JP2008148053A - Apparatus, server and method for image processing, and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily acquire images of desired objects using images which include a plurality of objects and are photographed by a plurality of photographers with a plurality of photographing apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: An image processing server 54 receives image data including image search information from an image processing apparatus 51, stores a plurality of image data included in the image search information received from the image processing apparatus 51, receives image data of related images included in the image search information and image acquisition requests from an image processing apparatus 52 through a communication line, and selects images corresponding to the image acquisition requests based on the image search information included in the image data of the related images and the related images to transmit them to the image processing apparatus 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a control program, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus and image processing for searching for a video or image satisfying a predetermined condition across a plurality of users and acquiring a desired image. The present invention relates to a method and a control program.

Conventionally, in events where many people gather, such as athletic meet, the subject you want to shoot is blocked, and even if you want to shoot from various angles, there are various restrictions such as the number of shooting devices and photographers In general, it is often impossible to actually shoot due to restrictions.
In addition, there may be a situation in which images from a plurality of angles are desired even at the same time and at the same time.
JP 2005-286377 A

By the way, in such an event where a large number of people gather, there are a large number of photographers, and it is highly possible that other photographers hold photographs that they need. For example, in a children's athletic meet, an image taken by a parent of a classmate child participating in the same event as his / her child is likely to include his / her child.
Therefore, if parents cooperate, it is not impossible to manually select an image after shooting. However, in order to select a more preferable image, it is necessary to take time and effort for many photographers. Such is very difficult.

In response to such a problem, the technique described in Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for attaching a sensor to a specific subject in order to extract a scene. Thereby, the specific posture scene is extracted.
However, with this technique, as described above, it has been difficult to extract a photograph of a scene in which a subject is hidden by a shielding object or a photo with a different composition for a specific subject.
In addition, there is a problem that it is not realistic to attach sensors to many subjects.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device, an image processing, and an image processing device that can easily acquire an image of the target subject using images taken by a plurality of subjects, a plurality of photographers, and a plurality of photographing devices. A system, a control method thereof, and a control program are provided.

In order to solve the above problems, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a request transmission unit that transmits an image search information and image data acquisition request to a request destination apparatus via a communication path, and the communication from the request destination apparatus to the communication destination. And an image receiving unit that receives target image data of the acquisition request transmitted via a path.
According to the above configuration, the request transmission unit transmits the image search information and the image data acquisition request to the request destination apparatus via the communication path.
Accordingly, the image receiving unit receives target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path.
Therefore, the image processing apparatus can automatically acquire and collect a target image as an image related to the related image from the request destination apparatus.

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a request receiving unit that receives an image search information and image data acquisition request from an external device via a communication path, an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data, A transmission image selection unit that selects image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information, and image transmission that transmits the selected image data to the external device via the communication path And a section.
According to the above configuration, the image data storage unit stores a plurality of image data, and the request reception unit receives the image search information and the image data acquisition request from the external device via the communication path.
Thus, the transmission image selection unit selects image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request from the plurality of image data stored in the image data storage unit based on the image search information.
As a result, the image transmission unit transmits the selected image data to the external device via the communication path.
Therefore, since the image processing apparatus automatically selects and transmits an image corresponding to the acquisition request of the external device based on the image search information, the external device can easily acquire and collect the necessary image. It becomes possible to do.

In this case, the image search information includes shooting date / time information, shooting location information, shooting direction information, shooting event information, shooting target information, shooting condition information, image feature quantity that can specify a subject, and image data that can specify a subject. Of these, at least one of them may be included.
According to the above configuration, the device on the image acquisition request side specifies shooting date / time information, shooting location information, shooting direction information, shooting event information, shooting target information, shooting condition information, and subject included in the image search information. A desired target image can be easily acquired and collected based on the image feature amount that can be specified or image data that can specify the subject.

In addition, the transmission image selection unit determines the number of image data disclosed by the external device as being transmittable to the image processing device or the number of image data actually received by the image processing device from the external device. The selection may be performed as follows.
According to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus can exchange images with the external apparatus on an equal basis without collecting one-sided images.

