JP2011188171A - Digital photograph data processing apparatus, digital photograph data server, digital photograph data processing system and digital photograph data processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, when a photographer does not memorize the place of photography or when the place of photography is specified but is not useful for specifying a digital photograph, a target photograph may not be found. <P>SOLUTION: A digital photograph data processing apparatus has: a first memory for storing at least photography location information and photography date/time information of digital photograph data; a second memory for storing event information specified by using location range information indicating the range of a location where an event is held and date/time range information indicating the range of a date/time when the event is held; an extraction unit for extracting the event information based on the photography location information and the photography date/time information; and an associating unit for associating the extracted event information with the digital photograph data stored in the first memory to store them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital photo data processing apparatus, a digital photo data server, a digital photo data processing system, and a digital photo data processing method, and more particularly, digital photo data processing for displaying information related to digital photo data together with the digital photo data. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a digital photo data server, a digital photo data processing system, and a digital photo data processing method.

  In recent years, as a way of enjoying digital photographs, a way of enjoying digital pictures displayed on personal computers, photo viewers, televisions, etc. has become widespread.

  Digital photo information (hereinafter, digital photo information) is stored in various storage media such as a hard disk and a flash memory. The photographed image information included in the digital photograph information is read from various storage media by a digital photograph data processing apparatus having means capable of reading the digital photograph information, and is displayed on display means such as a display as appropriate.

  With the increase in capacity of storage media, the amount of digital photographs possessed by individuals is increasing. As the amount of digital photographs increases, it becomes difficult to find a desired digital photograph among a large number of digital photographs.

  In order to find the target digital photograph, an operation system installed in the digital photograph data processing apparatus can be used to perform a collation search by specifying, for example, the name of a digital photograph file or the name of a folder stored therein. It is done on a daily basis. Similarly, means for searching for a desired digital photograph while browsing a small image on the file structure display screen using a thumbnail image included in the digital photograph information is also performed.

  However, the name of a digital photo file is often not useful for identifying a photo because it is an arrangement of several inorganic sequences. In addition, the name of the folder where the digital photos are stored is often named according to the date when the digital photos were taken, but when taking digital photos on a daily basis, When searching for a digital photograph that has passed, the relationship between the date and time of the photograph and the digital photograph is often ambiguous in human memory.

  Here, in order to efficiently search for a digital photograph, a technique is known that is useful for a search using character string data included in digital photograph information called metadata (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  A standard called Exif information has been formulated as a standard for metadata included in digital photo information. In Exif (Exchangeable image file format) information, in addition to shooting position information, it is possible to store shooting time, camera manufacturer name, camera model name, shutter speed, and the like.

  For example, digital photograph information of a digital photograph taken by a camera or the like equipped with a GPS (Global Positioning System) often includes shooting position information as Exif information.

  Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a place name data corresponding to shooting position information is used as a name of a digital photo file using a database storing place name data corresponding to shooting position information.

  In this way, it is possible to specify a target digital photograph by performing a collation search on the name of the file using the name of the place as a search key, relying on the memory that the picture was taken at a certain place.

JP 2002-44593 A

  However, in the above conventional technique, if the photographer of the digital photograph cannot store the photographing location and the digital photograph in association with each other, it still takes time to search for the target digital photograph.

  For example, let's say you went out to the vicinity of a water distribution station along the riverbed to launch a fireworks display. Then, the name of the digital photo is named “XX Water Distribution Station”. Even if the photographer tries to search for a digital photograph taken at the fireworks display, it is possible that the image of “fireworks display” is preceded and the place where the photograph was taken cannot be recalled.

  A similar problem is that if you frequently shoot different subjects even at the same location, you can remember the location where you took the photo, but the number of digital photos that were narrowed down by the search could be enormous. It is done. For example, there are many digital photos taken at a baseball field, but you want to find a digital photo of a specific game.

  In other words, with the above-described conventional technology, there is a problem that the photographer cannot find the target photo if there is no memory of the shooting location or there is a case where specifying the shooting location does not help to identify the digital photo. there were.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital photo data processing apparatus, a digital photo data server, a digital photo data processing system, and a digital photo data processing method capable of solving the above-mentioned problems and efficiently finding out a target digital photo. .

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the digital photo data processing apparatus of the present invention includes a first storage unit that stores digital photo data including at least shooting position information and shooting date / time information, and a range of locations where events are held. A second storage unit that stores event information specified by position range information that is indicated and date and time range information that is information indicating a date and time range at which the event is held, the shooting position information and the shooting of the digital photo data A first extracting unit that extracts corresponding event information based on date and time information; and an association unit that associates the extracted event information with the digital photo data and stores the associated information in the first storage unit. The digital photo data processing apparatus characterized by the above.

  The digital photo data processing apparatus according to the present invention also includes event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where the event is held and date / time range information which is information indicating a range of the date and time when the event is held. A digital photo data processing apparatus for receiving the event information from a stored digital photo data server, wherein the first storage unit stores digital photo data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date / time information, and the digital First, the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data are transmitted to a photo data server, and the event information corresponding to the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information is received from the digital photo data server. A first communication unit configured to associate the received event information with the digital photograph data; A mapping unit to be stored in 憶部 and also digital photograph data processing apparatus characterized by having a.

