Elevator system

Abstract

To provide an elevator system capable of providing service that uses a camera installed in an elevator to manage clothing of individual users.SOLUTION: An elevator system according to one embodiment comprises a camera capable of photographing an image including at least a part of the face and clothing of a user getting on a car, an information terminal possessed by a service user who uses predetermined service, feature information storage means that stores feature information indicating a feature of the service user in advance, feature information extraction means that extracts the feature information of the user appearing in the image, service user determination means that compares the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction means with the feature information stored in the feature information storage means in advance to determine whether or not the user appearing in the image is the service user, and image transmission means that transmits image data of the image to the information terminal as the predetermined service if it is determined that the user appearing in the image is the service user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, technologies for collecting various types of information from images have been known. One of them is a technology for collecting and analyzing information related to the clothing of a person shown in an image (for example, information indicating the type, shape, and color of the clothes worn by the person shown in the image) from an image captured by a camera installed in the street, and providing users with popular clothing (fashion trends).

[0003] By the way, there are not a few people who are troubled by daily clothing choices. With the above-described technology, although fashion trends can be known, for example, it is not possible to manage (check) the clothing of an individual user, such as what clothes the individual user wears daily, so the above-described troubles cannot be solved.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an elevator system capable of providing a service for managing the clothing of an individual user using a camera installed in an elevator.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An elevator system according to an embodiment includes a camera capable of capturing an image including at least the face of a user boarding an elevator car and a part of the user's clothing, an information terminal held by a service user who uses a predetermined service, feature information storage means for storing in advance feature information indicating the features of the service user, feature information extraction means for extracting the feature information of the user reflected in the image captured by the camera, service user determination means for comparing the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction means with the feature information stored in advance in the feature information storage means to determine whether the user reflected in the image is the service user, and image transmission means for transmitting the image data of the image to the information terminal as the predetermined service when it is determined that the user reflected in the image is the service user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited by the content described in the following embodiments. Modifications that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art are naturally included in the scope of the disclosure. For the sake of clearer explanation, in the drawings, the sizes, shapes, etc. of each part may be changed with respect to the actual implementation mode and represented schematically. In a plurality of drawings, the same reference numerals may be assigned to corresponding elements, and detailed descriptions may be omitted.

[0009] Hereinafter, an elevator system capable of providing a clothing management service using a camera installed in an elevator to users who use the elevator will be described. The clothing management service is a service that enables the image of the clothing (clothing image) of a user when boarding the elevator to be managed and viewed on an information terminal possessed by the user. In this specification, a user who uses the elevator (in other words, a user who boards the car described later) is simply referred to as a "user", and among the users who use the elevator, a user who uses the above-described clothing management service is referred to as a "service user" for explanation.

[0010] (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an elevator system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a camera 12 is installed above the entrance / exit of the car 11. Specifically, the camera 12 is installed in a curtain board 11a that covers the upper part of the entrance / exit of the car 11 with the lens part facing downward. The camera 12 has an ultra-wide-angle lens such as a fish-eye lens, for example, and widely photographs a shooting target including the inside of the car 11 and the landing 15 with a viewing angle of 180 degrees or more. The camera 12 can continuously photograph several frames (for example, 30 frames / second) of images per second. The camera 12 photographs an image including at least a part of the face and clothing of a user boarding the car 11. Preferably, the camera 12 photographs an image including the whole body (face and entire clothing) of a user boarding the car 11.

[0011] Note that the installation location of the camera 12 does not have to be above the entrance / exit of the car 11. For example, the camera 12 may be installed on the ceiling surface of the car 11, the side plate on the back side, the wall surface of the landing 15, etc. Also, the number of cameras 12 to be installed may be one or more, and a plurality of cameras 12 may be installed at various locations. By installing a plurality of cameras 12 at various locations, it is possible to photograph users boarding the car 11 from various angles, so that it is possible to provide a higher-quality clothing management service.

[0012] On each floor landing 15, a landing door 14 is installed at the arrival opening of the car 11 so as to be openable and closable. The landing door 14 engages with the car door 13 when the car 11 arrives and performs an opening / closing operation. Note that the power source (door motor) is on the car 11 side, and the landing door 14 only opens and closes following the car door 13.

