Image processing device and program

Abstract

To provide an image processing device and a program capable of changing the display mode of information according to the age of a user.SOLUTION: An image processing device (100) includes a display unit (6), an estimation processing unit (55), and an output processing unit (56). The display unit (6) displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device (100). The estimation processing unit (55) estimates the age of the user on the basis of an image of the user captured by an imaging unit. The output processing unit (56) controls the display mode of the display unit (6) according to the estimation result of the estimation processing unit (55).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Image processing devices such as printers, scanners, and multifunction devices are provided with a display unit that displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device. Image forming devices that control executable functions based on a captured face image of a user are also known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). A technology for estimating an age group based on a face image is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-106259 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2001-256496 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, it is considered that the appropriate display mode, such as the display size, when information is displayed on the display unit of an image processing device varies depending on the age of the user.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device and a program capable of changing the display mode of information depending on the age of the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, an image processing device includes a display unit, an estimation processing unit, and an output processing unit. The display unit displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device. The estimation processing unit estimates an age of a user based on an image of the user captured by an imaging unit. The output processing unit controls a display mode of the display unit in accordance with an estimation result of the estimation processing unit.

[0007] A program according to another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing one or more processors mounted on an image processing device having a display unit that displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device to execute an estimation step and a display step. The estimation step estimates the age of a user based on an image of the user captured by an imaging unit. The display step controls a display mode by the display unit in accordance with the estimation result. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image processing device and a program capable of changing the display mode of information depending on the age of a user. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of display setting data used in the image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a display control process executed by the image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the image processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiment is an example of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[0011] [Configuration of image processing device 100] First, the configuration of an image processing device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0012] The image processing device 100 is a multifunction device that executes various types of image processing, such as an image reading process for reading an image of an original, an image forming process for forming an image based on image data, and an image transmission process for transmitting image data. Note that the image processing device according to the present invention may be a printing device, a fax machine, a copying machine, a scanning device, or the like that is capable of executing one type of image processing.

[0013] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an image processing device 100 includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 1, an image reading unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a paper feeding unit 4, a control unit 5, an operation display unit 6, and an imaging unit .

[0014] The ADF 1 transports a document whose image is to be read by the image reading unit 2. Specifically, the ADF 1 rotates by receiving a rotational driving force from a drive motor (not shown) for each transport roller. As a result, the document placed on the document placement unit 11 is guided along a document transport path formed inside the ADF 1 to a reading position on the contact glass of the document table, and then discharged to the paper discharge unit 12.

[0015] The image reading section 2 includes a document table, a reading unit, a mirror, an optical lens, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and a reading control section, and executes an image reading process for reading an image from a document set in the ADF 1 or the document table.

[0016] The image forming unit 3 executes an image forming process for forming an image on a recording medium such as a sheet based on image data. The image forming unit 3 forms an image by an electrophotographic method. Specifically, the image forming unit 3 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, an optical scanning device, a developing device, a transfer roller, a cleaning device, a fixing device, and a paper discharge tray. For example, the image forming unit 3 forms an image based on image data output by the image reading unit 2. Note that the image forming unit 3 may form an image by another method such as an inkjet method.

[0017] The paper feed unit 4 supplies sheets to the image forming unit 3. For example, the paper feed unit 4 includes a paper feed cassette, a sheet transport path, and a plurality of transport rollers.

[0018] The control unit 5 is a computer that controls the image processing device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 5 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, and a secondary storage device 54. The CPU 51 has one or more processors that execute various arithmetic processing. The ROM 52 is a non-volatile storage device in which information such as a control program for causing the CPU 51 to execute various processing is stored in advance. The RAM 53 is a volatile or non-volatile storage device used as a temporary storage memory (work area) for various processing executed by the CPU 51. Information such as a control program for causing the CPU 151 to execute various processing is stored in advance in the secondary storage device 54. For example, the secondary storage device 54 is a computer-readable non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory or a hard disk drive.

[0019] The operation display unit 6 is a user interface of the image processing device 100. The operation display unit 6 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display on which various information is displayed in response to control instructions from the control unit 5, and an operation unit such as operation keys and a touch panel for inputting various information to the control unit 5 in response to user operations. Specifically, the display unit of the operation display unit 6 is controlled by the control unit 5 to display various information regarding various image processes such as image reading process, image forming process, and image transmission process, such as setting information for the image process or execution results of the image process. In addition, the touch panel of the operation display unit 6 accepts operations of various touch keys displayed on the display unit of the operation display unit 6 and inputs the operations to the control unit 5.

