JP7031375B2 - Photographing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a photography apparatus.

There are various photography devices that photograph a user and print the photographed image. In such a photography device, a service of extracting only a user's portrait image from a photographed image and synthesizing it with a preselected content image (chroma key composition) by photographing the user with a background plate of a predetermined color as the background. Is also done.

In a photography device, the user may not move or look at the camera at the time of shooting, and one shot may not be able to take the best picture at the timing of the shutter. Therefore, there is also a photography device that performs continuous shooting, and there are advantages such as increasing the rotation rate and making the shooting itself interesting.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a photo sticker vending machine that continuously performs camera shooting a plurality of times by inputting a single shooting start instruction, and Patent Document 2 enables continuous shooting of a subject. A photography device is described.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-245544 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-101847

However, when continuous shooting is performed as described above, it is difficult to find a good photo from the number of shots, which is a burden on the user and takes time to select.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a photography apparatus or the like that reduces the burden of selecting a photographed image.

In the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, a shooting unit that continuously shoots a user to obtain a plurality of shot images, an evaluation value is calculated for the plurality of shot images, and the shot image is selected based on the evaluation value. The image selection unit has an image selection unit for providing an image and an image providing unit for providing an image to the user by the selected captured image. The image selection unit selects a plurality of the captured images, and at that time, the captured image of the captured image is selected. It is a photography apparatus characterized in that the difference in the order of photography is used for selecting the image to be photographed.

In the present invention, a good image is automatically selected from a large number of shot images taken continuously by the photography device, and the image is provided to the user by this, so that the user can obtain a good image without a load. In addition, the play time is shortened and the turnover rate is improved. In addition, users can offer new ways to enjoy using the continuous shooting function, such as allowing users to try multiple poses while moving while shooting.
In addition, since the facial expressions and poses of the user do not change much in the shot images taken at a short time, when a certain shot image is selected, the selection result can be obtained by further selecting the shot images that are out of the shooting order from the shot images. Can have variations such as facial expressions and poses of the user.

As the image provision, it is desirable that the image providing unit extracts a user's person image from the selected photographed image and provides the user with a composite image obtained by synthesizing the person image and the content image.
In the present invention, it is possible to create the above-mentioned composite image with high added value from the photographed image selected by the photography apparatus and provide it to the user.

The image selection unit may select a plurality of the captured images, the image providing unit may display a plurality of image candidates to be provided to the user, and may provide the user with an image selected by the user from the candidates. desirable.
In the present invention, it is possible to provide an image that suits the user's taste by displaying a plurality of candidates for images to be provided to the user (photographed image, the above-mentioned composite image, etc.) and accepting a selection by the user from among them. ..

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a photography apparatus or the like that reduces the burden of selecting a photographed image.

The figure which shows the appearance of the photography apparatus 1. The figure which shows the system configuration of the photography apparatus 1. The figure which shows the hardware composition of the control device 10. The figure which shows the functional structure of the photography apparatus 1. The flowchart which shows the outline of the process of a photography apparatus 1. The figure explaining the composition of the person image 22 and the content image 21. An example of the selection screen 200. A flowchart showing the flow of the image selection process. The figure explaining the selection of the photographed image 100. An example of the display screen 300.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1. Photographing device 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the photography apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the system configuration of the photography apparatus 1.

The photography device 1 has a box-like appearance in which a user enters and takes a picture, and has a control device 10, a display unit 11, a charging unit 12, a photographing unit 13, a lighting 14, a printer 15, a printed matter outlet 17, and the like. It has a background plate 18 and the like. Other than the background plate 18, it is mainly provided on the front portion (corresponding to the left side of FIG. 1) of the photography apparatus 1.

The control device 10 is provided inside the photography device 1 and controls the entire processing of the photography device 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the control device 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 10 can be realized by a computer configured by connecting, for example, a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, an input unit 103, a communication control unit 104, and the like by a bus or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various configurations can be taken as appropriate.

The control unit 101 is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The CPU calls and executes a program related to the processing of the control device 10 stored in the storage medium such as the storage unit 102 and the ROM to the work area on the RAM. ROM is a non-volatile memory that permanently holds programs such as boot programs and BIOS, and data. The RAM is a volatile memory, and includes a work area used by the control unit 101 to perform various processes while temporarily holding programs and data loaded from the storage unit 102, ROM, and the like.

The storage unit 102 is a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, a flash memory, or the like, and stores a program executed by the control device 10 in a process described later, data necessary for program execution, an OS, and the like. These programs and data are read out and executed by the control unit 101 as needed. A plurality of content images, which will be described later, are stored in the storage unit 102.

The input unit 103 inputs various settings to the control device 10.
The communication control unit 104 is a communication interface that mediates communication via a network or the like, and communicates with a server or the like (not shown).

