program (itself). The processing according to the present invention can be performed by inputting the program from the recording medium to the computer and causing the processor to execute the program.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the image management system which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the image management system which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an image management system. It is a figure which shows an example of the search screen in a search condition input means. It is a figure which shows an example of the image search result in a search condition input means. It is a figure which shows an example of the search screen in the search condition input means which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the corresponding | compatible table required for the image search based on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the log currently recorded on the sensor log recording means which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the secondary search condition production | generation means based on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the secondary search condition production | generation means and image search part which concern on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the process sequence which concerns on one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1-3: IDs of cameras 1 to 3, 11-1 to 11-n: imaging devices such as cameras, 12-1 to 12-n: sensor nodes, 21-1 to 21-n: image recording means, 22-1 -22-n: sensor log recording means, 23: search condition input means, 24: image display means, 25: image search means, 26: secondary search condition generation means, 31: video surveillance network, 32: sensor network, 51-51 53: Fixed type sensor node ID, 61: Search screen of conventional example, 62: Search screen of this example, 101-103: Mobile type node ID, 200: Image search device, 300: Video surveillance network system, 400: Sensor Network system, Room1 to Room3: Room

Claims (3)

In an image management system that searches for and displays images that meet search criteria,
Image recording means for recording an image;
Sensor log recording means for recording event information detected by the sensor;
Search condition input means for inputting search conditions;
A secondary search condition generating means for automatically generating a secondary search condition from the primary search condition and the sensor log recording means input from the search input means;
An image search means for searching for an image from the image recording means according to a primary or secondary search condition;
Image display means for displaying an image;
An image management system comprising: The image management system according to claim 1,
The image management system, wherein the secondary search condition includes a camera ID and time information. Imaging means for imaging a predetermined area;
Image recording means for recording an image output from the imaging means;
A wireless terminal device held by a person;
Wireless receiving means for receiving a signal transmitted wirelessly from a wireless terminal device;
Information management means for managing person's entrance / exit information based on the signal received by the wireless receiving means;
An image management system comprising:
Based on the person's entry / exit area information, only the image in which the desired person is imaged is extracted from the recording means.
An image management system characterized by that.