  The digital photo data server of the present invention is a digital photo data server that transmits / receives information to / from a digital photo data processing apparatus that stores digital photo data, and includes position range information indicating a range of places where events are held. And a first database that stores event information specified by date and time range information that is information indicating a date and time range at which the event is held, and from the digital photo data processing device, shooting position information of the digital photo data, and A second communication unit that receives shooting date and time information; and a second extraction unit that extracts corresponding event information based on the received shooting position information and the received shooting date and time information. The communication unit transmits the extracted event information to the digital photo data processing apparatus. It was a photographic data server.

  The digital photo data processing system according to the present invention is a digital photo data processing system comprising a digital photo data processing device and a digital photo data server, wherein the digital photo data processing device includes shooting image information, shooting position information, and shooting date and time. A first storage unit for storing digital photo data including information, and the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data to the digital photo data server, and event information from the digital photo data server. A first communication unit for receiving, and an association unit for associating and storing the received event information and the digital photo data in the first storage unit, wherein the digital photo data server holds an event. Location range information indicating the range of the location and the date on which the event is held A first database storing event information specified by date / time range information which is information indicating a range of the image, and the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data from the digital photo data processing device. A second communication unit; and a second extraction unit configured to extract corresponding event information from the event information stored in the first database based on information received by the second communication unit, the second communication The section transmits the extracted event information to the digital photo data processing apparatus.

  Further, the digital photo data processing method of the present invention stores the digital photo data including at least the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information in the first storage unit, the position range information indicating the range of the place where the event is held, Based on the step of storing event information specified by date and time range information, which is information indicating the range of date and time when the event is held, in the second storage unit, the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data And a first extracting step for extracting corresponding event information, and an associating step for associating the extracted event information with the digital photo data and storing them in the first storage unit. The digital photo data processing method was adopted.

  Further, the digital photo data processing method of the present invention stores the digital photo data including the photographed image information, the photographing position information, and the photographing date / time information in the first storage unit, and the digital photograph data server stores the digital photograph data. A first transmission step of transmitting the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information; a first receiving step of receiving event information corresponding to the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information from the digital photo data server; And a correlation step of associating the event information and the digital photo data in association with each other and storing them in the first storage unit.

  The digital photo data processing method of the present invention is a digital photo data processing method performed through transmission / reception of information between a digital photo data processing device and a digital photo data server. A step of storing digital photograph data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date / time information in one storage unit; and a position range indicating a range of a place where an event is held in the first database of the digital photograph data server Storing event information specified by information and date / time range information which is information indicating a date / time range in which the event is held; and from the digital photo data processing device to the digital photo data server, the digital photo data A first communication step of transmitting the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information, A second extraction step of extracting corresponding event information from the event information stored in the first database based on the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data transmitted from the digital photo data processing device. A second communication step of transmitting the extracted event information from the digital photo data server to the digital photo data processing device, and associating the extracted event information and the digital photo data with the first storage unit And an associating step stored in the digital photo data processing method.

  According to the present invention, event information corresponding to shooting position information and shooting date / time information of digital photo data can be associated with the digital photo data, so that the target digital photo can be obtained by relying on event information that is likely to remain in the photographer's memory. It can be found efficiently.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital photo data processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The data structure figure which showed the example of the data structure stored in the event database in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart which shows the data addition process in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows a response | compatibility with the Exif information stored as metadata in digital photograph data according to the Exif specification in this invention, and a practical meaning. The flowchart which shows the event information extraction process in this invention The figure which shows the example of the digital photograph data displayed on the display part by the event information display process in this invention The figure which shows the example of the data structure stored in the event relevant-information database in this invention The figure which shows the example in the case of displaying event auxiliary information on a display part simultaneously with the display of the picked-up image information in this invention. The figure which shows the example of a display at the time of accessing event related information through the event auxiliary information in this invention FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital photo data processing system including a digital photo data processing device and a digital photo data server according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the data addition process of the digital photograph data processing apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the data addition process of the digital photograph data server in Embodiment 2 of this invention The flowchart which shows the event information creation process of the digital photograph data processing apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention The flowchart which shows the event information creation process of the digital photograph data server in Embodiment 2 of this invention

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
The first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital photo data processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. The digital photo data processing apparatus 1 includes a CPU 2, a ROM 3, a RAM 4, a digital photo data acquisition unit 5, an event database 6, a display unit 7, an input unit 8 and an event related information database 9.

  A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2 controls the overall operation of the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 by arithmetic processing. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 3 stores various data and programs. A RAM 4 (Random Access Memory) temporarily stores various data and programs used for the operation of the digital photo data processing apparatus 1. The CPU 2 constitutes an extraction unit and an association unit.

  The digital photo data acquisition unit 5 physically connects an external storage medium in order to transfer the digital photo data recorded on the external storage medium to the ROM 3 or the RAM 4.

  The event database 6 is a database that stores a plurality of event data. Here, the event data is event information, position range information indicating a range of positions where the event indicated by the event information is held, and information indicating a range of date and time when the event indicated by the event information is held. Consists of elements including range information. The event data will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. The event data may be stored in advance in the digital photo data processing apparatus 1, or may be acquired from a digital photo data server (not shown) via communication means such as the Internet and stored in the event database 6. .

  The display unit 7 includes a liquid crystal display or the like, and presents information to the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 through vision. The input unit 8 includes a keyboard, a remote controller, a touch panel, and the like, and is used by a user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 to input information.

