JP2008269411A - Image keyword editing system, image keyword provision server and image keyword editing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image keyword editing system, an image keyword provision server and an image keyword editing device, capable of easily adding a proper keyword to image data. <P>SOLUTION: This image keyword editing system has: the image keyword provision server 30 connected to a network 10, providing the keyword related to the image data; and the image keyword editing device 20 connectable to the image keyword provision server 30 via the network 10. The image keyword editing device 20 transmits an image characteristic part of the image data to the image keyword provision server 30 via the network 10, the image keyword provision server 30 transmits the keyword related to the similar image data having the image characteristic part received from the image keyword editing device 20 to the image keyword editing device 20 via the network 10, and the image keyword editing device 20 edits the keyword received from the image keyword provision server 30, and records it associatively to the corresponding image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image keyword editing system for adding a related keyword to image data and recording it, and an image keyword providing server and an image keyword editing apparatus used therefor.

  Conventionally, in a portable photographing terminal that records digital images, such as a digital camera or a mobile phone with a camera, a keyword is entered by a user using the input means of the portable photographing terminal so that the photographed digital images can be easily organized and searched later. It is known to input by itself and record the input keyword in association with it by adding it to the header of image data, for example. There are also known software and systems in which image data obtained by photographing with a portable photographing terminal is transferred to a personal computer or a web server, and then a user adds a keyword to the image data by keyboard input.

  However, it is troublesome for the user to manually enter keywords. Therefore, as a system that can save such trouble and easily add related information to the image data, recently, for example, the location information of the portable photographing terminal is transmitted to the server via the network, and the location information is included in the location information. A system for acquiring related information from a server and adding the acquired related information to image data has been proposed (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  As another system, date and time information from a clock mounted on a portable photographing terminal and position information from a GPS sensor or the like are added to image data and recorded at the time of photographing, and then added to the image data. A system is also proposed in which the latest relevant information is acquired from the server and the relevant information of the image data is automatically updated by transmitting the current location information and date / time information to the server via the network. (For example, refer to Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-244592 JP 2004-80243 A JP 2006-146475 A

  However, since the systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 require at least the position information of the portable photographing terminal, the portable photographing terminal without the position information acquisition function, the terminal-side image data, or the server side If the position information is not recorded in the image data in the database, appropriate related information cannot be obtained.

  Moreover, since related information is acquired depending on the position and time of the portable photographing terminal, there is a concern that the related information that can be acquired is extremely limited. Furthermore, when the related information is automatically updated as disclosed in Patent Document 3, there is a possibility that the user side may update the related information to be not appropriate.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of such points is to provide an image keyword editing system capable of easily adding an appropriate keyword to image data, an image keyword providing server and an image keyword editing apparatus used therefor. is there.

The invention of the image keyword editing system according to claim 1, which achieves the above object,
An image keyword providing server connected to a network and providing keywords related to image data;
An image keyword editing device connectable to the image keyword providing server via the network;
The image keyword editing device transmits an image feature of image data to the image keyword providing server via the network,
The image keyword providing server transmits a keyword related to similar image data having the image feature received from the image keyword editing device to the image keyword editing device via the network,
The image keyword editing apparatus is characterized in that the keyword received from the image keyword providing server is edited and recorded in association with corresponding image data.

The invention according to claim 2 is the image keyword editing system according to claim 1,
The image keyword editing device includes:
The camera comprises a camera-equipped mobile communication terminal having a digital camera function for photographing a subject and recording the image data together with related keywords and a communication function connectable to the network.

Furthermore, the invention of the image keyword providing server according to claim 3, which achieves the above object,
An image keyword providing server connected to a network and providing keywords related to image data,
An image database that records multiple image data with associated keywords;
A keyword creating unit that creates a keyword related to similar image data from the image database based on an image feature received via the network;
The keyword created by the keyword creating unit is configured to be provided to the transmission source of the image feature unit via the network.

The invention according to claim 4 is the image keyword providing server according to claim 3,
The keyword creating unit
Similar image search means for searching for similar image data from the image database based on the received image feature,
A keyword counting means for counting keywords related to similar image data searched by the similar image searching means;
The keyword aggregated by the keyword aggregation unit is provided to the transmission source of the image feature unit.

The invention according to claim 5 is the image keyword providing server according to claim 4,
The keyword aggregation means is configured to provide, as a list, keywords having a high appearance frequency among the aggregated keywords to be provided to the transmission source of the image feature unit.

