JP2008176413A - Authentication target notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of a person to be authenticated without requiring the person to perform any operation for authentication. <P>SOLUTION: A face authentication sensor 4 of a sub-system 1 is provided with: an image pickup part; a featured value extraction part for extracting the face information of the target person from an image picked up by the image pickup part; and an authentication part for authenticating the target person by comparing the extracted face information of the target person with a template. The face authentication sensor 4 performs authentication, and transmits ID corresponding to the authenticated template as ID authentication data together with image data through the controller 10 and a home panel 2 to the control panel 3. In the control panel 3, a microcomputer part extracts the ID from the ID authentication data, and a liquid crystal display 320 of a display part displays the message corresponding to the extracted ID together with the face image picked up by the face authentication sensor 4, and a speaker part outputs the message as a voice message. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an authentication target person notification system that performs person authentication.

As a conventional authentication system for authenticating a person, Patent Document 1 extracts face information of an authentication target person from an image generated by imaging the target space without requiring an operation for authentication by the authentication target person. Thus, an image processing apparatus that authenticates whether or not the person is a registered person is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-155422 (paragraphs 0018 to 0048 and FIG. 1)

  However, the conventional authentication system has a problem in that it is impossible to notify the user who is the subject of authentication.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the purpose of the present invention is to notify the user of the person to be authenticated without requiring an operation for authentication by the person to be authenticated. An object of the present invention is to provide an authentication subject notification system.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging unit having an imaging function, an extraction unit that extracts face information of the authentication target person from an image captured by the imaging unit, and the face of the authentication target person extracted by the extraction unit Authentication means for comparing information and face information of a registered person registered in advance to determine whether the person to be authenticated is a registered person based on the face information; and And a notifying means for notifying a message corresponding to the registered person when the authentication means determines that the person is a registered person.

  According to the invention of claim 1, by notifying the message corresponding to the registered person, it is possible to notify the user of the person to be authenticated without requiring an operation for authentication by the person to be authenticated. it can.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the structure of the authentication subject information system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated using FIGS. This authentication target person notification system authenticates a person. As shown in FIG. 1, a subsystem 1 having a controller 10 and a face authentication sensor 4, and a home panel (integrated management apparatus) connected to the subsystem 1 ) 2 and a control panel 3 connected to the home panel 2.

  The controller 10, the home panel 2, and the control panel 3 of the subsystem 1 constitute a home network using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, UDP, and HTTP. This home network is a local area network (LAN) conforming to the 100BASE-TX (IEEE 802.3u) standard, and the home panel 2 corresponding to the hub has the controller 10 and the control of the subsystem 1 corresponding to the network terminal. Panel 3 is connected by star wiring via LAN cables 20 and 21.

  The subsystem 1 includes a face authentication sensor 4 that is installed outdoors and images a target space, and a controller 10 that is installed indoors and is electrically connected to the face authentication sensor 4.

  The controller 10 receives a later-described ID authentication data and image data from the face authentication sensor 4, and receives the received image data in a predetermined compression method (for example, MPEG4 for moving images and JPEG for still images). A compression function for compression, and a transfer function for transferring the compressed image data to the control panel 3 through the home panel 2 together with the ID authentication data.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the face authentication sensor 4 includes an imaging unit 40 having an imaging function for imaging the target space, and a feature amount extraction unit that extracts face information of the authentication target person A from the image captured by the imaging unit 40. 41, whether the authentication subject A is a registered person based on the face information by comparing the face information of the authentication subject A extracted by the feature amount extraction unit 41 with the face information of the registered person registered in advance. And an authentication unit 42 for determining whether or not.

  The imaging unit 40 includes a light emission source 43 that irradiates light to the target space, a control circuit unit 44 that controls the irradiation function of the light emission source 43, a light detection element 45 that images the target space, and a target space and a light detection element 45. And an image generation unit 47 that generates an amplitude image based on the light reception output of the light detection element 45.

