JP5344587B2 - Terminal device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal device that easily and properly stores and manages the image data obtained. <P>SOLUTION: A cellphone 10 registers address book data including a variety of data items about individual attributes, image IDs, and feature information characteristic of faces obtained through face recognition. When the image data obtained is stored, the address book data having the feature information similar to each person photographed in the image data instructed to be stored is searched. Once the corresponding address book data are searched, the names of files and folders of attributes related to the persons photographed in an image are created using previously designated items among the data items forming the address book data, and the image data are stored in accordance with the names of files and folders created. That is, since the image is saved using the attributes related to the persons photographed in the image, the image data obtained is easily and properly stored and managed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device and a program for storing and managing acquired image data easily and appropriately.

  In terminal devices such as mobile phones in recent years, as the capacity of user storage areas increases, there are various types of images such as still images / moving images captured by a built-in camera, program images received and recorded by a broadcast recording function, and images downloaded from an Internet site. It is possible to store a large amount of image data acquired by the method.

Normally, image data is a file name input by a user operation, a file name added in advance to acquired image data, or a title automatically generated according to the shooting date and time as disclosed in Patent Document 1. It is stored and managed as a name. Also, when managing by grouping a large number of image data in one folder, the group name (folder name) is designated by adding to the acquired image data as additional information in addition to designation by user input. Or automatically generated according to the date and time of grouping.

JP-A-9-205606

By the way, when the file name or the group name is added to the acquired image data in advance or is automatically set according to the acquired date and time, the user name is not necessarily intended. For example, if it is added in advance to the acquired image data, the image data acquired by different methods may have a file name or group name according to a rule determined separately by each acquisition source For this reason, file names and group names are not consistent.

  In addition, when automatically generated according to the acquired date and time, the file name or group name may simply represent the date and time, and it may be difficult for the user to determine what kind of image the image is. Further, when a file name or a group name is set by user input, it is intended by the user, but there is a problem that it is extremely troublesome to perform the input operation every time image data is acquired. After all, in other words, there is a problem that the acquired image data cannot be stored and managed easily and appropriately.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device and a program capable of easily and appropriately storing and managing acquired image data.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image acquisition means for acquiring an image, the specification means for specifying an object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition means, and the specification by the specification means Attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information representing the attribute of the object obtained, and attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means as image identification information for identifying the image acquired by the image acquisition means, An identification information storage control means for storing the image information in association with the image; and a history storage control means for storing a history in which the image identification information is stored in association with the image by the identification information storage control means. The control means is acquired by the history identification information generated based on the history stored in the history storage control means and the attribute information acquisition means. The image identification information consisting of the sex information, and to store in association with the acquired image by the image acquisition unit.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, an image acquisition unit that acquires an image, a specification unit that specifies an object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, and an attribute of the object specified by the specification unit Attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information representing
Identification information storage control means for storing the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means in association with the image as image identification information for identifying the image acquired by the image acquisition means; and the image acquisition Duplication means for duplicating the image when the identification means identifies a plurality of objects from the image obtained by the means, and the identification information storage control means includes a plurality of identification information acquisition means When the attribute information representing the attribute of the object is acquired, the attribute information of each object is stored as image identification information in association with each of the images copied by the copying unit.

The invention according to claim 3 dependent on either claim 1 or 2 includes an extraction means for extracting feature information representing the characteristics of the object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition means, and the object. Reference means for referring to storage means in which at least one of the image and the characteristic information of the object and attribute information representing the attribute of the object are stored in association with each other is further provided, and the specifying means includes the reference Either the feature information extracted from the image including the object stored in the storage means or the feature information stored in the storage means, and the extraction means extracted with reference to the storage means by the means The attribute information acquisition is performed by identifying an object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition unit by comparing with feature information. Stage, and acquires the attribute information stored in at least either one the association is in the storage means of the characteristic information of the image and the object includes a specified object.

In the invention according to claim 4 that depends on either claim 1 or 2 , based on attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, management means for classifying and storing images by group And a group storage control means for storing the image acquired by the image acquisition means as an image of a predetermined group stored and managed by the management means.

In the invention according to claim 5, an image acquisition step of acquiring an image in a computer mounted on a terminal device, a specification step of specifying an object included in the image acquired in the image acquisition step, and the specification step An attribute information acquisition step for acquiring attribute information representing the attribute of the object specified in step (b), and an attribute identification acquired in the attribute information acquisition step for identifying the image acquired in the image acquisition step. As information, an identification information storage control step for storing in association with the image, and a history storage control step for storing a history in which the image identification information is stored in association with the image in the identification information storage control step are executed, In the identification information storage control step, a history generated based on the history stored in the history storage control step The image identification information comprising the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquiring step and another information, and to store in association with the acquired image by the image acquisition step.

