JP7209280B2 - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and the like that obtains and outputs a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing two or more photographed images related to a code.

Conventionally, various codes such as QR code (registered trademark), bar code, and color code are known. As color codes, for example, chameleon codes (registered trademark) and other color codes (see, for example, Patent Document 1) are known.

For example, when a code is attached to a product, information on the product can be acquired by photographing the product to which the code is attached. In addition, by searching for the code corresponding to the product in the photographed image, it becomes possible to easily specify where the desired product is located.

JP 2016-110528 A

However, it may not be possible to include many codes in one captured image. For example, if a product with a code attached is placed on a storage shelf in a warehouse and the aisle in front of the storage shelf is not wide enough, even if the angle of view of the camera is widened, the product cannot be stored on the storage shelf. There may be a situation in which only some codes of the products that are present can be photographed. In this way, there is a demand to be able to efficiently perform processing such as code retrieval even when all the codes to be retrieved cannot be included in one photographed image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in response to the above circumstances, and is capable of efficiently performing processing such as code retrieval even when all the codes to be retrieved cannot be included in one photographed image. The purpose is to provide a device etc. that can support.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a photographed image acquisition unit for acquiring two or more photographed images including a plurality of codes, and a code included in the photographed image as a reference for acquiring the two or more photographed images. The image synthesizing unit acquires a synthesized image, and an output unit outputs the synthetic image acquired by the image synthesizing unit.
With such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately synthesize two or more photographed images including codes. For example, by using the synthesized image after synthesis, efficient code retrieval can be realized. Also, if the object to be photographed has a monotonous repetition of shapes, such as a shelf in a warehouse, it may be difficult to perform accurate synthesis based only on the shape of the object. By using such a photographed image, highly accurate synthesis can be realized.

Further, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the image synthesizing unit may enlarge or reduce at least a part of the photographed images and synthesize them so that the sizes of the subjects included in the two or more photographed images are the same. good.
With such a configuration, it is possible to realize more appropriate synthesis of captured images.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes a code identifier accepting unit that accepts a code identifier that is an identifier of a code to be searched, and the output unit outputs the code identified by the code identifier accepted by the code identifier accepting unit. A composite image that visually indicates the position may be output.
With such a configuration, it is possible to easily specify the position in the composite image of the code corresponding to the code identifier.

Further, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the code is associated with the product information, which is information about the product. a code identifier acquisition unit that acquires the code identifier, and the code identifier reception unit may receive the code identifier acquired by the code identifier acquisition unit.
With such a configuration, it is possible to easily identify the position of the code corresponding to the product information in the composite image. Therefore, for example, when picking up a product from a warehouse, it is possible to easily know the position of the product to be picked up.

Further, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, the photographed image may be an image of the shelf on which the product is placed, and the code may be displayed on the product or the shelf.
With such a configuration, for example, the composite image can be used to confirm the position of the product to be picked up.

Further, an information processing method according to the present invention is an information processing method processed using a photographed image obtaining unit, an image synthesizing unit, and an output unit, wherein the photographed image obtaining unit includes two or more codes including a plurality of codes. an image synthesizing step of obtaining a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing two or more photographed images based on a code included in the photographed image, and an output unit obtaining an image and an output step of outputting the synthesized image obtained in the synthesizing step.

According to the information processing apparatus and the like of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately synthesize two or more photographed images containing a plurality of codes. Therefore, for example, by using the synthesized image after synthesis, efficient code retrieval can be realized.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus according to the same embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a photographed image in the same embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a photographed image in the same embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a photographed image in the same embodiment; The figure which shows an example of the synthesized image in the same embodiment. A diagram showing an example of correspondence between product information and code identifiers in the same embodiment FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a synthesized image showing the position of a code to be searched in the same embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a synthesized image showing the position of a code to be searched in the same embodiment; Schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of a computer system according to the same embodiment A diagram showing an example of a configuration of a computer system according to the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described using embodiments. In the following embodiments, constituent elements and steps with the same reference numerals are the same or correspond to each other, and repetitive description may be omitted. The information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires and outputs a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing two or more photographed images using a code as a mark.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a photographed image acquiring unit 11, an image synthesizing unit 12, a product information accepting unit 13, a storage unit 14, a code identifier acquiring unit 15, a code identifier accepting unit 16, and an output unit 17 . The information processing device 1 may be, for example, a personal computer, a portable information processing terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like. device, or a server or the like.