  The light emission source 43 is, for example, one in which a large number of light emitting diodes are arranged on one plane or a combination of a semiconductor laser and a diverging lens, and a modulation signal having a predetermined modulation frequency output from the control circuit unit 44. Is driven to alternately turn on and off. Here, the cycle in which the light source 43 repeats turning on and off is set to a short cycle that cannot be recognized by human eyes. That is, the light source 43 is actually turned on and off repeatedly, but appears to be continuously turned on to human eyes. Specifically, a square wave is used for the modulation signal, the modulation frequency is selected from 10 kHz to 100 kHz, and the duty is 50%. Thereby, the light emission source 43 is alternately turned on and off alternately at the same time in a cycle of 10 μs to 100 μs. These numerical values are examples, and the modulation frequency can be set as appropriate.

  The light emitted from the light emitting source 43 may be either infrared or visible light. If infrared rays are used, the light source 43 is not noticed even at night, so that the configuration is suitable as a surveillance camera. On the other hand, if visible light is used, it is possible to obtain an image close to a state when a person sees with eyes.

  The control circuit unit 44 outputs a modulation signal to the light source 43, and takes out, as a light reception output, charges accumulated in a charge accumulation unit 451 (described later) in a state where the photosensitive unit 450 (described later) is highly sensitive during the lighting period of the light source 43. The control voltage applied to the control electrode 452 (described later) is repeated so as to repeat the state and the state in which the charge accumulated in the charge accumulation unit 451 is taken out as the light receiving output while the photosensitive unit 450 is in high sensitivity during the light-off source 43 extinction period. Control the applied pattern.

  The light detecting element 45 integrates the charge with one photosensitive unit 450 that generates charges on each of lattice points (for example, 100 × 100) of a two-dimensional square lattice set on one semiconductor substrate. In this configuration, the light receiving elements formed by one charge accumulating portion 451 to be held are arranged. Each light receiving element includes a semiconductor layer (not shown) made of silicon doped with impurities, an insulating film (not shown) made of a silicon oxide film provided over the entire main surface of the semiconductor layer, and a semiconductor layer. And a plurality of control electrodes 452 provided via an insulating film. This light receiving element has a structure known as a MIS element, but differs from a normal MIS element in that a plurality of control electrodes 452 are provided in a region functioning as one light receiving element. For the insulating film and the control electrode 452, a material is selected so that light having the same wavelength as the light irradiated to the target space from the light emitting source 43 is transmitted, and when light enters the semiconductor layer through the insulating film and the control electrode 452, the semiconductor Charge is generated inside the layer.

  In the light receiving element having such a structure, when a positive control voltage is applied to the control electrode 452, a potential well (depletion layer) that accumulates electrons in a portion corresponding to the control electrode 452 in the semiconductor layer (not shown). (Not shown) is formed. When the semiconductor layer is irradiated with light with a control voltage applied to the control electrode 452 so as to form a potential well in the semiconductor layer, some of the electrons generated in the vicinity of the potential well are accumulated in the potential well, The remaining electrons are extinguished by recombination in the deep part of the semiconductor layer. In addition, electrons generated at a location away from the potential well are also extinguished by recombination in the deep part of the semiconductor layer. That is, when the light receiving element is irradiated with light, the semiconductor layer functions as the photosensitive portion 450 and the potential well functions as the charge accumulation portion 451.

  As described above, since the potential well (not shown) is formed at a portion corresponding to the control electrode 452 to which the control voltage is applied, the semiconductor layer is changed by changing the number of the control electrodes 452 to which the control voltage is applied. The area of the potential well along the main surface (light receiving surface) of (not shown) can be changed. In addition, the ratio of the charges accumulated in the potential well among the charges generated in the semiconductor layer increases as the area of the potential well increases. As a result, the sensitivity of the photosensitive portion 450 increases as the area of the potential well increases. Become.

  For example, in each light receiving element, a positive control voltage is applied to the inner three control electrodes 452 out of the five control electrodes 452 arranged in a row, and no voltage is applied to the two control electrodes 452 on both sides. The positive control voltage is applied only to the central one control electrode 452 and no voltage is applied to the remaining four control electrodes 452 (0V), and the three control electrodes 452 are positive. When the control voltage is applied, the area of the potential well, which is the charge accumulation portion 451, becomes larger. Therefore, when the positive control voltage is applied to the three control electrodes 452, the same amount of light is integrated in the potential well as compared with the case where the positive control voltage is applied only to the central one control electrode 452. As a result, the ratio of the charged electric charge increases and the sensitivity of the photosensitive portion 450 is substantially increased.