Returning to the description of FIGS. 1 and 2. The display unit 11 is realized by a display with a touch panel or the like that also serves as an input unit of the photography apparatus 1. The display unit 11 displays various screens related to the user's operation and selection, and accepts the user's instruction input and the like on the screen.

The billing unit 12 includes a coin / banknote slot, a change return slot, a receipt outlet, a receipt printer, etc. (not shown), and manages billing from users and issuance of receipts.

The photographing unit 13 is provided with a camera or the like inside the photographing window. For example, a high-resolution digital camera is used as the camera, but the camera is not limited to this.

The illumination 14 is an illumination for photographing the user. The illumination 14 is, for example, a surface light source that irradiates white light, and is provided above the photographing unit 13, but is not limited to this.

The printer 15 prints an image and is provided inside the photography apparatus 1. The printed matter on which the image is printed is discharged to the printed matter outlet 17. The method of the printer 15 and the number of installed printers are not particularly limited.

The background plate 18 is provided at the rear portion of the photography apparatus 1 (corresponding to the right side of FIG. 1) and serves as a background for the user to take a picture. The background plate 18 is composed of a panel of a predetermined color or the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the photography apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the photography apparatus 1 includes a photographing unit 110, an image selection unit 120, an image providing unit 130, and the like.

The photographing unit 110 corresponds to the photographing unit 13 and captures a user to obtain a captured image. In particular, in the present embodiment, it is possible to perform continuous shooting by the user and obtain a plurality of shot images in one shooting.

The image selection unit 120 selects a preferable captured image from the plurality of captured images. In the present embodiment, evaluation values are calculated for each captured image as described later, and captured images are selected based on the evaluation values.

The image providing unit 130 provides an image to the user by the selected photographed image. In the present embodiment, a user's person image is extracted from the captured image, and a composite image obtained by synthesizing the person image and the content image 21 is output and provided to the user. In the present embodiment, the composite image is printed by the printer 15 to provide the image to the user, but the method of providing the image is not limited to this. For example, it may be possible to send a composite image to a user's terminal.

(2. Processing of photography device 1)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing of the photography apparatus 1. Each step in FIG. 5 is executed by the control device 10 of the photography device 1 controlling each part of the photography device 1.

In the present embodiment, the photography apparatus 1 first displays an operation guidance screen (not shown) on the display unit 11 to provide operation guidance related to photography, and displays a content image selection screen (not shown) on the display unit 11. , Accepts the selection of the content image 21 to be combined with the user's portrait image (S1).

The photography device 1 displays a billing screen (not shown) for prompting billing on the display unit 11, and the user charges the billing unit 12. When the photography apparatus 1 receives a charge from the user (S2), the lighting 14 is turned on and the photography unit 13 takes a picture of the user (S3). In the present embodiment, continuous shooting is performed and a plurality of (for example, 50) shot images are obtained by one shooting.

When the user takes a picture, the photography device 1 selects a plurality of preferable images from the taken images (S4). This image selection process will be described later.

The photography apparatus 1 extracts a user's person image 22 from each of the selected photographed images 100 as shown in FIG. 6 (S5), and combines each person image 22 with the content image 21 selected in S1. The composite image 23 is created (S6). The portrait image 22 can be extracted by extracting a region excluding the color region a of the background plate 18 from the captured image 100. In the content image 21, the area in which the person image 22 is combined is predetermined for each content image 21.

The photography apparatus 1 displays a selection screen for selecting a composite image 23 to be printed from the created composite image 23 on the display unit 11 (S7).

FIG. 7 is an example of the selection screen 200. On the selection screen 200 of FIG. 7, a plurality of composite images 23 are displayed as candidates for selection, and a print button 201 for printing is displayed.

The user selects the composite image 23 on the selection screen 200 and touches the print button 201. Then, the photography apparatus 1 prints the selected composite image 23 (S8). The composite image 23 may be made available for download to a user's terminal or the like.

Only one composite image 23 may be selected for printing, or a plurality of composite images 23 may be selected. When a plurality of composite images 23 can be selected, each composite image 23 may be printed one by one, or a plurality of composite images 23 may be printed together on one sheet.

(3. Image selection process)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the image selection process in S4. Each step in FIG. 8 is executed by the control device 10 of the photography device 1.

In the image selection process of S4, the photography apparatus 1 first calculates the evaluation value of each photographed image 100 photographed in S3 (S41).

In S41, for example, for each captured image 100, evaluation values of individual items such as a user's "line of sight", "facial expression", and "pose" are calculated. For example, the quality of these items is calculated as an evaluation value out of 5 points, and each captured image 100 is evaluated by the overall evaluation value out of 15 points, which is the sum of these items.

As for the evaluation value of the item of "line of sight", for example, the line of sight of the camera can be given a high score. For example, a known image processing method is used to determine the direction of the face, and a high score is given when the line of sight is facing the camera (front).

