JP2012043068A - Notification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a notification device monitoring images of a cash register and a periphery thereof and performing an emergency notification.SOLUTION: This notification device monitors behavior of persons in a monitoring area comprising a first area allowing unspecified persons to enter/exit, a second area allowing only specified persons to enter/exit, and a third area installed with a cash register. This notification device includes: monitoring means which includes persons' location detecting means detecting that persons are present in the first and second areas, commodity detecting means detecting commodity of the third area, and register opening detecting means detecting the opening of the cash register; and notification determination means, when the register opening detecting means detects the opening of the register, detecting persons at prescribed positions by the persons' location detecting means and, when absence of commodity is detected by the commodity detecting means, determining the necessity of emergency notification. When the notification determination determines the necessity of the notification, the device performs the notification.

Description

  The present invention relates to a notification device that detects and reports the occurrence of an emergency such as a burglary, and more particularly to a notification device that does not require operation of a notification button or the like.

Conventionally, as a notification device for a user such as a store or an office to notify an emergency such as a burglary to the outside, a remote monitoring center displays an image captured by a monitoring camera together with an emergency signal by operating a so-called emergency button. What is sent out to is widely known.
Although this type of reporting device is based on the user's voluntary operation, it rarely reports an emergency situation accidentally, but when an emergency such as a burglary occurs, the operation of the emergency button is prevented by the burglary. The user may be upset and forget to operate the emergency button, and there is a problem that the certainty of the notification is lacking.

Also, those who are engaged in the delivery of cash face to face with the customer operate a notification function to the police etc. that is attached to the lower part of the counter as a detour because the perpetrator for the purpose of robbery possesses weapons etc. Doing so may irritate the perpetrator and cause injury.
Patent Document 1 provides an alarm device that can notify a manager or the like in real time when it is determined that there is a possibility of a suspicious person by performing image processing on the face image of a visitor captured by a camera or the like. In order to do so, an alarm device is disclosed that detects a facial element in a zone used by an unspecified number of people and determines that there is a possibility of a suspicious person when part of the face is hidden. Yes.
In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses the movement trajectory information of a monitoring target using a video of a stereo camera for the purpose of providing a suspicious behavior detection system that can identify and identify a suspicious person who is performing an abnormal behavior. A suspicious behavior for detecting a suspicious behavior of a monitoring target, comprising a movement trajectory acquisition unit to be acquired and a behavior identifying unit for automatically identifying the suspicious behavior of the monitoring target by identifying the behavior state of the monitoring target based on the movement trajectory information A detection system is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-35992 JP 2008-217602 A

According to the reporting device proposed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to report to the outside a person who has concealed part of his face as a suspicious person.
Further, according to the suspicious behavior detection system proposed in Patent Document 2, it is possible to identify a suspicious behavior from the movement trajectory and notify the outside.

  However, even if a part of the face is hidden with a mask or sunglasses, if only detecting the concealment of the face and reporting it may cause many malfunctions, which in turn increases the load on the monitoring center receiving the report. In addition, the reliability of the reporting device decreases.

  Also, for example, in burglary cases that occur at stores such as convenience stores, the behavior patterns of burglars are categorized. Threaten to force the cash register to open and take action to take cash.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of detecting and notifying a person's actions taken only in a robbery act in a store or the like where an unspecified number of people are allowed to enter and exit. The purpose is to propose a device.

In order to achieve the above object, the notification device according to the present invention provides:
A first area in which unspecified persons are allowed to enter and exit, a second area in which only specific persons are allowed to enter and exit, and a third counter provided with products placed at the time of payment In a reporting device for monitoring the inside of a monitoring area composed of areas, person position detecting means for detecting the presence of a person in the first and second areas, and product detection for detecting goods in the third area Means for detecting opening of a cash register, and when the cashier opening detecting means detects opening of a cash register, the person position detecting means detects a person at a predetermined position, and the commodity detecting means Includes a notification determination unit that determines that an emergency call is required when the presence of a product is not detected, and a notification unit that performs a notification when the notification determination unit determines that a notification is required.

  Thereby, the reporting device can prevent the detection and reporting of behavior specific to the burglar.

