JPH09230253A - Screen provided with automatic light control function and telescope incorporating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately cope with even the change of circumstances and to lighten a burden imposed on the eye of a human being by adjusting the transmissivity of a screen according to an output signal from a controller. SOLUTION: The image of the face of the human being is picked up by a video camera 1 and image data 5 is transmitted to an image analysis device 3. The device 3 processes the image data 5, detects the opening degree of a pupil, and transmits a pupil opening degree signal 6 to the controller 4. The controller 4 calculates the adjusting amount of liquid crystal according to the opening degree of the pupil and transmits a liquid crystal adjusting signal 7, that is, the calculated result to the screen 2 so as to adjust the concentration of the liquid crystal. Namely, in the case of judging that the pupil is narrowed as the result of image analysis, the transmissivity of a liquid crystal glass 2 is made low, and in the case of judging that the pupil is widened, on the contrary, the transmissivity is made high. Thus, the light control function of the eye of the human being is complemented, so that the burden imposed on the eye is lightened and getting giddy to the sudden change of brightness is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screen with an automatic light control function for automatically controlling the light control function of a glass screen incorporating a liquid crystal and a telescope incorporating the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a technique of electrically changing the transmittance of a liquid crystal has been applied to glass, and glass capable of dimming outside light has been put into practical use. When such glass is used for windows, glasses, etc., as a means for applying an electric signal to the liquid crystal for dimming, a method of attaching an adjusting knob (volume resistance), a luminous intensity of external light (light source), a luminance or There is known a method in which the illuminance of a subject is changed to an electric signal and an electric signal having a difference from a set value is given to the liquid crystal.

However, a liquid crystal glass or the like having such a light control means follows a change in brightness of an object or a movement of the object when a person looks at an object with eyes and works in equipment monitoring. However, it was difficult to apply it to actual equipment monitoring.

[0004]

On the other hand, there is a problem that a glass or the like which does not have a dimming function imposes a heavy burden on the human eye because the change in the brightness affects all the human eyes. Further, even with liquid crystal glass having a dimming function, there has been a problem that the conventional manual dimming method is insufficient in quick adaptability and utilization of the dimming function itself.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to automatically respond to a change in the situation by automatically performing a light control function of a screen such as glass in which a liquid crystal is incorporated. Another object of the present invention is to provide a screen with an automatic light control function that can reduce the burden on human eyes and a telescope incorporating the screen.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a screen with an automatic light control function according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises:
A camera for capturing image data of the outside world, an image analysis device for inputting image data captured by the camera, a controller for inputting a pupil opening signal analyzed by the image analysis device, and a glass screen incorporating liquid crystal ,
The transmittance of the screen is adjusted by an output signal of the controller.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the screen with the automatic light control function according to the first aspect, the camera, the liquid crystal glass, the image analysis device, and the controller, which constitute the screen with the automatic light control function, are provided with the automatic light control function. It is characterized in that it is set so as to be activated by a signal from a motion sensor attached to the functional screen.

A telescope according to a third aspect of the present invention inputs a camera for taking in image data of the outside world, an image analyzing device for inputting image data taken by the camera, and a pupil opening signal analyzed by the image analyzing device. A controller, a glass screen incorporating a liquid crystal, and a telescope body, the camera is located at the bottom of the telescope body, the glass screen is located behind the camera, and a finder is arranged at the tip of the telescope body. The output signal of the controller is used to adjust the transmittance of the screen.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment (corresponding to claim 1) of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the screen with automatic light control function of the present embodiment includes a video camera 1 for detecting the opening of the pupil of the eye and image data 5 of the video camera 1.
An image analysis device 3 for converting from a pupil opening signal 6 into
The image analysis device 3 is composed of a controller 4 for controlling the pupil opening signal 6 into a liquid crystal adjustment signal 7 and a screen 2 made of glass in which liquid crystal is incorporated.

FIG. 2 shows a specific arrangement example of the screen with automatic light control function of FIG. That is, as shown in the figure, the camera 1 is fixed to a movable pedestal 21 provided in the substantially central part of the upper part of the screen 2, and its direction can be changed so as to catch the human face in the central part of the screen. The camera 1 uses a small CCD camera that can be installed even in a narrow space. The image analysis device 3 and the controller 4 are housed in a console 20 arranged below the screen 2.

Next, the processing flow of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the video camera 1
At, an image of a human face is taken, and the image data 5 is transmitted to the image analysis device 3 (step S1). The image analysis device 3 processes the image data 5 (step S2), and detects the opening of the pupil from this process (step S3). The pupil opening signal 6 is transmitted to the controller 4, and the controller 4 calculates the liquid crystal adjustment amount based on the pupil opening (step S4). This liquid crystal adjustment signal 7 is displayed on the screen 2
To the liquid crystal, and the liquid crystal density is adjusted (step S
5).

