Imaging apparatus

Abstract

To provide a mechanism that prevents certain images from being shared in a camera that is set to automatically share captured images.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus, which is connected to a network and capable of communicating with other systems, sets up image sharing at the user's instruction, displays the captured image after shooting, and allows the user to exclude images from sharing at the user's instruction during review display, and shares images other than the excluded images.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for excluding images captured by a photographing device from automatic sharing. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, imaging devices with imaging functions, such as digital cameras and smartphones equipped with cameras, have become widespread.

[0003] Furthermore, image management services provided via the Internet are known, and users can upload images to the image management service using devices such as cameras and smartphones. In such image management services, users typically create their own accounts on the image management service, and the image management service manages images for each user's account.

[0004] Furthermore, cameras are also known that are equipped with a mechanism for automatically sharing images captured and acquired by the camera with the image management service via the Internet. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-186386 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, it is expected that images taken with a camera will include images that were not captured properly, such as images where the subject is not in focus, etc. Even if you do not want to share images such as these that were not captured properly with an image management service, if the camera is set to share them automatically, it is possible that they will be shared.

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned problems, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that prevents certain images from being shared in a camera that is set to automatically share captured images. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a photographing device according to one aspect of the present invention is a photographing device that can be connected to a network and communicate with an external device, and is characterized by comprising: a sharing setting means for setting up image sharing at the user's instruction; a review display means for displaying the captured image after shooting; a sharing exclusion means for enabling the user to exclude image sharing at the user's instruction during review display; and an image sharing means for sharing images other than the excluded images. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to stop the automatic sharing process of a predetermined image. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an imaging device. [Figure 2] 10 is an example of image information. [Figure 3] 10 is an example of shared setting information. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic sharing operation. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a shared execution operation. [Figure 6] 10 is an example of a display screen of a share cancel button. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic sharing operation. [Figure 8] 10 is an example of a display screen of a share button. [Figure 9] 10 is an example of a shared image selection screen. [Figure 10] 10 is an example of shared setting information. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic sharing operation. [Figure 12] 10 is an example of shared setting information. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a shared execution operation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown in the drawings.

[0012] Example 1 [Device configuration] An example of the configuration of an image capturing device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0013] The photographing device 1 in this embodiment has an image photographing unit 101, an input unit 102, a display unit 103, a review display control unit 104, a transmitting unit 105, a receiving unit 106, a sharing setting unit 107, a sharing processing unit 108, a sharing processing exclusion unit 109, and a storage device 110.

[0014] The photographing unit 101 takes photographs using a photographing function or a photographing function for video, etc., and acquires images.

[0015] The input unit 102 receives various operations from the user. The display unit 103 displays various information to the user. Note that both the input unit 102 and the display unit 103 may be implemented in a single module, such as a touch panel. The display unit 103 functions as a display means for presenting information to the user. The input unit 102 also functions as a receiving means for receiving user operations.

[0016] The display control unit 104 controls the display content and display time when reviewing images after shooting by the shooting unit 101. For example, the display control unit 104 displays, via the display unit 103, images shot by the shooting unit 101, a setting menu for setting shooting parameters, and the like.

[0017] The transmitting unit 105 transmits the image information 111 to an external device.

[0018] The receiving unit 106 receives various types of information from external devices. Furthermore, the photographing device 1 is configured to be able to connect to a network and communicate with external devices by being provided with the transmitting unit 105 and the receiving unit 106.

[0019] The sharing setting unit 107 generates sharing setting information 112 relating to image sharing.

[0020] The sharing processing unit 108 executes image sharing based on the image information 111 and the sharing setting information 112 .

[0021] The sharing processing exclusion unit 109 generates sharing exclusion information indicating whether or not to exclude an image from being shared with an external device for a given image, and writes the information into the image information for the image.

[0022] The storage device 110 stores image information 111 and shared setting information 112 .

[0023] The image information 111 and the shared setting information 112 will be described in detail later.

[0024] [Image information] In this embodiment, the image information 111 uses an image management table to manage images and information related to the images. Fig. 2 is an example of the image information 111 stored in the storage device 110. Note that the image management table and the stored information shown in Fig. 2 are merely examples and are not limiting.

[0025] The image information 111 in this embodiment includes an image ID 201 , an image 202 , a sharing process 203 , and a sharing exclusion 204 .

