JP2008160295A - Video telephone system and video telephone apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speak giving variance to a background image without giving sense of incongruity to an opposite party side while hiding a surrounding scene which is not desired to be looked at by the opposite party. <P>SOLUTION: A video telephone apparatus is provided with an internal clock 606 which acquires present date and time, and a data management server 50 which memorizes a plurality of background images including time changing elements corresponding to the respective date and time. At a time speaking by the video telephone apparatus A, and transmitting a video image, the apparatus removes an actual background image from the own image photographed by a camera 605, extracts a background image corresponding to the day and the time acquired by the internal clock 606 from the data management server 50, and stores in a memory 609. It composes the background image stored in the memory 609 and a personal video image from which the actual background is removed, and transmits it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, in an IP telephone, a fixed telephone, a mobile phone, etc., a video captured by a camera is sent to the other party, and the video from the other party's camera is displayed on the terminal, thereby making a call while looking at each other's appearance. More particularly, the present invention relates to a videophone system and a videophone apparatus in which a background image corresponding to a situation is combined with video captured by a camera.

  Recently, a computer device equipped with a CCD camera is used as a terminal device for an IP phone, and image data (still images or moving images) of a caller photographed by the CCD camera can be sent and conversations can be made while watching each other's video. It has become easier to use a so-called videophone function. In addition, fixed telephones and mobile phones installed in homes have been proposed that have a videophone function.

  By the way, such videophones are provided with services by several mobile phone companies, but for the following reasons, they have grown to become killer contents (key services) provided by mobile phone companies. Not in. That is, (1) the charge is high compared to a normal voice call. (2) There is no other party to make a videophone call. (3) There are many people who feel resistance to the reflection of a person (self or the other party). (4) Many people feel reluctant to see the background. This is the reason.

  Among these reasons, the above (3) and (4) are considered to have a sense of resistance to personal privacy being transmitted to the other party as an image. In addition, since the video of himself / herself is transmitted to the other party, he / she has to change into appropriate clothes and pay attention to makeup, and there is a problem due to personal sensitivity such as being embarrassed or embarrassed.

  As mentioned above, when a phone with a videophone function is used, when you talk to the other party, you send your own image to the other party at the same time as the background image, and in some cases, you do not want others to see it. May be seen by the other party. Therefore, as shown in the following Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-333556), by replacing the background video with another video during a call, the other party can not see the actual surroundings, and it is natural. There has been proposed a technology of a videophone device that makes a call while sending one's own figure in various forms.

The videophone device disclosed in Patent Document 1 stores a background removal device that removes a background from an image of a person photographed by an image input device based on the outline of the person, and at least one background image. A background image database and an image composition device that creates an image with a different background by synthesizing an image of a person from which the background has been removed with a background image stored in the background image storage database. . If comprised in this way, the background was deleted from the person image | photographed with the camera based on the outline of the person, and the person image | video from which the background was deleted in that way was previously preserve | saved in the database. An image synthesized with the background image can be transmitted to the other party. In that way, you can talk while sending yourself in a somewhat natural way without the other person seeing the actual situation around you.
JP 2003-333556 A (FIG. 1, [Summary] [Solution means])

  However, in the videophone device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the background video is a fixed video and is always the same, it is not interesting, and the other party feels uncomfortable while talking several times. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to make a call without giving the other party a sense of incongruity by changing the background image while hiding surroundings that the other party does not want to see. To do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of the videophone system according to claim 1 of the present application includes a photographing means for photographing a person image, a background removing means for removing a background image from the person image photographed by the photographing means, Date and time information acquisition means for acquiring the current date and time, background video storage means for storing a plurality of background videos corresponding to each date and time, and background video corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means as the background video A background video extracting means for extracting from the storage means; and a video synthesizing means for synthesizing the person video from which the background has been removed by the background removing means with the background video extracted by the background video extracting means. To do.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the invention according to claim 1, wherein a background video reflecting the season is stored in the background video storage means, and the season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means. A background video reflecting the above is extracted from the background video storage means.

