Information processing device

Abstract

To improve a technology for acquiring a clear image picked up by a vehicle.SOLUTION: When an area and a time that satisfy a predetermined weather condition are specified, an information processing device 10 receives, from each of a plurality of vehicles 20 that stores traveling video picked up at the specified time in the specified area, a part of the traveling video as a reference image, specifies, as a source vehicle, a vehicle 20 which picked up a reference image having the highest sharpness from among a plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles 20, and upon receipt of a request for acquisition of video of the area picked up at the time from a communication device 30, transmits at least a part of the traveling video picked up by the source vehicle to the communication device 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there is a technology for acquiring an image associated with position information. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that stores collected image information in association with position information, and a distribution device that distributes the image information in response to a request from a display device such as a car navigation device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When a distribution device collects an image taken by a drive recorder or the like, if the image was originally taken in bad weather, the image itself is likely to be unclear. Thus, there was room for improvement in the technology for acquiring clear images taken by vehicles.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure is an information processing apparatus including a control unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit. When the control unit identifies an area and a time that satisfy a predetermined weather condition, it receives a part of the driving video captured in the area at the time from each of a plurality of vehicles that store the driving video, and among the plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles, it identifies a single vehicle that captured the reference image with the highest sharpness as the source vehicle. When it receives a request for acquiring the video of the area captured at the time from a communication device, it transmits at least a part of the driving video captured by the source vehicle to the communication device.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] According to the present disclosure, it becomes possible to improve the technology for acquiring a clear image captured by a vehicle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] <First Embodiment> Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the description of this embodiment, the description of the same or corresponding parts will be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

[0009] Referring to FIG. 1, the configuration of the system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The system 1 includes an information processing apparatus 10, a vehicle 20, and a communication apparatus 30. In FIG. 1, vehicles 20A to 20N are illustrated, but the number of vehicles 20 included in the system 1 is not limited. Each device is communicably connected to each other via a network 40 including, for example, the Internet.

[0010] The information processing apparatus 10 is a computer installed in a facility such as a data center. The information processing apparatus 10 is, for example, a server belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system.

[0011] The vehicle 20 is any type of automobile such as a gasoline vehicle, a diesel vehicle, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or an FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle). The vehicle 20 may be movable by autonomous driving. The autonomous driving includes, for example, levels 1 to 5 defined by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), but is not limited thereto and may be arbitrarily defined.

[0012] The communication apparatus 30 is held by a user. The communication apparatus 30 is, for example, a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet, or a PC. "PC" is an abbreviation for personal computer. The communication apparatus 30 may be part or all of an in-vehicle device. The communication apparatus 30 includes a control unit, a communication unit, and an output unit, and the control unit can output an image received from the information processing apparatus 10 via the communication unit via the output unit.

[0013] Network 40 includes the Internet, at least one WAN, at least one MAN, or any combination thereof. "WAN" is an abbreviation for wide area network. "MAN" is an abbreviation for metropolitan area network. Network 40 may include at least one wireless network, at least one optical network, or any combination thereof. The wireless network is, for example, an ad hoc network, a cellular network, a wireless LAN, a satellite communication network, or a terrestrial microwave network. "LAN" is an abbreviation for local area network.

[0014] First, an overview of this embodiment will be described, and the details will be described later. When the information processing apparatus 10 identifies an area and time that satisfy a predetermined weather condition, it receives a part of the driving video taken in the area at the time as a reference image from each of a plurality of vehicles 20 that store the driving video. The information processing apparatus 10 identifies, as a source vehicle, one vehicle 20 that has taken the reference image with the highest sharpness among the plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles 20. When receiving an acquisition request for the video of the area taken at the time from the communication apparatus 30, the information processing apparatus 10 transmits at least a part of the driving video taken by the source vehicle to the communication apparatus 30.

