Important area identification system, important area identification device, important area identification method and program

Abstract

To enable appropriate specification of an important image area in a video, an important area specification system (1) comprises an information acquisition means (11) that acquires vehicle position information, an important area specification means (12) that specifies an important area in a region capable of being photographed by a camera on the basis of the vehicle position information, and an important area reporting means (13) that reports the important area to an image processing device that processes the image photographed by the camera.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an important region specifying system, an important region specifying device, an important region specifying method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Techniques such as those described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are known as methods for setting areas in images captured by a camera. Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a monitoring system using a camera that captures pedestrians crossing a road and cars passing through the road. According to this document, this monitoring system includes a pedestrian detection means and a road information recording area, and sets important image areas based on the position of the pedestrian calculated by the pedestrian detection means and the road information stored in the road information recording area.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses an attention area determination algorithm for a work vehicle equipped with a monitor function that uses an overhead image while displaying information about the area around the vehicle in a form that is easy for the driver to see, and that sets the area facing the vehicle's traveling direction as the attention area.

[0004] Patent document 3 discloses a risk area display system that includes a risk area identification unit that identifies dynamic risk areas related to moving objects around the vehicle and static risk areas related to stationary objects around the vehicle, and a display unit that displays these areas. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-320112 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-175890 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-077071 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in Patent Document 1, since the region is set based on the traveling direction of the vehicle, it may not be possible to set the region appropriately in the image. Also, in the methods of Patent Documents 2 and 3, if the image captured by the camera is unclear, it may not be possible to set the region appropriately.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an example of a purpose of the present invention is to realize a technology that can appropriately identify important image regions within a video. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An important area identification system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information, an important area identification means for identifying an important area within the camera's capture area based on the vehicle position information, and an important area notification means for notifying an image processing device that processes images captured by the camera of the important area.

[0009] An important area identification device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information, an important area identification means for identifying an important area within the camera's capture area based on the vehicle position information, and an important area notification means for notifying an image processing device that processes images captured by the camera of the important area.

[0010] An important area identification method according to one aspect of the present invention acquires vehicle position information, identifies an important area within a camera's capture area based on the vehicle position information, and notifies an image processing device that processes images captured by the camera of the important area.

[0011] A program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to perform the following processes: acquiring vehicle position information; identifying important areas within the camera's capture area based on the vehicle position information; and notifying an image processing device that processes images captured by the camera of the important areas. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, important image regions within a video can be appropriately identified. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identification system according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, together with an exemplary vehicle and camera. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, together with an exemplary vehicle and camera. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flow diagram showing the flow of an important region identification method according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the important region identifying device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the important region identifying device according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of an important region identification system according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, together with an exemplary vehicle and camera. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention, together with an exemplary vehicle and camera. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention together with a peripheral configuration. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of an important region specifying method executed by an important region specifying device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10]FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of operations performed by an important region identifying device and its peripheral components according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an important region identifying device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an important region identifying device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an important region identifying device according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention together with a peripheral configuration. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of an important region specifying method executed by an important region specifying device according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an important region identifying device according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an important region identifying device according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention together with a peripheral configuration. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer that functions as an important region specifying device according to each exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Example Embodiment 1 First, an exemplary embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This exemplary embodiment is a basic form of the exemplary embodiments described later. Note that the drawing reference symbols added to this overview are added to each element for convenience as an example to aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated form. Also, the connection lines between blocks in the drawings and the like referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional. The unidirectional arrows are intended to show the main signal (data) flow diagrammatically, and do not exclude bidirectionality. Also, the connection points of the input and output of each block in the drawings may be configured to include ports or interfaces, but these configurations are omitted from the illustration.

[0015] <Critical area identification system> 1, an important area identification system 1 according to this exemplary embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 11, an important area identification unit 12, and an important area notification unit 13. The important area identification system 1 is a system that acquires a captured image including one or more vehicles (vehicles 30a and 30b in FIG. 1) in its angle of view from a camera 140, and identifies an important area in the acquired captured image.

