JP2011044883A - Digital camera with image synthesis function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera with an image synthesis function that carries out a synthesis processing to a photographed image to draw out amazing, joyful, and/or happy feeling of a user. <P>SOLUTION: The camera includes a memory that preliminarily stores a surprising image such as a fairy character or the like, a random number generation means that generates a random number sequence, and an image synthesis means. The image synthesis means synthesizes the surprising image to a photographed image at a predetermined probability in accordance with the random number sequence. The surprising image is an image of a hero/heroine of a novel, a cartoon character, or a nature object such as a flower petal or snow crystal or the like. An appearance probability of the surprising image to the photographed image, the image type, the number of images, arrangement position of image, are decided in accordance with a random number sequence generated by a random number generation means. The appearance probability of the surprising image is suppressed to 0.01-20% of the number of images to add a lottery element or a fortune-telling element. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera having an image composition function. More specifically, the present invention relates to a digital camera in which a character image of a fairy or the like is image-synthesized at an appropriate location with a slight probability on a captured still image.

  A conventional digital camera performs image correction that automatically performs contrast correction, color correction, and the like without requiring user control by an autofocus function, a scene detection function, a face detection function, and the like.

  In addition, a print sticker called a print club (registered trademark) or a photo sticker (registered trademark), or a photo sticker, stores various composite images in advance and combines them with a photographed image to generate a composite image for printing. Output.

  In this application document, the term “digital camera” refers to a device that can capture a still image and process the captured image as digital data. For example, “digital camera”, “single-lens reflex camera”, “still image” It includes “a video camera for capturing an image”, “a digital camera as a part incorporated in a device such as a mobile phone or a personal computer”, “a photographing and image composition device having a photographing function and an image composition function”, and the like.

  As a related art regarding a digital camera having a photographing function and an image composition function, Patent Document 1 is cited.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-107988 “Image Output Device, Image Output Method, Image Output Processing Program, and Image Distribution Server, Image Distribution Processing Program” (Publication Date: April 21, 2005) For characters that imitate the image, prepare multiple pose images according to the time or place, and use the character image with the pose according to the current position or current time to compose or replace the target image of the captured image. It is.

  The image correction performed by the digital photographing device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is limited to a range that does not impair the scenery of the original photographed image. Therefore, even if the user looks at the composite image, it is within the expected range and lacks surprise.

  In addition, what is created and output in advance with the contents set by the user is image synthesis within the range of the user's prediction, and this is also not surprising.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a digital camera having an image composition function for performing surprise processing, joy, and / or happiness for a user by performing composition processing that cannot be predicted by the user on a captured image. The purpose is to do.

  Therefore, the digital camera according to the present invention includes a memory in which a surprise image such as a fairy character is stored in advance, a random number generation unit that generates a random number sequence, and an image synthesis unit, and the image synthesis unit includes a captured image. In contrast, the surprised image is synthesized with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence.

  Furthermore, the digital camera according to the present invention includes a captured image storage unit that records a captured image, a storage unit that stores a surprised image to be combined with the captured image, a random number generation unit that generates a random number sequence, and a surprised image according to the random number. A surprise image composition necessity determination unit that determines whether or not to compose is included, and an image composition processing unit that combines a surprised image with the photographed image based on the result of the surprise image composition necessity determination unit.

  Further, in the digital camera, the surprised image may be a novel hero, a cartoon character, or an image of a natural object such as a petal or a snowflake.

  Further, in the digital camera, the appearance probability of the surprised image, the type of the image, the number of images, and the arrangement location of the image are determined according to the random number sequence generated by the random number generation means. Also good.

  Furthermore, in the digital camera, the appearance probability of the surprised image may be suppressed to about 0.01 to 20% of the number of images, and may have a deceptive element and a fortune-telling element.

  Further, in the above digital camera, the random number generation means digitizes one or more of date / time information, shooting number information, remaining power information, and remaining storage capacity information at the time of shooting and uses them for generating random numbers. It may be.