[0013] In this embodiment, an application (hereinafter referred to as a clothing management app) 20a for using the clothing management service is pre-installed in an information terminal 20 (for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, etc.) possessed by a service user. Note that the clothing management app 20a is an application developed by, for example, a related company of the elevator system, and can be freely downloaded from a website that depends on the OS (Operating System) of the information terminal 20.

[0014] Although details will be described later, in order to use the clothing management service, the service user registers personal information including the transmission destination of the image data of an image including a clothing image (for example, the email address set in the information terminal 20) and his / her own face image in the clothing management app 20a in advance. Note that the personal information may further include information regarding the timing of transmitting the above-described image data.

[0015] The feature information storage device 30 stores in association personal information pre-registered by a service user and feature information indicating the positional relationship of various feature points (for example, eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) extracted from the face image included in the personal information and the shape of various feature points. Note that the feature information storage device 30 may be a server device on the cloud, or may be a server device installed in a management room or a server room in the building where the car body 11 is installed, or may be a storage device built into the image processing device 40 described later.

[0016] The image captured by the camera 12 is analyzed and processed by the image processing device 40. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing device 40 includes a feature information extraction unit 41, a service user determination unit 42, and an image transmission unit 43.

[0017] The feature information extraction unit 41 extracts the feature information of the user reflected in the image captured by the camera 12. More specifically, the feature information extraction unit 41 extracts the face portion (face image) of the user reflected in the image captured by the camera 12, and extracts feature information indicating the positional relationship of various feature points (for example, eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) and the shape of various feature points from the extracted face portion.

[0018] In addition, the feature information extraction unit 41 extracts the clothing portion (clothing image) of the user reflected in the image captured by the camera 12, and extracts clothing information indicating the type, shape, and color of the clothing (clothes) from the extracted clothing portion.

[0019] The service user determination unit 42 collates the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction unit 41 with the feature information pre-registered (stored) in the feature information storage device 30, and determines whether the user boarding the car body 11 and corresponding to the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction unit 41 is a service user.

[0020] When it is determined that the user corresponding to the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction unit 41 is the service user, the image transmission unit 43 transmits the image data of the image including the face image and the clothing image extracted together with the face image corresponding to the feature information to the transmission destination (for example, the email address set in the information terminal 20) included in the personal information pre-registered by the service user.

[0021] Here, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process necessary for using the clothing management service and the process of registering personal information and feature information in the feature information storage device 30 will be described.

[0022] First, the clothing management application 20a is installed on the information terminal 20 by the service user (step S1).

[0023] When the clothing management application 20a is started in a state where the registration of personal information is not completed, a screen for registering the personal information necessary for using the clothing management service is displayed on the display of the information terminal 20. When the information terminal 20 receives the input of personal information (for example, input of an email address and attachment of a face image) by the service user using various input interfaces (step S2), the information terminal 20 transmits the personal information to the image processing device 40 (step S3).

[0024] When the image processing device 40 receives the personal information transmitted by the information terminal 20, the image processing device 40 extracts feature information indicating the positional relationship of various feature points and the shape of various feature points from the face image included in the personal information, and registers the extracted feature information in the feature information storage device 30 in association with the received personal information (step S4).

[0025] By executing the series of processes shown in FIG. 2 described above, the registration of the personal information and the feature information necessary for using the clothing management service is completed.

[0026] Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, a process of providing image data of an image including a clothing image to a service user (that is, a process executed when providing a clothing management service to a service user) will be described.

[0027] In response to a boarding call registration operation by a user, a boarding call is registered. When the car 11 arrives at the boarding floor and the car door 13 of the car 11 opens (step S11), the camera 12 continuously captures an image including the user boarding the car 11 (step S12). The images continuously captured by the camera 12 are sent to the image processing device 40 as needed.

[0028] The feature information extraction unit 41 of the image processing device 40 extracts the face part (face image) and the clothing part (clothing image) of the user reflected in one of the images captured by the camera 12 (step S13).

[0029] Subsequently, the feature information extraction unit 41 checks whether the face image and the clothing image have been extracted normally (step S14). If it is confirmed that the face image and the clothing image have not been extracted normally (No in step S14), it is assumed that the image capture by the camera 12 has failed, and the process returns to step S13, and the face image and the clothing image are extracted for the next image captured by the camera 12.

[0030] On the other hand, in the process of step S14, if it is confirmed that the face image and the clothing image have been extracted normally (Yes in step S14), the feature information extraction unit 41 extracts feature information indicating the positional relationship of various feature points and the shape of various feature points from the extracted face image (step S15). The extracted feature information is sent to the service user discrimination unit 42.