[0016] The information acquisition means 11, the important area identification means 12, and the important area notification means 13 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network, for example. Here, the specific configuration of the network does not limit the present exemplary embodiment, but for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a wired LAN, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a public line network, a mobile data communication network, or a combination of these networks can be used.

[0017] The information acquisition means 11 acquires the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. The position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b can be acquired from a management system that manages the positions of multiple vehicles on a road. In such a management system, as an example, the position information of each of the multiple target vehicles is acquired from each vehicle via a network. Here, the position information of each vehicle can be acquired by a GPS (Global Positioning System) device mounted on each vehicle. As an example of the management system, there is an information processing system for vehicles that manages the positions of the vehicles, provides traffic congestion information and route guidance, etc. However, these examples do not limit the present exemplary embodiment. For example, the management system may acquire position information from a terminal device carried by the driver of each vehicle, and use the acquired position information as the position information of the vehicle.

[0018] The information acquiring means 11 may also be configured to acquire position information on vehicles located around the camera 140 installed so as to be able to capture the road. As an example, the information acquiring means 11 acquires position information on each of a plurality of target vehicles and position information on the camera 140, and identifies vehicles located around the camera 140 by comparing the position information on each of the plurality of vehicles with the position information on the camera 140. The information acquiring means 11 may then be configured to provide the position information on the identified vehicles to the important area identifying means 12, which will be described later.

[0019] It should be noted that the vicinity of the camera 140 refers to, for example, an area included within a predetermined distance from the camera 140. For example, the information acquiring means 11 identifies a vehicle that exists within several tens of meters from the camera 140 by comparing the position information of the vehicle with the position information of the camera 140, and provides the position information of the identified vehicle to the important area identifying means 12 described later.

[0020] The important area specifying means 12 specifies an important area in the captureable area of ​​the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b. Here, the captureable area refers to, for example, a range in a target space that the camera 140 can record as an image, and is defined by the angle of view of the camera 140. In addition, if the camera 140 has any one of the pan, tilt, and zoom functions, the captureable area changes according to the pan, tilt, and zoom.

[0021] In addition, the "important region" is also called a region of interest or ROI (Region Of Interest), and refers to a region that is more important than other regions in an image, for example. However, the above description is merely an example, and the term "important region" does not limit this exemplary embodiment. In addition, in this exemplary embodiment, the important region can be expressed by coordinates in the target space, but this does not limit this exemplary embodiment. For example, the important region may be expressed by coordinates in a captured image.

[0022] As an example, the important area identification means 12 identifies a predetermined area in front of the vehicle as an important area based on the position information of the vehicle. Here, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be calculated (predicted) by the important area identification means 12, for example, from the vehicle's position information. For example, the important area identification means 12 can identify whether the vehicle is traveling in the right lane or the left lane based on the position of the vehicle in the image captured by the camera 140, and identify the traveling direction of the vehicle according to the identified lane. Furthermore, when the important area identification means 12 acquires the vehicle's position information as time-series data, it can also identify the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the change in the position.

[0023] The important area notification means 13 notifies a predetermined image processing device of the important area. Examples of the predetermined image processing device include the camera 140 and a device that uses an image captured by the camera 140. The important area notified to these devices is used as information specifying a range to be subjected to image processing or object recognition processing, or an area to call the attention of a viewer of the image.

[0024] For example, when the predetermined image processing device is the camera 140, the camera 140 can perform image sharpening, emphasis processing, etc. of an important area in an image to be transmitted. When the predetermined image processing device is an image display device, the image display device can perform image sharpening, etc. of an important area in a received image and display the image.

[0025] Image sharpening refers to making a specific area in an image higher quality (clearer) than other areas. For example, an image can be sharpened by compressing (encoding) the image on the camera side to suppress deterioration of the image quality of the relevant area. Also, an image can be sharpened by using super-resolution technology to improve the image quality of the relevant area of ​​an image compressed (encoded) by the camera.

