Information processing system, information processing device, information processing method and program

Abstract

To solve such a problem that there has been a need to improve the efficiency of a portion of road maintenance operations in a manner that can obtain cooperation not only from specialized personnel but also from ordinary citizens and local business operators.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes: a video shooting device that shoots a video while moving; and an information processing server that handles the video. The information processing system also includes: shooting means that shoots the video; shooting position acquisition means that acquires the shooting position for the video; registration means that registers a requested shooting position indicating a position where shooting of the video is requested; determination means that determines whether the video is shot at the registered requested shooting position on the basis of the acquired shooting position; and transmission means that transmits the video related to the requested shooting position from the videos shot by the shooting means when it is determined that the video has been shot at the requested shooting position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 47

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, due to the development of information technologies such as AI and IoT, digital transformation, so-called DX, which substitutes programs or AI for some of the tasks that have been performed by humans, has been implemented in various fields.

[0003] In particular, it is required to review the operations in various fields that have been hitherto carried out by the state, that is, public servants, and replace the less productive parts of the operations with digital ones to obtain equivalent results with a small budget. The reason is that Japan is one of the countries where the aging population with low birthrate is accelerating most rapidly in the world, and the national finance is starting to be strained due to the decrease in tax revenue accompanying the shrinkage of the working population and the increase in social security costs accompanying the increase in the elderly population.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for obtaining, via a network, images of in-vehicle cameras such as a drive recorder that was traveling in the vicinity when an incident occurred, as a method for digitizing a part of criminal investigations conducted by the state. According to this technique, by digitally replacing a part of the information collection by inquiry investigations that police officers have hitherto conducted on neighboring residents during criminal investigations, it is possible to quickly collect useful information that can be a clue to the incident at low cost.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] One of the operations carried out by the state is road maintenance work. Municipal roads and national highways are public property and are managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and local governments. Over time, roads develop depressions, damage to things like side mirrors, and wear on the white lines. Such aging deterioration of roads can lead to accidental car crashes and is a matter concerning human lives, so proper management is required.

[0007] Currently, when a person in charge in the civil engineering management section of a local government that specializes in road maintenance rides in a dedicated vehicle to drive around the roads to check for damage and finds a damaged area such as a road pit that requires repair, they take measures such as pouring asphalt for repair.

[0008] However, there are an enormous number of roads in Japan, and it is extremely costly for specialized personnel to drive around all of them without omission. There is a need to make this operation more efficient and reduce costs.

[0009] The above road maintenance work can be broken down into three operations: 1. Patrol and monitoring of roads, 2. Detection of damaged areas, and 3. Response to damaged areas. Currently, since all three of these operations are carried out by specialized personnel as a single entity, it is a factor contributing to high costs. Therefore, if this operation can be separated and even partially replaced digitally to improve efficiency, a cost reduction effect can be expected.

[0010] With the technology of Prior Art 1, since the images of in-vehicle cameras at predetermined positions and times can be obtained, it can also be used for digitizing the 1. road patrol and monitoring operation. However, the technology of Prior Art 1 primarily assumes collecting information that will serve as a lead in identifying the perpetrator at the time of an incident. In the case of an incident, it is sufficient to comprehensively collect images within a range of several hundred meters around the incident site, whereas in road maintenance, there are differences such as the need to collect images along a large number of roads. Also, in the case of an incident, it is sufficient to collect images for each incident, whereas in road maintenance, there is also a need to collect images of the same location at regular intervals to observe aging deterioration.

[0011] Therefore, when using the technology of the prior art document 1 as it is for road maintenance applications, there was a problem that in order to efficiently collect only the images of the damaged parts scattered and distributed in large numbers, the number of image orders increased and the cost reduction effect could not be fully demonstrated. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to streamline a part of the road maintenance work in a form that enables cooperation with ordinary citizens and local operators, rather than professional staff.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0012] An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a registration means for registering a requested shooting position indicating a position where shooting of an image is requested, an image shooting information receiving means for receiving image shooting information including at least information regarding the shooting position of the image, a determination means for determining whether an image has been shot at the registered requested shooting position based on the shooting position included in the received image shooting information, a request means for requesting transmission of an image related to the requested shooting position when it is determined that an image has been shot at the requested shooting position, and an image receiving means for receiving the image transmitted based on the request.

[0013] Further, an information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a shooting means for shooting an image, a shooting position acquisition means for acquiring the shooting position of the image, a registration means for registering a requested shooting position indicating a position where shooting of the image is requested, a determination means for determining whether an image has been shot at the registered requested shooting position based on the acquired shooting position, and a transmission means for transmitting an image related to the requested shooting position from among the images shot by the shooting means when it is determined that an image has been shot at the requested shooting position.

Effects of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to streamline the road patrol work, which has hitherto been carried out by road maintenance experts, by DX.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, those with the same reference numerals have the same or similar configurations. [First Embodiment]

[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 includes an image capturing unit 110, a current position acquisition unit 121, a required travel position registration unit 131, a travel determination unit 140, and an image transmission unit 150.

[0018] The image capturing unit 110 captures an image. The image may be a video (moving image) or a still image. For example, the image capturing unit 110 converts the light incident via a lens into an electrical signal using an image sensor such as a CMOS, converts the analog electrical signal into digital data via an AD converter or the like, encodes the digital data according to a predetermined codec, and captures an image by obtaining image data in a predetermined format such as jpeg or mp4.

[0019] The image capturing unit 110 may continuously capture still images at predetermined intervals, or capture a video at a predetermined frame rate and obtain the video as a video file every predetermined time. In the following description, when the image to be captured is a video, the image capturing unit 110 may be appropriately read as the video capturing unit 110.

[0020] The current position acquisition unit 121 acquires the current position. The current position acquisition unit 121, for example, receives signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites and obtains the current position information by calculating the current position coordinates by a three-point survey method. Also, the current position acquisition unit 121 may acquire the current position information based on information transmitted from a mobile base station, or may identify the current position by collating pre-recorded 3D map information with the image captured by the image capturing unit 110 and obtain the current position information.

[0021] Note that since the current position acquisition unit 121 acquires the position at the time when an image is captured by the image capturing unit 110, it can be said that the image capturing position is acquired, and since it can be said that the position during traveling is acquired, it can be rephrased as a traveling position acquisition unit. Therefore, in this specification, the current position acquisition unit 121 may be referred to as the image capturing position acquisition unit 121, the video capturing position information acquisition unit 121, or the traveling position acquisition unit 121. The image capturing position information acquisition unit 121 acquires image capturing position information indicating the image capturing position. When the image is a video, one or more position coordinates are acquired as the video capturing position during the time when the image acquired by the video capturing unit 110 is captured.

[0022] The required travel position registration unit 131 registers the required travel position, which is information about the position where travel is required. FIG. 2 shows an example of the required travel position. The required travel position illustrated in FIG. 2 is composed of a plurality of coordinates. Note that the required travel position may be registered in a polyline format indicating a route for requesting travel by connecting a plurality of coordinates, or may be registered in a polygon format indicating a position range for requesting travel by connecting a plurality of coordinates.

[0023] Hereinafter, in this specification, the required travel position composed of a plurality of coordinates may be referred to as a required travel route. Note that when specifying the required travel route in the above polygon format, the route desired to be traveled can be specified in the polygon format by specifying so that one road is included in the polygon. Also, for example, when specifying the required travel route in the polyline format, it can be specified based on whether the minimum distance between the polyline and the current position is within a predetermined numerical value (for example, 5 m, etc.).

[0024] The travel determination unit 140 determines whether the position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121 satisfies the position required by the required travel position registered by the required travel position registration unit 131 based on the position information.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows an example of the determination method performed by the travel determination unit 140. In FIG. 3, two roads, road X and road Y, registered as the required travel route are displayed. Also, four position coordinates A, B, C, and D are sequentially acquired during travel in the current position acquisition unit 121. The travel determination unit 140 calculates the least squares distance to road X, which is the required travel route closest to the coordinates acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121, and determines that travel is being performed on road X, which is this required travel route, when the calculated distance is within a predetermined threshold value.

[0026] Further, for example, when there are a plurality of positions within a predetermined distance from the required travel route registered as the required travel position among the positions acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121, the travel determination unit 140 determines that the vehicle has traveled on the road that is the required travel route. Also, for example, when there exists a required travel route that satisfies a predetermined distance condition for a continuous predetermined number of positions acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121, the travel determination unit 140 determines that the vehicle has traveled on the required travel route. In the example of FIG. 3, since the two consecutive positions C and D are positions within a predetermined distance from the road Y registered as the required travel route, it is determined that the vehicle has traveled on the road Y that is the required travel route.

[0027] Also, for example, when the required travel position information is specified in a polygon format that delimits a certain range instead of the polyline format shown in FIG. 3, the travel determination unit 140 may execute a GIS search or the like to check whether there are a plurality of consecutive position coordinates within the range delimited by the polygon registered as the required travel position, and determine whether the vehicle has traveled on the required travel position based on the search result.

[0028] When it is determined by the travel determination unit 140 that the required travel position is satisfied, the image transmission unit 150 transmits an image related to the required travel position from among the images captured by the image capture unit 110. The transmitted image is used to check whether there is damage to the road or the like.

[0029] Note that it is more preferable for the information processing apparatus 100 to include an image recording unit 160 that records the images captured by the image capture unit 110 in a state associated with the positions acquired by the current position acquisition unit 110 as illustrated in FIG. 4, because it facilitates the management of the images transmitted by the image transmission unit 150.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows an example of an image recording method in the image recording unit 160. In FIG. 5, since the case where the image captured by the image capturing unit 110 is a video of a moving image is exemplified, the image capturing unit 110 will be described by replacing it with a video capturing unit 110, the image transmitting unit 150 with a video transmitting unit 150, and the image recording unit 160 with a video recording unit 160, respectively. The video recording unit 160 records the video captured by the video capturing unit 110 as a file on a recording medium every 60 seconds. At this time, the video recording unit 160 records the position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121 in a state associated with the video while the video is being captured. Specifically, in FIG. 5, a video number that uniquely identifies the captured video, a file name of the video, a shooting start date and time, a plurality of position information acquired during shooting, and the file capacity of the video are recorded in an associated state.

[0031] Note that, as a method for the image recording unit 160 to record the image in association with the shooting position, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it may be realized by establishing a relationship between an image management table for managing images and a position management table for managing position information and managing them in a database. In the video management table shown in FIG. 6, a video management number that uniquely identifies a video, a file name attached to the video, a creation date and time of the video file, path information indicating the address where the video file is stored, image quality information indicating the shooting image quality of the video, video length information indicating the length of the video, and capacity information indicating the size of the video file are recorded in an associated state.

[0032] In the position management table illustrated in FIG. 7, a position management number uniquely assigned to the position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121, a video management number assigned to the video captured at the time of acquisition of the position, the date and time when the position was acquired, latitude information and longitude information indicating the latitude and longitude of the position, altitude information indicating the altitude of the sea level, direction information indicating the direction at the time of position acquisition, and speed information indicating the moving speed at the time of position acquisition are recorded in an associated state. By combining the video management table and the position management table, the video and the shooting position of the video are recorded in an associated state.

[0033] In the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7, the video management number is recorded in the location management table as an external key. However, since it is possible to associate the video with its shooting location from the creation date and time recorded in the video management table and the location acquisition date and time recorded in the location management table, it is not necessary to provide an external key.

[0034] The various functions constituting the above-described information processing apparatus 100 may be incorporated, for example, in a stand-alone video shooting apparatus such as a drive recorder, an automobile, or a drone, or may be distributed and implemented in an information processing server connected to the video shooting apparatus side via a network.

[0035] FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system 1. The information processing system 1 includes a plurality of image shooting apparatuses 200, an information processing server 400 arranged via a network N, and an image acquisition apparatus 600. Since the object handled in the information processing system 1 is an image, in this specification, it may be referred to as the image processing system 1 or the video processing system 1.

[0036] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of each apparatus constituting the information processing system 1. Hereinafter, the configuration of each apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the description of some of the function blocks already described will be omitted.

[0037] The image acquisition apparatus 600 includes a requested travel position input unit 611, a requested travel position transmission unit 621, an image transmission request unit 630, an image reception unit 640, and an image display unit 650.

[0038] The required travel position input unit 611 inputs the route that the vehicle desires to travel as the required travel position. FIG. 10 shows an example of the method for inputting the required travel position in the required travel position input unit 611. The required travel position input unit 611 displays a map 6001 on the screen provided by the image acquisition device 600, and presents a travel route candidate that connects two positions, namely, a travel start position 6111 and a travel end position 6112, selected on the map. As the travel route candidates shown in FIG. 10, links 6114a, 6114b, 6114c that connect these nodes in a form passing through two nodes 6113a, 6113b among the nodes existing between the travel start position 6111 and the travel end position 6112 are selected. In this selected state, by pressing an order button 6115 for determining the required travel position, these multiple links 6114a, 6114b, 6114c are each input as the required travel position. In this way, the required travel position may be represented as multiple link information constituting the route for which travel is requested.

