JP2008158984A - Image processor and area tracing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor and an area tracing program for extremely reducing the processing load of area tracing processing, and for quickening processing by simplifying hardware and software. <P>SOLUTION: This image processor is provided with: an area processing part 156 for extracting a rectangular area including changed pixels; a new object registration part 157c for registering the newly extracted area as a new object; an undetermined object tracing part 157b for, by defining the registered object as the undecided object, tracing an undecided object on the basis of the information of the area extracted this time and the information of the previously extracted area; and a determined object tracing part 157a for, by defining the undetermined object traced continuously in a prescribed time by the undetermined object tracing part 157b as the determined object, tracing the determined object on the basis the information of the area extracted this time and the predicted area information predicted on the basis of the information of each of the time-sequentially changed areas of the undetermined object. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a region tracking program that are suitable for application to tracking processing of a specific image captured by a monocular camera.

  As a tracking processing technology that extracts and tracks image areas with movement from images taken with a camera, conventionally, the actual size and position of the extracted area are measured from various camera information such as focal length and CCD size, and the movement There are techniques for tracking regions with However, this type of area tracking processing technology requires management of enormous information including camera information and a large amount of setting man-hours, and requires complicated processing such as three-dimensional measurement processing. There is a problem that the processing load on the system is large.

In addition, as a tracking processing technology for a specific area, an image that is simulated and converted to a real space plane is created from the gray image of the change area captured by the camera, and the created image is separated into individual areas. However, there has been a technique of individually tracking and extracting a movement locus from a motion vector between frames. However, since this type of conventional area tracking processing means requires various complicated processes such as a process for creating a map for real space conversion and an image conversion process to real space, the process related to software and hardware There was a problem that the load was large.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-91439

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and can significantly reduce the processing load of the area tracking process for extracting and tracking the area including the changed pixel from the photographed image. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an area tracking program that can be simplified and speed up processing.

  The present invention includes a region extraction processing unit that extracts a rectangular region including a changed pixel by performing a difference process between a current image on a screen and a past image input at a predetermined period, and a region extracted by the region extraction processing unit Among these, the newly extracted region is registered as a new object to be tracked and a new object registration processing unit, and the object registered by the new object registration processing unit is used as an unconfirmed object to extract the region. Each time the processing means extracts an area, the unconfirmed object tracking processing means for tracking the unconfirmed object based on the information of the area extracted this time and the information of the area extracted last time, and the tracking process of the unconfirmed object For an indeterminate object that has been tracked for a predetermined time by the means, Each time the region extraction processing means extracts a region, the confirmation is based on the information on the extracted region and the predicted region information predicted based on the information on each region changed in time series of the unconfirmed object. Provided is an image processing apparatus including a tracking processing unit for a confirmed object that tracks an object.

  In addition, the present invention allows a computer to function as an image processing apparatus that inputs an imaging screen shot by a camera at a predetermined cycle and extracts and tracks a region including a change pixel from the current image and past image on the input screen. A region extraction function for extracting a rectangular region including a changed pixel on the screen by performing a difference process between the image on the screen input this time and the image on the screen input last time, and the region It is determined whether the area extracted by the extraction function is a newly extracted area on the screen. When the area is newly extracted, the extracted area is a target of the tracking process. For an object registered by a new object registration processing function to be registered as a new object and the new object registration processing function, the object is indeterminate. As an object, each time the region extraction function extracts the region, the unconfirmed object tracking processing function for tracking the unconfirmed object based on the information on the region extracted this time and the information on the region extracted last time, For an indeterminate object that has been tracked for a predetermined time by the indeterminate object tracking function, each time the area extraction process function extracts an area with the object as a definite object, the extracted area information and the indeterminate Based on the information of each region that has changed in time series of the object, based on the prediction region information updated according to the prediction direction and the moving speed information, the tracking processing function of the confirmed object that tracks the confirmed object; An area tracking program for realizing the above on a computer is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to remarkably reduce the processing load of the area tracking process for extracting and tracking an area including a change pixel from an image captured by a camera. As a result, hardware and software can be simplified to increase the processing speed.