[0026] (Effects of the Important Area Identification System 1) As described above, according to the important area identifying system 1 according to this exemplary embodiment, the important area identifying means 12 identifies an important area in the image capturing area of ​​the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. Therefore, the important area identifying means 12 can appropriately identify important image areas for each of the vehicles 30a and 30b. These important areas can be used by a video user, for example, for visual monitoring of the image by a human, or for various image processing by a computer.

[0027] In addition, the important area notification means 13 notifies a remote monitoring center that performs visual monitoring of the images of the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b, so that the remote monitoring center can perform various image processing using the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b. This makes it possible to cause the autonomous vehicle to take action to avoid abnormal areas on the road or accidents that are difficult for the autonomous vehicle to notice, depending on the image processing results.

[0028] Furthermore, since the important area identification means 12 identifies important areas within the area that can be captured by the camera 140 based on the vehicle position information, important areas can be identified even when the vehicle captured in the image of the camera 140 is far away or the image is unclear due to weather, dirty lens, etc.

[0029] In a system in which an image processing device transmits an image to an image display device via a network, the image processing device, based on identified important areas, makes the important areas high quality and the areas other than the important areas low quality, thereby providing images that can be visually monitored and processed even when the network bandwidth is constrained.

[0030] <Important area identification device> 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an important region identification device according to this exemplary embodiment together with an exemplary vehicle and camera. As shown in FIG. 2, the important region identification device 10 according to this exemplary embodiment has a configuration in which the above-mentioned information acquisition means 11, important region identification means 12, and important region notification means 13 are integrated into one device. The important region identification device 10 can be configured by a server installed on a cloud platform or the Internet. In addition, the important region identification device 10 may be a MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing or Mobile Edge Computing) server installed in a position close to the camera 140.

[0031] The information acquiring means 11 acquires the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b. The position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b can be acquired from a management system or the like that manages the positions of multiple vehicles on a road.

[0032] The important area identification means 12 identifies an important area in the captureable area of ​​the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. The important area is also called a region of interest or ROI, and indicates, for example, an area having a high degree of importance compared to other areas in the image.

[0033] For example, the important area specifying means 12 specifies a predetermined area in front of the vehicle as an important area based on the vehicle position information. Here, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be calculated (predicted) by the important area specifying means 12, for example, from the vehicle position information, etc.

[0034] The important area notification means 13 notifies a predetermined image processing device of the important area. As the predetermined image processing device, the camera 140, a device that uses an image captured by the camera 140, etc. can be mentioned.

[0035] (Effect of the important area identification device) As described above, according to the important region identifying device 10 according to this exemplary embodiment, the important region identifying means 12 can appropriately identify important image regions for each of the vehicles 30a and 30b. These important regions can be used by a video user, for example, for visual monitoring of the image by a human, or for various image processing by a computer.

[0036] In addition, the important area notification means 13 notifies a remote monitoring center that performs visual monitoring of the images of the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b, so that the remote monitoring center can perform various image processing using the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b. This makes it possible to cause the autonomous vehicle to take action to avoid abnormal areas on the road or accidents that are difficult for the autonomous vehicle to notice, depending on the image processing results.

[0037] <Identification method of important areas> 3 is a flow diagram showing the flow of an important area identification method according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. First, the information acquisition means 11 acquires position information of the surrounding vehicles 30a and 30b (step S001). For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the information acquisition means 11 acquires position information (x1, y1) of the vehicle 30a and position information (x2, y2) of the vehicle 30b as the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. Here, the position information (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) are, for example, latitude information and longitude information of the vehicles 30a and 30b acquired by a GPS device.

[0038] Furthermore, the position information (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) may be, for example, the coordinates of the vehicles 30a and 30b in an image captured by the camera 140. For example, in a management system or the like that manages the positions of a plurality of vehicles on a road, the vehicles 30a and 30b can be identified by performing object recognition processing on the image captured by the camera 140. The management system or the like can use the coordinates of the vehicles 30a and 30b in the image captured by the camera 140 as the above-mentioned position information.

[0039] Next, the important region identifying means 12 identifies an important region in the captureable region of the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b (step S002). For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the important region identifying means 12 identifies a predetermined range in front of the vehicles 30a and 30b as important regions ROI1 and ROI2.