  As a configuration for transferring and extracting charges accumulated in the charge accumulation unit 451, a configuration similar to a frame transfer type CCD or a configuration similar to an interline type CCD can be employed. When a configuration similar to that of the frame transfer type CCD is adopted, charges are transferred by controlling the application pattern of the control voltage applied to the control electrode 452, and therefore, an integration period in which charges are accumulated in the charge accumulation unit 451. The control voltage applied to the control electrode 452 may be controlled so that the charge of the charge accumulating portion 451 can be taken out during a different extraction period, and the semiconductor layer also functions as the charge extraction portion 453 together with the control electrode 452.

  The light receiving optical system 46 is provided to project the target space onto each light receiving element of the light detecting element 45. That is, the light receiving optical system 46 maps the three-dimensional space as the target space on the two-dimensional plane in which the light receiving elements are arranged in the light detecting element 45. As a result, light enters the light detection element 45 through the light receiving optical system 46, and the authentication target person A existing in the visual field viewed from the light detection element 45 through the light receiving optical system 46 is associated with the light receiving element.

  The image generation unit 47 generates image data related to an image (moving image or still image) captured by the imaging unit 40 using the light reception output from each photosensitive unit 450 of the light detection element 45. The image includes the face image of the person A to be authenticated. This image data is transmitted to the controller 10 via the feature amount extraction unit 41, a similarity calculation unit 421 and a person recognition unit 422, which will be described later.

  In addition to the creation of the image data, the image generation unit 47 calculates the difference between the light reception output during the lighting period of the light emission source 43 and the light reception output during the extinction period (each when the light is emitted from the light emission source 43 to the target space. The difference between the light reception output of the photosensitive unit 450 and the light reception output of each photosensitive unit 450 when no light is emitted from the light source 43 is calculated as a pixel value for each photosensitive unit 450 to generate an amplitude image. To do. Here, for simplicity of explanation, the light receiving output Aa in one lighting period is the light receiving output in the lighting period, and the light receiving output Ab in one lighting period is the light receiving output in the extinguishing period.

  Here, the intensity of light incident on the photosensitive portion 450 during the extinguishing period of the light source 43 corresponds to the intensity of ambient light. That is, the intensity of the ambient light corresponds to the light reception output Ab in the extinguishing period as a result. By obtaining the difference (Aa−Ab) between the light receiving output Aa during the lighting period of the light emitting source 43 and the light receiving output Ab during the extinguishing period, the influence of the ambient light is removed, and the light emitted from the light emitting source 43 to the target space Only the components can be extracted. An image in which this difference (Aa−Ab) is associated with the position of each light receiving element is an amplitude image. The difference (Aa−Ab) is obtained from the light reception output Aa in the adjacent lighting period and the light reception output Ab in the extinguishing period (extinguishing period immediately after the lighting period), and the lighting period for obtaining the difference (Aa−Ab) It is considered that the intensity of the ambient light does not substantially change during the period corresponding to the turn-off period. Therefore, the light reception output by the ambient light in the lighting period and the light extinction period is canceled out, and only the light reception output corresponding to the reflected light that is irradiated from the light source 43 to the target space and reflected by the authentication subject A remains. In the amplitude image, an image in which only the authentication subject A is emphasized can be obtained. The amplitude image generated by the image generation unit 47 is given to the feature amount extraction unit 41.

  The feature quantity extraction unit 41 generates an amplitude differential image having an amplitude differential value that is a differential intensity value of each pixel obtained from the amplitude value of the amplitude image generated by the image generation unit 47 as a pixel value, and the amplitude A function of generating an output image composed of an image obtained by binarizing the differential image with a prescribed threshold value, and a function of extracting the feature amount of the face of the authentication target person A existing in the target space from the output image as face information. Have.

  Here, a technique for extracting the facial feature amount of the person A to be authenticated will be described. When an amplitude differential image is created from the amplitude image, the amplitude differential value of the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. is higher than that of the cheek or forehead. Therefore, when the amplitude differential image is binarized, it is possible to extract only the contours of eyes, nose, mouth and face in the output image. Therefore, the feature points of the face of the person A to be authenticated can be extracted by extracting the end points of each part such as eyes, nose and mouth in the output image, and the face authentication is performed using the positional relationship between these feature points. It can be performed.