Further, a detailed processing flow, particularly a processing flow of the image analysis apparatus 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In the processing flow of FIG. 4, first, image data is input to the image analysis device 3 (step S6). The input image data for one frame is digitized by A / D conversion (step S7). Here, it is digitally converted into bitmap (pixel) information including gradation information for one screen and stored in the memory. The saved image data is extracted by extracting the image data of the outline of the face.
Partial face data is extracted (step S8, FIG. 5A).
I). For this extraction, statistical data obtained by statistically calculating the contour pattern of the face is used to determine whether or not the contour of the input image (contour line determined from the change in shading) is face data. If it is determined to be face data, the position is stored. Next, the eye position is detected by the same method, and only the data within the outline of the eye is left (step S9). The eyes are identified from the remaining data, and only the image data of the eyes is left (step S10, FIG. 5A). Then, the eyeball and the pupil portion are further detected from the data (FIG. 5A), and the areas are compared (step S11, FIG. 5B). The pupil opening can be detected by this comparison (step S12).

In addition, the processing amount of the image analysis device 3 is reduced,
In order to increase the processing speed, in the processing of FIG. 5, after the eye position is detected in the first processing cycle, steps S9 and S10 are omitted based on the coordinates. However, if the position of the eyes is lost and after the start of this apparatus, all the processing of FIG. 4 is performed.

Further, since the liquid crystal does not function while the light control function of the present embodiment is stopped, the light transmittance is maximized, which is the same state as a normal glass window. Since the position seen by the human from the glass screen is fixed by the seat, chair, etc., the camera is installed so that the image of the face is located at the center of the image.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the burden on the eyes by externally assisting the light control function of the human eyes. Further, since the dimming function of the present embodiment responds to the adaptive operation of the pupil with respect to the sudden change in brightness,
It is also possible to reduce blindness. Therefore, it is more effective to apply the protective glasses used in the window welding work of a transportation machine, or the environment in which the change in brightness is large and the change imposes a burden on human eyes.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment (corresponding to claim 2) of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in that the human sensor 22 is provided in the console 20, and the other points are the same. The description will be given with the same reference numerals.

The human sensor 22 is for operating only when there is a person, and the camera 1, the liquid crystal glass 2, the image analysis device 3, and the controller 4 are operated by a signal from the human sensor 22. Set.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention (corresponding to claim 3). FIG. 7A is a side view and FIG. 7B is a perspective view. As shown in the figure, this embodiment is applied to, for example, a telescope of an optical device, and the camera 1A has a small C
A CD camera is used and it is installed under the telescope main body 23 at a position where the function of the telescope is not hindered. The liquid crystal glass 2A is installed behind the camera 1A. 3A is an image analysis device, 4A is a controller, and 24 is a finder.

The processing flow of this embodiment is the same as the processing flow of FIG. 3, but since the line of sight of the camera 1A can be fixed to one point on the finder 24, the processing flow of the image analysis apparatus 3 is shown in FIG. The processing from step S8 to step S10 is omitted. According to the present embodiment, even if the sun is accidentally focused, the dimming function of the liquid crystal works, so that the eyes can be protected.

[0020]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention.
According to the third aspect, when it is determined by image analysis that the pupil is narrowed, the transmittance of the liquid crystal glass is reduced. Conversely, if it is determined that the pupil has expanded, the transmittance is increased. Therefore, since the light control function of the human eye is assisted, the burden on the eyes can be reduced, and the excellent effect of reducing the blindness to the sudden change in the brightness can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the specific example of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a detailed process flow diagram of the image analysis apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the image data of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

7A and 7B are configuration diagrams of a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7A is a side view and FIG. 7B is a perspective view.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,1A ... Camera, 2,2A ... Liquid crystal glass, 3,3A ...
Image analysis device, 4, 4A ... Controller, 5 ... Image data, 6 ... Pupil opening signal, 7 ... Liquid crystal adjustment signal, 20 ... Console, 21 ... Movable pedestal, 22 ... Human sensor, 23 ... Telescope body, 24 ... finder.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A camera for capturing image data of the outside world,
An image analysis device for inputting image data captured by the camera, a controller for inputting a pupil opening signal analyzed by the image analysis device, and a glass screen incorporating liquid crystal are provided, and the screen is output by an output signal of the controller. A screen with an automatic light control function, which is configured to adjust the transmittance of the. 2. The screen with automatic light control function according to claim 1, wherein the camera, the liquid crystal glass, the image analysis device, and the controller, which constitute the screen with automatic light control function, are:
A screen with an automatic light control function, which is set to operate according to a signal from a human sensor attached to the screen with the automatic light control function. 3. A camera for capturing image data of the outside world,
An image analysis device for inputting image data captured by the camera, a controller for inputting a pupil opening signal analyzed by the image analysis device, a glass screen incorporating liquid crystal, and a telescope main body are provided, and the camera is The glass screen is provided at the bottom of the telescope body, the finder is arranged at the rear of the camera, and the tip of the telescope body is provided with a finder, and the transmittance of the screen is adjusted by an output signal of the controller. Telescope characterized by.