JP3634790B2 - Accumulated video transmission system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an easy and efficient place where parents of kindergartens and elderly parents in nursing homes can connect past images taken of kindergarten and elderly people to parents' homes or networks. Regarding the video (image) transmission system that can be confirmed, in particular, for example, a video of a child (a subject can be a person, an animal, or an object) is stored once together with location information, and then the guardian of the child (video receiver) The present invention relates to a storage-type video transmission system that uses location information of a subject to be transmitted.
[0002]
[Prior art]
At present, videos taken at construction sites, stores, parking lots, road conditions, holidays, nighttime office surveillance, etc. are accumulated, and videos (including images) taken in real time on the Internet. Many Web cameras that distribute the following) are commercially available.
[0003]
These Web cameras are attached to a fixed place (construction site, store, office, etc.), and not only can the video of the place be distributed in real time via the LAN on the Internet, but also a server, etc. It is also possible to temporarily store video and send it later.
[0004]
In addition to the so-called Web camera, digital video captured by a personal computer (PC) or an external digital camera can be stored on a server and transmitted. Of course, even a video shot with a conventional so-called analog camera (using film, tape, etc.) can be transmitted in the same way by digitizing it by means such as scanning the film.
[0005]
A person who receives this outgoing video can remotely browse the video sent from the Web camera or server using the browser software of the receiving personal computer connected to the network.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
If you want to select and view a video shot of a specific object from a number of videos taken by the video receiver, you can use the video transmission system. However, there is no means for knowing in which video the subject to be photographed is shown, and it takes a lot of time and effort to browse the target video.
[0007]
In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a video transmission system that enables a receiver to transmit a video (image) of a specific subject to be photographed.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A configuration example of a system for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings. The first, second and third systems shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show the outline of the present invention, and the fourth and fifth systems shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 show the present invention. This shows a specific configuration example.
First, a configuration example of the first system is shown in FIG. The system shown in FIG. 1 has a photographing means 10 for photographing a certain photographing location and outputting a video, a photographing condition management means 20 for obtaining photographing conditions at the time of photographing by the photographing means 10, and associating the photographed video with the photographing conditions. The stored video recording means 30, the transmission condition specifying means 40 for specifying the transmission condition of the transmitted video, and the transmitted video for searching and outputting only the video whose shooting conditions match the transmission condition from the plurality of stored videos It comprises search means 50 and video transmission means 60 for transmitting the outgoing video to the video receiver.
[0009]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the second system. The shooting condition management means 20 in the first system includes a shooting location management means 21 for acquiring shooting location information and a shooting time management means 22 for acquiring shooting time. The video recording means 30 is associated with the video. The shooting location and shooting time are used as the shooting conditions to be stored, and the shooting location specifying means 41 for specifying the shooting location is used as the transmission conditions specified by the transmission condition specifying means 40.
[0010]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the third system. The third system includes, as the transmission condition specifying means 40 in the first system, a shooting time specifying means 42 for specifying a shooting time as a transmission condition in addition to the shooting location specifying means 41 of the second system.
[0011]
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the fourth system. In the fourth system, as the shooting location specifying means 41 of the second or third system, the shooting target specifying means 43 for specifying the person or the shooting target of the video, and the location of each shooting target correspond to the time. The location history information relating to the imaging target designated by the imaging target designation means 43 is retrieved from the target location history recording means 70 recorded together and the location history information relating to the plurality of imaging targets recorded in the target location history recording means 70. And a target place history search means 44 for outputting.
[0012]
FIG. 5 shows a fifth system configuration example. In addition to the fourth system, the fifth system includes target location detecting means 24 for measuring and detecting the location of each subject to be photographed, and information on the location of each subject to be recorded recorded in the target location history recording means 70. The location information acquired by the target location detection means 24 is used. The detection time management unit 23 may record the detection time of the target location in the target location history recording unit 70.
[0013]
An outline of the operation of this system will be described mainly by taking the case of the fifth system configuration example as an example. The outline of the operation is the same for other system configuration examples, and can be easily inferred from the following description. In this video transmission system, an existing location history of a shooting target is recorded in the target location history recording means 70. Information on the location of the shooting target is acquired by target location detection means 24 that measures and detects the location of the shooting target for each shooting target.