  More specifically, in the image coordinate system of the amplitude image, the upper left of the amplitude image is the origin, the positive direction of the x axis (x direction) is the horizontal right direction, and the positive direction of the y axis (y direction) is the vertical downward direction. The feature quantity extraction unit 41 uses a Sobel filter with a mask size of 3 × 3 pixels (a weight coefficient on an amplitude image is assigned to each of the Sobel filter in the x direction and the Sobel filter in the y direction). Is applied to all the pixels of the amplitude image, local spatial differentiation is performed, and an amplitude differential image is generated with the amplitude differential value of each pixel obtained from the amplitude value of the amplitude image as a pixel. A feature amount of the face of the person A to be authenticated is extracted from an output image obtained by binarizing the image with a threshold value.

If the amplitude differential value at the pixel (u, v) of the amplitude image is | G (u, v) |, the amplitude differential value | G (u, v) | is adjacent to one target pixel in the amplitude image. This is a value obtained using the pixel value (amplitude value) of the pixel (near 8 of the target pixel). Here, the pixel values of each pixel in a 3 × 3 pixel local area (rectangular area) centered on the target pixel are indicated as a to c from the upper left to the right, df from the middle left to the right, and from the lower left to the right. If g to i, the amplitude differential value | G (u, v) | is expressed by the following (formula 1) using the differential value dx in the x direction and the differential value dy in the y direction.
| G (u, v) | = {(dx ² (u, v) + dy ² (u, v)} ^1/2 (Formula 1)
However,
dx (u, v) = (c + 2f + i) − (a + 2d + g) (Formula 2)
dy (u, v) = (g + 2h + i) − (a + 2b + c) (Formula 3)
In an amplitude differential image having an amplitude differential value | G (u, v) | obtained by (Equation 1) as a pixel value, the amplitude differential value | G (u, v) | growing.

  The authentication unit 42 includes a template creation storage unit 420, a similarity calculation unit 421, and a person recognition unit 422.

  The template creation storage unit 420 is set in the target space by the light detection element 45 in a state where the template creation mode is set by an operation mode setting unit (not shown) that selectively sets the normal operation mode and the template creation mode. When a person is imaged, a template is created based on the feature amount of the person's face extracted by the feature amount extraction unit 41, and the created template is registered and held (stored) as a registered person template in association with the ID. . This operation is repeated to create a plurality of registered person templates. For example, in the case of a family, the father's template is associated with ID = 1, and the mother's template is associated with ID = 2.

  The similarity calculation unit 421 creates a template for storing the facial feature amount of the person A to be authenticated extracted by the feature amount extraction unit 41 in a state where the normal operation mode is set by the operation mode setting unit (not shown). The similarity is calculated by collating with each of the plurality of templates registered and held in the unit 420.

  When the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 421 exceeds a predetermined value, the person recognition unit 422 authenticates that the authentication target person A imaged by the light detection element 45 is a registered person corresponding to the template. On the other hand, when the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation unit 421 is less than the predetermined value, the person recognition unit 422 does not authenticate the authentication target person A captured by the light detection element 45 as a registered person. As shown in FIG. 5, the person recognizing unit 422 creates ID authentication data including the ID of the authenticated template (ID = 1 in the example of FIG. 5), and uses the created ID authentication data as the controller 10 (see FIG. 1). ). The person recognition unit 422 also transmits the image data created by the image generation unit 47 to the controller 10.

  From the above, in the face authentication sensor 4 shown in FIG. 2, a template of a person to be registered is created in advance, and then, an output image and a template obtained by binarizing the amplitude differential image generated in the normal operation mode with a prescribed threshold value And the degree of similarity can be calculated, and based on the calculated degree of similarity, it can be authenticated that the person A to be authenticated is a registered person.

  Next, the home panel 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The home panel 2 includes a first communication port (not shown) to which the controller 10 of the subsystem 1 is connected via the LAN cable 20 and a second communication to which the control panel 3 is connected via the LAN cable 21. A packet processing unit (not shown) that performs processing (hereinafter referred to as “packet processing”) such as discarding of packets transferred between a port (not shown) and two communication ports and blocking or limiting of each communication port And a control unit having a CPU as a main component, a path switching function for controlling the packet processing unit to switch the transmission path, a network security function for executing virus check and filtering on the packet, a configuration management function for the subsystem 1, etc. (Not shown) and the MAC (Media Acc) of the controller 10 or the control panel 3 ss Control: Media Access Control) address or network address (private IP address), and a storage unit for storing control information and monitoring information on the subsystem 1 (not shown).

