IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

To provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing program, and an image processing method that can perform image processing without performing information reduction more than necessary even in a case or the like where subtle information such as personal information is included in an imaging object.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus 1 that outputs a conversion image in which information on an imaging object surface included in an original image is modified to an unrecognizable state comprises: an image input unit 11 in which the original image is input; a sensor input unit 12 into which a sensor value is input; a storage unit 13 that stores a unit conversion amount indicating a change amount of the original image and a reference sensor value compared with the sensor value; a conversion amount calculation unit 14 that calculates a conversion amount for the original image on the basis of the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; and an image conversion unit 15 that performs conversion processing for the original image and calculates the conversion image, on the basis of the conversion amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method, and can be applied to an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method that perform processing to make sensitive information such as personal information in an image unrecognizable, for example, when the subject of a photograph contains such information. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image processing system is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

[0003] The image processing system described in Patent Document 1 comprises functional modules: a management unit, a filter generation unit, a selection unit, and an application unit. The management unit is a functional element that comprehensively manages the process of generating a transformed image from an original image. The filter generation unit is a functional module that generates an attribute filter. The selection unit is a functional module that selects the attribute filter to be applied to the original image. The application unit is a functional module that obtains a transformed image by applying the selected attribute filter to the original image.

[0004] Moreover, a filter refers to a function for processing an image, and an attribute filter refers to a filter corresponding to the attributes of a subject. An attribute filter blurs an image so that personal information corresponding to a subject cannot be recognized but the attributes of the subject can be recognized. There is no limitation on the method of realizing an attribute filter, and the attribute filter can be realized, for example, by program code, a setting file, or a combination of these. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-127194 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology (image processing system), when processing is performed on the entire image without specifying any particular area, there is a possibility that protection processing will be performed on areas that do not contain personal information, which may result in the amount of information being reduced more than necessary.

[0007] In addition, when designating an area to be protected as personal information, it is specified by manual or automatic extraction. When designating manually, there is a problem that human labor is required. On the other hand, when performing automatic extraction, there is a problem that calculation is required for extraction, and furthermore, there is a problem that the designation omission due to extraction error cannot be denied.

[0008] Therefore, there is a demand for an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method that can efficiently process images without reducing information more than necessary even when the photographed object contains sensitive information such as personal information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The first invention is an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object contained in an original image has been corrected to an unrecognizable state, the image processing device including: (1) an image input unit to which the original image is input; (2) a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; (3) a storage unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating an amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; (4) a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; and (5) an image conversion unit that performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount to calculate the converted image. (6) further comprising an image analysis unit that performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image and calculates an image information amount; (7) the storage unit further comprises a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount; (8) the image conversion unit determines whether or not to set an upper limit for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and when an upper limit is set and the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit, calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount as the upper limit. It is characterized by:

[0010] The image processing program of the second invention is a computer installed in an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object contained in an original image has been corrected to make it unrecognizable, the computer being configured to function as: (1) an image input unit to which the original image is input; (2) a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; (3) a memory unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating an amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; (4) a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; and (5) an image conversion unit that performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount to calculate the converted image. (6) further functioning as an image analysis unit that performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image and calculates an image information amount; (7) the memory unit further has a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount; (8) the image conversion unit determines whether or not to set an upper limit for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and when an upper limit is set and the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit, calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount as the upper limit. It is characterized by:

[0011] A third aspect of the present invention is an image processing method used in an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object contained in an original image has been modified to make it unrecognizable, in which (1) an image input unit receives an input of the original image, (2) a sensor input unit receives an input of a sensor value, (3) a memory unit stores a unit conversion amount indicating an amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value, (4) a conversion amount calculation unit calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value, and (5) an image conversion unit performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount to calculate the converted image. (6) the image analysis unit performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image and calculates an image information amount; (7) the memory unit further has a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit value of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold value for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount; (8) the image conversion unit determines whether to set an upper limit value for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and sets an upper limit value and calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount as the upper limit value if the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit value. It is characterized by: The fourth aspect of the present invention is an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object contained in an original image has been modified to make it unrecognizable, the image processing device including: (1) an image input unit to which the original image is input; (2) a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; (3) a storage unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating an amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; (4) a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; and (5) a conversion processing unit that performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount to calculate the converted image. (6) the sensor value is a value of the distance between the photographing device that captures the original image and the object to be photographed by the photographing device; (7) the unit conversion amount is a value indicating the amount of pixel change in the original image when the sensor value changes by a unit amount; (8) the reference sensor value is a value of the distance between the photographing device and the object to be photographed, and is a threshold value by which it can be determined that the photographing device and the object to be photographed are separated from each other; and (9) the conversion amount is a value obtained by multiplying the unit conversion amount by a value obtained by squaring a differential sensor value, which is a value obtained by subtracting the sensor value from the reference sensor value. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, even when the photographed object contains sensitive information such as personal information, the image can be efficiently processed without reducing the information more than necessary. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image processing system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the image processing device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing device according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of an image processing device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image processing device according to a third embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between sensor values ​​according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] (A) First embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0015] (A-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment (A-1-1) Overall composition FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the image processing system according to the first embodiment.