[0026] The image ID 201 is an ID that uniquely identifies an image. The image ID 201 is assigned to each image as a consecutive number in the order in which it was captured, and is used, for example, to identify an image to be shared.

[0027] An image 202 is an image identified by an image ID 201 .

[0028] The sharing process 203 is information indicating whether or not the sharing process for the target image to an external device has been completed.

[0029] The sharing exclusion 204 is information indicating that the image in question is not to be shared with an external device.

[0030] The items shown in FIG. 2 are merely examples, and the image may be configured to store information such as the date and time of photography and the location of photography.

[0031] [Shared setting information] FIG. 3 shows an example of the shared setting information 112 stored in the storage device 110.

[0032] Sharing destination 301 is the destination to which each image is shared, and is set to the email address of the sharing destination. However, without being limited to this, sharing destination 301 may be a URL of an image management service or the like, or a service that allows sharing of images, such as a social networking service or messaging service. If each of the above-mentioned services can be specified as a destination, the configuration may also allow the account ID and password for each service to be specified.

[0033] The sharing size 302 is information about the image size when each image is shared.

[0034] The automatic sharing 303 is information indicating whether or not automatic sharing of images is to be performed based on predetermined conditions.

[0035] [Auto share] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of automatic sharing processing executed by the photographing device 1. In this embodiment, when the photographing device 1 captures an image, it automatically starts processing to share the acquired image with the destination of sharing 301 based on the sharing setting information 112. In this embodiment, the photographing device 1 determines whether to automatically share each image based on the image sharing exclusion 204, thereby switching the sharing processing for each image.

[0036] This flowchart is assumed to start when the power of the photographing device 1 is turned on, for example.

[0037] In S401, the photographing device 1 is switched to the photographing mode, and the photographing device 1 is ready to photograph.

[0038] In S402, a user's shooting operation is accepted from the input unit 102, the image shooting unit 101 shoots an image, and writes the image ID 201 and image 202 in the image information 110. Here, the sharing process 203 and the sharing exclusion 204 have NULL values.

[0039] In S403, the display unit 103 displays a review of the captured image.

[0040] In S404, if the automatic sharing 303 in the sharing setting information 112 is on, the cancel button display is turned on and the process proceeds to S405. If the automatic sharing 303 is not on, the process proceeds to S409.

[0041] In S405, if the cancel button display is on, the process proceeds to S406, whereas if the cancel button display is off, the process proceeds to S410.

[0042] In S406, a cancel button is displayed on the screen during review display on the display unit 103. Fig. 6 shows an example of a screen during review display on which a cancel button is displayed.

[0043] In S407, if the cancel button is pressed, the process proceeds to S408, and if the cancel button is not pressed, the process proceeds to S410.

[0044] In S408, the exclusion 204 for sharing data related to the actual captured image in the image information 110 is set to "Yes."

[0045] In S409, the cancel button display is set to OFF.

[0046] In S410, if X seconds have passed since the review display started, the process proceeds to S411. If X seconds have not passed, the process proceeds to S405.

[0047] In S411, the review display on the display unit 103 ends.

[0048] In S412, if the shooting mode has been changed to another mode, the process proceeds to S413, and if not, the process proceeds to S402.

[0049] In S413, sharing is performed based on the flow of FIG.

[0050] In S501, one record of data is acquired from the image information 111. The records are acquired in numerical order of the image ID 201, starting from the oldest.

[0051] In S502, if the share process 203 of the record acquired in S501 is "completed", the process proceeds to S506, and if it is not "completed", the process proceeds to S503.

[0052] In S503, if the sharing exclusion 204 of the record acquired in S501 is "Yes", the process proceeds to S505, and if not, the process proceeds to S504.

[0053] In S504, the transmitting unit 105 and the receiving unit 106 are used to connect to the external service in accordance with the sharing setting information 112, and sharing is performed.

[0054] In S505, the sharing process 203 for the image information 111 that was shared in S504 is set to "completed."

[0055] In S506, if this process has been performed for all images in the image information 111, this process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S501.

[0056] As described above, in this embodiment, when an image is captured with the photographing device 1, sharing is automatically performed based on the sharing setting information 112, and at that time, sharing can be excluded for each captured image depending on the operation of the cancel button when the review is displayed.