  Each communication port (not shown) includes a modular jack to which a modular plug of RJ-45 provided at the tip of the LAN cables 20 and 21 is detachably connected. Further, the packet processing unit (not shown) includes a large number of switch elements, and the switch element is driven by the path switching function of the control unit (not shown), so that an arbitrary communication port is connected with another communication port. Or switching or restricting communication ports where abnormalities (for example, inflow or outflow of invalid packets or a large amount of packets that may interfere with the network) are caused by the network security function of the control unit. To do. The storage unit (not shown) includes a nonvolatile memory, and stores the MAC address and network address of the controller 10 and the control panel 3 connected to the communication port in association with each communication port. Further, the network address of the controller 10 or the control panel 3, that is, the private IP address is automatically assigned by the control unit using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).

  A control unit (not shown) monitors a transmission destination address (MAC address) of a packet that enters a packet processing unit (not shown) from a communication port (not shown). In addition, the control unit constantly monitors packets passing through the communication port, discards abnormal packets, or controls the packet processing unit to block or limit communication ports in which an abnormality has occurred (network Security function). Furthermore, the control unit is equipped with a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) control point function, and corresponds to a UPnP device using SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) that detects a device in UPnP. The controller 10 is automatically detected.

  Further, the home panel 2 is configured by housing the above-described parts in a box-shaped housing (not shown) made of a synthetic resin molded product, and this housing is for a house installed on a wall surface in a house. It can be stored in a distribution board (residential board). However, the structure of the housing is an example, and it is not always necessary to be housed in a housing board.

  Further, the home panel 2 is connected to the Internet 22 according to the type of line (telephone line, CATV line, optical fiber line, etc.), ADSL modem, cable modem, ONU (Optical Network Unit) (not shown), etc. Connected. As a result, the home network is connected to the Internet 22 of the external network.

  Next, the control panel 3 will be described. The control panel 3 is embedded in an indoor wall surface. As shown in FIG. 3, a microcomputer unit 30 having a microcomputer as a main component and a LAN cable 21 of a home network are connected to the microcomputer unit 30. A LAN interface unit 31 for interfacing with a home network, a liquid crystal display 320 (see FIG. 1) and a display unit 32 having this driver circuit, and a touch panel and push button switches (not shown) arranged on the screen of the liquid crystal display 320 And a memory unit 34 for storing programs to be executed by a microcomputer and various data, and a speaker unit 35 having a speaker and this drive circuit. Although not shown, a power supply circuit is also provided for generating a desired DC power supply from a commercial power supply and supplying operation power to the microcomputer unit 30 and other units 31 to 35.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the control panel 3 is configured by housing each part 30 to 35 (see FIG. 3) inside a housing 36 made of a rectangular box-shaped synthetic resin molded product. The screen of the liquid crystal display 320 is arranged in the center of the front surface of the housing 36. A touch panel of the operation unit 33 is integrally provided on the screen of the liquid crystal display 320 (see FIG. 4). A large number of holes 360 for radiating voice messages from the speaker unit 35 to the outside of the housing 36 are arranged in a matrix on the left side of the front surface of the housing 36. Further, on the right side of the front surface of the housing 36, operation buttons 330 to 333 for operating a plurality of push button switches (not shown) provided in the operation unit 33 are arranged in one vertical row. Although not shown, the rear surface of the housing 36 exposes a modular jack insertion port of the LAN interface unit 31 and a wire insertion hole of a terminal unit to which a power line from a commercial power source is connected. .

  In the memory unit 34 shown in FIG. 3, a message is stored for each ID, and voice data related to voice when the message is output as a voice message, that is, a parameter (for example, a parameter in which the voice characteristics of each family are compressed) Audio data such as an HMM) is stored. An example will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In ID = 1, “Dad has returned home” is stored as a message, and voice data expressing the voice of “Dad” is stored. In ID = 2, “Mom has returned home” is stored as a message, and voice data expressing the voice of “Mom” is stored. The same applies to ID = 3 and later. Each voice data is created based on an actual utterance by the person. Note that tone data related to tone may be used instead of the voice data.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the microcomputer unit 30 displays a message corresponding to the ID (ID = 1 in the example of FIG. 5) included in the ID authentication data from the face authentication sensor 4. I have returned home ”) and automatically switch the voice of the message to create voice signal data.