  The notification device of the present invention further includes face concealment detection means, and the notification determination means determines that notification is necessary when the person whose face is detected by the face concealment detection means exists in the first area. . As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous reporting other than during an emergency.

  Furthermore, in the notification device of the present invention, a cancel button for canceling the transmission of the emergency notification is provided, and the notification means stops the emergency notification when the cancel button is activated. As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous reporting other than during an emergency.

  According to the present invention, when a behavior specific to a burglar that does not occur during normal business operations is detected, for example, when a cash register is opened in spite of no exchange of goods, a person whose face is hidden is further detected. Sometimes an emergency call is made so that false reports can be prevented.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of the notification system by the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the monitoring process of the notification apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the reference | standard image used for the image monitoring process of this invention. It is a figure which shows the image data used for the image monitoring process of this invention. It is a figure which shows the image data used for the image monitoring process of this invention. It is a figure which shows the image data used for the image monitoring process of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the monitoring process of the notification apparatus of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, for example, a sales office such as a financial institution or a store is to be monitored, and a store area (first area), a cashier counter area (second area), a cashier counter, and a cashier are monitored areas to be monitored. Although the case where the 3rd area which is the upper space of a counter is provided is illustrated, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a notification system 1 using the notification device of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows from a first area (store area) 2a, a second area (inside a checkout counter) 2b, and a third area (upper space of the checkout counter 22 and the checkout counter 22) 2c having an entrance to the outside. The relationship between the monitoring area 2, the monitoring camera 3 installed in the monitoring area 2, the security sensor 7 such as a heat ray sensor and an open / close sensor, and the reporting device 4 to which the security camera 3 and the security sensor 7 are connected is schematically shown. This is shown on the plan view.

Here, in the present embodiment, the monitoring area 2 is divided into a store area 2 a, a cashier counter area 2 b, and a cashier counter 22 and a third area 2 c that is an upper space of the cashier counter 22.
The store area 2a is a space where unspecified persons such as general customers are allowed to enter and exit.
The cashier counter area 2b is a dedicated area where a specific person such as a clerk 24 is allowed to enter and exit. The third area 2c is a space above the cashier counter 22 and the cashier counter 22 that divides the cashier area 2a from the cashier counter area 2b. Usually, merchandise and money are delivered between the customer and the clerk 24. .
As shown in FIG. 1, the store area 2a is provided with a store entrance 21 as an entrance to the outside.

In the example of FIG. 1, the store area 2a including the store entrance 21 of the store area 2a, the cashier counter area 2b, the cashier counter 22, and the entire third area 2c, which is the upper space of the cashier counter 22, are monitored at positions that can be imaged. A camera 3a is installed. In addition, on the ceiling directly above the cash register counter 22, a cash register 23 and a monitoring camera 3 b for photographing the periphery of the cash register counter 22 are installed.
The monitoring cameras 3a and 3b and the notification device 4 are connected by a LAN (not shown), and the notification device 4 is further connected to a remote monitoring center 5 via a communication network 6.

  In addition, an open / close sensor 71 is installed at the store entrance 21 of the store area 2a, and a heat ray sensor (not shown) is installed in the store area 2a and the register counter area 2b. These security sensors 7 are connected to a LAN connecting the reporting device 4 and the monitoring camera 3.

  The monitoring camera 3b is a monitoring unit that is installed on the ceiling directly above the checkout counter 22 and generates monitoring information about the checkout counter 22 and its surroundings. The monitoring camera 3a stores a camera number for identifying the monitoring camera 3, and digitally inputs an image signal input from the image sensor at a predetermined shooting interval (for example, a cycle of 0.2 seconds, that is, 5 fps (frame / second)). The image data is converted into a signal, compression-encoded, and image data compliant with a predetermined standard (for example, JPEG standard) is generated. The generated image data is output to the LAN and transmitted to the notification device 4. The image data transmitted at this time includes a camera number. Note that the monitoring camera 3a may compress and encode an audio signal input from a microphone to generate audio data, multiplex image data and audio data, and output the multiplexed audio data to the LAN.

