Image management apparatus, image management method, and program

Abstract

To enable individual sharing of images with group members, even if the images are not shared by the group, provided the images are related to those members.SOLUTION: An image management apparatus comprises: setting means for setting, in association with a user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not images are to be individually shared between some members of a group to which the user belongs; acquisition means for acquiring uploaded images; and management means for managing the images acquired by the acquisition means. The management means manages, if the user who has uploaded the image performs setting for permitting the individual sharing, the images that are not shared by the group among images acquired by the acquisition means so that they can be individually shared between the user who has uploaded and members related to the images.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to sharing images among multiple users. [Background technology]

[0002] Services are available that allow users to save and view content such as images and documents in cloud storage via the Internet. Using these services, users can save images they have taken and documents they have created, view them from various devices, and share them with family and friends who are far away. Content can also be shared with a wider audience than just family and friends. For example, images taken by parents at school events or club games may be shared with a group of parents from the same class or club activities.

[0003] In a group with such a large number of people, even parents who belong to the group may not know the faces of the people (children) in the images. In such cases, images may be shared with the group without being selected. For example, if images taken with a camera connected to WiFi are set to save to the group folder, they will be saved to the group folder immediately after capture and can be shared with the group.

[0004] When a large number of images are shared by multiple users in this way, it can be time-consuming to search through them for images that are relevant to oneself. To eliminate this hassle, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that recognizes the faces of people in an image and sends the image to related users. However, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 performs facial recognition on all images registered in the system for all people registered in the system. This results in a huge number of recognition targets, placing a heavy load on the system.

[0005] On the other hand, in the example of the parent-teacher group mentioned above, some users may want to refrain from sharing images they have taken with the entire group, but may want to share images individually with certain users who want to view them. In this case, with conventional methods, users would not save the images they have taken in the group's shared folder, but would instead save them on their devices or in their own personal folders, and would then have to select the images later and share them individually with specific users. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-326281 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, as mentioned above, if the photographer does not know the people in the image, the photographer cannot link the image to the users associated with the image. Therefore, the image cannot be shared individually with the associated users. Furthermore, parents who were unable to attend the event can only view images shared with the group, and cannot view images that were not shared with the group, even if their child is in the image. Furthermore, unless the parents are close, it is difficult to ask the photographer to share the image individually, posing challenges to group sharing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The image management device disclosed herein comprises a setting means for setting individual sharing information indicating whether or not an image is to be shared individually with some members of a group to which the user belongs, in association with the user; an acquisition means for acquiring uploaded images; and a management means for managing the images acquired by the acquisition means, and when the user who uploaded the image has set the individual sharing to allow, the management means manages the images acquired by the acquisition means that are not shared with the group so that they can be shared individually between the uploading user and members associated with the images. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, even if an image is not shared with a group, if the image is relevant to a member of the group, the image can be shared with that member individually. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of processing in the first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the image management system. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of an image management device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the image capturing apparatus. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the overall process executed by the image management device. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of group processing executed by the image management device. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing another procedure of group processing. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing combinations of on / off settings for individual sharing and group sharing. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI screen in group processing. [Figure 10]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of user information according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of image storage processing according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image management table according to the first embodiment. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a notification process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 14] 10A is a diagram showing an example of a notification table, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing an example of a list of images to be notified. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an outline of processing in the second embodiment. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart of the overall process including registration of a sharing exclusion target. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information according to the second embodiment. [Figure 19] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of an image storage process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image management table according to the second embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an outline of processing according to the third embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information according to the third embodiment. [Figure 23] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image management table according to the third embodiment. [Figure 24] 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of an image storage process according to the third embodiment. [Figure 25] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a notification process (proposal process) according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 26] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI screen according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 27] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the entire process including the process of responding to a notification request. [Figure 28]FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an outline of processing in the fifth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the configurations shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the illustrated configurations.

[0012] First Embodiment (Processing Overview) 1 is a diagram showing an overview of processing according to the first embodiment. Image management device 100 is a server that provides a service for sharing images among multiple users. Image management device 100 has an image storage function for storing images uploaded by users, a group function for creating groups among multiple users, an image sharing function for sharing images, a message function for sending and receiving messages between users, and the like.

[0013] Users of the image sharing service provided by image management device 100 can upload and store images taken with an image capture device or information terminal in image management device 100. If a user belongs to a group, the images uploaded by the user can be shared with group members or shared individually with some of the group members. Group members can view images that other members have shared with the entire group and images that have been shared individually.

[0014] 1 is a group created using the group function provided by image management device 100, and is composed of parents of children who belong to the same high school class. In other words, user S, user T, and user U are members of group A, and their children are in the same class. The number of group members is arbitrary, and there may be other members in addition to these three, or the group may have only two members.

[0015] In the image management device 100 of this embodiment, each user can set whether the images they upload can be shared with the entire group or not. Furthermore, even if sharing with the group is not allowed, group members can also set whether to allow individual users related to the uploaded images to share the images. As an example, consider the following situation.

[0016] User S, a member of Group A, was unable to attend his child's sports festival, but would like to share any images of his child. However, he does not have much contact with other parents and finds it difficult to ask for images. On the other hand, User T, who took photos of the sports festival, thinks it is okay to share all of the images he took with the entire group. User U took photos of the sports festival, but would like to refrain from sharing all of the images with the entire group. However, since there are images of children other than his own, if there are parents who would like to share their images, he thinks it is okay to share those images individually with those parents (group members).

[0017] In this situation, user S first registers an image of his or her child, for example, a face image, as a sharing target in image management device 100. User T sets the image sharing method in image management device 100 by turning on group sharing. User U sets the image management device 100 by turning off group sharing and turning on individual sharing. Image management device 100 registers setting information related to image sharing in association with each user's user information (user ID, etc.).

[0018] When an image 104 containing a share target 111 is uploaded by user T who has set group sharing to on, image management device 100 saves the image 104 in group A's shared folder 110. On the other hand, when an image 105 containing a share target 111 is uploaded by user U who has set group sharing to off and individual sharing to on, image management device 100 makes the image 105 available for individual sharing with members related to the image 105. Specifically, image management device 100 analyzes the content (subject) of image 105, identifies user S associated with share target 111 registered by a member of the group, and saves the image in the identified user S's personal folder 109.

[0019] For images stored in the group's shared folder 110, the entire group is granted viewing rights. For images stored in the personal folder 109, the individual is granted viewing rights. Furthermore, when an image is stored in the personal folder 109, the image management device 100 notifies user S, a related member, that the image has been uploaded. In the following explanation, storing an image in the group's shared folder is considered to be the same as granting group viewing rights to the image. Similarly, storing an image in a personal folder is considered to be the same as granting individual user viewing rights to the image.

[0020] (System Configuration) 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an image management system 1 including an image management device 100 of this embodiment. The image management system 1 includes an information terminal 230 used by a user, an image capturing device 231 used by the user, and the image management device 100. The information terminal 230 and the image capturing device 231 can be communicatively connected to the image management device 100 via a network. The network includes a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, etc.

[0021] The information terminal 230 is an information terminal that is connected to a network and has a communication function for sending and receiving various information and images to and from the image management device 100, and a function for displaying and playing images, and includes a smartphone, PC, tablet, etc. The information terminal 230 may also have other functions such as a function for capturing images and a function for voice calls. The image capturing device 231 has a function for capturing images and a communication function for connecting to a network and sending and receiving various information and images to and from the image management device 100. The image capturing device 231 may also have a function for displaying and playing images. In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the information terminal 230 and the image capturing device 231, they will be referred to as user terminals.

[0022] A user can store an image 232 taken by using an image capturing device 231 in the storage unit 220 of the image management device 100 .

[0023] Image management device 100 has an acquisition unit 210 and an output unit 211. Image management device 100 also has a target registration unit 202, a group setting unit 203, a sending user identification unit 204, a group target generation unit 205, an image recognition unit 206, an image management unit 207, a sharing member identification unit 208, a notification unit 209, and a memory unit 220. Memory unit 220 may be a storage device such as a hard disk provided inside image management device 100, or may be an external storage that can communicate with image management device 100 via a network. Image management device 100 may be made up of multiple devices.

[0024] The acquisition unit 210 receives images and information transmitted from a user terminal connected via a network. The output unit 211 transmits information output by the image management device 100 to a specified destination, such as an information terminal 230 or an image capturing device 231.

[0025] The acquisition unit 210 receives an image storage request 233, a group setting request, and a target registration request 235 sent from a user terminal. The acquisition unit 210 acquires an image 232 uploaded together with the image storage request 233.

[0026] When the acquisition unit 210 receives a target registration request 235, the target registration unit 202 registers information about the sharing target or sharing exclusion target sent from the user terminal together with the request, in association with the user information of the user who sent the request. A sharing target is the condition of an image or the conditions of a subject that the user wishes to share (wish to be shared by users other than the user). A sharing exclusion target is the condition of an image or the conditions of a subject that the user wishes to exclude from sharing (do not want to share) with the entire group. Both the user who uploads the image and the members of the group can register sharing targets and sharing exclusion targets.

[0027] Information on a shared target or a shared exclusion target (hereinafter referred to as a target) is information for detecting the target from an image. For example, if the target is a person, facial information such as the person's face image and facial feature information is registered as target information. Alternatively, if the target is a person, image information such as the color or pattern of the person's clothing (including shoes and hat) may be used as target information. Also, character string information such as numbers or names displayed on a name tag, bib, or uniform attached to the person's clothing may be used. When photographing a child's work to be displayed at an exhibition or cultural festival, character string information such as the creator's name displayed on the work may be used.

[0028] Furthermore, targets are not limited to people, and may be, for example, living things such as animals and plants, buildings, works of art, natural objects, man-made objects, scenery, etc. For example, if there is something that you would like to share as an individual but do not want to share with the entire group, or something that most people in the group are not interested in but that you would like to share with certain users as a common hobby, it is appropriate to register it as a sharing target. Examples of the former include images that tend to be divided into likes and dislikes, such as images of reptiles or insects, and examples of the latter include images of hobbies that most members are not interested in but that you would like to share with certain members, such as "local manholes."

[0029] When the acquisition unit 210 receives the group setting request 234, the group setting unit 203 executes group processing in response to the request. The group processing includes processing for creating a group consisting of multiple users, processing for inviting users to a group, and processing for users to join a group. In the following description, users who belong to a group are referred to as members of that group. Note that a user is a user who has registered an account for a service provided by the image management device 100. In other words, the image management device 100 manages account information such as a user ID as user information for each user.