[0040] Here, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be calculated (predicted) by the important region identification means 12, for example, from the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b. For example, the important region identification means 12 can identify whether the vehicles 30a, 30b are traveling in the right lane or the left lane from the positions of the vehicles 30a, 30b in the image captured by the camera 140, and can identify the traveling direction of the vehicles 30a, 30b according to the identified lane. In addition, when the important region identification means 12 acquires the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b as time-series data, it can also identify the traveling direction of the vehicles 30a, 30b from the change in the positions. The important region identification means 12 identifies a predetermined range in the traveling direction of the identified vehicles 30a, 30b as important regions ROI1, ROI2.

[0041] For example, the important area specifying means 12 specifies a predetermined area in front of the vehicle as an important area based on the vehicle position information. Here, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be calculated (predicted) by the important area specifying means 12, for example, from the vehicle position information, etc.

[0042] Finally, the important region notification means 13 notifies the important regions ROI1 and ROI2 to a predetermined image processing device (step S003). Examples of the predetermined image processing device include the camera 140 and a device that uses an image captured by the camera 140.

[0043] (Effect of the method for identifying important areas) As described above, according to the important region identifying method of this exemplary embodiment, the important region identifying means 12 can appropriately identify important image regions for each of the vehicles 30a and 30b. These important regions can be used by a video user, for example, for visual monitoring of the image by a human, or for various image processing by a computer.

[0044] In addition, the important area notification means 13 notifies a remote monitoring center that performs visual monitoring of the images of the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b, so that the remote monitoring center can perform various image processing using the important areas of the vehicles 30a and 30b. This makes it possible to cause the autonomous vehicle to take action to avoid abnormal areas on the road or accidents that are difficult for the autonomous vehicle to notice, depending on the image processing results.

[0045] Exemplary embodiment 2 A second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0046] <Critical area identification system> 6, an important region identifying system 1a according to this exemplary embodiment includes an information acquiring means 11, an important region identifying means 12, an important region notifying means 13, an image quality adjusting means 14, and a display means 15. Note that components having the same functions as those described in the exemplary embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0047] The information acquiring means 11 acquires the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b. The position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b can be acquired from a management system or the like that manages the positions of multiple vehicles on a road.

[0048] The important area identification means 12 identifies an important area in the captureable area of ​​the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. The important area is also called a region of interest or ROI, and indicates, for example, an area having a high degree of importance compared to other areas in the image.

[0049] The important area notification means 13 notifies a predetermined image processing device of the important area. As the predetermined image processing device, the camera 140, a device that uses an image captured by the camera 140, etc. can be mentioned.

[0050] The image quality adjustment means 14 changes the image quality of the image captured by the camera 140 based on the information of the identified important region. For example, the image quality adjustment means 14 instructs the camera 140 to compress (encode) the image so as to suppress deterioration of the image in the important region. As an example, when the camera 140 compresses the video using MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), it is possible to control the compression rate by changing the quantization parameter. When the camera 140 receives an instruction to suppress deterioration of the image in the important region, it changes the quantization parameter and performs control so as to lower the compression rate of the image in the important region. In addition, the image quality adjustment means 14 may improve the image quality of the image in the important region of the image compressed (encoded) by the camera 140 by using a super-resolution technology or the like.

[0051] Display means 15 uses the important area to display the image captured by camera 140. For example, when display means 15 displays the image captured by camera 140, the image is displayed so that the image within the important area can be distinguished from other images. Display means 15 may also display the image after the image quality has been changed by image quality adjustment means 14.

[0052] (Effects of the Critical Area Identification System 1a) As described above, according to the important region identification system 1a according to this exemplary embodiment, the image quality adjustment means 14 changes the image quality of the image captured by the camera 140 based on the information of the identified important region. Therefore, by changing the image quality so as to suppress deterioration of the image in the important region, it becomes possible for humans to visually monitor the image and for computers to perform various image processing in more detail.

[0053] Furthermore, since the display means 15 displays the image captured by the camera 140 using the important area, it becomes possible for a person to visually monitor the image in more detail.

