JP2012014657A - Image display device and control method thereof, and program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display device capable of displaying images, which an operator cannot recognize or has difficulty in recognizing due to superimposition, in a recognizable way when arranging images in a virtual three dimensional space to display them as an image list.SOLUTION: A plurality of images are arranged in a virtual three dimensional space. When display positions of the respective images defined by a virtual view position are changed on a projection surface by an operator giving an instruction of changing the virtual view position or positions of the plurality of images, the superimposition degree of each image with other images is calculated by superimposition degree calculation means. According to animation effects based on parameters depending on the calculated superimposition degrees, the images gradually change their display positions along a time axis to move to the objective positions.

Description

   The present invention relates to a technique for displaying a plurality of images.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus that handles image data such as a personal computer or a digital camera has a form in which a plurality of image data is arranged and displayed in a virtual three-dimensional space or a two-dimensional plane. In such a display form, there is a method in which an index such as a shooting date is provided on the coordinate axis of a virtual space or a plane, and the user can display the whole image and the relationship between images in a format that is easy to understand (for example, Patent Document 1). .

  Further, when drawing a plurality of image data and graphic objects, there has been a method of moving an image or graphic to a position where it is not hidden in order to avoid hiding the image or graphic due to overlapping (for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-231993 JP 2004-021522 JP

  However, displaying a large number of images in a limited area sometimes makes it difficult for the image to overlap other images and be recognized. In particular, in the method of arranging in the virtual three-dimensional space, there is a case where it overlaps behind other images and is completely invisible on the display screen.

  There is a method of moving an image or a figure to a position that is not hidden, but if the position is determined based on an index assigned to a coordinate axis in space, it is not desirable to change the position.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and when an image is arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space and displayed as an image list, it is easy for an operator to recognize an image that is invisible or difficult to see due to overlapping. It is intended to provide the technology to display on.

In order to solve this problem, for example, an image display device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
An image display device that displays a plurality of images,
Arrangement means for arranging the plurality of images and a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images in a virtual three-dimensional space;
Image display means for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images onto a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
Change means for changing any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
If there is a change by the changing means, a position calculating means for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change;
An index value calculating unit that calculates an index value indicating a degree of overlap with another image for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint before or after the change when the change is made by the changing unit; ,
For each of the plurality of images, there is provided animation display means for gradually moving to the calculated target position along the time axis at a timing corresponding to the calculated index value.

  According to the present invention, even when an image is arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space and displayed as an image list, an image that is invisible or difficult to see due to overlapping is displayed so that the operator can easily recognize it. Is possible.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The figure which showed the module structure of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The figure which showed a mode that the image was arrange | positioned in virtual three-dimensional space. The figure which shows the example of a screen display of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process by embodiment. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process by embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the display screen in the animation process by embodiment. The figure which shows the example of an overlap of an image on a display screen. The figure which shows the module structure of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The figure which shows the change pattern of the position with respect to time. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process by embodiment. The figure which shows the module structure of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The flowchart which showed the flow of the process by embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a screen display of the image display apparatus by embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the display screen in the animation process by embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the screen display of the image display apparatus by embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an image display processing device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image display apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a CPU 101 is a system control unit and controls the entire apparatus. The ROM 102 is a read-only memory that stores the control program of the CPU 101 and various fixed data. The RAM 103 is a rewritable memory composed of SRAM, DRAM, and the like, and stores program control variables and the like. Various setting parameters, various work buffers, and the like are also stored in the RAM 103. The display unit 104 is used to notify the operator of display using an LCD or the like. The operation unit 105 includes a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like, and is used by the operator to perform various input operations. The HDD 106 is a hard disk drive as an external storage device, in which an OS (Operating System), applications, and image files are stored, and a new image file can also be stored. . The system bus 107 connects the above components.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing module configuration in the image display apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, a display position change instruction means 201 is for an operator to give an instruction to change the display position of each image. An instruction by the operator is given by the operation unit 105, and an instruction to simultaneously change the positions of a plurality of images is also possible. The display position determining unit 202 determines an initial display position of an image (hereinafter simply referred to as an image) of each image file stored in the image storage unit 205 (corresponding to the HDD 106 in FIG. 1), and also displays a display position change instruction unit. Based on the information input from 201, it also functions as a display position calculation means for calculating the display position of each image after the change. The overlap degree calculation unit 203 functions as an index value calculation unit that calculates an index value that is a source of a parameter set in the animation display unit 204 described later. Specifically, the overlap degree calculation unit 203 is determined by the display position determination unit 202. According to the display position of each image and the size of each image, the ratio of the hidden area of each image and the number of images overlapping in front of each image are calculated. The animation display unit 204 is a unit that determines an animation parameter from the value calculated by the overlap degree calculation unit 203 and displays the animation up to the position determined by the display position determination unit 202.