In the invention according to claim 6, an image acquisition step of acquiring an image in a computer mounted on the terminal device, a specification step of specifying an object included in the image acquired in the image acquisition step, and the specification step An attribute information acquisition step for acquiring attribute information representing the attribute of the object specified in step (b), and an attribute identification acquired in the attribute information acquisition step for identifying the image acquired in the image acquisition step. As information, an identification information storage control step for storing in association with the image, and a duplication step for duplicating the image when the identification step identifies a plurality of objects from the image acquired in the image acquisition step. In the identification information storage control step, the attribute information acquisition step is identified. When acquiring the attribute information representing an attribute of the number of objects, their attribute information of the object as image identification information, and to store in association with each of the replicated image in the replication step.

  In the present invention, acquired image data can be stored and managed easily and appropriately.

1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining an overview of functions of a mobile phone 10 according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a mobile phone 10. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the mobile phone 10. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the folder information memorize | stored in the folder memory | storage part 101c of the memory | storage part 101. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data stored in an image storage unit 101d of a storage unit 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the group information memorize | stored in the group memory | storage part 101e of the memory | storage part 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the address book data memorize | stored in the address book memory | storage part 101f of the memory | storage part 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the condition information memorize | stored in the condition memory | storage part 101g of the memory | storage part 101. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a main routine. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of an address book data storage process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of an image storage process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of an image storage process. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of a storage process A. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of a storage process B. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of a storage process C.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A. Constitution
(1) System Configuration FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining an overview of functions provided in the mobile phone 10 according to an embodiment. The mobile phone 10 has a mobile radio communication function and a mail transmission / reception function. When a call is made using the mobile radio communication function, the mobile phone 10 makes a call to the originating exchange SW via the registered base station BS. In response to the outgoing call, the originating side exchange SW switches the terminating side exchange SW based on the called party number (subscriber number) and location registration information inquired from a subscriber registration server (not shown) provided in the wireless communication network RN. Call. The called-side exchange SW calls the called-side mobile phone 10 (not shown) via the called-side base station BS, and when the called-side side responds to the incoming call, the calling-side exchange SW and the called-side exchange are exchanged. A link with the SW is established and communication becomes possible.

  Mail transmitted from the mobile phone 10 using the mail transmission / reception function is transmitted to a mail server (not shown) on the Internet via a base station BS, an exchange SW, and a gateway server (not shown) provided in the wireless communication network RN. Is done. The mail server is configured to send mail to the mobile phone 10 having the destination mail address through the reverse route. In addition, the mobile phone 10 uses the mobile radio communication function to access the image distribution device 20 on the Internet ITN via the base station BS, the exchange SW, and the radio communication network RN to obtain image data (still image / moving image). Download and get. Furthermore, the mobile phone 10 has a function of receiving and outputting a digital television broadcast signal or a digital radio broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast station 30.

(2) Appearance of the mobile phone 10 The mobile phone 10 has a well-known folding open / close type housing structure in which the receiver housing and the transmitter housing can be folded. 2 (a) shows the appearance of the “open style” with the folding open, and FIG. 2 (b) shows the case of “open style” in which the receiving unit housing is rotated 180 degrees around its longitudinal direction as the rotation axis and the display screen is turned outward. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the "view style" which closed folding in the exposed state. Although not shown, a state in which the receiver housing and the transmitter housing are folded while the display screen is hidden inside is referred to as “closed style”.

As shown in FIG. 2, a speaker SP (earpiece) for voice output and a display screen (liquid crystal panel) of the display unit 106 are arranged in the receiver housing of the mobile phone 10. On the other hand, the transmitter housing is provided with a microphone MIC (speak mouthpiece) for voice input, various operation keys and operation buttons constituting the operation unit 107, and the like.

(3) Electrical configuration of mobile phone 10 FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the mobile phone 10. In this figure, a control unit 100 is composed of a CPU, an input / output circuit, and the like, and controls the operation of each unit of the mobile phone 10 according to various operation events supplied from an operation unit 107 described later. A characteristic processing operation of the control unit 100 according to the gist of the present invention will be described in detail later.

  The memory | storage part 101 is comprised from ROM and RAM, and has each memory | storage part 101a-101g mentioned later. The program storage unit 101a stores various programs executed by the control unit 100, control data referred to by a predetermined program, and screen data forming various display screens such as a standby screen. The various programs stored in the program storage unit 101a include a main routine, an address book data storage process, an image storage process, a storage process A, a storage process B, and a storage process C, which will be described in detail later.

  The various information temporary storage unit 101b temporarily stores various register / flag data and data necessary for the operation of the mobile phone 10, such as screen data displayed on the display unit 106. As shown in FIG. 4, the folder storage unit 101c stores folder information including a folder ID for identifying a folder provided in the image storage unit 101d and a folder name representing the name.

  The acquired image data is stored in the image storage unit 101d. As shown in FIG. 5, the image data includes an image ID, a file name that is identification information for identifying the image, a folder ID, actual data, feature information, and the like. The feature information is data for specifying an object included in the image data (actual data). In this embodiment, parameters specific to a person's face (for example, eyes, nose, mouth) appearing in the image based on known face recognition. And the like) are defined as feature information.