[0039] The required travel position transmission unit 621 transmits the required travel position input by the required travel position input unit 611 to the information processing server 400.

[0040] The image transmission request transmission unit 630 transmits image transmission request information requesting the transmission of an image taken at the required travel position transmitted by the required travel position transmission unit 621 among the images recorded in the information processing server 400. For example, the image transmission request transmission unit 630 includes the management number associated with the required travel position in the image transmission request information and transmits it, thereby requesting the transmission of a list of images taken at the required travel position managed by the management number.

[0041] The image reception unit 650 receives the image requested by the image transmission request transmission unit 630.

[0042] The image display unit 650 displays the image received by the image receiving unit 640 on the screen. FIG. 11 shows an example of the image displayed by the image display unit 650. The image display unit 650 displays the video 6501, which is the received image, and its thumbnail image 6502 on the screen while overlaying and displaying the required travel position 6114 related to the received image on the map.

[0043] In this way, the image acquisition device 600 inputs the travel route of the image to be acquired and receives the image taken along that travel route, thereby acquiring the image.

[0044] Next, the image capturing device 200 will be described. The image capturing device 200 may be a drive recorder attached to a vehicle, or may be the vehicle itself equipped with an in-vehicle camera. The image capturing device 200 includes an image capturing unit 110, a current position acquisition unit 121, an image recording unit 160, a position information transmission unit 211, an image transmission request receiving unit 220, and an image transmission unit 150.

[0045] The position information transmission unit 211 transmits information regarding the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 121 to the information processing server 400. Note that the position information transmission unit 211 may transmit the position information as the travel position every time a new current position is acquired by the current position acquisition unit 120, or may transmit a plurality of pieces of position information together as the position information indicating the shooting position of the video every time the video captured by the image capturing unit 110 is recorded as a video file in the image recording unit 160. In this specification, the position information transmission unit 211 may be referred to as the travel position transmission unit 211 or the image shooting position transmission unit 211.

[0046] The image transmission request receiving unit 220 receives image transmission request information for requesting the transmission of an image from the information processing server 400. The image transmission unit 150 reads out the image requested by the image transmission request information received by the image transmission request receiving unit 220 from the images recorded on the recording medium in the image recording unit 160 and transmits it to the information processing server 400.

[0047] The information processing server 400 includes a requested travel position receiving unit 411, a requested travel position registering unit 131, a position information receiving unit 421, a travel position determining unit 140, an image transmission request transmitting unit 430, an image receiving unit 440, an image recording unit 450, and an image transmission request receiving unit 460, and an image transmitting unit 470.

[0048] The requested travel position receiving unit 411 receives information regarding a requested travel position indicating a position where the user desires to travel, which is input by the image acquisition device 600. The requested travel position registering unit 131 registers the requested travel position, which is the position where travel is requested, received by the requested travel position receiving unit 411. The requested travel position registering unit 131 may record the requested travel position in a database so that it can be easily searched and extracted later.

[0049] The position information receiving unit 421 receives information regarding the current position of each of the plurality of image capturing devices 200 from the plurality of image capturing devices 200. Since the current position of the image capturing device 200 indicates the travel position of the vehicle on which the image capturing device 200 is mounted or the image capturing position, the position information receiving unit 421 can be read as receiving position information indicating the image capturing position or the current position of the vehicle. Therefore, in this specification, the position information receiving unit 421 may sometimes be referred to as a travel position receiving unit 421 or an image capturing position receiving unit 421.

[0050] The travel position determining unit 140 determines whether the requested travel position has been traveled by determining whether there is a requested travel position corresponding to the position information received by the position information receiving unit 421 among the requested travel positions registered by the requested travel position registering unit 131.

[0051] When it is determined by the travel position determining unit 140 that the requested travel position is satisfied, the image transmission request transmitting unit 430 transmits an image transmission request requesting the transmission of an image captured at a position corresponding to the requested travel position to the image capturing device 200 corresponding to the position.

[0052] The image receiving unit 440 receives an image related to the image transmission request transmitted by the image transmission request transmitting unit 430. The image recording unit 450 records the image received by the image receiving unit 440 on a recording medium in a state associated with the traveling request position related to the image.

[0053] The image transmission request receiving unit 460 receives an image transmission request transmitted from the image acquisition device 600. The image transmission unit 470 reads out the image requested by the image transmission request received by the image transmission request receiving unit 460 from among the images recorded by the image recording unit 450 and transmits it to the image acquisition device 600.

[0054] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing flow in the information processing server 400. In step S402, a requested traveling position indicating a position where traveling is requested and transmitted from an external image acquisition device is received. In step S404, the requested traveling position received in step S402 is registered.

[0055] In step S412, position information indicating the traveling positions respectively acquired by a plurality of image capturing devices is received. In step S414, based on the position information received in step S412, it is determined whether the requested traveling position registered in step S404 is satisfied.

[0056] For example, when the requested traveling position registered in step S404 is in the polyline format, step S414 determines that the requested traveling position indicated by the polyline has been traveled when there is a polyline within a predetermined distance from the current position of the vehicle received in step S412 among the plurality of polylines registered as the requested traveling position.

[0057] Also, for example, when the requested traveling position registered in step S404 is in the polygon format, step S414 determines that the requested traveling position indicated by the polygon has been traveled when there is a polygon that includes the current position of the vehicle received in step S412 within the plurality of polygons registered as the requested traveling position.

[0058] In step S416, when it is determined in step S414 that the travel request position is satisfied, image transmission request information for requesting transmission of an image related to the travel request position is transmitted to the image capturing device 200 that captured the image.

[0059] In step S422, among the images captured by the image capturing device 100, an image captured at the travel request position for which transmission was requested in step S406 is received. In step S424, the image captured at the travel request position received in step S422 is recorded on a recording medium in a state associated with the travel request position.

[0060] Next, the physical configuration of each device will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the physical configuration of each device included in the information processing system 1. Here, the image acquisition device 600 will be described, but the description can also be applied to the information processing server 400 and the image capturing device 200. Also, here, the case where the information processing server is configured by a single computer will be described, but the information processing device server may be realized by combining a plurality of computers or a plurality of arithmetic units.

[0061] The image acquisition device 600 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10a corresponding to an arithmetic unit, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 10b corresponding to a storage unit, a ROM (Read only Memory) 10c corresponding to a storage unit, a communication unit 10d, an input unit 10e, and a display unit 10f. These components are connected to be able to transmit and receive data to and from each other via a bus. Note that the configuration shown in FIG. 13 is an example, and the image acquisition device 600 may have other configurations or may not have some of these configurations.

[0062] CPU 10a is an example of a processor and is a control unit that performs control related to the execution of programs stored in RAM 10b or ROM 10c, arithmetic operations on data, and processing. CPU 10a is, for example, an arithmetic unit that executes each process of each of the embodiments described later. CPU 10a receives various data from input unit 10e and communication unit 10d, and displays the arithmetic result of the data on display unit 10f or stores it in RAM 10b.

[0063] RAM 10b is one of the storage units in which data can be rewritten, and may be composed of, for example, a semiconductor memory element. RAM 10b may store programs executed by CPU 10a, data and condition information processed in each embodiment, images, and the like. Note that these are examples, and RAM 10b may store data other than these, or may not store some of these.

[0064] ROM 10c is one of the storage units in which data can be read, and may be composed of, for example, a semiconductor memory element. ROM 10c may store, for example, programs related to image processing and data that is not rewritten.

[0065] Communication unit 10d is an interface that connects information processing device 10 to other devices. Communication unit 10d may be connected to a communication network such as the Internet. For example, reception of images and transmission of requested travel positions are performed via the communication unit 10d.

[0066] Input unit 10e receives input of data from a user and may include, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, and a touch panel. For example, input of a requested travel position is performed via the input unit 10e.

[0067] Display unit 10f visually displays the arithmetic result by CPU 10a and may be composed of, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL display. For example, display of received images is performed via the display unit 10f.

[0068] The program that executes the above-described processing may be stored and provided in a non-transitory storage medium readable by a computer such as the RAM 10b or the ROM 10c, or may be provided via a communication network connected by the communication unit 10d. In the image acquisition device 600, various operations described later are realized when the CPU 10a executes the program. Note that these physical configurations are examples and do not necessarily have to be independent configurations. For example, the image acquisition device 600 may include an LSI (Large-Scale Integration) in which the CPU 10a, the RAM 10b, and the ROM 10c are integrated. Further, the information processing server 400 may include a GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0069] As described above, the information processing system according to the first embodiment includes an image capturing unit that captures an image, a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position during travel, a requested travel position registration unit that registers a requested travel position indicating a position where travel is requested, a travel determination unit that determines whether the acquired current position satisfies the registered travel request position, and when it is determined that the registered travel request position is satisfied, transmits an image related to the requested travel position from among the images captured by the image capturing unit.

[0070] With such a configuration, for example, a user who performs road maintenance can register the road to be maintained as a requested travel position, and thus can acquire images captured by vehicles of local operators such as ordinary citizens or taxis that have accidentally traveled to the requested travel position. In this way, instead of the user who specializes in road maintenance performing road monitoring himself / herself, the road monitoring part can be entrusted to a third party who is accidentally active near the requested travel position, so that the road maintenance work can be executed at low cost.

[0071] As a method for determining whether the vehicle has traveled from the acquired current position to the required travel position, instead of determining at a single current position, if it is determined that the vehicle has traveled when a plurality of positions acquired during travel are within a certain distance from the polyline indicating the travel route registered as the required travel position, misjudgment can be reduced, which is good.

[0072] In the above description, the travel determination unit has been described for the case of determining whether the acquired current position satisfies the registered travel request position, but it is not limited to this. Since what is ultimately required is an image (video), it is also possible to interpret it as determining whether the video has been taken at the required position. That is, the information processing system may include a photographing unit that photographs a video, a position acquisition unit that acquires the photographing position of the video, a registration unit that registers a required photographing position indicating the position where video shooting is requested, a determination unit that determines whether the video has been taken at the registered required photographing position based on the acquired photographing position, and a transmission unit that transmits the video related to the required photographing position from the videos taken by the photographing unit when it is determined that the video has been taken at the required photographing position.

[0073] [Second Embodiment] In the information processing system according to the second embodiment, it is characterized in that it determines whether the required travel conditions are satisfied, including the travel direction and the time zone of travel at the position where travel is requested, so as to be able to acquire an image that better meets the user's needs. Hereinafter, it will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that some descriptions of the functions already described in FIG. 1 will be omitted.

[0074] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system 1 according to the second embodiment. In the information processing system shown in FIG. 14, the image acquisition device 600 includes a travel request information input unit 610, a travel request information transmission unit 620, an image transmission request transmission unit 630, an image reception unit 640, and an image display unit 650.

[0075] The travel request information input unit 610 inputs travel request information, which is information for a user to request travel from a third party. Since the travel request information includes the specifications and conditions of the requested travel, it may also be referred to as travel condition information, travel specification information, or travel request information.

[0076] The travel request information input unit 610 illustrated in FIG. 14 includes a requested travel position input unit 611, a requested travel direction input unit 612, and a requested travel time zone input unit 613.

[0077] The requested travel position input unit 611 inputs a requested travel position (requested travel route), which is the position (route) where the user wants the third-party vehicle to travel. The requested travel direction input unit 612 inputs requested travel direction information indicating in which direction the user wants to capture the requested travel position. The requested travel time zone input unit 613 inputs requested travel time zone information indicating the time zone in which the user wants the vehicle to travel.

[0078] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a method of inputting travel request information in the image acquisition device 600 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 15, in addition to the map area 6001, a travel direction input area 6121 and a travel time zone input area 6131 are displayed on the display panel included in the image acquisition device 200.

[0079] In the driving direction input area illustrated in FIG. 15, it is configured such that for the road which is the driving position where driving is required, it is possible to input whether one desires to drive only in one direction or in both directions. For example, if the purpose of the required driving is to photograph a pothole (hole) that has occurred on the road, the purpose can be achieved by driving in one direction on that road, whereas if the purpose of the required driving is to photograph a road traffic sign installed on the road, it is necessary to drive and photograph from both directions in order to photograph the road traffic signs installed on both sides of the road from the front side. Thus, the required driving direction input unit 612 inputs, as information regarding the driving direction required for the required driving position, information indicating whether to require driving in only one direction or driving in both directions for the route where driving is required. Note that the required driving direction input unit 612 may be configured to input a specific direction such as northward or 60 degrees as required driving information with respect to the required driving position input by the required driving position input unit 611.