  In the above configuration, in the present embodiment, each image is arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space, and a projection image list that can be seen from the virtual viewpoint position is displayed on the display screen (two-dimensional screen) of the display unit 104. When the operator gives an instruction to change the display position of the image group (for example, when the possible viewpoint position is changed), the updated position (target position) of each image on the display screen is calculated accordingly, The display position of each image is gradually moved along the time axis toward the calculated position. That is, when an instruction to change the display position is given, an image is displayed at each position leading to it instead of moving to the movement target position all at once. In this way, an animation effect is produced by displaying an image while gradually changing the display position along the time axis, and the processing for that purpose is called animation processing. The problem here is that when an instruction to change the display position is given, if all the images move at the same timing, some of the images located in the back of the virtual three-dimensional space are During the movement to the position, it may remain hidden behind the other images, and the movement may be completed without being displayed on the screen at all. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a parameter indicating the timing for starting movement to the target position of each image after changing the display position, in other words, the timing for starting animation, is a ratio at which the image is hidden by another image. In addition, an index value depending on the number of other images hidden even in a part of the image is calculated, and the parameter is determined by the index value. Then, according to the determined parameters, an animation process for the image here is executed. As a result, for example, an image “B” that is hidden by an image “A” and cannot be seen at all starts moving earlier than the image A (or vice versa), so that the image B is in the eyes of the operator. The possibility of being recognized can be increased. Specific examples will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which images of a plurality of image files stored in the image storage unit 205 are arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space. In the figure, 301 is a virtual viewpoint position, and 302, 303, and 304 are an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis, respectively. Reference numerals 305 to 316 denote images. In the image display device of the present embodiment, the result of perspective projection of the images 305 to 316 on the plane of Z = 0 with the viewpoint 301 as a reference is displayed on the screen of the display unit 104.

  The positions of the images 305 to 316 are determined based on the indices assigned to the Y axis and the Z axis. For example, if the Y axis is the shooting date axis and the Z axis is the shooting time axis, the images 305 to 307 are taken on the same day and are arranged in the order of the shooting times. Instead of the shooting date and time, the type of subject or the size of the image may be assigned to the axis, or in the case of a thumbnail image of document data, the hit rate of the search keyword may be assigned to the axis. The instruction regarding the arrangement is assumed to be selected by the operator from a menu (not shown) using the operation unit 105, and here, it is assumed that it is already arranged as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the direction from the viewpoint toward the Z axis in the virtual three-dimensional space is the “depth” direction, and the closer to the viewpoint position, the closer to the “front”.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a screen display in the image display processing apparatus of the present embodiment. The screen display in FIG. 6 is obtained as a result of perspective projection of the virtual three-dimensional space shown in FIG. Images 401, 402, 403, and 404 correspond to the images 305, 308, 311 and 314 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, as a result of the perspective projection, the images 309, 310, 312, and 313 are completely invisible on the display screen. The images 306, 307, 315, and 316 are only partially visible on the display screen.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the present embodiment. This figure shows the flow of processing after the operator operates the operation unit 105.

  After the operation by the operator, it is first determined whether or not the operation is a display position change instruction, specifically, a virtual viewpoint position change instruction (S501). If it is determined that the instruction is not an instruction to change the display position, the process ends without performing the animation display process. If it is determined in S501 that the instruction is to change the display position, a projection position (display position) for a new viewpoint position is acquired (calculated) for each arranged image (S502). At this time, the display position of each image is not changed. The display position after changing each image (the target position of each image) is only calculated, and the process of actually moving (animating) is performed in S505 described later.