[0054] <Important area identification device> 7, an important region identifying device 10a according to this exemplary embodiment includes an information acquiring means 11, an important region identifying means 12, an important region notifying means 13, an image quality adjusting means 14, and a display means 15. Note that components having the same functions as those described in the exemplary embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0055] The information acquiring means 11 acquires the position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b. The position information of the vehicles 30a, 30b can be acquired from a management system or the like that manages the positions of multiple vehicles on a road.

[0056] The important area identification means 12 identifies an important area in the captureable area of ​​the camera 140 based on the position information of the vehicles 30a and 30b. The important area is also called a region of interest or ROI, and indicates, for example, an area having a high degree of importance compared to other areas in the image.

[0057] The important area notification means 13 notifies a predetermined image processing device of the important area. As the predetermined image processing device, the camera 140, a device that uses an image captured by the camera 140, etc. can be mentioned.

[0058] Based on the information of the identified important region, the image quality adjustment means 14 changes the image quality of the image captured by the camera 140. For example, the image quality adjustment means 14 instructs the camera 140 to compress (encode) the image so as to suppress deterioration of the image in the important region.

[0059] Display means 15 uses the important area to display the image captured by camera 140. For example, when display means 15 displays the image captured by camera 140, the image is displayed so that the image within the important area can be distinguished from other images. Display means 15 may also display the image after the image quality has been changed by image quality adjustment means 14.

[0060] (Effects of the important region identifying device 10a) As described above, according to the important region identifying device 10a according to this exemplary embodiment, the image quality adjusting means 14 changes the image quality of the image captured by the camera 140 based on the information of the identified important region. Therefore, by changing the image quality so as to suppress deterioration of the image in the important region, it becomes possible for humans to visually monitor the image and for computers to perform various image processing in more detail.

[0061] Furthermore, since the display means 15 displays the image captured by the camera 140 using the important area, it becomes possible for a person to visually monitor the image in more detail.

[0062] Third Exemplary Embodiment A third exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. An important region identification device 100 according to this exemplary embodiment is connected to a V2X (Vehicle to Everything) information providing device 200 and a server 300 via a network, for example.

[0063] <Configuration of important region identification device 100> The configuration of the important region identifying device 100 according to this exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the important region identifying device 100 according to the second exemplary embodiment together with the peripheral configuration. As shown in Fig. 8, the important region identifying device 100 includes an information acquiring unit 101, an important region identifying unit 102, and a notifying unit 103. The information acquiring unit 101 is a configuration that realizes the information acquiring means in this exemplary embodiment. The important region identifying unit 102 is a configuration that realizes the important region identifying means in this exemplary embodiment. The notifying unit 103 is a configuration that realizes the important region notifying means in this exemplary embodiment.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 8, the system including the important area identification device 100 includes a V2X information providing device 200, the important area identification device 100, a server 300, a camera 140, and a traffic control system 400.

[0065] The V2X information providing device 200 provides V2X information using V2X communication technology. V2X is a communication technology that transmits and receives various information via V2I (road-to-vehicle communication) or the cloud. Data exchanged using the V2X communication technology includes road traffic information, data on automobile behavior, data on platoons and following driving, data on autonomous driving, and the like.

[0066] Among these data, the V2X information providing device 200 can provide the important area identification device 100 with data on the behavior of the vehicle, in particular, information on the driving characteristics such as the driving area, driving speed, driving distance, vehicle type, acceleration / deceleration, and operation information of the steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal, as well as the condition of the vehicle.

[0067] The V2X information includes position information of vehicles located around the camera 140. Examples of the V2X information providing device 200 include a system that manages the positions of vehicles, as well as a terminal or roadside device that can acquire position information of vehicles located around the camera 140 from this type of system. The V2X information providing device 200 may also be a terminal that receives V2X information from the traffic control system 400 and provides the information to the important area identifying device 100.

[0068] The camera 140 is a camera that is installed around a road so as to be able to capture images of vehicles passing along the road, etc. As such a camera 140, a camera installed on a traffic light pole or a utility pole at an intersection can be used.