The captured image acquisition unit 11 acquires two or more captured images. A captured image is usually a still image, but it may be considered that a frame included in a moving image is a captured image. Each captured image is an image containing a plurality of codes. A photographed image containing a code is a photographed image obtained by photographing the code. Strictly speaking, what is included in the captured image is the image of the code, but in the present embodiment, the image of the code is also called the code. The code may be, for example, a chameleon code (registered trademark) or a color code such as the code of Patent Document 1, a QR code (registered trademark), a bar code, or other codes. may be In this embodiment, a case where the code is a chameleon code will be mainly described. As will be described later, information corresponding to the code is read from the code included in the photographed image, so the photographed image preferably has a resolution that enables reading of the code to be photographed.

The captured image is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a captured image of a shelf on which products are placed. The code may then be displayed on the product or shelf. The code displayed on the product or the shelf may be, for example, that the code is attached to the product or the shelf, or that the code is printed. A code displayed on a product may mean, for example, that the code is displayed on the product itself, or the code is displayed on the packaging of the product (for example, a cardboard box, plastic bag, etc.). It may be that there is The shelf on which the product is placed may be, for example, a storage shelf in a warehouse where the product is stored, or a shelf on which the product is temporarily placed when the product is delivered or when it arrives. , and other shelves. Also, the captured image may be, for example, a captured image of products piled up on the ground or floor. In that case, the code may be displayed on the product.

The code included in the captured image may be associated with product information, which is information about the product. The product information may include, for example, product identifiers, product attributes (for example, product color, size, type, manufacturer, product delivery address, etc.), and other information related to products. may contain When a code is associated with product information, for example, the code associated with the product information may be displayed on the product indicated by the product information. In the present embodiment, a case where product information is product identifiers will be mainly described. Also, the information that associates product information with codes will be described later.

For example, the captured image acquisition unit 11 may acquire a captured image using an optical device such as a camera, or may receive a captured image acquired by an optical device such as a camera. When the photographed image acquisition unit 11 receives a photographed image, the reception may be reception of a photographed image transmitted via a communication line, and may be a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory). etc.). The captured image acquisition unit 11 may store the acquired two or more captured images in a recording medium (not shown).

The image synthesizing unit 12 obtains a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing two or more photographed images based on codes included in the photographed images. Synthesizing based on a code means that when a certain code is included in a plurality of photographed images, the plurality of photographed images are synthesized such that the position of the code is the same in the synthesized image. Whether or not the code included in the first captured image and the code included in the second captured image are the same can be determined by whether or not the information indicated by the code is the same. Therefore, it is possible to synthesize images with higher accuracy than in the case of synthesizing a plurality of shot images using only the shape of the subject included in the shot images. In particular, when the subject has a repeating monotonous shape, such as a shelf in a warehouse, combining multiple captured images using only the shape of the subject may result in an erroneous combination. However, by synthesizing a plurality of captured images based on the code, such erroneous synthesis can be avoided, and an accurate synthesized image corresponding to the subject can be obtained. The image synthesizing unit 12 may store the acquired synthesized image in a recording medium (not shown).