  Next, the degree of overlap is calculated for each image whose position is to be changed (S503). A method for calculating the degree of overlap will be described later. Subsequently, animation parameters for each image are determined based on the degree of overlap calculated in S503 (S504). In the present embodiment, the animation parameter is the time at which animation display is started, as described above. Then, animation display is executed based on the animation parameters determined in S504 (S505).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for calculating the degree of overlap and determining animation parameters. The process of FIG. 6 also shows the processes of S503 and S504 in FIG. 5 in more detail. The processing contents will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that at the stage of this processing, calculation of the display position (target position) after the movement of all the images has been completed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, a drawing area after movement of one target image is acquired (S601). Here, the drawing area in the current display, that is, the drawing area of the image before starting the animation is acquired. The drawing area is a set of coordinate values on the display screen of the image with the position of the upper left corner on the display screen as the origin. Specifically, the upper left coordinates (x1, y1) and the lower right coordinates (x2) of the image. , Y2) are coordinate values of two points.

  Next, 0 is set to the variable i and the variable N (S602). Here, the variable N is a counter that holds the number of images that are in front of the target image (the target image) and overlap the drawing area of the target image. The variable i is a counter that specifies each image arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space. The images arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space are uniquely numbered in order from the 0th. Here, the variables i and N are initialized.

  Then, the drawing area of the i-th image among all the moved images arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space is acquired (S603). Is the i-th image in front of the target image, and does the drawing area overlap? Is determined (S604). Whether or not the i-th image is in front of the target image can be determined from the arrangement information associated with the image. Whether or not the drawing areas overlap can be determined from a set of coordinate values indicating the drawing areas. Here, if a part of the images overlaps, it is determined that “the drawing areas overlap”. If it is determined in S604 that the i-th image is in front of the target image and the drawing areas overlap, the i-th image is stored in the drawing area list (S605). The drawing area list is a list that stores the drawing area of each image that hides part or all of the target image. Then, 1 is added to the variable N (S606).

  If it is determined in S604 that the i-th image is not in front of the target image or the drawing areas do not overlap, the process proceeds to S607. Subsequently, 1 is added to the variable i (S607), and it is determined whether or not the i-th image exists (S608). If it is determined in S608 that the i-th image exists, the process proceeds to S603, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  If it is determined in step S608 that the i-th image does not exist, that is, there is no longer an image whose overlap with the target image is to be determined, the ratio S of the area hidden from the drawing area list and the drawing area of the target image is calculated ( S609). The hidden area ratio S is represented by a real number from 0 to 1. Since the drawing area list stores the drawing area of the image that hides part or all of the target image, the ratio of the hidden area is calculated based on the coordinate value. When nothing is stored in the drawing area list, there is no image that hides the target image, so the ratio S of the hidden area is zero. In the present embodiment, the product of the ratio S and the variable N is called the degree of overlap.

  Then, the animation start time T of the target image is calculated from the ratio S and the value of the variable N (S610), and the process ends. The calculation formula in S610 is, for example, T (seconds) = S × N / 2. For example, in the case of an image in which 90% of the drawing area is hidden and one image overlaps in front, 0.9 × 1/2 = 0.45, and after the animation process starts, the target The movement (animation) of the image to the target position is started after 0.45 seconds. Further, in the case of an image in which 80% of the drawing area is hidden and two images overlap each other, 0.8 × 2/2 = 0.8, and the animation starts at 0.8 seconds. It will be. Accordingly, since the image located in the front row closest to the viewpoint position does not overlap with other images, these images start moving simultaneously with the start of the animation process.

  By performing the processing shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the animation start time is delayed as the image has a higher degree of overlap. By doing so, the probability that the hidden image will be visible for a moment increases, and the operator can recognize the presence of the image.

  FIG. 7 is an example showing a display screen in the middle of animation when animation display is performed based on the processing of FIGS. 5 and 6. This figure is a display screen in the middle of the animation when the operator performs an operation to move all images to the left in the state of the display screen of FIG. The position change distance (animation movement distance) is about a quarter of the screen width.