[0080] In the driving time zone input area illustrated in FIG. 15, it is configured such that for the driving position where driving is required, it is possible to input in which time zone one desires to drive. In the example of FIG. 15, the start date and time of the time zone are input as 8:00 am and the end date and time are input as 17:00 in the evening, respectively. For example, if the purpose of the required driving is to photograph the fading condition of the white line on the road, it becomes difficult to photograph an image sufficient for determining the fading condition after sunset, so the time zone during the day is input. Also, if the purpose is to monitor whether the street lights installed on the road are turned off, conversely, the time zone after sunset is input.

[0081] The driving request information transmission unit 620 transmits driving request information indicating the content of the driving required of a third party input with the driving request information to the information processing server 400. The driving request information transmission unit 620 includes a required driving position transmission unit 621 that transmits the required driving position indicating the position where driving is required, a required driving direction transmission unit 622 that transmits information regarding the driving direction of the position where driving is required, and a required driving time zone 623 that transmits information indicating the time zone where driving is required. It is preferable that these pieces of information are transmitted together as driving request information.

[0082] Next, the information processing server 400 according to Embodiment 2 will be described. The information processing server 400 according to Embodiment 2 includes a travel request information receiving unit 410, a travel request information registration unit 130, a travel information receiving unit 420, a travel determination unit 140, an image transmission request transmission unit 430, an image receiving unit 440, an image recording unit 450, and an image transmission request receiving unit 460, and an image transmission unit 470.

[0083] The travel request information receiving unit 410 receives travel request information indicating the content of the requested travel from the image acquisition device 600. The travel request information receiving unit 410 includes a requested travel position receiving unit 411 that receives a requested travel position indicating the position where travel is requested, a requested travel direction receiving unit 412 that receives requested travel direction information that is information regarding the travel direction of the requested travel position, and a requested travel time zone receiving unit 413 that receives requested travel time zone information that is information indicating the time zone when travel is requested.

[0084] As an example, it is preferable to prepare an endpoint that receives these travel request information as transmission parameters and configure it to receive travel request information including a requested travel position, a requested travel direction, and a requested travel time zone at the same time.

[0085] FIG. 16 shows an example of travel request information. The travel request information includes a plurality of position coordinates as a requested travel position for designating the requested travel route, "dual" indicating both lanes is shown as the requested travel direction, and the start time and end time are shown as the requested travel time zone.

[0086] The travel request information registration unit 130 registers the travel request information received by the travel request information receiving unit 410. The travel request information registration unit 130 includes a requested travel position registration unit 131 that registers a requested travel position indicating the requested travel position, a requested travel direction registration unit 132 that registers a requested travel direction that is information regarding the requested travel direction, and a requested travel time zone registration unit 133 that registers a requested travel time zone indicating the time zone when travel is requested.

[0087] As a registration method, it may be registered in an RDBMS (relational database) or a NoSQL type database. FIG. 17 shows an example of the driving request information to be registered. In the driving request information illustrated in FIG. 17, a management number uniquely assigned to each driving request information, a user ID that uniquely identifies the user who made the driving request, a requested driving position indicating the position where the driving is requested, a requested driving direction which is information regarding the requested driving direction, a requested driving time zone indicating the time zone when driving is requested, and the date and time when the driving request information was registered are recorded in an associated state.

[0088] The driving information receiving unit 420 receives the driving information of the vehicle on which each image capturing device 200 is mounted. FIG. 18 shows an example of the driving information to be received. The driving information illustrated in FIG. 18 includes, in an array format, altitude, latitude, and longitude indicating the current position sequentially acquired by the image capturing device 200, the date and time when it was acquired, and the traveling direction at the time of acquisition. In this way, the driving information receiving unit 420 includes a position information receiving unit 421 indicating the driving position, a direction information receiving unit 422 indicating the direction at the time when the position information was acquired, and a date and time information receiving unit 423 indicating the date and time when the position information was acquired.

[0089] The driving determination unit 140 determines whether the driving of the requested content has been performed based on the driving request information registered by the driving request information registration unit 130 and the driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420. The driving determination unit 140 determines that the driving of the requested content has been performed when the driving position of the vehicle satisfies the requested driving route, the driving direction of the vehicle satisfies the requested driving direction, and the driving date and time of the vehicle satisfies the requested driving time zone.

[0090] For example, the travel determination unit 140 includes a travel position determination unit 141 that determines whether the minimum distance from the travel position sent from the image capturing device 200 to the polyline indicating the travel position requested from the image acquisition device 600 is less than a predetermined range, a travel direction determination unit 142 that determines whether the travel direction of the image capturing device 200 satisfies the requested travel direction, and a travel time zone determination unit 143 that determines whether the acquisition date and time of the position information acquired by the image capturing device 200 satisfies the requested time zone.

[0091] When it is determined in the travel determination unit 140 that the requested travel is being performed, the image transmission request transmission unit 440 transmits image transmission request information requesting the transmission of an image related to the requested travel to the image capturing device 200 that has performed the travel.

[0092] As described above, in the information processing system according to the second embodiment, the image acquisition device 600 includes a travel request information input unit 610 that inputs travel request information indicating the content of the requested travel, including the requested travel position indicating the position where the travel is requested, information regarding the direction of the requested travel, and the requested travel time zone indicating the time zone where the travel is requested, and a travel request information transmission unit 620 that transmits the travel request information indicating the content of the requested travel, including the requested travel position indicating the position where the travel is requested, information regarding the direction of the requested travel, and the requested travel time zone indicating the time zone where the travel is requested.

[0093] Further, the information processing server 400 includes a travel request information reception unit 410 that receives travel request information indicating the content of the requested travel, a travel request information registration unit 130 that registers the travel request information indicating the content of the received travel, a travel information reception unit 420 that receives travel information indicating information related to the travel, including travel position information indicating the traveled position, travel direction information indicating the travel direction at the traveled position, and travel date and time information indicating the date and time when the traveled position was acquired, and a travel determination unit 140 that determines from the received travel information whether the travel indicated by the travel request information has been performed.

[0094] In this way, in addition to determining whether the vehicle has passed on the requested driving route by performing a proximity search between the requested driving route and the driving position so as to obtain an appropriate image requested by the user, it is also determined whether the conditions of the driving direction and the driving time zone are satisfied. By requesting to transmit an image that clears all of these conditions to the image capturing device 200, it becomes possible to efficiently collect images that conform to the user's purpose of use.

[0095] In the above description, the case where the time zone for requesting driving is input and determined has been described, but it may also be in the form of specifying the date and time range for requesting driving. For example, when road construction is carried out at a specific date and time, in order to grasp the situation of the road construction, not only the time zone but also the date and time range during which this construction is being carried out is specified. Thus, a road administrator who is a user performing road maintenance can check the situation of the construction from a remote location, eliminating the need to be present at the site directly and reducing costs. In this case, the requested driving time zone input unit 613 can be read as the requested driving date and time range input unit 613, the requested driving time zone transmission unit 623 can be read as the requested driving date and time range transmission unit 623, the requested driving time zone reception unit 413 can be read as the requested driving date and time range reception unit 413, the requested driving time zone registration unit 133 can be read as the requested driving date and time range registration unit 133, and the driving time zone determination unit 143 can be read as the driving date and time range determination unit 133, respectively.

[0096] In the above description, the method of registering information regarding the requested driving direction by registering the received requested driving direction information in the column of the database has been described, but it is not limited to this. For example, when the requested driving direction is both directions, it may be registered as another driving request information with the array of the requested driving positions reversed.

[0097] FIG. 19 is a table diagram showing another method of recording travel request information. Compared with FIG. 17, instead of having a column for the requested travel direction, when the requested travel direction is both directions, travel request information with the order of arrangement of the requested travel positions reversed is newly registered. Management numbers 146 and 147 respectively reflect the requested travel direction by newly registering data with the order of the requested travel positions reversed according to the designation of both travel directions from the travel request information received by the travel request information receiving unit 410.

[0098] FIG. 20 shows an example of a determination method that takes into account the travel direction in the travel determination unit 140. The requested travel positions managed by management numbers 146 and 147 shown in FIG. 19 indicate the same position, that is, the same road, but the order of arrangement for designating that position is registered in reverse. In this situation, assume that travel information A and travel information B are received by the travel information receiving unit 420. At this time, the positions indicated by travel information A and travel information B are determined to be traveling at the requested travel position in the positional relationship with the requested travel position designated by management numbers 146 and 147. However, since the order of the time series when travel information A and travel information B are acquired is reversed for travel request route No147, it is determined that the travel direction of the travel request route 147 is not satisfied, and only the travel request route with management number 146 in the same direction in order satisfies all the travel conditions including the direction. It may be configured in this way.

[0099] In this way, it is preferable that the travel request information registration unit 130 creates and registers a second requested travel position with the arrangement of the coordinates specifying the requested travel position reversed when it is required to travel in both directions with respect to the travel route in the received travel request information, so that determination including the direction can be performed.

[0100] [Third Embodiment] In the information processing system according to the third embodiment, the purpose is to contribute to the efficiency improvement of the user's road maintenance work and the like by enabling more appropriate images requested by the user using images to be collected efficiently.

[0101] Figure 21 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image acquisition device 600 according to Embodiment 3. In the image acquisition device 600 illustrated in FIG. 21, a travel request information input unit 610 that inputs travel request information includes a newly added required weather condition input unit 614, a required travel speed input unit 615, a required deadline input unit 616, a required image quality input unit 617, a required shooting direction input unit 618, and a required number of images input unit 619.

[0102] The required weather condition input unit 614 inputs conditions regarding the weather when travel is requested. Examples of the conditions regarding the weather include items such as "sunny", "cloudy", "rainy", and "snowy". The required weather condition input unit 614 displays these weather-related conditions on the screen in the form of check boxes and allows the user to select them to input the required weather during travel.

[0103] For example, when the usage method of the images required by the user is for monitoring potholes occurring on the road, if there is snow accumulation or rain, the potholes may be hidden and the purpose of using the images cannot be achieved. Therefore, in such cases, the user is allowed to input "sunny" and "cloudy" as the weather conditions during travel. Conversely, for applications where it is desired to monitor the overflow condition from a drainage channel when it is raining, it is advisable to select "rain" as the required weather during travel. When it is desired to monitor the freezing condition of the road, conditions such as "snow" or a temperature below 0 degrees may be input as the weather.

[0104] The required travel speed input unit 615 inputs conditions regarding the moving speed during travel when travel is requested. For example, the required travel speed input unit 615 allows the user to input a numerical value in the form of 30 km / h or less as the speed during travel. For example, in the case of road maintenance applications, if the travel speed is too fast, image processing may not be able to keep up, and damaged areas such as potholes may move and be blurred during image encoding such as motion vector compensation. Conversely, when it is desired to monitor the vibration condition of a bridge when traveling at a certain speed or higher, it may be input in the form of 50 km / h or more as the speed during travel.

[0105] The required deadline input unit 616 inputs the required deadline regarding the deadline when driving or image transmission is requested. In the case of applications such as road maintenance, since it is contracted annually, there may be restrictions such as that monitoring must be completed by the end of the year. Therefore, the required deadline input unit 616 allows the user to input a date such as 00:00 on December 27, 2023 as the required deadline date and time for these driving and image transmissions.

[0106] The required image quality input unit 617 allows the input of conditions regarding the image quality of the images taken during driving. For example, it may be input by allowing selection from image qualities such as "UHD", "FHD", "HD", etc. as the required image quality, or it may be input in a form such as a resolution of 1920 * 1080 or higher.

[0107] For example, in the case of road maintenance applications, in order to calculate the road roughness index (IRI), pavement maintenance management index (MCI), etc., it may be necessary to have images taken with a higher definition image quality. In the case of such applications, the required image quality input unit 617 displays the conditions regarding these image qualities on the screen in the form of check boxes and allows the user to select them to input information regarding the required image quality.

[0108] The required shooting direction input unit 618 inputs the conditions indicating the direction of image shooting installed during driving. For example, when the image shooting device 200 is in the form of a smartphone, etc., the orientation of the image will be different when it is installed vertically on the dashboard and when it is installed horizontally. The required shooting direction input unit 618 allows the user to input the conditions regarding these shooting orientations, that is, the installation direction of the image shooting device.

[0109] The required image number input unit 619 inputs conditions regarding how many images taken on the required driving route are to be acquired. For example, in the case of road maintenance applications, assuming a case where the images at the required driving positions taken by one vehicle are shaky, there is a need to acquire up to two images for the same driving route just to be safe. The required image number input unit 619 inputs conditions regarding the number of images taken at the positions where driving is required by having the user input the number of these required images.

[0110] The driving request information transmission unit 620 includes a new required weather condition transmission unit 624, a required driving speed transmission unit 625, a required deadline transmission unit 626, a required image quality transmission unit 627, a required shooting direction transmission unit 628, and a required image number transmission unit 629.