[0030] The group setting unit 203 has a sharing setting unit 240. The sharing setting unit 240 accepts settings related to image sharing made by each user. The settings related to image sharing include an on / off setting for individual sharing and an on / off setting for group sharing. Individual sharing is set to on when the user is permitted to individually share images with some members of the group to which the user belongs, and is set to off when not permitted. Group sharing is set to on when the user is permitted to share images with all members of the group to which the user belongs, and is set to off when not permitted. The image sharing settings will be described later. Information about the group to which the user belongs and setting information related to image sharing set by the user (hereinafter referred to as sharing setting information) are registered in the storage unit 220 in association with user information.

[0031] When the acquisition unit 210 receives the image storage request 233, the sending user identification unit 204 identifies the user who sent the request, i.e., the user who uploaded the image 232. The sending user identification unit 204 identifies the sending user based on, for example, the user ID sent together with the image storage request 233.

[0032] The group target generation unit 205 acquires target information registered by each member of the group to which the sender user (user who uploaded the image 232) identified by the sender user identification unit 204 belongs, and generates a group target. That is, the group target includes one or more pieces of target information. Furthermore, the target information is configured from target information registered by members of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs. Note that the target information includes shared target information and shared exclusion target information, but in the first embodiment, only shared target information will be described.

[0033] The image recognition unit 206 performs image recognition processing on the uploaded image 232, with the group target of the group to which the sender user (the user who uploaded the image 232) belongs as the recognition target. If the result of the image recognition processing shows that the uploaded image 232 includes a target included in the group target, the target is detected.

[0034] The image management unit 207 registers information about the uploaded image 232 in an image management table in the storage unit 220, and stores the image 232 in the storage unit 220. The image management table will be described later. The image management unit 207 manages information such as image identification information (image ID), the user ID of the user who sent the image, information about the target included in the image, whether or not the group has viewing authority, whether or not a specific member has viewing authority, the upload date and time, and the image storage period.

[0035] When a user who uploaded an image has set up permission for individual sharing, the image management unit 207 manages uploaded images that are not shared with a group so that they can be individually shared between the uploader and the members associated with the image. If group viewing authority is granted to image 232, all members of the group can view (share) image 232. If individual member viewing authority is granted to image 232, only that member can view (share) image 232. Although viewing is shown as an example of image sharing in this embodiment, it may also include not only viewing but also saving of images, sending of images, etc.

[0036] When the user who uploaded the image 232 has set individual sharing to on, the sharing member identification unit 208 identifies members associated with the image 232. Specifically, when a group target (sharing target) is detected from the image 232, the sharing member identification unit 208 identifies members associated with the target by referring to the user information and target information. Details of the processing by the sharing member identification unit 208 will be described later.

[0037] The notification unit 209 notifies the user about images. Notifications about images include notifications about the image capture status. For example, when an image including a shared target is uploaded by a group member and individually shared, the notification unit 209 notifies the member identified by the sharing member identification unit 208 of information including the user who sent the image and a link to view the image. The notification unit 209 may also notify the user of the number of photos of the shared target taken by the group members, the target appearance frequency, etc., as the capture status. Specifically, the notification unit 209 may count the target appearance frequency for each target in multiple images shared by the group and transmit these values ​​to the image capture device 231 of each member as the capture status. For example, the notification unit 209 may also count the target appearance frequency for each target for images that are not shared by the group but are stored, and transmit these values ​​as the capture status to a user associated with the target.

[0038] The notification unit 209 determines whether to notify the user based on the notification conditions, and notifies the user terminal of the notification destination when the notification conditions are met. The notification unit 209 accepts notification conditions set by the user. The notification conditions can be, for example, conditions related to the number of images taken of the target or conditions related to the frequency of appearance of the target. For example, a condition can be set such that a notification is received when the number of images taken of the target by group members is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. Alternatively, a condition can be set such that a notification is sent to the member who registered the target when the frequency of appearance of the target in the group of images uploaded by the group members is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Alternatively, a condition can be set such that a notification is sent to the image capturing device 231 of the group member when the frequency of appearance of the target in the group of images uploaded by the group members is less than a predetermined value.

[0039] The storage unit 220 stores multiple uploaded images 221. It also holds an image management table 222, which is information for managing images. It also holds user information 223 about users who have registered accounts. The user information 223 is managed in association with target information 224 and sharing setting information 225 registered by the user. It also holds notification information 226, which includes information on images to be notified and information on notification destinations, etc.

[0040] 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of image management device 100. As shown in the figure, image management device 100 has a CPU 301, RAM 303, ROM 304, HDD 305, communication I / F 308, etc., and each unit is connected by a bus 310.

[0041] CPU 301 is a processor that performs overall control of each unit within image management device 100. CPU 301 executes various processes using RAM 303 as a work area in accordance with programs stored in ROM 304 or HDD 305. RAM 303 is a volatile storage area that temporarily stores programs loaded from HDD 305 or ROM 304, and also provides a work area that CPU 301 uses to perform various processes. ROM 304 is a non-volatile memory that permanently stores programs such as a boot program and BIOS, data, and the like.

[0042] 2 may be realized as a program module configuration. The program is stored in HDD 305 or ROM 304 of image management device 100, and CPU 301 reads and executes the program from HDD 305 or ROM 304 to realize each function of FIG. 2.

[0043] The HDD 305 is a non-volatile storage area that stores the OS (Operating System), various programs for executing the processes according to this embodiment, data required for executing the programs, data generated by the programs, etc. The image management device 100 may have a storage device such as an SSD or flash memory instead of or in addition to the HDD 305. The communication I / F 308 includes a communication control device, a communication port, etc., and mediates communication via the network 160.

[0044] 4 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image capturing device 231. As shown in the diagram, the image capturing device 231 has a CPU 401, a GPU 402, a RAM 403, a ROM 404, an HDD 405, a display unit 406, an input unit 407, a general-purpose I / F 408, a communication I / F 409, an image capturing unit 410, etc., and each unit is connected by a bus 411. The CPU 401, RAM 403, ROM 404, HDD 405, and communication I / F 409 are the same as the CPU 301, RAM 303, ROM 304, HDD 305, and communication I / F 308 described above.

[0045] The GPU 402 is a processor that performs image processing in response to instructions from the CPU 401. The GPU 402 performs predetermined image processing on an image captured by the image capturing unit 410, for example, to create an image.

[0046] The display unit 406 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays display data input from the CPU 401 under the control of the CPU 401. The display unit 406 displays images captured by the imaging unit 410 and notification information transmitted from the image management device 100. The display unit 406 also displays a UI screen for interactively transmitting and receiving information to and from the image management device 100. The input unit 407 has a group of buttons, a touch panel, etc., with which the user inputs various instructions. The input unit 407 accepts input of various instructions from the user and transmits the input instructions to the CPU 401. The input unit 407 may be a touch panel display integrated with the display unit 406.

[0047] The general-purpose I / F 408 is a data transfer interface such as USB, IEEE 1394, etc. The communication I / F 409 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device via a network, and includes Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), etc.

[0048] The imaging unit 410 has a camera and an image sensor, and generates an image file in a predetermined format based on the captured image. The image captured by the imaging unit 410 may be a still image or a video. The image captured by the imaging unit 410 is temporarily stored in the RAM 403, and then saved in a storage destination designated in advance or a storage destination designated by the user. For example, the image is stored in the storage unit 220 of the image management device 100.

[0049] The hardware configuration of the information terminal 230 in FIG. 2 is almost the same as the hardware configuration of the image capturing device 231 in FIG. 4, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. Note that the configurations of the information terminal 230, image capturing device 231, and image management device 100 are merely examples, and configurations may be added or deleted as appropriate. For example, when a smartphone is used as the information terminal 230, it may be configured to include a voice processing unit for making voice calls. Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is also possible to cause a smartphone or tablet to function as the image capturing device 231 according to this embodiment, or to cause the image capturing device 231 to function as the information terminal 230 according to this embodiment.

[0050] (Overall processing) The overall processing executed by the image management device will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the overall processing executed by image management device 100. The processing shown in this flowchart is executed by CPU 301 reading a program stored in HDD 305 of image management device 100, expanding it in RAM 303, and then being executed by CPU 301. Image management device 100 starts this processing when it receives a request or event from information terminal 230 or image capture device 231. In the following explanation, the symbol "S" means a step.

[0051] In the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, if an image uploaded by a user who does not wish to share images with the entire group contains a sharing target registered by a member of the group, the image is shared individually with the member who registered the target.

[0052] In S501, the CPU 301 (acquisition unit 210) of the image management device 100 accepts input from a user terminal. For example, a request or event is acquired from an information terminal 230 or an image capturing device 231 used by the user. It is assumed that the request or event is transmitted while the transmitting user is logged in to the image management system 1. In other words, the user ID of the transmitting user is transmitted to the image management device 100 along with the request or event.

[0053] In S502, the CPU 301 determines the type of the input request or event. If the type of the request or event is editing of user information (for example, registering a share target), the process proceeds to S504.

[0054] In S504, the CPU 301 executes a process for registering a shared target, assigns a target ID to the target information transmitted from the user, and registers the target information in association with the user information of the user who transmitted the request. In this example, it is assumed that a facial image of the child of the user who transmitted the request is registered as the target information.

[0055] If the type of the request or event acquired in S502 is group setting, the process proceeds to S503. In S503, the CPU 301 executes group processing. The group processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0056] If the type of the request or event acquired in S502 is image storage (image upload), the process proceeds to S505. In S505, the CPU 301 executes image storage processing. The image storage processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0057] When the processes of S503, S504, and S505 are completed, the process proceeds to S506. In S506, the CPU 301 determines whether to end this flowchart. If not, the process returns to S501 and the next request or event input is accepted. If the process of this flowchart is to end, the entire process ends.

[0058] (S503; Group processing) Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of group processing executed by image management device 100 in S503 of Fig. 5. This flowchart starts when a request to create a new group, a request to join a group, or a request to set up image sharing in a group is received from a user terminal.

[0059] In S601, the CPU 301 determines the type of processing requested. If the type of processing requested is group creation, the process proceeds to S602. If the type of processing requested is group participation, the process proceeds to S607.