The group information set by the user is stored in the group storage unit 101e. The group information includes at least a group ID and a group name as illustrated in FIG. The address book storage unit 101f stores address book data representing each individual attribute. As shown in the example of FIG. 7, one address book data includes an address book ID, name, reading (reading), group ID, telephone number, e-mail address, address, hobby, birthday, blood type, work Each attribute information such as a destination, image ID, feature information (described later), and data items including a history are included. Note that the history here refers to the number of times the file name stored in the image storage unit 101d and specified by the image ID is generated. In the example of the address book data shown in FIG. 7, the name is handled as one piece of data. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  The condition storage unit 101g stores condition information representing conditions for generating a file or folder used when storing the acquired image data in the image storage unit 101d. The condition information is composed of condition A and condition B. The condition A represents a file generation condition according to the number of people in the acquired image data. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when the number of people in the image data (actual data) to be stored is “1 to 2 people”, “concatenated file name”, “3 to 5 people”. In the case of “Copy”, “Fixed file name” is defined for “6 to 10 people”, and “Other” is defined for “11 or more”. The purpose of these items will be described in the operation of image storage processing (FIGS. 11 to 12), which will be described in detail later. It should be noted that the number of people surrounded by a black frame in the figure in condition A represents data that can be set by the user.

  The condition B includes a file name condition item and a folder name condition item representing a condition for generating the file name or folder name of the acquired image data. File name condition items (or folder name condition items) are “Address Book ID”, “Name”, “Yomi”, “Group ID”, “Group Name”, “Telephone Number”, “Mail Address”, “Address”. , “Hobby”, “Birthday”, “Blood Type”, “Workplace”, and the like, which are formed from data items of address book data which is attribute information of each individual. These items are provided with contents relating to file name generation and setting flags. Similarly, the folder name condition item is provided with the contents related to the generation of the folder name and the setting flag.

The contents and setting flags relating to the generation of the file name surrounded by the black frame in the figure and the contents and setting flag relating to the generation of the folder name are data that can be set by the user. The file name condition item (or folder name condition item) with the setting flag “1” is used in the storage process A described later. There may be one file name condition item (or folder name condition item) whose setting flag is “1”. For example, a file consisting of an address book ID and a name with each setting flag of the address book ID and name being “1”. A plurality of name conditions (or folder name conditions) may be used.

In addition, in the contents related to the generation of the file name (or folder name), not all the character strings of the item, but a predetermined number of characters from the beginning, a predetermined position (such as name for name, domain name for e-mail address, municipality for address), etc. User setting is possible. Note that “-” in the figure indicates that all character strings of the item are used.

The description of the configuration of the embodiment will be continued with reference to FIG. 3 again. In FIG. 3, the wireless communication transmitting / receiving unit 102 exchanges data with the base station BS via the antenna ANT1 under the control of the control unit 100 during data communication, and receives and demodulates the voice data received via the antenna ANT1 during voice communication. Is transmitted to the control unit 100, and the transmission signal obtained by modulating the audio data supplied from the control unit 100 is amplified at a high frequency and transmitted from the antenna ANT1.

The television broadcast / radio broadcast receiving unit 103 receives and demodulates a television broadcast signal or a radio broadcast signal via the antenna ANT2 in accordance with a channel selection instruction given from the control unit 100, and receives a received signal (video when receiving television). / TV audio data or radio audio data when receiving radio) is output to the control unit 100.

  The audio signal processing unit 104 includes a speaker SP and a microphone MIC. The audio signal supplied from the control unit 100 is D / A converted into an audio signal to generate sound from the speaker SP, or an audio signal output from the microphone MIC is output. The audio data is A / D converted and supplied to the control unit 100. Further, in the audio signal processing unit 104, when the television broadcast / radio broadcast receiving unit 103 is performing a reception operation, the TV audio data or radio audio data supplied from the control unit 100 is D / A converted and then amplified and the speaker SP. Sound is emitted from.

The imaging unit 105 captures and outputs an image (still image or moving image) by the user's shutter button operation according to the shooting parameters (ISO sensitivity and shutter speed) specified by the control unit 100 according to the brightness of the subject. The display unit 106 is composed of a color liquid crystal panel and a display driver. Under the control of the control unit 100, various operation screens such as a standby screen, images captured by the imaging unit 105, and the wireless communication unit 102 are used. The image acquired from the image distribution apparatus 20 on the Internet ITN is displayed on the screen.

The operation unit 107 includes various operation keys such as a power switch for power on / off, an off-hook / on-hook switch operated at the start / end of a call, and a character input switch that also serves as a dial switch. Event is generated and output to the control unit 100. The RTC 108 generates a real-time clock used for timekeeping and timer interruption and supplies it to the control unit 100. The notification unit 109 performs a notification operation (sounding of the sound speaker 109a, light emission of the LED 109b, and driving of the vibration motor 109c) according to the notification signal supplied from the control unit 100. The battery unit 110 generates a driving voltage for driving each unit of the mobile phone 10.

B. Action
Next, the operation of the mobile phone 10 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the main routine, address book data processing, image storage processing, storage processing A, storage processing B, and storage processing C executed by the control unit 100 will be described.