Furthermore, the invention of the image keyword editing device according to claim 6 for achieving the above object is as follows:
An image keyword editing device that can be connected to an image keyword providing server that provides keywords related to image data via a network,
Communication means for communicating with the image keyword providing server via the network;
An imaging means for photographing a subject and outputting image data;
Image feature extraction means for extracting an image feature from the image data of the subject imaged by the imaging means;
Display means for displaying image data of the subject and displaying a keyword related to the image data provided from the image keyword providing server;
Keyword selection means for selecting a desired keyword from the keywords displayed on the display means;
An image recording unit that records image data of a subject imaged by the imaging unit and records a keyword related to the image data selected by the keyword selection unit;
The image data of the subject imaged by the imaging means is displayed on the display means, and an image feature portion of the image data is extracted by the image feature portion extraction means, and the communication means is used to send the image data via the network. A keyword corresponding to the image feature transmitted to the image keyword providing server and received by the communication means from the image keyword providing server via the network is displayed on the display means, and displayed on the display means. A desired keyword is selected from the keywords by the keyword selection means, and the selected keyword is associated with the corresponding image data and recorded in the image recording means.

The invention according to claim 7 is the image keyword editing device according to claim 6,
The image feature extraction unit extracts a partial image including a human face from the image data as the image feature.

The invention according to claim 8 is the image keyword editing device according to claim 6,
The image feature extraction unit extracts a partial image including a focus area as the image feature from the image data.

  According to the present invention, since the image feature of the image data is transmitted to the image keyword providing server, it is possible to obtain a wide range of keywords from the image keyword providing server, and the keywords provided from the image keyword providing server. Since it is edited and recorded, an appropriate keyword can be easily added to the image data.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image keyword editing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image keyword editing system includes an image keyword editing device 20 that can be connected to the network 10 and an image keyword providing server 30 that is connected to the network 10. The keyword is transmitted to the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10, so that a keyword related to similar image data having the image feature is acquired from the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10. The acquired keyword is edited and associated with the corresponding image data, that is, added to the image data and recorded.

  The image keyword editing device 20 is obtained from the communication unit 21 that communicates with the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10, the imaging unit 22 that captures a subject (not shown) and outputs image data, and the imaging unit 22. Image feature portion extraction means 23 for extracting an image feature portion from the image data of the subject to be displayed, and display means for displaying the image data of the subject and a keyword related to the image data provided from the image keyword providing server 30 24, keyword selecting means 25 for selecting a desired keyword from displayed keywords, and image recording means 26 for recording the selected keyword together with corresponding image data.

  The image feature portion extraction unit 23 is configured to extract, from the image data, for example, a partial image including a person's face or a partial image including an in-focus area as an image feature portion. The partial image including the human face can be extracted by applying a known technique disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-323615, and the partial image including the in-focus area is, for example, It can be extracted by using AF information at the time of photographing in the image pickup means 22 or by applying a contrast method.

  Such an image keyword editing device 20 can be configured with a digital camera equipped with a wireless communication function such as a camera-equipped mobile phone or a wireless card connected to a network. In this case, the display unit 24 can be configured using a monitor screen mounted on a camera-equipped mobile phone or a digital camera, and the keyword selection unit 25 can be configured using an operation key such as a cross key.

  The image keyword providing server 30 includes a communication unit 31 with the network 10, an image database 32 in which a plurality of image data is recorded together with related keywords, and an image database 32 based on the image feature unit received from the network 10 by the communication unit 31. And a keyword creating unit 33 for creating keywords related to similar image data. The keyword creating unit 33, based on the received image feature unit, searches for similar image data from the image database 32 and a keyword totaling unit 35 for totaling keywords related to the searched similar image data. And have.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing image data recorded in the image database 32 and related keywords. As shown in FIG. 2, the image database 32 stores a plurality of image data and various related keywords such as a person's name, occupation, shooting location, event name, etc. corresponding to each image data. deep. In FIG. 2, alphabets for identifying a person are added to the image data for convenience of explanation of operations to be described later.

  Hereinafter, an operation example of the image keyword editing system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image keyword editing device 20. In the image keyword editing device 20, when the subject is photographed by the imaging means 22 (step S1), the image data is supplied to the display means 24 for display, and supplied to the image recording means 26 for recording (step S2). Further, the image feature portion is supplied to the image feature portion extracting means 23 to extract the image feature portion (step S3).

  Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, when an image including two persons is photographed by the imaging unit 22, a partial image including a person's face is imaged by the image feature extraction unit 23. When extracting as a part, as shown in FIG. 4B, partial images including faces of two persons included in the image data are extracted as an image feature part 1 and an image feature part 2, respectively. In addition, when the image feature portion extraction unit 23 extracts a partial image including the periphery of the focal point as an image feature portion, as shown in FIG. 4C, the partial image that is in focus is used as the image feature portion. Extract. 4B and 4C, alphabets for identifying the extracted person are attached for convenience of explanation.

  When the image feature extraction unit 23 extracts a required image feature, the extracted image feature is transmitted to the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10 by the communication unit 21 (step S4).

  After that, when a keyword corresponding to the image feature transmitted in step S4 is received by the communication means 21 from the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10 (step S5), the received keyword is displayed on the display means 24. (Step S6) A desired keyword is selected from the displayed keywords by the keyword selection means 25 (Step S7), and the selected keyword is recorded in the image recording means 26 in association with the image data of the corresponding subject (Step S7). Step S8).

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a keyword display mode on the display unit 24 in step S6. Here, the image keyword editing device 20 is configured with a digital camera 40 equipped with a wireless communication function with the network 10, the display screen 24 is configured using the monitor screen 41, and operation keys 42 such as a cross key are used. In this example, the keyword selection unit 25 is configured.

  In FIG. 5, the monitor screen 41 displays the image data (captured image) that is the basis of the transmitted image feature, and selects the keyword provided from the image keyword providing server 30 to be superimposed on the captured image. With a message prompting The keyword displayed on the monitor screen 41 is selected by operating the operation key 42. FIG. 5 shows a case where Takao, Yumi, cuisine, Christmas, and boots are displayed as keywords, and Takao and Yumi with black circles are selected.

  As described above, the user can view the captured image by displaying the keyword provided from the image keyword providing server 30 while displaying the captured image to which the keyword is added on the monitor screen 41 constituting the display unit 24. However, more appropriate keywords can be easily selected.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image keyword providing server 30. In the image keyword providing server 30, when the image feature transmitted from the image keyword editing device 20 to the network 10 is received by the communication unit 31 (step S 11), the similar image search unit 34 based on the received image feature. Similar image data is searched from the image database 32 (step S12). Note that similar image data to be searched includes a keyword related to the image data.

  After searching for similar image data, next, the keyword counting means 35 calculates and statistically processes keywords related to the searched similar image data (step S13), and creates a keyword to be transmitted with a high appearance frequency. Then, the created keyword is transmitted from the communication unit 31 via the network 10 to the image keyword editing device 20 that is the transmission source of the image feature unit (step S15).

  Here, as the image feature portion, for example, the partial images A and B including the face of the person shown in FIG. 4B are received, and the result of the search by the similar image search means 34 is shown in FIG. When three pieces of image data are searched as similar image data, keywords having an appearance frequency of 2 or more are created among all keywords related to the similar image data. In this case, the keywords of Takao, Yumi, cuisine, Christmas, and boots shown in FIG. 5 are created and transmitted to the image keyword editing device 20 as a list.

  The image keyword editing apparatus 20 receives the keyword from the image keyword providing server 30 and executes the operations after step S5 shown in FIG.

  Note that the image keyword editing apparatus 20 is provided so that, for example, a real-time mode or an after mode can be selected as a keyword acquisition mode. In the real-time mode, the camera 10 is wirelessly connected to the network 10 for each shooting, and as described above, the keyword of the shot image data is acquired from the image keyword providing server 30 in real time, and the network 10 is synchronized with the acquisition of the keyword. Try to disconnect the wireless connection. In the after mode, after the image is captured, the wireless connection to the network 10 is performed at an arbitrary timing, and the image data recorded in the image recording unit 26 is displayed on the display unit 24 and checked, and the required image data is recorded. The image feature part is extracted by the image feature part extracting unit 23 and transmitted to the image keyword providing server 30, whereby a related keyword is acquired and recorded in the image recording unit 26 in association with the corresponding image data.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the image keyword editing device 20 extracts the image feature of the image data and transmits it to the image keyword providing server 30 via the network 10, and the image keyword providing server 30 receives it. Based on the image feature portion, similar image data is searched from the image database 32, and keywords related to the searched similar image data are tabulated, and the source of the image feature portion is transmitted via the network 10. Since it is transmitted to the image keyword editing device 20, a wide range of keywords related to the image data including the image feature part can be provided to the image keyword editing device 20. Further, the image keyword editing device 20 displays the keyword provided from the image keyword providing server 30 together with the image data (photographed image) to be added, and selects (edits) a desired keyword. An appropriate keyword can be easily added to the image data.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation or a change is possible. For example, when acquiring a keyword in the real time mode, polling can be executed if connection to the network is not possible, and switching to the after mode can be automatically performed if connection is not possible even after polling a predetermined number of times. . Further, the image feature portion extracted by the image feature portion extraction means 23 of the image keyword editing device 20 can be a facial part such as a person's eyes, nose and mouth.