  In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes the image 309 in FIG. 3, and reference numeral 702 denotes the image 312 in FIG. When these images are all moved with the same animation parameters, they are not visible because they are hidden in the foreground image even during the animation. However, in the method shown in this embodiment, a part of the image can be seen during the animation.

  FIG. 8 is an example showing a state in which images are overlapped on the display screen. In S609, the ratio S of the area hidden from the drawing area of each image is calculated. This is based on the assumption that the display image is rectangular. FIG. 8A shows an example in which rectangular images are overlapped. In the case of a rectangular image, the hidden area can be calculated using the upper left coordinate value and lower right coordinate value indicating the drawing area of each image. FIG. 8B is an example showing a state in which the images overlap when the rectangular images arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space do not face the projection plane. In such a case, the hidden area on the display cannot be accurately calculated only by using the upper left coordinate value and the lower right coordinate value on the display screen. In this case, it is possible to calculate using the coordinate values of four points of the upper left coordinate value, the lower right coordinate value, the lower left coordinate value, and the upper right coordinate value on the display screen. Moreover, it is possible to calculate using the upper left coordinate value, the lower right coordinate value, and the viewpoint position coordinate value in the virtual three-dimensional space. FIG. 8C shows an example in which the non-rectangular images are overlapped. In FIG. 8C, the heart-shaped image and the two elliptic images overlap. In such a case, the hidden area can be calculated using information indicating the outline of each image. However, since this method complicates the calculation, the approximate value may be calculated using the upper left coordinate value and the lower right coordinate value of the minimum rectangle (bounding box) including the image. FIG. 8D is a diagram illustrating a minimum rectangle including an image. A rectangle 801 is a bounding box for a heart-shaped image, and a rectangle 802 is a bounding box for an elliptical image. By using the upper left coordinate value and the lower right coordinate value of the rectangle 801 and the rectangle 802, the ratio of the area where the heart-shaped image is hidden can be estimated.

  In the present embodiment, the drawing area acquired in S601, S603, or the like is a drawing area viewed from the virtual viewpoint position after the display position change, but may be a drawing area at the virtual viewpoint position before the change. Further, in the embodiment, when attention is paid to one image among a plurality of images, the area of the portion hidden by the other image from the virtual viewpoint position in the focused image, and the number of images to hide the focused image The product was calculated as an index value indicating the degree of overlap for the image of interest. However, the degree of overlap may be determined based on the hidden area value or the displayed (not hidden) area value. In S504, the animation start time is determined as the animation parameter. However, the animation end time may be determined. You may make it determine the speed and acceleration of the movement at the time of animation. For example, the movement route may be changed according to the degree of overlap. If an image having a larger overlap curvature moves on a curve having a larger curvature, the probability that a hidden image will be temporarily visible increases.

  In the present invention, the image to be displayed is not limited to a photographed image such as a photograph, but may be an image read by a scanner, a thumbnail image generated from a document file, or an image created by a graphics tool. An icon image based on vector graphics described in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) may be used. The present invention can be applied to a case where an image is not arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space but is arranged on a two-dimensional plane. In addition, as for the image arrangement, the image arrangement in which one layer is arranged in the X-axis direction in FIG. 3 has been described, but a plurality of images may be arranged on the X-axis as well as other Y and Z axes. I do not care. In short, as long as the planes of the arranged images are arranged so as to be parallel to the Z = 0 plane projected to the viewpoint position, there is no particular condition for the arrangement.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the setting of the target position of each image and the animation parameter are set separately has been described. However, since each image performs an animation defined by the display position after the movement and the animation method (animation start time), both the position after the change and the overlapping degree of one image are determined. It may be set as an argument (parameter) for animation processing, and any setting method may be used.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the image display device according to the present invention will be described. The configuration of the image display apparatus of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and is as shown in the block diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a module configuration in the image display processing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, a display position change instruction means 901 is for an operator to give an instruction to change the display position of an image. An instruction by the operator is given by the operation unit 105, and an instruction to simultaneously change the positions of a plurality of images is also possible. The display position determining unit 902 determines the initial display position of the image of each image file stored in the image storage unit 905, and determines the changed display position based on the information input from the display position change instruction unit 901. It is means to do. The similarity degree calculation unit 903 is a unit that calculates a similarity degree with the image that is closest to the other of the overlapping images when some or all of the other images overlap before the image. The animation display unit 904 is a unit that determines an animation parameter from the value calculated by the similarity degree calculation unit 903 and displays the animation up to the position determined by the display position determination unit 902.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a position change pattern with respect to time. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the display position of the image. The time is a range from the animation start time T0 to the end time T1, and the position is a range from the animation start position P0 to the end position P1. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, five types of change patterns of reference numerals 1001 to 1005 are defined in advance. The pattern 1001 indicates that the movement speed immediately after the animation starts is the highest and the movement speed is the slowest when approaching the target position, and the pattern 1005 indicates that the movement speed immediately after the animation starts is the lowest, but when the object approaches the target position. This indicates that the deceleration of is the smallest (speed is difficult to slow down). The patterns 1002 to 1004 are intermediate between them.