[0031] Next, the service user discrimination unit 42 collates the feature information extracted in the process of step S15 with the feature information registered in advance in the feature information storage device 30, and determines whether the user reflected in the image captured by the camera 12 (in other words, the user corresponding to the feature information extracted in the process of step S15) is a service user (step S16). In the process of step S16, if it is determined that the user reflected in the image is not a service user (No in step S16), since the clothing management service is not provided to the user, a series of processes here are terminated.

[0032] On the other hand, in the process of step S16, if it is determined that the user reflected in the image is a service user (Yes in step S16), the image transmission unit 43 transmits the image data of the image captured by the camera 12 (more specifically, the image data of the image including the clothing image extracted in the process of step S13) to the transmission destination (that is, the information terminal 20) included in the personal information pre-registered by the service user (step S17), and a series of processes here are terminated.

[0033] By executing the series of processes shown in FIG. 3 described above, the service user can manage and view the image (clothing image) indicated by the image data transmitted from the image processing device 40 on the clothing management application 20a installed on the information terminal 20 (see FIG. 4). In FIG. 4, as an example of the screen of the clothing management application 20a, a clothing list screen 100 is shown in which the image (clothing image) indicated by the image data and the shooting date of the image (that is, the date when the service user was wearing the clothing of the image) are displayed in association with each other. On the clothing list screen 100, the service user can also register a specific image as a favorite clothing or delete a specific image as an unnecessary image.

[0034] As described above, by viewing the clothing images displayed on the clothing list screen 100, the service user can select daily clothing with reference to their past clothing. According to this, the satisfaction of the service user with their clothing can be improved.

[0035] In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the image data of the image including the clothing image is transmitted to the information terminal 20 possessed by the service user has been described, but it is not limited to this, and the image data may be transmitted and stored in a server device on the cloud.

[0036] In this case, it is preferable that the image data is stored in a server device on the cloud in association with the account information of the service user (for example, the terminal ID of the information terminal 20 possessed by the service user). The service user starts the clothing management application 20a installed on the information terminal 20, and by transmitting their account information to the server device on the cloud through, for example, a login operation, the image data associated with the account information can be read from the server device, and the above-described clothing list screen 100 can be viewed. According to this, it is possible to prevent the storage capacity of the information terminal 20 from being compressed by the image data of the image including the clothing image.

[0037] In addition, environmental data including at least one of the date and time, weather, temperature, humidity, or rain cloud information of the region input by the service user may be further displayed on the clothing list screen 100. For example, the service user can display the environmental data of the destination at the date and time by inputting the destination (region) and the date and time when they will be at the destination, so that they can select the clothing for that day considering not only their past clothing but also the environmental data.

[0038] In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the image data of an image including a clothing image is provided to the service user reflected in the image has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The image data may be provided to other service users (for example, the owner or constructor of the building where the camera 12 is installed, the owner of the store located in the building, etc.) other than the service user reflected in the image, with information (for example, a face image) capable of identifying the individual service user reflected in the image deleted. In this case, the image transmission unit 43 transmits the image data (for example, the image data of the clothing image) in a state where the information capable of identifying the individual service user reflected in the image has been deleted to a preset transmission destination of another service user (for example, an information terminal possessed by another service user).

[0039] According to this, the above-described other service users can know the fashion trends of the users visiting the building where the camera 12 is installed, for example, and thus can use the fashion trends as information for improving the sales of the stores (for example, clothing stores) located in the building.

[0040] In this embodiment, mainly, the case where only one user or service user is reflected in the image captured by the camera 12 has been assumed. However, even when a plurality of users or service users are reflected in the image captured by the camera 12, the elevator system can provide a similar clothing management service. When a plurality of users or service users are reflected in the image captured by the camera 12, it is preferable that the service user is provided with the image data in a state where portions other than the portion in which the user himself / herself is reflected have been cut out (deleted) from the image.

[0041] According to this, it is possible to protect the privacy of users or service users other than oneself, and since the data size can be made smaller than the image data of the image (original image) captured by the camera 12, the load on the information terminal 20 storing the image data and the server device on the cloud can be reduced.

[0042] In the elevator system described above, since the camera 12 captures the service user from above the service user, the elevator system can further provide, for the service user, not only the clothing management service described above, but also, for example, a service that prompts checking the state of the hair.