(1) Operation of Main Routine FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main routine executed by the control unit 100. The control unit 100 waits until the power-on operation is performed in step SA1, and when the user performs the power-on operation, the determination result is “YES”. Is initialized, the location registration is performed in the wireless communication network RN, and standby processing for entering the standby state is executed. In the standby state, a standby screen (not shown) is displayed on the display unit 106.

  Subsequently, in steps SA3 to SA8, events of “setting operation”, “address book data storage operation”, “image storage instruction generation”, “incoming call detection”, “power-off operation”, and “other operation” are respectively performed. Judgment is made. If these events do not occur, the determination results in steps SA8 to SA8 are all “NO”, and the apparatus waits in the standby state in step SA2. When any of the above events occurs in this standby state, processing corresponding to the generated event is executed. Hereinafter, the operation will be described separately for each event.

<For setting operation>
When a setting operation event occurs, the determination result in step SA3 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SA9, and a setting process corresponding to the setting operation performed by the user is executed. Specifically, a folder or group is newly created, modified, or deleted, or image data or address book data is additionally registered, deleted, or modified, and the condition information stored in the condition storage unit 101g is updated. After executing this processing, the process returns to the standby state in step SA2.

<Address book data storage operation>
When an address book data storage operation event occurs, the determination result in step SA4 is “YES”. After the address book data storage process is executed through step SA10, the process returns to the standby state in step SA2. In the address book data storage process, as will be described later, various data items related to personal attributes (name, reading, telephone number, mail address, address, hobby, birthday, work place, address book ID, group ID, and blood type) are stored. After inputting, when the image ID of the image data to be assigned to the address book data is selected, it is determined by performing face recognition to determine whether or not a person is included in the image data specified by the selected image ID. If so, address book data including various data items related to the input personal attribute, the selected image ID, and face-specific feature information obtained from face recognition is registered in the address book storage unit 101f.

<When an image storage instruction is generated>
For example, when acquiring and storing an image captured by the imaging unit 105, when acquiring and recording a received broadcast program, or when acquiring and storing an image downloaded from the image distribution device 20, instructions regarding an image storage instruction When the event is generated by a user operation or automatically, the determination result in step SA5 is “YES”, and an image storage process (described later) is executed via step SA11.

<Incoming call detection>
When an incoming call detection event occurs, the determination result in step SA6 is “YES”, and the flow proceeds to step SA12. In step SA12, the incoming call notification is performed, and when the off-hook operation is performed during the incoming call notification, the line is connected to the calling party to start the call, and when the on-hook operation is performed during the call, the line is disconnected. The process returns to the standby state in step SA2.

<When the power is turned off>
When a power-off operation event occurs, the determination result in step SA7 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SA13 to execute the power-off process, and then this process is completed.

<For other operations>
When other operations (for example, a transmission operation or a mail reception operation) are performed, the determination result in step SA8 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SA14 to execute processing corresponding to the operation and then wait for step SA2. Return to the state.

(2) Address Book Data Storage Processing Operation Next, the address book data storage processing operation will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed via step SA10 (see FIG. 9) of the main routine described above, the control unit 100 proceeds to step SB1 shown in FIG. 10 and inputs the attribute information of the individuals constituting the address book data. select. Specifically, among each data item, after entering a name, reading (reading), telephone number, e-mail address, address, hobby, birthday, work place, address book ID and group ID of the address book data And select blood type.

  Subsequently, in step SB2, the image ID of the image data to be assigned to the address book data item input and selected in step SB1 is selected from the image storage unit 101d. In step SB3, when an operation for instructing registration of the address book data is performed, the process proceeds to step SB4, and a known image indicating whether or not a person is reflected in the image data (actual data) of the image ID selected in step SB2. Perform recognition (face recognition).

  Next, in step SB5, based on the recognition result in step SB4, it is determined whether or not a person is reflected in the image data (actual data) of the image ID selected in step SB2. If no person is shown, the determination result is “NO”, and the present process is terminated. If a person is shown, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SB6.

  In step SB6, face-specific feature information obtained from face recognition (for example, parameters representing the size and arrangement position of each part of the face such as eyes, nose and mouth) is extracted. In step SB7, the items entered / selected in step SB1 (name, reading, telephone number, mail address, address, hobby, birthday, office, address book ID, group ID and blood type), The address book data including the image ID selected in step SB2 and the feature information extracted in step SB6 is registered in the address book storage unit 101f, and the process ends.

  As described above, in the address book data storage process, after inputting various data items related to personal attributes, if an image ID of image data to be assigned to the address book data is selected, a person is added to the image data specified by the selected image ID. Is recognized by performing face recognition, and if a person is captured, various data items related to the input personal attributes, the selected image ID, and face-specific feature information obtained from face recognition Are registered in the address book storage unit 101f.

  In step SB5, it is determined that a person is included in the image data when at least one face is recognized. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to adopt a mode in which the person who has the largest face is represented as a representative, and feature information unique to the representative's face is extracted and included in the address book data. In addition, when a plurality of faces are recognized, they are displayed on the screen, the representative's face is selected from them by user operation, and the characteristic information unique to the selected representative's face is extracted. It is also possible to include it in the address book data.