  In the digital camera, the image synthesizing unit includes one or more of a unit for detecting a person image from the captured image, a unit for detecting an edge, and a unit for detecting a flat zone. An area of the human image of the photographed image detected by the image detecting means is defined as a synthesis prohibition area of the surprised image, and the surprised image is aligned along the edge detected by the edge detecting means. The arrangement area and the image size of the surprised image may be determined in accordance with the flat zone detected by the means for detecting the flat zone.

  The digital camera further includes a removable memory card, and the removable memory card is removed from the digital camera and connected to a personal computer that can be connected to the surprised image distribution server via the network. The surprised image may be recorded, and the attachable memory card on which the new surprised image is recorded may be connected to the digital camera to update the surprised image.

  Furthermore, the image composition method for a digital camera according to the present invention generates a random number sequence at the timing of shooting, and with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence, for a captured image, such as a fairy character previously stored in a memory. This is a digital camera image synthesis method for synthesizing a surprised image.

  Furthermore, the program according to the present invention is a program for generating a random number sequence at the timing of shooting in a computer, and a fairy character stored in a memory in advance for a shot image with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence. This is a program for executing a procedure for synthesizing a surprised image.

  Furthermore, a method for remodeling an existing digital camera according to the present invention includes recording a surprise image data such as a fairy character and the program according to claim 9 in an internal memory or recording and mounting it on a memory card. This is a method of remodeling an existing digital camera.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital camera having an image composition function for performing surprise processing, joy, and / or happiness on a photographed image by performing composition processing that cannot be predicted by the user. .

FIG. 1A is an example of an image photographed by a conventional digital camera, and FIG. 1B is an image photographed by a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present embodiment and image composition. FIG. 2A is an example of an image photographed by a conventional digital camera, and FIG. 2B is an image photographed by a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present embodiment and image composition. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a hardware system of a digital camera having an image composition function according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the basic operation of the digital camera of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a random number generation process, an image composition necessity determination process, and an image type / composition amount / composition policy determination process. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining human image detection, edge detection, and flat zone detection performed on a captured image. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an output image of the digital camera according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram similarly showing an output image of the digital camera according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram according to the second embodiment of the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment is illustrative and does not limit the scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

[Features of this embodiment]
First, in order to facilitate understanding of the present embodiment, the features of the present embodiment, that is, the intention of developing this technology will be described. In the current patent application, since the drawings are limited to monochrome, all the images in the attached drawings are displayed in monochrome. However, it should be noted that the image of the digital camera according to the present embodiment is not limited to a monochrome image and may be a color image.

  FIG. 1A is an example of an image taken with a conventional digital camera. This is a picture of two children running happily through the grassland holding hands. When the image is taken with a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present embodiment, a fairy (enclosed by a broken circle) 30 appears in the photograph rarely as shown in FIG.

  Similarly, FIG. 2A is an example of an image taken with a conventional digital camera. This is a photo of a stone pillar gate in an ancient temple in Europe. In the case of shooting with a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present embodiment, a niece uncle (encircled by a broken line circle) 30 appears in the photograph rarely as shown in FIG.

  A fairy appears in FIG. 1B and a spider uncle appears in FIG. 2B, but the feature of this embodiment is that it does not know what the digital camera user will see. Since the user's unexpected character appears, the user's interest is always attracted. Therefore, in this application document, such a character as a fairy or a niece's uncle will be called a “surprise image”.

  "Surprised image" is, for example, with the consent of the copyright holder, the main character of the novel, Little Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Honeybee Maya, etc., or the cartoon character Sazae, Astro Boy, Mickey Mouse, etc. Is the target. Here, characters that are preferred by everyone are preferred. However, the image is not limited to a character, and may be an image of a natural object such as a petal or a snow crystal.

  Furthermore, the feature of this embodiment is that it is not known when the “surprised image” 30 appears to the user. The “surprised image” 30 does not always appear, but suddenly appears at an unexpected time, which makes the digital camera user very surprised.