  In the present embodiment, animation display of an image is performed using any one of the change patterns 1001 to 1005. In this embodiment, it is assumed that this change pattern holds a function of time t and position p, that is, p = f (t) in the ROM 102.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the second embodiment. This figure shows the flow of processing after the operator operates the operation unit 105.

  After the operation by the operator, it is determined whether or not the operation is an instruction to change the viewpoint position, that is, an image display position change (S1101). If it is determined that the instruction is not an instruction to change the display position, the process ends without performing the animation display process. If it is determined in S1101 that the instruction is to change the display position, a new display position of each image is acquired (S1102). In step S1102, a new display position of each image is calculated based on the key input of the operation unit 105, the moving distance of the pointer of the pointing device, or the like.

  Next, for each image whose position is to be changed, the degree of similarity with the image positioned closest to the image that hides the image is calculated (S1103). The degree of similarity is an integer from 0 to 4. 0 is the highest degree of similarity and 4 is the lowest degree of similarity. In the second embodiment, the method for calculating the degree of similarity is not defined, but may be calculated by comparing pixels constituting each image, or determined based on metadata attached to the image. May be. If the subject person is the same, it may be determined that the degree of similarity is high. If it is determined from the Exif information of the image that two of the continuous shot images are determined, the two are determined to have a high degree of similarity. Also good. When comparing pixels constituting an image, it may be determined from differences in color value, luminance, saturation, brightness, or the like, or only some pixels may be extracted and compared. When the image is a thumbnail image created from document data, the degree of similarity may be determined from the content of the original document data.

  Subsequently, an animation parameter for each image is determined based on the degree of similarity calculated in S1103 (S1104). In the present embodiment, the determination of the animation parameter is to select one of the position change patterns with respect to the time shown in FIG. If the degree of similarity is 0, the pattern 1001 is 1; the pattern 1002 is 2; the pattern 1003 is 2; the pattern 1004 is 3; When another image does not exist in front of the image, the image becomes a pattern 1001.

  Then, animation display is executed based on the change pattern determined in S1104 (S1105).

  By performing the above processing, when the images are overlapped, if the degree of similarity between the image hidden behind and the previous image is low, the animation is performed with a different change pattern from the previous image. This increases the probability that an image hidden behind will be temporarily visible, making it easier for the operator to recognize the presence of the image.

  In the second embodiment, the degree of similarity with the image positioned closest to the image that hides the image is calculated, but the degree of similarity with the image that hides the image with the largest area to be hidden is calculated. The parameters may be determined based on Further, the degree of similarity of a plurality of overlapping images may be evaluated by brute force, and images having a high degree of similarity may be grouped. In that case, animation parameters are determined in units of groups according to the degree of similarity with other groups.

  When a scene displaying a plurality of images is a display of a search result based on a keyword or shooting date and time, the degree of similarity may be determined during the search. For example, when the shooting date / time is used as a search key, the shooting date / time of an image is evaluated at the time of search, and therefore, it is possible to perform processing for grouping images having similar shooting dates / times at the time of search processing. In this case, it can be determined that the grouped images have a high degree of similarity with each other from the viewpoint of shooting date and time. In addition to the shooting date and time, the same applies to a search based on keywords, the type of subject, the shooting mode, the word of the document data from which the image is based, and the like.