(3) Operation of Image Storage Processing Next, the operation of image storage processing will be described with reference to FIGS. When this process is executed through step SA11 (see FIG. 9) of the main routine described above, the control unit 100 proceeds to step SC1 shown in FIG. 11, and the image ID (actual data) instructed to store the image ID. And stored in the image storage unit 101d (see FIG. 5). The image ID added to the image data (actual data) is automatically updated so that a free ID is assigned every time an image is stored.

  Subsequently, when the process proceeds to step SC2, a known image recognition (face recognition) is performed on the image data (actual data) stored in the image storage unit 101d in step SC1. Next, in step SC3, it is determined whether or not a person is shown in the image data (actual data) based on the recognition result in step SC2. Hereinafter, the description of the operation will be divided into a case where a person is not shown and a case where a person is shown.

<When no person is shown>
If no person is shown in the image data (actual data), the determination result in step SC3 is “NO”, and the storage process C is executed via step SC4 shown in FIG. . In the storage process C, as will be described later, either the file name added to the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored or a newly generated file name (“unset N”) is instructed to be stored. After being stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data), a desired folder name is selected and selected from the folder names stored in the folder storage unit 101c according to the user operation. The folder ID of the selected folder name is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

<When a person is shown>
On the other hand, if a person is shown in the image data (actual data), the determination result in step SC3 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SC5. Based on the recognition result in step SC2, the image data (actual data) Detect the number of people (number of recognized faces) in. Next, in step SC6, for the detected person (recognized face), feature information specific to the face (for example, parameters representing the size and arrangement position of each face part such as eyes, nose, mouth) is extracted. When the feature information for the detected number of people is thus extracted, the process proceeds to step SC7, and the extracted feature information for the number of people is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image data (actual data).

  Subsequently, in step SC8, the item of condition A corresponding to the number of people in the image data (actual data) to be stored is read from the condition storage unit 101g (see FIG. 8). That is, when the number of people in the image is “1 to 2”, “concatenated file name” indicating that a concatenated file name is set is read from the condition storage unit 101g as the corresponding condition A item. Similarly, if the number of people in the picture is “3-5 people”, “copy” indicating copying for the number of people should be used, and if the number of people in the picture is “6-10 people”, the file name is “group”. If the number of people in the “fixed file name” representing “11 or more” is read, “others” representing the same processing as the general image is read from the condition storage unit 101g.

  In steps SC9 to SC11 shown in FIG. 12, the items of condition A read from the condition storage unit 101g in step SC8 are “concatenated file name”, “copy”, “fixed file name”, and “other”. Determine which is. Hereinafter, the operation will be described for each of the cases where the item of the condition A read from the condition storage unit 101g is “concatenated file name”, “copy”, “fixed file name”, and “others”.

<In case of "Concatenated file name">
If the item of the condition A read from the condition storage 101g is “concatenated file name”, the determination result in step SC9 is “YES”, the storage process A is executed via the step SC12, and this process ends. In the storage process A, as will be described later, address book data having feature information similar to each person shown in the image instructed to be stored is searched from the address book storage unit 101f, and if there is corresponding address book data. Of the data items constituting the address book data, the file name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g is extracted to generate the file name of the attribute related to the person shown in the image. . When a plurality of people are shown in the image instructed to be stored, a file name generated for each person is concatenated to generate one file name.

Further, the folder name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g is extracted to generate a folder name having an attribute related to the person in the image. When a plurality of people are shown in the image instructed to be stored, a folder name generated for each person is concatenated to generate one folder name. After newly registering the folder with the generated folder name in the folder storage unit 101c, the generated file name and the folder ID of the newly registered folder are associated with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. Store in the storage unit 101d.

<In the case of "Copy">
If the item of the condition A read from the condition storage unit 101g is “copy”, the determination result in step SC10 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SC13. Copy the number of people in the picture. Next, in step SC14, the feature information stored in step SC7, that is, the feature information of each person in the image is read from the image storage unit 101d, and the read feature information of each person is copied in the above-mentioned step SC13 for the number of people. One image data is added to each image data and stored in the image storage unit 101d. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SC12, and the storage process A is executed for each image data copied for the number of persons.

<For "Fixed file name">
If the item of the condition A read from the condition storage unit 101g is “fixed file name”, the determination result in step SC11 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SC15, the storage process B is executed, and this process ends. In the storage process B, as will be described later, a file name of “group N (N: three-digit serial number)” is generated, and the generated file name is stored in the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to store And stored in the image storage unit 101d.