  The speaker unit 35 shown in FIG. 3 converts the audio signal data created by the microcomputer unit 30 into an analog audio signal, reproduces the analog audio signal through the speaker, and outputs an audio message with the voice of the person A to be authenticated. To do. Note that whether or not to output audio may be set by the user using the operation unit 33, or may be set in advance for each ID and stored in the memory unit 34.

  Simultaneously with the notification of the voice message, on the liquid crystal display 320 of the display unit 32, as shown in FIG. 4, the person A to be authenticated (shown in FIG. 4) captured by the imaging unit 40 of the face authentication sensor 4 (see FIG. 2). A message (in the example of FIG. 4, “Dad has returned home”) is displayed together with an image including the face image of “Dad” in the example. When the “OK” touch panel on the liquid crystal display 320 is touched, the message and the image are closed. The message and image are also closed when a preset time has elapsed.

  From the above, when the authentication unit 42 of the face authentication sensor 4 authenticates that the person A to be authenticated is a registered person based on face information, the control panel 3 can notify a message corresponding to the registered person.

  Next, the operation of the authentication subject notification system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a case where a father returns home from the family will be described as an example. First, the face authentication sensor 4 (see FIG. 1) performs authentication, and an ID (for example, ID = 1) corresponding to the authenticated template is transmitted as ID authentication data to the controller 10 (see FIG. 1) together with image data. The controller 10 acquires ID authentication data and image data from the face authentication sensor 4, compresses the image data, and sends the compressed image data and ID authentication data to the control panel 3 (see FIG. 1) and the home panel 2 (see FIG. 1). To send through. In the control panel 3, the microcomputer unit 30 (see FIG. 3) extracts the ID (ID = 1) from the ID authentication data, and sends a message corresponding to the extracted ID (“Dad has returned home”) to the face authentication sensor 4 The image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 320 (see FIG. 1) of the display unit 32 together with the face image of the father imaged in step S1, and the message is output to the speaker unit 35 as a voice message. The same operation is performed when another registered person (such as a mother) in the family returns home.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, by displaying a message on the liquid crystal display 320 of the control panel 3, it is possible to determine who the authentication target person A is without requiring an authentication operation by the authentication target person A. The user can be notified visually. Further, by outputting a message by voice from the speaker unit 35 of the control panel 3, it is possible to inform the user audibly. As a result, it is possible to notify the person who is away from the control panel 3 who is the person A to be authenticated.

  Further, since the authentication target person A does not need to contact the face authentication sensor 4, the authentication target person A can be authenticated even if the authentication target person A is away from the face authentication sensor 4. As a result, the message can be notified earlier than in the case of fingerprint authentication that requires the authentication subject person A to contact the fingerprint authentication device.

  Furthermore, by notifying both the face image and the message of the authentication subject person A on the control panel 3, the user can more surely confirm who the authentication subject person A is.

(Embodiment 2)
First, the configuration of the authentication subject notification system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This authentication target person notification system is an intercom system, and includes a face authentication sensor 4a, a doorphone slave unit 5 installed outdoors, and a telephone call function and a face authentication sensor that communicates with a doorphone slave unit 5 installed indoors. And an intercom base unit 3a having a function of displaying an image picked up by 4a.

  The face authentication sensor 4a is connected to the door phone slave unit 5, has the same configuration as the face authentication sensor 4 (see FIG. 2) of the first embodiment, and performs the same operation as the face authentication sensor 4.

  The doorphone sub unit 5 includes a microphone and a speaker (not shown) for calling and a call button (not shown). When the call button is pressed, the interphone main unit 5 is connected to the interphone main unit 3a via the call line 50. A call function for transmitting a call signal, a call function for transmitting a call voice collected by a microphone to the interphone base unit 3a, and outputting a call voice transmitted from the interphone base unit 3a via the call line 50 from a speaker; It has an authentication data transmission function for transmitting ID authentication data and image data from the face authentication sensor 4a to the intercom master unit 3a.