[0060] In S602, CPU 301 accepts the designation of a group name and creates a new group with that group name. When a new group is created, CPU 301 issues new group identification information (group ID) and adds the user (user ID) of the user terminal that made the request as a member of the group. Note that, as a user operation procedure, a group creation request may be sent to image management device 100 including the group name. Alternatively, image management device 100 may send a UI screen for inputting a group name to the user terminal, prompting the user to input the group name.

[0061] In S603, the CPU 301 inquires of the user terminal that sent the request whether or not to add another member to the created group. If a response is received indicating that no other member will be added to the group, the process ends.

[0062] On the other hand, if a response to add another member to the group is received, the process proceeds to S604. In S604, the CPU 301 may display candidate users to be added on the user terminal of the request sender. Candidate users to be added are selected from accounts registered with the user. For example, the candidates may be determined based on the frequency of message transmission and reception with the request sender user and the contents of stored images.

[0063] In S605, the CPU 301 allows the user to select a user (member) to add to the group from the displayed candidates. Once the member is selected by the user, the CPU 301 invites the selected user to join the group in S606. The invitation to join the group may be sent using email or a message function, or may be notified using a notification function.

[0064] A list of members to be added to the group may be transmitted from the user terminal. In this case, CPU 301 may create candidate members to be added from the list of members received from the user terminal. Also, contact information for the members may be acquired from user information stored in storage unit 220. Furthermore, when adding a user who has transmitted a group creation request to a group, the users in the list may be invited. Alternatively, the users in the list may be directly added to the group without being invited.

[0065] A user who receives a group invitation sent from image management device 100 can send a request to image management device 100 to join the group. A user can also select a group that the user can join from among candidate groups. Candidate groups may be determined based on, for example, the frequency of message exchange with the user and the content of stored images.

[0066] When image management device 100 receives a request to join a group from a user terminal, CPU 301 of image management device 100 determines in S607 whether the user has received the invitation. If it is determined that the user has received the invitation, the process proceeds to S609, where the user is allowed to join the group to which the user has been invited.

[0067] If it is determined in S607 that the user has not received the invitation, the process proceeds to S608. In S608, the CPU 301 accepts a search and selection of a group by the user. In S609, the CPU 301 causes the user to join the group selected by the user.

[0068] Next, in S610, the CPU 301 accepts a setting as to whether or not to share images with the group when the user joins the group. If the user allows the group to share images, the process proceeds to S611, where the group sharing of images is set to ON.

[0069] If the user does not permit image sharing to the group, the process proceeds to S612, where group image sharing is set to OFF. If group sharing is OFF, the process further proceeds to S613, where a setting as to whether or not to share images with individual group members is accepted.

[0070] In S613, if the user permits individual group members to share images, the process proceeds to S614, where the CPU 301 sets individual image sharing to ON. If the user does not permit individual group members to share images, the process proceeds to S615, where the CPU 301 sets individual image sharing to OFF.

[0071] When the invitation to the group in S606 and the image sharing settings in S611, S614, and S615 are completed, the processing of this flowchart ends.

[0072] In the flowchart of Fig. 6, the procedure is such that the setting of individual sharing for members is accepted only when group sharing is turned off, but this is not limited to this. As shown in Fig. 7, the setting of individual sharing for members may be accepted even when group sharing is turned on.

[0073] 7 is a flowchart showing another procedure of the group processing. The processing shown in FIG. 7 is an alternative flow to S610 to S615 in FIG. 6, and is executed after S609 in FIG.

[0074] In S610, when a user joins a group, the CPU 301 accepts a setting as to whether or not to share images with the group. If the user allows the group to share images, the process proceeds to S611, where the group sharing of images is set to ON. Then, the process proceeds to S701. If the user does not allow the group to share images, the process proceeds to S612, where the group sharing of images is set to OFF. Then, the process proceeds to S701. In other words, whether the group sharing of images is set to ON or OFF, the process proceeds to the determination in S701.

[0075] In S701, the CPU 301 accepts a setting as to whether or not to share images with individual group members. If the user permits individual group members to share images as determined in S701, the process proceeds to S702, where individual image sharing is set to ON. If the user does not permit individual group members to share images as determined in S701, the process proceeds to S703, where individual image sharing is set to OFF. This sets individual image sharing ON / OFF.

[0076] 8 is a diagram showing combinations of individual sharing and group sharing settings. As described above, the image management device 100 accepts the on / off of group sharing 801 and the on / off of individual sharing 802 for members of the group as image sharing settings when users take a group photo.

[0077] The image sharing setting patterns according to the flow of S610 to S615 in FIG. 6 are the three patterns shown in the table in FIG. 8(a). Pattern 811 where group sharing 801 is on and individual sharing 802 is not performed, Pattern 812 where group sharing 801 is off and individual sharing 802 is on, There is a pattern 813 in which group sharing 801 is off and individual sharing 802 is off.

[0078] On the other hand, according to the flow of S610 to S703 in FIG. 7, the image sharing setting patterns are the four patterns shown in the table in FIG. 8(b). Pattern 821 where group sharing 801 is on and individual sharing 802 is on, Pattern 822 (same as pattern 811) where group sharing 801 is on and individual sharing 802 is off, Pattern 823 (same as pattern 812) where group sharing 801 is off and individual sharing 802 is on, Pattern 824 (same as pattern 813) in which group sharing 801 is off and individual sharing 802 is off.

[0079] When pattern 811 or pattern 822 is set, individual sharing is not set to ON, so even if a target specified by a group member is detected in the uploaded image, notification processing is not performed for that member. On the other hand, in pattern 821, individual sharing is set to ON, so that member is notified individually.

[0080] (Group settings UI screen) FIG. 9 shows an example of a UI screen displayed on a user terminal during group processing. FIG. 9(a) shows an example of an image sharing screen 900 for a group named "Class 3B." This group is open to parents of children in Class 3B at a certain school. The group's image sharing screen 900 displays multiple images uploaded by group members in a viewable state. Note that the only images displayed on the image sharing screen 900 are those uploaded by users who have group sharing turned on. Images with group sharing turned off will not be displayed on this image sharing screen 900, even if individual sharing is turned on.

[0081] FIG. 9(b) shows a UI screen (sharing setting screen 901) that is displayed when a user participating in a group sets a method for sharing images with the group. The sharing setting screen 901 displays setting items such as a group name 902, image sharing with the group (group sharing) 904, and image sharing with members (individual sharing) 906. If a group name has already been set, the name is displayed in the setting item, such as "Class 3B." Button 903 indicates the user's participation status in the group and allows the user to set whether or not to participate. If the user is not participating, the words "Participating" are displayed in gray, and if the user has participated, the words "Participating" are displayed in color. Note that the display method is arbitrary. Group sharing can be turned on / off using switch button 905, and individual sharing can be turned on / off using switch button 907. The sharing setting screen 901 in FIG. 9(b) shows the user participating in the group "Class 3B," with group sharing off and individual sharing off. When individual sharing is set to ON by the switch button 907, the screen transitions to a screen 910 in FIG. 9(c).

[0082] FIG. 9(c) is a UI screen 910 that is displayed when a user sets "Image sharing to members" (individual sharing) to on. When the share button 908 for "Image sharing to members" (individual sharing) on ​​the UI screen 910 is set to on, a "Suggestion" switch button 909 is also displayed, allowing for on / off setting. Suggestion is a setting for determining whether to notify related users when an individually sharable image is uploaded, or whether to receive a notification suggestion before notifying them. Notifications and suggestions will be described later. The example in FIG. 9(c) shows a state in which "Suggestion" is set to on.

[0083] 10 is a diagram showing an example of user information 1000 stored in the storage unit 220 in the first embodiment. The user information 1000 stores values ​​for items such as a user ID 1002, which is identification information for identifying a user whose account has been registered, a share target 1003, a group ID 1004, group sharing 1005, individual sharing 1006, and individual notification conditions 1007. Note that the user account registration process is a common process, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0084] In S504 of FIG. 5, when a user registers a facial image of a person of interest as target information, the CPU 301 of the image management device 100 analyzes features for facial recognition and registers the feature data in association with the user ID. Furthermore, when a user creates or joins a group through the group processing in S503, the group ID, which is the group's identification information, is stored in association with the user ID. Furthermore, when group sharing and individual sharing are set through the processing in S610 to S615 of FIG. 6 (or S610 to S703 of FIG. 7), the values ​​(on / off / -) set in the group sharing 1005 and individual sharing 1006 are stored in association with the user ID. Furthermore, if the user sets conditions for notifications, the individual notification conditions are stored in association with the user ID. For example, a condition can be set such that an individual sharing notification is received when two or more individually shared images are reached. The notification conditions are not limited to the above conditions and are arbitrary.

[0085] The rows of the user information 1000 in FIG. 10 are records 1008 to 1013 of user information registered for users with user IDs "0001" to "0005" and "0011," respectively. The user with user ID "0001" belongs to a group with group ID "1001," has group sharing of images set to on, and has individual sharing set to "- (not set)." In addition, DATA#11111 has been registered as a sharing target. DATA#11111 is the target's identification information (target ID), and the target information is stored in the storage unit 220 in association with this target ID.

[0086] A user with user ID "0002" belongs to a group with group ID "1001" and has set image group sharing to off and individual sharing to on. DATA#11112 has also been registered as a sharing target. A user with user ID "0003" belongs to a group with group ID "1001" and has set image group sharing to off and individual sharing to on. DATA#11113 has also been registered as sharing target information. The individual notification condition has also been set to "2 or more images." A user with user ID "0004" belongs to a group with group ID "1001" and has set image group sharing to off and individual sharing to off. DATA#11114 has also been registered as sharing target information. A user with user ID "0005" belongs to a group with group ID "1005" and has set image group sharing to off and individual sharing to on. In addition, DATA#11115 and DATA#11116 are registered as sharing target information. A user with user ID "0011" belongs to a group with group ID "1001", and has group sharing for images turned on and individual sharing turned on. DATA#11122 is also registered as a sharing target.

[0087] In this example, it can be seen that users with user IDs "0001" to "0004" and "0011" belong to the same group, while user with user ID "0005" belongs to a different group. In the following explanation, it is assumed that user ID "0001" is user T shown in Figure 1, user ID "0002" is user U shown in Figure 1, and user ID "0003" is user S shown in Figure 1.

[0088] (Image storage processing) Next, the image storage process executed in S505 of Fig. 5 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of the image storage process.