[0020] The photographing unit 7 is a camera that photographs an image (still image or video) of the user of the image processing device 100, and the control unit 5 can refer to the photographed image photographed by the photographing unit 7. In particular, the photographing unit 7 is provided at a position where the face of the user operating the operation display unit 6 is photographed, and the angle of view of the photographing unit 7 is set so that the face of the operation display unit 6 is photographed. Note that the photographing unit 7 may be provided outside the image processing device 100 as long as it is capable of photographing the face of the user of the image processing device 100. For example, in other embodiments, a surveillance camera provided at the location where the image processing device 100 is installed, or a camera used for entry management to a room where the image processing device 100 is installed may be used as the photographing unit 7.

[0021] Incidentally, it is considered that the display mode, such as an appropriate display size, when information is displayed on the operation display unit 6 of the image processing device 100 differs depending on the age of the user. In response to this, the image processing device 100 according to the present embodiment is capable of changing the display mode of information depending on the age of the user.

[0022] [Configuration of control unit 5] 2, the control unit 5 includes various processing units such as an estimation processing unit 55 and an output processing unit 56. Specifically, the secondary storage device 54 of the control unit 5 stores in advance the control program for causing the CPU 51 to function as each of the above-mentioned processing units. The CPU 51 executes the control program stored in the secondary storage device 54 to function as each of the above-mentioned processing units. Note that each of the above-mentioned processing units may be configured by an electronic circuit.

[0023] The estimation processing unit 55 estimates the age of the user based on a captured image including the user's face captured by the imaging unit 7. Specifically, in the image processing device 100, the secondary storage device 54 of the control unit 5 stores estimation data indicating facial feature amounts corresponding to each age. The estimation processing unit 55 estimates the user's age based on the estimation data and an image of the user's face included in the captured image by the imaging unit 7. In this embodiment, the estimation processing unit 55 estimates the user's age based on an age range indicating a preset age range such as 20 to 29 years old, 30 to 39 years old, and 40 to 49 years old. On the other hand, in another embodiment, the estimation processing unit 55 may estimate the age in one-year units such as 43 years old or 54 years old. Note that the estimation processing unit 55 can employ various well-known techniques to estimate the user's age, and detailed explanations will be omitted here. For example, a technique for estimating age is disclosed in JP 2001-256496 A and the like.

[0024] The output processing unit 56 controls the display size of information displayed on the operation display unit 6 based on the estimation result by the estimation processing unit 55. Specifically, in the image processing device 100, the secondary storage device 54 of the control unit 5 stores display setting data D1 indicating a display mode corresponding to each age (see FIG. 3). Then, the output processing unit 56 controls the display mode of information displayed on the operation display unit 6 based on the display setting data and the estimation result by the estimation processing unit 55. Note that the control unit 5 can arbitrarily register or change the display setting data D1 in response to a user operation of the operation display unit 6.

[0025] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the display mode includes display size, character style, color setting, key size, etc. The display size is a value indicating the size of characters and images displayed on the operation display unit 6, and the larger the value, the larger the display size of characters and images. The character style indicates the style of characters displayed on the operation display unit 6, and includes "thin", "medium-thin" which is thicker than the "thin", and "bold" which is thicker than the "medium-thin". The color setting indicates the number of colors used for characters and images displayed on the operation display unit 6, and includes "full color", "three colors" which has fewer colors than the full color, and "monochrome" which has even fewer colors than the three colors. The key size indicates the size of the touch keys displayed on the display unit of the operation display unit 6, and includes "small", "medium", "large", etc. The display mode is not limited to the one described here, and may be other modes such as character font or character spacing.

[0026] [Display control processing] Hereinafter, a flow chart of the display control process executed by the control unit 5 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The display control process is started when the image processing device 100 is turned on or when the image processing device returns from the power saving mode.

[0027] <Step S11> In step S11, the control unit 5 judges whether or not a preset photographing condition is satisfied. For example, the photographing condition is that a user operates the operation display unit 6, that a user is detected by a human presence sensor (not shown) provided in the image processing device 100, that the image processing device 100 is powered on, or that the image processing device 100 returns from a power saving mode. If it is judged that the photographing condition is satisfied (S11: Yes), the process proceeds to step S12, and step S11 is repeatedly executed until it is judged that the photographing condition is satisfied (S11: No).