An image processing server according to the present invention includes an image data receiving unit that receives image data from an image processing apparatus that is an image registration source, and an image data storage that stores a plurality of image data received from the image processing apparatus that is the image registration source. A request receiving unit for receiving an image search information and image data acquisition request from the image requesting image processing apparatus via a communication path, and responding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information A transmission image selection unit that selects image data to be transmitted, and an image transmission unit that transmits the selected image data to the image processing apparatus that is the image request source via the communication path. .
According to the above configuration, the image data receiving unit receives image data from the image registration source image processing device, and the image data storage unit stores a plurality of image data received from the image registration source image processing device.
On the other hand, the request receiving unit receives the image search information and the image data acquisition request from the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path, and the transmission image selecting unit receives the image data based on the image search information. Image data corresponding to the acquisition request is selected from a plurality of images stored in the image data storage unit.

As a result, the image transmission unit transmits the selected image data to the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path.
Therefore, the image processing server automatically selects the image corresponding to the acquisition request of the image requesting image processing apparatus based on the image search information while storing the image data from the image processing source image processing apparatus. Thus, the image requesting image processing apparatus can easily acquire and collect necessary images.

In this case, the transmission image selection unit may perform the selection using the number of image data stored in the image data storage unit of the image processing server by the image processing apparatus as the image request source as the upper limit selection data number. Good.
According to the above configuration, the image processing server can exchange images with the image requesting image processing apparatus on an equal basis without causing unilateral image collection.
Further, in the image processing method in the image processing apparatus including the communication unit that performs communication via the communication path according to the present invention, the image search information and the image data acquisition request are transmitted to the request destination apparatus via the communication path. And a request receiving process for receiving the target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path.
According to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus can automatically acquire and collect a target image as an image related to the related image from the request destination apparatus.

Further, in an image processing method in an image processing apparatus including an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data according to the present invention and a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path, image search information and image data are transmitted from an external device. A request reception process for receiving an acquisition request via the communication path, a transmission image selection process for selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information, and the selected image data And an image transmission process for transmitting to the external device via the communication path.
According to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus automatically selects and transmits an image corresponding to the acquisition request of the external apparatus based on the image search information, so that the external apparatus can easily obtain the necessary image. It can be acquired and collected.

In the image processing method in an image processing server including an image data storage unit and a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path according to the present invention, image data from an image processing apparatus that is an image registration source is transmitted via the communication path. An image data receiving process for receiving, an image data storing process for storing image data received from the image registration source image processing apparatus in the image data storage unit, an image search information and an image from the image requesting image processing apparatus A request reception process for receiving a data acquisition request via a communication path, a transmission image selection process for selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information, and the selected image data Is transmitted to the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path.
According to the above configuration, the image processing server stores the image data from the image registration source image processing device, and based on the image search information, displays an image corresponding to the acquisition request of the image request source image processing device. Since it is automatically selected and transmitted, the image processing apparatus as the image request source can easily acquire and collect necessary images.

Further, in a control program for controlling an image processing apparatus including a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path according to the present invention by a computer, an image search information and image data acquisition request is sent via the communication path. The target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path is received by the request destination device.
According to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus can automatically acquire and collect a target image as an image related to the related image from the request destination apparatus.

In a control program for controlling an image processing apparatus including a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path according to the present invention and an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data, an image search unit for image search from an external device. An information and image data acquisition request is received via the communication path, image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request is selected based on the image search information, and the selected image data is transmitted through the communication path. And transmitting to the external device.
According to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus automatically selects and transmits an image corresponding to the acquisition request of the external apparatus based on the image search information, so that the external apparatus can easily obtain the necessary image. It can be acquired and collected.

Further, in a control program for controlling an image processing server provided with an image data storage unit and a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path according to the present invention by a computer, the image data is transmitted from the image processing apparatus that is an image registration source. The image data received from the image registration source image processing apparatus is stored in the image data storage unit, and an image search information and image data acquisition request is received from the image request source image processing apparatus. Receiving the image data via a communication path, causing the image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request to be selected based on the image search information, and processing the selected image data via the communication path. It is characterized by transmitting to the device.
According to the above configuration, the image processing server stores the image data from the image registration source image processing device, and based on the image search information, displays an image corresponding to the acquisition request of the image request source image processing device. Since it is automatically selected and transmitted, the image processing apparatus as the image request source can easily acquire and collect necessary images.