  Furthermore, the image keyword editing device 20 is not limited to a digital camera with a wireless communication function and a camera-equipped mobile phone that can be connected to a network, and is configured by combining a personal computer that can be connected to a network and a digital camera that can be connected to the personal computer. You can also In this case, keywords related to the image data are acquired from the image keyword providing server 30 in the after mode after the image data taken by the digital camera is taken into the personal computer or the image data in the digital camera is read out by the personal computer. Thus, the image data can be recorded in association with the image data.

It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the image keyword editing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the image data recorded on the image database shown in FIG. 1, and a related keyword. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the image keyword editing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the image feature part extracted by the image feature part extraction means of the image keyword editing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the keyword display mode on the display means of the image keyword editing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the image keyword provision server shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network 20 Image keyword editing apparatus 21 Communication means 22 Imaging means 23 Image feature part extraction means 24 Display means 25 Keyword selection means 26 Image recording means 30 Image keyword provision server 31 Communication part 32 Image database 33 Keyword creation part 34 Similar image search means 35 Keyword counting means 40 Digital camera 41 Monitor screen 42 Operation keys

Claims (8)

An image keyword providing server connected to a network and providing keywords related to image data;
An image keyword editing device connectable to the image keyword providing server via the network;
The image keyword editing device transmits an image feature of image data to the image keyword providing server via the network,
The image keyword providing server transmits a keyword related to similar image data having the image feature received from the image keyword editing device to the image keyword editing device via the network,
The image keyword editing apparatus edits the keyword received from the image keyword providing server and records the keyword in association with corresponding image data. The image keyword editing device includes:
The mobile communication terminal with a camera having a digital camera function for photographing a subject and recording the image data together with related keywords and a communication function connectable to the network. Image keyword editing system. An image keyword providing server connected to a network and providing keywords related to image data,
An image database that records multiple image data with associated keywords;
A keyword creating unit that creates a keyword related to similar image data from the image database based on an image feature received via the network;
An image keyword providing server configured to provide a keyword created by the keyword creating unit to a transmission source of the image feature unit via the network. The keyword creating unit
Similar image search means for searching for similar image data from the image database based on the received image feature,
A keyword counting means for counting keywords related to similar image data searched by the similar image searching means;
4. The image keyword providing server according to claim 3, wherein the keyword aggregated by the keyword aggregating unit is configured to be provided to a transmission source of the image feature unit.   5. The image keyword providing server according to claim 4, wherein the keyword totaling unit is configured to provide, as a list, keywords having a high appearance frequency among the totaled keywords to the transmission source of the image feature unit. . An image keyword editing device that can be connected to an image keyword providing server that provides keywords related to image data via a network,
Communication means for communicating with the image keyword providing server via the network;
An imaging means for photographing a subject and outputting image data;
Image feature extraction means for extracting an image feature from the image data of the subject imaged by the imaging means;
Display means for displaying image data of the subject and displaying a keyword related to the image data provided from the image keyword providing server;
Keyword selection means for selecting a desired keyword from the keywords displayed on the display means;
An image recording unit that records image data of a subject imaged by the imaging unit and records a keyword related to the image data selected by the keyword selection unit;
The image data of the subject imaged by the imaging means is displayed on the display means, and an image feature portion of the image data is extracted by the image feature portion extraction means, and the communication means is used to send the image data via the network. A keyword corresponding to the image feature transmitted to the image keyword providing server and received from the image keyword providing server via the network by the communication unit is displayed on the display unit, and displayed on the display unit. An image keyword editing apparatus configured to select a desired keyword from the keyword by the keyword selection unit and to record the selected keyword in association with corresponding image data in the image recording unit.   The image keyword editing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image feature extraction unit extracts a partial image including a human face from the image data as the image feature.   The image keyword editing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image feature extraction unit extracts a partial image including an in-focus periphery from the image data as the image feature.

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