  The event related information database 9 is a database that stores an address of a storage location of event related information data. As shown in FIG. 7, the event-related information data includes event information, information related to the event indicated by the event information, for example, summary information of the event, text information such as history, and information useful for understanding the event. Web page, image information such as a map of the place where the event was held, sound information such as music and voice. The event related information data may be stored in advance in the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 as with the event data, or may be acquired from the digital photo data server (not shown) via communication means such as the Internet. It may be stored in the related information database 9.

  Here, the event data will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the data structure (event data) stored in the event database 6. The data ID is an identification number unique to event data. The event information is character information such as an event name and an event type. Since the event information is added to the digital photo data as metadata by a process to be described later, a short phrase is assumed instead of a sentence or the like due to capacity restrictions. The position range information is a range of a place where the event is held, and includes a latitude, a longitude, and a radius. The latitude consists of N representing north latitude or S representing south latitude, and latitude / minute / second. The longitude is composed of E representing east longitude, W representing west longitude, and longitude / minute / second. The radius is in kilometer units and indicates a range from a point specified by latitude and longitude. The date / time range information is information indicating a date / time range in which the event is held, and includes a combination of the event start year / month / date / time and the event end / year / month / date / time. Here, it is not always necessary to specify all the elements, and it is possible to specify an unspecified value. To specify an unspecified value without specifying a value, for example, a value is specified using a special symbol such as an * symbol.

  For example, the meaning of the data ID “1” means that the event “A prefecture snow festival” is from a point of “latitude 40 degrees 38 minutes 24 seconds, east longitude 140 degrees 35 minutes 53 seconds” to “radius 3 kilometers”, “From 10:00 am on February 11, 2010 to 8:00 pm on February 14, 2010”. Note that the method for indicating the range in which the event is held is not limited to the method using the center point and the radius. Latitude and longitude can be used to indicate the range of any shape. In this way, for example, by specifying the latitude and longitude ranges individually according to the shape of the event venue, it is possible to more precisely define the range for events held at elliptical soccer stadiums and rectangular elementary schools It is.

  In this manner, event information can be specified by position range information and date / time range information. The specification here does not mean that it is uniquely determined, but means that several pieces of countless event information can be specified. The reason why it is not uniquely determined is that even if an event is held at the same place at the same date and time, there may be a plurality of names, or a plurality of events may be held at the same place at the same date and time.

  Next, the processing of the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 will be described in detail. In the first embodiment, the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 performs data addition processing, event information display processing, and event auxiliary information display processing.

  First, the data addition process will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the data addition process. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the meaning of Exif information. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the event information extraction process during the data addition process shown in FIG.

  Here, the digital photo data has captured image information, shooting position information, and shooting date / time information as Exif information. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the Exif information of the digital photo data is measured by GPS that specifies the shooting position in addition to basic information such as the manufacturer name, model name, shooting date and time of the camera that created the digital photo data. The shooting position information which is the latitude and longitude information is stored. Note that the GPS used for the measurement may be one prepared by the photographer carrying a GPS logger separately, in addition to the one built in the camera body.

  First, when certain digital photo data is designated by the user via the input unit 8, the CPU 2 reads the digital photo data into the RAM 4 (step S1). The digital photograph data may be stored in the ROM 3 or stored in an external storage medium connected to the digital photograph data acquisition unit 5. It is assumed that the read digital photograph data is data recorded when a photograph of some event is taken. Here, an event refers to an event that is specified at a position and a point on the earth. For example, the XX city fireworks display, the final of the soccer XX cup, and Mt. Fuji in autumn.

  Next, the CPU 2 executes an event information extraction process for extracting event information from the event database 6 (step S2). The event information is extracted by using shooting position information and shooting date / time information included in the digital photo data read into the RAM 4.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the event information extraction process. The CPU 2 determines whether or not event data that has not been acquired in the current event information extraction process exists on the event database 6 (step S11). If there is event data that has not been acquired (“Yes” in step S11), event data is acquired (step S12).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether the position range indicated by the position range information of the acquired event data includes the shooting position indicated by the shooting position information of the digital photo data (step S13). As described above, the position range information is indicated by the latitude and longitude of a point and the radius centered on that point. Therefore, for the determination, the difference between the latitude and longitude between the photographing position information and the central point of the position range information is calculated first, and then the difference is converted into a distance by an existing conversion formula.

  If the position range includes the shooting position (“Yes” in step S13), then the shooting date / time indicated by the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data is included in the date / time range indicated by the date / time range information of the acquired event data. Is determined (step S14). If the shooting date / time is included in the date / time range (“Yes” in step S14), event information is extracted (step S15). The CPU 2 repeats the event information extraction process until there is no event data that has not been acquired in the current event information extraction process in the event database 6 (step S11 to step S15). In step S11, “No”), the event information extraction process ends, and the process returns to the data addition process.

  The data addition process after the end of the event information extraction process will be described. If the event information can be extracted, the event information is subsequently added to the digital photo data read in step S1 (step S3). Specifically, metadata is added by writing event information in a predetermined area of Exif information. In the Exif standard, an area in which manufacturer-specific information is written as Exif information is defined in the data structure as a manufacturer note area. In the present embodiment, event information is written in the maker note area.