[0014]
When a photographing target to be browsed is designated by the receiver or the like in the photographing target designating unit 43, the target place history searching unit 44 includes the location history information on the plurality of photographing targets recorded in the target place history recording unit 70. To retrieve and output the location history information of the subject.
[0015]
The outgoing video search means 50 searches for a video whose shooting condition matches the location history information from a plurality of videos stored in the video recording means 30 and outputs it as a outgoing video. If the shooting time is also specified by the shooting time specifying means 42 as the transmission condition, only the video at the shooting time is retrieved and output as the outgoing video.
[0016]
The video transmission means 60 transmits the transmission video to the video receiver. As a result, the video receiver can efficiently receive only the video stored by the target person to be photographed.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of a video transmission system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the photographing means 10 is realized by a digital video camera 11 for photographing a digital video and a photographing control personal computer (PC) 12 capable of controlling and capturing the video. Of course, the video to be taken does not necessarily have to be a moving image, and may be a still image. Although described as video here, the present invention is not limited to video, and may include audio or the like as long as it can record the state of the subject in relation to the place.
[0018]
The timing of shooting is not particularly limited, but may be shot automatically using a sensor that detects whether or not a shooting target is present randomly, or may be manually shot by operating each camera 11 by a photographer.
[0019]
In this example, the shooting location management means 21 and the shooting time management means 22 shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 are also realized by the shooting control personal computer 12, and the video shot from the camera 11 together with the shooting location and the shooting time is displayed on the LAN 80. To the video recording means 30.
[0020]
FIG. 7 shows an arrangement example of each camera. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the cameras 11A, 11B, and 11C are set so that the entire classroom can be photographed, and the classroom name is used as photographing location information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shooting location information can be indicated by coordinates of an area that can be shot by the camera 11 in the target area. In this case, the position information to be specified can also be specified by coordinates by specifying a position on the map.
[0021]
In addition to fixedly assigning the shooting location to the camera 11, the camera 11 can be made movable and the corresponding shooting location can also be variable. The shooting time can be realized by acquiring information from the clock function of a personal computer or server.
[0022]
Here, an example is shown in which the video recording unit 30 is realized by a video DB server 83 that manages a large number of videos acquired by the plurality of imaging units 10 in a batch database (DB).
[0023]
As an example of realization of the photographing target specifying means 43, here, when the video receiver accesses the Web server 82 or the like from the user terminal 86 via the Internet 85, for example, with a login name associated with the photographing target in advance, it is automatically In addition, by specifying the person to be photographed, the video receiver can browse the target video with a simple operation of a personal computer or the like.
[0024]
FIG. 8A shows an example of a shooting target management table for automatically determining a shooting target person by access from the user terminal 86. This shooting target management table is held by the management server 81 or the Web server 82, and for each set of login name (ID) and password (PW) registered in advance, the identification information (a, i, u,... ). Thus, for example, if there is an access specifying a password of yyyyyy with a login name of bbbbbbb, it can be recognized that the photographing subject “I” is specified.
[0025]
In a more broadcast implementation, a receiving channel may be assigned to the subject in advance, and the video may be automatically transmitted by channel selection. Of course, it goes without saying that it is possible to explicitly input the person to be photographed.
[0026]
Here, as the target location detecting means 24, a radio ID tag 87 for transmitting radio waves indicating unique ID information at a fixed interval is carried by the person to be photographed, and the receiver 88 is set at an appropriate interval in the video transmission area. A method is used in which the installation point of the receiving antenna having the highest reception level from the wireless ID tag 87 is used as the representative location of the object to be imaged. Of course, when more accuracy is required, a method of calculating a detailed location using a reception level difference of radio waves from the wireless ID tag 87 received by a plurality of receiving antennas is possible. Needless to say, a tag using visible light may be used.
[0027]
As the video recording means 30, a video DB server 83 is connected to the LAN 80, and the video DB server 83 records and stores the video sent from each photographing control PC 12 together with the location and time information. FIG. 8B shows an example of a shooting location management table used by the video recording means 30 for video and location management. The shooting location management table holds correspondence information between each video and a location (here, a classroom) at each time T1, T2,.