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1] First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.
The image processing apparatus 10 is configured as a digital camera, and includes an image processing apparatus main body unit 11 that performs image processing, a camera unit 12 that captures various images, a plurality of key switches for performing various operations, and a rotary selector. And the like, a display unit 14 such as a liquid crystal display for performing various displays such as photographing results and photographing conditions, a communication unit 15 for performing wireless communication such as wired communication or infrared communication with an external device, and various data are stored. And an external storage unit 16 such as a memory card reader / writer, and a position / orientation detection unit 17 that includes a GPS receiver and an orientation sensor and detects the current position and shooting orientation of the image processing apparatus.
The image processing apparatus main body 11 temporarily stores a microprocessor unit (MPU) 21 that controls the entire image processing apparatus main body 11, a ROM 22 that stores various data including a control program in advance, and various data. A RAM 23 and a communication interface unit 24 that performs an interface operation with an external communication network such as peer-to-peer, LAN, and the Internet via the communication unit 15 are provided.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image processing apparatus.
The image processing apparatus 10 is roughly classified into an image metadata extraction unit 31, a shooting time detection unit 32, a shooting location detection unit 33, a shooting direction detection unit 34, a face recognition unit 35, and an image request unit 36. A transmission / reception history storage unit 37, a communication control unit 38, and an image storage unit 39.
The image metadata extraction unit 31 extracts metadata from image data including metadata such as shooting date / time, shooting location, shooting target, shooting conditions, and the like.
The shooting time detector 32 detects the shooting time based on the clock signal output from the internal clock circuit.
The shooting location detection unit 33 detects a shooting location (latitude, longitude coordinates, etc.) and generates shooting location data to be included in the metadata.
The shooting direction detection unit 34 detects the shooting direction and generates shooting direction data to be included in the metadata.
The face recognition unit 35 recognizes a face image included in the photographed image and identifies a subject.
The image request unit 36 requests an image desired to be transmitted to an external apparatus (another image processing apparatus) as a communication destination.
The transmission / reception history storage unit 37 requests the external device from the image requesting unit 36, receives (obtains) the number of images, the number of images disclosed for image exchange to the external device, or the images actually transmitted / received to / from the external device Remember the number.
The communication control unit 38 controls communication via the communication interface unit 24.
The image storage unit 39 stores captured or received images.
First, prior to describing the operation of the embodiment, a situation in which the image processing apparatus of the embodiment can be effectively used will be described.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a utilization status of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In this case, the user U1 of the digital camera D1 that is the first image processing apparatus mainly photographs the first specific subject T1, and the user U2 of the digital camera D2 that is the second image processing apparatus mainly performs the second operation. The specific subject T2 is photographed. Specifically, the user U1 is a parent of a specific subject T1 that is a child, and the user U2 is a parent of a specific subject T2 that is a child.
Here, if there is an obstacle B that obstructs the field of view, such as a tree or an entrance gate, between the digital camera D1 and the first specific subject T1, the user U1 can move the entire specific subject T1. The camera is in a state where it cannot be photographed. In an actual situation, there is a possibility that the specific subject T1 also moves, and the user U1 cannot always move quickly, and it is difficult to at least optimally shoot the specific subject T1. Further, the specific subject T2 can be photographed.
On the other hand, the user U2 can shoot both the specific subject T1 and the specific subject T2.
Under such circumstances, the user U1 may desire to obtain an image in which the specific subject T1 photographed by the user U2 is captured.
Further, although the user U2 can shoot both the specific subject T1 and the specific subject T2, the shooting angle of the specific subject T2 is not necessarily preferable, and he wants to obtain an image from the angle shot by the user U1. And may wish.
Therefore, in this embodiment, in such a situation, a desired image can be exchanged or easily obtained by both the users U1 and U2.

Next, the operation when an image is requested will be described.
FIG. 4 is a process flowchart of the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the processing operation of the first embodiment.
In the following description, it is assumed that the digital camera D1 and the digital camera D2 are capable of infrared communication with each other, and the digital camera D1 (user U1) requests image transmission from the digital camera D2 (user 2). Will be described.
First, when the communication units 15 of the digital camera D1 and the digital camera D2 face each other to start communication, the digital cameras D1 and D2 establish communication via the communication path NT according to a predetermined communication procedure. (Steps S11A and S11B).
Subsequently, the digital camera D1 transmits the image data including the metadata and the image data related to the image to be transmitted and the transmission request command to the digital camera D2 (step S12).

Specifically, image data corresponding to an image including the specific subject T1 is transmitted as a related image.
Accordingly, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 functions as the image metadata extraction unit 31 and extracts metadata from the image data transmitted from the digital camera D1 (step S13).
More specifically, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 extracts shooting date / time, shooting location, and the like recorded as metadata.
Next, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 functions as a face image recognition unit, recognizes a face image from an image corresponding to the image data transmitted from the digital camera D1, identifies a subject included in the image, An image feature amount to be extracted from the image is calculated (step S14).