  By executing the data addition process described above, the present embodiment has the following advantages. For example, suppose that the user wants to search for digital photo data taken at an event from among a large number of digital photo data. Here, the digital photo data subjected to the data addition processing includes event information including an event name. Therefore, the target digital photo data can be easily searched by performing a narrow search by specifying an event name for the digital photo data.

  In addition, by performing an instruction process to the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 as appropriate, such as performing a folder division with an event name common to the digital photo data as a name, the event name can be designated and the folder name specified. A refined search can be performed. In addition, digital photo data can be easily organized.

  Next, event information display processing will be described with reference to FIG. The event information display process is executed after the above-described data addition process is completed. Therefore, event information is added to the maker note area of the corresponding Exif information in the digital photo data in which event information exists, by the data addition processing for the digital photo data.

  As described above, the digital photo data originally includes photographed image information. In the event information display process, the CPU 2 causes the display unit 7 to display the captured image information and the event information added to the digital photo data. Here, as a method of displaying the event information, for example, a means of displaying the event name as a character string in the corner of the photograph can be considered.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of the digital photo data displayed on the display unit 7 by the event information display process. In FIG. 6, “E river fireworks display” is displayed as event information corresponding to the captured image information. When the event information is displayed on the display unit 7 at the same time as the captured image information, the event information can be confirmed without referring to the metadata if the captured image information is viewed. This has the advantage that it is useful when the user is looking for specific digital photo data, or when he / she wants to view the captured image information while recalling the situation where the digital photo was taken.

  Finally, event auxiliary information display processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8, and 9. FIG. The event auxiliary information display process is executed after the above-described data addition process is completed. It may be executed after completion of the event information display process described above.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a storage example of the data structure (event related information data) stored in the event related information database. Using event information as a key, the storage location of information related to the event information (text information, image information, sound information, related Web page) is stored in a referable form.

  In the event auxiliary information display process, the CPU 2 acquires event related information data corresponding to the event information of the digital photograph data displayed on the display unit 7 from the event related information database 9 and refers to the storage location of the event related information data. The link (for example, “/xx.txt” in the text information) is converted into a predetermined format (for example, the link identified by “.txt” is converted to “character information”) as event auxiliary information. And is automatically displayed on the display unit 7 in response to a user's event auxiliary information display request or at a predetermined timing.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example when event auxiliary information is displayed on the display unit 7 simultaneously with display of the captured image information. Following the display of the submenu, event auxiliary information indicating a link for accessing event related information is shown.

  Here, the event auxiliary information “character information” shown in FIG. 8 is a link to the event related information “text information” shown in FIG. 7, and the event auxiliary information “sound” is linked to the event related information “sound information”. It is a link. The event auxiliary information “map display” is a link to the event related information “image information”, and the event auxiliary information “Web information” is a link to the event related information “related web page”.

  Further, the event auxiliary information includes an access means (“photo of the same event”) of digital photograph data taken at the same event, and an access means (“ Nearby photos ") are also included. By comparing the shooting position information or event information of the digital photo data, the digital photo data can be specified.

  The user can access desired event-related information associated with the desired link by selecting the desired link through the input unit 8.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example when the event related information is accessed through the event auxiliary information. Here, the map stored in the event-related information database 9 as the corresponding event-related information “image information” is displayed on the display unit 7 using the event auxiliary information “map display” shown in FIG. Here, in the map display, as described above, display is performed using specific captured image information stored in the event-related information database 9 in advance, but the captured position information stored as Exif information of the digital photograph data is used. Then, a point on the map may be specified, and a related Web page may be accessed and displayed.

  As described above, when the event auxiliary information is displayed simultaneously with the display of the captured image information or at a predetermined timing by the event auxiliary information display process, the related information can be accessed while viewing the captured image information. Thus, the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 can quickly provide useful information for the interest obtained by the user by viewing the captured image information.

  In the present embodiment, the event information is displayed in the OSD (On Screen Display) at a predetermined position of the digital photo data. However, the digital photo data is analyzed by a predetermined image analysis method, and according to the analyzed result. The event information may be OSD-displayed at a position corresponding to the event information in the digital photo data.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to perform a narrow search by specifying an event name for digital photo data, so that the target digital photo data can be easily searched. An effect can be obtained. In addition, viewing the captured image information allows you to check the event information without having to bother with referring to the metadata, so it can be useful if you want to view the captured image information while recalling the situation of taking a digital photograph. it can. Furthermore, since it is possible to access related information while appreciating the captured image information, it is possible to quickly provide useful information for the interest obtained by the user by viewing the captured image information. Obtainable.
(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 14. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital photo data processing system including a digital photo data processing apparatus and a digital photo data server according to the second embodiment.

  The digital photo data processing apparatus 10 includes a CPU 2, a ROM 3, a RAM 4, a digital photo data acquisition unit 5, a display unit 7, an input unit 8, and a communication unit 11. In the digital photo data processing apparatus 10, those denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the digital photo data processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  The communication unit 11 includes a network adapter or the like, and transmits / receives information to / from the digital photo data server 20.

  The digital photo data server 20 includes a CPU 22, a ROM 23, a RAM 24, a communication unit 25, an event database 26, and an event related information database 29.

  The CPU 22 controls the operation of the entire digital photo data server 20 by arithmetic processing. The ROM 23 stores various data and programs. The RAM 24 temporarily stores various data and programs used for the operation of the digital photo data server 20.

  The communication unit 25 includes a network adapter or the like, and transmits / receives information to / from the digital photo data processing apparatus 10.