  Further, not only the degree of similarity but also the degree of overlap and the distance from the viewpoint position may be used for determining the animation parameter. In this embodiment, if the degree of similarity is low, the pattern 1005 is used for transition. However, if the degree of similarity is low and the degree of overlap is low, the need for changing the animation parameter is low, and transition may be made with the pattern 1001.

[Third Embodiment]
The image display apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  The configuration of the image display processing apparatus of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and is as shown in the block diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a module configuration in the image display processing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the figure, a display position change instruction means 1201 is for an operator to give an instruction to change the display position of an image. An instruction by the operator is given by the operation unit 105, and an instruction to simultaneously change the positions of a plurality of images is also possible. The display position determining unit 1202 determines an initial display position of an image (hereinafter simply referred to as an image) of each image file stored in the image storage unit 1205 (corresponding to the HDD 106 in FIG. 1), and also displays a display position change instruction unit. This is means for determining the changed display position based on information input from 1201. The distance calculation unit 1203 is a unit that calculates the distance between an image in a virtual three-dimensional space and a specific point (for example, a viewpoint position). The distance may be the distance to the center point of the image or the distance to the point closest to the specific point in the image. The animation display unit 904 is a unit that determines an animation parameter from the value calculated by the distance calculation unit 1203 and displays the animation up to the position determined by the display position determination unit 1202.

  In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of images are arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space, and the result of perspective projection thereof is displayed on the screen of the display unit 104.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the present embodiment. This figure shows the flow of processing after the operator operates the operation unit 105.

  After the operation by the operator, it is first determined whether or not the operation is a display position change instruction, specifically, a virtual viewpoint position change instruction (S1301). If it is determined that the instruction is not an instruction to change the display position, the process ends without performing the animation display process. If it is determined in S1301 that the instruction is to change the display position, a new display position of each image is acquired (S1302). In step S1302, a new display position of each image is calculated based on the key input of the operation unit 105, the moving distance of the pointer of the pointing device, or the like.

  Next, for each image whose position is to be changed, the distance from the virtual viewpoint position to the moved position is calculated (S1303). Here, the distance from the viewpoint position in the virtual three-dimensional space is calculated regardless of whether the images overlap. Here, not the distance from the viewpoint position but the distance from the projection plane or the distance from the convergence point may be calculated. Further, in the case of movement that rotates around a specific position in the virtual three-dimensional space, the center point of the rotation or the distance from the central axis may be used.

  Subsequently, an animation parameter of each image is determined based on the distance calculated in S1303 (S1304). Specifically, the distance calculated in S1303 is assigned to five levels 0-4. If the distance value is smaller than a certain value A, 0 is set. If the distance value is larger than a certain value B, 4 is set. The value A and the value B are divided into three stages, and 1, 2, and 3 are assigned from the smallest distance values. Then, one of the position change patterns with respect to the time shown in FIG. 9 is selected according to the assigned value. That is, if the distance is zero, the pattern 1001 is 1, if the pattern is 1002, the pattern 1003 is 2, the pattern 1003 is 3, the pattern 1004 is 4, and the pattern 1005 is 4.

  Then, animation display is executed based on the change pattern determined in S1304 (S1305).

  By performing the above processing, animation is performed with different change patterns depending on the distance from the viewpoint position. Since the hidden image is located farther than the image in the foreground, there is a high probability that the image hidden behind will be temporarily visible, and the operator can easily recognize the presence of the image.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the image display apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

  The configuration of the image display apparatus of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. Further, the module configuration in the image display processing apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 14 is an example of a screen display in the image display processing apparatus of the present embodiment. Assume that there are two images behind the images 1401, 1402, and 1403. Some of the images located behind the images 1401 and 1403 are visible on the display screen, but the two images located behind the image 1402 are completely invisible.