[0111] The required weather condition transmission unit 624 transmits weather condition information, which is the condition regarding the weather when driving is required and input by the required weather condition input unit 614. The required driving speed transmission unit 625 transmits driving speed condition information, which is the condition regarding the driving speed when driving is required and input by the required driving speed input unit 615. The required deadline transmission unit 626 transmits deadline information indicating the deadline by which the transmission of the driving or images is required and input by the required deadline input unit 616. The required image quality transmission unit 627 transmits image quality information indicating the condition regarding the image quality of the images taken during driving and input by the required image quality input unit 617. The required shooting direction transmission unit 628 transmits shooting direction information indicating the direction in which images are to be taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device, and input by the required shooting direction input unit 618. The required image number transmission unit 629 transmits image number information indicating how many images taken at the positions where driving is required and input by the required image number input unit 619 are to be requested.

[0112] FIG. 22 shows an example of the driving request information transmitted from the driving request information transmission unit 620 to the information processing server 400. The driving request information illustrated in FIG. 22 includes driving request position information indicating the position where driving is requested, requested driving time zone information indicating the time zone when driving is requested, requested driving direction information which is information regarding the direction in which driving is requested, weather condition information which is a condition regarding the weather when driving is requested, driving speed condition information which is a condition regarding the driving speed when driving is requested, deadline information indicating the deadline by which an image transmission is requested, image quality information indicating the condition regarding the image quality of the image taken during driving, shooting direction information indicating the direction in which an image is taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device, and image number information indicating how many images taken at the position where driving is requested are requested.

[0113] Next, the information processing server 400 according to Embodiment 3 will be described. FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing server 400 according to Embodiment 3. The information processing server 400 illustrated in FIG. 23 newly includes a geographical information database unit 480, a weather information management unit 490, and a current date and time information acquisition unit 500.

[0114] The geographical information database unit 480 manages geographical information as a database. The geographical information database unit 480 records geographical information together with polygon information connecting the boundaries of the administrative division for each certain administrative division such as XX City or XX Town.

[0115] FIG. 24 shows an example of the geographical information recorded and managed by the geographical information database unit 480. In the geographical information illustrated in FIG. 24, an administrative division code uniquely assigned to each administrative division, the name of the administrative division, and polygon information are stored as an array of coordinates delimiting the administrative division. Note that the format held by the geographical information database unit 480 may be a geojson format or the like.

[0116] The weather information management unit 490 manages information on the weather during driving regarding the position where driving is requested. The weather information management unit 490 includes a weather information receiving unit 491 and a weather information storage unit 492.

[0117] The weather information receiving unit 491 receives information on the weather at a predetermined date and time at a predetermined position. For example, the weather information receiving unit 491 accesses an API of the Japan Meteorological Agency that distributes weather information, etc., to receive weather information at the driving date and time of the driving position included in the driving information. The weather information storage recording unit 492 temporarily stores the weather information acquired by the weather information receiving unit 491 as a cache in a recording medium.

[0118] FIG. 25 is an example of the weather information stored by the weather information storage unit 492. The weather information storage unit 492 records in an associated state the geographical information related to the driving position and the weather information at the driving date and time related to the driving position.

[0119] The current date and time information acquisition unit 500 acquires the current date and time. The current date and time information acquisition unit 500 may acquire current date and time information from an internal clock, or may acquire the current date and time from an external date and time server.

[0120] The driving request information receiving unit 410 includes a requested weather condition receiving unit 414, a requested driving speed receiving unit 415, a requested deadline receiving unit 416, a requested image quality receiving unit 417, a requested shooting direction receiving unit 418, and a requested number of images receiving unit 419.

[0121] The requested weather condition receiving unit 414 receives weather condition information, which is a condition regarding the weather when driving is requested. The requested driving speed receiving unit 415 receives driving speed condition information, which is a condition regarding the driving speed when driving is requested. The requested deadline receiving unit 416 receives deadline information indicating the deadline for driving or the deadline for image transmission. The requested shooting direction receiving unit 418 receives shooting direction information indicating the direction in which an image is taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device. The requested number of images receiving unit 419 receives image number information indicating how many images are requested to be taken at the position where driving is requested.

[0122] In this way, the driving request information receiving unit 410 receives, as driving request information, information including some or all of driving request position information indicating the position where driving is requested, requested driving time zone information indicating the requested driving time zone indicating the time zone when driving is requested, requested driving direction information which is information regarding the direction in which driving is requested, weather condition information which is a condition regarding the weather when driving is requested, driving speed condition information which is a condition regarding the driving speed when driving is requested, deadline information indicating the deadline for which image transmission is requested, image quality information indicating the condition regarding the image quality of the image taken during driving, shooting direction information indicating the direction in which the image is taken during driving, and image number information indicating up to how many images taken at the position where driving is requested are requested.

[0123] The driving request information registration unit 130 newly includes a requested weather condition registration unit 134, a requested driving speed registration unit 135, a requested deadline registration unit 136, a requested image quality registration unit 137, a requested shooting direction registration unit 138, and a requested image number registration unit 139.

[0124] The requested weather condition registration unit 134 registers the weather condition information which is a condition regarding the weather when driving is requested and received by the requested weather condition receiving unit 414. The requested driving speed registration unit 135 registers the driving speed condition information which is a condition regarding the driving speed when driving is requested and received by the requested driving speed receiving unit 415. The requested deadline registration unit 136 registers the deadline information indicating the deadline for driving or the deadline for image transmission and received by the requested deadline receiving unit 416. The requested shooting direction registration unit 138 registers the shooting direction information indicating the direction in which the image is taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device, and received by the requested shooting direction receiving unit 418. The requested image number registration unit 139 registers the image number information indicating up to how many images taken at the position where driving is requested are requested and received by the requested image number receiving unit 419.

[0125] FIG. 26 shows an example of the driving request information registered by the driving request information registration unit 130. The registered driving request information includes a driving request position indicating the position where driving is requested, a requested driving time zone indicating the time zone when driving is requested, a requested driving direction which is information regarding the direction in which driving is requested, a requested weather condition which is a condition regarding the weather when driving is requested, a requested driving speed which is a condition regarding the driving speed when driving is requested, a requested deadline indicating the deadline for image transmission or driving request, a requested image quality indicating the condition regarding the image quality of the images taken during driving, a shooting direction indicating the direction in which images are taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device, and the number of images requested up to the images taken at the position where driving is requested, and are registered in an associated state.

[0126] The driving information receiving unit 420 newly includes a speed information receiving unit 425, a shooting image quality information receiving unit 427, and a shooting direction information receiving unit 428. The speed information receiving unit 425 receives speed information regarding the driving speed when the driving position indicating the driving position is acquired. The shooting image quality information receiving unit 427 receives information regarding the image quality of the images taken during driving, that is, information regarding shooting parameters such as the shooting resolution in the image capturing unit. The shooting direction information receiving unit 428 receives the shooting direction indicating the direction in which images are being taken during driving, that is, the installation direction of the image capturing device.

[0127] FIG. 27 shows an example of the driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420. The driving information illustrated in FIG. 27 includes, in addition to the latitude and longitude coordinates indicating the driving position for each date and time when the position information is acquired, information regarding the driving speed, driving direction, and altitude at that position, and also includes information regarding the file number assigned to the image associated with the driving position, the shooting quality (shooting resolution) of the image, and the direction in which the image is taken.

[0128] The driving determination unit 140 includes a weather condition determination unit 144, a driving speed determination unit 145, a deadline determination unit 146, an image quality determination unit 147, a shooting direction determination unit 148, and an image number determination unit 149.

[0129] The weather condition determination unit 144 acquires the weather information at the driving position and driving date and time received by the driving information receiving unit 430 from the weather information management unit 490, and determines whether the driving position satisfies the weather conditions specified in the driving request information specified as the driving request route.

[0130] The driving speed determination unit 145 determines whether the speed at the driving request position indicated by the driving speed information received by the driving information receiving unit 420 satisfies the required speed condition.

[0131] The deadline determination unit 146 determines whether the current date and time acquired by the current date and time acquisition unit 500 exceeds the driving deadline date and time registered as the deadline for driving to the required driving position.

[0132] The image quality determination unit 147 determines whether the information regarding the shooting image quality at the driving position included in the driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420 satisfies the image quality conditions required at the required driving position specified based on the driving position.

[0133] The shooting direction determination unit 148 determines whether the information regarding the shooting direction of the image at the driving position included in the driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420 satisfies the shooting direction conditions required at the required driving position specified based on the driving position.

[0134] The number of images determination unit 149 determines whether the number of recorded images associated with the required driving position specified based on the driving position included in the driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420 exceeds the required number of images.

[0135] Next, the processing flow of the travel determination unit 140 will be described. FIG. 28 shows the processing flow in the travel determination unit 140. When new travel information is received by the travel information reception unit 420, it is determined in step S1402 whether there is registered a required travel position in which a plurality of position coordinates included in the travel information exist within a predetermined distance and the travel direction is also satisfied from the time series of the position coordinates, and whether there is registered travel request information.

[0136] In the vicinity search of the coordinates and the polyline in step S1402, if the corresponding required travel position is not found, the process ends and the system waits until the next travel position information is received. In step S1402, if the corresponding required travel position exists, in step S1404, it is determined whether the current date and time exceeds the required deadline specified in the travel request information regarding the required travel position.

[0137] In the deadline check in step S1404, if the deadline has passed, the process ends. If the deadline has not yet been reached, in step S1406, it is determined whether the number of images associated with the travel request information extracted in step S1402 exceeds the required number of images.

[0138] In the comparison in step S1406, if the number of images exceeds the required number, the process ends. If the required number of images has not yet been reached, in step S1408, it is determined whether the travel speed at each travel position satisfies the condition of the required travel speed.

[0139] In the comparison in step S1408, if the condition of the required travel speed is not satisfied, the process ends. If the condition of the travel speed is satisfied, in step S1410, it is determined whether the date and time of travel satisfies the condition of the required time zone.

[0140] In the comparison in step S1410, if conditions are not satisfied, such as when the required time zone is daytime but the date and time when the required driving position was traveled is at night, the process ends. On the other hand, if the conditions of the required time zone are also satisfied, in step S1412, it is determined whether the image quality of the image taken during driving, that is, the shooting image quality parameters at the time of shooting, meets the required image quality.

[0141] In the comparison in step S1412, if the image quality conditions are not satisfied, such as when the shooting image quality is low even though high image quality is required, the process ends. On the other hand, when the image quality conditions are also satisfied, in step S1414, it is determined whether the shooting direction of the image matches the required shooting direction.

[0142] If the conditions of the shooting direction in step S1414 are not satisfied, the process ends. If the conditions of the shooting direction are also satisfied, it is determined whether the weather at the driving position and driving date and time meets the required weather conditions.

[0143] If the weather conditions in step S1416 are not satisfied, the process ends. If the weather conditions are also satisfied, in step S1418, assuming that an image that meets the conditions required by the driving request information has been taken, the image capturing device having the driving information is requested to transmit the image related to the driving information.

[0144] FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the detailed processing flow when determining whether the required weather conditions are met. In step S1416a, one position coordinate is selected from the plurality of driving positions included in the received driving information, and the administrative division code at the position coordinate is obtained from the geographical information database.

[0145] In step S1416b, based on the administrative division code obtained in step S1416a and the date and time when the position coordinate from which the acquisition was made was obtained, it is determined whether the weather information for this condition has already been acquired and saved as a cache in the recording medium.

[0146] If it is determined in step S1416b that there is a cache, the cached weather information is read out in step S1416c. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no cache, the weather information at the driving position and at the driving date and time is acquired from the weather information distribution server existing outside in step S1416d.

[0147] In step S1416e, the weather information acquired in step S1416d is stored as a cache in association with the administrative division and date and time corresponding to the position at which the weather information is acquired.

[0148] In step S1416f, it is determined whether the weather condition required by the required driving information related to the driving position is satisfied using the weather read in step S1416c or the weather acquired in step S1416e, and the determination result is held.

[0149] As described above, in the information processing system according to the third embodiment, since conditions appropriate for the user's usage purpose can be added to the image requested by the user, the efficiency of operations such as road maintenance can be realized using the acquired image.

[0150] [Fourth Embodiment] In the information processing system according to the fourth embodiment, it is an object to reduce the burden on the information processing server by performing part of the determination as to whether the required conditions are satisfied on the side of the image capturing device. Hereinafter, it will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0151] FIG. 30 shows an example of the information processing system 1 according to the fourth embodiment. In the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 30, the information processing server 400 newly includes a driving request information distribution unit 510.

[0152] The driving request information distribution unit 510 distributes the driving request information registered in the information processing server 400 by the driving request information registration unit 130 to each image capturing device 200.

[0153] The image capturing device 200 newly includes a traveling information acquisition unit 120, a traveling request information receiving unit 230, a traveling request information registration unit 130, and a traveling determination unit 140.