  In the image processing of a monocular camera (one camera), the present invention extracts a change pixel region in an image as a rectangular region from the difference between a past image and a current image each time an image is captured, and obtains it in time series. The current region is associated with the extracted region information, and the movement of the region is tracked.

  In order to realize this area tracking processing, the present invention has two types of area tracking processing means for extracting the changed pixel area on the screen as a rectangular area and tracking this area, and each of these area tracking processing means Thus, the region tracking is performed step by step, thereby enabling efficient region tracking with reduced processing load and increased processing speed.

  As the above-described two types of area tracking processing means, an unconfirmed object tracking processing means and a confirmed object tracking processing means are provided. The indeterminate object tracking means temporarily generates a prediction area obtained by enlarging the previously extracted rectangular area based on the area information of the area extracted in time series, and the rectangular area extracted this time is included in the prediction area. When the two intersect, the object is traced with the rectangular area extracted this time as an undetermined object. The deterministic object tracking means obtains the prediction generated by the least square (square) approximation based on the region information of the extracted region and the time-series position information associated with the tracking of the undetermined object, and is generated according to the prediction direction updated at each tracking. The confirmed object is tracked based on the area information and the moving speed information.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, image data for one frame captured from the camera is simply referred to as an image, an image on a screen, or an image for one screen.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a camera 11, a capture unit 12, an image processing storage unit 13, an image processing unit 15, and a display unit 16. Is done.

  The camera 11 includes a lens unit and an image pickup device (for example, a CCD solid-state image pickup device or a CMOS image sensor) provided at an image forming position of the lens unit, so that a subject (animal body) that moves outdoors or indoors can be used. A captured image for one screen is output to a target in a predetermined pixel unit (for example, one frame 320 × 240 pixels = QVGA).

  The capture unit 12 has a processing function of capturing an image in frame units captured by the camera 11 as a processing target image (input image) of the image processing unit 15 and holding it in the image buffer 14 in the image processing storage unit 13. The input image on the screen captured in the image buffer 14 is an original image here, but may be an edge image.

  The image processing storage unit 13 stores various data including the input image captured by the capture unit 12 and each image being processed, which is used for the processing of the image processing unit 15. In this image processing storage unit 13, under the control of the image processing unit 15, among the frame-unit images captured by the capture unit 12, an image for one screen captured this time (current image) and one previously captured image are stored. An area constituting the image buffer 14 that holds images for the screen (past images) as processing target images is secured, and an image area used for the processing of the image processing unit 15 is secured. Further, the image processing storage unit 13 stores various parameters and control data used for the processing of the image processing unit 15, various kinds of information generated or obtained in registration and tracking processing of the confirmed and unconfirmed objects. An information storage area is also secured.

  The image processing unit 15 generates a difference binarized image obtained by binarizing the past image and the current image held in the image buffer 14 and removing noise included in the difference binarized image. In this difference binarized image, a rectangular region including a change pixel is extracted, and a series of image processing for tracking the region is performed on the rectangular region as a processing target. The preprocessing unit 151, the difference processing unit 152, a binarization processing unit 153, a noise removal filter 154, a regionization processing unit 156, a region tracking processing unit 157, and the like.

  Among these components of the image processing unit 15, the preprocessing unit 151, the difference processing unit 152, the binarization processing unit 153, the noise removal filter 154, and the regionalization processing unit 156 are captured from the camera 11 at a predetermined cycle. Realizes an area extraction processing function that extracts a rectangular area including changed pixels by performing a differential process on the current image on the screen (the image on the screen captured this time) and the past image (the image on the screen captured last time). To do. Further, among the components of the image processing unit 15 described above, the preprocessing unit 151, the difference processing unit 152, and the binarization processing unit 153 perform differential processing on the current image captured this time and the past image captured last time, A difference binarized image generating unit that generates a binarized difference binarized image is realized.