  In the fourth embodiment, a process when the viewpoint position is moved in the center direction of the image 1402, that is, in the depth direction, by an operator's operation will be described. The movement of the viewpoint position has the same meaning as moving each image from a relative viewpoint. In the display state of FIG. 14, when the viewpoint position is moved in the depth direction, the image behind the image 1402 remains hidden from the viewpoint. Therefore, in the present embodiment, during the animation, the transparency of each image is changed according to the degree of image overlap. For example, when a part of the background image is visible in an image, the image is made opaque, and when the background image is completely hidden, the image is made 50% transparent during the animation. The transparency may be changed in stages according to the ratio of the overlapping areas.

  The processing flow of this embodiment is the same as the flow shown in the flowchart of FIG. The processing flow shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is as described in the first embodiment, but the processing in the fourth embodiment will be supplemented below.

  In S <b> 503, the degree of overlap of each image is calculated. Here, the degree of overlap of each image in both the state before the animation start and after the end of the animation is calculated. In S504, first, based on the overlap degree calculated in S503, it is determined whether there is an image that is completely hidden both before and after the animation starts. If there is an image that is completely hidden, the transparency of the image located in front of it is set to 50%. For other images, the transparency during animation is 0%, that is, opaque.

  FIG. 15 is an example of a screen display during animation in the image display apparatus of the present embodiment.

  Since the image behind the image 1502 is completely hidden, the image 1502 is translucent and the image behind it is visible. On the other hand, since the images 1501 and 1503 are partially visible on the display screen, the images 1501 and 1503 are opaque. In FIG. 15, the back image that is seen through the front image is indicated by a broken line.

  The four embodiments have been described above. In these embodiments, each image is arranged without curvature in the virtual three-dimensional space. However, the present invention can also be applied to a display method in which an image is attached to the surface of a sphere or a cylinder. . In short, this is suitable when the position of the display image is changed by arranging the image in the virtual three-dimensional space and changing the viewpoint position, or by moving the virtual three-dimensional space with the viewpoint position fixed.

  FIG. 16 is an example showing a display method in which an image is arranged on the surface of a transparent cylinder. In the example of the figure, there is little overlap of images, but in a display method in which there are a plurality of transparent cylinders having a common central axis and different radii and images are arranged on the surface of each cylinder, there is a lot of image overlap. In such a case, the present invention is more effective.

  In these embodiments, the image display processing apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention displays an image on a display screen in any apparatus having a display unit such as a printing apparatus, a camera, a copying machine, a scanner, and a television. It is applicable when

(Other examples)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (12)