Then, the folder name “group” is searched from the folder storage unit 101c. If the corresponding folder name exists, the folder ID of the folder name is read from the folder storage unit 101c, and image data (actual data) instructed to be stored is read out. The image storage unit 101d stores the image ID in association with the image ID. On the other hand, if the corresponding folder name does not exist, a folder ID corresponding to the folder name “group” is generated, and the folder ID is associated with the folder name “group” and newly registered in the folder storage unit 101c. After that, the newly generated folder ID is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

<In the case of “Other”>
When the item of the condition A read from the condition storage unit 101g is “other”, the determination result in step SC11 is “NO”, the process proceeds to step SC16, the storage process C is executed, and this process is terminated. In the storage process C, as will be described later, either the file name added to the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored or a newly generated file name (“unset N”) is instructed to be stored. After being stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data), a desired folder name is selected and selected from the folder names stored in the folder storage unit 101c according to the user operation. The folder ID of the selected folder name is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

(4) Operation of Storage Process A Next, the operation of the storage process A will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed via step SC12 (see FIG. 12) of the image storage process described above, control unit 100 proceeds to step SD1 shown in FIG. In steps SD1 to SD2, address book data having feature information similar to the feature information stored in step SC7 (see FIG. 11) of the image storage process described above (feature information of each person shown) is stored in the address book. Search is made from address book data registered in the storage unit 101f (see FIG. 7). This data search is performed for the number of people in the image.

  If address book data having similar feature information is not found, the determination result in step SD2 is “NO”, and the storage process C is performed via the above-described image storage process step SC16 (see FIG. 12). Run.

  On the other hand, when address book data having similar feature information is searched, the determination result in step SD2 is “YES”, and the flow proceeds to step SD3. In step SD3, the file name condition item whose setting flag is “1” is read out from the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 8, “Yomi (Roman character reading)” is read as the file name condition item whose setting flag is “1”.

  Next, in step SD4, the contents of the file name condition item read in step SD3 are read from the address book data having similar feature information, and in the subsequent step SD5, the history of the address book data (see FIG. 7) is read. read out. In step SD6, a file name is generated by adding the history (three-digit number) read in step SD5 to the content read in step SD4.

For example, when the file name condition item is “Yomi (Roman character reading)”, the content of the file name condition item read from the address book data having similar characteristic information is “aihara” and the history is “001”. ", A file name" aihara001 "is generated. In other words, in this example, a file name including the name of a person (Roman reading) in the image is generated. If there are a plurality of persons in the image, the file names for each person generated as described above are connected. For example, when “aihara003” and “yoshioka001” are generated as the file names of the two persons shown in the image, a file name “aihara003 + yoshioka001” is generated by connecting the two.

  When the file name having the attribute related to the person shown in the image is generated in this way, the process proceeds to step SD7, and the generated file name is associated with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. In the subsequent step SD8, the history of the corresponding address book data is incremented and updated. Next, in step SD9, the folder name condition item whose setting flag is “1” is read from the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 8, “name (name + name)” is read as a file name condition item whose setting flag is “1”.

In step SD10, the contents of the folder name condition item read in step SD9 are read from address book data having similar feature information. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SD11 to generate a folder name having the contents read in step SD4. For example, when the folder name condition item is “name (name + name)”, if the content of the file name condition item read from the address book data having similar feature information is “Hanako Aihara”, it is generated as the folder name. Is done. That is, in this example, the name of the person shown in the image is the folder name. Further, when there are a plurality of persons in the image, the names for each person generated as described above are concatenated to form a folder name.

  Subsequently, in step SD12, it is determined whether or not a folder having the same name as the folder name generated in step SD11 is stored in the folder storage unit 101c (see FIG. 4). If the folder with the same name has already been registered in the folder storage unit 101c, the determination result is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SD14, the folder ID of the folder with the same name is read from the folder storage unit 101c, and the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored is read. The image ID is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID, and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the folder with the generated folder name is not registered in the folder storage unit 101c, the determination result at step SD12 is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SD13 to generate a folder with the generated folder name. . That is, a folder ID corresponding to the generated folder name is generated, and the folder ID and the generated folder name are associated with each other and newly registered in the folder storage unit 101c. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SD14, where the newly generated folder ID is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, in the storage process A, the address book data having feature information similar to each person in the image instructed to be stored is searched from the address book storage unit 101f, and when the corresponding address book data is found, Among the data items constituting the address book data, the file name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g is extracted to generate a file name having an attribute related to the person shown in the image. Then, the folder name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g is extracted, and a folder with a folder name having an attribute related to the person shown in the image is newly registered in the folder storage unit 101c. The generated file name and the folder ID of the newly registered folder are stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

(5) Operation of Storage Processing B Next, the operation of storage processing B will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed via step SC15 (see FIG. 12) of the image storage process described above, control unit 100 proceeds to step SE1 shown in FIG. 14 and generates “group N” as the file name. Here, N is a group number forming a three-digit serial number, and is determined to be one value larger than the group number already stored in the image storage unit 101d. For example, if “group 001” already exists in the image storage unit 101d, it becomes “group 002”. N may be an arbitrary number of digits, and the name of the group is not fixed, and the user may replace it with an arbitrary character string.

  Subsequently, in step SE2, the file name (“group N”) generated in step SE1 is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. Next, in steps SE3 to SE4, the folder name stored in the folder storage unit 101c (see FIG. 4) is read and the folder name “group” is searched. When the corresponding folder name is searched, the determination result in step SE4 is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SE6, the folder ID of the corresponding folder name is read from the folder storage unit 101c, and the image instructed to be stored The process is completed after storing the data (actual data) in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID.