  Among the components of the image processing unit 15 described above, the preprocessing unit 151 performs the capture unit 12 when comparing the past image stored in the image buffer 13 with the current image (difference processing for extracting the changed pixel region). Pre-processing (smoothing processing, edge processing, etc.) determined in advance is performed on the input image for one screen captured by the. The difference processing unit 152 compares the past image and the current image that have passed through the preprocessing unit 151 in pixel units, and extracts a difference region.

  The binarization processing unit 153 binarizes the image subjected to the difference processing by the difference processing unit 152 according to a preset threshold value stored in the image storage unit 13 to generate a difference binarized image. The difference binarized image is stored in an area (difference binarized image area) secured in advance in the image processing storage unit 13.

  The noise removal filter 154 includes a diffusion filter 154a and a contraction filter 154b, and removes noise (sesame salt-like change pixels) unnecessary for extraction of a moving body region from the difference binary image. The diffusion filter 154a that constitutes a component of the noise removal filter 154 sequentially sets a target pixel for each pixel except the outermost periphery of the difference binarized image, and in a diagonal pixel adjacent to the set target pixel. When a change pixel exists in (four pixels), a diffusion filtering process using the target pixel as the change pixel is performed. The contraction filter 154b performs contraction filtering processing on the image processed by the diffusion filter 154a based on the surrounding 8 pixels or 4 pixels adjacent to the target pixel. The difference binarized image for each frame (screen) from which noise has been removed by the noise removal filter 154 is stored in the image area of the image processing storage unit 13.

  The area processing unit 156 performs a process for converting the difference binarized image from which noise has been removed by the noise removal filter 154 into a rectangular area on the screen. In this area conversion process, the change pixel area on the screen extracted as the difference binarized image is surrounded by a rectangle, and this rectangle area is extracted from the screen, whereby the difference binarized image is Region into regions. The region processing unit 156 performs region tracking using the upper left (x0, y0) and lower right (x1, y1) coordinate data indicating the position and size on the screen indicating the rectangular region as rectangular region information. The data is sent to the processing unit 157.

  The region tracking processing unit 157 performs processing for tracking the rectangular region extracted by the regioning processing unit 156 based on the rectangular region information received from the regioning processing unit 156. The area tracking processing unit 157 replaces the difference binarized image extracted by comparing images (animal body images) with motion on the screen every time the area processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular area. The rectangular area extracted by the processing unit 156 is tracked as a tracking target object. The area tracking processing unit 157 includes a confirmed object tracking unit 157a, an unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b, a new object registration unit 157c, and an unnecessary object removing unit 157d.

  The unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b tracks an object (unconfirmed object) for an area on the screen excluding the object (confirmed object) tracked by the confirmed object tracking unit 157a.

  The new object registration unit 157c performs a new object registration process for the area on the screen excluding the object tracked by the confirmed object tracking unit 157a and the object tracked by the indeterminate object tracking unit 157b.

  The unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b has a processing function for generating and storing predetermined information used by the confirmed object tracking unit 157a for region prediction for each region being tracked. In addition, the confirmed object tracking unit 157a uses the region information generated by the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b each time region tracking is performed (confirms the tracking object), continues tracking, and is used for tracking. It has a processing function of updating predetermined information used for region prediction using region information.