[0057] Example 2 In the first embodiment, a review display is always displayed after shooting, so continuous shooting is not possible. In this embodiment, a review display is not displayed during continuous shooting, but is displayed when continuous shooting is completed. Furthermore, for images shot with continuous shooting, sharing of unnecessary images can be prevented by selecting images to be shared.

[0058] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic sharing procedure executed by the image capturing device 1 in this embodiment.

[0059] In S701, the photographing device 1 is switched to the photographing mode, and the photographing device 1 is ready to photograph.

[0060] In S702, a user's shooting operation is accepted from the input unit 102, and the image shooting unit 101 performs continuous shooting of images, and writes the image IDs 201 and images 202 for the number of images shot continuously in the image information 110. Here, the sharing process 203 is set to a NULL value, and the sharing exclusion 204 is set to "Yes."

[0061] In S703, a review of a representative image of the images captured in continuous shooting is displayed on the display unit 103. Here, the representative image may be the last image captured in continuous shooting, or the first image captured. Furthermore, aesthetics may be determined using AI, and the image with the highest aesthetic value may be displayed.

[0062] In S704, if the automatic sharing 303 in the sharing setting information 112 is on, the process proceeds to S705. If the automatic sharing 303 is not on, the process proceeds to S711.

[0063] In S705, a share button is displayed on the screen during review display on the display unit 103. Fig. 8 shows an example of a screen during review display on which a share button is displayed.

[0064] In S706, if the share button is pressed, the process proceeds to S707, whereas if the share button is not pressed, the process proceeds to S711.

[0065] In S707, a share image selection screen is displayed for selecting a share image from the continuous shot images taken in S702. Fig. 9 shows an example of the share image selection screen.

[0066] In S708, if the done button is pressed on the shared image selection screen, the process proceeds to S709, whereas if the done button is not pressed, the process proceeds to S707.

[0067] In S709, for the image selected in S707, the exclusion of sharing 204 for data related to the actual captured image in the image information 110 is set to a NULL value.

[0068] In S710, if X seconds have passed since the review display started, the process proceeds to S711. If X seconds have not passed, the process proceeds to S706.

[0069] In S711, the review display on the display unit 103 ends.

[0070] In S712, if the shooting mode has been changed to another mode, the process proceeds to S713, and if not, the process proceeds to S702.

[0071] In S713, sharing is performed based on the flow of FIG.

[0072] As described above, in this embodiment, when images are continuously shot by the photographing device 1, an image to be shared can be selected from the continuously shot images based on the flowchart of FIG.

[0073] Example 3 In the second embodiment, a share button is displayed on the review screen after continuous shooting, but it may be difficult for the user to check the continuous shot images while shooting and decide whether to share them. Therefore, in this embodiment, the user can select in advance whether to share all continuous shot images, not share any continuous shot images, or automatically select and share them.

[0074] FIG. 10 is an example of the sharing setting information 112 stored in the storage device 110 in this embodiment.

[0075] The share destination 1001 is the same as the share destination 301 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0076] The shared size 1002 is the same as the shared size 302 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0077] The automatic sharing 1003 is the same as the automatic sharing 303 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0078] A continuous shooting sharing method 1004 is a method for sharing a series of images captured during continuous shooting.

[0079] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic sharing procedure executed by the image capturing device 1 in this embodiment.

[0080] In S1101, the photographing device 1 is switched to the photographing mode, and the photographing device 1 is ready to photograph.

[0081] In S1102, a user's shooting operation is accepted from the input unit 102, and the image shooting unit 101 performs continuous shooting of images, and writes the image IDs 201 and images 202 for the number of images shot continuously in the image information 110. Here, the sharing process 203 and the sharing exclusion 204 are set to NULL values.

[0082] In step S1103, if the automatic sharing 1003 in the sharing setting information 112 is on, the process proceeds to step 1104. If the automatic sharing 303 is not on, the process proceeds to step 1105.

[0083] In S1104, if the sharing method during continuous shooting 1004 of the sharing setting information 112 is "share all", the process proceeds to S1105. If the sharing method during continuous shooting 1004 is not "share all", the process proceeds to S1110.

[0084] S1105, S1106, S1107, S1108, and S1109 are similar to S703, S710, S711, S712, and S713 in the second embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0085] In S1110, if the sharing method at continuous shooting 1004 of the sharing setting information 112 is "not share at all", the process proceeds to 1111. If the sharing method at continuous shooting 1004 is not "not share at all", the process proceeds to S1112.