  On the other hand, if the corresponding folder name is not searched, the determination result in step SE4 is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SE5 to generate a folder having the folder name “group”. That is, a folder ID corresponding to the folder name “group” is generated, and the folder ID and the folder name “group” are associated with each other and newly registered in the folder storage unit 101c. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SE6, where the newly generated folder ID is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored, and the present process ends.

  As described above, in the storage process B, “group N” is generated as the file name, and the generated file name is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. To do. Then, the folder name “group” is searched from the folder storage unit 101c, and when the corresponding folder name is searched, the folder ID of the corresponding folder name is read from the folder storage unit 101c and the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored is read. Data) is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID. On the other hand, if the corresponding folder name is not searched, a folder ID corresponding to the folder name “group” is generated, and the folder ID is associated with the folder name “group” and newly registered in the folder storage unit 101c. After that, the newly generated folder ID is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

(6) Operation of Storage Process C Next, the operation of the storage process C will be described with reference to FIG. When this process is executed via step SC16 (see FIG. 12) of the image storage process described above, control unit 100 proceeds to step SF1 shown in FIG. 15 and adds to the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. It is determined whether or not the specified file name exists. If there is a file name, the determination result is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SF3 described later. If no file name is added, the determination result is “NO”, and the process proceeds to step SF2.

  In step SF2, “unset N” is generated as the file name, and the process proceeds to step SF3. Note that N is an unset file number that is a three-digit serial number, and is determined to be one larger than the unset file number already stored in the image storage unit 101d. For example, when “unset 001” already exists in the image storage unit 101d, “unset 002” is set.

  In step SF3, either the file name added to the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored or the file name generated in step SF2 (“unset N”) is stored in the image data (instructed to store). It is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of (actual data). Next, in step SF4, a desired folder name is selected from the folder names stored in the folder storage unit 101c (see FIG. 4) according to the user operation. In step SF5, the folder ID of the folder name selected in step SF4 is read from the folder storage unit 101c and stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. And this processing is finished.

  In this way, in the storage process C, it is determined whether or not a file name has been added to the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. If not, a file name of “unset N” is generated. To do. Then, either the file name added to the image data instructed to store (actual data) or the generated file name (“unset N”) is used as the image ID of the image data instructed to store (actual data). After associating and storing the image in the image storage unit 101d, a desired folder name is selected from the folder names stored in the folder storage unit 101c according to a user operation, and the folder ID of the selected folder name is stored. The image data (actual data) is stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID.

As described above, in the present embodiment, address book data including various data items relating to personal attributes, image IDs, and face-specific feature information obtained from face recognition is registered in the address book storage unit 101f. When storing the acquired image data, the address book storage unit 101f is searched for address book data having feature information similar to each person in the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored.

When the corresponding address book data is retrieved, the file name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g is extracted from the data items constituting the address book data, and the person shown in the image A folder name attribute item related to the person shown in the image is extracted by extracting the folder name condition item specified by the condition B stored in the condition storage unit 101g New registration is performed in the storage unit 101c.

The generated file name and the folder ID of the newly registered folder are stored in the image storage unit 101d in association with the image ID of the image data (actual data) instructed to be stored. Thus, for example, a file name or folder name that includes the name of a person in the image, or if there are multiple people in the image, a file name or folder name that concatenates the names of each person in the image is automatically generated. For example, since the image is stored using the attribute related to the person shown in the image, the acquired image data can be stored and managed easily and appropriately.

Other more specific effects obtained in the above-described embodiment are as described in the following items (a) to (h).
(A) Feature information of an object included in an image stored in association with attribute information, feature information stored in association with attribute information, and an object included in the acquired image Since the object is specified by comparing with the feature information, the object can be specified simply and accurately.
(B) It is possible to store and manage the acquired images by classifying them into appropriate groups based on attribute information representing the attributes of the objects included in the images.
(C) The acquired image can be stored and managed more appropriately based not only on the attribute information indicating the attribute of the object included in the image but also on the history identification information in which the image identification information is stored. For example, when storing and managing a plurality of images including the same object, if the same image identification information based on the same attribute information is associated with the plurality of images, it becomes difficult for the user to understand. Therefore, if the history identification information is image identification information together with the attribute information, the image identification information including the same attribute information and including different history identification information is associated with a plurality of images. Becomes easier to understand.
(D) When a plurality of objects are included in an image, the image can be appropriately stored and managed based on attribute information related to each of the plurality of objects.
(E) When an image includes a large number of objects, image identification information based on the attribute information of these objects is likely to cause confusion for the user. The image can be appropriately stored and managed based on the predetermined identification information.
(F) When a plurality of objects are included in an image, the image can be duplicated, and each of the duplicated images can be appropriately stored and managed based on the attribute information of the plurality of objects. .
(G) It is possible to appropriately store and manage an image including a person based on attribute information representing the attribute of the person.
(H) The acquired image can be classified and grouped appropriately for each group based on the attribute information indicating the attribute of the object included in the image.