[0015] The predetermined weather condition includes bad weather in which the vehicle 20 has difficulty in acquiring a clear video as compared with weather such as "sunny" or "cloudy". The weather conditions of bad weather include "rain", "fog", "snow", etc. Not limited to this, the predetermined weather condition may be temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. in which the difference from a reference value is equal to or more than a predetermined value. The reference value may be stored in the information processing apparatus 10 in advance. According to this embodiment, as will be described below, the information processing apparatus 10 can efficiently and constantly grasp the latest source vehicle that is the provider of the effective driving video based on the reference image acquired as a sample. According to this embodiment, it is possible to significantly reduce the cost as compared with the case of manually checking the effective video among the videos of the drive recorder. Therefore, it is possible to improve the technology for acquiring a clear image taken by the vehicle.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 1, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment will be described. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13.

[0017] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor, at least one programmable circuit, at least one dedicated circuit, or any combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or GPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing. "CPU" is an abbreviation for central processing unit. "GPU" is an abbreviation for graphics processing unit. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA. "FPGA" is an abbreviation for field-programmable gate array. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC. "ASIC" is an abbreviation for application specific integrated circuit. The control unit 11 executes processing related to the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 while controlling each part of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0018] The storage unit 12 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or any combination thereof. The semiconductor memory is, for example, RAM, ROM, or flash memory. "RAM" is an abbreviation for random access memory. "ROM" is an abbreviation for read only memory. RAM is, for example, SRAM or DRAM. "SRAM" is an abbreviation for static random access memory. "DRAM" is an abbreviation for dynamic random access memory. ROM is, for example, EEPROM. "EEPROM" is an abbreviation for electrically erasable programmable read only memory. The flash memory is, for example, SSD. "SSD" is an abbreviation for solid-state drive. The magnetic memory is, for example, HDD. "HDD" is an abbreviation for hard disk drive. The storage unit 12 functions as, for example, a main memory device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores information used for the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 and information obtained by the operation of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0019] The communication unit 13 includes at least one communication module. The communication module is a module compatible with a wired LAN communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or a wireless LAN communication standard such as IEEE802.11. "IEEE" is an abbreviation for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The communication unit 13 communicates with devices other than the information processing apparatus 10. The communication unit 13 receives information used for the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 and transmits information obtained by the operation of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 2, the configuration of the vehicle 20 according to the present embodiment will be described. The vehicle 20 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication unit 23, and a photographing unit 24. The hardware configurations of the control unit 21 and the storage unit 22 of the vehicle 20 may be the same as those of the control unit 11 and the storage unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 10, respectively. The description here is omitted.

[0021] The communication unit 23 includes at least one communication interface. The communication interface is, for example, an interface corresponding to a mobile communication standard such as LTE, 4G standard, or 5G standard, an interface corresponding to a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), or a LAN interface. "LTE" is an abbreviation for Long Term Evolution. "4G" is an abbreviation for 4th generation. "5G" is an abbreviation for 5th generation. The communication unit 23 receives information used for the operation of the vehicle 20 and transmits information obtained by the operation of the vehicle 20.

[0022] The photographing unit 24 is a camera that photographs the surroundings of the vehicle 20. The photographing unit 24 may be a drive recorder. The photographing unit 24 can output the acquired image to the control unit 21.

[0023] The functions of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 are realized by executing the program according to the present embodiment by a processor as the control unit 11 or the control unit 21. That is, the functions of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 are realized by software. The program causes a computer to execute the operations of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20, thereby causing the computer to function as the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20. That is, the computer functions as the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 by executing the operations of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 according to the program.

[0024] The program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readable medium is, for example, a flash memory, a magnetic recording device, an optical disc, a magneto-optical recording medium, or a ROM. The distribution of the program is carried out, for example, by selling, transferring, or lending a portable medium such as an SD card, a DVD, or a CD-ROM that stores the program. "SD" is an abbreviation for Secure Digital. "DVD" is an abbreviation for digital versatile disc. "CD-ROM" is an abbreviation for compact disc read only memory. The program may be stored in the server's storage and distributed by transferring the program from the server to other computers. The program may be provided as a program product.

