JP7616447B2 - Image provision system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image providing system.

In recent years, a variety of experiential attractions, such as giant mazes and athletic facilities, have opened and become very popular. In these facilities, for the safety of guests, smartphones and cameras are often prohibited from being brought into the play area, making it impossible to take videos or photos (still images) while playing.

Some facilities offer a service to take photos using fixed cameras installed within the facility, but the photos you get are only of the same composition as other people. Also, the photos do not show what movements you made.

Patent No. 3919437 JP 2002-112074 A JP 2005-124176 A

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional situation, and aims to provide an image providing system that allows users to check their own movement route within a facility and watch a video of their play.

The image providing system according to the present invention includes a plurality of photographing devices that receive a signal including identification information from a transmitter, continuously photograph a user in response to the reception of the signal to generate a plurality of photographed images, and transmit the plurality of photographed images, the photographing time, the identification information, and the device number of the own device; and a server device that receives the plurality of photographed images, the photographing time, the identification information, and the device number from the plurality of photographing devices, and transmits one of the plurality of photographed images to a user terminal that notifies the user terminal of the identification information. The server device includes a storage unit that stores photographing device information in which the device numbers and position information of the plurality of photographing devices are associated and registered; a movement route detection unit that refers to the photographing device information to determine the position of the photographing device that performed the photographing, and detects the user's movement route based on the photographing time and the position of the photographing device; a movement route presentation unit that displays the movement route on the user terminal; and an image playback unit that, when a designation of a section of the movement route is received from the user terminal, extracts the plurality of photographed images taken in the designated section, and plays them continuously on the user terminal.

In one aspect of the present invention, the imaging device information includes a device number of each imaging device registered in association with imaging range information, and when the image playback unit receives a section designation from the user terminal, it identifies an imaging device whose imaging range includes the designated section, and plays back multiple images captured by the identified imaging device continuously on the user terminal.

In one aspect of the present invention, the travel route presentation unit shows the travel route on map data of the facility in which the multiple image capture devices are installed, and displays the route on the user terminal.

The image providing system according to the present invention includes a moving body that tracks a user, continuously captures the user, generates multiple captured images, and transmits the multiple captured images, the capture time, and the capture location information; and a server device that receives the multiple captured images, the capture time, and the capture location information from the moving body and transmits one of the multiple captured images to a user terminal. The server device includes a movement route detection unit that detects the user's movement route based on the capture time and the capture location information, a movement route presentation unit that displays the movement route on the user terminal, and an image playback unit that, when it receives a designation of a section of the movement route from the user terminal, extracts the multiple captured images captured in the designated section and plays them continuously on the user terminal.

According to the present invention, users can check their own movement route within the facility and watch a video of their play.

1 is a diagram showing a facility to which an image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied; FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image providing system. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating information transferred from the imaging device to the server device. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of route detection. 1A shows an example of a display of a travel route, FIG. 1B shows an example of a section designation, and FIG. 1C shows an example of image playback. 13A shows an example of a display of a travel route, FIG. 13B shows an example of a facial expression icon designation, and FIG. 13C shows an example of image playback. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of photography by a drone.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

The image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention captures images of a user (player) playing in an experiential attraction such as a giant maze or athletics, and enables the captured images to be played as a video on the user's terminal. Here, video playback may refer to continuous playback of still images such as GIF animation, or may refer to playback of a video file that includes audio. In the following embodiment, continuous playback of still images will be used as an example for explanation.

Figure 1 shows an experiential attraction facility to which the image provision system is applied. Figure 2 is a block diagram of the image provision system. The image provision system comprises multiple image capture devices 1, a transmitter 2, a reading device 3, and a server device 10. The reading device 3 is provided, for example, at the start and finish points of the attraction.

The transmitter 2 emits radio waves and is worn by each user P during play, for example as a wristband. Each transmitter 2 is assigned unique identification information. This identification information becomes the user ID that identifies the user P. The transmitter 2 continues to transmit a signal including the identification information at a specified radio wave strength.

When user P holds the transmitter 2 over the reading device 3 installed at the starting point, the reading device 3 reads the identification information and transmits the read identification information to the server device 10. The server device 10 registers that the user corresponding to the identification information received from the reading device 3 has started playing (is currently playing).

When the photographing device 1 approaches the transmitter 2, it detects and receives a signal from the transmitter 2 and takes a photograph. As long as the distance between the photographing device 1 and the transmitter 2 is within a predetermined value, the photographing device 1 takes photographs continuously and generates multiple photographed image data. The photographing interval can be set as desired, and may be high-speed continuous shooting of less than 0.1 seconds, or about 1 to 2 seconds. The photographing devices 1 are installed at various points along the course within the facility. This allows a photograph of a user P wearing a wristband with a transmitter 2 attached to it as the user P passes close to the photographing device 1.