The image synthesizing unit 12 may enlarge or reduce at least a part of the photographed images and synthesize them so that the size of the subject included in two or more photographed images becomes the same. The enlargement or reduction of the captured image may be a change in the size (number of pixels) of the captured image. In order to make the size of the subject included in two or more captured images the same, the image synthesizing unit 12 magnifies or reduces the captured image of at least one captured image, for example, as follows, and combines them. You may The image synthesizing unit 12 uses the position of a certain code included in the first captured image and the position of the same code included in the second captured image to create at least one correspondence between the first and second captured images. A point can be identified. Then, the image synthesizing unit 12 synthesizes at least one of the images so that the shapes around the corresponding points (for example, contours extracted by contour extraction, segments extracted by image segmentation, etc.) have the same size. may be enlarged or reduced. Further, when a plurality of codes included in the first captured image are also included in the second captured image, the image synthesizing unit 12 performs at least One image may be enlarged or reduced. Further, when the actual size of the code displayed on the product or the like is the same, the image synthesizing unit 12 selects at least one photographed image so that the codes included in the plurality of photographed images have the same size. Images may be scaled up or down. From the viewpoint of making it possible to read the code included in the synthesized image, it is preferable to perform enlargement by increasing the number of pixels rather than reduction by decreasing the number of pixels. At least a part of the photographed images may be enlarged and combined so that the sizes of the subjects included in the photographed images are the same. Further, when the size of the subject included in two or more photographed images is the same, it is not necessary to enlarge or reduce the photographed images at the time of compositing. In addition, if there is a premise that the contours of the products and the contours of the shelves included in the captured image are rectangular, the image synthesizing unit 12 performs keystone correction (correction of trapezoidal distortion) so that the contours are rectangular. ) may be performed before synthesis. Further, the image synthesizing unit 12 may synthesize a plurality of photographed images after adjusting the exposure, color tone, and the like.

The product information reception unit 13 receives product information. This product information is product information used for code search. For example, when the product information is a product identifier, the product information that is the product identifier that identifies the product whose position is to be known in the composite image is input and received by the product information receiving unit 13 . Further, for example, if the product information is information indicating the attributes of the product, and you want to know the position of the red M size T-shirt in the composite image, the product information indicating "red", "M size", and "T-shirt" is displayed. Information is input and received by the product information receiving unit 13 . The product information receiving unit 13 may store the received product information in a recording medium (not shown).

The product information reception unit 13 may, for example, receive information input from an input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc.), or receive information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line. Well, information read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, etc.) may be accepted. Note that the product information receiving unit 13 may or may not include a device for receiving (for example, a modem, a network card, etc.). Moreover, the product information reception unit 13 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver for driving a predetermined device.

The storage unit 14 stores information that associates product information with code identifiers. A code identifier is an identifier that identifies a code. The code identifier may be, for example, information indicated by the code (information obtained by reading the code). As described above, when product information and codes are associated with each other, as a result, product information and code identifiers are also associated with each other. Therefore, the storage unit 14 may store information indicating the correspondence between the product information and the code identifier.

The process by which information is stored in the storage unit 14 does not matter. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit 14 via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line or the like may be stored in the storage unit 14, or Information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit 14 . The storage in the storage unit 14 may be temporary storage in RAM or the like, or may be long-term storage. The storage unit 14 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, semiconductor memory, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc.).

Here, "associating the product information with the code identifier" means that the code identifier can be acquired from the product information. Therefore, the information stored in the storage unit 14 may include information including product information and a code identifier as a set, or may be information linking the product information and the code identifier.

The code identifier acquisition section 15 acquires a code identifier corresponding to the product information accepted by the product information acceptance section 13 . At the time of acquisition, the code identifier acquisition unit 15 may acquire using information stored in the storage unit 14 . Specifically, the code identifier acquisition unit 15 searches the product information stored in the storage unit 14 using the product information received by the product information reception unit 13 as a search key, and the code identifier acquisition unit 15 searches for the product information stored in the storage unit 14, and the A code identifier may be obtained. The code identifier acquisition unit 15 passes the acquired code identifier to the code identifier reception unit 16 .

The code identifier accepting unit 16 accepts a code identifier that is the identifier of the code to be searched. In the present embodiment, a case where code identifier accepting portion 16 receives a code identifier from code identifier acquiring portion 15, that is, a case where the code identifier acquired by code identifier acquiring portion 15 is accepted will be mainly described. It doesn't have to be. The code identifier receiving unit 16 may store the received code identifiers in a recording medium (not shown).