[0025] The computer temporarily stores, for example, a program stored in a portable medium or a program transferred from a server in the main memory device. Then, the computer reads the program stored in the main memory device with the processor and executes the processing according to the read program with the processor. The computer may directly read the program from the portable medium and execute the processing according to the program. Each time a program is transferred from the server to the computer, the computer may sequentially execute the processing according to the received program. The processing may be executed by a so-called ASP-type service that realizes the function only by execution instructions and result acquisition without transferring the program from the server to the computer. "ASP" is an abbreviation for application service provider. The program is information for use in processing by an electronic computer and includes those conforming to the program. For example, data that is not a direct instruction to the computer but has the property of defining the computer's processing corresponds to "those conforming to the program".

[0026] Some or all of the functions of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 may be realized by a programmable circuit or a dedicated circuit as the control unit 11 or the control unit 21. That is, some or all of the functions of the information processing apparatus 10 or the vehicle 20 may be realized by hardware.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 3, the operation of the control unit 11 of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described. The operation corresponds to the method according to the present embodiment. In the following, it is assumed that the communication between the information processing apparatus 10 and the external device is performed via the communication unit 13 and the network 40. In this example, it is assumed that the control unit 11 of the information processing apparatus 10 communicates with a plurality of vehicles 20 and constantly acquires position information indicating the positions of the plurality of vehicles 20.

[0028] In S101 of FIG. 3, the control unit 11 specifies an area and a time that satisfy a predetermined weather condition. Information indicating the predetermined weather condition may be preset and stored in the storage unit 12. In this example, it is assumed that the predetermined weather condition is "rain".

[0029] Any method may be adopted for specifying the area and the time. In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 first communicates with a server such as a weather observation center, and acquires, by receiving weather information indicating the weather in a predetermined geographical range for each time from the server. The weather indicated by the weather information may include weather, rainfall, temperature, humidity, and the like. The control unit 11 specifies an area and a time that satisfy a predetermined weather condition based on the acquired weather information. Table 1 is a table showing an example of the weather information acquired by the control unit 11.

Table 1

[0030] In S102, the control unit 11 receives a part of the driving video as a reference image from each of the plurality of vehicles 20 that store the driving video taken in the area specified in S101 at the time specified in S101. The reference image is a part of the driving video that is less than a predetermined time length. The predetermined time length is, for example, 1 second. In this example, the control unit 11 identifies and communicates the plurality of vehicles 20 that have traveled through "Area A" from 13:00 to 15:00 based on the position information of the vehicles 20, and receives a part of the driving video as a reference image from each of the plurality of vehicles 20.

[0031] In S103, the control unit 11 identifies, as the source vehicle, one vehicle 20 that has taken the reference image with the highest sharpness among the plurality of reference images received from each of the plurality of vehicles 20. The control unit 11 may calculate the sharpness of each received reference image using a value from 0 to 100 points by any image analysis technique, and compare the values to determine the reference image with the highest sharpness. The sharpness may be a higher value as the outlines of the objects reflected in the reference image, such as the vehicle in front, the road, and the building, are clearer.

[0032] Not limited to this, any method may be adopted to identify the source vehicle. For example, the control unit 11 may identify, for each traveling direction, one vehicle 20 that has captured a reference image with the highest sharpness as the source vehicle based on the position information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. For example, as the plurality of vehicles 20 that have traveled in area A from 13:00 to 15:00, assume that there are vehicle 20A, vehicle 20B, and vehicle 20C that have moved in the east-west direction, and vehicle 20D and vehicle 20E that have moved in the north-south direction. In this example, assume that the control unit 11 determines, based on the position information of each vehicle 20, that among vehicles 20A to 20E, the traveling directions of vehicles 20A to 20C are in the east-west direction, and the traveling directions of vehicles 20D and 20E are in the north-south direction. The control unit 11 receives a part of the traveling video as a reference image from each of vehicles 20A to 20C as the plurality of vehicles traveling in the east-west direction. The control unit 11 also receives a part of the traveling video as a reference image from each of vehicles 20D and 20E as the plurality of vehicles traveling in the north-south direction. The control unit 11 determines the reference image with the highest sharpness among the reference images received from vehicles 20A to 20C, and identifies the vehicle 20 that has captured the reference image as the source vehicle in the east-west direction. Similarly, the control unit 11 determines the reference image with the highest sharpness among the reference images received from vehicles 20D and 20E, and identifies the vehicle 20 that has captured the reference image as the source vehicle in the north-south direction. In this example, assume that the sharpness of the reference image of vehicle 20A is 75 points, the sharpness of the reference image of vehicle 20B is 60 points, the sharpness of the reference image of vehicle 20C is 50 points, the sharpness of the reference image of vehicle 20D is 50 points, and the sharpness of the reference image of vehicle 20E is 70 points. In this case, the control unit 11 identifies vehicle 20A as the source vehicle in the east-west direction and vehicle 20E as the source vehicle in the north-south direction.