The transmitter 2 can be, for example, a beacon terminal, and transmits the MAC address set in the beacon terminal and various beacon IDs (UUID, MAJOR value, MINOR value) as identification information. The maximum distance at which the photographing device 1 can detect a signal from the transmitter 2 varies depending on the output strength of the transmitter 2, and is, for example, from a few meters to about 100 meters.

The photographing device 1 can calculate the distance to the transmitter 2 from the received signal strength. The photographing device 1 may take a photograph when the transmitter 2 is at a predetermined distance, i.e., when the user P enters a predetermined area.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image capture device 1 transmits multiple captured image data, the capture time, the device number of the image capture device 1, and the identification information (user ID) received from the transmitter 2 to the server device 10. The device number is a number unique to each image capture device 1. The server device 10 can determine where in the facility the image capture device 1 is installed from the device number received from the image capture device 1. The server device 10 also registers information on the image capture range of each image capture device 1.

The server device 10 classifies the captured image data received from multiple image capture devices 1 in the facility by user ID (identification information of the transmitter 2). The server device 10 also detects the movement route of user P based on the capture time of the captured image data of each user and the position of the image capture device 1 that captured the image.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the movement route of user P can be detected from the shooting time of the captured image data and the position of the imaging device 1 that took the image.

The server device 10 associates the shooting range and captured image data of the photographing device 1 that photographed the user P with the movement route of the user P, and stores the data in association with the identification information of the user P.

When user P holds the transmitter 2 over a reading device 3 installed at the goal point, the reading device 3 reads the identification information and transmits the read identification information to the server device 10. The server device 10 registers that the user corresponding to the identification information received from the reading device 3 has finished playing. The above-mentioned movement route detection process is performed after the user has finished playing.

Then, the user P uses his/her own terminal (user terminal T) to access the image viewing site provided by the server device 10 and inputs the identification information (user ID) printed on the transmitter 2. The user terminal T is a smartphone, tablet terminal, PC, etc. A two-dimensional code indicating the identification information may be printed on the surface of the housing of the transmitter 2, and the identification information may be input by reading this two-dimensional code with the user terminal T. The user terminal T notifies the server device 10 of the input identification information.

The server device 10 transmits to the user terminal T the travel route information of the user P corresponding to the identification information notified from the user terminal T. For example, as shown in FIG. 5(a), travel route information showing the travel route on a map of the facility is displayed on the user terminal T.

As shown in FIG. 5(b), when a user specifies a portion of a travel route on a map by tracing it with a finger, images captured in the specified section are played back continuously like a GIF animation as shown in FIG. 5(c), allowing the user to see their own movements as a video. For example, the server device 10 identifies a camera device 1 whose shooting range includes the section specified by the user, extracts images captured by this camera device 1, and plays them back continuously (loop playback) in the order of shooting time.

If there are multiple camera devices 1 whose shooting range includes the user-specified section, the images captured by the multiple camera devices 1 are extracted and played back continuously in the order of their shooting times.

The server device 10 may analyze the facial expressions of the user P captured in the images captured continuously by each image capture device 1, and display facial expression icons along with the travel route on a map of the facility, as shown in FIG. 6(a). When the user P touches an facial expression icon, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the corresponding series of captured images are played back continuously, as shown in FIG. 6(c).

In this way, user P simply wears a wristband with a transmitter 2 while playing, and is automatically photographed by the photographing device 1 at various points on the course. The photographed image data is classified and saved in the server device 10 for each identification information of the transmitter 2, i.e., for each user P. The server device 10 detects the movement route of user P from the position of the photographing device 1 that took the photograph and the time of photographing, and displays it on the user terminal T. When user P specifies by tracing a part of the movement route displayed on the user terminal T, a video of the images taken in the specified section is played. User P can watch a video of his or her own movements in the specified section.

As shown in FIG. 2, the server device 10 is a computer equipped with a CPU (not shown) and a memory unit 18, and is communicatively connected to multiple image capture devices 1 and reading devices 3 installed within the facility. The memory unit 10 stores an image provision program, image capture device information in which the device number of each image capture device 1 is registered in association with location information and image capture range information, and the like. The CPU of the server device 10 executes the image provision program to realize the functions of a user registration unit 11, an image receiving unit 12, a route detection unit 13, a facial expression detection unit 14, a route presentation unit 15, and an image playback unit 16.

The user registration unit 11 receives identification information that the reader 3 reads from the transmitter 2 from the reader 3 installed at the starting point, and registers it in the storage unit 18 as the user ID of the user who has started playing. The user registration unit 11 also receives identification information that the reader 3 reads from the transmitter 2 from the reader 3 installed at the goal point, and registers in the storage unit 18 that the user corresponding to this identification information has finished playing.