  The security sensor 7 is a monitoring unit that detects an intruder entering the inside of the monitoring area 2. The security sensor 7 stores a sensor number for identifying each security sensor 7 in advance, and outputs a detection signal including the sensor number to the notification device 4 when an intruder is detected.

  The reporting device 4 monitors an intruder entering the monitoring area 2 based on the detection signal from the security sensor 7 and the security mode set in the monitoring area 2. The security mode includes a security set mode as a monitoring mode and a security release mode as a non-monitoring mode. The security set mode is a mode that is set in an unattended state in which no user is present in the monitoring area 2, and the reporting device 4 enters when a detection signal is received from the security sensor 7 when the security set mode is set. It is determined that there is an abnormality, and an intrusion detection signal is transmitted to the monitoring center 5. The security release mode is a mode that is set in a manned state where a user is present in the monitoring area 2, and the notification device 4 receives a detection signal from the security sensor 7 when the security release mode is set. No intrusion abnormality is determined, and no intrusion detection signal is transmitted to the monitoring center 5.

  The reporting device 4 receives the image data input from the monitoring camera 3, and determines that reporting is necessary from the behavior of the person in the monitoring area 2 and the state of the cash register 23, via the communication network 6. The monitoring center 5 is notified of an emergency notification signal, and image data received from the monitoring camera 3 is transmitted to the monitoring center 5. The image data transmission process is continuously performed until a stop input is received from a user of the monitoring center 5 or the monitoring area 2.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the reporting device 4 uses the position information on the image of the store area 2a, the cashier counter area 2b, and the third area 2c, which is the upper space of the cashier counter 22, as the area information of the monitoring area 2. Some area information is stored.
The reporting device 4 monitors the checkout behaviors of customers and shop assistants performed at the cashier counter 22, and executes emergency notification processing when the cash register 23 is opened without purchasing merchandise.

  The monitoring center 5 is a facility provided with a center device 51 operated by a security company or the like. The center device 51 is composed of one or a plurality of computers, and realizes the function of the monitoring center 5 related to the present invention. In the monitoring center 5, various devices are controlled by the center device 51, and a suspicious person detection signal received as an emergency call from the reporting device 4 is recorded, and image data transmitted from the reporting device 4 is displayed on the display 52. The monitor monitors a plurality of monitoring areas 2 to be monitored.

<Notification device>
Next, the configuration of the notification device 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification device 4.
The reporting device 4 is installed in the monitoring area 2 (in the present embodiment, the cashier counter area 2b), connected to the monitoring camera 3 and the security sensor 7, and connected to the monitoring center 5 through the communication network 6. .

  The reporting device 4 includes a monitoring information acquisition unit 41 as a communication I / F (interface) connected to the LAN, a communication unit 42 connected to the communication network 6, and an operation unit 43 on which a user performs an input operation. The storage unit 44 includes an HDD, a memory, and the like, and the control unit 45 includes an MPU, a microcomputer, and the like and controls each unit.

The monitoring information acquisition unit 41 is connected to the monitoring cameras 3 a and 3 b and the security sensor 7, and receives the camera number and image data output from the monitoring camera 3 as the monitoring information of the monitoring area 2 and the detection signal output from the security sensor 7. The data is received and output to the control unit 45.
The communication unit 42 is connected to the center device 51 via the communication line network 6 and communicates with the monitoring center 5. When the control unit 45 determines that the notification is necessary, the communication unit 42 transmits an emergency notification signal including its own address information and image data captured by the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5.
The communication unit 42 transmits an intrusion detection signal including its own address information to the monitoring center 5 when it is determined by the control unit 45 that an intruder exists in the monitoring area 2 set to the guard set mode. To do.
The operation unit 43 is a switch capable of inputting setting information such as a security mode setting operation.

  The storage unit 44 is configured by a ROM, a RAM, or an HDD, stores address information for identifying itself, various programs, and the like, and further stores various information for operating the reporting device 4. Specifically, the storage unit 44 includes reference image data serving as background information for detecting the cash storage unit of the cash register 23 and detecting items on the person and the cashier counter 22, and mode information indicating the current security mode. And area information for determining where the person is. Further, the storage unit 44 stores image data for a past predetermined time output from the monitoring camera 3.