  The event database 26 is a database that stores a plurality of event data. Since the event data is the same as the event data (see FIG. 2) described in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The event related information database 29 is a database that stores the address of event related information data. Since the event related information data is the same as the event related information data (see FIG. 7) described in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the digital photo data processing system includes one digital photo data processing apparatus 10 and one digital photo data server 20, but the digital photo data processing system includes a plurality of digital photo data processing systems. The apparatus 10 may transmit / receive information to / from the digital photo data server 20 via the communication unit 11 and the communication unit 25.

  Next, the processing of the digital photo data processing system will be described in detail. In the second embodiment, the digital photo data processing system performs data addition processing, event information display processing, event auxiliary information display processing, and event information creation processing. The event information display process is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  First, the data addition process will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing data addition processing on the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 side. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing data addition processing on the digital photo data server 20 side. Hereinafter, the data addition process of the digital photo data processing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, but the description of the same process as the data addition process in the first embodiment will be simplified.

  First, in the digital photo data processing apparatus 10, when certain digital photo data is designated by the user via the input unit 8, the CPU 2 reads the digital photo data into the RAM 4 (step S1).

  Next, the CPU 2 of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 controls the communication unit 11 to transmit the shooting position information and shooting date / time information of the digital photo data to the digital photo data server 20 (step S21).

  The digital photo data server 20 receives the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information transmitted from the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 via the communication unit 25, and reads the contents into the RAM 24 (step S31).

  Then, the CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20 executes an event information extraction process for extracting event information from the event database 26 (step S32). The event information extraction process is the same process as in the first embodiment.

  If the event information can be extracted, the CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20 transmits the event information to the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 via the communication unit 25 (step S33).

  The digital photo data processing apparatus 10 receives event information transmitted from the digital photo data server 20 via the communication unit 11, and reads the contents into the RAM 4 (step S22). Then, the CPU 2 of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 adds the event information read out to the RAM 4 to the digital photo data (step S3). Specifically, event information is written in the maker note area as in the first embodiment.

  In addition, folder division with the name of an event common to digital photo data as a name may be performed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when event information can be added to digital photo data by the digital photo data processing system, in addition to the advantages described in the first embodiment, there are the following advantages.

  That is, since the event database 26 relates to events held in the world, the database update request is very high.

  However, if each of the digital photo data processing apparatuses 10 has an event database, it is necessary to update the event database for each of them, which is complicated. Further, even when there are not many digital photo data processing apparatuses 10, it is assumed that the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 is a client who mainly receives services. It is better to avoid it.

  Therefore, when the specific server has the event database 26 as in the present embodiment, the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 is updated by updating only the event database 26 on the digital photo data server 20 side. It is possible to execute data addition processing using the event database.

  Also, the configuration on the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 side does not become more complicated than necessary simply by having the configuration having the communication unit 11, and the introduction of the system is easy.

  Next, event auxiliary information display processing will be described. The event auxiliary information display process is executed after the data addition process is completed. It may be executed after the event information display process is completed. In the present embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 acquires event auxiliary information of event information corresponding to the digital photo data displayed on the display unit 7 from the digital photo data server 20, and stores the acquired event auxiliary information in the RAM 4. It is stored and displayed on the display unit 7 in response to a user's event auxiliary information display request or automatically at a predetermined timing.

  Specifically, first, the CPU 2 of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 selects digital photo data for which auxiliary information is to be displayed via the communication unit 11 automatically in response to a user event auxiliary information display request or at a predetermined timing. Event information is transmitted to the digital photo data server 20. The CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20 acquires event related information data related to the event information received from the event related information database 29 using the event information received from the digital photo data processing device 10 and stores it in the RAM 24. Event auxiliary information obtained by converting a link for referring to a storage location of event-related information data into a predetermined format is transmitted to the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 using the communication unit 25.

  The CPU 2 of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 receives event auxiliary information from the digital photo data server 20 and causes the display unit 7 to display the received event auxiliary information.

  As described above, when the event auxiliary information is displayed simultaneously with the display of the photographed image information by the digital photo data processing system, the following advantages are obtained in addition to the advantages described in the first embodiment.

  That is, since the event-related information database 29 relates to events held in the world, the database update request is very high.

  However, if each digital photo data processing apparatus 10 has an event-related information database, it is necessary to update the event-related information database, which is complicated. Further, even when there are not many digital photo data processing apparatuses 10, it is assumed that the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 is a client who mainly receives services. It is better to avoid it.

  Here, as in the present embodiment, assuming that a specific server holds the event-related information database 29, the digital photo data server 20 updates only the event-related information database 29, so that the digital photo data It is possible to cause the processing device 10 to execute data addition processing using the latest event-related information database 29.

  In addition, the configuration on the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 side also has a configuration having the communication unit 11 and does not become more complicated than necessary, and the introduction of the system is easy.

  Finally, the event information creation process will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing event information creation processing in the digital photo data processing apparatus 10. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing event information creation processing in the digital photo data server 20. The event information creation process is executed by the CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20, and the CPU 22 constitutes a database creation unit. In the event information creation process, the contents of the event database 26 and / or the event related information database 29 are rewritten with information transmitted from the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 side. Here, it is assumed that the digital photograph data is not subjected to data addition processing. In addition, it is assumed that the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 recognizes at which event the digital photo data is taken and created.