The image receiving unit 12 receives the captured image data, the capture time, the device number of the capture device 1, and the identification information received from the transmitter 2 from the capture device 1, and stores them in the memory unit 18.

The route detection unit 13 detects the movement route of each user from the shooting time of the captured image data and the position of the camera device 1 that took the image. The position of the camera device 1 is obtained from the camera device information stored in the memory unit 18. The detected movement route is stored in the memory unit 18.

The facial expression detection unit 14 performs image analysis of the captured image to detect the facial expression of the user appearing in the captured image. The image analysis process may be performed on a separate server, and the facial expression detection unit 14 may obtain the analysis results from the separate server.

When the route presentation unit 15 receives user identification information from the user terminal T, it retrieves the travel route corresponding to this user from the memory unit 18, transmits map data of facilities showing the travel route to the user terminal T, and displays it on a display or the like.

When the image playback unit 16 receives section designation information for the travel route from the user terminal T, it refers to the camera device information and identifies the camera device 1 that includes the designated section in its shooting range. The image playback unit 16 extracts images of the user captured by the identified camera device 1, and plays them continuously in the order of their shooting time. For example, GIF animation can be used to play the captured images continuously.

If there are multiple camera devices 1 whose shooting ranges include the user-specified section, images captured by the multiple camera devices 1 are extracted and played back continuously in the order of their shooting times. If the shooting ranges of the multiple camera devices 1 partially overlap, images captured by each camera device may be played back continuously. For example, if the shooting ranges of a first camera device and a second camera device partially overlap, images captured by the first camera device, which started shooting earlier, are first played back continuously, and then images captured by the second camera device are played back continuously. This is because if the images are played back in the order of their shooting times, images captured by the first camera device and the second camera device will be displayed alternately, which may result in a loss of image continuity.

The travel route information and captured image data may be made available for download to the user terminal T. A dedicated application installed on the user terminal T may be used to check the travel route, view videos of the specified section, and the like.

The server device 10 may generate photo book data using the captured image data and print out the data from a printer (not shown) to create a photo book.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which a user P was photographed by multiple photographing devices 1 installed in a facility, but as shown in FIG. 7, a drone D may track each user P, photograph them at any time with a camera C mounted on the drone D, and transmit the photographed image, location information where the image was taken (e.g., location information obtained by GPS), and the drone D's unit number to the server device 10. The drone D receives a signal transmitted from a transmitter 2 worn by the user P to track the user P.

The server device 10 preregisters the correspondence between drone D and user P. The server device 10 receives captured images and capture location information from drone D and determines the travel route for each user.

The moving object that tracks and photographs the user is not limited to a drone flying in the air, but may be a self-propelled type on the ground, a type that moves along rails laid in a facility, or a type that propels itself on water such as a river, lake, or ocean.

In the above embodiment, the imaging device 1 or the drone-mounted camera may capture not only still images but also video. Audio may also be collected along with the video. In this case, the video and audio are played back on the user terminal T.

In the case of a facility where the user progresses in a predetermined course, the predetermined course becomes the user's travel route, and the travel route detection process by the server device 10 can be omitted. A map of the facility is displayed on the user terminal T, and when the user specifies a part of the course on the map by tracing it, images taken within the specified section are played back continuously.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the gist of the invention. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all of the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Photographing device 2 Transmitter 3 Reading device 10 Server device 11 User registration unit 12 Image receiving unit 13 Route detection unit 14 Facial expression detection unit 15 Route presentation unit 16 Image playback unit 18 Storage unit

Claims (3)

a moving object that tracks a user, continuously photographs the user, generates a plurality of photographed images, and transmits the plurality of photographed images, photographing times, and photographing position information;
a server device that receives the plurality of captured images, the capture times, and the capture location information from the moving object, and transmits any one of the plurality of captured images to a user terminal;
Equipped with
The server device includes:
a movement route detection unit that detects a movement route of a user based on the photographing time and the photographing position information;
a travel route presentation unit that displays the travel route on the user terminal;
an image playback unit that, when receiving a designation of a section of the travel route from the user terminal, extracts a plurality of photographed images taken in the designated section and plays them continuously on the user terminal;
An image providing system comprising: The moving object captures video and collects audio,
The image providing system according to claim 1 , wherein the image playback unit plays back the video and the audio on the user terminal. A plurality of the moving bodies are provided,
The image providing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of moving objects each track a different user, take photographs, and transmit the captured image, the capture time, and the capture location information, along with the vehicle's own vehicle number, to the server device.

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