[0028] <Steps S12 to S14> In step S12, the control unit 5 captures the face of the user of the image processing device 100 using the imaging unit 7. Next, in step S13, the estimation processing unit 55 of the control unit 5 executes an estimation step of estimating the age of the user based on the image of the user captured by the imaging unit 7. Then, the control unit 5 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S12 to S13 until the estimation of the user's age in step S13 is successful (S14: No). Thereafter, if the estimation of the user's age in step S13 is successful (S14: Yes), the process proceeds to step S15.

[0029] <Step S15> In step S15, the output processing unit 56 of the control unit 5 specifies the display mode of the operation display unit 6 in accordance with the estimation result in step S13. Specifically, the output processing unit 56 reads out the display mode corresponding to the user's age from the display setting data D1, based on the user's age estimated in step S13.

[0030] <Step S16> Then, in step S16, the output processing unit 56 of the control unit 5 executes a display step of controlling the display mode of the operation display unit 6 based on the display mode specified in step S15. In this embodiment, the output processing unit 56 changes the display size, character style, and color setting of the information displayed on the operation display unit 6 based on the display mode. Thereafter, the control unit 5 ends a series of display control processes and executes the processes again from step S11. In addition, after executing step S16, the control unit 5 may execute the processes again from step S11 when a preset re-execution condition is satisfied. The re-execution condition is, for example, that no user operation of the operation display unit 6 is performed for a predetermined period of time, that the user is no longer detected by a human presence sensor (not shown) or the like provided in the image processing device 100, that the image processing device 100 is turned off, or that the image processing device 100 transitions to a power saving mode.

[0031] Specifically, an example of the display screen P1 of the operation display unit 6 based on the display setting data D1 of Fig. 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 5 to Fig. 7. Various setting items when a copy process is executed in the image processing device 100 are displayed in Fig. 5 to Fig. 7, and touch keys K1 used for setting each of the setting items are displayed. Note that changes in color settings are omitted in Fig. 5 to Fig. 7.

[0032] When the user's age is between 20 and 29 years old, the output processing unit 56 displays information on the display screen P1 of the operation display unit 6 in a display mode of display size "10", character style "thin", color setting "full color", and key size "small", as shown in Fig. 5. On the other hand, when the user's age is between 40 and 49 years old, the output processing unit 56 displays information on the display screen P1 of the operation display unit 6 in a display mode of display size "14", character style "bold", color setting "monochrome", and key size "large", as shown in Fig. 6. Note that when the user's age is between 30 and 39 years old, the output processing unit 56 displays information on the display screen P1 of the operation display unit 6 in a display mode of display size "12", character style "medium thin", color setting "three colors", and key size "medium", although not shown in the figures.

[0033] That is, the output processing unit 56 increases the character size as the user gets older. Also, the output processing unit 56 increases the character thickness as the user gets older. Also, the output processing unit 56 decreases the number of display colors as the user gets older. Also, the output processing unit 56 increases the key size of the touch keys as the user gets older. Therefore, the image processing device 100 can display information on the operation display unit 6 in a display mode appropriate for the user's age. For example, the user can view various pieces of information displayed on the operation display unit 6 in a display mode appropriate for their age. Also, the user can easily operate various touch keys displayed on the operation display unit 6 in key sizes appropriate for their age.

[0034] Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the output processing unit 56 may switch the display mode of information displayed on the operation display unit 6 depending on whether the user's age is equal to or greater than a specific age set in advance, based on the estimation result by the estimation processing unit 55. That is, the output processing unit 56 may be capable of switching between two types of display modes depending on the age. Furthermore, the output processing unit 56 may control any one of the display modes such as the above-mentioned display size, character style, color setting, key size, character font, and character spacing, based on the estimation result by the estimation processing unit 55.

[0035] Furthermore, the output processing unit 56 may change the display contents of the operation display unit 6 in addition to changing the display mode of the operation display unit 6. Specifically, when the output processing unit 56 increases the character size on the operation display unit 6, the output processing unit 56 may reduce the number of characters. For example, the output processing unit 56 may shorten "page aggregation" to "aggregation." Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the output processing unit 56 increases the key size on the operation display unit 6, the output processing unit 56 may reduce the number of touch keys displayed on one screen and make it possible to display the entirety by a slide display according to the user's operation of the slide key K2. Particularly, in this case, the output processing unit 56 increases the size of the slide key K2 as the user becomes older.