Here, the reference data stored in the storage unit 44 is comparison reference information used for extracting a moving object in the monitoring region 2 in comparison with current image data in an image monitoring process to be described later. It is the image data acquired by imaging the monitoring area 2 when there is no person.
In addition, image data in a state where the cash accommodating portion of the cash register 23 is closed is stored in the image data which is reference data for monitoring the cash register 22 and the space above the cash counter 22.

  The mode information stores a security mode (a security set mode or a security release mode) currently set in the monitoring area 2. The security mode is set by the control unit 45 based on an operation input to the operation unit 43 by the user.

  The area information is position information for distinguishing on the image the store area 2a of the monitoring area 2, the cashier counter area 2b, the cashier counter 22, and the third area 3c, which is the upper space of the cashier counter 22.

  The control unit 45 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like and peripheral circuits thereof, and controls each unit described above. For this purpose, the control unit 45 includes an electronic calendar unit 450 as a clock means for acquiring the current date and time as a functional module realized by the microcomputer and a computer program executed on the microcomputer, and a security mode of the monitoring area 2 A mode setting unit 451 for setting / changing an intruder, an intruder detection unit 452 for detecting an intruder in the monitoring region 2, an image monitoring unit 453 for monitoring an image of the monitoring region 2, and monitoring for concealment of a human face A face concealment monitoring unit 454 and a communication control unit 455 for controlling communication processing by the communication unit 42.

  The mode setting unit 451 compares the information input from the operation unit 43 when the user sets the security mode, and if the verification is OK, the mode setting unit 451 sets the security mode of the monitoring area 2 based on the input of the operation unit 43 as a security set. Set to mode or security release mode. The security mode set by the mode setting unit 451 is stored in the mode information of the storage unit 44.

  As described above, the security set mode is set when the monitoring area 2 is unattended, such as outside business hours or holidays, and is remotely monitored via the communication unit 42 when the security sensor 7 detects a change in the event. In this mode, an abnormality report is sent to the center 5 using an intrusion detection signal. Further, the security release mode is a mode that is set when the monitoring area 2 is manned and does not perform an abnormality report due to detection of an event change by the security sensor 7.

  When an intruder detection unit 452 receives a detection signal from the security sensor 7 via the monitoring information acquisition unit 41, the intruder detection unit 452 refers to the mode information stored in the storage unit 44 and the current security mode is in the security set mode. When the security sensor 7 outputs a detection signal, it is determined that there is an intruder in the monitoring area 2. On the other hand, if the security sensor 7 outputs a detection signal when the current security mode is the security release mode, the presence of an intruder is not determined. Information that the intruder detection unit 452 detects the intruder and information of the security sensor 7 that has output the detection signal are stored in the storage unit 44 and reported to the monitoring center 5 as an intrusion detection signal.

  The image monitoring unit 453 compares the reference image data stored in the storage unit 44 with the image data input from the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 and monitors the occurrence of an emergency. Specifically, an image of the surveillance camera 3b installed on the ceiling directly above the cashier counter 22 is compared with a reference image at a predetermined cycle, and a cash accommodating portion of the cash register 23 is operated by a store clerk 24 standing in the cashier counter area 2b When it is detected that 231 has been opened, a person is detected in a predetermined area of the store area 2a, and it is determined that an emergency call is necessary when a product is not placed on the cashier counter 22.

The face concealment monitoring unit 454 conceals each part (eyes, nose, mouth), which is a facial feature part capable of discriminating the human phase, from the image data acquired by the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 from the monitoring camera 3a (face facial The presence of a person who cannot detect each part is detected, and positional information on the image of the detected person is calculated and stored in the storage unit 44. The face concealment monitoring unit 454 can use various known methods for detecting a facial feature in a face area.

  Specifically, the face concealment monitoring unit 454 extracts, as the processing of the face concealment monitoring unit, the edge component of the fluctuation region labeled with the image data acquired by the monitoring information acquisition unit 41, and the face contour in the edge image data An elliptical edge distribution that approximates the shape is detected, and the color information in the elliptical region surrounded by the edge distribution is skin color (for example, pixels whose hue (H) component is 0 to 30 in the HSV color system). If this is included, the ellipse area is extracted as a face area. Then, it is determined whether or not an edge (for example, a horizontal edge such as an eye or a mouth) that becomes a facial feature portion appears in the facial region, and the facial region where such a facial feature portion cannot be detected is covered by face concealment. Judge that there is.