[0016] 2, the image processing system 100 includes an image processing device 1, an image capturing device 2, a sensor 3, a communication device 4, a communication device 5, and a management device 6.

[0017] The image processing device 1 is a processing device that processes an image (original image) of a subject 7 photographed by a photographing device 2 according to a sensor value output by a sensor 3, and outputs a converted image.

[0018] The photographing object 7 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a variety of objects such as humans, animals, vehicles, etc. In Fig. 2, the image processing device 1 acquires photographed images directly from the photographing device 2, but the images may be acquired via a communication device or a portable storage medium such as a USB memory.

[0019] The photographing device 2 is, for example, a camera, and provides an original image to the image processing device 1. The photographing device 2 needs to be fixed at a position and angle of view that allows it to photograph the object 7 to be photographed.

[0020] The sensor 3 is a device that measures a physical quantity from the real world and converts the physical quantity into a sensor value, and various types of sensors can be applied. Note that the physical quantity measured in this embodiment needs to be a physical quantity related to the distance between the image capture device 2 and the object 7 to be captured.

[0021] The communication devices 4 and 5 are communication devices that transmit and receive signals including the converted image. The communication device 4 transmits a signal including the converted image acquired from the image processing device 1, and the communication device 5 receives the communication signal transmitted from the communication device 4 and provides the converted image included in the signal to the management device 6. The communication devices 4 and 5 transmit the converted image to the management device 6 according to various communication protocols, whether wired or wireless. Note that instead of transmitting the converted image to the management device 6 via the communication devices 4 and 5, the converted image may be transmitted to the management device 6 via a general portable storage medium such as a CD, DVD, or USB memory.

[0022] The management device 6 sequentially records the converted images provided by the communication device 5 and uses them for a variety of purposes. As a modified example, the management device 6 may have the functions of the image processing device 1. In this case, the original image captured by the photographing device 2 is transmitted to the management device 6 by the communication devices 4 and 5.

[0023] (A-1-2) Detailed configuration of image processing device 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

[0024] The image processing device 1 has an image input unit 11, a sensor input unit 12, a storage unit 13, a conversion amount calculation unit 14, an image conversion unit 15, and an output unit 16.

[0025] The image processing device 1 may be realized by installing a program (an image processing program according to the embodiment) in a computer having a processor, memory, etc., but even in this case, the functions of the image processing device 1 can be shown in Fig. 1. Note that the image processing device 1 may be realized in part or in whole by hardware.

[0026] The image input unit 11 inputs a captured image (original image) including a subject 7 from the image capturing device 2 .

[0027] The sensor input unit 12 receives the sensing result (sensor value) of the object 7 (the surrounding environment of the object 7) from the sensor 3.

[0028] The storage unit 13 stores the unit conversion amount T and the reference sensor value, etc. The unit conversion amount T is a value indicating the amount of pixel change in the original image when the sensor value changes by a unit amount. The reference sensor value S is a value of the distance between the image capture device 2 and the object 7 to be captured, and is a threshold value for determining that the image capture device 2 and the object 7 to be captured are sufficiently far apart.

[0029] The conversion amount calculation unit 14 calculates the amount of conversion indicating how much conversion is to be performed on the original image, based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount T, and the reference sensor value S. The details of the conversion amount calculation unit 14 will be described in the section on operation.

[0030] The image conversion unit 15 calculates a converted image based on the conversion amount calculated by the conversion amount calculation unit 14. Details of the image conversion unit 15 will be described in the section on operation.

[0031] The output unit 16 outputs the converted image generated by the image conversion unit 15 to the outside.