[0089] In S1101, the CPU 301 of the image management device 100 receives an image storage request 233 from a user. The image storage request 233 is assumed to include an image 232 and the user ID of the sender. In the following description, the image 232 sent to the image management device 100 together with the image storage request 233 is referred to as an uploaded image.

[0090] In step S1102, the CPU 301 identifies the user who is the sender of the image storage request 233 based on the user ID added to the image storage request 233.

[0091] In S1103, the CPU 301 acquires information about the user identified in S1102 from the user information 1000 (FIG. 10) stored in the storage unit 220. Here, the CPU 301 acquires information about the sharing target, group ID, group sharing settings, individual sharing settings, and individual notification conditions associated with the user ID.

[0092] In S1104, CPU 301 stores the uploaded image in a predetermined storage area of ​​storage unit 220. At this time, CPU 301 creates image management information that associates the uploaded image with the user ID acquired in S1102, and stores the information in image management table 1200 of storage unit 220. The image management table 1200 will be described later (FIG. 12).

[0093] In S1105, the CPU 301 determines whether the user belongs to a group based on the user information acquired in S1103. If the user does not belong to a group, the process proceeds to S1115. If it is determined in S1105 that the user belongs to a group, the process proceeds to S1106.

[0094] In S1115, the CPU 301 performs image processing based on information preset by the user, such as image processing preferred by the user, or processing to add target information to the image if a target registered by the user is recognized in the image.

[0095] In S1106, the CPU 301 sets target information registered by members of the group to which the user who sent the uploaded image belongs as the target of image recognition. For example, if the user who sent the uploaded image belongs to the group with group ID "1001" shown in Figure 10, all shared targets registered by members of group ID "1001" are extracted and group targets are generated. In the case of Figure 10, DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, DATA#11114, and DATA#11122 become group targets.

[0096] In step S1107, the CPU 301 executes image recognition processing using the group target generated in step S1106 as the recognition target. That is, the CPU 301 executes processing to recognize targets included in the group target from the uploaded image.

[0097] If a target included in a group target is recognized from the uploaded image, in S1108, the CPU 301 associates the target ID of the recognized target with the image and stores it in the image management table 1200. If there are multiple recognized targets, the IDs of those multiple targets are associated with the image ID of the image and stored in the image management table 1200.

[0098] Furthermore, in S1109, the CPU 301 determines the group sharing setting based on the user information acquired in S1103. That is, if the user who uploaded the image has set the group sharing setting to ON, the process proceeds to S1114.

[0099] In step S1114, the CPU 301 shares the uploaded image with the group. That is, the CPU 301 sets the group's viewing authority in association with the image ID of the uploaded image. Specifically, the CPU 301 stores the group ID of the group to which the user belongs in the group viewing authority 1205 field in the image management table 1200.

[0100] In S1109, if the group sharing setting for the user who uploaded the image is set to OFF, the process proceeds to S1110.

[0101] In S1110, the CPU 301 determines whether the individual sharing setting for the user who uploaded the image is set to ON. If the individual sharing setting is set to ON, the process proceeds to S1111. If the individual sharing setting is set to OFF, the process ends.

[0102] In S1111, the CPU 301 determines whether or not target information (target ID) has been assigned to the uploaded image by the image recognition process of S1107. That is, it determines whether any target of the group target appears in the uploaded image. If a target ID has not been assigned, that is, if none of the targets of the group target appears in the uploaded image, this flowchart ends. On the other hand, if a target ID has been assigned to the uploaded image, the process proceeds to S1112.

[0103] In S1112, CPU 301 identifies the member associated with the target ID assigned to the uploaded image. For example, if "DATA#11113" is assigned as the target ID to the uploaded image, the member who registered "DATA#11113" is identified by referring to user information 1000. Referring to user information 1000 in FIG. 10, it can be seen that "DATA#11113" was registered by a member with user ID "0003." Hereinafter, members associated with a target are referred to as related members.

[0104] In step S1113, the CPU 301 executes a notification process for notifying the identified related members of the shooting status. The notification process will be described in detail later (FIG. 13). When the notification process ends, this flowchart ends.

[0105] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an image management table 1200 generated in the image storage process. When an image is uploaded along with an image storage request, information about the uploaded image is added to the image management table 1200. As shown in Fig. 12, image management information is stored in each record 1208 to 1212 in the image management table 1200. The image management information includes an image ID 1202, a user ID 1203 of the photographer, a target ID 1204 included in the subject, a group viewing authority 1205, an individual viewing authority 1206, an upload date 1207, etc.

[0106] Image ID 1202 is identification information for identifying an image, and is issued by the image management device 100 when the image is stored. Photographer user ID 1203 is the user ID of the user who sent (uploaded) the image together with the image storage request, and is acquired by the processing of S1102 in FIG. 11. Note that the sender of the image storage request does not necessarily have to be the same as the photographer. Here, as an example, the description will be given assuming that the sender of the image storage request is the photographer. Upload date 1207 is information about the date and time when the image was uploaded. The date and time are managed by the image management device 100. Subject target ID is the target ID of the target recognized as the subject of the image, and is stored by the processing of S1107 in FIG. 11.

[0107] The group viewing authority 1205 stores a value according to the group sharing setting of the user who uploaded the image (the user with the photographer's user ID). In other words, if the group sharing setting of the user who uploaded the image is set to ON, viewing authority is granted to all members of the group to which that user belongs. In this case, information indicating the group ID, such as "GID#1001," is assigned in association with the image ID. Since the photographer "0001" of image ID "1111111111" belongs to group ID "1001" and the group sharing setting is ON, "GID#1001" is held in the group viewing authority field. The group viewing authority 1205 is granted in S1114 of the image storage process shown in FIG. 11.

[0108] The individual viewing authority 1206 stores the user ID of the user to whom the viewing authority is granted. Specifically, if the user who uploaded the image has set individual sharing to on and the image has a target ID assigned to it, the related member (user ID) of the target ID is stored as "UID#0003." For example, referring to the user information in FIG. 10, the photographer "0002" of image ID "1111211112" belongs to group ID "1001," with the group sharing setting off and the individual sharing setting on. Furthermore, the target ID "DATA#11113" has been assigned by image recognition processing. In this case, viewing authority is granted only to the related member user (user ID "0003") who registered this "DATA#11113" as a target. "UID#0003" is stored in the individual viewing authority field. The individual viewing authority 1206 is granted in the notification processing shown in S1113.

[0109] (Notification processing) Next, the notification process executed in S1113 of Fig. 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of the notification process. The process of this flowchart starts when related members of the target recognized from the uploaded image are identified in S1112 of the image storage process (Fig. 11).

[0110] In step S1301, the CPU 301 acquires notification information with related members as notification destinations from the notification table 1400 in FIG. 14(a).

[0111] 14(a) is a diagram showing an example of a notification table 1400. In the notification table 1400, notification information including a notification source user ID 1402, a group ID 1403, a notification destination user ID 1404, a target number of images 1405, and a notification image ID 1406 is stored in each record. Records 1407 and 1408 each indicate notification information. For example, record 1407 indicates that a notification source user ID "0002" has two images to be notified to a notification destination user ID "0003" who belongs to a group ID "1001". The images to be notified have image IDs "1111211112" and "1111311113".

[0112] For example, if the user ID of the identified related member is "0003", the notification information of all records with the notifying user ID "0003" is obtained from the notification table 1400. For example, the notification information with user ID "0003" as the notification destination is record 1407.

[0113] In S1302, CPU 301 adds notification information to notification table 1400, with the user who uploaded the image as the notification source and the related members as the notification destinations. If notification information (record) with the same notification destination user ID as the notification destination user ID is already stored in the notification table, CPU 301 adds the image ID of the image to be notified to that record and updates the number of targets (number of notification image IDs). If a record with the same notification destination user ID as the notification destination user ID is not stored in the notification table, CPU 301 adds a new record.

[0114] In S1303, the CPU 301 refers to the notification conditions set by the related member (notification destination). The notification conditions are stored in the individual notification conditions 1007 of the user information 1000 in FIG. 10. The value stored in the individual notification conditions 1007 of the related member is the notification condition. If the user ID of the related member is "0003", "two or more images" is set as the individual notification condition 1007. This means that the notification will be received if there are two or more images to be notified.

[0115] In S1304, the CPU 301 determines whether the notification conditions are met. If the notification conditions are met, the process proceeds to S1305. If no individual notification conditions are set in the user information 1000, the process also proceeds to S1305. If the notification conditions are not met, the process ends.

[0116] In S1305, the CPU 301 acquires information about the image to be notified. The information about the image to be notified is stored in the notification image ID 1406 of the notification information acquired in S1301.

[0117] In S1306, the CPU 301 creates a list of images to be notified (notification list) based on the information on the images to be notified acquired in S1305.

[0118] 14B is a diagram showing an example of a list of notification target images 1420. As shown in the figure, notification image IDs with user ID "0003" who is a related member as the notification destination are extracted from the notification table 1400.

[0119] In S1307, the CPU 301 creates the content of the notification. The content of the notification may include the list 1420 of images to be notified created in S1306, information on the notification destination according to the notification method (email address, SNS message function, application notification function, etc.), the wording of the notification message, etc.

[0120] In S1308, the CPU 301 notifies the relevant members, who are the notification recipients, based on the content of the notification created in S1306. The notification method may include any method, such as email, a messaging function of an SNS, or a notification function in an image sharing application for accessing the image management device 100 and performing operations such as viewing images or uploading images. Link information for viewing the image may be added to the notification.

[0121] In S1309, the CPU 301 grants viewing authority to the related members who are the notification recipients of the notification target image. Specifically, for the information linked to the image ID of the notification target image among the image management information managed in the image management table 1200, the user ID of the related members is stored in the individual viewing authority 1206 item. Furthermore, the notification information that has been notified may be deleted from the notification table 1400.

[0122] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a notification on a user terminal. FIG. 15(a) illustrates an example using the notification function of the above-described application, and FIG. 15(b) illustrates an example using email, a messaging function of an SNS, or the like. When an individual sharing notification is sent from the image management device 100, a notification mark 1503 is displayed on a group image sharing screen 1501 displayed on the user terminal 1500, as shown in FIG. 15(a). The image sharing screen 1501 displays the name of the group to which the user belongs and thumbnail images 1502 of the images being shared by the group. In the example of FIG. 15(b), the display unit of the user terminal 1500 displays a message 1511 indicating that an individually shared image exists, such as "There are images taken by X-X," along with information about the photographer, and a link 1512 to the image. Note that touching the notification mark 1503 shown in FIG. 15(a) may transition to the screen shown in FIG. 15(b). The group image sharing screen 1501 is displayed when an application installed on the user terminal 1500 is started and the user logs in to the image management device 100 .