An image display device that displays a plurality of images,
Arrangement means for arranging the plurality of images and a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images in a virtual three-dimensional space;
Image display means for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images onto a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
Change means for changing any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
If there is a change by the changing means, a position calculating means for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change;
An index value calculating unit that calculates an index value indicating a degree of overlap with another image for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint before or after the change when the change is made by the changing unit; ,
An image display device comprising: animation display means for moving each of the plurality of images gradually to the calculated target position along a time axis at a timing corresponding to the calculated index value.   When the index value calculation unit focuses on one of the plurality of images, the area of the portion of the target image that is hidden by the other image from the viewpoint position, and the image that hides the target image The image display device according to claim 1, wherein a product of a value indicating the number of images and an index value indicating a degree of overlap with the image of interest is calculated. An image display device that displays a plurality of images,
Arrangement means for arranging the plurality of images and a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images in a virtual three-dimensional space;
Image display means for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images onto a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
Change means for changing any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
If there is a change by the changing means, a position calculating means for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change;
When there is a change by the changing means, it indicates whether or not there is a portion hidden by another image for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint before or after the change. If so, an index value calculating means for calculating an index value indicating the degree of similarity between the image and the image closest to the position of the virtual viewpoint,
For each of the plurality of images, one of a plurality of patterns indicating a moving speed that changes along a preset time axis is determined based on the calculated index value, and gradually along the time axis according to the determined pattern. And an animation display means for moving to the calculated target position.   The index value calculation means, for the two images for which similarity is to be calculated, information indicating the color of each pixel constituting each image, metadata given to each image, and source for creating each image The image display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the similarity is calculated based on at least one of the document data. An image display device that displays a plurality of images,
Arrangement means for arranging the plurality of images and a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images in a virtual three-dimensional space;
Image display means for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images onto a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
Change means for changing any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
If there is a change by the changing means, a position calculating means for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change;
An index value calculating unit that calculates a distance from the target position of each image with respect to the position of the virtual viewpoint after the change or before the change as an index value of each image when there is a change by the changing unit; ,
For each of the plurality of images, one of a plurality of patterns indicating a moving speed that changes along a preset time axis is determined based on the calculated index value, and gradually along the time axis according to the determined pattern. And an animation display means for moving to the calculated target position. An image display device that displays a plurality of images,
Arrangement means for arranging the plurality of images and a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images in a virtual three-dimensional space;
Image display means for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images onto a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
Change means for changing any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
If there is a change by the changing means, a position calculating means for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change;
An index value calculating unit that calculates an index value indicating a degree of overlap with another image for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint before or after the change when the change is made by the changing unit; ,
An image display device comprising: animation display means for setting each of the plurality of images to a transparency according to the calculated index value, and gradually moving the calculated image to the calculated target position along a time axis. .   A program that causes the computer to function as means included in the image display device according to claim 1 by being read and executed by the computer.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 7. A control method of an image display device for displaying a plurality of images,
An arrangement step of arranging, in the virtual three-dimensional space, the plurality of images, a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images;
An image display step for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images on a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
A changing step in which a changing unit changes any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
A position calculating step for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change when the position calculating means has changed by the changing step;
When there is a change by the change step, the index value calculation means calculates an index value indicating the degree of overlap with other images for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint after the change or before the change. An index value calculating step,
The animation display means includes an animation display step of moving each of the plurality of images gradually to the calculated target position along a time axis at a timing according to the calculated index value. A method for controlling an image display device. A control method of an image display device for displaying a plurality of images,
An arrangement step of arranging, in the virtual three-dimensional space, the plurality of images, a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images;
An image display step for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images on a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
A changing step in which a changing unit changes any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
A position calculating step for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change when the position calculating means has changed by the changing step;
If the index value calculation means is changed by the step, the change step, is there a portion hidden by another image for each of the plurality of images at the virtual viewpoint position after the change or before the change? And an index value calculating step for calculating an index value indicating a degree of similarity between the image and the image closest to the position of the virtual viewpoint if hidden.
For each of the plurality of images, the animation display means determines one of a plurality of patterns indicating a moving speed that changes along a preset time axis based on the calculated index value, and the time according to the determined pattern And an animation display step of gradually moving along the axis to the calculated target position. A control method of an image display device for displaying a plurality of images,
An arrangement step of arranging, in the virtual three-dimensional space, the plurality of images, a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images;
An image display step for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images on a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
A changing step in which a changing unit changes any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
A position calculating step for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change when the position calculating means has changed by the changing step;
When there is a change by the change step, the index value calculation means calculates the distance from the target position of each image with respect to the position of the virtual viewpoint before or after the change as the index value of each image. An index value calculating step,
For each of the plurality of images, the animation display means determines one of a plurality of patterns indicating a moving speed that changes along a preset time axis based on the calculated index value, and the time according to the determined pattern And an animation display step of gradually moving along the axis to the calculated target position. A control method of an image display device for displaying a plurality of images,
An arrangement step of arranging, in the virtual three-dimensional space, the plurality of images, a virtual viewpoint for viewing the plurality of images;
An image display step for displaying a list of projection images obtained by projecting the plurality of images on a projection plane defined by the virtual viewpoint;
A changing step in which a changing unit changes any of the plurality of images or the position of the virtual viewpoint according to an instruction from an operator;
A position calculating step for calculating a target position of each image to be displayed on the projection plane after the change when the position calculating means has changed by the changing step;
When there is a change by the change step, the index value calculation means calculates an index value indicating the degree of overlap with other images for each of the plurality of images at the position of the virtual viewpoint after the change or before the change. An index value calculating step,
The animation display means includes an animation display step of setting each of the plurality of images to transparency according to the calculated index value, and gradually moving the calculated image to the calculated target position along a time axis. A control method of the image display device.

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