[0069] The important region identifying device 100 identifies an important region in the image provided by the server 300 based on the V2X information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200, and notifies the server 300 of the important region.

[0070] The server 300 transmits the image of the camera 140 to the important area identification device 100. In addition, the server 300 transmits the image acquired from the camera 140 and the information on the important area sent from the important area identification device 100 to the traffic control system 400.

[0071] The traffic control system 400 presents information to traffic control personnel performing traffic control operations using the image acquired from the camera 140 and the information on the important region sent from the important region identification device 100. Specifically, the traffic control system 400 includes a display means for displaying the image captured by the camera 140, and this display means displays the image using the important region. For example, the display means of the traffic control system 400 uses the information on the important region sent from the important region identification device 100 to perform local image sharpening and object recognition, and outputs the results.

[0072] Methods for sharpening an image include a method in which the camera 140 instructs compression (encoding) to suppress deterioration of image quality in the relevant area, and a method in which the image quality in the relevant area of ​​an image compressed (encoded) in the camera 140 is improved using super-resolution technology, etc.

[0073] Furthermore, an image quality adjustment means for changing the image quality of an image using information about an important area may be provided in any of the camera 140, the important area identification device 100, or the server 300. In this way, it is possible to reduce the load on the traffic control system 400.

[0074] The information acquisition unit 101 provides the important area identification unit 102 with the vehicles and their position information included in the V2X information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200.

[0075] The important region identifying unit 102 identifies a range to be an important region based on the vehicle position information, and identifies the important region by converting the range into coordinates in an image captured by the camera. Specifically, the important region identifying unit 102 refers to the vehicle position information included in the V2X information, and identifies an important region in a target space within the captureable range of the camera 140 based on the position of the vehicle within the captureable range of the camera 140. As a method for identifying this important region, a method of applying a predetermined region identification rule to the position of the vehicle and selecting a region can be adopted.

[0076] The important region identification unit 102 further includes a coordinate conversion unit 1021. The coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts region information represented by latitude and longitude, etc., acquired from the V2X information provision device 200, into coordinates in an image captured by the camera 140.

[0077] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for identifying an important region by the important region identifying device 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment. The important region identifying unit 102 identifies an important region in a target space of a photographable range based on vehicle position information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200. For example, in the diagram on the left side of FIG. 9, an important region is identified in a target space around an intersection by specifying the latitude and longitude of the upper left corner and the latitude and longitude of the lower right corner of a rectangle. In addition, in the diagram on the left side of FIG. 9, "N AA AA AA.AAA", "E BBB BB BB.BBB", "N AA AA AA.CCC", and "E BBB BB BB.DDD" represent latitude information or longitude information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200.

[0078] For example, the coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the latitude and longitude position information in the target space of the photographable range shown in the left diagram of Fig. 9 into a relative position based on the lower left position in the left diagram. For example, the coordinate conversion unit 1021 sets the lower left coordinates in the target space of the photographable range to (0,0) and the upper right coordinates to (1023,1023), and calculates the relative positions of the four corners of the important area.

[0079] The coordinate conversion unit 1021 stores in advance a table indicating the correspondence between the relative positions of the captureable range in the object space and the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140. The coordinate conversion unit 1021 then refers to the table to convert the relative positions of the four corners of the important area in the object space of the captureable range into the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140. Note that when the coordinates of the important area in the object space of the captureable range are between the relative coordinates stored in the table, an interpolation process may be performed to convert them into the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140.

[0080] The coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the important area described by such latitude and longitude into coordinates in the image of the camera 140. For example, the diagram on the right side of Fig. 9 shows an important area defined by four points. The coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3), and (x4, y4) of the important area in the diagram on the right side of Fig. 9 correspond to the coordinates of the four corners of the important area in the diagram on the left side of Fig. 9.

[0081] The important region identifying unit 102 outputs the important region identified in this manner to the notification unit 103. Note that the shape of the important region does not need to be rectangular, and can be any shape based on a rule set in advance (for example, ROI2 in FIG. 11).