When the code identifier accepting unit 16 does not accept the code identifier acquired by the code identifier acquiring unit 15, the code identifier accepting unit 16 receives input from an input device (for example, keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc.). A code identifier transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line may be received, and a code read from a predetermined recording medium (for example, magnetic disk, semiconductor memory, etc.) may be received. Identifiers may be accepted. Note that the code identifier accepting unit 16 may or may not include a device (for example, modem, network card, etc.) for accepting. Also, the code identifier reception unit 16 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver for driving a predetermined device.

The output unit 17 outputs the synthesized image acquired by the image synthesizing unit 12 . In outputting the composite image, the output unit 17 may output a composite image visually indicating the position of the code identified by the code identifier accepted by the code identifier accepting unit 16 . That is, the synthesized image may be output so that the position of the code identified by the code identifier accepted by the code identifier accepting unit 16 can be specified in the synthesized image. In the composite image, the position of the code may be indicated, for example, by using a predetermined figure, by changing the display attribute of the code in the composite image, or by some other method. good. The predetermined graphic may be, for example, an elliptical graphic as shown in FIG. 8A, or an arrow-shaped graphic as shown in FIG. 8B. The change in display attribute may be, for example, a change in display color, a blinking display, or a change in other display attributes. For example, in the composite image, only the code identified by the code identifier accepted by the code identifier accepting unit 16 may be displayed blinking, or may be displayed in a color different from the original code (for example, red). good.

For example, for each code included in the composite image, the output unit 17 acquires in advance information that associates the position of the code in the composite image with the code identifier of the code, and the code identifier reception unit 16 receives the code identifier. If so, the position in the composite image corresponding to the code identifier may be obtained and a composite image visually indicating the position may be output.

Here, this output may be, for example, a display on a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display), may be transmitted to a predetermined device via a communication line, may be printed by a printer, or may be a recording medium. It may be stored in or passed on to another component. Note that even when the output unit 17 transmits or stores a composite image, it is preferable that the composite image is finally output visually. This is so that the composite image can be visually recognized. Also, the output unit 17 may or may not include a device for output (for example, a display device or a printer). Also, the output unit 17 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver for driving those devices.

Next, the operation of the information processing device 1 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S101) The captured image acquisition unit 11 determines whether or not two or more captured images have been acquired. If two or more captured images have been obtained, the process proceeds to step S102. If not, the process of step S101 is repeated until two or more captured images are received.

(Step S102) The image synthesizing unit 12 obtains a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing the two or more photographed images accepted in step S101 based on the code included in each photographed image.

(Step S103) The product information reception unit 13 determines whether or not the product information has been received. If the product information has been received, the process proceeds to step S104. If not, the process of step S103 is repeated until the product information is received.

(Step S<b>104 ) The code identifier acquisition unit 15 acquires the code identifier corresponding to the product information received in step S<b>103 using the information stored in the storage unit 14 .

(Step S<b>105 ) The code identifier reception unit 16 receives the code identifier acquired in step S<b>104 from the code identifier acquisition unit 15 .

(Step S106) The output unit 17 outputs a synthesized image visually indicating the position of the code identified by the code identifier accepted in step S105. Then, the process returns to step S103.

In the flowchart of FIG. 2, when combining two or more new captured images, the process may return to step S101 in response to an input to that effect. Also, the order of processing in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is an example, and the order of each step may be changed as long as the same result can be obtained. In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the processing ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt for processing end occurs.

Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described using a specific example. First, in a warehouse where products are stored, a user captures the captured images M1 to M3 shown in FIGS. Suppose you enter Then, the photographed images M1 to M3 are accepted by the photographed image acquisition unit 11 and transferred to the image synthesizing unit 12 (step S101). In the photographed images M1 to M3, products 22 are placed on the shelf 21, and each product 22 is attached with a color code indicated by a black rectangular figure. In addition, in FIGS. 3 to 5, only some of the products are marked with a code "22", but the color code is attached to each of the products 22. As shown in FIG.