In addition, the face concealment monitoring unit 454 individually detects a face area to which sunglasses and a mask are attached from the luminance distribution of the face area. In the face area where the sunglasses and the mask are worn, dark pixels concentrate on the upper side, so that the luminance center of gravity in the vertical direction is lower than the center. Further, the luminance value for each line viewed in the horizontal direction is small, whereas the variance of the luminance value for each line viewed in the vertical direction is large.
Furthermore, there is a property that the luminance value is extremely low depending on the part of the sunglasses. Therefore, the Y coordinate of the luminance center of gravity of the face area is below the center of the face area, and the ratio between the standard deviation in the X direction and the standard deviation in the Y direction is larger than a predetermined threshold, and the pixel having a low luminance value Is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the image in the face area is an image of a face wearing sunglasses and a mask, and the face area is determined to be face concealment. When the face concealment detection unit 454 detects a person whose face is concealed, the face concealment detection unit 454 calculates position information on the image of the person whose face is concealed and stores it in the storage unit 44.

The communication control unit 455 transmits an emergency notification signal to the monitoring center 5 when the image monitoring unit 453 or the face concealment monitoring unit 454 determines that an emergency notification is necessary. The emergency notification signal includes address information of the notification device 4.
Further, when it is determined that an emergency call is necessary, the communication control unit 455 starts transmission of image data input from the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5. The camera number and the address information of the reporting device 4 are added as header information to the transmitted image data, and the current image data is continuously transmitted each time it is input from the monitoring camera 3. The communication control unit 455 stops the image data transmission process to the monitoring center 5 when receiving either the image transmission stop signal by the stop input of the operation unit 43 or the image transmission stop signal transmitted from the monitoring center 5. To do.
The communication control unit 455 transmits an intrusion detection signal to the monitoring center 5 when it is determined by the intruder detection unit 452 that there is an intruder in the monitoring area 2 set in the guard set mode.

<Description of operation>
About the notification system 1 comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement is demonstrated with reference to drawings. Here, the operation related to the emergency notification process by the notification device 4 will be mainly described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the monitoring program repeatedly executed by the notification device 4.

When the monitoring program shown in FIG. 3 is executed, the control unit 45 operates the image monitoring unit 453 so that the image from the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 and the third area 3c that is the upper space of the registration counter 22 is displayed. Data is acquired and compared with the reference image data read from the storage unit 44. The image data is stored in the storage unit 44, and is erased when a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) has elapsed.
The reference image data is image data in a state in which there is no product on the customer, the clerk 24 and the cashier counter 22, and as shown in FIG. 4, the position 2C1 on the image when the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23 is opened, For this purpose, an area 2C2 on which products are placed, an area 2a1 where customers stand for payment, and an area 2b1 where store clerk 24 stands are stored in advance.

FIG. 5 is an example showing a scene in which the clerk 24 is threatened by the robber 25 and opens the cash register 23. FIG. 5A is a diagram schematically showing image data captured by the monitoring camera 3b, and FIG. 5B is a diagram schematically showing a difference image from the reference image.
As shown in FIG. 5B, it is detected that the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 is opened due to the appearance of the difference image at the opening position 2C1 of the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 (step ST02: YES). And move to ST03. If no difference image appears at the position 2C1 of the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23, the process returns to step ST01.

In step ST03, it is detected whether or not there is a person in the area 2a1 in the vicinity of the store area 2a and 2b1 in the vicinity of the cash register 23 of the checkout counter area 2b. In detecting a person, a head region is first detected from the difference image. Since the head is substantially circular when viewed from directly above, the head region is extracted as a region that approximates a circle when the difference image is processed and, for example, Hough transformed. If the shoulder region is detected at a position (for example, left and right or up and down) that is symmetric with respect to the head region after performing the laven ring process on the extracted head region, it is determined that the person is a person.
Here, when no person is detected in the area 2a1, it is assumed that the store clerk in the counter area 2b has opened the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 for cash replenishment or the like, and the process returns to step ST01.