  First, the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 makes a request for adding event information using the input unit 8 (step S41). For example, to add “event A” to the event database 26 of the digital photo data server 20, the user inputs “event A” as event additional information via the input unit 8 and corresponds to “event A”. Specify the digital photo data to be used. When the event addition request is input, the CPU 2 controls the communication unit 11 to transmit the event addition information, the shooting position information of the designated digital photo data and the shooting date / time information to the digital photo data server 20 (step S42). ).

  The CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20 receives the event addition information, the shooting position information of the digital photo data, and the shooting date / time information from the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 via the communication unit 25 (step S51). Then, it is determined whether or not the received event additional information exists in the event database 26 (step S52).

  If the CPU 22 determines that the received event additional information does not exist in the event database 26 (“No” in step S52), the received event additional information, the shooting position information of the digital photo data, and the shooting date / time information, respectively, Event information, position range information, and date / time range information are converted into event information 26 and added to the event database 26, and the event information creation process is terminated. As a method for converting the received shooting position information into position range information or a method for converting the received shooting date information into date range information, the received information may be directly converted into the storage format of the event database 26. Alternatively, a certain range may be added with the received information as the center, and the added information may be converted into a storage format of the event database 26.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the received event additional information exists in the event database 26 (“Yes” in step S52), the received shooting position information is a range of position range information corresponding to the corresponding event information on the event database 26. It is determined whether it is within (step S53).

  If the received shooting position information is within the range of position range information corresponding to the corresponding event information on the event database 26 (“Yes” in step S53), the received shooting date / time information is the corresponding event information on the event database 26. It is determined whether it is within the range of the position range information corresponding to (step S54). When the received shooting position information is within the range of the position range information corresponding to the corresponding event information on the event database 26 (“Yes” in step S54), it is determined that the event additional information already exists in the event database 26. To finish the event information creation process.

  When the received shooting position information is out of the range of the position range information corresponding to the corresponding event information on the event database 26 (“No” in step S53), or the received shooting date / time information corresponds to the event database 26. When it is outside the range of the position range information corresponding to the event information (“No” in step S54), the CPU 22 updates the position range information corresponding to the event information or the date / time range information in the event database 26. Is performed (step S55). Then, after the update process, the event information creation process ends.

  Here, the update process of the position range information or the date / time range information will be described with an example. FIG. 2 is event data included in the event database 26 before event information creation processing. The data ID “5” stores information that the event information “E River Fireworks Festival” will be held “from 5 pm on August 22, 2010 to 10 pm on the same day”.

  In the above situation, “E river fireworks display” is input to the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 as additional event information, and digital photo data corresponding to “E river fireworks display”, and the shooting position information is “north latitude 34”. It is assumed that the information is “42 degrees 43 seconds, 135 degrees 29 minutes 10 seconds east longitude” and the shooting date / time information is “10:30 pm on August 22, 2010”. Then, the digital photo data server 20 that has received the above information sets the date / time range information of the event information “E River Fireworks Festival” specified by the data ID “5” of the event database 26 to “afternoon on August 22, 2010” Update from 5pm to 10:30 pm on the same day. That is, the process of updating the information in the event database 26 to a more appropriate one based on the information sent by the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 is the update process of the position range information or the date / time range information.

  As described above, when the event information creation process is performed by the digital photo data processing system, there are the following advantages.

  That is, the event database 26 is a database with a high update request as described above. However, it is complicated for the administrator of the event database 26 to manage registration of all events in the world. Here, paying attention to the fact that the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 holds event information, shooting position information, and shooting date / time information about the digital photo data, the event database 26 is created using these information. Creation or updating frees you from the complexity of registration management.

  Even if erroneously registered data exists in the event database 26, it is conceivable that the event information creation process is repeated and the content approaches the authentic one.

  Although the database updated in the event information creation process described above has been described as the event database 26, data can be created or updated in the event related information database 29 by the following process.

  That is, in step S42 of FIG. 13, the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 transmits event related information to the digital photo data server 20, and the digital photo data server 20 stores the event related information in the RAM 24. Then, the event related information database 29 is updated based on the stored address and the received event information.

  In this way, the registration of the contents of the event-related information database 29 is easy, and the authenticity of the contents can be maintained.

  Note that various processing means can be applied to the update processing of the position range information or the date / time range information. For example, when the shooting position information or shooting date / time information has a significantly different range of application than previously registered information, even if the event information is the same, it may be registered as a new event using a new data ID. . In this way, the possibility of unnecessarily expanding the range of the position range information and the date / time range information is reduced, so that the event database 26 can be appropriately managed.

  In addition, when registering event information using a new data ID, position range information and date / time range information are set to information having a certain range centered on shooting position information and shooting date / time information. The range indicated by the position range information and date / time range information of the event information is not extremely narrow, and the event database 26 can be appropriately managed.

  If the digital photo data server 20 has a digital photo database (not shown) for storing digital photo data, the user of the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 uses the input unit 8 in step S42 in FIG. The information to be input may be only event additional information. In this case, in the digital photo data processing apparatus 10, the user displays desired digital photo data on the display unit 7 by accessing a digital photo database (not shown) of the digital photo data server 20. Therefore, the CPU 22 of the digital photo data server 20 stores the event additional information received from the digital photo data processing device 10 and the digital photo database (not shown) in the event information creation processing, and the digital photo data processing device 10 The contents of the event database 26 are updated or added based on the shooting position information or shooting date / time information of the desired digital photo data being displayed.