[0123] (Example 1: Group sharing off, individual sharing off) A specific example of the processing executed by the image management device 100 of the first embodiment will be described. First, an example will be shown in which user U (user ID "0002") shown in FIG. 1 uploads an image to the image management device 100. Referring to record 1009 of user information 1000 shown in FIG. 10, this user U belongs to group ID "1001" and has set group sharing to OFF, individual sharing to ON, and no individual notification conditions. When user U uploads an image, the process proceeds to S505 based on the determination in S502 of FIG. 5. In S505, the image storage process shown in FIG. 11 is executed, and first, the uploaded image (image ID "1111211112") is stored in the storage unit 220 through the processes in S1101 to S1104. The determination of whether or not the user belongs to a group (S1105) is YES, and the process proceeds to S1106. The target information of all members of group ID "1001" is read from the user information 1000 of FIG. 10. A group target including DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, DATA#11114, and DATA#11122 is created. In S1107, image recognition processing is executed using these group targets as recognition targets.

[0124] As a result of image recognition, it is assumed that a target of "DATA#11113" is recognized in the uploaded image (image ID "1111211112"). In this case, by the processing of S1108, "DATA#11113" is assigned as the target ID of the subject of the uploaded image (image ID "1111211112"), as shown in record 1208 of image management table 1200 in FIG. 12. As described above, group sharing for user U who uploaded this image is set to off and individual sharing is set to on, so the process proceeds to S1111. Since target information "DATA#11113" has been assigned to the uploaded image by the processing of S1108, the process proceeds to S1112. In S1112, the user information 1000 in FIG. 10 is referenced, and it is found that the related member of "DATA#11113" is user ID "0003". It is assumed that the related user identified in this way is user S (FIG. 1). In the notification process of S1113, user S (user ID "0003") is the user to be notified.

[0125] In the notification process shown in FIG. 13, notification information for user S is obtained from notification table 1400 in S1301. At this point, it is assumed that no notification information with user S as the notification destination is stored in the notification table. In S1302, a new record is added to notification table 1400, with user S (user ID "0003") as the notification destination and user U (user ID "0002") as the notification source. In this record, the image ID "1111211112" of the uploaded image is stored as the notification image ID. The target number is 1, and the group ID is "1001". In S1303, the notification conditions for user S, the notification destination, are referenced. The individual notification condition for user S (user ID "0003") is set to "two or more" as shown in FIG. 10, so the notification condition is not met. In this case, this process is terminated.

[0126] Next, user U (user ID "0002") uploads another image (image ID "1111311113"). As in the flow described above, image ID "1111311113" is stored in image management table 1200. In the image recognition process, as described above, target information for all members of group ID "1001" to which user U belongs is read, a group target is created, and image recognition is performed in S1107. As a result of image recognition, it is assumed that a target of "DATA#11113" is also recognized in the currently uploaded image (image ID "1111311113"). In this case, as shown in record 1209 of image management table 1200 in FIG. 12, "DATA#11113" is assigned as the target ID of the subject of the uploaded image (image ID "1111311113"). As described above, the group sharing setting for uploader user T is set to off and individual sharing is set to on, so the process proceeds to S1111. The uploaded image is assigned target information "DATA#11113", and the related member is identified as user ID "0003" (user S). In the notification process, user S (user ID "0003") becomes the notification destination user.

[0127] In the notification process shown in FIG. 13, in S1301, notification information for user S is obtained from notification table 1400. At this point, notification information 1407, which specifies user S as the notification destination and user U as the notification source, is stored in the notification table due to the previous image upload. In S1302, the image ID "1111311113" of the image uploaded this time is added to record 1407 in notification table 1400, which specifies user S (user ID "0003") as the notification destination and user U (user ID "0002") as the notification source. The number of target images is updated to two. Because the individual notification condition for user S, who is the notification destination, is set to "two or more images," it is determined in S1304 that the notification condition is met.

[0128] In this case, in S1305, a notification list and notification contents for the images to be notified (image IDs "1111211112" and "1111311113") are created, and are notified to user S (user ID "0003"), who is a related member. Here, the notification contents may include sending the images to be notified themselves to the user terminal of user S, who is a related member, or may include displaying a link to view the images to be notified and information about the targets appearing in the images. After that, user S (user ID "0003") is granted viewing authority to the images to be notified (image IDs "1111211112" and "1111311113").

[0129] (Example 2: Group sharing on, individual sharing off) Next, an example will be shown in which user T (user ID "0001") shown in FIG. 1 uploads an image to the image management device 100. According to record 1008 of user information 1000 shown in FIG. 10, this user T (user ID "0001") belongs to group ID "1001," has group sharing setting on, and has set individual notification conditions to none. When user T uploads an image, the process proceeds to S505 based on the determination in S502 of FIG. 5. In S505, the image storage process shown in FIG. 11 is executed, and the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") is stored in storage unit 220 by the processes of S1101 to S1104. The determination of whether or not the user belongs to a group (S1105) is YES, and the process proceeds to S1106. Target information of all members of group ID "1001" is read from user information 1000 of FIG. 10, and a group target is created. In this example, the group targets include DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, DATA#11114, and DATA#11122. Image recognition is performed in S1107 using these group targets as recognition targets.

[0130] As a result of image recognition, it is assumed that a target of "DATA#11113" is recognized in the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111"). In this case, by the processing of S1108, "DATA#11113" is assigned as the target ID 1204 of the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111"), as shown in record 1210 of image management table 1200 of FIG. 12. As described above, since the group sharing setting for uploading user U is set to OFF and individual sharing is set to ON, the process proceeds to S1114. In S1114, viewing authority for the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") is granted to all members of the group. As shown in record 1210 of image management table 1200 of FIG. 12, "GID#1001" is stored in group viewing authority 1205 of the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111"). Thereafter, the image storage processing ends. In this case, notification processing is not performed.

[0131] (Example 3: Example of group sharing turned off, individual sharing turned off) 10, a case will be described in which user ID "0004" uploads an image. User ID "0004" belongs to group ID "1001," but both group sharing and individual sharing are set to off. When this user uploads an image, the process proceeds to S505 based on the determination in S502 of FIG. 5. In S505, the image storage process shown in FIG. 11 is executed, and the uploaded image (image ID "1234567890") is stored in the storage unit 220 through the processes in S1101 to S1104. The determination of whether or not the user belongs to a group (S1105) is YES, and the process proceeds to S1106. Target information for all members of group ID "1001" is read from the user information 1000 of FIG. 10, and a group target is created. In this example, the group target includes DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, DATA#11114, and DATA#11122. In S1107, image recognition is performed with the group target as the recognition target. As a result of image recognition, assume that the target "DATA#11112" is recognized in the uploaded image. In this case, the target ID is assigned in association with the image ID in the image management table 1200. However, because group sharing and individual sharing are off, NO is determined in S1109 and S1110, and the processing ends. Therefore, even if a target is recognized in the image, the image is not shared with either the group or individual members of the group.

[0132] As described above, even for images not shared with the group, a user can individually share images related to members of the same group by turning on the individual sharing setting. Furthermore, the image management device 100 determines the content of the uploaded image and identifies members with whom to individually share the image based on the image's content (e.g., subject), eliminating the need for users to select images. Furthermore, members related to the image are identified based on the conditions of the share targets registered in advance by the group members. Therefore, when group members have an image they want to share, they can individually view the image by registering a share target. Furthermore, the recognition targets for share targets are limited to those registered by members of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs. Therefore, the processing load on the image management device 100 in detecting targets from a collection of uploaded images is reduced. Furthermore, when an image is individually shared with group members, the shooting status is notified to the members related to the image, allowing group members to easily check the shooting status of the image containing the target.

[0133] <Second embodiment> Next, as a second embodiment, the exclusion of specific images from sharing will be described. In the first embodiment, all images uploaded by users who have the group sharing setting turned on are managed so that they are shared with group members. However, there are users who wish to exclude images of failures such as blinking or blurry images, or images that include a specific target from being shared.

[0134] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an overview of processing according to the second embodiment. Group A shown in FIG. 16 is a group created using the image sharing function provided by image management device 100, and is made up of parents of children who belong to the same high school class. In other words, user S, user T, and user Z are members of group A, and their children are in the same class. The members of group A are not limited to these three people. User Z of group A took photos of the sports festival, but would like to refrain from sharing images that include his or her child with the entire group. However, he or she would like to share images that include other children together with his or her child individually with their parents (group members).

[0135] In this case, user Z sets the group sharing setting to on and the individual sharing setting to on, and then registers his or her child as a sharing exclusion target in the image management device 100. Then, if an image, such as image 1603, shows his or her child, who is a sharing exclusion target, together with a person who is a sharing target of user S, the sharing exclusion target and the sharing target are recognized by image recognition processing when the image is uploaded to the image management device 100. This image 1603 is not shared with the group, but is shared with user S, who is a related member of the sharing target.

[0136] The system configuration (FIG. 2) of the image management system 1 of the second embodiment, and the hardware configurations (FIGS. 3 and 4) of the image management device 100 and user terminals (information terminal 230, image capturing device 231) are the same as those of the first embodiment. Furthermore, the functional configuration of the image management system 1 of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, except for the sharing setting unit 240.

[0137] In the image management system 1 of the second embodiment, the sharing setting unit 240 of the image management device 100 accepts group sharing on / off settings and individual sharing on / off settings, as in the first embodiment. The sharing setting unit 240 also accepts settings for the conditions for excluding images from sharing. Hereinafter, the conditions for excluding images from sharing are referred to as sharing exclusion targets. When a sharing exclusion target is set by a user using the sharing setting unit 240, the image management unit 207 controls the image so that it is not shared with the group if the image matches the set sharing exclusion target. The sharing exclusion target applies to the entire group. That is, even if an image is uploaded by a user who has set group sharing on, if the image matches a sharing exclusion target, it will be excluded from sharing with the entire group.

[0138] Sharing exclusion targets can be set based on conditions related to the subject's shooting state or image state, such as blinking or blur, or specific people, objects, scenery, etc. For example, you can set your own child as a sharing exclusion target.