  Furthermore, the feature of this embodiment is that the appearance probability of the “surprise image” is very low. When a rare fairy or niece uncle appears, it feels as if he or she has been hit by a lottery or fortune-telling, and the user feels happy become. In the case where the number of elements is increased, a single character may appear as a “hit” and a plurality of characters may appear as a “hit”.

  Furthermore, the feature of this embodiment is that the “surprised image” appears at an appropriate position with respect to the captured image. For example, if a fairy appears to hide the faces of the children in Fig. 1 or if a nephew uncle appears in Fig. 2 regardless of the position of the stone pillar gate, the joy will be reduced by half for the user and the value of the photo will also decrease. End up. Accordingly, the location of the surprised image with respect to the photographed image is determined according to the photographed image.

  The present inventors have aimed to develop a digital camera that has one or more of the above-described features and that makes a surprised image appear in a captured image. Hereinafter, the configuration, operation, effect, and the like of a digital camera having an image composition function capable of realizing such characteristics will be described.

[First Embodiment]
(Outline block of digital camera)
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a hardware system of the digital camera 1 having an image composition function according to the first embodiment. This schematic block diagram is described to the extent necessary to describe the present embodiment, and it should be understood that there are other elements in an actual digital camera.

  The digital camera 1 has an optical system lens (not shown) that captures an optical image of a subject 50a, and a CMOS / CCD that senses analog image information from the optical system lens and converts it into an analog image signal. An input unit 2a for A / D converting the signal to generate digital image data, an internal memory (for example, RAM) 6 for storing various image data, programs, and the like, and an image being captured and stored in the internal memory A display unit (for example, a liquid crystal display device) 4 for displaying an image, an internal timer 8 for generating date / time information for year / month / date / time, and a triaxial sensor 32 for sensing the posture of the camera at the time of photographing are provided.

  The digital camera 1 further includes a CPU 7 that controls the operation of these elements in accordance with a program stored in the internal memory 6, a battery (not shown) that supplies power to these elements, and operation buttons of the digital camera. And an operation system 5 of the switch group, and a memory card (for example, an SD memory card) 3 that records the photographed image data and the composite image data and is detachable from the access port 2b.

  The internal memory 6 stores an operation program 6a of the digital camera 1, surprised image data 6b, captured image data 6c, synthesized image data 6d, and the like. Furthermore, a work area (frame memory) 6e for synthesizing the surprised image with the captured image data is secured in the internal memory 6 under the control of the CPU 7.

  Examples of the operation program include a random number generation program, an image composition necessity determination program, and an image composition processing program described later. Examples of the image composition processing program include a human face detection program, an edge detection program, and a flat zone detection program.

(Operation flow of digital camera)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the basic operation of the digital camera of FIG.

  In step S01, a subject is photographed with a digital camera. In advance, the buttons and switches of the operation system 5 are appropriately set and operated in accordance with the subject, the surrounding environment, and the like, and the shutter is pressed.

  In step S02, random number generation processing is performed in conjunction with the shooting operation. The upper left part of FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the random number generation processing block 9.

  The feature of the digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment is that the user of the digital camera does not know what surprised image 30 appears. Furthermore, it is in the point which does not know when it appears to a user. Furthermore, the appearance probability of the surprised image is very low. In order to realize one or more of these features, this digital camera uses a random number sequence.

  For example, in the random number generation processing block 9, the date / time information, the number of shooting times information, the remaining battery power information, the remaining storage capacity information of the internal memory, and the like from the internal timer 8 are acquired in conjunction with the shooting operation, and stored in the internal memory 6. To be recorded. This is because, as seed information for generating a random number sequence, some of date / time information, number-of-shooting information, remaining power information, remaining storage capacity information, and the like are used and converted into numerical values (9a).