[0082] Furthermore, the important area identifying unit 102 refers to the vehicle position information acquired by the information acquiring unit 101, and determines that a vehicle included in the target space of the captureable range shown in the left diagram of Fig. 9 is a vehicle for identifying an important area. The coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the latitude and longitude of the vehicle included in the target space of the captureable range into coordinates in the image of the camera 140, thereby associating it with the vehicle in the image of the camera 140.

[0083] The notification unit 103 transmits information on the identified important region to the server 300. Note that, in the example of Fig. 9, for the sake of simplicity, an example in which there is one important region is shown, but there may be two or more important regions.

[0084] Next, the operation of the important area identification device 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. First, the important area identification device 100 acquires V2X information including position information of a vehicle around an intersection where the camera 140 is installed from the V2X information providing device 200 at a predetermined time interval or at a timing when a vehicle approaches the vicinity of the camera 140 (step S101).

[0085] Next, important region identifying device 100 refers to vehicle position information included in the V2X information, and identifies an important region in the target space within the captureable range of camera 140 based on the position of the vehicle within the captureable range of camera 140 (step S102). This operation corresponds to the operation of identifying a rectangle within the intersection on the left side of FIG. 9.

[0086] In addition, when the area to which V2X information is transmitted is large, in addition to vehicles located within the capture range of camera 140, the positions of vehicles that may move into the capture range of camera 140 may also be included in the identification of important areas.

[0087] When the important region identifying device 100 identifies an important region, it may select vehicles to be identified as important regions from among the vehicles within the photographable range according to a predetermined rule. In this way, it is possible to reduce the processing load of the important region identifying device 100. Examples of the predetermined rule include a rule for selecting vehicles based on the position of the vehicle in the image (e.g., not selecting a vehicle that is far away) or the traveling direction (e.g., not selecting a vehicle moving away from the camera 140), and a rule for limiting the number of vehicles to be selected based on the number of important regions to be identified.

[0088] Next, the important region identifying device 100 converts the identified important region in the target space into coordinates on the image captured by the camera 140 obtained via the server 300 (step S103). This operation corresponds to an operation of identifying an important region defined by coordinates (x1, y1) to (x4, y4) on the image of the intersection on the right side of FIG.

[0089] Next, the important area identifying device 100 notifies the traffic control system 400, via the server 300, of the important area represented by coordinates on the image captured by the camera 140 (step S104).

[0090] Finally, the traffic control system 400 performs processing using the important area notified by the important area identification device 100 (step S105). For example, the traffic control system 400 performs object recognition on the image in the important area notified by the important area identification device 100, and displays the result to the traffic control personnel. The traffic control system 400 can also transmit the result of the object recognition to an autonomous vehicle or the like under the control of the traffic control system 400. The display means may also display the image of the important area in an image in a manner that allows it to be distinguished from other images. In this case, the traffic control system 400 performs processing, etc., to display the important area on the image captured by the camera 140 in a visually easy-to-understand form.

[0091] Next, the area identification rule used by the important area identification device 100 to identify the important area will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. The important area identification device 100 can identify the important area using the area identification rule that identifies a predetermined range in the traveling direction of the vehicle as the important area. Figures 11 and 12 are diagrams showing an example of identifying the important area in this case.

[0092] In FIG. 11, for a vehicle 30a moving straight ahead from the front in the image 900, a predetermined range in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30a is specified as an important region ROI1. Similarly, for a vehicle 30b located in the left turn lane, a predetermined range in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30b is specified as an important region ROI2. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the width of ROI1 is set to the width of the vehicle 30a, and the length is set to the region through which the vehicle 30a passes after a predetermined time (e.g., several seconds). The length of ROI1 may be a fixed value, such as a range of several meters in front of the vehicle 30a. In the example shown in FIG. 11, ROI2 has a substantially trapezoidal shape that widens from a width equivalent to the width of the vehicle 30b as it moves away from the vehicle 30b. By making the important region substantially trapezoidal in this way, it is possible to cover an area where a moving object (pedestrian) that may cross the vehicle 30b is present. Also, by making the important region substantially trapezoidal in shape, it is possible to cover the difference in turning radius (wide turn, narrow turn) between vehicles when turning right or left.