[0139] The user transmits information about people or things to be excluded from sharing and the image status conditions via the user terminal along with a request to register the sharing exclusion target information. The image management device 100 executes the process in response to the request.

[0140] That is, when the acquisition unit 210 of the image management device 100 receives the target registration request 235, it sends the information on the target to be excluded from sharing sent from the user terminal together with the target registration request 235 and the user ID of the request sender to the target registration unit 202. The target registration unit 202 associates the acquired information on the target to be excluded from sharing with the user information (user ID) and registers it in the storage unit 220. In this embodiment, it is assumed that face information of the user's child is registered as information on the target to be excluded from sharing.

[0141] (Registration process for shared exclusion targets) Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of the overall processing in the second embodiment. S501, S502, S504, and S506 in this flowchart are the same as S501, S502, S504, and S506 in the overall processing in the first embodiment shown in Fig. 5. S1701 to S1703 are different from the flowchart in Fig. 5.

[0142] In S501, the CPU 301 (acquisition unit 210) of the image management device 100 accepts input from a user terminal. In S502, the CPU 301 determines the type of the acquired request or event. If the type of request or event is registration of a sharing target, the process proceeds to S504; if it is registration of an exclusion target for sharing, the process proceeds to S1701; if it is image storage, the process proceeds to S1702. If it is another request (such as group creation), the process proceeds to S1703, where processing according to the request is executed. The processing according to the request is, for example, group processing (S503 in FIG. 5), etc. The group processing is the same as in the first embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0143] In S504, the CPU 301 executes a process for registering a share target, assigns a target ID to the target information transmitted from the user, and registers the target information in association with the user information of the user who transmitted the request.

[0144] In S1701, the CPU 301 executes a process for registering a target to be excluded from sharing, assigning a target ID to the information about the target to be excluded from sharing sent from the user, and registering the target in association with the user information of the user who sent the request. The user information in which the target to be excluded from sharing is registered will be described later. Here, it is assumed that the face image (DATA#11178) of the child of the user who sent the request is registered as a target to be excluded from sharing in the user information.

[0145] In step S1702, the CPU 301 executes the image storage process of the second embodiment, which will be described later (FIG. 19).

[0146] When the processing of S504, S1701, and S1702 is completed, the process proceeds to S506. In S506, the CPU 301 determines whether to end this flowchart. If not, the process returns to S501 and the next request or event input is accepted. If the process of this flowchart is to end, the entire process ends.

[0147] FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information 1800 according to the second embodiment. Compared to the user information 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10, an attribute item for sharing exclusion target information 1801 has been added. This attribute specifies the conditions for images to be excluded from sharing (sharing exclusion targets) even when group sharing is set to on. This attribute, for example, can be used to exclude from group sharing images, images with poor quality, such as blinking or blurry images, or images that include specific people or objects. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, user Z (user ID "0011") belonging to group ID "1001" has registered DATA#11122 as a sharing target and DATA#11178 as a sharing exclusion target. User Z has set group sharing to on and individual sharing to on.

[0148] In this case, all images uploaded by User Z (user ID "0011") will be shared with the group in principle. However, if the uploaded image contains DATA#11178, which is a sharing exclusion target, it will be excluded from group sharing. If the image also contains a sharing target registered by a member of the same group, it will be able to be shared individually with that member.

[0149] (Image storage process of the second embodiment) Next, the image storage processing in the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 19. Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing the flow of the image storage processing in the second embodiment. The processing shown in the flowchart in Fig. 19 is executed in S1702 in Fig. 17. Compared to the image storage processing of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 11, S1901 is added after the determination of YES in S1109. The other processing is the same as in the first embodiment, and the same processing is assigned the same reference numerals.

[0150] S1901 is executed when it is determined in S1105 that the user who uploaded the image belongs to a group, and when it is determined in S1109 that the user has set group sharing to on. If the processes of S1106 to S1108 recognize a sharing target or a sharing exclusion target registered by a group member from the uploaded image, the target ID of that target is assigned to the uploaded image.

[0151] In S1901, the CPU 301 of the image management device 100 determines whether or not the uploaded image includes a target for sharing exclusion. If the target ID of the target for sharing exclusion is assigned, the process proceeds to S1110. If the target ID of the target for sharing exclusion is not assigned, the process proceeds to S1114.

[0152] In step S1114, the CPU 301 sets the viewing authority for the entire group in association with the image ID of the uploaded image. That is, since the uploaded image does not include a sharing exclusion target, the uploaded image is shared with the entire group.

[0153] In S1110, the CPU 301 determines whether individual sharing is set to ON for the user who uploaded the image. If individual sharing is set to ON, the process proceeds to S1111. If individual sharing is set to OFF, the process ends.

[0154] In S1111, the CPU 301 determines whether information (target ID) of a sharing target is assigned to the uploaded image. That is, it determines whether any of the sharing targets registered by the group members appears in the uploaded image. If the target ID of the sharing target is not assigned, this flowchart ends. On the other hand, if the target ID of the sharing target is assigned to the uploaded image, the process proceeds to S1112.

[0155] In step S1112, the CPU 301 determines the members (related members) associated with the target ID of the sharing target assigned to the uploaded image.

[0156] In S1113, the CPU 301 executes a notification process to notify the identified related members of the shooting status. The notification process is the same as that in the first embodiment (FIG. 13). When the notification process ends, this flowchart ends.

[0157] (Specific example of the second embodiment) As a specific example, the operation of image management device 100 when user Z (user ID "0011") in Fig. 16 uploads an image will be described. The image uploaded by user Z includes a sharing exclusion target (DATA#11178) registered by user Z and a sharing target (DATA#11113) registered by a member of the group to which user Z belongs.

[0158] Referring to the user information 1800 shown in Figure 18, it can be seen that user Z (user ID "0011") belongs to group ID "1001", has group sharing turned on, individual sharing turned on, and has registered "DATA#11178" as a sharing exclusion target.

[0159] When user Z uploads an image, the process of FIG. 17 proceeds from S502 to S1702, and the image (image ID "1234567890") is stored in storage unit 220 by S1101 to S1104 of the image storage process shown in FIG.

[0160] 20 is a diagram showing an example of an image management table 2000 according to the second embodiment. A record 2001 in FIG. 20 holds information about an image uploaded by a user Z.

[0161] Since user Z belongs to group ID "1001" (S1105; YES), the process proceeds to S1106. In S1106, shared targets of each user of group ID "1001" are extracted from user information 1800 shown in FIG. 18, and shared group targets are created. The shared group targets include DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, DATA#11114, and DATA#11122. In addition, shared exclusion targets of each user of group ID "1001" are extracted from user information 1800, and shared exclusion group targets are created. In the example of FIG. 18, the only shared exclusion group target is DATA#11178. In S1107, image recognition is performed on the shared group targets and shared exclusion group targets.

[0162] As a result of image recognition, it is assumed that a target (DATA#11178, DATA#11113) is recognized from the image (image ID "1234567890") uploaded by user Z. The image information in this case is shown in record 2001 of image management table 2000. As shown in record 2001, the target information (DATA#11178, DATA#11113) is assigned to the image (image ID "1234567890").

[0163] As a result of the determination in S1109, user Z who uploaded the image has group sharing turned on, so the process proceeds to S1901. The uploaded image (image ID "1234567890") contains a sharing exclusion target (DATA#11178), so it is excluded from sharing with the group. Therefore, the process flow proceeds to S1110. Individual sharing is on, and DATA#11113 attached to the uploaded image is registered as a sharing target for user ID "0003" (user S) who belongs to the same group ID "1001". Therefore, in S1112, user S is identified as a related member and is the user to be notified. In S1113, notification processing for user S is executed, and this flowchart ends.

[0164] The notification process is the same as the process shown in Fig. 13. In the notification process, CPU 301 obtains notification information from the notification table, specifying user S (user ID "0003"), who is a related member of the image (image ID "1234567890") uploaded by user Z (user ID "0011"), as the notification destination. If there is no notification information for related member user S in the notification table, CPU 301 creates new notification information and adds it to the notification table. The notification information specifies user Z (user ID "0011") as the notification source, user S (user ID "0003") as the notification destination, and the uploaded image (image ID "1234567890") as the notification image ID. CPU 301 refers to the individual notification conditions for user S, who is the notification destination. If the conditions are met, and the number of images to be notified becomes "two or more," a notification is issued to user S, and image viewing authority is granted to user S. If the conditions are not met, the notification process ends.

[0165] In the example of Fig. 20, image IDs "1111211112," "1111311113," and "1234567890" are notified as images to be notified to user S (user ID "0003"), who is a related member. In addition, the viewing authority of user S (user ID "0003"), who is also a related member, is granted to these images.

[0166] As described above, according to the processing of the second embodiment, if a user who has set a sharing exclusion target with group sharing and individual sharing set to on uploads an image that includes that sharing exclusion target, the image will not be shared with the group. However, if the image that includes the sharing exclusion target also includes a sharing target of the same group, the image can be shared with related users who have registered that sharing target.

[0167] <Third embodiment> Next, as a third embodiment, a case where an image uploaded by a user is both a sharing exclusion target and a sharing target of a group member will be described.

[0168] FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an overview of processing according to the third embodiment. Group A shown in FIG. 21 is a group created using the image sharing function provided by image management device 100, and is composed of parents of children who belong to the same high school class. In other words, user S, user T, and user U are members of group A, and their children are in the same class. Group A is not limited to these three people. User U of group A took photos of the sports festival but would like to refrain from sharing the photos with the entire group. However, if the photos include other children, he or she may personally share them with their parents. User S was unable to attend the sports festival and would like to view images of his or her child, but at the same time, he or she would prefer that his or her child's images not be shared with the entire group.

[0169] In this case, user S simply registers his or her child as a shared target and an excluded target. Image 104 uploaded by user T, who has set group sharing to on, contains targets that user S has registered as shared targets and excluded targets. In this case, image 104 is not shared with the entire group, but is shared privately with user S. Similarly, image 105 uploaded by user U, who has set group sharing to off and individual sharing to on, also contains targets that user S has registered as shared targets and excluded targets. In this case, image 105 is also not shared with the entire group, but is shared privately with user S.

[0170] The system configuration (FIG. 2) of the image management system 1 of the third embodiment, and the hardware configurations (FIGS. 3 and 4) of the image management device 100 and user terminals (information terminal 230, image capturing device 231) are the same as those of the first embodiment. The functional configuration of the image management system 1 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment.