  In personal computers and the like, in general, only date and time information is used for generating a random number sequence. However, if only the date / time information matches the year / month / date / time, the same random number sequence may be generated. Therefore, in order to give a surprise to the user, which is one of the features of the present embodiment, various kinds of information are used to make the appearance of the surprised image unpredictable to the user.

  The random number sequence 10 is generated from the digitized seed information using, for example, xorshift 9b. The xorshift 9b generates pseudo random numbers at an extremely high speed only by bit-wise xor (exclusive OR) and shift calculation.

  Referring to FIG. 4 again, in step S03, it is determined whether image composition is necessary. Next, in step S04, the type, composition amount, composition policy, etc. of the surprised image used for image composition are determined. Steps S03 and S04 are executed together when a reference table described below is used.

  One of the features of this embodiment is that the appearance probability of a “surprise image” is very low. Therefore, in most cases, it is determined that the composition is unnecessary, and the process proceeds to step S06, where the photographed image is stored in the internal memory 6 as it is. In rare cases, if it is determined that image synthesis is required, the type, composition amount, composition policy, etc. of the surprised image are determined.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a reference table 12 is prepared in the internal memory in advance. This reference table 12 is provided with a reference index 12a in the vertical direction, and in the horizontal direction corresponding to each reference index, synthesis required or not required (12b), surprised image type (12c), synthesized amount (surprise image The number (number) (12d), the composition policy (placement, size, etc. of the surprised image) (12e) are defined.

  The random number sequence 10 generated in step S02 corresponds to the reference index 12a. For example, when the reference index 12a is set to 000001 to 999999, the reference index 12a corresponding to six predetermined digits (for example, the lowest six digits) of the random number sequence 10 is selected. Therefore, when the random number sequence is determined, the necessity of synthesis is determined by the reference index 12a corresponding to the random number sequence 10, and the type of image, the synthesis amount, the synthesis policy, etc. are determined in the case of synthesis required.

  In order to make the appearance probability of “surprise image”, which is one of the features of the present embodiment, extremely low, it is necessary to synthesize the total number of photographed images when specifying the necessity of synthesis (12b). Probability is very low. For example, it is preferably about 5 to 20%. Furthermore, when a plurality of “surprise images” appear as “big hits”, it is preferable that the probability of appearance be lower, for example, about 0.01 to 5%.

  In addition to such a method of using the reference table 12, a method of determining necessity of composition, type of surprised image, amount of composition, composition policy, etc. directly from the random number sequence 10 may be used. For example, a 16-bit random number sequence 10 is generated, and it is necessary to pre-combine with the most significant 4 bits, the type of surprised image with the next 4 bits, the amount of synthesis with the next 4 bits, and the least significant 4 bits. It is also possible to define the composition policy so that it can be determined and execute it only by the program judgment process.

  In most cases, it is determined that “combination is not required” in the reference table 12, and the process proceeds to step S06, where the captured image is stored in the internal memory 6 as it is. However, in rare cases, if “composition required” is determined in the reference table and the type, composition amount, composition policy, and the like of the surprised image are determined, the process proceeds to step S05, and image composition processing (13) is executed.

  The lower right part of FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the image composition processing block 13. In addition to the surprised image type, composition amount, composition policy, and the like determined by the reference table 12, the image composition processing includes camera orientation data (camera upright) at the time of shooting from the triaxial sensor (see FIG. 3) 32. State, +90 degree or -90 degree rotation state).

  In the image composition processing, human image detection 13a, edge detection 13b, flat zone detection 13c, and the like are performed from the captured image 50b. Based on these detection results, an arrangement prohibition area, an arrangement location, an arrangement area (that is, a size of the surprised image), etc. of the surprised image are determined.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the human image detection 13a, the edge detection 13b, and the flat zone detection 13c performed on the photographed image 50b. The captured image data 50b is generally composed of several million pixels. Each image is composed of RGB data, and each of RGB is composed of data of 4 bits and 24 bits per pixel.