[0154] The traveling information acquisition unit 120 acquires various information during traveling. The traveling information acquisition unit 120 includes a traveling position acquisition unit 121 that acquires the traveling position, a traveling direction acquisition unit 122 that acquires the traveling direction when the traveling position is acquired, a traveling date and time acquisition unit 123 that acquires the traveling date and time indicating the date and time when the traveling position is acquired, a traveling speed acquisition unit 124 that acquires the traveling speed when the traveling position is acquired, a captured image quality acquisition unit 125 that acquires information regarding the image quality of the image captured by the image capturing unit 110 during traveling, that is, information regarding the image quality parameters in the capturing, and a capturing direction acquisition unit 126 that acquires the capturing direction information indicating the capturing direction when capturing the traveling image.

[0155] The traveling request information receiving unit 230 receives traveling request information indicating the content of the requested traveling. The traveling request information includes, in addition to the information indicating the traveling route, which is the position where the traveling is requested, information regarding the requested traveling direction, traveling time zone, traveling speed, the image quality of the requested image, the direction of the image, and the like.

[0156] The traveling request information registration unit 130 registers the traveling request information received by the traveling request information receiving unit 230 in an internal database. Since the traveling request information registration unit 130 arranged on the image capturing device 200 side is a copy of part or all of the traveling request information that is master information registered on the information processing server 400 side, the traveling request information registration unit 130 arranged on the image capturing device 200 side may be referred to as the traveling request information storage unit 130.

[0157] The traveling determination unit 140 determines whether the vehicle equipped with the image capturing device 200 has performed the requested traveling based on the traveling information acquired by the traveling information acquisition unit 120 and the traveling request information registered by the traveling request information registration unit 130.

[0158] When the travel determination unit 140 determines that the requested travel has been performed, the image transmission unit 150 transmits an image related to the requested travel to the information processing server 400.

[0159] As described above, in the information processing system according to the fourth embodiment, part or all of the determination as to whether the requested travel is being performed is carried out on the side of each image capturing device 200. With such a configuration, the determination process performed by the information processing server 400 can be decentralized.

[0160] In the above description, the case where the determination as to whether the travel is being performed is made by the image capturing device 200 has been mainly described. However, it may be configured to be shared between both the information processing server 400 and the image capturing device 200. FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system 1 according to another form of the fourth embodiment.

[0161] In the information processing system illustrated in FIG. 31, the information processing server 400 includes a travel information receiving unit 420, a travel determination unit 140, and an image transmission request transmission unit 430. The image capturing device 200 includes a travel information transmission unit 210 and an image transmission request receiving unit 220.

[0162] In the information processing system illustrated in FIG. 31, the travel request information registration unit 130 and the travel determination unit 140 are respectively arranged in both the information processing server 400 and the image capturing device 200. Therefore, in this specification, the travel request information registration unit 130 arranged in the information processing server 400 may be referred to as the server-side travel request information registration unit 130a or the main travel request information registration unit 130a, and the travel request information registration unit 130 arranged on the side of the image capturing device 200 may be referred to as the edge-side travel request information registration unit 130b or the replica travel request information registration unit 130b. Further, the travel information determination unit 140 arranged in the information processing server 400 may be referred to as the server-side travel determination unit 140a or the primary travel determination unit 140a, and the travel determination unit 140 arranged on the side of the image capturing device 200 may be referred to as the edge-side travel determination unit 140b or the secondary travel determination unit 140b.

[0163] When it is determined by the travel determination unit 140 that a travel that satisfies the travel content indicated by the travel request information has been performed among various travel information obtained during travel, the travel information transmission unit 210 transmits the information related to the travel to the information processing server 400 as travel information. The travel information includes travel position, travel direction, travel date and time, travel speed, shooting image quality, shooting direction, etc.

[0164] The travel information transmission unit 210 includes a travel position transmission unit 211 that transmits travel position information indicating the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 121, a travel direction transmission unit 212 that transmits travel direction information indicating the travel direction acquired by the travel direction acquisition unit 122, a travel date and time transmission unit 213 that transmits travel date and time information regarding the travel date and time acquired by the travel date and time acquisition unit 123, a travel speed transmission unit 214 that transmits travel speed information regarding the travel speed acquired by the travel speed acquisition unit 124, a shooting image quality transmission unit 215 that transmits image quality information regarding the shooting image quality during travel acquired by the shooting image quality acquisition unit 125, and a shooting direction transmission unit 216 that transmits shooting direction information indicating the shooting direction during travel acquired by the shooting direction acquisition unit 216.

[0165] FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the processing flow in the image capturing device 200. In step S202, travel request information distributed from the information processing server 400 is received. In step S204, the travel request information received in step S202 is registered in the internal database of the device. Note that the original of the registered travel request information is registered on the information processing server 400 side, and the travel request information registered in the image capturing device 200 may be a cache-like existence for use in the subsequent travel determination.

[0166] In step S212, driving information at the time of image capturing is acquired. The driving information includes position information indicating the current position that is periodically acquired at the time of image capturing, the date and time thereof, information such as the image quality of the captured image, and the like. In step 214, based on the driving information acquired in step S212, it is determined whether the driving required by the driving request information registered in step S204 is satisfied. If it is determined in step S214 that the driving is not satisfied, the process ends. If it is determined that the driving is satisfied, in step S216, the driving information determined to be satisfied is transmitted to the information processing server 216.

[0167] In step S222, when it is determined that the driving content required by the driving determination performed by the information processing server 400 based on the driving information transmitted in step S216 has been implemented, an image transmission request transmitted is received. In step S224, the image specified by the image transmission request is transmitted.

[0168] As described above, in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 31, first, each image capturing device 200 determines whether the required driving has been performed, in other words, whether the required image has been captured. When this determination is cleared, a second driving determination is performed by the information processing server 400 based on the driving information. By configuring in this way, most of the determinations are distributed and performed by each image capturing device 200, thereby reducing the determination load on the information processing server 400.

[0169] Note that the secondary driving determination unit 140b and the primary driving determination unit 140a may be configured such that the items to be determined are different. For example, the determination of whether the weather requirements are satisfied may be performed only by the primary driving determination unit 140a, and the determination regarding the driving position may be performed only by the secondary driving determination unit 140b.

[0170] [Fifth Embodiment] In the information processing system according to the fifth embodiment, a reward that is a consideration is paid when the required driving is performed. This will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0171] FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system according to Embodiment 5. In the information processing system illustrated in FIG. 31, the information processing server 410 includes a user information management unit 520 that manages user information, a reward calculation unit 530 that calculates a reward, a reward registration unit 540 that registers the reward, a reward update unit 550 that updates the registered reward, a reward granting unit 560 that grants the reward, and a reward notification unit 570 that notifies that the reward has been paid.

[0172] The user information management unit 520 registers and updates information regarding users who use the information processing system 1. In addition to users on the side that acquires images using an image acquisition device 600 such as a road maintenance manager, there are users on the side of image photographers who capture and transmit images using the image capturing device 200 as users who use the information processing system 1.

[0173] FIG. 34 shows an example of a user information table managed by the user information management unit 520. In the user information table illustrated in FIG. 34, in addition to a user ID that uniquely identifies a user, user name, handle name, and point information indicating points held by the user are associated and recorded. Here, the point information is assumed to have a value that can be exchanged for money, and for example, it may be configured to be exchangeable at an exchange rate of 1 yen per point in a cashing application processing unit (not shown).

[0174] The reward calculation unit 530 calculates the amount of reward to be given to the user who has traveled the travel request route registered by the travel request information registration unit 130 when traveling the travel request route. As an example, the reward calculation unit 530 calculates the reward amount based on the distance of the requested travel route. For example, when the distance of a certain requested travel route is 530 m, the reward amount is calculated so that 1060 points obtained by multiplying by a basic coefficient α (here, 2) become the reward.

[0175] In addition, the reward calculation unit 530 calculates the reward according to the weight β related to the ease of driving set for the required driving route. For example, on a road that is easy to drive on, more users are expected to drive on that road. Therefore, even if the reward is set low, users who will drive can be expected.

[0176] Also, for example, the reward calculation unit 530 sets the reward amount according to the number of lanes of the required driving route. For example, when there are multiple lanes γ, more vehicles are expected to drive on the arterial road. On the other hand, a road with only one lane is considered a road such as an alley that is not usually traveled by users other than those living nearby, so the probability of being traveled is low. Therefore, the reward calculation unit 530 determines the value obtained by multiplying the distance D by a predetermined coefficient α and dividing it by the number of lanes γ as the reward amount set for the required driving route.

[0177] Also, for example, the reward calculation unit 530 calculates the reward amount according to whether the required driving route is one-way or not. Since the number of vehicles driving on a one-way road tends to be small, when the required driving route is one-way, the reward calculation unit 530 adds a predetermined point to obtain the reward amount.

[0178] Also, for example, the reward calculation unit 530 calculates the reward amount based on whether weather conditions are set as the required driving information (required driving conditions). For example, when "rain" is set as the weather condition, the number of vehicles driving on that day is less than when there is no weather condition, and the probability that the required driving route will be traveled is reduced. Therefore, when the weather condition is set or the weather condition is a predetermined weather, the reward calculation unit 530 determines a larger reward amount compared to the case where the weather condition is not set. By setting it in this way, for example, when a typhoon with "storm" weather is approaching and it is desired to have the streets photographed, it is possible to set a high reward and have it driven.

[0179] Further, for example, the reward calculation unit 530 may be configured to calculate a reward according to the remaining period until the deadline, which is the deadline for driving or image posting set in the driving request information. For example, when there is only one week left until the deadline and no driving has been done and no image has been sent yet, from the user's perspective, there is a need to obtain the image even if it means adding a bonus to the reward. Therefore, the reward calculation unit 530 may be configured to recalculate the reward amount according to the period until the deadline when driving is required, and have it updated by the reward update unit 550.

[0180] The reward registration unit 540 registers the reward calculated by the reward calculation unit 530 together with the driving request information. FIG. 35 shows an example of the driving request information table in which the reward is registered. In the driving request information table illustrated in FIG. 35, a new column for status and a column for reward are added.

[0181] In the status of the driving request information table, the driving request information set to "ACTIVE" indicates that driving is required, and "RESERVED" indicates that a user has driven to the driving request position indicated by this driving request information and an image transmission request has been issued, and the image is in a waiting state for posting. When the image receiving unit 440 receives the image related to the driving, the status of the driving request information is updated to "DONE". The driving determination unit 140 may determine whether there is driving request information whose status is "ACTIVE" and whose driving information received by the driving information receiving unit 420 satisfies the driving conditions, among the plurality of driving request information registered in the driving request information table.

[0182] In this way, the driving request information indicating the required driving content received by the driving request information receiving unit 410 and the reward amount calculated by the reward calculation unit 530 are registered in an associated state.

[0183] The reward update unit 550 performs a process of updating the reward amount registered for each driving request information. For example, when it is desired to actively vary the reward amount according to the period until the deadline as described above, the reward update unit 550 performs a process of updating the reward amount according to the remaining period until a predetermined deadline specified in the driving request information or the elapsed period.

[0184] Note that in the method described above, the case where the reward is calculated when registering the driving request information has been described, but it is not limited to this, and the reward may be calculated at the time of driving determination. For example, when it is determined that driving has been performed, the reward calculation unit 530 may calculate the reward amount based on the distance traveled and the image quality of the image captured at that time.

[0185] When it is determined that the requested driving has been performed, the reward granting unit 560 performs a process of granting the reward amount calculated based on the content for which the driving is requested to the user who has performed the driving. For example, the reward granting unit 560 grants the reward by adding the reward amount calculated based on the driving request information for which the driving has been performed to the point information held by the user who has performed the driving.

[0186] When the reward is granted by the reward granting unit 560, the reward notification unit 570 notifies the user to whom the reward has been granted.

[0187] Next, the image capturing device 200 will be described. The image capturing device 200 includes a driving request information display unit 240, a reward notification receiving unit 250, and a reward display unit 260.

[0188] The driving request information display unit 240 displays on the screen the driving request information received by the driving request information receiving unit 230 and registered (recorded) in the simple database inside the device by the replica driving request information registration unit 130b.

[0189] FIG. 36 shows an example of the driving request information displayed on the screen. In the screen illustrated in FIG. 36, it is divided and displayed into two parts: a preview area 2001 for displaying a preview of the video being shot by the video shooting unit 110 and a map area 2002. In the map area 2002, the driving request information registered within the range of the map on the map is overlaid and displayed. For example, the driving request information display unit 240 reads out the driving request information that has an active status indicating that driving is currently requested among the registered driving request information and is included within the current map boundary, and then overlays and displays the driving request position included in the driving request information on the map as a polyline. In FIG. 36, one piece of driving request information is overlaid and displayed, and the driving request position included in the driving request information is composed of three links 2401a, 2401b, and 2401c.