[0032] (A-2) Operation of the First Embodiment Next, the image processing operation of the image processing device 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0033] (A-2-1) Overall Operation of Image Processing Device 1 FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the image processing device according to the first embodiment.

[0034] The image input unit 11 receives an input of an original image captured by the image capture device 2 (S101). The original image here includes at least the subject 7. The image input unit 11 provides the original image to the image conversion unit 15.

[0035] The sensor input unit 12 accepts an input of a sensor value acquired by the sensor 3 (S102). The sensor input unit 12 provides the sensor value to the conversion amount calculation unit 14. Note that the order in which step S101 and step S102 are executed does not matter, and for example, step S101 may be executed after step S102.

[0036] The conversion amount calculation unit 14 calculates the amount of conversion for the original image from the sensor value acquired via the image input unit 11, and the unit conversion amount T and reference sensor value S acquired from the storage unit 13 (S103). The conversion amount calculation unit 14 provides the calculated amount of conversion to the image conversion unit 15. The process of step S103 will be described in detail later.

[0037] The image conversion unit 15 calculates a converted image for the original image based on the conversion amount acquired from the conversion amount calculation unit 14 (S104). The image conversion unit 15 provides the calculated converted image to the output unit 16. The process of step S104 will be described in detail later.

[0038] The output unit 16 outputs the converted image calculated by the image conversion unit 15 to the outside of the image processing device 1 (S105).

[0039] (A-2-2) Details of the operation of step S103 In step S103, the conversion amount calculation unit 14 calculates the amount of conversion for the original image based on the sensor value acquired via the image input unit 11, the unit conversion amount T acquired from the storage unit 13, and the reference sensor value S.

[0040] As mentioned above, the sensor value needs to be a distance, and the reason for this will be explained below. For example, consider a case where an original image is obtained by photographing an object 7 with the photographing device 2. The photographing resolution of the photographing device 2 is a fixed value.

[0041] When multiple images are taken with the object 7 being photographed at different distances from the photographing device 2, the object 7 appears large in the original image taken at a close distance, while the object 7 appears small in the original image taken at a long distance.

[0042] The fact that the object 7 is captured large in the original image means that the original image contains a lot of information about the object's surface. On the other hand, the fact that the object 7 is captured small in the original image means that the original image contains little information about the object's surface.

[0043] The purpose of the invention according to this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as "this purpose") is to make personal information contained in an image unrecognizable, but when characters or the like are written on the surface of the object to be photographed and the object to be photographed 7 is photographed large in the original image, in consideration of this purpose, it is necessary to increase the amount of conversion and output a converted image in which the information on the surface of the object to be photographed in the original image has been sufficiently reduced. On the other hand, even if characters or the like are written on the surface of the object to be photographed, if the object to be photographed 7 is photographed small in the original image, the amount of conversion may be relatively small, and this purpose is achieved without significantly reducing the information in the original image.

[0044] That is, by calculating an appropriate conversion amount according to the distance between the object 7 to be photographed and the photographing device 2, it is possible to prevent excessive information reduction and make personal information unrecognizable. This is the reason why distance is used as the sensor value.

[0045] Next, a procedure for the conversion amount calculation unit 14 to calculate the conversion amount will be described.

[0046] First, the conversion amount calculation unit 14 calculates a value (hereinafter referred to as the "difference sensor value") obtained by subtracting the reference sensor value S obtained from the storage unit 13 from the sensor value obtained via the image input unit 11. If the reference sensor value S is smaller than the sensor value, that is, the photographing device 2 and the photographing target object 7 are sufficiently far away from each other, and therefore no personal information is captured in a recognizable state in the original image, and there is no need to reduce the amount of information, the conversion amount may be set to "0". In this case, the converted image may be output as one that matches the original image.

[0047] Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the sensor values ​​according to the first embodiment. Fig. 7 shows the distance from the object 7 to the sensor 3 (image capture device 2), the reference sensor value S, and the differential sensor value. In the example of Fig. 7, the reference sensor value S is greater than the sensor value, which indicates that the image capture device 2 and the object 7 are not sufficiently apart.

[0048] Next, the conversion amount calculation unit 14 calculates the conversion amount from the difference sensor value and the reference sensor value S acquired from the memory unit 13. The method of calculating the conversion amount is not particularly limited, and various calculation methods (calculation formulas) may be used. In general, the area of ​​the object 7 to be photographed in the photographed image is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the object 7 to be photographed and the photographing device 2. Furthermore, the larger the area, the larger the conversion amount needs to be. From the above, the conversion amount calculation unit 14 may use a calculation formula such as the following formula (1), for example. C = A × B 2 …(1)

[0049] In the above formula (1), A is the unit conversion amount T, B is the differential sensor value, and C is the conversion amount to be determined.