  The person image detection 13a employs, for example, a method of detecting the face of a person by comparing the skin color or the distance between eyes, nose and mouth. For example, as a specific example, a set of pixel data close to the color of human skin (skin color) is detected, and this is determined as a face portion. This face portion is defined as a value prohibition area of the surprised image. Thereby, for example, the surprised image does not cover the face portions of the children in FIG.

  For example, the edge detection 13b employs a method for detecting the contour of an image from a captured image. For example, as a specific example, the captured image is reduced to a reduced image 17a, and a boundary line image 18 is generated using a Laplacian filter 17b. The Laplacian filter 17b is a filter that calculates a spatial second derivative and detects a contour. The captured image data is converted into a grayscale image, subjected to Laplacian filter processing, and displayed as an output image. Thereby, for example, the contour portion of the stone pillar in FIG. 2A is obtained. By the edge detection, the arrangement location of the surprised image is determined.

  The flat zone detection 13c employs, for example, a method of detecting a portion where approximate colors of a specific portion are arranged and a portion that is not an approximate color (eg, threshold processing and labeling processing). For example, as a specific example, this is performed using halftone sampling. As shown in FIG. 6, the captured image is pixel-sampled in a halftone dot pattern, the difference between the sampling point 15a and the adjacent sampling points 15b to 15i is obtained, and the point between which the difference amount is small is regarded as a flat zone. Are repeated to perform high-speed labeling. Specifically, for example, the captured image is divided into 4 × 3 blocks, and the RGB data of the center pixel of each block is compared with each other. When the RGB data of the central pixel is approximate (within a certain range), the pixels to be approximated are linked, and it is determined that the same object is captured in the portion where the link extends.

  The flat zone is, for example, a background tree portion in FIG. 1A and a blue sky portion in FIG. The area where the surprised image can be arranged is determined by the flat zone detection. Based on the size of the arrangeable area, the size of the surprised image is transformed into a similar shape smaller than the arrangeable area.

  Referring to FIG. 5 again, the surprised image is upright with respect to the background image based on the attitude data of the camera (upright, +90 degree or −90 degree rotated state) at the time of shooting from the triaxial sensor 32 (see FIG. 3). The orientation is determined as follows. For example, in FIG. 1A, the camera is in the upright posture, the image is horizontally long, and the surprised image is also synthesized in the upright posture. However, in FIG. 2A, since the camera is rotated by +90 degrees and the image is vertically long, the surprised image is also rotated and synthesized by +90 degrees.

  In accordance with the above processing, a surprised image is synthesized in the right direction at the right place in the right direction with respect to the photographed image.

  Note that it is not always necessary to employ human image detection, edge detection, and flat zone detection in this order. The order of detection processes may be changed, or only one or two of the detection processes may be employed.

  Referring back to FIG. 4, the composite image is stored in the internal memory 6 at step 06.

  In step S07, the captured image data 6c and the composite image data 6d in the internal memory 6 are transferred to the removable memory card 3.

  Thereafter, in step 08, it is determined whether or not the next shooting is performed. When the operation switch 5 of the digital camera 1 is turned off and the photographing is finished, the processing is finished. If there is a next shooting, the process returns to step S01.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an output image of the digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment displayed on the display unit 4 (see FIG. 3). An image 21 a shown in FIG. 7A is a case where “combination is not required”, and the image is not synthesized, and is a captured image itself.

  The image 21b is “when combined” and is a case where one surprised image 30 is combined. The surprised image is combined with a part of the photographed image. The image 21c is “synthesized” and is a case where a plurality of surprise images 30 are combined. A number of surprise images are combined with the entire photographed image.

  The occurrence probabilities of the images 21a, 21b, and 21c are, for example, 90%, 8%, and 2%. The image 21b has a rarity and the image 21c has a rarity. It is

  If a heart shape or a love fairy reminiscent of “love luck” is adopted as a surprised image, the composite image can have an aspect of the result of love luck reading.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram similarly showing an image photographed by a conventional digital camera and an output image of the digital camera according to the present embodiment. The difference from the composite image in FIG. 7 is an example in which display logos of various organizations, such as corporate logos, high school and university insignia, clubs of various hobbies, golf clubs, etc. are adopted as surprise images. .