[0033] As shown from S101 to S103, in the present embodiment, an area and time that satisfy predetermined weather conditions are specified, and a source vehicle is specified from among vehicles 20 that have captured driving images with a high possibility of low sharpness. Thereby, compared with the case of uniformly acquiring driving images from all vehicles 20 without providing predetermined weather conditions, the source vehicle can be specified efficiently, and the load on the information processing apparatus 10 can also be reduced.

[0034] In S104, the control unit 11 determines whether it has received from the communication device 30 a request to acquire an image of the area captured at a predetermined time. If it determines that it has not received it (S104: NO), the operation of the control unit 11's process returns to the beginning. If it determines that it has received it (S104: YES), the operation of the control unit 11's process proceeds to S105. In this example, the acquisition request includes information indicating the predetermined time when the image was captured. This is not limiting, and the acquisition request may include any information. The predetermined time may be the same as or a part of the time specified in S101. In S103, when the control unit 11 specifies the source vehicle for each traveling direction, the acquisition request may include information indicating the traveling direction of the source vehicle. In this example, it is assumed that the control unit 11 has received the acquisition request from the communication device 30. It is assumed that the acquisition request includes information indicating the time from 13:30 to 14:00 as the predetermined time, area A as the area, and the east-west direction as the traveling direction.

[0035] In S105, the control unit 11 transmits at least a part of the driving video captured by the source vehicle to the communication device 30. At least a part of the driving video may be a video having a predetermined time length. The predetermined time length may be set in advance and stored in the storage unit 12. Not limited to this, at least a part of the driving video may be the reference image received by the control unit 11 in S102. In this example, the control unit 11 acquires a part of the driving video captured by the vehicle 20A as the source vehicle in the area A and in the traveling direction in the east-west direction during the time from 13:00 to 15:00 including the acquisition request time "13:30~14:00" received in S104, and transmits it to the communication device 30. Specifically, the control unit 11 first communicates with the vehicle 20A and transmits a signal requesting to transmit a part of the driving video captured by the imaging unit 24 of the vehicle 20A during the time from 13:00 to 15:00. In response to the signal, the control unit 21 of the vehicle 20A transmits a part of the driving video to the information processing device 10. The control unit 11 of the information processing device 10 acquires it by receiving the part of the driving video and transmits it to the communication device 30. Not limited to this, the control unit 11 may store the driving video acquired in advance from the source vehicle in the storage unit 12, and refer to the storage unit 12 to transmit a part of the driving video to the communication device 30. Thereafter, the operation of the information processing device 10 ends.

[0036] <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Since the configuration of the system 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0037] Since the configuration of the information processing device 10 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0038] Referring to FIG. 4, the configuration of the vehicle 20 according to this embodiment will be described. In addition to the control unit 21, the storage unit 22, the communication unit 23, and the imaging unit 24, the vehicle 20 further includes a wiper unit 25. The wiper unit 25 includes components such as a motor, an arm, and a blade. The wiper unit 25 is controlled by the control unit 21 to wipe the window of the vehicle 20. The hardware configurations of the control unit 21 and the storage unit 22 of the vehicle 20 may be the same as those of the control unit 11 and the storage unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, respectively. The hardware configurations of the communication unit 23 and the imaging unit 24 may be the same as those in the first embodiment. The description here is omitted.