When receiving the photographed images M1 to M3 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the image synthesizing unit 12 reads out information from the color code included in each photographed image. Assume that the read information is the code identifier of the color code. Next, the image synthesizing unit 12 identifies code identifiers common to the plurality of captured images. In this specific example, it is assumed that the photographed images M1 and M2 have the same code identifier for the color codes C1 to C4. It is also assumed that the photographed images M2 and M3 share the color codes C5 to C12. Then, the image synthesizing unit 12 synthesizes the photographed images M1 and M2 so that the positions of the color codes C1 to C4 are the same, and the positions of the color codes C5 to C12 are the same in the synthesized image. By further synthesizing the photographed image M3 so as to obtain a synthesized image M4 obtained by synthesizing the photographed images M1 to M3 as shown in FIG. 6, the synthesized image M4 is transferred to the output unit 17 (step S102). As shown in FIG. 6, when the composite image M4 is acquired, the captured images M1 and M3 are slightly enlarged and combined with the captured image M2. Note that the photographed image M2 may be reduced and combined with the photographed images M1 and M3. Further, upon receiving the composite image M4, the output unit 17 acquires information that associates the code identifier of each color code included in the composite image M4 with the position in the composite image M4, and stores the information in a recording medium (not shown).

After that, assume that the user wants to know the position of the product identified by the product identifier “G1003”. Assume that the product information having the product identifier “G1003” is input to the information processing apparatus 1 . The product information "G1003" is received by the product information reception unit 13 and passed to the code identifier acquisition unit 15 (step S103).

In this specific example, it is assumed that the storage unit 14 stores information that associates product information with code identifiers, as shown in FIG. Then, upon receiving the product information "G1003", the code identifier acquisition unit 15 searches the information shown in FIG. ” and passes it to the code identifier reception unit 16 (step S104).

Upon accepting the code identifier "000000234", the code identifier accepting unit 16 passes the accepted code identifier to the output unit 17 (step S105). Upon receiving the code identifier "000000234", the output unit 17 searches for the code identifier in the information that associates the code identifier and the position of each color code included in the synthesized image M4, and finds the position corresponding to the hit code identifier. get. Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the output unit 17 displays on the display a composite image M4 indicating the position by the pointing figure D1 (step S106). As a result, the user can know the position of the color code to be searched from the indication figure D1 in FIG. 8A, and can easily pick up the product with the color code attached. Note that FIG. 8A shows the case where the indication figure D1 is elliptical and the color code to be searched is included inside the elliptical indication figure D1, but this need not be the case. For example, as shown in FIG. 8B, an arrow-shaped indication figure D2 may visually indicate the position of the color code to be searched.

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of photographed images are synthesized by using the code, so that the synthesis can be performed with higher accuracy than when the code is not used. In particular, when synthesizing captured images in which there are repetitive shapes, such as shelves in a warehouse, using only the shapes, there is a possibility that inaccurate synthesis will be performed. Such incorrect synthesis can be avoided. Moreover, even if the entire image of the shelf cannot be captured, such as when the aisle in front of the shelf in a warehouse is narrow, for example, a composite image of the entire shelf can be acquired by performing such synthesis. be able to Also, by receiving product information and outputting the position of the code identified by the code identifier corresponding to the product information in the composite image, the position of the code corresponding to the product information can be easily grasped. become. As a result, for example, it becomes possible to easily know the position of the product to be picked up in the warehouse. Further, for example, when a code is displayed on the back cover of a book, it becomes possible to easily grasp where the desired book is on the shelves of the bookstore.

In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which product information is received and a code identifier corresponding to the received product information is acquired, but this does not have to be the case. The information processing device 1 may receive a code identifier and output a composite image indicating the position of the code identified by the code identifier. In that case, the information processing device 1 does not have to include the product information reception unit 13 , the storage unit 14 , and the code identifier acquisition unit 15 . In that case, for example, a code identifier corresponding to product information may be acquired by a device other than the information processing device 1 and the acquired code identifier may be input to the information processing device 1 .