  In this way, the digital photo data server 20 can present captured image information to a large number of digital photo data processing apparatuses 10 and collect event information widely, so that the event database 26 can be appropriately managed.

  Further, if the event information creation process is repeated, the amount of information in the event database 26 may be enormous. In such a case, the number of pieces of event information recorded in the event database 26 may be specified to be a predetermined number using the narrowing-down conditions of the event information.

  For example, the frequency at which event information is transmitted from the digital photo data processing apparatus 10 in the event information creation process can be used as the narrowing-down condition. What is infrequent may be deleted from the event database 26. In this way, events or the like performed locally or within one family are deleted from the event database 26, and appropriate management of the event database 26 can be achieved.

  In addition, as a narrowing-down condition, the similarity of event information may be used to delete one of the similar event information.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to perform a narrowing search by specifying an event name for digital photo data by the data addition processing, so that the target digital photo data can be easily searched. The effect that it is possible can be obtained. Also, since the specific server has the event database 26, there is an effect that only the event database 26 can be updated on the digital photo data server 20 side.

  Event information display processing allows you to view event information without having to refer to metadata by viewing the captured image information, so it is useful when you want to view the captured image information while recalling the situation of taking a digital photograph. The effect that can be obtained.

  In addition, the event auxiliary information display process allows you to access related information while viewing the captured image information, so you can quickly provide useful information for the interest that the user gained through viewing the captured image information. The effect that it can be done can be obtained. In addition, since the specific server has the event-related information database 29, there is an effect that only the event-related information database 29 can be updated on the digital photo data server 20 side.

  Further, since event information can be widely collected by the event information creation process, it is possible to obtain an effect that appropriate management of the event database 26 can be achieved.

  According to the present invention, event information corresponding to shooting position information and shooting date / time information of digital photo data can be associated with the digital photo data. Since it can be found efficiently, it is useful for digital cameras, televisions, personal computers, etc. that store digital photos.

1, 10 Digital photo data processing device 2, 22 CPU
3, 23 ROM
4, 24 RAM
5 Digital Photo Data Acquisition Unit 6, 26 Event Database 7 Display Unit 8 Input Unit 9, 29 Event Related Information Database 11, 25 Communication Unit 20 Digital Photo Data Server

Claims (22)