  Similar to the control panel 3 of the first embodiment, the intercom base unit 3a includes a microcomputer unit, a LAN interface unit, a display unit including a liquid crystal display 320, an operation unit, a memory unit, and a speaker unit including a speaker. I have. Further, the intercom base unit 3a is configured such that the above-described parts are housed in a housing 36 made of a rectangular box-shaped synthetic resin molded product, and the screen of the liquid crystal display 320 of the display unit is arranged in the center of the front surface of the housing 36. Has been. A touch panel of the operation unit is integrally provided on the screen of the liquid crystal display 320. Near the upper right side of the front surface of the housing 36, a large number of holes 360 for radiating a voice message from the speaker unit to the outside of the housing 36 are arranged in a matrix. Further, operation buttons 334 to 336 for pressing and operating a plurality of push button switches (not shown) provided in the operation unit are disposed on the lower right side of the front surface of the housing 36.

  The interphone base unit 3a configured as described above has a function of outputting a ringing tone from a speaker when a call signal is received from the door phone slave unit 5, and a response button is pressed during a certain time during or after the ringing tone is being output. A call function for sending / receiving a call voice to / from the doorphone slave unit 5 when operated, and image data and ID authentication data captured by the face authentication sensor 4a and transmitted from the doorphone slave unit 5 are received. The image data and the ID authentication data transmitted from the face authentication sensor 4a via the communication line 50 when a call signal is received during the answering machine setting. In addition, it has a function of recording the call voice transmitted from the doorphone slave unit 5 in the semiconductor memory.

  Next, the operation of the authentication subject notification system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, when a visitor presses the call button of the door phone slave unit 5, a call signal is transmitted to the intercom base unit 3a via the call line 50, and a ring tone is output from the speaker of the interphone base unit 3a. At the same time, the face authentication sensor 4a captures a visitor, and outputs ID authentication data calculated from the captured image to the intercom base unit 3a together with the image data. An image captured by the face authentication sensor 4a is displayed on the liquid crystal display 320 of the intercom base unit 3a. At this time, intercom base unit 3a selects a message from the ID authentication data, displays the selected message on liquid crystal display 320, and further outputs it as a voice message through a speaker.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, by displaying a message on the liquid crystal display 320 of the intercom base unit 3a, it is possible to determine who the authentication target person is without requiring an authentication operation by the authentication target person. Can be visually informed. In addition, the user can be notified audibly by outputting the message by voice from the speaker of the intercom master unit 3a. Thereby, it is possible to notify the person who is away from the intercom base unit 3a who is the person to be authenticated.

  Further, since it is not necessary for the authentication target person to contact the face authentication sensor 4a, the authentication target person can be authenticated even if the authentication target person is away from the face authentication sensor 4a. Thus, the message can be notified earlier than in the case of fingerprint authentication that requires the person to be authenticated to contact the fingerprint authentication device.

  Further, by notifying both the face image and the message of the person to be authenticated by the interphone master unit 3a, the user can surely confirm who the person to be authenticated is.

  As a modification of the second embodiment, a configuration in which the face authentication sensor 4 a is built in the door phone sub unit 5 may be used. Even with such a configuration, as in the second embodiment, it is possible to notify the user of the person to be authenticated without requiring an operation for authentication by the person to be authenticated.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the authentication subject information system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the face authentication sensor which concerns on the same as the above. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control panel which concerns on the same as the above. It is a figure which shows the alerting | reporting in the control panel which concerns on the same as the above. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the authentication subject information system which concerns on the same as the above. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the authentication subject information system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Subsystem 10 Controller 2 Home panel 3 Control panel 3a Intercom main unit 320 Liquid crystal display 4, 4a Face authentication sensor 40 Imaging part 41 Feature amount extraction part 42 Authentication part

Claims (1)

An imaging means having an imaging function;
Extraction means for extracting face information of the person to be authenticated from the image captured by the imaging means;
The face information of the person to be authenticated extracted by the extracting means is compared with face information of a registered person registered in advance to determine whether or not the person to be authenticated is a registered person based on the face information. Authentication means;
An authentication subject notification system comprising: notification means for notifying a message corresponding to the registered person when the authentication means determines that the authentication subject is a registered person based on the face information.

Images