  The confirmed object tracking unit 157a uses the unconfirmed object that has been continuously tracked (successfully tracked) by the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b as a confirmed object, and continuously tracks the object. Each time the segmentation processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular region, the information on the rectangular region extracted by the segmentation processing unit 156 and the time-series position information generated by the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b when tracking the unconfirmed object are included. The object (determined object) is tracked based on the prediction position and the prediction area information according to the prediction direction obtained by the least square approximation. The confirmed object tracking unit 157a receives information acquired by the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b in the object tracking process over a certain period (the area width, the average value and the standard deviation of the height, and the mutual mutual screens described later). The validity of the area used for tracking is checked using the average speed and standard deviation of the rectangular area moving on the screen obtained by the association. If the area is inappropriate, tracking is continued using the prediction information. Further, the position of the current area is predicted using the predicted moving direction information obtained by the least square (square) approximation formula based on the position and speed information of the area acquired by the tracking process of the uncertain object, and the vicinity of the position Correspondence with the region that appeared in is performed. The tracking process of the definite object ends with the number of continuous tracking (for example, 5 times) or the total number of tracking (for example, 300 times) based on the prediction information according to the set parameter value. Further, the confirmed object tracking unit 157a updates the area information including the object information, the moving speed information, and the prediction direction generated by the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b in the object tracking process. Specific examples of these pieces of information will be described later.

  The unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b tracks the new object registered by the new object registration unit 157c as an unconfirmed object, and whenever the regionizing processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular region, the previously extracted rectangular region ( A prediction region with an enlarged region width and height) is temporarily generated, and when the rectangular region extracted this time intersects with the prediction region, the currently extracted rectangular region is regarded as an undetermined object and object tracking is performed. I do.

  The unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b enlarges the width (x direction) and height (y direction) of the previously extracted rectangular area each time the area processing unit 156 extracts the rectangular area. When the rectangular area extracted this time intersects with this prediction area as the prediction area, the object is traced with the rectangular area extracted this time as an undetermined object. In this embodiment, the tracking process is simplified and speeded up by generating a prediction area in which the width and height of the area are expanded in accordance with a preset parameter value (ew / eh). In each case, it is possible to set the width and height of the prediction region based on the information of the region that changes in time series, and to make the width and height that the prediction region expands variable.

  Further, the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b is information necessary for the object tracking unit 157a to continuously track the object based on the information of the region that changes in time series in the object tracking process. Is generated. Here, in the object tracking process, predetermined information including area information including object information and moving speed information is generated based on information of areas changing in time series. Object information includes rectangle and area information that identifies the area, and area cutout image (not required for area tracking), and area information includes area width information (area width, area width square value) , Region height information (region height, region height square value), region width statistical information (average value, standard deviation, variation rate, sum, square sum (average value and variation rate are used when generating forecast information)), Region height statistical information (average value, standard deviation, variation rate, sum, sum of squares, etc. (average value and variation rate are used when generating prediction information)) and the like are included. Moving speed information includes moving speed information (moving speed, moving speed square value), moving speed statistical information (average value, standard deviation, fluctuation rate, sum, square sum (average value and fluctuation rate are used when generating forecast information) ) Etc. are included.

  The confirmed object tracking unit 157a uses the information generated by the tracking process of the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b to perform the tracking process of the confirmed object while updating the information.

  The new object registration unit 157c recognizes as a new object a rectangular area newly appearing in an area on the screen excluding the tracking area of the object being tracked by the confirmed object tracking part 157a and the unconfirmed object tracking part 157b. And register it. In this new object registration process, object information indicating the position (coordinates) and area of a rectangular area is generated based on the area information received from the area processing unit 156, and this object information is stored in the image processing storage unit 13. Store in a predetermined storage area.

  The unnecessary object removing unit 157d performs a process of deleting unnecessary objects (determined objects and indeterminate objects). The unnecessary object removing unit 157d deletes the unconfirmed object or the confirmed object, for example, when the object being tracked as the unconfirmed object or the confirmed object ends (deletes the unnecessary object from the image processing storage unit 13). ).

  The display unit 16 displays and outputs the moving object region image-processed by the image processing unit 15.

  Here, the object tracking processing operation in the image processing unit 15 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows the object tracking processing procedure in the image processing unit 15 described above.