[0086] In S1111, the sharing exclusion 204 of the image information 110 is set to "Yes" for all of the series of images captured by continuous shooting.

[0087] In S1112, one or more representative images are selected from the series of images captured in continuous shooting, and the sharing exclusion 204 for the image information 110 of images other than the selected representative image is set to "Yes." As a method for selecting a representative image, aesthetics may be determined using AI, and an image with a high aesthetic quality may be selected as the representative image, or if the image contains a person, the representative image may be selected from images with a large facial area.

[0088] As described above, in this embodiment, when images are continuously captured using the photographing device 1, it is possible to decide whether to share the continuously captured images based on the sharing setting information in Figure 10 and the flowchart in Figure 11, without requiring any user operation after capture.

[0089] Example 4 In the first embodiment, images excluded from sharing are not processed and remain in the storage device 101 of the image capturing device. However, even if a captured image is not desired to be shared as is, it may be an image that is desired to be edited and shared. Also, images that are not desired to be shared may be deemed unnecessary and may be better deleted rather than remaining in the storage device 101. For this reason, in this embodiment, it is possible to set processing for images excluded from sharing.

[0090] FIG. 12 is an example of the sharing setting information 112 stored in the storage device 110 in this embodiment.

[0091] The share destination 1201 is the same as the share destination 301 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0092] The shared size 1202 is the same as the shared size 302 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0093] The automatic sharing 1203 is the same as the automatic sharing 303 in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment.

[0094] The continuous shooting sharing method 1204 is a method for processing images that are excluded from sharing.

[0095] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the shared execution in this embodiment.

[0096] S1301, S1302, S1304, S1305, and S1306 are the same as S501, S502, S504, S505, and S506 in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0097] In S1303, if the sharing exclusion 204 of the record acquired in S1301 is "Yes", the process proceeds to S1307, and if not, the process proceeds to S1304.

[0098] In S1307, if the process 1204 at the time of exclusion in the shared setting information 112 is "send to myself", the process proceeds to S1308. If the process 1204 at the time of exclusion is not "send to myself", the process proceeds to S1309.

[0099] In S1308, the transmitting unit 105 and the receiving unit 106 are used to connect to the external service, and the image is sent to the user's own email address set in the processing at the time of exclusion 1204 of the sharing setting information 112.

[0100] In S1309, if the processing 1204 at the time of exclusion in the shared setting information 112 is "delete", the process proceeds to S1310. If the processing 1204 at the time of exclusion is not "delete", the process proceeds to S1306.

[0101] In S1310, the record corresponding to the captured image in the image information 111 is deleted.

[0102] As described above, in this embodiment, the processing of images excluded from sharing can be determined based on the sharing setting information in Fig. 12 and the flowchart in Fig. 13. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the processing of excluded images is determined based on a preset setting, and a uniform processing is performed on all excluded images, but the processing content may be changed for each image by, for example, allowing the user to select a processing for each image on the review screen.

[0103] (Other Examples) In the above-described embodiments, sharing is performed after switching from the shooting mode, but this is not limited to this. Sharing may also be performed after the review display in the shooting mode has ended. Furthermore, if the sharing process is performed during the review display and the share cancel button is pressed during the sharing process, the sharing may be stopped. If the image has already been sent, an external service may be connected to and a request may be made to delete the image.

[0104] Furthermore, the image information 111 is managed within the storage device 110, but this is not a limitation. Each image may have the image information 111 in meta information such as EXIF ​​of the image.

[0105] Alternatively, a recording medium storing software program code for implementing the above-described functions may be supplied to a system or device, and the computer (CPU, MPU) of the system or device may read and execute the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium will implement the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the recording medium storing the program code will constitute the above-described device.

[0106] Examples of storage media that can be used to supply the program code include flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, and DVDs.

[0107] In addition, the above-mentioned functions may be realized not only by the computer executing the read program code, but also by the operating system (OS) running on the computer performing some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code. OS is an abbreviation for Operating System.

[0108] Furthermore, the program code read from the storage medium may be written to a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and a CPU provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit may then perform some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code to realize the above-mentioned functions.

[0109] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program.The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0110] The disclosure of each of the above-described embodiments also includes the following configurations.