As the evaluation value of the item of "facial expression", for example, the one with a smile can be given a high score. For example, the degree of smile is calculated using a known image processing method, and a high score is given when the degree of smile is high.

Regarding the evaluation value of the item of "pause", for example, a predetermined specific pose is given a high score. For example, a known image processing method can be used to determine the pose of the user, and a high score can be obtained when the pose is the specific pose.

These evaluation criteria can also be displayed on the display unit 11 as a guidance screen before the user takes a picture. For example, if the camera's line of sight is given a high score for the "line of sight" item, a message such as "Please shoot with the camera's line of sight" is displayed on the guidance screen before shooting.

Further, the evaluation values of these items may be calculated according to the content image 21 selected in S1. For example, in the case of the item of "line of sight", the case where the line of sight is in the direction corresponding to the content image 21 is regarded as a high score. The same applies to the items of "facial expression" and "pose", and a high score can be obtained when a specific facial expression or pose corresponding to the content image 21 is taken. For example, in the above-mentioned example of FIG. 6, the user's line of sight in the captured image 100 is in the direction of a predetermined pattern (cow in the example of FIG. 6) in the content image 21, and the image is high when the photographed expression and pose are surprised. It will be scored.

Next, the photography apparatus 1 selects a photographed image based on the evaluation value (S42).

In S42, for example, a predetermined number of captured images 100 having the above-mentioned overall evaluation value of a predetermined number of points or more are selected. For example, three captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more are selected.

When the number of captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of a predetermined number or more exceeds the above-mentioned predetermined number, the captured image 100 is selected from among the captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of a predetermined number or more using an additional criterion. be able to.

FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating selection of the captured image 100 in this case, and when three captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more are selected, imaging with an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more is performed. This is an example in which there are four or more images 100. Further, in FIG. 9A, the photographed images 100 are arranged in the order of photography (1 to 7).

In the present embodiment, in such a case, it is possible to select a predetermined number of sheets having the highest overall evaluation value in order from the top, for example, in the order of "highest overall evaluation value". Alternatively, it is also possible to select the captured image 100 in descending order of the evaluation value of a specific item (for example, "line of sight").

Further, as described in "Selection using shooting order", it is also possible to select the shot image 100 using the shooting order of the shot images 100. In the example shown in the figure, the 7th captured image 100 having the highest overall evaluation value is first selected from the captured images having an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more, and then the difference in the shooting order from the 7th captured image a. Selects the first captured image 100 in which is the largest.

For the third captured image 100, the captured image 100 having the farthest shooting order from the selected first and seventh captured images 100 is selected. For example, the captured image 100 in which the minimum value min (b, c) of the difference b in the shooting order from the selected first captured image 100 and the difference c in the shooting order from the seventh captured image 100 is the largest. Select. Here, since the above minimum value is min (3,3) = 3 for the 4th captured image 100 and the above minimum value is min (4,2) = 2 for the 5th captured image 100, 4 No. 100 captured image 100 is selected as the third captured image 100.

On the other hand, when the number of captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of a predetermined number or more is less than the predetermined number, the captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of a predetermined number of points or more are selected, and the remaining captured images 100 are evaluated as a whole. It can be selected from among the captured images 100 whose value is less than a predetermined number of points by using an additional criterion.

FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating selection of the captured image 100 in this case, and when three captured images 100 having an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more are selected, imaging with an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more is performed. This is an example in which the number of images 100 is less than three.

In this embodiment, in such a case, for example, as shown in "highest overall evaluation value", after selecting the 7th captured image 100 having an overall evaluation value of 10 points or more, the overall evaluation value is 10 points. From the less than 100 captured images, the remaining two captured images 100 (No. 2 and No. 3 captured images 100 in the example of the figure) are selected in descending order of the overall evaluation value. Further, as described above, it is also possible to select the captured image 100 in descending order of the evaluation value of a specific item (for example, "line of sight").

Further, as described in "Selection using shooting order", it is also possible to select the shot image 100 using the shooting order of the shot images. In the example of the figure, the 7th captured image 100 having the highest overall evaluation value is first selected, and then the 1st captured image 100 having the largest difference in the shooting order from the 7th captured image 100 in the same manner as described above. Select. Then, the 4th captured image 100, which is farthest from the selected 1st and 7th captured images 100, is selected.

On the composite image 23 displayed on the selection screen 200 (see FIG. 7), even if a comment corresponding to the overall evaluation value or the evaluation value for each item of the captured image 100 used for creating the composite image 23 is displayed. good. For example, comments such as "Very Good !!" and "Good!" Are attached to the composite image 23 according to the height of the overall evaluation value and displayed, or when the evaluation value of the "line of sight" item is high, the "line of sight" is displayed. Can be displayed with a comment such as "Good!".