A first storage unit for storing digital photo data including at least shooting position information and shooting date and time information;
A second storage unit for storing event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where the event is held and date and time range information which is information indicating a range of the date and time when the event is held;
A first extraction unit for extracting corresponding event information based on the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data;
An association unit for associating the extracted event information with the digital photo data and storing them in the first storage unit;
A digital photo data processing apparatus comprising: The event information from a digital photo data server storing event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where the event is held and date / time range information which is information indicating a range of the date and time when the event is held A digital photo data processing device for receiving
A first storage unit for storing digital photograph data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date and time information;
The photographing position information and the photographing date / time information of the digital photograph data are transmitted to the digital photograph data server, and event information corresponding to the photographing position information and the photographing date / time information is received from the digital photograph data server. A first communication unit;
An association unit that associates the received event information with the digital photo data and stores the associated information in the first storage unit;
A digital photo data processing apparatus comprising: The digital photo data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display the digital photo data and event information associated with the digital photo data. The digital photo data processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a display unit that displays the digital photo data and event information associated with the digital photo data. A third storage unit for storing event-related information related to the event information;
A display unit that displays event auxiliary information indicating the digital photo data and the event related information; and
The first extraction unit extracts corresponding event related information from the third storage unit based on event information associated with the digital photo data, creates corresponding event auxiliary information, and displays the event auxiliary information on the display unit The digital photo data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein A display unit for displaying the digital photo data and event auxiliary information; and
The first communication unit transmits event information associated with the digital photo data to the digital photo data server, and receives corresponding event auxiliary information from the digital photo data server,
3. The digital photo data processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displays the digital photo data and the received event auxiliary information. A digital photo data server that transmits and receives information to and from a digital photo data processing device that stores digital photo data,
A first database storing event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where an event is held and date / time range information which is information indicating a range of date and time when the event is held;
A second communication unit that receives shooting position information and shooting date / time information of the digital photo data from the digital photo data processing device;
A second extraction unit that extracts corresponding event information based on the received shooting position information and the received shooting date and time information,
The second communication unit transmits the extracted event information to the digital photo data processing apparatus;
A digital photo data server characterized by the above. A second database for storing event-related information related to the event information,
When the second communication unit receives event information from the digital photo data processing apparatus, the second extraction unit extracts event-related information corresponding to the received event information and stores corresponding event auxiliary information. The second communication unit transmits the created event auxiliary information to the digital photo data processing device;
8. The digital photo data server according to claim 7, wherein: A database creation unit for updating event information stored in the first database or adding new event information;
The second communication unit further receives event information from the digital photo data processing apparatus;
The database creation unit updates the event information stored in the first database or adds new event information based on the received event information and the received shooting position information or the received shooting date and time information. The digital photograph data server according to claim 7, wherein: The database creation unit determines whether or not the received event information exists as event information stored in the first database. If the database creation unit determines that the event information does not exist, the database creation unit includes a certain range in the received shooting position information. Position range information and date / time range information having a fixed range in the received shooting date / time information, and the created position range information and the created date / time range in the received event information. When it is determined that the information is associated and added to the first database as new event information and exists, the position range information or the date / time range information corresponding to the received event information in the first database is received. The update according to claim 9, wherein the update is performed according to the received shooting position information or the received shooting date / time information. Tal photo data server. A digital photo data processing system comprising a digital photo data processing device and a digital photo data server,
The digital photo data processing apparatus
A first storage unit for storing digital photograph data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date and time information;
A first communication unit that transmits the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data to the digital photo data server, and receives event information from the digital photo data server;
An association unit that associates the received event information with the digital photo data and stores the associated information in the first storage unit;
The digital photo data server is
A first database storing event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where an event is held and date / time range information which is information indicating a range of date and time when the event is held;
A second communication unit for receiving the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data from the digital photo data processing device;
A second extraction unit that extracts the corresponding event information from the event information stored in the first database based on the information received by the second communication unit;
The second communication unit transmits the extracted event information to the digital photo data processing apparatus;
A digital photo data processing system characterized by that. The digital photo data processing apparatus
A display unit for displaying the digital photo data and event auxiliary information; and
The first communication unit transmits event information associated with the digital photo data to the digital photo data server, and receives the event auxiliary information from the digital photo data server,
The display unit displays the digital photo data and the received event auxiliary information,
The digital photo data server is
A second database for storing event-related information related to the event information,
When the second communication unit receives event information from the digital photo data processing apparatus, the second extraction unit extracts event-related information corresponding to the received event information and stores corresponding event auxiliary information. The second communication unit transmits the created event auxiliary information to the digital photo data processing device;
The digital photograph data processing system according to claim 11. In the digital photo data processing apparatus,
The first communication unit further transmits event information to the digital photo data server,
The digital photo data server is
A database creation unit for updating event information stored in the first database or adding new event information;
When the second communication unit receives the event information, the shooting position information, and the shooting date / time information from the digital photo data processing apparatus, the database creating unit receives the received event information and the received 12. The digital photograph data according to claim 11, wherein the event information stored in the first database is updated or new event information is added based on the shooting position information or the received shooting date / time information. Processing system. Storing digital photograph data including at least shooting position information and shooting date information in the first storage unit;
Storing event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where the event is held and date and time range information which is information indicating a range of the date and time when the event is held in the second storage unit;
A first extraction step of extracting corresponding event information based on the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data;
An association step of associating the extracted event information and the digital photo data with each other stored in the first storage unit;
A digital photo data processing method characterized by comprising: Storing digital photograph data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date / time information in the first storage unit;
A first transmission step of transmitting the shooting position information of the digital photo data and the shooting date and time information to a digital photo data server;
A first receiving step of receiving event information corresponding to the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information from the digital photo data server;
An association step of associating and storing the received event information and the digital photo data in the first storage unit;
A digital photo data processing method characterized by comprising: Displaying the digital photo data and event information associated with the digital photo data on a display unit;
15. The digital photo data processing method according to claim 14, further comprising: Displaying the digital photo data and event information associated with the digital photo data on a display unit;
The digital photo data processing method according to claim 15, further comprising: Storing event related information related to the event information in the third storage unit;
Extracting corresponding event-related information from the third storage unit based on event information associated with the digital photo data;
Displaying event auxiliary information indicating the digital photo data and the event related information on a display unit;
15. The digital photo data processing method according to claim 14, further comprising: A second transmission step of transmitting event information associated with the digital photo data to the digital photo data server;
A second receiving step of receiving corresponding event auxiliary information from the digital photo data server;
Displaying the digital photo data and the received event auxiliary information on the display unit;
The digital photo data processing method according to claim 15, further comprising: A digital photo data processing method in a digital photo data processing system comprising a digital photo data processing device and a digital photo data server,
Storing digital photograph data including photographed image information, photographing position information, and photographing date / time information in the first storage unit of the digital photograph data processing apparatus;
Event information specified by position range information indicating a range of a place where an event is held and date / time range information which is information indicating a range of the date / time when the event is held in the first database of the digital photo data server Memorizing step;
A first communication step of transmitting the shooting position information and the shooting date and time information of the digital photo data from the digital photo data processing device to the digital photo data server;
Second extraction for extracting corresponding event information from the event information stored in the first database based on the shooting position information and the shooting date / time information of the digital photo data transmitted from the digital photo data processing device. Steps,
A second communication step of transmitting the extracted event information from the digital photo data server to the digital photo data processing device;
An association step of associating the extracted event information with the digital photo data and storing the event information in the first storage unit;
A digital photo data processing method characterized by comprising: Storing event related information related to event information in a second database of the digital photo data server;
A third communication step of transmitting the event information from the digital photo data processing device to the digital photo data server;
Extracting event related information corresponding to the received event information and creating corresponding event auxiliary information;
A fourth communication step of transmitting the created event auxiliary information from the digital photo data server to the digital photo data processing device;
Displaying the digital photo data and the event auxiliary information on a display unit of the digital photo data processing device;
21. The digital photo data processing method according to claim 20, further comprising: A fifth communication step of further transmitting the event information from the digital photo data processing device to the digital photo data server in the first communication step;
Updating the event information stored in the first database or adding new event information based on the received event information and the received shooting position information or the received shooting date and time information;
21. The digital photo data processing method according to claim 20, further comprising:

Images