  The invention according to claim 3 of the present application is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information, and reflecting the weather in the background video storage means. The background video is stored, and the background video reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the weather acquired by the weather information acquisition unit is extracted from the background video storage unit.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present application is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising position information acquisition means for acquiring a current position, and a region in the background video storage means. The reflected background image is stored, and the background image reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the current position acquired by the position information acquisition unit is extracted from the background image storage unit. To do.

  Further, the invention of the videophone device according to claim 5 of the present application obtains the photographing means for photographing the person video, the background removing means for removing the background video from the person video photographed by the photographing means, and the current date and time. Date and time information acquisition means, background video storage means for storing a plurality of background videos corresponding to each date and time, and background video corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means is extracted from the background video storage means. A background video extracting unit and a video synthesizing unit for synthesizing the person video from which the background has been removed by the background removing unit with the background video extracted by the background video extracting unit.

  The invention according to claim 6 of the present application is the invention according to claim 5, wherein a background video reflecting the season is stored in the background video storage means, and the season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means. A background video reflecting the above is extracted from the background video storage means.

  The invention according to claim 7 of the present application is the invention according to claim 5 or claim 6, further comprising weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information, and reflecting the weather in the background image storage means. The background video is stored, and the background video reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the weather acquired by the weather information acquisition unit is extracted from the background video storage unit.

  The invention according to claim 8 of the present application is the invention according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising position information acquisition means for acquiring a current position, and a region in the background video storage means. The reflected background image is stored, and the background image reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the current position acquired by the position information acquisition unit is extracted from the background image storage unit. To do.

  The videophone system of the present invention has the following effects.

  That is, in the invention according to claim 1, the current date and time is acquired by the date and time information acquisition means, the background video corresponding to the acquired date and time is extracted from the background video storage means, and the background is removed by the background removal means. The person video and the extracted background video were combined. As a result, it is possible to make a call without giving the other party a sense of incongruity by changing the background video while hiding surroundings that the other party does not want to see.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in the videophone system according to claim 1, a background video reflecting the season is stored in the background video storage means, and the season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means. Since the background video reflecting the above is extracted from the background video storage means, it is possible to give a season feeling to the video.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the videophone system according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the videophone system has weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information, and the background video storage means has weather information. The reflected background video is stored, and the background video reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the weather acquired by the weather information acquisition unit is extracted from the background video storage unit. As a result, it is possible to give a more realistic feeling to the video.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the videophone system according to the first, second, or third aspect, the videophone system has a position information acquisition unit that acquires a current position, and the background video storage unit reflects a region. A background video is stored, and a background video reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the current position acquired by the position information acquisition unit is extracted from the background video storage unit. As a result, it is possible to give a sense of realism when traveling.

  In the invention according to claim 5, the current date and time is acquired by the date and time information acquisition means, the background video corresponding to the acquired date and time is extracted from the background video storage means, and the background is removed by the background removal means. The person video and the extracted background video were combined. As a result, it is possible to make a call without giving the other party a sense of incongruity by changing the background video while hiding surroundings that the other party does not want to see.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the videophone device according to the fifth aspect, a background video reflecting the season is stored in the background video storage means, and the season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means. Since the background video reflecting the above is extracted from the background video storage means, it is possible to give a season feeling to the video.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the videophone device according to the fifth or sixth aspect, the apparatus has weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information, and the background video storage means has weather information. The reflected background video is stored, and the background video reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the weather acquired by the weather information acquisition unit is extracted from the background video storage unit. As a result, it is possible to give a more realistic feeling to the video.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the videophone device according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects of the present invention, the videophone device further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring a current position, and the background video storage means has a region. The background image reflecting the image is stored, and the background image reflecting the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition unit and the current position acquired by the position information acquisition unit is extracted from the background image storage unit. . As a result, it is possible to give a sense of realism when traveling.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings. However, the embodiments described below exemplify a videophone system and a videophone device for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention is specified to the videophone system and the videophone device. However, the present invention is equally applicable to the video phone system and the video phone device of other embodiments included in the scope of claims.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a videophone system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A videophone system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes videophone devices A, B, C,..., N, which are IP telephones, a router 20, a gateway 30, a call control server 40, and a data management server 50. Composed. The video phone devices A, B, C,..., N, the router 20, the gateway 30, the call control server 40, and the data management server 50 are connected via the LAN 13, and the call control server 40 is SIP (Session Initiation-). A SIP server to which a Protocol protocol is applied can be used.