Further, when the information processing apparatus 1 includes the product information reception unit 13, the storage unit 14, and the code identifier acquisition unit 15, the code identifier reception unit 16 can be considered as an interface for the output unit 17 to receive the code identifier. may

Also, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which a composite image visually indicating the position of the code to be searched is output, but this does not have to be the case. When code retrieval is not performed, the output unit 17 may simply output a synthesized image. In that case, the information processing device 1 does not have to include the product information reception unit 13 , the storage unit 14 , the code identifier acquisition unit 15 , and the code identifier reception unit 16 . In that case, for example, a device other than the information processing device 1 may search for a code using the output synthesized image.

Also, in the present embodiment, the code is associated with the product, but the code may be associated with the product. The article may be, for example, a product, or may be an article other than a product (for example, a book or the like managed in a library). The item corresponding to the code may be an item displaying the code. In that case, for example, the code identifier and the article information may be associated in the storage unit 14 . Further, the information processing apparatus 1 may include an article information reception section that receives article information instead of the article information reception section 13 . Item information may be considered similar to item information, except that items are replaced with items. Also, the code identifier acquisition unit 15 may acquire a code identifier corresponding to article information.

Also, in the present embodiment, the case where the synthetic image is used to search for the code has been mainly described, but this need not be the case. For example, it may be used to output information corresponding to codes contained in the composite image. More specifically, when an input specifying a code included in the composite image is received, information indicated by the specified code (information obtained by reading the code) is acquired, and Then, the code identifier of the indicated code may be obtained, and the information corresponding to the code identifier may be read and output. If the information indicated by the code is the code identifier, the process of acquiring the code identifier need not be performed separately. The processing may be performed, for example, by the information processing device 1 or another device. Also, the input for specifying the code may be, for example, an instruction using an input device such as a mouse, or may be a tap on the position of the code on a touch panel or the like. The information corresponding to the code identifier to be output may be, for example, product information or product information associated with the code, or information associated with other codes.

In the above embodiment, when the information processing apparatus 1 is a server in a server/client system, the product information reception unit 13, the output unit 17, and the like receive and output information via a communication line. You may

Further, in the above embodiments, each process or function may be implemented by centralized processing by a single device or single system, or may be implemented by distributed processing by multiple devices or multiple systems. It may be realized by

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the information is passed between the components, for example, when the two components that exchange the information are physically different, one of the components output of information and reception of information by the other component, or one component if the two components that pass the information are physically the same from the phase of processing corresponding to the other component to the phase of processing corresponding to the other component.

In the above embodiments, information related to processing executed by each component, for example, information received, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component Also, information such as thresholds, formulas, addresses, etc. used by each component in processing may be stored temporarily or for a long period of time in a recording medium (not shown), even if not specified in the above description. Further, each component or an accumulation section (not shown) may accumulate information in the recording medium (not shown). Further, each component or a reading unit (not shown) may read information from the recording medium (not shown).

Further, in the above embodiment, if the information used in each component etc., for example, information such as thresholds, addresses and various set values used in processing by each component may be changed by the user, the above The user may or may not be able to change such information as appropriate, even if not explicitly stated in the description. If the information can be changed by the user, the change is realized by, for example, a reception unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information according to the change instruction. may The reception of the change instruction by the reception unit (not shown) may be, for example, reception from an input device, reception of information transmitted via a communication line, or reception of information read from a predetermined recording medium. .

Further, in the above embodiment, when two or more components included in the information processing apparatus 1 have a communication device, an input device, or the like, the two or more components may physically have a single device. or may have separate devices.

Further, in the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or components that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by reading and executing a software program recorded in a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory by a program execution unit such as a CPU. During the execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing the storage unit or recording medium. The software that implements the information processing apparatus 1 in the above embodiment is the following program. That is, this program comprises a computer, a photographed image acquisition unit for acquiring two or more photographed images including a plurality of codes, and a composite image obtained by synthesizing the two or more photographed images based on the code included in the photographed image. It is a program for functioning as an image synthesizing unit and an output unit for outputting a synthetic image acquired by the image synthesizing unit.