[0036] Furthermore, in the case where the output processing unit 56 includes a speaker that outputs information related to the image processing executed by the image processing device as audio, the output processing unit 56 may control the audio reproduced from the speaker based on the estimation result by the estimation processing unit 55. Specifically, the output processing unit 56 may increase the volume as the user becomes older. Also, the output processing unit 56 may slow down the reproduction speed of the audio as the user becomes older.

[0037] In another embodiment, in the image processing device 100, the secondary storage device 54 of the control unit 5 may store a face image and age corresponding to each user as the estimated data. In this case, the estimation processing unit 55 may identify the user based on the captured image and the face image included in the estimated data, and estimate the age registered in the estimated data in association with the user as the current age of the user. Furthermore, when the user can be identified in this way, visual acuity information such as visual acuity or presence or absence of presbyopia may be registered in advance in association with the user, and the output processing unit 56 may control the display mode of the operation display unit 6 in accordance with the visual acuity information. The output processing unit 56 may also switch between enabling and disabling an automatic change function that automatically changes the display mode of the operation display unit 6 in accordance with the user.

[0038] [Notes on the invention] The following will provide an overview of the invention extracted from the above-described embodiment. Note that the configurations and processing functions described in the following supplementary notes can be selected and combined as desired.

[0039] <Appendix 1> a display unit that displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device; an estimation processing unit that estimates the age of a user based on an image of the user captured by the imaging unit; an output processing unit that controls a display mode of the display unit in response to an estimation result of the estimation processing unit; An image processing device comprising:

[0040] <Appendix 2> The output processing unit increases the font size as the user becomes older. 2. An image processing device as described in claim 1.

[0041] <Appendix 3> The display unit further includes a touch panel that receives an operation of a touch key displayed on the display unit. the output processing unit increases the key size of the touch key as the user becomes older; 3. An image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

[0042] <Appendix 4> The estimation processing unit estimates the user's age based on estimation data indicating facial feature amounts corresponding to each age. 4. The image processing device according to claim 1,

[0043] <Appendix 5> The estimation processing unit identifies a user based on a photographed image of the user, and estimates an age previously stored in association with the user as the age of the user. 5. The image processing device according to claim 1,

[0044] <Appendix 6> the display unit includes a speaker that reproduces information about image processing executed by the image processing device by audio, The output processing unit controls the sound reproduced from the speaker according to the age of the user. 6. The image processing device according to claim 1,

[0045] <Appendix 7> One or more processors mounted on an image processing device having a display unit on which information regarding image processing executed by the image processing device is displayed, an estimation step of estimating the age of the user based on an image of the user captured by the imaging unit; a display step of controlling a display mode by the display unit according to the estimation result; A program for executing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1 ADF 2 Image reading unit 3. Image forming section 4 Paper feed section 5. Control section 6 Operation display section 55 Estimation processing unit 56 Output Processing Section 100 Image processing device

Claims

1. a display unit that displays information related to image processing executed by the image processing device; an estimation processing unit that estimates the age of a user based on an image of the user captured by the imaging unit; an output processing unit that controls a display mode of the display unit in response to an estimation result of the estimation processing unit; An image processing device comprising:

2. The output processing unit increases the font size as the user becomes older. The image processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The display unit further includes a touch panel that receives an operation of a touch key displayed on the display unit. the output processing unit increases the key size of the touch key as the user becomes older; 3. The image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The estimation processing unit estimates the user's age based on estimation data indicating facial feature amounts corresponding to each age.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The estimation processing unit identifies a user based on a photographed image of the user, and estimates an age previously stored in association with the user as the age of the user.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. the display unit includes a speaker that reproduces information about image processing executed by the image processing device by audio, The output processing unit controls the sound reproduced from the speaker according to the age of the user.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. One or more processors mounted on an image processing device having a display unit on which information regarding image processing executed by the image processing device is displayed, an estimation step of estimating the age of the user based on an image of the user captured by the imaging unit; a display step of controlling a display mode by the display unit according to the estimation result; A program for executing the above.

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