In this case, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 recognizes the face image of the specific subject T1 as the face image and calculates the corresponding image feature amount.
Subsequently, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 uses the calculated image feature amount to search for an image including the specific subject T1 from the images stored in its own external storage unit, and includes the specific subject T1. In addition, image data satisfying other required contents (shooting date and time, shooting location, etc.) is extracted (step S15).
Then, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D2 transmits the extracted image data to the digital camera D1 via the communication unit 15 (step S16).
As a result, the MPU 21 of the digital camera D1 stores and stores the received image data in the external storage unit 16.

As a result, the user U1 of the digital camera D1 can easily obtain an image from another angle of the specific subject T1 that he / she wanted to shoot.
Similarly, the user U2 of the digital camera D2 can easily obtain an image from another angle of the specific subject T2 that he / she wanted to shoot.
That is, both users U1 and U2 can easily and reliably obtain a desired image.
The above description is for the case where the digital camera D1 unilaterally requests image data. However, the digital camera D1 and the digital camera D2 are exchanged, that is, the number of transmitted image data and the number of received image data are the same. It is also possible to configure so as to.

[2] Second Embodiment The above first embodiment has been described for the case of performing peer-to-peer communication. However, the second embodiment is an embodiment in the case of transmitting and receiving image data via a communication network such as the Internet. .
FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration block diagram of an image processing system according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 6, the same parts as those of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
The image processing system 50 includes image processing devices 51 and 52, a communication network 53 to which the image processing devices 51 and 52 are connected, and an image processing server 54 that is connected to the communication network 53 and performs image distribution processing. ing.

Here, since the image processing apparatuses 51 and 52 have the same configuration, the image processing apparatus 51 will be described as an example.
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of the image processing apparatus.
The image processing device 51 is configured as a personal computer, and includes an image processing device main body 61 that performs image processing, an image input device 62 that performs various image inputs, and an input device 63 such as a keyboard and a mouse for performing various operations. And a display device 64 such as a liquid crystal display for performing various displays, an output device 65 such as a printer for performing printing, and an external storage device 66 such as a hard disk device for storing various data.
The image processing apparatus main body 61 includes a microprocessor unit (MPU) 71 that controls the entire image processing apparatus main body 61, a ROM 72 that stores various data including a control program in advance, and a RAM 73 that temporarily stores various data. And a communication interface unit 74 that performs an interface operation between the communication network 53 and the communication network 53.
The image processing server 54 includes an image processing server main body 54-1 that performs actual image processing control, and an image database (DB) 54-2 that stores image data including metadata in association with index data as a database. I have.
Next, the operation when an image is requested will be described.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart at the time of image registration according to the second embodiment.
In the following description, a case where the image processing device 51 and the image processing device 52 perform image exchange will be described. In this case, the process for registering image data and the image exchange request process are the same for both the image processing apparatus 51 and the image processing apparatus 52. Therefore, the process for registering image data is the operation of the image processing apparatus 51. The image exchange request will be described using the operation of the image processing device 52 as an example.
First, when registering image data, the image processing apparatus 51 is connected to the image processing server 54 via the communication interface unit 74 and the communication network 53.
Accordingly, when communication with the image processing server 54 is established (steps S21A and 21B), the image processing apparatus 51 transmits image data used for image exchange together with a storage request and an exchange request (step S22).
At this time, the transmitted image data includes metadata such as shooting date and time, shooting location, information for specifying the subject, and event name (such as XX junior high school graduation ceremony).
Thus, the image processing server 54 receives the image data, stores the received image data in an image storage unit such as a hard disk (not shown), and performs image search based on the metadata included in the stored image data. Are created and stored in the image database (DB) 54-2.

As a result, the image of the image processing apparatus 51 stored in the image database (DB) 54-2 becomes usable by another image processing apparatus (for example, the image processing apparatus 52).
Thereafter, when the image processing device 52 intends to acquire (collect) image data, it connects to the image processing server 54 via the communication interface unit 74 and the communication network 53.
As a result, when communication with the image processing server 54 is established (steps S31A and 31B), the image processing device 52 relates to the image that includes metadata and requests exchange for the image processing server 54. The image data of the image to be transmitted and the exchange request command are transmitted (step S32).
As a result, the image processing server 54 extracts metadata from the image data transmitted from the image processing device 52 (step S33).
More specifically, the image processing server 54 extracts shooting date / time, shooting location, and the like recorded as metadata.