[0171] Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of user information 2200 in the third embodiment. As shown in record 2202 in Fig. 22, user S (user ID "0003") has registered DATA#11113 as both a sharing target and a non-sharing target.

[0172] 23 is a diagram showing an example of an image management table 2300 in the third embodiment. As an example, as shown in record 2301, the operation of image management device 100 will be described when an image with ID "1111111111" taken by user T (user ID "0001") is uploaded.

[0173] (Image storage process of the third embodiment) Fig. 24 is a flowchart showing the flow of image storage processing in the third embodiment. The flowchart in Fig. 24 differs from the image storage processing of the second embodiment shown in Fig. 19 in that if YES is determined in S2401, the process proceeds to S1111. The other processes are the same as those in Fig. 19. The process of S2401 is the same as S1901 in Fig. 19. That is, it is executed when it is determined in S1105 that the user who uploaded the image belongs to a group, and it is determined in S1109 that the user has set group sharing to ON. If a share target or a share exclusion target registered by a member of the group is recognized from the uploaded image by the processes of S1106 to S1108, the target ID of that target is assigned to the uploaded image.

[0174] (Specific example of the third embodiment) As a specific example, the operation of image management device 100 will be described when DATA#11113, a target registered by user S, is included in an image uploaded by user T (user ID "0001") in Fig. 21. DATA#11113 is registered both as a sharing target and as an exclusion target.

[0175] Referring to the user information 2200 shown in FIG. 22, it can be seen that user T (user ID "0001") belongs to a group with group ID "1001", and has group sharing set to ON and individual sharing set to OFF.

[0176] When this user T uploads an image, the image (image ID "1111111111") is stored in the storage unit 220 by steps S1101 to S1104 in FIG. 19. Since user T belongs to group ID "1001" (S1105; YES), the process proceeds to S1106. In S1106, shared targets registered by members of group ID "1001" are extracted from the user information 2200 shown in FIG. 22, and a shared group target is created. This shared group target includes DATA#11111, DATA#11112, DATA#11113, and DATA#11114. In addition, a shared exclusion target (DATA#11113) registered by members of group ID "1001" is extracted from the user information 2200, and a shared exclusion group target is created. In S1107, image recognition is performed on the shared group targets and the shared exclusion group targets.

[0177] As a result of image recognition, it is assumed that a target (DATA#11113) is recognized from the image (image ID "1111111111") uploaded by user T. The image information in this case is shown in record 2301 of image management table 2300. Therefore, as shown in record 2301, DATA#11113 is assigned to the image (image ID "1111111111") as target information.

[0178] In the determination at S1109, user T who uploaded the image has group sharing turned on, so the process proceeds to S2401. In the determination at S2401, it is determined whether the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") contains a sharing exclusion target. In this example, since the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") contains a sharing exclusion target (DATA#11113), it is excluded from sharing with the group, and the process proceeds to S1111.

[0179] In S1111, it is determined whether the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") contains a share target. In this example, the uploaded image (image ID "1111111111") contains a share target (DATA#11113), so the process proceeds to S1112. In S1112, user S (user ID "0003"), who is the registrant of the assigned target information (DATA#11113), is identified. In S1113, a notification process is executed for user S, and this flowchart ends.

[0180] The notification process is the same as in the first embodiment, and notification to user S, who is a related member, and granting of viewing authority are carried out according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0181] As described above, a user can register the same target as both a shared target and a target to be excluded from sharing. According to the image storage process of the third embodiment, if a user who has set group sharing to on uploads an image that includes a shared target registered by another user, the uploaded image is not shared with the group. Furthermore, regardless of whether the individual sharing setting is on, off, or not set, if the uploaded image includes a shared target registered by a group member, the image can be shared individually with the member who registered the shared target. This makes it possible to perform processing that meets the user's request, such as "I don't want to share with the group, but I want to share it individually."

[0182] <Fourth embodiment> In the first to third embodiments described above, for an image to be shared individually, if the condition set by the related members is met, the related members are notified and given the viewing authority, but this is not limited to this. Before notifying the related members, the image management device 100 may execute a suggestion process to inquire of the user who uploaded the image (i.e., the user who sent the notification) whether or not to share the image individually with the related members.

[0183] The system configuration (FIG. 2) of the image management system 1 of the fourth embodiment, and the hardware configuration (FIGS. 3 and 4) of the image management device 100 and user terminals (information terminal 230, image capturing device 231) are the same as those of the first embodiment. The functional configuration of the image management system 1 of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the first or second embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, in the notification process executed by the notification unit 209, a proposal process is executed before notification.

[0184] Fig. 25 is a flowchart showing the flow of notification processing executed in the fourth embodiment. The processing of this flowchart is executed after the related members who individually share images are identified in the image storage processing. Specifically, this flowchart starts after S1112 in Figs. 11, 19, and 24. Compared to the flowchart of Fig. 13, in this flowchart, processing of S2501 to S2503 is added after processing of S1306. Since the other processing is the same as in Fig. 13, the same processing will be described with the same reference numerals.

[0185] (Notification process of the fourth embodiment) The notification process shown in Fig. 25 will be described. First, as in the notification process of the first embodiment, in S1301, CPU 301 of image management device 100 acquires notification information with related members as notification destinations from notification table 1400 (Fig. 14) in storage unit 220. For example, if the user ID of the identified related member is "0003", all records with the notification destination user ID "0003" are acquired from notification table 1400 as notification information. Then, in S1302, CPU 301 adds notification information with the user who uploaded the image as the notification source and the related members as the notification destinations to notification table 1400.

[0186] In S1303, the CPU 301 refers to the notification conditions set by the related members (notification destinations). In S1304, the CPU 301 determines whether the notification conditions are met. If the notification conditions are met, the process proceeds to S1305. If no individual notification conditions are set in the user information 1000, the process also proceeds to S1305. If the notification conditions are not met, the process ends this flowchart.

[0187] In S1305, CPU 301 acquires information about the image to be notified. The information about the image to be notified is stored in notification image ID 1406 of the notification information acquired in S1301. In S1306, CPU 301 creates a list of images to be notified (notification list) based on the information about the images to be notified acquired in S1305.

[0188] In the notification process of the fourth embodiment, after S1306, the process of S2501 is executed. In S2501, the CPU 301 accepts the user's selection of an action. The selectable actions are "notify" or "suggest." "Notify," like the notification process of the first embodiment, is a process of notifying related members of the image to be notified and sharing it (granting them viewing rights). "Suggest" is a process of asking the user who uploaded the image whether it is okay to share the image individually with related members before notifying them.

[0189] If the user (the user who uploaded the image) selects "Notify" in S2501, CPU 301 executes the processes of S1307 to S1309, similar to the notification process of the first embodiment. That is, CPU 301 creates notification content including a list of images to be notified, notification destination information (email addresses, SNS message function, application notification function, etc.), notification message wording, etc., and notifies the related members who are notification destinations. Also, CPU 301 grants viewing authority to the related members who are notification destinations.

[0190] On the other hand, if the user selects "Propose" in S2501, the processes of S2502 to S2503, which will be described later, are executed. In S2502, CPU 301 creates proposal information. The proposal information includes the list of images to be notified created in S1306, the wording of the proposed message, etc. The proposal information may include information on the image to be notified and related members to be notified, or may include a link for checking the image to be notified and information for displaying the targets included in the image.

[0191] In S2503, the CPU 301 transmits the proposal information created in S2502 to the user terminal of the user to whom the proposal is to be made, and then ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0192] FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a UI screen in the fourth embodiment. The UI screen displays suggested information received by a user who uploaded an image. The user may receive the suggested information at the image capturing device 231 as a user terminal, or at the information terminal 230. The suggestion method may use email, a messaging app, a notification function within an image sharing application that executes the processing according to this embodiment, or the like. When the suggested information is received at the image capturing device 231 as shown in FIG. 26(a), the UI screens shown in FIGS. 26(b) and 26(c) are displayed on the display of the image capturing device 2600.

[0193] FIG. 26(b) is a diagram showing an example of a proposal screen 2601 for an image capturing device. As shown in the proposal screen 2601, a message 2602 saying "There are images to share with members. Would you like to notify them?" and options of "NO" 2603 and "Yes" 2604 are displayed. When the user selects "Yes" 2604, the screen transitions to screen 2605 shown in FIG. 26(c). Screen 2605 is a screen for accepting the selection of a notification destination, and options such as "Camera" 2606 and "Contacts" 2607 are displayed. When "Camera" 2606 is selected, the proposed information can be sent to this image capturing device 2600. When "Contacts" 2607 is selected, the proposed information can be sent to contacts registered in the image management device 100 (such as email, a messaging app, or the notification function of an image sharing application).

[0194] When the user who received the proposal information selects one of the notification destinations on screen 2605 in Figure 26(c), the user terminal that received the proposal information sends a notification request to the image management device 100, assuming that the user has accepted and executed the notification to the other user.

[0195] Fig. 27 is a flowchart showing the flow of the overall process including the process of responding to a notification request. The flowchart shown in Fig. 27 adds S2701 to S2703 to the overall process shown in Fig. 5. S2701 to S2703 are notification processes executed when the image management device 100 receives a notification request. As described above, the notification request is a process executed in response to the proposal by the user terminal that received the proposal information sent in S2503 of Fig. 25. The processes other than S2701 to S2703 are the same as S501 to S506 of Fig. 5.

[0196] When the image management device 100 receives a notification request from a user terminal, it executes steps S2701 to S2703. The processing of steps S2701 to S2703 is the same as the processing of steps S1307 to S1309 in the notification processing of the first embodiment. That is, the CPU 301 creates notification content including the list 1420 of images to be notified, notification destination information according to the notification method, and notification message text, and notifies the related members who are notification destinations based on the notification content. Because this processing is notification processing in response to a proposal, the notification content corresponds to the proposed information. For example, the proposed information includes the image to be notified sent to the user as the notification destination, a link for viewing the image to be notified, and target information included in the image. The notification destination information is, for example, an email address, account information for a messaging app, account information for an image sharing application, etc. Then, the related members designated as notification destinations are granted viewing authority.

[0197] As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the image management device 100 proposes to ask the user who uploaded the image whether or not to notify the relevant members of the individual sharing before notifying them of the individual sharing. This allows the user who uploaded the image, if the image can be individually shared with group members, to confirm the sharing content and the members with whom the image will be shared before sharing it. This prevents images from being shared unintentionally.