  Calls from the subscriber telephone apparatus 14 connected to the telephone line network 12 to the video telephone apparatuses A, B, C,..., N are made through the gateway 30 and the call connection control of the call control server 40 is performed. Are connected to the videophone devices A, B, C,. In addition, a call from a videophone apparatus installed in another IP telephone system connected to the router 15 is transmitted under the call connection control of the call control server 40 via the Internet network 11 and the router 20. , B, C,..., N. 1, video telephone apparatuses B, C,..., N other than the video telephone apparatus A have the same configuration as the video telephone apparatus A, although the illustration of the configurations thereof is omitted.

  The data management server 50 holds various videos that should be replaced as backgrounds of the person video to be transmitted to the other party during a videophone call as a background video storage means. The background video is a video that reflects time-varying factors according to the date and time, for example, a bright video in the daytime, a dark video in the nighttime, or if the season is autumn There are images such as images with autumn leaves and images with snow scenery in the winter season. The background image may be a still image or a moving image.

  Further, in addition to time-varying elements, an image reflecting weather elements such as sunny, rainy, and snow may be stored. Furthermore, in addition to time-varying elements, in famous tourist spots and the like, video reflecting elements specific to those areas may be stored.

  Similar to a normal IP phone, the video phone device 60 includes a control circuit 601, a voice transmission / reception unit 602, a display unit 603, an input unit 604, a camera 605, a built-in clock 606, a weather information acquisition unit 608, a position information acquisition unit 607, A memory 609 is provided. The control circuit 601 includes a microprocessor having a RAM and a ROM, and controls each unit based on a control program stored in the ROM. The voice transmitting / receiving unit 602 includes a microphone and a speaker and is used for a call.

  The display unit 603 includes a liquid crystal display unit, and is used for various setting screens of the videophone device 60 and display of incoming calls. The input unit 604 has alphanumeric keys, function keys, and the like, and is used for various operations such as telephone number input and outgoing calls. The camera 605 captures an image to be transmitted to the other party as an imaging unit.

  The built-in clock 606 has a clock and calendar function as date and time information acquisition means, and always acquires the current date and time. The position information acquisition unit 607 acquires the current position of the videophone device A60 using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System). In addition to the method using GPS, as means for obtaining the current position, it is also possible to use base station information of portable communication devices such as mobile phones and PHS, or use the area code of the telephone. . The weather information acquisition unit 608 acquires the weather information of the current position using the Internet or various communication means. When starting a call, the memory 609 fetches a background video corresponding to the date and time at that time from the data management server 50 and stores it.

  Next, processing of the videophone system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The process is executed by the control unit 601. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the background removal process. At the start of a call, first, a captured video (A) is received from the camera 605, and edge processing is performed on it to obtain an edge video. Next, the contour of the person is extracted from the edge video to obtain an extracted contour video (b). Then, a background-removed image (c) is obtained by removing the background portion outside the extracted contour image (b) from the original photographed image (b).

  Next, video composition processing is performed to obtain a video to be transmitted to the other party. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the video composition process. The background-removed video (c) obtained by the background removal process is first taken from the data management server 50 and synthesized with the background video (d) stored in the memory 609 to replace the background (H). ) This composite video (e) is transmitted to the other party's videophone device via the router 20 or the gateway 30. In this embodiment, the background video (d) to be synthesized is a room video, and a display of a clock hung on the wall is inserted as a time-varying element. For the display of the clock, an image corresponding to the time at the time of the call is selected.

  In such a process of synthesizing a person image and a background image, as a background image to be synthesized, in addition to an image including a clock display as shown in FIG. It is possible to use images such as dark images at night time, images with autumn leaves when the season is autumn, and images with snow scenery when the season is winter.