  In the image processing unit 15, the difference processing unit 152 compares the past image and the current image held in the image buffer 14 in pixel units, and extracts the changed pixel unit region as a difference region (step S11). The image subjected to the difference processing by the difference processing unit 152 is binarized by the binarization processing unit 153, and is segmented into a rectangular area on the screen by the area processing unit 156 (step S12).

  When the area information processing unit 156 inputs the rectangular area information that has been converted into an area by the area processing unit 156, the area tracking processing unit 157 performs tracking processing on the input rectangular area information as a tracking target object.

  At the time of initial operation, there are no objects (undetermined objects and confirmed objects) to be tracked, so the rectangular area input from the area processing unit 156 is registered as a new object in the new object registration unit 157c. (Step S15).

  When a new object is registered in the new object registration unit 157c, the region processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular region again. In the next processing cycle and thereafter, the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b is updated by the new object registration unit 157c. The tracking process is started with the registered new object as an undetermined object (step S14).

  The tracking of the unconfirmed object in the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b is performed by using the position and area information of the object extracted last time for the object entered in the registration process of the new object registration unit 157c. The position of the appearance area (hereinafter referred to as the prediction area) is predicted as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each time the uncertain object tracking unit 157 b extracts a rectangular region, the regionizing processing unit 156 generates a prediction region 302 obtained by enlarging the previously extracted rectangular region 301. In addition, when the rectangular area 303 extracted this time intersects, the object is traced with the rectangular area 303 extracted this time as an undetermined object.

  Each time the region processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular region, the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b performs the position coordinates (x0, y0), (x1, y1) of the region on the previously extracted rectangular region 301, Also, the center coordinates (center of gravity position) cp (mid X, mid Y) obtained from the width and height information of the area generated based on the coordinate values and the set parameter values (ex / eh) are also obtained. In addition, a prediction region 302 is generated in which the region width is expanded by ex pixels and the region height is expanded by eh pixels in both directions, and when the rectangular region 303 extracted this time intersects with the prediction region 302, The extracted rectangular area 303 is set as an undetermined object, and object tracking is continued. Note that the prediction area 302 is a temporary area that disappears with the end of the current tracking process.

  At this time, when no rectangular area extracted this time intersects the prediction area, the unnecessary object removing unit 157d deletes the unconfirmed object as an unnecessary object (step S16).

  Further, when the rectangular area extracted by the area processing unit 156 is a tracking target area, the unconfirmed object tracking section 157b determines the position coordinates (x0, y0), (x1, y1) of the area and the position coordinates. Each information such as the width (x1-x0) and height (y1-y0), area, and center coordinates cp (mid X, mid Y) of the generated area is determined in advance in the image processing storage unit 13. Store in the storage area.

  By the tracking process of the above-mentioned unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b, a certain unconfirmed object is continuously tracked a plurality of times, and the number of tracking processes becomes the number of tracking according to a preset parameter value (for example, five times). At this time, it is determined whether or not this unconfirmed object is to be a confirmed object. This determination process may be performed by either the confirmed object tracking unit 157a or the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b, but here, it is assumed that the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b performs.

  When the unconfirmed object is continuously tracked for a predetermined number of times (here, 5 times), the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b is based on the information of each region generated and collected when the unconfirmed object is continuously tracked. , Area width, area height, and moving speed standard deviations are obtained, and the standard deviations are set in advance by parameters according to the allowable standard deviation (s) shown in FIG. The allowable standard deviation is set with different parameters). Here, when each standard deviation of the region width, region height, and moving speed generated based on the information of the unconfirmed object is within the allowable standard deviation (s) set by the parameters, the unconfirmed Let the object be a definite object. When at least one standard deviation among the standard deviations of the area width, area height, and moving speed generated based on the information of the undefined object is larger than the allowable standard deviation (s) set by the parameter, The tracking of this undetermined object is terminated because the variation of the appearance area is large. The undetermined object is deleted by the unnecessary object removing unit 157d.