  For example, in the case of a company logo of a soft drink manufacturer or a confectionery manufacturer, if the company logo appears, sending the photograph data to the manufacturer will send the soft drink or candy as a prize. If you make it, you can have a deceptive element. On the other hand, the digital camera manufacturer can provide the digital camera to the user at a lower cost by collecting advertising expenses from the soft drink manufacturer.

  The image 22a is obtained when it is determined that “no composition”, and is the same as the captured image. The image 22b is “synthesized” and is a case where one surprised image 30 is synthesized. The surprised image is synthesized with a part of the photographed image. The image 22 c is “with composition”, and the company logo is adopted as the surprised image 30.

  The occurrence probabilities of the images 22a, 22b, and 22c are, for example, 80%, 10%, and 10%, and the images 22b and 22c are made scarce. When a company logo or the like is used, it is possible to have an advertising effect of the company.

  As for the probability of occurrence, when it is desired to increase the rarity, for example, in an extreme case, one out of 10,000 images is set as a hit image (0.01%). On the other hand, if you want to have a lot of fun, for example, one out of every five images will be a hit image (20%). In any case, it can be arbitrarily set while listening to the user's voice, and further changed thereafter.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 9 is a block diagram according to the second embodiment of the present embodiment. The state which connected the digital camera 1 of FIG. 3 to personal computer PS23 is shown. The feature of this embodiment is that it does not know what appears as a surprised image to the user of the digital camera. In order to realize this feature, the surprised image 30 can be updated.

  That is, by adopting new characters that have become popular in magazines, comics, TV programs, etc., the trendyness, novelty, and freshness of surprised images are maintained.

  The personal computer 23 may be a normal personal computer. The personal computer 23 includes a wireless or wired network communication port 24, and takes in a new surprise image from the distribution server via the network line 36 at regular intervals or at a specified timing by using an internal timer 28. The taken surprised image is recorded in the internal memory 26 and the storage device 27.

  A removable memory card 3 removed from the digital camera 1 is inserted into the access port 25 of the personal computer 23.

  When the removable memory card 3 is mounted on the access port 25, the personal computer 23 copies a new surprise image stored in the internal memory 26 and the storage device 27 to the memory 3.

  Next, when the removable memory card 3 is mounted on the digital camera 1, the new surprise image in the memory 3 is copied to the internal memory 6 and the surprise image is updated. These surprised image update processes are preferably automatically performed according to the update program without the user's knowledge.

  By the update process of the surprised image performed without the user's knowledge, the feature of the present embodiment is guaranteed that the user of the digital camera does not know what the surprised image will appear.

[Modification / Application]
As an application example, an existing digital camera can be changed to the digital camera according to the present embodiment without significant modification.

  That is, the digital camera 1 in FIG. 1 can be realized by recording an operation program and surprised image data in the internal memory of an existing digital camera. Alternatively, it can be realized by mounting a memory card recording an operation program and surprised image data on an existing digital camera. Therefore, an existing digital camera that has been widely used can be used as a digital camera having an image composition function according to the present embodiment without significant modification.

[Advantages and features of this embodiment]
The digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment has the following advantages and features.

  (1) The feature of this embodiment is that the user of the digital camera cannot understand what appears.

    By using a random number, a surprised image that cannot be predicted is selected, which attracts the user's interest.

  (2) The feature of this embodiment is that it is not known when the surprised image appears to the user. By using a random number, a surprised image appears when it cannot be predicted, and the user is surprised.

  (3) A feature of this embodiment is that the appearance probability of a surprised image is very low. By using a random number, the appearance probability can be set low in advance, so that elements such as wrinkles and fortune-telling can be added.

  (4) Regarding the generation of random numbers, the date and time information, the number of times of photographing information, the remaining power information, the remaining storage capacity information, etc. are used and converted into numerical values. Appear at an unpredictable time with an unpredictable probability.