  In addition to time-varying elements, in famous tourist spots, it is also possible to use images that reflect elements specific to those areas. For example, when calling from a travel destination, if the image and frame image of the area are combined with the background, the impression from the travel destination can be conveyed more realistically. In addition, if an easy-to-understand video such as a picture postcard from a travel destination or a frame video such as a regional limited photo booth is synthesized, it can be easily recognized that the other party is on the road.

  In addition, it is embarrassed to use videophones in public, such as sightseeing spots, and it may be a problem from the viewpoint of privacy protection. You can make a videophone call while watching. Note that the current position information at that time is acquired from the position information acquisition unit 607 and a background image suitable for the area is acquired from the data management server 50.

  Furthermore, it is possible to use images reflecting weather factors such as sunny, rainy, and snowy. For example, at that time, if the weather in the area is clear, the image is shining in the sun, and if it is raining, the image is raining. In addition, the weather information at that time is acquired from the weather information acquisition unit 608, and a background image suitable for the weather information is acquired from the data management server 50.

  In the above embodiment, the case of a fixed videophone device connected to the LAN 13 has been described. However, the object of the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a mobile phone videophone. In this case, the background video may be stored on a server of the mobile phone company or any server on the Internet.

  In the above embodiment, the background video is stored in the data management server 50 and is taken into the memory of the videophone device every time a call is made. However, a storage device having a sufficient capacity can be used for the videophone device. If so, it may be stored in the storage device of each videophone device. By doing so, the present invention can be realized in each videophone device.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the video telephone system concerning the Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of a background removal process. It is explanatory drawing of an image | video synthetic | combination process.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... Internet network 12 ... Telephone network 13 ... LAN
14 ... Subscriber telephone device 15, 20 ... Router 30 ... Gateway 40 ... Call control server 50 ... Data management server 60 ... Video phone device 501 ... Background video database 601 ... Control unit 602 ... Voice transmitter / receiver 603 ... Display unit 604 ... Input unit 605 ... Camera 606 ... Built-in clock 607 ... Position information acquisition unit 608 ... Weather information acquisition unit 609 ... Memory

Claims (8)

  Photographing means for photographing a person video, background removal means for removing a background video from the person video photographed by the photographing means, date and time information obtaining means for obtaining the current date and time, and a plurality of backgrounds corresponding to each date and time Background video storage means for storing video, background video extraction means for extracting background video corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means from the background video storage means, and background removed by the background removal means A videophone system, comprising: a video synthesizing unit that synthesizes a person video with a background video extracted by the background video extracting unit.   A background video reflecting a season is stored in the background video storage means, and a background video reflecting a season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means is extracted from the background video storage means. Item 2. The videophone system according to Item 1.   A weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information; and a background video reflecting the weather is stored in the background video storage means; the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means; and the weather information acquisition 3. The videophone system according to claim 1, wherein a background video reflecting the weather acquired by the means is extracted from the background video storage means.   A position information acquisition means for acquiring a current position; and a background image reflecting a region is stored in the background image storage means; the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means; and the position information acquisition means 4. The videophone system according to claim 1, wherein a background video reflecting the acquired current position is extracted from the background video storage means. 5.   Photographing means for photographing a person video, background removal means for removing a background video from the person video photographed by the photographing means, date and time information obtaining means for obtaining the current date and time, and a plurality of backgrounds corresponding to each date and time Background video storage means for storing video, background video extraction means for extracting background video corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means from the background video storage means, and background removed by the background removal means A videophone apparatus comprising: a video synthesizing unit that synthesizes a person video with a background video extracted by the background video extracting unit.   A background video reflecting a season is stored in the background video storage means, and a background video reflecting a season corresponding to the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means is extracted from the background video storage means. Item 6. The videophone device according to Item 5. A weather information acquisition means for acquiring current weather information; and a background video reflecting the weather is stored in the background video storage means; the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means; and the weather information acquisition 7. The videophone device according to claim 5, wherein a background video reflecting the weather acquired by the means is extracted from the background video storage means.   A position information acquisition means for acquiring a current position; and a background image reflecting a region is stored in the background image storage means; the date and time acquired by the date and time information acquisition means; and the position information acquisition means 8. The videophone device according to claim 5, wherein a background video reflecting the acquired current position is extracted from the background video storage means. 9.

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