[0190] By enabling the confirmation of which road a driving request has been issued for during driving in this way, it becomes possible to guide and have the user drive along the driving route for a user who happens to be driving nearby.

[0191] The reward notification receiving unit 250 receives the reward information to be notified when a reward is granted on the information processing server 400 side due to driving along the requested driving route. FIG. 37 shows an example of the reward information generated by the reward notification unit 570 and received by the reward notification receiving unit 250. In the reward information illustrated in FIG. 37, in addition to the reward number uniquely assigned to each reward, it is composed of the granted reward amount, the driving request information number identifying the driving request information that is the source of the reward, a plurality of position coordinates specifying the driving position, and the like.

[0192] The reward display unit 260 displays the reward information received by the reward notification receiving unit 250. The reward display unit 260 can be configured to temporarily display the granted reward amount on the screen in a dialog, toast, or the like, and convey to the user that the reward has been paid.

[0193] As described above, when the information processing server according to the present embodiment receives an image captured on a driving route for which driving is requested, it further includes a reward granting unit 560 that grants a reward, and a reward notification unit 570 that notifies that the reward has been granted.

[0194] It further includes a reward calculation unit that calculates the amount of the reward to be granted at that time. The reward calculation unit 530 calculates the reward for each driving route based on information such as the distance of the driving route for which driving is requested, the number of lanes, a weighting value indicating the ease of driving, whether it is one-way, the image quality of the requested image, the requested weather, and the remaining period until the deadline.

[0195] The image capturing device 200 includes a driving request information receiving unit 230 that receives driving request information, a driving request information display unit 240 that overlays and displays a polyline at the position on the map where driving is requested as indicated by the driving request information, a reward notification receiving unit 250 that receives a notification regarding the granted reward, and a reward notification display unit 260 that displays information regarding the received reward.

[0196] With this configuration, it is possible to accelerate the collection of images by paying an appropriate reward to the user who has driven to the requested driving position and posted an image. When receiving the reward notification, it is preferable that the driving request information display unit 240 displays the driving route for which the reward has been paid and the driving route for which it has not been paid in a distinguishable state, so that the user can know which part they have contributed to.

[0197] FIG. 38 shows an example of driving request information that displays the rewarded requested driving route and the unrewarded requested driving route in a distinguishable state. In the case illustrated in FIG. 38, it is assumed that the user has driven the driving route of 2401a, transmitted an image, and received a notice that the reward for the requested driving route has been granted. In this case, the driving request information display unit 240 changes the type of the polyline to a dashed line from the actual practice for the driving route portion related to the driving request information for which the reward has been granted and displays it. By changing the color and type of the polyline of the requested driving route portion overlaid on the map in this way, it becomes easier for the user to determine where to drive to obtain the reward, which is good.

[0198] [Sixth Embodiment] In each of the above embodiments, the case where the driving route required for driving is a relatively simple driving route connecting two points has been described. For such a simple route, it is possible for a single user to drive from the start point to the end point of the required driving route, and continuous videos taken by the same video shooting device are posted, which has the advantage of being easy to use for the side using the videos. However, in use cases such as road maintenance, there is a need to comprehensively collect videos of each road in a certain area. In this case, the requested driving information will be composed of a set of a large number of links as the requested driving positions. In such a case, it may be difficult for a single user to drive all the requested driving routes.

[0199] Thus, depending on the use case of the side using the videos, it may be better to prepare multiple ways of requesting the videos. Therefore, the information processing system according to the sixth embodiment aims to more efficiently collect images of the driving routes required according to the purpose. In this embodiment, although the images are described as videos, it is of course applicable to the case of still images.

[0200] FIG. 39 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the video acquisition device 600 according to Embodiment 6. In the video acquisition device 600 illustrated in FIG. 39, the travel request information input unit 610 inputs, as the requested travel position which is the position where travel is requested, information indicating the area range where travel is requested or information identifying the municipality where travel is requested.

[0201] FIG. 40 shows a case where the requested travel position is input in a manner of designating an area range. By designating a rectangle in the map area 6001, the user inputs the area where travel is requested. Thus, among the requested travel positions, the position where travel is requested and is input in a form of delimiting an area may be particularly referred to as the requested travel area in this specification.

[0202] FIG. 41 shows a case where the municipality where travel is requested is selected in a select box format. Thus, the position where travel is requested and is input in a form of directly selecting a municipality or administrative division may be particularly referred to as the requested travel municipality or requested travel administrative division, etc. in this specification.

[0203] Also, in FIGS. 40 and 41, as the travel request information, a reward payment method selection area for inputting the method of paying a reward is provided. The travel request information input unit 610 inputs the reward payment method information which is the method of paying a reward.

[0204] FIGS. 42 and 43 each show an example of the travel request information transmitted from the travel request information transmission unit 420. In the travel request information shown in FIG. 42, the information of the south-west and north-east coordinates delimiting the area is included as the requested travel area. In the travel request information shown in FIG. 43, the administrative division code identifying the municipality is included together with the requested image quality, requested deadline, etc. Also, the travel request information shown in FIGS. 42 and 43 includes the reward payment method information for designating the method of paying a reward.

[0205] Note that the method of paying remuneration may be referred to as the order type, order category, etc., and the subtypes and completion types may be referred to as the consumption type, order type, etc., respectively. What it means is information indicating the difference in behavior as to whether remuneration is generated when some of the required travel positions are traveled for the travel request information composed of a plurality of required travel positions, or whether remuneration is generated only when all of the required travel positions included in the travel request information are traveled.

[0206] Returning to FIG. 39, the information processing server 600 newly includes a travel link expansion unit 580. When the travel request position included in the travel request information received by the travel request information receiving unit 510 is of the travel request area type or the travel request city / town / village type, the travel link expansion unit 580 performs a process of expanding to the travel link included in the requested position.

[0207] For example, the travel link expansion unit 580 reads out a list of travel links included in the range of the travel request area or travel request city / town / village included in the travel request information from the geographical information database unit 480. The geographical information database unit 480 holds information on the nodes and links of each road, and can read out a list of links in the range by performing GIS search or the like.

[0208] The travel request information registration unit 130 registers the plurality of expanded link information as travel request positions. With this configuration, it is possible to comprehensively register travel request routes without inputting in a form of specifying the roads in the area desired by the user in detail.

[0209] Figure 44 shows an example of a travel request information table to be registered. In Figure 44, six travel request information with management numbers 142 to 147 are registered, and information regarding the required image quality and required deadline, information indicating the payment method of the reward, and the reward amount are associated with the orderer user ID that identifies the user who is the orderer of the travel request information, the status indicating whether it is valid travel request information, and the order receiver user ID that identifies the user who received the travel request information and registered. Note that when the required image quality is not specified, null or empty information is registered. Also, when the reward payment method is a subtype, since it does not take the form of someone receiving an order, the order receiver user ID becomes empty.

[0210] In Figure 44, the reward amounts are registered for the travel request information of No143 and No146 where the reward payment method is registered as the completion type. When all the travels specified in the travel request information are completed, the registered reward amount is paid to the user who traveled.

[0211] Also, in Figure 44, the travel request information with management number 143 is of the completion type, the order receiver user ID is registered, and the status is "RESERVED" indicating completion, so it shows that the user with the user ID "9a517f7d0d38" received the order and is currently traveling the required travel position included in the travel request information. Since it is of the completion type, even if some of the required travel positions have been traveled, the reward has not been paid yet. On the other hand, the travel request information with management number 144 is also of the completion type, and since the status indicates "DONE" indicating that the status has been completed, it means that the user with the user ID "3439f86ae2f1" registered as the order receiver user ID received this case and traveled all the travel request positions included in the travel request information alone and posted an image, and the reward amount of 7200 points set as the reward was paid. On the other hand, in the travel request order with management number 146, although the reward payment method is of the completion type, the status indicates "ACTIVE" and the order receiver user ID is not registered, indicating that no user has received the order indicated by this travel request information yet.

[0212] Figure 45 is a required travel position management table that manages the required travel positions developed by the travel link development unit 580 among the travel request information. In the required travel position table illustrated in Figure 45, in addition to the required travel position management number that uniquely identifies each required travel position, there are a travel request information management number that uniquely identifies the original travel request information, the required travel position developed as link information, a status indicating whether travel has been requested for the required travel position, and a state in which the reward amount to be paid when traveling the travel request position is associated and registered. Note that when the reward payment method of the original travel request information is of the completion type, since the reward amount is registered in the travel request information management table, the reward amount may not be registered in the required travel position management table.

[0213] The order receiver management unit 590 manages the users who have received orders for the completion-type travel request information. In the completion-type travel request information, it is necessary for one user to travel all the required travel positions included in the travel request information. At this time, if it is not managed who is traveling, multiple people may try to travel to the required travel positions, and there may be disputes regarding the payment of rewards and the like. Therefore, for completion-type orders, the right to travel is configured to be given to the users who wish to receive the order.

[0214] When the order receiver management unit 590 receives an order request for the completion-type travel request information, it manages the order receiver by updating the user ID of the ordered user in the travel request information. Note that if travel is not carried out at the required travel position even after a certain period has passed while receiving the order, the order receiver registration may be cancelled assuming no intention to travel.

[0215] When the running information determination unit 140 determines that a predetermined required running position has been traveled and the image related to the required running position is received by the image receiving unit 440, the reward payment unit 560 pays a reward to the user who has traveled when the reward payment method indicated by the running request information related to the required running position is a partial type. On the other hand, when it is a completion type, the reward is paid only when all the required running positions have been traveled to the user who has received the running request information, and otherwise, it waits.

[0216] Returning to FIG. 39, the image capturing device 200 includes an order receiving button display unit 270 and an order receiving request transmission unit 280. When the running request information display unit 240 displays the running request information, when the reward payment method related to the running request information is a completion type and the status is "ACTIVE" where no one has received the order yet, an order receiving button for asking the user to confirm whether to receive the order is displayed on the screen.

[0217] When the order receiving button is pressed, the order receiving request transmission unit 280 conveys to the information processing server 400 the intention to receive the order for the completion type of running request information, and the order receiver management unit 590 registers the user as an order receiver.

[0218] Next, the processing flow of the information processing server 400 will be described. FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing the reward payment flow of the information processing server 400.

[0219] In step S452, the running information at the time of image capture is acquired from the image capturing device 200. In step S454, it is determined whether a running that satisfies the required running position associated with the running request information has been performed. If it is determined as a result of the determination that none of the required running positions are satisfied, the process ends.

[0220] If it is determined in step S454 that the required running position is satisfied, in step S456, it is determined whether the reward payment method indicated by the running request information associated with the required running position is a completion type.

[0221] If, as a result of the determination in step S456, it is a partial type rather than a completed type, then in step S458, a reward amount corresponding to the required travel position related to the travel is given to the user related to the travel. On the other hand, if, as a result of the determination in step S456, it is a completed type, then in step S460, it is determined whether all the required travel positions associated with the travel request information related to the required travel position have been traveled.

[0222] If, as a result of the determination in step S460, it is determined that all the required travel positions have been traveled for the completed-type travel request information, then the reward set for the completed-type travel request information is given to the user related to the travel. On the other hand, if there are still required travel positions that have not been traveled, the process ends.

[0223] In the above description, a configuration in which a reward is paid only when all the required travel positions included in the travel request information are traveled in the case of the completed type has been described, but it is not limited to this. A configuration may also be such that a reward is paid when a predetermined number or a predetermined ratio or more of the required travel positions are traveled.

[0224] Also, in the above description, the flow has been described in which the travel request information includes a plurality of travel request positions, but the entire position where travel is required may be expressed as the travel request position, and each road included in the travel request position may be expressed as a link.

[0225] As described above, the information processing system according to Embodiment 6 includes a photographing unit that photographs an image, a position acquisition unit that acquires the current position, a registration unit that registers a required travel position indicating a position where travel is requested, a determination unit that determines whether the registered required travel position has been traveled based on the acquired current position, and an image transmission unit that transmits an image related to the required travel position from among the images photographed by the photographing unit when it is determined that the required travel position has been traveled.

[0226] Furthermore, when the determination unit in the information processing system determines that the required travel position has been traveled, the information processing system further includes a reward granting unit that grants a predetermined reward. The information processing system further includes a reward calculation unit that calculates the amount of the reward to be granted. The reward calculation unit calculates the amount of the reward based on information such as the length of the road indicated by the required travel position, the ease of driving on the road, that is, the time required for driving, the number of lanes on the road, and whether the road is one-way. These factors affect the difficulty of driving, and by configuring the system such that a higher reward is granted when traveling to a required travel position that is considered to have a higher difficulty, the probability of obtaining a travel is improved.