[0028]
Further, as the target place history recording means 70, the place history information of each photographing target detected by the target place detecting means 24 is realized by the target place history DB server 84 that performs batch DB management. FIG. 8C shows an example of target location history recording recorded in the target location history recording means 70. As the target place history record, information on the place (classroom) where each photographing target existed at each time is recorded. In addition to actually measuring the location of the target, it is feasible even if a predetermined timetable (schedule of where the target is in each time zone) is used, although accuracy is reduced. Needless to say.
[0029]
In the present embodiment, both the outgoing video search means 50 and the target location history search means 44 are realized as software on the management server 81. The outgoing video search means 50 searches the video DB server 83 using the shooting location information as a key and outputs the search result. The target location history search means 44 searches the target location history DB server 84 using the target information as a key. Output search results.
[0030]
FIG. 9 shows an operation flow of the present embodiment. In step S1, a login name (ID) and a password (PW) are input from the user terminal 86 of the video receiver by the photographing target specifying means 43. These are associated with the shooting target by the shooting target management table of FIG. 8A. For example, when ID = bbbbbb and PW = yyyyyy are input, in step S2, the shooting target management table is referred to correspond to the ID. The validity of the password (PW) is checked. If the input ID / password pair is not registered in the shooting target management table, a password error is displayed on the user terminal 86 of the video receiver in step S3, and the process is terminated.
[0031]
If the input ID / password pair is valid, the process proceeds to step S4, where the target location history search means 44 uses the target location history search means 44 to store the location history of the subject to be photographed (in this example, “yes”). Search on the recording means 70. In step S5, the presence / absence of the data of the subject is determined from the search result. If there is no data of the subject, the user of the video recipient indicates that the subject subject's video is not registered in step S6. It displays on the terminal 86 and complete | finishes a process.
[0032]
If there is data of the person to be photographed, the process proceeds to step S7, and the transmission video search means 50 searches the video recording means 30 for a video that matches the transmission condition (photographing place). In step S8, it is determined whether or not there is a video that matches the transmission condition from the search result. If there is no video that matches the transmission condition, it is determined in step S9 that there is no video that matches the transmission condition. It displays on the terminal 86 and complete | finishes a process. In this example, information such as classroom A at time T1, classroom B at time T2, and classroom A at time T3 is obtained as the location history of the person to be photographed “I”. move on.
[0033]
In step S10, the transmission video that matches the transmission conditions is transmitted from the video transmission means 60 to the user terminal 86 of the video receiver. In this example, a video image 1-1 at time T1, a video image 2-2 at time T2, and a video image 3-1 at time T3 in which the subject “I” is shown are transmitted.
[0034]
FIG. 10 shows an example of a search result for each subject to be photographed by the target location history search unit 44 and the transmission video search unit 50 in the management server 81. In FIG. 10, a video in which the column of the person to be photographed is “1” has a matching location (the person to be photographed is in the place of the video), and a video in which “0” is present The video where there is no subject to be captured is shown. In the flow of FIG. 9, the operation example in which the search by the target place history search unit 44 and the transmission video search unit 50 is performed after the user terminal 86 has accessed has been described. However, the management server 81 performs the search process at high speed. 10 is created / updated at any time in advance as shown in FIG. 10, and when there is a video browsing request from the user terminal 86, the corresponding video is displayed according to the search result table shown in FIG. You may make it detect.
[0035]
The search result is transmitted to the user terminal 86 by the video transmission means 60. Here, a mode realized by the Web server 82 connected to the Internet 85 as the video transmission means 60 is shown. A screen image when browsing a specific Web is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, when a catalog image as a search result is displayed and the catalog image is clicked on the user terminal 86 by a pointing device such as a mouse, a large public image linked from the catalog image is displayed on the Web server 82. Is displayed on the display of the user terminal 86.
[0036]
In order to display the catalog image as shown in FIG. 11, in this example, an index file that lists catalog images of all outgoing videos is used.
[0037]
FIG. 12 shows a file configuration image by a file system as a whole LAN by the Web server 82 and the video DB server 83 or the like. The Web server 82 has an index folder composed of a login page and an index file for each photographing target, and a catalog image folder for each catalog image. The video DB server 83 has a public large image folder. The Web server 82 may have a public large image folder. The Web server 82 has a cache function, and the video DB server 83 has all the large image files for release. For example, some images copied from the video DB server 83, such as frequently accessed images and latest image files. It is possible to realize that the Web server 82 holds the image file as a temporary file.