Next, the image processing server 54 functions as a face image recognition unit, recognizes a face image from an image corresponding to the image data transmitted from the image processing device 52, identifies a subject included in the image, An image feature amount to be extracted from the image is calculated (step S34).
Subsequently, the image processing server 54 selects image data corresponding to the extracted metadata based on the index data, and uses the calculated image feature amount for the selected image data to correspond to the image feature amount. An image including the subject to be searched is searched, and image data including the subject and satisfying other request contents (such as shooting date and time, shooting location) is extracted (step S35).

Then, when the extracted image data is equal to or less than the number of images stored in response to the replacement request of the image processing device 52, the image processing server 54 transmits all the extracted image data via the communication network 53. If the extracted image data is larger than the number of images stored with the exchange request, the image data of the number of images stored with the exchange request is extracted from the extracted image data. The image is transmitted to the image processing device 52 (step S36).
Similarly, when the extracted image data is equal to or less than the number of images stored in response to the exchange request from the image processing apparatus 51, the image processing server 54 transmits all the extracted image data via the communication network 53. When the extracted image data is larger than the number of images stored with the exchange request, the number of images stored with the exchange request is extracted from the extracted image data. Data is transmitted to the image processing device 52.
As a result, each image processing apparatus can acquire an image corresponding to the image exchange request within the range of the number of image data stored in the image processing server 54 by itself, and the received image data is stored in the external storage device 66. Store and store (step S36).

As a result, the user of the image processing device 52 can easily obtain various images that the user desires to acquire.
Similarly, the user of the image processing apparatus 51 can easily obtain various images that the user desires to acquire.
In the above description, it has been described that any user of an image processing apparatus can obtain an image. However, when constructing an actual system, a user who can request an image from the viewpoint of security. It is also possible to configure so as to limit the above.
For example, if it is a photograph of an athletic meet, it can be configured to be restricted to those concerned with students of the school or restricted to those concerned with the class. In this case, a method may be considered in which an access key is separately provided to those persons concerned, and the image processing server 54 is made accessible only when an image request is made with the access key. It is done.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the processing operation of the second embodiment.
In the above description, an image exchange request is made based on related image data including metadata as image search information. However, as shown in FIG. 9, only metadata is used as image search information. Then, an exchange request may be made.
By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to receive desired image data without transmitting image data when transmitting an exchange request, so that the amount of data when transmitting an exchange request can be reduced. it can.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of another processing operation of the second embodiment.
Also, as shown in FIG. 10, an image exchange request may be made using image data that does not include metadata as the image search information. In this case, the image processing apparatus or the image processing server that receives the exchange request specifies the subject using the face recognition unit for the image data related to the exchange request, and sends the image data including the same subject to the image processing apparatus that is the exchange request source. Send.
By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to receive desired image data even for general image data that does not include metadata, so that image exchange can be performed for general purposes, and user convenience Can increase the sex.

[3] Effects of Embodiments As described above, according to each embodiment, an image of a target subject can be easily obtained using images taken by a plurality of subjects, a plurality of photographers, and a plurality of photographing devices. Can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to easily obtain valuable timing or angle images that could not be obtained by each photographer themselves, and to perform extensive image collection.
[4] Modification of Embodiment In the above description, the case where a person is used as a subject has been described. However, the subject is not limited to this, and animals and plants (including pets), objects (cars, daily necessities, tools, etc.) The same applies to landscapes (townscapes, seas, lakes, mountains, etc.) and structures (buildings, dams, etc.).
You can easily get images of places where you can't go easily.