[0227] Moreover, it is still better if the reward calculation unit calculates the amount of the reward based on the period until the deadline by which the travel is required. This is because when a deadline is determined, increasing the amount of the reward improves the incentive for travel and increases the probability of obtaining a travel.

[0228] Here, the required travel position is composed of a plurality of links. A link is a part connecting nodes, intersections correspond to nodes, and a link means a road between intersections. Weight information that serves as an index of distance and ease of driving may be associated with the link. In this way, the required travel position is composed of a plurality of link information, and the reward granting unit can be configured to grant a predetermined reward when it is determined that a position corresponding to a certain number or all of the link information included in the required travel position has been traveled.

[0229] However, when the number of links included in the required travel position becomes large, it becomes difficult for a single user to travel to a position corresponding to all the link information, and no one can obtain a reward, resulting in a decrease in incentive.

[0230] Therefore, the required driving position is composed of a plurality of link information, and the reward granting unit may be configured to grant a reward in an amount associated with the link when the position corresponding to each link information included in the required driving position is traveled. In this case, the reward calculation unit calculates the reward amount for each link based on the distance, weighting, number of lanes, etc. of each link, and the registration unit may register in a state where each link constituting the driving request position is associated with the reward amount assigned to the link.

[0231] In this way, as a method of granting rewards, there are two types of methods: a method in which a reward is paid when all or a certain ratio / number or more of the positions where driving is requested are traveled, and a method in which a reward corresponding to the link portion is paid when an individual link (road) portion included in the position where driving is requested is traveled. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

[0232] Therefore, it is preferable to further provide a reward granting method input unit for inputting information regarding the reward granting method, and the registration unit also registers the information regarding the reward granting method. In this case, when it is determined in the determination unit that a predetermined link portion constituting the driving request position has been traveled, the reward granting unit is configured to pay a reward when all or a predetermined number or a predetermined ratio exceeding the driving request position has been traveled by the user when the reward granting method is the complete type of the first method, and when the reward granting method is the partial type of the first method, it is configured to grant the reward amount associated with the link portion. By configuring in this way, flexible operation along the user's use case becomes possible.

[0233] Here, when the complete type of reward granting method is selected, if the driver is not determined in advance, multiple users will compete to obtain the reward granted collectively, and even though a considerable part has been traveled, another user completed it first, resulting in a situation where no reward is paid at all. Therefore, there is a possibility of damaging the incentives of some users.

[0234] Therefore, it is preferable to further include a driving request position display unit that overlays and displays the driving request position on a map, and a button display unit that displays a button for requesting registration as a user who performs the driving when the reward giving method is the complete type of the first method. Since this button is a button for deciding whether to accept the request for the driving as a job, it may also be called an acceptance button. When a predetermined operation is performed on the button, it is preferable to further include a driving user registration unit that registers as a user who travels to the driving request position. Since the driving user is also the acceptor of the job, it is also called an acceptor registration unit or an acceptor management unit.

[0235] In this case, when the complete type of reward giving method is set for the driving request, the determination unit determines whether the driving user registered as a driver has traveled the link part constituting the driving request position, and no determination is made even if other general users travel the driving request position. However, when the reward giving method is the partial type, since a general user can obtain a reward by traveling the link part which is a part of the requested driving position, the determination unit determines whether the link part constituting the requested driving position has been traveled based on the driving position of each user.

[0236] [Other Embodiments] In the description of each of the above embodiments, the case where a reward is given when driving is performed has been described, but it is of course acceptable to configure so that a reward is given when an image is transmitted.

[0237] FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system 2 according to the present embodiment. The information processing system 2 may be called a video management system or a video distribution system. The information processing system shown in FIG. 2 includes a photographing unit 2110, a position acquisition unit 2120, a requested photographing position registration unit 2130, a positional relationship determination unit 2140, and a transmission unit 2150.

[0238] The photographing unit 2110 photographs video. The photographed video is overwritten and recorded on a recording medium in a file format for each predetermined length such as 1 minute or each predetermined capacity such as 100M.

[0239] The position acquisition unit 2120 acquires the current position when the imaging unit 2110 is capturing an image as the imaging position. The position acquisition unit 2120 may be configured to acquire position information, for example, every 5 seconds. In this case, 12 pieces of position information will be acquired as the imaging position information while the imaging unit 2110 captures an image for 1 minute. The imaging position of the image is also recorded in an associated state with the image when the image is recorded as a file.

[0240] The requested imaging position registration unit 2130 registers the position where imaging of an image is requested. The requested imaging position registration unit 2130 registers the requested imaging position as a collection of links connecting between each intersection (node). That is, the requested imaging position is composed of a plurality of link information. The link information includes at least the coordinates of one end point and the two coordinate information of the coordinates of another end point, and may include the coordinate information of the intermediate position when it bends in the middle, etc. In addition, it is preferable that the link information also includes information such as distance, number of lanes, and whether it is one-way.

[0241] The positional relationship determination unit 2140 determines whether the requested imaging position is satisfied based on the position information acquired as the imaging position and the position registered as the requested imaging position. The determination method is the same as the above-described running determination. When the distance relationship between the link constituting the requested imaging position and the acquired imaging position is within a predetermined distance, among the plurality of links constituting the requested imaging position, it is preferable to determine that the image of the link portion has been captured. In this way, the positional relationship determination unit 2140 determines whether an image has been captured at the requested imaging position registered based on the acquired imaging position.

[0242] The transmission unit 2150 transmits the image related to the requested imaging position when the positional relationship determination unit 2140 determines that an image has been captured at the requested imaging position.

[0243] By configuring in this way, it becomes possible to efficiently collect the images captured by an image capturing device such as a dash cam during driving.

[0244] FIG. 48 is a block configuration diagram of a more detailed information processing system 2. In the information processing system 2 illustrated in FIG. 48, a video order device 2600, an information processing device 2400, and a video imaging device 2200 are each connected via a network.

[0245] The video order device 2600 includes a requested imaging position input unit 2610, a reward granting method input unit 2620, and a video order information transmission unit 2630.

[0246] The requested imaging position input unit 2610 inputs requested imaging position information, which is information indicating the imaging position of a video for which imaging is requested. As a method for inputting the requested imaging position, it may be input in a format specifying the start point and end point of a road to be imaged, it may be input in a form delimiting a predetermined area, or it may be input in a form inputting a predetermined administrative division code.

[0247] The reward granting method input unit 2620 inputs, as a method for granting a reward, whether to place an order in either a first completion type in which a reward is paid when videos imaged at all positions of the requested imaging position are posted, or a second partial type in which a reward corresponding to each road portion is paid when videos of each road portion among a plurality of roads (links) constituting the requested imaging position are posted.

[0248] The video order information transmission unit 2630 transmits video order information including the requested imaging position information input by the requested imaging position input unit 2610 and the reward granting method information input by the reward granting method input unit 2620 to the information processing device 2400. Note that the video order information may include various conditions such as a traveling speed, weather conditions, and image quality conditions as described in the above embodiments.

[0249] The information processing device 2400 may be called a video management device or a video distribution device, and since it is composed of a plurality of servers and databases, this part may be called a video management system or a video distribution system.

[0250] The information processing apparatus 2400 includes a video order receiving unit 2410, a video order information registration unit 2420, a reward calculation unit 2430, a video order information distribution unit 2440, a photographer registration request receiving unit 2450, a photographer registration unit 2460, a video shooting information receiving unit 2470, a video shooting condition determination unit 2480, a video transmission request sending unit 2490, a video receiving unit 2500, a reward granting determination unit 2510, and a reward granting unit 2520.

[0251] The video order receiving unit 2410 receives video order information including at least information regarding a requested shooting position and information regarding a reward granting method, which is transmitted from the video order apparatus 2600.

[0252] The video order information registration unit 2410 registers the received video order information in a database. When the requested shooting position is specified in an area designation format having a certain width or by an administrative division code, the video order information registration unit 2420 reads roads included in the designated range from a map database as link information and registers it as the requested shooting position. By configuring in this way, the video order information registration unit 2420 registers a requested shooting position composed of a plurality of link information.

[0253] The reward calculation unit 2430 calculates a reward amount to be granted when a video shot at the requested shooting position is posted. When the reward granting method (reward granting type) included in the video order information is a subtype, the reward calculation unit 2430 may calculate the reward amount for each link constituting the requested shooting position, or when it is a completion type, it may calculate one reward amount for the entire requested shooting position. The reward calculated by the reward calculation unit 2430 is preferably registered in a state associated with the requested shooting position or each link constituting the requested shooting position together with the video order information.

[0254] The reward calculation unit 2430 preferably calculates the reward amount according to, for example, the presence or absence and type of conditions such as image quality and weather for the video specified in the video order information, and the distance of the link.

[0255] The video order information distribution unit 2440 distributes the registered video order information in response to a request from the video imaging device 2200. The video order information distribution unit 2440 may extract and distribute only the currently valid video orders.

[0256] The photographer registration request receiving unit 2450 receives photographer registration request information that requests registration as a photographer who captures the requested video for a completed video order. In the case of a completed video order, if multiple users capture the video simultaneously, there may be users who do not receive a reward. Therefore, it is advisable to register as a video photographer in advance and then have the video captured. In the case of a partial type, since the form is to collect the requested video while multiple users cooperate, it is not necessary to register as a video photographer in advance.

[0257] The photographer registration unit 2460 registers based on the photographer registration request information received by the photographer registration request receiving unit 2450 in a state where the user ID that identifies the photographer is associated with the requested shooting position (video order) of the completed type to be shot.

[0258] The video imaging information receiving unit 2470 receives imaging information regarding the captured video, such as the shooting position, shooting date and time, shooting image quality, and moving speed during shooting, of the video captured by the video imaging device 2200. The imaging information may include information such as a hash value uniquely obtained from the video.

[0259] The video imaging condition determination unit 2480 determines whether a video order that satisfies the imaging conditions requested in the video order is registered based on the imaging information received by the video imaging information receiving unit 2470. At least the video imaging condition determination unit 2480 determines whether the video was captured at the requested shooting position registered based on the shooting position of the video included in the video imaging information. The video imaging condition determination unit 2460 also determines whether the video satisfies the conditions required for the video in the video order, such as image quality conditions, weather conditions, deadline conditions, and time zone conditions, in addition to these positional relationships, and whether the video to be collected has been captured.

[0260] The video transmission request sending unit 2490 sends video transmission request information for requesting the video shooting device 2200 to send a video that has been determined by the video shooting condition determination unit 2480 to meet various video shooting conditions indicated in the video order information. At this time, it is advisable to update the status related to the requested video position to "Reserved". By configuring in this way, it is possible to prevent videos of other users who have shot videos at the same location from being posted while a video transmission is requested.

[0261] The video receiving unit 2500 receives the video transmitted based on the video transmission request information. The received video is recorded on the recording medium in a state associated with the shooting information, the corresponding requested shooting position, or the corresponding link information.

[0262] The reward granting determination unit 2510 determines whether to grant a reward for the video received by the video receiving unit 2500. When the reward granting method for the video order related to the received video is the complete type of the first reward granting method, if videos for all or a number set as a reference or a predetermined ratio or more of the links constituting the requested shooting position registered as the photographer have already been received, the reward granting unit 2520 grants the predetermined reward assigned to the video order (shooting request position). On the other hand, if the above requirements have not been met yet, it is determined not to grant a reward.

[0263] When the reward granting method for the video order related to the received video is the partial type of the second reward granting method, the reward granting determination unit 2510 determines that a reward can be granted at this time, and the reward granting unit 2520 grants the predetermined reward assigned to the link related to the received video.

[0264] The video shooting device 2200 includes a video order receiving unit 2210, a video order information storage unit 2220, a video order information display unit 2230, a photographer registration request input unit 2240, a photographer registration request transmission unit 2250, a shooting unit 2110, a position acquisition unit 2120, a video shooting condition determination unit 2260, a video shooting condition transmission unit 2270, a video transmission request receiving unit 2280, and a transmission unit 2150.

[0265] The video order information receiving unit 2210 receives video order information including information regarding a shooting request position indicating at least a position where shooting is requested, distributed from the information processing server 2410. The video order information preferably includes other information such as a reward giving method, information regarding a required shooting image quality, and information such as a required time zone.

[0266] The video order information recording unit 2220 temporarily records the video order information received by the video order information receiving unit 2210. In this specification, the video order information recording unit 2220 may be referred to as a secondary video order information registration unit 2220 or simply a video order information registration unit 2220.

[0267] The video order information display unit 2230 displays the video order information received by the video order information receiving unit 2210 on the screen. For example, the video order information display unit 2230 converts a link portion indicating the shooting position of the required video included in the video order information into a polyline and performs an overlay display at the corresponding position on the map to display the required shooting position. Also, the video order information display unit 2230 displays information such as the required image quality and the time zone when shooting is requested, included in the video order information, as character information on the screen.