[0038]
If a catalog image and a large public image are prepared for each shooting target, there are a large number of shooting targets, and if a plurality of targets are shot on the same video, the same video is displayed on the Web server 82. Alternatively, a plurality of video database servers 83 are installed, and a very large capacity is required. In order to avoid this, only a set of catalog images and original images are stored, and an index file is prepared by referring to or linking these images for each photographing target. By doing so, it is possible to realize video transmission that can handle a large number of shooting targets even with a small-capacity server.
[0039]
The index file for each photographing target can be constituted by a text file described in HTML or the like for referencing / linking a corresponding catalog image or public large image, for example.
[0040]
If access to the index file for each shooting target is restricted by the ID and password of the login page with respect to access from the user terminal 86, distribution of the shooting target video that has no relation to an unspecified video receiver is restricted. Can do. Also, if the file names are partly randomized instead of sequential numbers, it is possible to prevent security degradation due to access by analogy with file names that are not originally authorized to browse. For example, the portion of “264833” in the file name “11 — 264783.jpg” shown in FIG. 12 and the like is a portion generated by random numbers.
[0041]
In addition, the video transmission method does not necessarily need to be digitized according to the medium (communication line, radio wave, etc.) that transmits the video to the video receiver. It is also conceivable that the video receiver receives the image via a TV. In addition, a so-called TV telephone format in which video captured by a video camera is transmitted via a communication line is also conceivable.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, video obtained by photographing a subject whose position may change from moment to moment is recorded and accumulated together with location information, and is accessed by a video recipient at a remote location. If so, the appropriate video desired by the video receiver can be transmitted at any time. In particular, for example, when a guardian of a kindergarten or an elderly person in a nursing home wants to check the safety of the kindergarten or elderly person or wants to know the situation, it is always protected without going to the kindergarten or nursing home. It will be possible to confirm safety and to understand the situation at a place where it can be connected to a home or network.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the first system.
2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a second system.
3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a third system.
4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a fourth system.
5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a fifth system.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a video transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement example of each camera.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table and target location history recording used in the present embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation flow of the present embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a search result of outgoing video.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen image displayed on the terminal of the video receiver.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a file configuration image managed by this system.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Shooting means 20 Shooting condition management means 21 Shooting place management means 22 Shooting time management means 23 Detection time management means 24 Target place detection means 30 Video recording means 40 Transmission condition designation means 41 Shooting location designation means 42 Shooting time designation means 43 Shooting target Designating means 44 Target location history search means 50 Transmission video search means 60 Video transmission means 70 Target location history recording means

Claims (2)

A system for searching for and transmitting a video shot of a specific shooting target desired by a video receiver from a plurality of videos shot by a plurality of shooting means for shooting a plurality of shooting locations ,
Video recording means for storing the video taken by the photographing means in association with photographing conditions including at least a photographing location and a photographing time ;
Target location detection means for measuring and detecting the location of each subject based on information transmitted from the subject,
Based on the location of each shooting target detected by the target location detecting means, location history information indicating the relationship between the shooting target and the location of the shooting target and time information at which the shooting target is detected are recorded in association with each other. A target location history recording means;
A transmission condition designating means for designating a photographing target and a photographing time desired by the video receiver as a transmission condition;
The location history information corresponding to the shooting target and shooting time specified by the transmission condition specifying means is searched from the location history information recorded in the target location history recording means, and the designation is made based on the searched location history information. A target location history search means for outputting the location of the shooting target at the specified shooting time ;
Outgoing video search means for searching and outputting the video at the designated shooting time of the shooting location corresponding to the existing location output by the target location history search means from the video stored in the video recording means;
A storage-type video transmission system comprising video transmission means for transmitting the searched video to a video receiver. The storage-type video transmission system according to claim 1 ,
The storage location video transmission system characterized in that the target location detection means measures and detects the location of each shooting target using wireless radio waves transmitted from a wireless ID tag held by each shooting target.

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