  With this determination, the confirmed object tracking unit 157a calculates a prediction direction, a region width, a region height, and a moving rate variation rate for the object determined to be a confirmed object, and uses these information to perform region prediction. Then, the tracking process is continuously performed for the object determined as the confirmed object (step S13).

  Whenever the region processing unit 156 extracts a rectangular region, the confirmed object tracking unit 157a performs the unconfirmed object tracking unit 157b at the time of tracking the uncertain object with respect to the rectangular region extracted by the region processing unit 156. A prediction area is generated at a prediction position according to the prediction direction obtained by the least square approximation based on the generated time-series position information, and tracking of the definite object is started using the prediction area.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the tracking process of the fixed object includes the position and area of the previously extracted rectangular area (past area) 501, the barycentric position cp (mid X, mid Y) of the area, and the prediction direction. A prediction area 502 is generated based on the predicted movement direction Pd (angle θb) obtained from (d) and the movement speed, and the rectangular area (current area) 503 extracted this time intersects with this prediction area 502. At this time, the rectangular area 503 extracted this time is set as a confirmed object, and the object tracking is continued. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the predicted moving direction Pd (angle θb) is calculated by obtaining a coefficient A and a coefficient B by the least square method from the position statistical information and calculating a correlation coefficient. Then, using the current position information (x) and the oldest position information (x), when the correlation coefficient of the approximate line is high, Y on the approximate line with respect to the latest and oldest position information x is obtained, The predicted movement direction Pd (angle θa) is obtained from the position information of When the correlation is low, the predicted moving direction (angle θb) is obtained from the latest and oldest coordinate information y and used.

  In the tracking process of the definite object, when a plurality of regions intersect the predicted region 502, the plurality of regions are set as candidate regions, and the validity of the region is judged in order from the candidate region having the largest intersection area. A candidate area with high validity is set as a tracking target area (a confirmed object to be tracked). In this case, the validity is determined by using the area width, area height, moving speed, standard deviation of each statistical information × 3 (3σ) in FIG. The validity is judged, and when the difference is larger than (3σ), it is judged not valid. When the validity of at least two of the area width, area height, and moving speed is confirmed, the candidate area is set as a tracking target area (determined object to be tracked). When the validity is not confirmed, the same determination process is performed on the next candidate area. When the tracking target region is determined, the region information is added, and the region width statistical information, the region height statistical information, the moving speed statistical information, and the prediction direction are updated. If the tracking target area cannot be determined, the statistical information and the prediction direction are updated using the prediction area as the current area. In the tracking process of the definite object, when a state where no region intersects the predicted region continuously occurs and the number of continuous tracking by the prediction information according to the set parameter value (for example, five times) is reached, Alternatively, the process ends when the total number of tracking times (for example, 300 times) is reached.

  By repeatedly executing the new object registration process (step S15), the unconfirmed object tracking process (step S13), and the confirmed object tracking process (step S14) as described above, It is possible to efficiently execute the tracking process of the change area. Further, by providing each processing function of the area tracking processing unit 157 as a program package, a simple and simple combination of an unconfirmed object tracking processing function and a confirmed object tracking processing function in an existing image processing system. An image tracking processing system capable of high-speed processing can be easily constructed.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the processing operation | movement of the undetermined object tracking part which concerns on the said embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the processing operation | movement of the undetermined object tracking part which concerns on the said embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the processing operation of the definite object tracking part which concerns on the said embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the processing operation of the definite object tracking part which concerns on the said embodiment. Operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating the processing operation of the definite object tracking part which concerns on the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Camera, 12 ... Capture part, 13 ... Image processing memory | storage part, 15 ... Image processing part, 16 ... Display part, 151 ... Pre-processing part, 152 ... Difference processing part, 153 ... Binarization processing part, 154 ... Noise Removal filter, 156... Regionalization processing unit, 157... Region tracking processing unit, 157a... Confirmed object tracking unit, 157b... Unconfirmed object tracking unit, 157c ... new object registration unit, 157d.