[0198] <Fifth embodiment> Next, as a fifth embodiment, a case will be described in which an uploaded image includes a share target of a group other than the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs.

[0199] FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an overview of processing in the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 28, multiple groups A and B have been created. User S and user T belong to group A, and user U belongs to group B, which is separate from group A. User U, who belongs to group B, also personally sends and receives messages (message sharing) with user S, who belongs to group A. Message sharing is a messaging function provided by image managing device 100, and involves sending and receiving messages between users who have accounts on image managing device 100. User T and user U each agree to share images they have taken with groups to which they belong. User S has also registered his or her child as a sharing target.

[0200] The following describes a case where user U, who belongs to group B, photographs a child (share target 111) of user S, who belongs to another group A. In the fifth embodiment, the image management device 100 considers that a group has been created among users who have a history of message sharing 281, even if the group creation process has not been performed. That is, in the image management system of the fifth embodiment, the image management unit 207 of the image management device 100 considers user U, who uploaded the image, and user S, who has a message sharing history, to be members of a group consisting of the two, and manages the image. Therefore, if the share target 111 registered by user S is included in an image 105 uploaded by user U, the image 105 is managed so that it can be shared between the two users, even if user U and user S belong to different groups. Note that the image 105 is not shared by group B, to which user U belongs, or group A, to which user S belongs. This is because the share target 111 registered by user S is not a group target of group B.

[0201] The image storage process and notification process of the fifth embodiment may be the same as those of any of the first to fourth embodiments.

[0202] As described above, the image management device 100 according to the fifth embodiment manages images uploaded by two users who share a message history, assuming that a new group (second group) has been created between them. Furthermore, with regard to image sharing settings, the sharing settings set by the user in the sharing setting unit 240 can be used as is. That is, if a user has set group sharing or individual sharing to on, it is assumed that group sharing or individual sharing is also set to on for the second group. Therefore, if an image uploaded by one user between users who share a message history contains a sharing target registered by the other user, the image can be shared between the two users.

[0203] Although preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a group is a group of parents of children attending the same class, but the present disclosure can be applied to any group. Furthermore, the number of people in a group, the number of groups, the shooting conditions, the contents of each table, the processing procedures, the contents of notifications and suggestions, the UI screen, etc. are merely examples and are not limited to the examples shown in the embodiments. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications or alterations within the scope of the technical ideas disclosed herein, and it is understood that such modifications also fall within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0204] <Other embodiments> The present disclosure 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. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0205] The disclosure of the above-described embodiment includes the following configurations.

[0206] (Configuration 1) a setting means for setting, in association with a user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not images are to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquiring means for acquiring the uploaded image; a management means for managing the images acquired by the acquisition means; Equipped with the management means, when a user who has uploaded the image has set to allow the individual sharing, manages the images acquired by the acquisition means that are not shared with the group so as to be individually sharable between the uploader and a member associated with the image; An image management device characterized by:

[0207] (Configuration 2) 2. The image management device according to configuration 1, further comprising: a specifying unit that specifies the members who individually share the image based on the content of the image acquired by the acquiring unit.

[0208] (Configuration 3) The image capturing unit further includes a registering unit that registers information for detecting a sharing target, which is a target that the member wishes to share, from the image acquired by the acquiring unit in association with the member, The image management device according to configuration 2, wherein the identification means, when the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target, identifies the member associated with the sharing target as the member who will individually share the image.

[0209] (Configuration 4) The image management device according to configuration 3, wherein the management means determines whether the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target within the range of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs.

[0210] (Configuration 5) the registration means registers information for detecting a sharing exclusion target, which is a target that the member wishes to exclude from sharing with the entire group, from the image acquired by the acquisition means in association with the member; The image management device described in configuration 3 or 4, characterized in that if the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target, the management means manages the image so that it is not shared with members other than those associated with the sharing exclusion target.

[0211] (Configuration 6) The image management device according to configuration 5, wherein the management means determines whether the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target within the range of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs.

[0212] (Configuration 7) If the user who uploaded the image has set up to allow the individual sharing, and the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target registered by the user and the sharing target registered by the member, 7. The image management device according to claim 5, wherein the management means manages the image so that the image can be shared between the member who has registered the sharing target and the user.

[0213] (Configuration 8) The setting means further sets, in association with the user, group sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be shared with all members of the group to which the user belongs; the registration means registers information for detecting a sharing exclusion target, which is a target that the member wishes to exclude from sharing with the entire group, from the image acquired by the acquisition means in association with the member; The image management device according to any one of configurations 3 to 7, characterized in that, when the user who uploaded the image has set the group sharing to be permitted and the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target and the sharing exclusion target, the management means makes the image unshareable to the group and manages it so that it can be shared individually between the member associated with the sharing target and the user.

[0214] (Configuration 9) The image management device according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, characterized in that the management means regards a second user who has a message sharing history with the user who uploaded the image as a new second group being created between the user and the second user, and manages the uploaded image.

[0215] (Configuration 10) 10. The image management device according to any one of configurations 1 to 9, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition unit about the image.

[0216] (Configuration 11) The image management device according to any one of configurations 1 to 10, further comprising a suggestion unit that suggests to the user who uploaded the image that a notification regarding the image be sent to the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition unit.

[0217] (Configuration 12) 11. The image management device according to configuration 10, wherein the notification means accepts settings of conditions under which the member receives the notification, and issues the notification when the conditions are met.

[0218] (Configuration 13) 13. The image management device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a selection means for accepting a selection by the user as to whether to notify the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition means about the image, or to suggest to the user who uploaded the image that the notification be made.

[0219] (Configuration 14) 9. The image management device according to any one of configurations 3 to 8, wherein information about a person's face is registered as the target information.

[0220] (Configuration 15) 9. The image management device according to any one of configurations 3 to 8, wherein image information relating to clothing of a person and character string information relating to the person are registered as the information about the target.

[0221] (Configuration 16) 1. A computer-implemented image management method, comprising: a setting step of setting, in association with the user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquisition step for acquiring the uploaded image; a management step of managing the images acquired in the acquisition step, In the management step, An image management method in which, when the user who uploaded the image has set up the system to allow individual sharing, images acquired in the acquisition step that are not shared with the group are managed so that they can be individually shared between the uploading user and members associated with the images.

[0222] (Configuration 17) A program for causing a computer to execute an image management method, The image management method includes: a setting step of setting, in association with the user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquisition step for acquiring the uploaded image; a management step of managing the images acquired in the acquisition step, In the management step, A program that, when the user who uploaded the image has set up the system to allow individual sharing, manages images acquired in the acquisition step that are not shared with the group so that they can be individually shared between the uploading user and members associated with the images.

Claims

1. a setting means for setting, in association with a user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not images are to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquiring means for acquiring the uploaded image; a management means for managing the images acquired by the acquisition means; Equipped with When a user who has uploaded the image has set up a setting to allow the individual sharing, the management means manages the images acquired by the acquisition means that are not shared with the group so as to be individually sharable between the uploader and a member associated with the image. An image management device characterized by:

2. 2. The image management device according to claim 1, further comprising: a specifying unit that specifies the members who individually share the image based on the content of the image acquired by the acquiring unit.

3. a registration unit that registers information for detecting a sharing target, which is a target that the member wishes to share, from the image acquired by the acquisition unit in association with the member; The image management device according to claim 2, characterized in that, when the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target, the identification means identifies the member associated with the sharing target as the member with whom the image will be individually shared.

4. The image management device according to claim 3 , wherein the management means determines whether the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target within the range of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs.

5. the registration means registers information for detecting a sharing exclusion target, which is a target that the member wishes to exclude from sharing with the entire group, from the image acquired by the acquisition means in association with the member; The image management device according to claim 3, characterized in that, when the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target, the management means manages the image so that it is not shared with members other than those associated with the sharing exclusion target.

6. The image management device according to claim 5, wherein the management means determines whether the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target within the range of the group to which the user who uploaded the image belongs.

7. If the user who uploaded the image has set up to allow the individual sharing, and the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing exclusion target registered by the user and the sharing target registered by the member, 6. The image management device according to claim 5, wherein the management means manages the image so that the image can be shared between the member who has registered the sharing target and the user.

8. The setting means further sets, in association with the user, group sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be shared with all members of the group to which the user belongs; the registration means registers information for detecting a sharing exclusion target, which is a target that the member wishes to exclude from sharing with the entire group, from the image acquired by the acquisition means in association with the member; The image management device described in claim 3, characterized in that if the user who uploaded the image has set it to allow group sharing and the image acquired by the acquisition means includes the sharing target and the sharing exclusion target, the management means makes the image unavailable for sharing in the group and manages it so that it can be shared individually between the member associated with the sharing target and the user.

9. The image management device described in claim 1, characterized in that the management means considers a second user who has a message sharing history with the user who uploaded the image to be a new second group created between the user and the second user, and manages the uploaded image.

10. 2. The image management device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition unit about the image.

11. 2. The image management device according to claim 1, further comprising a suggestion unit that suggests to the user who uploaded the image that the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition unit be notified about the image.

12. 11. The image management device according to claim 10, wherein the notification means accepts settings of conditions under which the member receives the notification, and issues the notification when the conditions are met.

13. The image management device of claim 1, further comprising a selection means for accepting a selection by the user as to whether to notify the member associated with the image acquired by the acquisition means about the image, or to suggest to the user who uploaded the image that the notification be made.

14. 6. The image management device according to claim 3, wherein information about a person's face is registered as the target information.

15. 6. The image management device according to claim 3, wherein image information relating to clothing of a person and character string information relating to the person are registered as the target information.

16. 1. A computer-implemented image management method, comprising: a setting step of setting, in association with the user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquisition step for acquiring the uploaded image; a management step of managing the images acquired in the acquisition step, In the management step, An image management method in which, when the user who uploaded the image has set up settings to allow individual sharing, images acquired in the acquisition step that are not shared with the group are managed so that they can be shared individually between the uploading user and members related to the images.

17. A program for causing a computer to execute an image management method, The image management method includes: a setting step of setting, in association with the user, individual sharing information indicating whether or not the image is to be individually shared with some members of a group to which the user belongs; an acquisition step for acquiring the uploaded image; a management step of managing the images acquired in the acquisition step, In the management step, A program that, when the user who uploaded the image has set up the system to allow individual sharing, manages images acquired in the acquisition step that are not shared with the group so that they can be individually shared between the uploading user and members associated with the images.

Images