Further, instead of the above-mentioned overall evaluation value, for example, an evaluation value of one item (“line of sight” or the like) may be used for image selection. Alternatively, the evaluation value of each item may be weighted according to the item, and the weighted sum may be taken to calculate the overall evaluation value.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the photographing apparatus 1 automatically selects a good image from a large number of captured images 100 taken continuously, thereby providing the image to the user, so that the user can use the image. A good image can be obtained without any load. In addition, the user's play time is shortened and the turnover rate is improved. In addition, users can offer new ways to enjoy using the continuous shooting function, such as allowing users to try multiple poses while moving while shooting.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to create a high-value-added composite image 23 from the photographed image 100 selected by the photography apparatus 1 and provide the composite image 23 to the user by printing or the like. However, it is also possible to provide the photographed image 100 selected by the photography apparatus 1 to the user as it is by printing or the like. The flow in this case is the same as described above except that the process related to the creation of the composite image 23 is omitted. For example, in the selection screen 200 (see FIG. 7), the captured image 100 is selected instead of the composite image 23. Displayed as possible.

Further, in the present embodiment, the difference in the shooting order of the captured images 100 can be used for selecting the captured image 100. That is, since the facial expressions and poses of the users do not change so much in the captured images 100 captured at a short time, when a certain captured image 100 is selected, the captured images 100 which are separated from the captured images 100 in the shooting order are further selected. Therefore, it is possible to give variations such as the user's facial expression and pose to the selection result.

Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of candidates for images (composite image 23 and captured image 100) to be provided to the user are displayed on the selection screen 200, and the user's selection is accepted from among them, so that an image suitable for the user's preference can be obtained. Can be provided.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, the photography apparatus 1 selects a plurality of captured images 100 and presents the composite image 23 created from each captured image 100 to the user so as to be selectable, but the selection by the user is omitted and created. The composite image 23 may be printed directly.

Further, the photography apparatus 1 may select one photographed image 100 and provide only the composite image 23 created from the photographed image 100. It is assumed that the captured image 100 has the highest overall evaluation value, for example. FIG. 10 is an example of a display screen 300 to be displayed instead of the selection screen 200 in this case, and the user confirms the composite image 23 and then touches the print button 301 to print the composite image 23. Alternatively, by touching the "select by yourself" button 302, the screen may shift to the selection screen 200. In this case, the photography apparatus 1 re-executes the processes of S4 to S6 to display the selection screen 200.

Further, the shooting of S3 (see FIG. 5) may be performed a plurality of times. For example, when the shooting is performed twice, the first time is practiced, the second time is the actual production, and the shot image obtained in the second shooting is described above. Perform processing. An evaluation value may be calculated for the first shot image, and advice based on the evaluation value may be displayed on the display unit 11 before the second shooting. For example, if the evaluation value of the item of "line of sight" is low as a whole, advice such as "please look at the camera" is displayed on the display unit 11 so that the evaluation value is high.

Further, if there is no photographed image 100 having an overall evaluation value of a predetermined number or more in the first photographing, the second photographing may be performed as a re-shooting. The second shooting is performed for a longer time than the first shooting, and it is possible to obtain a larger number of shot images 100.

Further, a plurality of composite images 23 are created from the plurality of captured images 100 selected in S4, or the captured images 100 having the highest overall evaluation value and the captured images 100 in the shooting order before and after the captured images 100, and these are created in the shooting order of the captured images 100. It is also possible to provide the user with video data such as a connected animated GIF.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to these examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can come up with various modified or modified examples within the scope of the technical idea disclosed in the present application, and these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

1: Photographing device 10: Control device 11: Display unit 12: Billing unit 13: Photographing unit 14: Lighting 15: Printer 17: Printed matter outlet 18: Background plate 21: Content image 22: Person image 23: Composite image 100 : Photographed image 110: Photographing unit 120: Image selection unit 130: Image providing unit 200: Selection screen 300: Display screen

Claims (3)

A shooting unit that continuously shoots users to obtain multiple shot images,
An image selection unit that calculates evaluation values for a plurality of the captured images and selects the captured images based on the evaluation values.
An image providing unit that provides an image to a user using the selected captured image, and an image providing unit.
Have,
The image selection unit selects a plurality of the photographed images, and at that time, the difference in the order of the photographed images is used for selecting the photographed image . The image providing unit serves as the image providing.
The photography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a user's person image is extracted from the selected photographed image, and a composite image obtained by synthesizing the person image and a content image is provided to the user. The image selection unit selects a plurality of the captured images, and the image selection unit selects a plurality of the captured images.
The photography according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the image providing unit displays a plurality of image candidates to be provided to the user, and provides the user with an image selected by the user from the candidates. Device.

Images