[0039] Hereinafter, the differences between the operations of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment and the operations of the information processing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0040] From S201 to S202 in FIG. 5 are the same as S101 to S102 in FIG. 3 according to the above-described first embodiment, so the description is omitted.

[0041] In S203, the control unit 11 determines whether the sharpness of each of the plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles 20 in S202 is less than a predetermined value. Information indicating the predetermined value may be preset and stored in the storage unit 12 in advance. If the sharpness of each of the reference images is less than the predetermined value (S203: YES), the operation of the control unit 11 proceeds to S204. If the sharpness of each is not less than the predetermined value (S203: NO), that is, if the sharpness of one or more of the plurality of reference images is not less than the predetermined value, the operation of the control unit 11 proceeds to S209. In this example, it is assumed that the control unit 11 determines that the sharpness of each of the reference images received from the vehicle 20X and the vehicle 20Y as the plurality of vehicles 20 is less than the predetermined value. In this case, the operation of the control unit 11 proceeds to S204.

[0042] In S204, the control unit 11 identifies the vehicle 20 traveling in the area specified in S201 at the time specified in S201 as the target vehicle. Any method may be adopted for identifying the target vehicle. For example, if the current time is within the time specified in S201, the control unit 11 may identify, based on the position information of each vehicle 20, the vehicle 20 currently traveling in the area specified in S201 as the target vehicle. The control unit 11 may identify, as the target vehicle, the vehicle 20 that transmitted the reference image with a sharpness less than a predetermined value in S203. The control unit 11 may identify the target vehicle for each traveling direction of the plurality of vehicles 20 based on the position information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. In this example, assume that the time specified in S201 is from 13:00 to 15:00, the current time is 14:00, and the specified area is "Area A". Assume that the control unit 11 has identified vehicle 20Z as the target vehicle based on the position information of vehicle 20.

[0043] In S205, the control unit 11 transmits a signal instructing the operation of the wiper unit 25 and the shooting after the operation of the wiper unit 25 to the identified target vehicle. Upon receiving the signal, each control unit 21 of the target vehicle controls the wiper unit 25 and the shooting unit 24, and after operating the wiper unit 25, the shooting unit 24 acquires an image of the surroundings of the target vehicle. If the target vehicle is in the ignition-off state, the control unit 11 may also transmit a signal instructing to turn on the ignition switch. The control unit 21 of the target vehicle can receive the signal and turn on the ignition switch. In this example, assume that the control unit 11 has transmitted a signal instructing the operation of the wiper unit 25 and the shooting after the operation of the wiper unit 25 to vehicle 20Z as the target vehicle.

[0044] In S206, the control unit 11 acquires, by receiving from the target vehicle the driving video captured after the operation of the wiper unit 25, and identifies the target vehicle as the source vehicle. Since the image acquired from the vehicle 20 identified as the source vehicle is captured after the operation of the wiper unit 25, it is likely to be clear. Therefore, as described below, when there is an acquisition request from the communication device 30 in S207, it becomes possible to efficiently acquire the driving video from the source vehicle corresponding to the acquisition request. In this example, it is assumed that the time when the signal was transmitted in S205 is 14:05. The control unit 11 acquires, by receiving from the vehicle 20Z as the target vehicle, the driving video captured between 14:05 and 15:00, which is between 13:00 and 15:00 at the time specified in S201 and after 14:05 at that time. The control unit 11 may store the acquired driving video in the storage unit 12. The control unit 11 identifies the vehicle 20Z as the source vehicle. In this way, the control unit 11 identifies the target vehicle as the source vehicle instead of the one vehicle that captured the reference image with the highest sharpness.