[0268] When the reward giving method included in the video order information displayed on the screen is of the completion type, the photographer registration request input unit 2240 inputs information requesting registration as a photographer who shoots the required video. For example, it is assumed that such a request is made when the user presses an order button displayed on the screen.

[0269] When a photographer registration request is input by the photographer registration request input unit 2240, the photographer registration request transmission unit 2250 transmits, as photographer registration request information, identification information for identifying the target video order or the requested travel position included therein, a user ID for identifying the user who is the photographer, and the like to the information processing apparatus 2400.

[0270] As described above, the imaging unit 2110 captures a video and overwrites and records it on a recording medium in association with the imaging position acquired by the position acquisition unit 2120 described later. The position information acquisition unit 2120 acquires the current position at the time of video imaging as the video imaging position and records it in association with the video. When the position acquisition unit 2120 acquires the position based on a signal from the GPS, it is preferable to also acquire the current date and time and record it as the imaging date and time.

[0271] The video imaging condition determination unit 2260 determines whether there is a video order that satisfies the imaging conditions from the video order information recorded using necessary information such as the imaging position acquired by the position acquisition unit 2120 and information regarding the image quality being imaged by the imaging unit 2110.

[0272] The determination performed on the side of the video imaging apparatus 2200 is a primary determination, and by performing the determination process that can be performed by the video imaging apparatus 2200 alone, the determination load on the information processing apparatus 2400 is dispersed.

[0273] Note that when the reward granting method indicated by the video order information is a completion type, if the photographer registration has not been performed in advance, even if the video is transmitted, it will not be eligible for the reward, so it is excluded from the determination of the requested imaging position.

[0274] When the video shooting condition determination unit 2260 determines that the conditions of a predetermined video order are satisfied, the video shooting information transmission unit 2270 transmits the video shooting information related to the determination. As the video shooting information, information such as the shooting position of the video, the shooting date and time, the image quality, the shooting direction, and the moving speed at the time of shooting, a management number for identifying the video order determined to satisfy the conditions, or a management number for uniquely identifying the requested shooting position included in the video order, or a management number uniquely assigned to a link determined to match the shooting position may be transmitted together, which is convenient for the processing on the information processing apparatus 2400 side.

[0275] When the video shooting condition determination unit 2260 determines that the conditions of a predetermined video order are satisfied, the video shooting information transmission unit 2270 transmits the video shooting information related to the determination. As the video shooting information, information such as the file name or management number of the video file, the shooting position of the video, the shooting date and time, the image quality, the shooting direction, and the moving speed at the time of shooting, a management number for identifying the video order determined to satisfy the conditions, or a management number for uniquely identifying the requested shooting position included in the video order, or a management number uniquely assigned to a link determined to match the shooting position may be transmitted together, which is convenient for the processing on the information processing apparatus 2400 side.

[0276] The video transmission request reception unit 2280 receives video transmission request information, which is information requesting the transmission of a video. The video transmission unit 2290 reads and transmits the designated video file based on the video transmission request information received by the video transmission request reception unit 2280.

[0277] Note that each of the above-described embodiments illustrates an aspect of the present invention, and they can be configured by being appropriately combined.

[0278] For example, in addition to determining the above-described weather information, it may be added. The video order registration unit 2420 further registers the conditions regarding the weather when requesting video shooting. Further, it further includes a weather information acquisition unit that acquires the weather information at the shooting position at the shooting date and time included in the video shooting information received by the video shooting information receiving unit 2470, and the video shooting condition determination unit 2480 determines whether the acquired weather information satisfies the registered weather conditions. By configuring in this way, it is possible to prevent videos in bad weather from being posted in the use case of road maintenance.

[0279] Note that the reward granting unit 2520 grants a reward when a video is received. The reward calculation unit 2430 that calculates the amount of the reward granted at this time calculates a higher reward amount when conditions regarding the weather are registered, compared to the case where information regarding the weather is not registered. By configuring in this way, when a more detailed order for a video is placed, a more valuable video will be received, so it becomes possible to pay a higher reward to the user who posted such a video.

[0280] Also, the various functions described above may be implemented as hardware, or may be realized by being executed by a processing processor such as a CPU as a program. In this case, as the program, for example, a registration step of registering a requested shooting position indicating the position where video shooting is requested, a video shooting information receiving step of receiving video shooting information including at least information regarding the video shooting position, and based on the shooting position included in the received video shooting information, a determination step of determining whether a video was shot at the registered requested shooting position, and when it is determined that a video was shot at the requested shooting position, a request step of requesting transmission of the video related to the requested shooting position, and a video receiving step of receiving the video transmitted based on the request, can be a program for causing an information processing processor to execute.

[0281] (Appendix 1) Shooting means for shooting an image, Position acquisition means for acquiring the current position, Registration means for registering a required travel position indicating a position that requires travel; Determination means for determining whether the registered required travel position has been traveled based on the acquired current position; Image transmission means for transmitting, from among the images captured by the imaging means, an image related to the required travel position when it is determined that the required travel position has been traveled; An information processing system comprising: (Appendix 2) An information processing system further comprising reward giving means for giving a predetermined reward when it is determined that the required travel position has been traveled. (Appendix 3) The required travel position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a predetermined reward when it is determined that positions corresponding to all link information included in the required travel position have been traveled. An information processing system. (Appendix 4) The required travel position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a predetermined reward when it is determined that positions corresponding to a certain number or a certain ratio or more of the link information included in the required travel position have been traveled. An information processing system. (Appendix 5) The required travel position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a reward in an amount associated with the link when it is determined that a position corresponding to each link information included in the required travel position has been traveled. An information processing system. (Appendix 6) Imaging means for capturing an image; Imaging position acquisition means for acquiring the imaging position of the image; Registration means for registering a required imaging position indicating a position that requires imaging of an image; Determination means for determining whether an image has been captured at the registered required imaging position based on the acquired imaging position; Transmission means for transmitting, from among the images captured by the imaging means, an image related to the required imaging position when it is determined that an image has been captured at the required imaging position; An information processing system comprising (Appendix 7) Image receiving means for receiving the video related to the requested shooting position to be transmitted, Image recording means for recording the received video, further comprising An information processing system further comprising reward giving means for giving a predetermined reward when the video related to the requested shooting position is received. (Appendix 8) The requested shooting position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a predetermined reward when the video shot at a position corresponding to a certain number or a certain ratio or more of the link information included in the requested shooting position is received. An information processing system. (Appendix 9) The requested shooting position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a predetermined reward when the video shot at a position corresponding to all the link information included in the requested traveling position is received. An information processing system. (Appendix 10) The requested shooting position is composed of a plurality of link information, The reward giving means gives a reward in an amount associated with the link information when the video shot at a position corresponding to each link information included in the requested traveling position is received. An information processing system. (Appendix 8) The information processing system further comprises reward calculation means for calculating a reward amount for the requested shooting position, and the reward giving means gives the calculated reward when the video shot at a position corresponding to all the link information included in the requested traveling position is received. (Appendix 11) The information processing system further comprises reward calculation means for calculating a reward amount individually for each link information included in the requested shooting position, and the reward giving means gives the reward amount calculated based on the link information when the video shot at a position corresponding to each link information is received.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0282] 1. 2-System 100 Information Processing Device 10a CPU 10b RAM 10c ROM 10d Communication Unit 10e Input Unit 10f Display Unit 110 Image Capturing Unit 120 Travel Information Acquisition Unit 121 Current Location Acquisition Unit 131 Required Travel Location Registration Unit 140 Travel Judgment Unit 150 Image Transmission Unit 160 Image Storage Unit 200 Image Capturing Device 210 Travel Information Transmission Unit 211 Location Information Transmission Unit 220 Image Transmission Request Reception Unit 230 Travel Request Information Reception Unit 240 Travel Request Information Display Unit 250 Reward Notification Reception Unit 260 Reward Notification Display Unit 270 Order Receiving Button Display Unit 280 Order Receiving Request Transmission Unit 400 Information Processing Device 410 Travel Request Information Reception Unit 411 Required Travel Location Reception Unit 420 Travel Request Information Registration Unit 421 Location Information Reception Unit 430 Image Transmission Request Transmission Unit 440 Image Reception Unit 450 Image Storage Unit 460 Image Transmission Request Reception Unit 470 Image Transmission Unit 480 Geographic Information Database Unit 490 Weather Information Management Unit 500 Current Date and Time Information Acquisition Unit 510 Travel Request Distribution Unit 520 User Information Management Unit 530 Reward Calculation Unit 540 Reward Registration Unit 550 Reward Update Department 560 Reward Granting Department 570 Reward Notification Department 580 Travel Link Expansion Department 590 Orderer Management Department 600 Image Acquisition Device 610 Travel Requirement Information Input Department 611 Required Travel Position Input Department 620 Travel Requirement Information Sending Department 621 Required Travel Position Sending Department 630 Image Transmission Request Sending Department 640 Image Receiving Department 650 Image Display Department 2110 Shooting Department 2120 Position Acquisition Department 2130 Required Shooting Position Registration Department 2140 Position Relationship Judgment Department 2150 Sending Department 2200 Video Shooting Device 2210 Video Order Information Receiving Department 2220 Video Order Information Storage Department 2230 Video Order Information Display Department 2240 Shooter Registration Request Input Department 2250 Shooter Registration Request Sending Department 2260 Video Shooting Condition Judgment Department 2270 Video Shooting Information Sending Department 2280 Video Shooting Request Receiving Department 2400 Information Processing Device 2410 Video Order Information Receiving Department 2420 Video Order Information Registration Department 2430 Reward Calculation Department 2440 Video Order Information Distribution Department 2450 Shooter Registration Request Receiving Department 2460 Shooter Registration Department 2470 Video Shooting Information Receiving Department 2480 Video Shooting Information Judgment Department 2490 Video Transmission Request Sending Department 2500 Video Receiving Department 2510 Reward Granting Judgment Department 2520 Reward Paying Section 2600 Video Ordering Device 2610 Required Shooting Position Input Section 2620 Reward Paying Method Input Section 2630 Video Ordering Information Sending Section

Claims

1. Imaging means for capturing an image, Imaging position acquisition means for acquiring the imaging position of the image, Registration means for registering a requested imaging position indicating a position where imaging of an image is requested, Determination means for determining whether an image has been captured at the registered requested imaging position based on the acquired imaging position, Transmission means for transmitting, from among the images captured by the imaging means, an image related to the requested imaging position when it is determined that an image has been captured at the requested imaging position, An information processing system comprising the above.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising reception means for receiving an image captured at the requested imaging position, and reward granting means for granting a predetermined reward when the image is received.

3. The requested imaging position includes a plurality of link information, The reward granting means grants a predetermined reward amount calculated based on the predetermined link information when an image at a position corresponding to the predetermined link information included in the requested imaging position is received. The information processing system according to claim 2.

4. The requested imaging position includes a plurality of link information, The reward granting means grants a predetermined reward when an image at a position corresponding to a certain number or more, or a certain ratio or more, or all of the link information included in the requested imaging position is received. The information processing system according to claim 3.

5. Further comprising input means for inputting information regarding a method of granting a reward, The reward granting means switches whether to grant a reward for each link information related to the imaging position of the received image based on the information regarding the method of granting the reward, or to grant a reward when an image at a position corresponding to a certain number or more, or a certain ratio or more, or all of the link information is received. The information processing system according to claim 4.

6. Registration means for registering a requested imaging position indicating a position where imaging of an image is requested, Image capture information reception means for receiving image capture information including at least information regarding the imaging position of an image, Determination means for determining whether an image has been captured at the registered requested imaging position based on the imaging position included in the received image capture information, Request means for requesting transmission of an image related to the requested imaging position when it is determined that an image has been captured at the requested imaging position, Image reception means for receiving the image transmitted based on the request, An information processing apparatus comprising the above.

7. The registration means registers information indicating a time zone when imaging of an image is requested. The determination means determines whether the shooting date and time included in the video shooting information satisfies the registered time period. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6.

8. The registration means registers conditions related to the weather when requesting shooting of a video. The apparatus further comprises weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information at the shooting position at the shooting date and time included in the video shooting information. The determination means determines whether the acquired weather information satisfies the registered weather conditions. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7.

9. Reward giving means for giving a reward when the video is received, Reward calculation means for calculating the amount of the reward to be given, and further comprises, When the conditions related to the weather are registered, the reward calculation means calculates a higher reward amount compared to the case where the information related to the weather is not registered. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8.

10. A registration step of registering a requested shooting position indicating the position where shooting of a video is requested, A video shooting information reception step of receiving video shooting information including at least information related to the shooting position of the video, A determination step of determining whether a video has been shot at the registered requested shooting position based on the shooting position included in the received video shooting information, A request step of requesting transmission of the video related to the requested shooting position when it is determined that a video has been shot at the requested shooting position, A video reception step of receiving the video transmitted based on the request, A program having.

Images