[0050] (A-2-3) Details of the operation of step S104 In step S104, the image conversion unit 15 calculates a converted image based on the conversion amount calculated by the conversion amount calculation unit 14. The converted image is obtained by applying a conversion means to the original image, with the conversion amount being the degree of change. The larger the conversion amount, the larger the difference in information amount between the original image and the converted image.

[0051] The conversion means is not particularly limited, and various conversion means can be applied. For example, image correction such as changing the image resolution, changing the compression rate, or Gaussian blurring may be performed.

[0052] (A-3) Effects of the First Embodiment As described above, according to the first embodiment, the following effects are achieved.

[0053] Since the image processing device 1 determines the amount of conversion using sensor values ​​and does not perform direct image analysis such as feature point detection, the amount of processing can be kept low, and the computational resources required for the processing system can be kept low.

[0054] Furthermore, since the conversion amount is uniquely determined from the sensor value, errors such as excessive or insufficient information reduction do not occur.

[0055] (B) Second embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0056] (B-1) Configuration of the second embodiment The image processing system 100A (FIG. 2) differs from the first embodiment in that the image processing device 1 is replaced with an image processing device 1A. The following describes the second embodiment, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0057] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

[0058] The image processing device 1A has an image input unit 11A, a sensor input unit 12, a storage unit 13A, a conversion amount calculation unit 14, an image conversion unit 15A, an output unit 16, and an image analysis unit 17. In the image processing device 1A in Fig. 4, an image analysis unit 17 is added to the configuration of the image processing device 1 in Fig. 1. Also, the functions of the image input unit 11A, the storage unit 13A, and the image conversion unit 15A are different from the image input unit 11, the storage unit 13, and the image conversion unit 15 according to the first embodiment.

[0059] The image processing device 1A may be realized by installing a program (an image processing program according to the embodiment) in a computer having a processor, memory, etc., but even in this case, the functions of the image processing device 1A can be shown in Fig. 4. Note that the image processing device 1A may be realized in part or in whole by hardware.

[0060] The image input unit 11A provides the input original image to the image analysis unit 17.

[0061] The image analysis unit 17 performs image analysis on the original image, calculates the amount of information contained in the image, and provides the calculated image information amount to the image conversion unit 15 A. Details of the image analysis unit 17 will be described in the section on operation.

[0062] The image conversion unit 15A calculates a converted image based on the above-mentioned conversion amount, as well as the image information amount, and a reference image information amount I and a reference conversion amount M, which will be described later. Details of the image conversion unit 15A will be described in the section on operation.

[0063] The storage unit 13 stores a reference image information amount I and a reference conversion amount M in addition to the unit conversion amount T and the reference sensor value described above.

[0064] The reference conversion amount M is the upper limit value of the conversion amount. The reference image information amount I is a threshold for setting the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount M, and is a value of the same dimension as the image information amount. The reference conversion amount M and the reference image information amount I may each be a single fixed value, or each may be a set of multiple values. Specific methods for using the reference image information amount I and the reference conversion amount M will be described in the section on operation.

[0065] (B-2) Operation of the Second Embodiment Next, the operation of image processing by the image processing device 1A according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0066] (B-2-1) Overall Operation of Image Processing Device 1A Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the image processing device according to the second embodiment. In Fig. 5 and the above-mentioned Fig. 3, the processes with the same reference numerals are similar processes, so only the processes specific to the image processing device 1A of the second embodiment will be described below.

[0067] The image analysis unit 17 performs image analysis on the original image, calculates the amount of information contained in the image, and outputs the calculated image information amount together with the original image to the image conversion unit 15A (S201). Various existing techniques can be applied as the image analysis technique performed on the original image. The details of the process of step S201 will be described later.

[0068] The image conversion unit 15A calculates a converted image for the original image based on the conversion amount acquired from the conversion amount calculation unit 14, the image information amount acquired from the image analysis unit 17, and the reference image information amount I and reference conversion amount M acquired from the storage unit 13A (S202). The details of the process of step S202 will be described later.

[0069] 5, the order in which the above-mentioned steps S103 and S201 are executed does not matter, for example, step S201 may be executed after the above-mentioned step S103.