In the above-described embodiment, the person is specified from the image, but the gist of the present invention is not limited to the person. For example, any object such as a vase or a building may be used. If the person is not a person, instead of the address book, a database that stores the image of the object, the feature information of the object, and the attribute information related to the object is referred to.

In the above-described embodiment, the mobile phone 10 is assumed as a terminal device. However, the gist of the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to any terminal device such as a personal computer, a PDA, a digital camera, and a music player. It goes without saying that it is possible. In the first and second embodiments described above, the folding open / close type mobile phone 10 is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an arbitrary housing structure such as a straight type, a slide type, or a spin top type may be used. The storage unit 101 is not limited to a memory provided in the mobile phone 10 and may be an arbitrary external storage device such as a memory card or an external hard disk.

The image to be stored may be any type of image such as a still image or a moving image, and is not limited to an image captured by the image capturing unit, an image received by the broadcast receiving unit, a downloaded image, or an image received by data communication, and any method. It becomes possible to apply to the image acquired by. Further, the address book item (attribute information) may be an arbitrary item (attribute information) related to a person.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mobile phone 100 Control part 101 Storage part 101a Program storage part 101b Various information temporary storage part 101c Folder storage part 101d Image storage part 101e Group storage part 101f Address book storage part 101g Condition storage part 102 Wireless communication part 103 Television broadcasting and radio broadcasting Reception unit 104 Audio signal processing unit 105 Imaging unit 106 Display unit 107 Operation unit 108 RTC
109 Notification unit 109a Sound speaker 109b LED
109c Vibration motor 110 Battery part

Claims (6)

Image acquisition means for acquiring images;
Specifying means for specifying an object included in the image acquired by the image acquiring means;
Attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information representing an attribute of the object specified by the specifying means;
Identification information storage control means for storing the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means in association with the image as image identification information for identifying the image acquired by the image acquisition means;
A history storage control means for storing a history in which image identification information is stored in association with an image by the identification information storage control means;
The identification information storage control unit is configured to obtain image identification information including history identification information generated based on a history stored in the history storage control unit and attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit. A terminal device characterized by being stored in association with the image obtained by the above . Image acquisition means for acquiring images;
Specifying means for specifying an object included in the image acquired by the image acquiring means;
Attribute information acquisition means for acquiring attribute information representing an attribute of the object specified by the specifying means;
Identification information storage control means for storing the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means in association with the image as image identification information for identifying the image acquired by the image acquisition means;
A duplicating unit that duplicates the image when the identifying unit identifies a plurality of objects from the image acquired by the image acquiring unit;
When the attribute information acquisition unit acquires attribute information representing the attributes of the plurality of identified objects, the identification information storage control unit reproduces the attribute information of each object as image identification information by the copying unit. A terminal device characterized by being stored in association with each of the received images . Extraction means for extracting feature information representing characteristics of an object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition means;
Reference means for referring to storage means for storing at least one of an image including an object and feature information of the object and attribute information indicating the attribute of the object in association with each other is further provided.
The specifying means refers to the storage means by the reference means, either feature information extracted from an image including an object stored in the storage means or feature information stored in the storage means, Compare the feature information extracted by the extraction means to identify the object included in the image acquired by the image acquisition means,
The attribute information acquisition unit acquires attribute information stored in the storage unit in association with at least one of an image including the identified object and feature information of the object. The terminal device according to either 1 or 2 . Management means for classifying and storing images by group,
Group storage control means for storing the image acquired by the image acquisition means as an image of a predetermined group stored and managed by the management means based on the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means; The terminal device according to claim 1 , comprising: a terminal device according to claim 1. In the computer installed in the terminal device,
An image acquisition step of acquiring an image;
A specifying step of specifying an object included in the image acquired in the image acquiring step;
An attribute information acquisition step for acquiring attribute information representing an attribute of the object specified in the specifying step;
An identification information storage control step for storing the attribute information acquired in the attribute information acquisition step as image identification information for identifying the image acquired in the image acquisition step in association with the image;
A history storage control step for storing a history in which image identification information is stored in association with an image in the identification information storage control step;
In the identification information storage control step, image identification information including history identification information generated based on the history stored in the history storage control step and attribute information acquired in the attribute information acquisition step is used as the image acquisition step. A program characterized in that it is stored in association with the image acquired in (1). In the computer installed in the terminal device,
An image acquisition step of acquiring an image;
A specifying step of specifying an object included in the image acquired in the image acquiring step;
An attribute information acquisition step for acquiring attribute information representing an attribute of the object specified in the specifying step;
An identification information storage control step for storing the attribute information acquired in the attribute information acquisition step as image identification information for identifying the image acquired in the image acquisition step in association with the image;
When the specifying step specifies a plurality of objects from the image acquired in the image acquiring step, a duplication step of replicating the image is executed,
In the identification information storage control step, when the attribute information acquisition step acquires attribute information representing the attributes of the plurality of identified objects, the attribute information of each object is used as image identification information in the duplication step. A program characterized by being stored in association with each duplicated image.

Images