  (5) The feature of this embodiment is that the surprised image appears at an appropriate position with respect to the captured image. It is synthesized with an appropriate size at a location that matches the background image. Therefore, the joy and enjoyment of the user can be increased without reducing the value of the captured image.

  (6) The feature of this embodiment is that the surprised image can be automatically updated. Instead of continuing to use the same surprised image, the trendy, novelty, and freshness of the surprised image can be maintained by being automatically updated.

[Summary]
The embodiment of the digital camera having the image composition function according to the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this. Additions, deletions, changes, and improvements that can be easily made by those skilled in the art are within the scope of the present invention.

  The technical scope of the present invention is defined by the description of the appended claims.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Digital camera, 2a: Input part, 2b: Detachable memory access port, 3: Detachable memory, 4: Display part, LCD screen, 5: Operation system which consists of buttons and button groups, 6: Internal Memory, 6a: random number generation program, 6b: image composition execution determination program, 6c: image composition processing program, 6e: surprised image pattern group, 7: CPU, 8: internal timer, 9: random number generation processing means, 10: random number sequence 11: Image composition execution determination processing, 12: Reference table, 12a: Flag necessary / unnecessary for composition, 12b: Composition amount, 12c: Composition policy, 13: Image composition processing, 14a: Location classification, 14b: Zone amount, 15a to 15i: sampling points, 16: flat zone, 17a: reduced image, 17b: Laplacian filter, 18 : Border line, 19: face area, 20: enclosing person image, 21a to 21c: output image, 22a to 22c: output image, 23: personal computer, 24: wireless or wired network communication port, 25: detachable Memory access port, 26: internal memory, 27: storage device, 28: internal timer, 29: CPU, 30: surprised image, 32: triaxial sensor

Claims (10)

Memory that stores surprise images like fairy characters in advance,
Random number generation means for generating a random number sequence;
Image synthesizing means,
The digital camera characterized in that the image synthesizing unit synthesizes the surprised image with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence with respect to the photographed image. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
The surprised image is a digital camera, which is an image of a natural character such as a novel hero, a cartoon character, or a petal or a snowflake. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
A digital camera, wherein the appearance probability of the surprised image, the type of image, the number of images, and the arrangement location of the images are determined according to the random number sequence generated by the random number generation means. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
A digital camera that suppresses the appearance probability of the surprised image to about 0.01 to 20% of the number of images, and has a deceptive element and a fortune-telling element. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
The random number generation means is a digital camera that digitizes one or more of date / time information, number-of-shoots information, remaining power information, and remaining storage capacity information at the time of shooting and uses them for random number generation. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein
The image synthesizing means has one or more of a means for detecting a human image from the captured image, a means for detecting an edge, and a means for detecting a flat zone,
An area of the person image of the photographed image detected by the means for detecting the person image is defined as a composition prohibition area of the surprised image,
Along the edge detected by the means for detecting the edge, the arrangement location of the surprised image is defined,
A digital camera that determines an arrangement region and an image size of the surprised image in accordance with the flat zone detected by the flat zone detecting means. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising:
It has a removable memory card,
The removable memory card is removed from the digital camera, connected to a personal computer connectable to a surprise image distribution server via a network, and a new surprise image is recorded.
A digital camera in which the surprised image is updated by connecting the removable memory card on which the new surprised image is recorded to the digital camera. Generate a random number sequence at the shooting timing,
An image composition method for a digital camera, which synthesizes a surprised image such as a fairy character previously stored in a memory with a photographed image with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence. On the computer,
A procedure for generating a random number sequence at the timing of shooting, and a procedure for synthesizing a surprised image such as a fairy character previously stored in a memory with a predetermined probability according to the random number sequence,
A program for running   A method of remodeling an existing digital camera by recording a surprise image data such as a fairy character and the program according to claim 9 in an internal memory or recording and mounting it on a memory card.