1 is a schematic configuration block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of an image processing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of the utilization condition of the image processing apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a processing flowchart of a 1st embodiment. It is processing operation explanatory drawing of 1st Embodiment. It is a general | schematic block diagram of the image processing system of 2nd Embodiment. It is a general | schematic block diagram of an image processing apparatus. It is a timing chart at the time of image registration of a 2nd embodiment. It is processing operation explanatory drawing of 2nd Embodiment. It is other processing operation explanatory drawing of 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image processing apparatus, 11 ... Image processing apparatus main-body part, 12 ... Camera part, 13 ... Input part, 14 ... Display part, 15 ... Communication part, 16 ... External memory | storage part, 17 ... Position and direction detection part, 21 ... MPU, 22 ... ROM, 23 ... RAM, 24 ... communication interface unit, 31 ... image metadata extraction unit, 32 ... shooting time detection unit, 33 ... shooting location detection unit, 34 ... shooting direction detection unit, 35 ... face recognition unit 36... Image request unit 37 37 Transmission / reception history storage unit 38 Communication control unit 39 Image storage unit 50 Image processing system 51 Image processing unit 51 Image processing unit 52 Image processing unit 52 ... Image processing device, 53 ... Communication network, 54 ... Image processing server body, 54 ... Image processing server, 61 ... Image processing device body, 62 ... Image input device, 63 ... Input device, 64 ... Display device, 65 ... Output 66: external storage device, 72: ROM, 74: communication interface unit, D1: digital camera, D2: digital camera, T1: specific subject, T2: specific subject, U1: user, U2: user, B: shield , NT ... communication path.

Claims (12)

A request transmission unit that transmits an image search information and image data acquisition request to a request destination device via a communication path;
An image receiving unit that receives target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path;
An image processing apparatus comprising: A request receiving unit that receives an image search information and image data acquisition request from an external device via a communication path;
An image data storage unit for storing a plurality of image data;
A transmission image selection unit that selects image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
An image transmission unit for transmitting the selected image data to the external device via the communication path;
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The image search information includes at least one of shooting date / time information, shooting location information, shooting direction information, shooting event information, shooting target information, shooting condition information, image feature quantity that can specify a subject, and image data that can specify a subject. An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus according to claim 2.
The transmission image selection unit is configured such that the number of image data disclosed by the external device as being transmittable to the image processing device or the number of image data actually received by the image processing device from the external device is the upper limit selection data number. An image processing apparatus that performs selection. An image data receiving unit that receives image data from an image processing apparatus that is an image registration source;
An image data storage unit for storing a plurality of image data received from the image processing apparatus of the image registration source;
A request receiving unit that receives an image search information and image data acquisition request from the image requesting image processing apparatus via a communication path;
A transmission image selection unit that selects image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
An image transmission unit that transmits the selected image data to the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path;
An image processing server comprising: The image processing server according to claim 5,
The transmission image selection unit performs the selection using the number of image data stored in the image data storage unit of the image processing server by the image requesting image processing apparatus as the upper limit selection data number. . In an image processing method in an image processing apparatus including a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path,
A request transmission process for transmitting an image search information and image data acquisition request to the request destination device via the communication path;
An image receiving process for receiving target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path;
An image processing method comprising: In an image processing method in an image processing apparatus including an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data and a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path, an image search information and an acquisition request for image data are transmitted from an external device to the communication path. A request receiving process to receive via
A transmission image selection step of selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
An image transmission process of transmitting the selected image data to the external device via the communication path;
An image processing method comprising: In an image processing method in an image processing server including an image data storage unit and a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path,
An image data receiving process for receiving image data from the image processing apparatus of the image registration source via the communication path;
An image data storage process for storing the image data received from the image processing device of the image registration source in the image data storage unit;
A request reception process for receiving an image search information and image data acquisition request from the image requesting image processing apparatus via a communication path;
A transmission image selection step of selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
An image transmission process of transmitting the selected image data to the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path;
An image processing method comprising: In a control program for controlling an image processing apparatus including a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path by a computer,
An image search information and image data acquisition request is transmitted to the request destination device via the communication path,
Receiving target image data of the acquisition request transmitted from the request destination device via the communication path;
A control program characterized by that. In a control program for controlling, by a computer, an image processing apparatus including a communication unit that performs communication via a communication path and an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of image data.
The image search information and the image data acquisition request are received from the external device via the communication path,
Selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
Transmitting the selected image data to the external device via the communication path;
A control program characterized by that. In a control program for controlling an image processing server including a communication unit that performs communication via an image data storage unit and a communication path by a computer,
Receiving image data from the image processing apparatus of the image registration source via the communication path;
Storing the image data received from the image processing apparatus of the image registration source in the image data storage unit;
Receive image retrieval information and image data acquisition request from the image requesting image processing apparatus via a communication path,
Selecting image data corresponding to the image data acquisition request based on the image search information;
Transmitting the selected image data to the image requesting image processing apparatus via the communication path;
A control program characterized by that.

Images