In the program, the functions realized by the program do not include functions that can be realized only by hardware. For example, functions that can be realized only by hardware such as a modem or an interface card, such as an acquisition unit that acquires information and an output unit that outputs information, are not at least included in the functions realized by the program.

Also, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and the program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.) may be read. may be performed by Also, this program may be used as a program constituting a program product.

Also, the number of computers executing this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the appearance of a computer that implements the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment by executing the program. The above embodiments can be implemented by computer hardware and computer programs executed thereon.

In FIG. 9, computer system 900 comprises computer 901 including CD-ROM drive 905 , keyboard 902 , mouse 903 and monitor 904 .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the computer system 900. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, a computer 901 includes a CD-ROM drive 905, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, and a ROM 912 for storing programs such as a boot-up program. A RAM 913 for temporarily storing and providing a temporary storage space, a hard disk 914 for storing application programs, system programs and data, and a bus 915 for interconnecting the MPU 911, ROM 912 and the like are provided. Note that the computer 901 may include a network card (not shown) that provides connection to a LAN, WAN, or the like.

A program that causes computer system 900 to execute the functions of information processing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment may be stored in CD-ROM 921 , inserted into CD-ROM drive 905 , and transferred to hard disk 914 . Alternatively, the program may be transmitted to computer 901 via a network (not shown) and stored in hard disk 914 . Programs are loaded into RAM 913 during execution. The program may be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 921 or network. Also, the program may be read into the computer system 900 via another recording medium (eg, DVD, etc.) instead of the CD-ROM 921 .

The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third party program that causes the computer 901 to execute the functions of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment. A program may contain only those portions of instructions that call the appropriate functions or modules in a controlled manner to produce the desired result. How the computer system 900 operates is well known and will not be described in detail.

Moreover, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and that various modifications are possible and are also included within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an effect that a synthesized image including a code can be obtained.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 information processing device 11 captured image acquisition unit 12 image composition unit 13 product information reception unit 14 storage unit 15 code identifier acquisition unit 16 code identifier reception unit 17 output unit

Claims (7)

a captured image acquiring unit that acquires two or more captured images including a plurality of codes;
A code identifier is read out from the code included in the two or more captured images, and the positions of the codes included in the plurality of captured images and identified by the same code identifier are located at the same position in the composite image. an image synthesizing unit that obtains a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing the captured images;
and an output unit configured to output the composite image acquired by the image composition unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image synthesizing unit magnifies or reduces at least a part of the photographed images and synthesizes them so that the sizes of subjects included in said two or more photographed images are the same. further comprising a code identifier reception unit that receives a code identifier that is an identifier of a code to be searched;
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said output unit outputs a composite image visually indicating the position of the code identified by the code identifier accepted by said code identifier accepting unit. The code is associated with product information, which is information about the product,
a product information reception unit that receives the product information;
a code identifier acquisition unit that acquires a code identifier corresponding to the product information received by the product information reception unit;
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said code identifier accepting section accepts the code identifier acquired by said code identifier acquiring section. The photographed image is an image of a shelf on which the product is placed,
5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said code is displayed on said product or shelf. An information processing method processed using a captured image acquiring unit, an image synthesizing unit, and an output unit,
a captured image acquisition step in which the captured image acquisition unit acquires two or more captured images containing a plurality of codes;
The image synthesizing unit reads code identifiers from the codes included in the two or more captured images so that the positions of the codes identified by the same code identifiers included in the plurality of captured images are the same in the synthesized image. an image synthesizing step of obtaining a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing the two or more captured images ;
An information processing method comprising: an output step in which the output unit outputs the synthesized image obtained in the image synthesizing step. the computer,
a captured image acquisition unit that acquires two or more captured images containing a plurality of codes;
A code identifier is read out from the code included in the two or more captured images, and the positions of the codes included in the plurality of captured images and identified by the same code identifier are located at the same position in the composite image. an image synthesizing unit that obtains a synthesized image obtained by synthesizing the captured images;
A program for functioning as an output unit for outputting a synthesized image acquired by the image synthesizing unit.

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