In step ST02, it is detected that the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23 has been opened, and in step ST03, it is detected that there are persons in the areas 2a1 and 2b1, and then the image monitoring unit 453 It is detected whether or not a product is placed on (step ST04). In other words, when the customer pays for the product, the product is placed on the cashier counter 22, and by detecting this product, it can be determined whether or not it is a normal product purchase scene. The product is detected by detecting whether or not a difference image area having a predetermined size or larger exists in the product placement area 2C2 of the checkout counter 22 from the difference image. In the example shown in FIG. 5B, since no difference image appears in the product placement area 2C2, it is determined that no product is placed.

In the product detection process in step ST04, the image data up to a predetermined time, for example, 30 seconds before, stored in the storage unit 44 is retroactively compared with the reference data. This is because when payment is completed at the cash register, payment of cash may be made after the delivery of the product is completed, and when the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 is opened, the product is displayed on the cashier counter 22. This is because there is a situation that does not exist. Even in this case, the delivery of the product is performed a predetermined time before the cash storage unit 231 is opened, and the product is placed on the product placement area 2C2 of the cashier counter 22 and detected.

FIG. 6 is an example showing a state in which products are placed on the cashier counter 22.
6A is an image of the monitoring camera 2b, and FIG. 6B is a difference image. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the difference image is detected in any of the opening position 2C1, the area 2a1, the area 2b1, and the product placement area 2C2 of the cash storage unit 231. Judging that it is a scene to do.

As shown in FIG. 7B, even if a difference image area is detected in the product placement area 2C2, the difference image area continuous from the image area of the person in the area 2a1 Do not judge. This is because when the robber 25 sticks his hand on the cashier counter 22 and threatens the clerk 24 with a weapon such as a knife, a difference image area of a predetermined size or more appears in the product placement area 2C2 of the cashier counter 22. Because of that.
When the customer places the product on the cashier counter 22, a differential image region continuously appearing from the image region of the person in the area 2a1 to the product placement area 2C2 appears. At that time, the cash register 23 still holds the cash. Since the part 231 is not opened, the difference image does not appear at the opening position 2C1 of the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23.

As shown in FIG. 5B, if no product is placed in the product placement area 2C2 of the checkout counter 22 or no product is placed retroactively (step ST04: No), the clerk 24 It is detected whether or not a cancel operation has been performed. This is to prevent false notifications when there is a situation in which cash is delivered even though goods are not delivered by money exchange even if no burglary has occurred. .
The canceling operation is performed when the store clerk presses an operation button installed at a location not visible from the store 2a in the cashier counter area 2b in advance or after a predetermined time. If a cancel operation has been performed (step ST05: YES), the process returns to step ST01.

Then, the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23 is opened, a person in the store area 2a and the cashier counter area 2b in the vicinity of the cash cashier 23 is detected, the product is not placed on the cashier counter 22, and the cancel operation If there is no (step ST05: No), it is determined that a robbery incident has occurred, and the operation proceeds to an emergency notification signal notification operation.

  The communication control unit 455 transmits an emergency notification signal to the monitoring center 5 (step ST06), and starts transmitting image data input from the monitoring camera 3 to the monitoring center 5. The transmission of the image data is continuously performed until an image transmission stop signal is input from the operation unit 43 or the monitoring center 5. When an image transmission stop signal is input from the operation unit 43 or from the monitoring center 5, the transmission of image data to the monitoring center 5 is stopped and the process is terminated.

Next, a second embodiment of the notification device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the monitoring program repeatedly executed by the reporting device 4.
In this embodiment, the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23, which is the image monitoring processing of the first embodiment described above, detects opening, detects a person in the store area 2a and the cash register counter area 2b near the cash register 23, and registers In addition to detecting that the product is not placed on the counter 22, whether or not the person in the in-store area 2a is hiding the face shifts to an emergency notification signal notification operation.