[0043] The elevator system according to the first embodiment described above includes a camera 12 capable of capturing an image including at least a part of the face and clothing of a user boarding the car 11, an information terminal 20 possessed by a service user who uses the clothing management service, a feature information storage device 30 that stores in advance feature information indicating the characteristics of the service user, a feature information extraction unit 41 that extracts the feature information of the user shown in the image captured by the camera 12, a service user determination unit 42 that collates the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction unit 41 with the feature information stored in advance in the feature information storage device 30 to determine whether or not the user shown in the image is a service user, and an image transmission unit 43 that transmits the image data of the image as a clothing management service to the information terminal 20 when it is determined that the user shown in the image is a service user.

[0044] According to this, since the service user can view their past clothing on the clothing management app 20a installed on the information terminal 20, they can select their daily clothing with reference to their past clothing. That is, according to the elevator system according to the present embodiment, the satisfaction of the service user with their clothing can be improved.

[0045] In the clothing management service described above, it is preferable that cameras are installed at locations where service users regularly pass. From this perspective, for example, a mode of providing the clothing management service using the camera 12 of the elevator 11 (elevator) installed in a condominium or an office building is very preferable. Further, when the clothing management service is provided using the camera 12 installed in the elevator 11, since the clothing management service can be provided to a large number of service users (for example, a large number of service users living in a condominium, a large number of service users working in an office building) using one camera 12 (that is, since the clothing management service can be provided to a large number of service users with a small number of cameras), the elevator system capable of providing the clothing management service is also very preferable in this regard.

[0046] (Second Embodiment) Next, the second embodiment will be described. The elevator system according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it further includes a clothing management server device 50 as shown in FIG. 5. Hereinafter, mainly, elements different from the first embodiment will be described, and descriptions of elements similar to those of the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0047] The clothing management server device 50 is communicably connected to the information terminal 20 and the image processing device 40. The clothing management server device 50 is a server device that manages and stores the image data of an image including a clothing image transmitted from the image processing device 40 by executing a series of processes shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the clothing management server device 50 includes an image storage unit 51, a weather data collection unit 52, and a recommended clothing image transmission unit 53.

[0048] In the image storage unit 51, for each account information of the service user, the image data of the image including the clothing image, the weather data indicating the weather (for example, weather, temperature, humidity, etc.) on the day when the clothing image was taken, and the clothing information extracted from the clothing image are stored in association with each other. As described in the first embodiment, the clothing information is information extracted together with the feature information of the service user reflected in the image by the feature information extraction unit 41 of the image processing apparatus 40, and is information indicating the type, shape, and color of the clothing (clothes) of the service user.

[0049] In addition, the account information of the service user in the present embodiment preferably includes information indicating the area where the service user lives (or information indicating the address of the building where the car 11 that the service user often rides in is installed) in addition to the terminal ID of the information terminal 20 possessed by the service user.

[0050] The weather data collection unit 52 collects weather data from an external device (not shown). More specifically, when the weather data collection unit 52 receives the account information transmitted from the information terminal 20 through the login operation by the service user, it collects the weather data of that day in the area indicated by the account information from the external device.

[0051] When the recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 receives the account information transmitted from the information terminal 20 through the login operation by the service user, it selects, as the image data of the recommended clothing, the image data of the clothing suitable for the weather indicated by the weather data collected by the weather data collection unit 52 from among the image data of the account information. Specifically, the recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 selects, as the image data of the recommended clothing, the image data associated with the weather data indicating a weather similar to the weather indicated by the weather data collected by the weather data collection unit 52 from among the image data of the received account information. The selected image data is transmitted to the information terminal 20 as the image data indicating the recommended clothing for that day.

[0052] Here, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process of providing the service user with image data of recommended clothing suitable for the weather of the day will be described.

[0053] When the clothing management application 20a is launched by the service user and a login operation is performed, the information terminal 20 transmits the account information of the service user to the clothing management server device 50 (step S21).

[0054] When the weather data collection unit 52 of the clothing management server device 50 receives the account information transmitted from the information terminal 20, it collects the weather data of the day in the area indicated by the account information from an external device (step S22).

[0055] After that, the recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 selects, as the image data of the recommended clothing, the image data associated with the weather data indicating a weather similar to the weather indicated by the weather data collected in the process of step S22 from among the image data of the received account information, and reads it out from the image storage unit 51 (step S23).