[0111] (Configuration 1) An imaging device that can be connected to a network and communicate with an external device, a sharing setting means for setting up sharing of images in response to an instruction from a user; a review display means for displaying the captured image after shooting; a sharing exclusion means for allowing a user to exclude an image from sharing while the review is being displayed; an image sharing means for sharing images other than the excluded images; An imaging device comprising:

[0112] (Configuration 2) The sharing exclusion means determines images to be shared from a series of images taken by continuous shooting in response to an instruction from a user during a review display after continuous shooting, and can exclude other images from sharing. 2. The photographing device according to claim 1,

[0113] (Configuration 3) The sharing exclusion means excludes all images captured by continuous shooting from being shared when the sharing setting means has set the exclusion of all images captured by continuous shooting from being shared. 3. The photographing device according to configuration 1 or 2,

[0114] (Configuration 4) The sharing exclusion means does not exclude all of the images captured by continuous shooting from the sharing target when the sharing setting means has set that all of the images captured by continuous shooting should not be excluded from the sharing target. 2. The photographing device according to claim 1,

[0115] (Configuration 5) The sharing exclusion means, when the sharing setting means has set to automatically select images to be shared from images taken in continuous shooting, automatically determines images to be shared from the images taken in continuous shooting and excludes other images from the images to be shared. 3. The photographing device according to configuration 1 or 2,

[0116] (Configuration 6) The sharing exclusion means, when the sharing setting means sets the image to be excluded from sharing to be sent to an account designated by the user, sends the image to be excluded from sharing to the account designated by the user. 6. The photographing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 5,

[0117] (Configuration 7) The sharing exclusion means deletes the images to be excluded from sharing from the photographing device when the sharing setting means sets the images to be excluded from sharing to be deleted from the photographing device. 7. The photographing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, characterized in that:

[0118] (Configuration 8) The sharing exclusion means stops the sharing process if the image to be excluded from sharing is already being shared. 8. The photographing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 7, characterized in that:

[0119] (Configuration 9) The sharing exclusion means requests the external device to delete the shared image if the image to be excluded from sharing has already been transmitted to the external device. 9. The photographing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, characterized in that: [Explanation of symbols]

[0120] 1. Imaging device 101 Image capture unit 102 Input section 103 Display section 104 Review display control section 105 Transmitter 106 Receiving unit 107 Shared settings section 108 Shared Processing Unit 109 Shared Processing Change Unit 110 Storage device 111 Image Information 112 Shared setting information

Claims

1. An imaging device that can be connected to a network and communicate with an external device, a sharing setting means for setting up sharing of images in response to an instruction from a user; a review display means for displaying the captured image after shooting; a sharing exclusion means for allowing a user to exclude an image from sharing while the review is being displayed; an image sharing means for sharing images other than the excluded images; An imaging device comprising:

2. The sharing exclusion means determines images to be shared from a series of images taken by continuous shooting in response to an instruction from a user during a review display after continuous shooting, and can exclude other images from sharing.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

3. The sharing exclusion means excludes all images captured by continuous shooting from being shared when the sharing setting means has set the images to be excluded from being shared.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

4. The sharing exclusion means does not exclude all of the images captured by continuous shooting from the sharing target when the sharing setting means has set that all of the images captured by continuous shooting should not be excluded from the sharing target.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

5. The sharing exclusion means, when the sharing setting means has set to automatically select images to be shared from images taken in continuous shooting, automatically determines images to be shared from the images taken in continuous shooting and excludes other images from the images to be shared.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

6. The sharing exclusion means transmits the image to be excluded from sharing to an account designated by the user when the sharing setting means sets the image to be excluded from sharing to be sent to the account designated by the user.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

7. The sharing exclusion means deletes the images to be excluded from sharing from the photographing device when the sharing setting means has set the images to be excluded from sharing to be deleted from the photographing device.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

8. The sharing exclusion means stops the sharing process if the image to be excluded from sharing is already being shared.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

9. The sharing exclusion means requests the external device to delete the shared image if the image to be excluded from sharing has already been transmitted to the external device.

2. The imaging device according to claim 1.

10. A control method for an imaging device that is connected to a network and capable of communicating with an external device, comprising: a sharing setting step of setting up image sharing in response to a user instruction; A review display process that displays the captured image after shooting; a sharing exclusion step for enabling exclusion of image sharing in response to a user instruction while the review is being displayed; an image sharing step of sharing images other than the excluded images; 11. A method for controlling an imaging device, comprising:

11. A program for causing a computer to function as the control method for the photographing device according to claim 10.

Images