When the monitoring program shown in FIG. 8 is executed, the control unit 45 operates the image monitoring unit 453 so that the image of the third area 2c, which is the registration counter 22 and the upper space of the registration counter 22, from the monitoring information acquisition unit 41. Data is acquired and compared with the reference image data read from the storage unit 44. The reference image data is image data in a state where there is no product on the customer, the clerk 24 and the cashier counter 22, and as shown in FIG. For this purpose, an area 2C2 on which products are placed, an area 2a1 where customers stand for settlement, and an area 2b1 where store clerk 24 stands are stored in advance.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the store clerk 24 is threatened by the burglar 25 and opens the cash register 23. FIG. 5A is a diagram schematically showing image data captured by the monitoring camera 3b, and FIG. 5B is a diagram schematically showing a difference image from the reference image.
As shown in FIG. 5B, it is detected that the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 is opened due to the appearance of the difference image at the opening position 2C1 of the cash accommodating part 231 of the cash register 23 (step ST12: YES). And it transfers to step ST13. If no difference image appears at the position 2C1 of the cash storage unit 231 of the cash register 23, the process returns to step ST11.

Hereinafter, the operations of step ST13 to step ST15 are the same as those of step ST03 to step ST05 of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.
In step ST15, when it is detected that there is no cancel operation, the control unit 45 activates the face concealment monitoring unit 454. The face concealment monitoring unit 454 acquires an image of the store area 2a captured by the monitoring camera 3a via the area monitoring information acquisition unit 41, and each facial feature part that can determine the human phase in the acquired image data. It is detected that there is a person who hides a part (eyes, nose, mouth) (each part of the face cannot be detected). If a person whose face has been concealed is detected (step ST16: YES), it is determined that a robbery incident has occurred, and the process proceeds to an emergency call signal reporting operation in step ST17.

  The operation in which the communication control unit 456 transmits an emergency notification signal to the monitoring center 5 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of example, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be changed or modified according to the purpose within the scope of the claims. is there.

  For example, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 acquires image data as monitoring information of the monitoring target 2 and performs monitoring using this image data, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the monitoring information is not limited to image data, and may be information that can identify the person and the product of the monitoring target 2. For example, instead of the monitoring camera 3 or in addition to the monitoring camera 3, reflected light reflected by an object on the optical path by performing spatial scanning at a predetermined period while irradiating the monitoring target 2 with laser light as the monitoring means A laser scanning distance sensor that detects the position of the object by obtaining the distance data to the object existing in the area and the irradiation direction by receiving the light may be used.

In this case, the position (distance data and irradiation direction) of an object in the monitoring area 2 is input to the monitoring information acquisition unit 41 from the laser scanning distance sensor as monitoring information. As the reference data, the position of an existing object measured when there is no person is stored, and a moving object is extracted and determined from the difference between the reference data and the position of the object in the current monitoring area 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reporting system 2 Monitoring area 2a Store area 2b Cash register counter area 3 Surveillance camera 21 Store entrance
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Notification apparatus 41 Monitoring information acquisition part 42 Communication part 43 Operation part 44 Storage part 45 Control part 450 Electronic calendar part 451 Mode setting part 452 Intruder detection part 453 Image monitoring part 454 Face concealment monitoring part 455 Report determination part 456 Communication control part 5 Monitoring Center 51 Center Device 52 Display 6 Communication Network 7 Security Sensor

Claims (3)

A first area in which unspecified persons are allowed to enter and exit, a second area in which only specific persons are allowed to enter and exit, and a third counter provided with products placed at the time of payment In the reporting device that monitors the monitoring area composed of areas,
Person position detecting means for detecting the presence of a person in the first and second areas;
Product detection means for detecting products in the third area;
Cash register opening detection means for detecting the opening of the cash register;
When the cash register opening detecting means detects the opening of the cash register, the person position detecting means detects a person at a predetermined position, and when the commodity detecting means does not detect the presence of the commodity, it is determined that an emergency notification is necessary. A determination means;
A reporting means for reporting when it is determined that reporting is required by the reporting determination means;
A notification device characterized by comprising:
2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising face concealment detection means, wherein the notification determination means determines that notification is required when the action of the person detected by the face concealment detection means exists in the first area. The reporting device described.
The notification device according to claim 1, further comprising a cancel button for canceling the notification.

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