[0056] Subsequently, the recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 transmits the image data of the recommended clothing read out in the process of step S23 to the information terminal 20 indicated by the received account information (step S24), and ends the series of processes here.

[0057] The elevator system according to the second embodiment described above includes, in addition to the configuration shown in the first embodiment, an image storage unit 51 that stores in association with each other the image data of the image in which the service user appears, the account information for identifying the service user, and the weather data indicating the weather on the day when the image was taken, a weather data collection unit 52 that collects the weather data indicating the weather on the day in the area preset by the service user, and a recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 that transmits to the information terminal 20 the image data associated with the weather data indicating a weather similar to the weather indicated by the weather data collected by the weather data collection unit 52 among the image data stored in the image storage unit 51.

[0058] According to this, since the service user can know the recommended clothing suitable for the weather of the day from their past clothing on the clothing management app 20a installed on the information terminal 20, they can select the clothing for the day with reference to the recommended clothing. That is, according to the elevator system according to the present embodiment, the satisfaction of the service user with their clothing can be further improved.

[0059] In addition, the recommended clothing image transmission unit 53 may further transmit the clothing information associated with the image data of the selected recommended clothing to the information terminal 20. According to this, in addition to the image data of the recommended clothing, clothing information regarding the recommended clothing (for example, the type, shape, color, etc. of the recommended clothing) can be displayed on the information terminal 20, and the satisfaction of the service user with their clothing can be further improved.

[0060] According to at least one embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an elevator system capable of providing a service for managing the clothing of individual users by using a camera installed in the elevator.

[0061] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0062] 11... Car, 12... Camera, 20... Information terminal, 20a... Clothing management app, 30... Feature information storage device, 40... Image processing device, 41... Feature information extraction unit, 42... Service user discrimination unit, 43... Image transmission unit, 50... Clothing management server device, 51... Image storage unit, 52... Weather data collection unit, 53... Recommended clothing image transmission unit.

Claims

1. A camera capable of photographing an image including at least a face and a part of the clothing of a user boarding an elevator car, An information terminal possessed by a service user who uses a predetermined service, Feature information storage means for storing in advance feature information indicating the characteristics of the service user, Feature information extraction means for extracting the feature information of the user reflected in the image photographed by the camera, Service user discrimination means for comparing the feature information extracted by the feature information extraction means with the feature information stored in advance in the feature information storage means to determine whether the user reflected in the image is the service user, Image transmission means for transmitting the image data of the image to the information terminal as the predetermined service when it is determined that the user reflected in the image is the service user, An elevator system comprising:

2. The feature information storage means stores in advance feature information regarding the face of the service user, The feature information extraction means extracts the feature information regarding the face of the user reflected in the image, The service user discrimination means compares the feature information regarding the face of the user reflected in the image with the feature information regarding the face of the service user to determine whether the user reflected in the image is the service user. The elevator system according to claim 1.

3. The image transmission means transmits the image data of an image in a state where a part capable of identifying the service user is deleted from the image in which the service user is reflected to another information terminal possessed by another service user. The elevator system according to claim 1.

4. The image transmission means transmits the image data of an image in which only the clothing part of the service user is reflected as an image in a state where a part capable of identifying the service user is deleted to the other information terminal. The elevator system according to claim 3.

5. The elevator system further comprises image storage means for storing the image data of the image in which the service user is reflected in association with identification information for identifying the service user, On the information terminal, the image data stored in the image storage means is displayed in a list format. The elevator system according to claim 1.

6. On the information terminal, environmental data including at least one of the date and time, weather, temperature, humidity, or rain cloud information input by the service user is displayed in addition to the list of the image data. The elevator system according to claim 5.

7. When another user or another service user is reflected in the image of the service user, the image transmission means transmits image data of an image in a state where portions other than the portion in which the service user is reflected are deleted from the image, to the information terminal. The elevator system according to claim 1.

8. Image storage means for storing in association with each other image data of an image in which the service user is reflected, identification information for identifying the service user, and weather data indicating the weather on the day when the image was taken; Weather data collection means for collecting weather data indicating the weather on the day in a region preset by the service user; Recommendation clothing image transmission means for transmitting, to the information terminal, image data associated with weather data indicating a weather similar to the weather indicated by the weather data collected by the weather data collection means, among the image data stored in the image storage means; The elevator system according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images