[0045] In S207 of FIG. 5, the control unit 11 determines whether it has received from the communication device 30 an acquisition request for the video of the area captured at a predetermined time. If it determines that it has not received (S207: NO), the operation of the process of the control unit 11 returns to the beginning. If it determines that it has received (S207: YES), the operation of the process of the control unit 11 proceeds to S208. The acquisition request may include the designation of the traveling direction of the source vehicle when the control unit 11 identifies the target vehicle for each traveling direction in S204 and identifies the target vehicle as the source vehicle in S206. In this example, it is assumed that the control unit 11 has received the acquisition request from the communication device 30. It is assumed that the acquisition request includes information indicating the time from 13:00 to 15:00 as the predetermined time and area A as the area.

[0046] In S208, the control unit 11 transmits at least a part of the driving video captured by the source vehicle to the communication device 30. In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 transmits the driving video acquired in S206 to the communication device 30. In this example, the control unit 11 transmits at least a part of the driving video captured by the vehicle 20Z as the source vehicle between 14:05 and 15:00, during the time "13:00 to 15:00" indicated by the acquisition request received in S207, to the communication device 30. At least a part of the driving video may be a video having a predetermined time length. The predetermined time length may be set in advance and stored in the storage unit 12. Thereby, it becomes possible to automatically transmit the driving video in which the video has become clear due to the operation of the wiper unit 25 to the communication device 30. Thereafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 ends.

[0047] Next, the case where the control unit 11 determines in S203 that the sharpness is equal to or higher than a predetermined value will be described. In S209, the control unit 11 specifies, as the source vehicle, one vehicle 20 that has captured the reference image with the highest sharpness among one or more reference images whose sharpness is equal to or higher than the predetermined value. Similar to the first embodiment, the control unit 11 may specify, as the source vehicle, one vehicle 20 that has captured the reference image with the highest sharpness for each traveling direction based on the position information of each vehicle 20.

[0048] S210 and S211 are the same as S104 and S105 in FIG. 2 according to the above-described first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

[0049] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, two or more blocks described in the block diagram may be integrated, or one block may be divided. Instead of executing two or more steps described in the flowchart in time series according to the description, each step may be executed in parallel or in a different order according to the processing ability of the device that executes the step, or as necessary. Other changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0050] For example, in S104 of FIG. 3, or S207 or S210 of FIG. 5, the acquisition request received by the control unit 11 may include information indicating the specified time length of the video of the area to be acquired. In this case, in S105 of FIG. 3 or S208 or S211 of FIG. 5, the control unit 11 transmits the driving video of the time length to the communication device 30 as at least a part of the driving video captured by the source vehicle. As a result, a clear video of the specified time length can be sent to the communication device 30, improving convenience for the user who uses the communication device 30.

Explanation of Signs

[0051] 1 System 10 Information Processing Device 11 Control Unit 12 Storage Unit 13 Communication Unit 20 Vehicle 21 Control Unit 22 Storage Unit 23 Communication Unit 24 Shooting Unit 25 Wiper Unit 30 Communication Device 40 Network

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising a control unit, a storage unit, and a communication unit, wherein the control unit, when identifying an area and a time that satisfy predetermined weather conditions, receives a part of the driving video taken in the area at the time as a reference image from each of a plurality of vehicles that store the driving video taken in the area at the time, identifies, as a source vehicle, one vehicle that has taken the reference image with the highest sharpness among the plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles, and when receiving, from a communication device, a request for acquisition of a video of the area taken at the time, transmits at least a part of the driving video taken by the source vehicle to the communication device.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference image is a part of the driving video having a length less than a predetermined time length.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the acquisition request includes a designation of the traveling direction of the source vehicle, and the control unit identifies the source vehicle for each traveling direction, and transmits at least a part of the driving video taken by the source vehicle that has moved in the traveling direction to the communication device.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit when the sharpness of each of the plurality of reference images received from the plurality of vehicles is less than a predetermined value, identifies, as a target vehicle, a vehicle traveling in the area that satisfies the predetermined weather conditions at the time, and transmits, via the communication unit, a signal instructing an operation of a wiper unit and shooting after the operation of the wiper unit to the identified target vehicle, and identifies the target vehicle as the source vehicle instead of the one vehicle.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the acquisition request includes a designation of the time length of the video of the area, and the control unit transmits the driving video of the time length to the communication device as at least a part of the driving video.

Images