Claims (8)

A region extraction processing means for extracting a rectangular region including a changed pixel by differentially processing a current image on the screen and a past image input at a predetermined cycle;
A new object registration processing means for registering a newly extracted area as a new object to be tracked among the areas extracted by the area extraction processing means;
The object registered by the new object registration processing unit is set as an unconfirmed object, and each time the region extraction processing unit extracts a region, the unregistered object is extracted based on the currently extracted region information and the previously extracted region information. A tracking processing means for an indeterminate object for tracking a confirmed object;
For each unconfirmed object that has been tracked by the unconfirmed object tracking processing unit for a predetermined time, each time the region extraction processing unit extracts a region using the object as a confirmed object, the extracted region information and the unconfirmed object Based on the prediction area information predicted based on the information of each area that has changed in time series of the confirmation object, the confirmation object tracking processing means for tracking the confirmation object,
An image processing apparatus comprising: The indeterminate object tracking processing means performs tracking of the indeterminate object for an area on the screen excluding the object being tracked by the confirmed object tracking processing means,
The new object registration processing means includes a new object for an area on the screen excluding an object tracked by the confirmed object tracking processing means and an object tracked by the indeterminate object tracking processing means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein registration is performed.   The unconfirmed object tracking processing means includes processing means for generating and storing predetermined information used by the confirmed object tracking processing means for region prediction, for each area being tracked, for the region to be tracked. The object tracking processing means includes processing means for tracking the confirmed object and updating the information used for the tracking using the predetermined information generated by the confirmed object tracking processing means every time the area is tracked. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The unconfirmed object tracking processing unit temporarily generates a prediction area obtained by enlarging the previously extracted rectangular area based on the extracted area information, and the rectangular area extracted this time is included in the prediction area. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when intersecting, the object is traced by using the rectangular area extracted this time as an undetermined object.   The confirmed object tracking means obtains the information of the extracted region and the information of the predicted region according to the prediction direction which is obtained by the least square approximation based on the time-series position information at the time of tracking the unconfirmed object and is updated each time tracking is performed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the object is tracked based on the movement speed information. This is an area tracking program that allows a computer to function as an image processing device that inputs an imaged screen shot by a camera at a predetermined cycle and extracts and tracks a region including changed pixels from the current image and past image on the input screen. And
An area extraction function for extracting a rectangular area including a changed pixel on the screen by performing a difference process between the image on the screen input this time and the image on the screen previously input;
It is determined whether or not the region extracted by the region extraction function is a newly extracted region on the screen. When the region is a newly extracted region, the extracted region is subject to tracking processing. A new object registration process function to be registered as a new object,
For each object registered by the new object registration processing function, each time the region extraction function extracts the region with the object as an undetermined object, the information of the region extracted this time and the information of the region extracted last time are included. And a tracking processing function for an indeterminate object for tracking the indeterminate object;
With respect to an indeterminate object that has been continuously tracked by the indeterminate object tracking process function for a predetermined time, each time the area extraction process function extracts an area with the object as a confirmed object, the extracted area information and the undetermined object An area tracking program for causing a computer to realize a tracking process function of a confirmed object that tracks the confirmed object based on predicted area information predicted based on information of each area that has changed in time series of the confirmed object .   The indeterminate object tracking processing function temporarily generates a prediction area obtained by enlarging the previously extracted rectangular area based on the area information of the extracted area, and the rectangular area extracted this time is generated in the prediction area. 7. The area tracking program according to claim 6, wherein when the two intersect each other, the computer realizes a tracking processing function for tracking the object using the rectangular area extracted this time as an undetermined object.   The confirmed object tracking processing function includes information on the extracted area and prediction area information according to a prediction direction obtained by least square approximation based on time series position information at the time of tracking the undefined object and updated each time tracking is performed. The area tracking program according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a computer realizes a tracking processing function for tracking an object based on the movement speed information.

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