[0070] (B-2-2) Details of operation in step S201 First, the purpose of the image analysis performed by the image analysis unit 17 in step S201 will be described.

[0071] In the first embodiment, it has been explained that the amount of conversion is large when the distance between the object 7 to be photographed and the photographing device 2 is small. Now consider a case where no personal information is written on the surface of the object to be photographed. Considering the present purpose, there is little need to perform conversion on an original image that does not contain personal information. Therefore, when it can be determined that no personal information is included, that is, when it can be determined that the amount of image information is sufficiently small, it is possible to keep the amount of conversion small and prevent excessive information reduction in the image conversion unit 15.

[0072] In step S201, the image analysis unit 17 calculates the image information amount of the original image. The image information amount indicates the amount of information contained in the image, and may be calculated using any method. For example, frequency analysis may be performed on the original image, and the result may be used as the image information amount. The reason why frequency analysis may be adopted is that personal information is mainly text and facial photographs, and when such information is included in an image, the area is considered to have a relatively large change in pixel value, and the amplitude of high frequencies becomes large.

[0073] (B-2-3) Details of operation in step S202 In step S202, the image conversion unit 15A calculates a converted image for the original image based on the conversion amount obtained from the conversion amount calculation unit 14, the image information amount obtained from the image analysis unit 17, and the reference image information amount I and reference conversion amount M obtained from the memory unit 13A.

[0074] In the image conversion unit 15 of the first embodiment, the degree of change in the original image is determined according to only the conversion amount, and a converted image is calculated. On the other hand, in the image conversion unit 15A of the second embodiment, it is further determined whether or not to set an upper limit on the conversion amount using the image information amount, the reference image information amount I, and the reference conversion amount M, and if an upper limit is set, the conversion amount is set to the upper limit value, and a converted image is calculated.

[0075] First, image conversion unit 15A determines whether to use the conversion amount as is or to set a value with reference conversion amount M as the upper limit, based on the image information amount and the reference image information amount I. When the conversion amount is used as is, image conversion unit 15A calculates a converted image according to the conversion amount calculated by conversion amount calculation unit 14. On the other hand, when the conversion amount is set to a value with reference conversion amount M as the upper limit, image conversion unit 15A compares the conversion amount with reference conversion amount M, and calculates a converted image according to the smaller value.

[0076] (B-3) Effects of the Second Embodiment As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, when the object to be photographed 7 and the photographing device 2 are located close to each other but information about the surface of the object to be photographed is relatively small, an upper limit is set on the amount of conversion, thereby making it possible to reduce the possibility of reducing the amount of information more than necessary.

[0077] (C) Third embodiment Hereinafter, a third embodiment of an image processing device, an image processing program, and an image processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0078] (C-1) Configuration and operation of the third embodiment The image processing system 100B (FIG. 2) differs from the first and second embodiments in that the image processing device 1 (1A) is replaced with an image processing device 1B. The following describes the third embodiment, focusing on the differences from the first and second embodiments.

[0079] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment.

[0080] The image processing device 1B has an image input unit 11A, a sensor input unit 12, a storage unit 13A, a conversion amount calculation unit 14, an image conversion unit 15B, an output unit 16, and an image analysis unit 17B. In the image processing device 1B of Fig. 6, the functions of the image analysis unit 17B and the image conversion unit 15B are different from those of the image analysis unit 17 and the image conversion unit 15A described above.

[0081] The overall operation of the image processing device 1B is basically the same as that shown in the flowchart of Fig. 5. However, the processes in steps S201 and S202 are performed by an image analysis unit 17B and an image conversion unit 15B, which will be described later.

[0082] The image analysis unit 17B differs from the image analysis unit 17 of the second embodiment in the calculation of the image information amount. That is, the image analysis unit 17 of the second embodiment calculates a single image information amount from the entire image. On the other hand, the image analysis unit 17B of the third embodiment also calculates the image information amount for each local region of the original image. Therefore, the image information amount of the third embodiment further includes local region information.

[0083] The image conversion unit 15B performs the upper limit value setting process for the conversion amount for each local region, whereas in the second embodiment the process is performed for the entire image.

[0084] (C-2) Effects of the Third Embodiment As described above, according to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects of the second embodiment, an upper limit value of the conversion amount can be determined for each local region, and the conversion amount can be set to different values ​​for regions with a large amount of information and regions with a small amount of information, thereby enabling a flexible reduction in the amount of information from the original image. [Explanation of symbols]

[0085] 1, 1A, 1B...image processing device, 2...imaging device, 3...sensor, 4...communication device, 5...communication device, 6...management device, 7...object to be photographed, 11, 11A...image input section, 12...sensor input section, 13, 13A...memory section, 14...change amount calculation section, 15, 15A, 15B...image conversion section, 16...output section, 17...image analysis section, 17B...image analysis section, 100, 100A, 100B...image processing system, I...reference image information amount, M...reference conversion amount, S...reference sensor value, T...unit conversion amount.

Claims

1. An image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on a surface of a photographed object included in an original image is corrected to an unrecognizable state, an image input unit to which the original image is input; a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; a storage unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating the amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; an image conversion unit that performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount and calculates the converted image; Further, an image analysis unit performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image and calculates an image information amount, the storage unit further includes a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit value of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount, The image conversion unit determines whether to set an upper limit value for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and if an upper limit value is set and the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit value, calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount set as the upper limit value.

13. An image processing device comprising:

2. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor value is a value of a distance between a photographing device that captures the original image and an object to be photographed by the photographing device.

3. the unit conversion amount is a value indicating a pixel change amount of the original image when the sensor value changes by a unit amount, The reference sensor value is a value of the distance between the image capturing device and the object to be captured, and is a threshold value by which it can be determined that the image capturing device and the object to be captured are apart from each other.

3. The image processing device according to claim 2.

4. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the conversion amount is a value obtained by multiplying the unit conversion amount by a square of a difference sensor value, which is a value obtained by subtracting the sensor value from the reference sensor value.

5. 5. The image processing device according to claim 1, wherein the image conversion unit executes at least one of the conversion processes of changing an image resolution, changing an image compression rate, and performing Gaussian blurring.

6. The image analysis unit performs the image analysis on a local region of the original image, The image conversion unit performs upper limit value processing of the conversion amount for each local region.

2. The image processing device according to claim 1,

7. An image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object contained in an original image is modified so that it becomes unrecognizable, an image input unit to which the original image is input; a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; a storage unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating the amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; an image conversion unit that performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount and calculates the converted image; the sensor value is a value of a distance between an image capturing device that captures the original image and an object captured by the image capturing device, the unit conversion amount is a value indicating a pixel change amount of the original image when the sensor value changes by a unit amount, the reference sensor value is a value of a distance between the image capturing device and the object to be captured, and is a threshold value by which it can be determined that the image capturing device and the object to be captured are apart from each other; The conversion amount is a value obtained by multiplying the unit conversion amount by a value obtained by squaring a difference sensor value, which is a value obtained by subtracting the sensor value from the reference sensor value.

13. An image processing device comprising:

8. A computer installed in an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on the surface of a photographed object included in an original image has been corrected to make it unrecognizable, an image input unit to which the original image is input; a sensor input unit to which a sensor value is input; a storage unit that stores a unit conversion amount indicating the amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; performing a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount, and causing the image conversion unit to function as an image conversion unit that calculates the converted image; Furthermore, the image analyzer performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image and calculates an amount of image information. the storage unit further includes a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit value of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount, The image conversion unit determines whether to set an upper limit value for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and if an upper limit value is set and the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit value, calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount set as the upper limit value.

2. An image processing program comprising:

9. An image processing method for use in an image processing device that outputs a converted image in which information on a surface of a photographed object included in an original image is corrected so that it becomes unrecognizable, comprising: The image input unit receives an input of the original image; The sensor input unit receives an input of a sensor value, the storage unit stores a unit conversion amount indicating an amount of change in the original image and a reference sensor value to be compared with the sensor value; a conversion amount calculation unit that calculates a conversion amount for the original image based on the sensor value, the unit conversion amount, and the reference sensor value; The image conversion unit performs a conversion process on the original image based on the conversion amount to calculate the converted image; The image analysis unit performs a predetermined image analysis on the original image to calculate an image information amount, the storage unit further includes a reference conversion amount that is an upper limit value of the conversion amount, and a reference image information amount that is a threshold for setting the upper limit of the conversion amount to the reference conversion amount, The image conversion unit determines whether to set an upper limit value for the conversion amount based on the image information amount, the reference image information amount, and the reference conversion amount, and if an upper limit value is set and the conversion amount exceeds the upper limit value, calculates the converted image from the original image with the conversion amount set as the upper limit value.

13. An image processing method comprising:

Images