[0093] 12, the regions of importance ROI1 and ROI2 change following the movement of the vehicles 30a and 30b in the image 900. In this way, it is possible to obtain the latest road surface conditions and object recognition results.

[0094] The area specification rule is not limited to the examples shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, an area specification rule that defines the periphery of the vehicle position as the important area can be used. In the example shown in FIG. 13, important areas ROI3 and ROI4 are specified in a predetermined range around the vehicles 30a and 30b in the image 900. By specifying such important areas, it becomes possible to efficiently identify the vehicles and grasp the traffic flow. In the example shown in FIG. 13, important areas ROI3 and ROI4 are specified in a predetermined range around the vehicles 30a and 30b, but the periphery of the parts with normal license plates in front and behind the vehicles 30a and 30b may be specified as important areas.

[0095] In the present exemplary embodiment, the important area is notified to the traffic control system 400, but the important area may also be notified to the camera 140. In this manner, for example, the camera 140 can be caused to change the video compression method so as to improve the image quality of the important area notified from the important area identification device 100. In addition, the traffic control system 400 is described as performing the processing using the important area, but the server 300 may be caused to perform the processing using the important area. In this manner, it is possible to reduce the load on the traffic control system 400.

[0096] As described above, according to the important region identifying device 100 according to this exemplary embodiment, the important region identifying unit 102 identifies a range to be an important region based on vehicle position information, and identifies the important region by converting the range into coordinates in an image captured by a camera. Therefore, it is possible to identify an important region at an appropriate position in an image captured by a camera.

[0097] Fourth Exemplary Embodiment A fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of an important region identifying device 100a according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention together with a peripheral configuration. The important region identifying device 100a according to this exemplary embodiment is connected to a V2X information providing device 200a and a server 300 via a network, for example. Note that components having the same functions as those described in the third exemplary embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0098] The important region identifying device 100a according to this exemplary embodiment and the important region identifying device 100 according to the third exemplary embodiment shown in Fig. 8 have the following two structural differences. The first difference is that the V2X information providing device 200a provides the important region identifying device 100a with vehicle speed information and the like in addition to the vehicle position. The second difference is that the important region identifying unit 102a of the important region identifying device 100a identifies the important region using information other than the vehicle position, such as vehicle speed information.

[0099] The V2X information providing device 200a provides the important area identifying device 100a with information on the vehicle's speed, vehicle type, acceleration / deceleration, driving characteristics such as steering wheel, accelerator, and blinker operation information, and vehicle status, in addition to the vehicle position. The information acquiring unit 101 acquires one or more of the vehicle's speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and blinker operation information.

[0100] The important area specifying unit 102a specifies an important area within the captureable area of ​​the camera based on one or more of the vehicle speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and blinker operation information, and vehicle position information.

[0101] For example, the important area identification unit 102a refers to information such as vehicle position information and speed information contained in the V2X information provided by the V2X information providing device 200a, and identifies an important area in the target space within the capture range of the camera 140 based on the position of the vehicle within the capture range of the camera 140.

[0102] 15 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for identifying an important region by the important region identifying device 100a according to the present exemplary embodiment. The important region identifying unit 102a identifies an important region in a target space within a captureable range by referring to vehicle position information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200a. At this time, the important region identifying unit 102a expands or reduces the range of the important region based on vehicle speed information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200a.

[0103] For example, assume that an important area is identified in a target space around an intersection by specifying the latitude and longitude of the upper left corner and the latitude and longitude of the lower right corner of a rectangle as shown in the left diagram of Fig. 9. When the vehicle speed acquired from the V2X information providing device 200a is faster than a predetermined threshold, the important area identifying unit 102a performs a process of expanding the important area in the traveling direction of the vehicle as shown in the left diagram of Fig. 15, and expands the important area to "N AA AA AA.EEE" and "E BBB BB BB.FFF".

[0104] The coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the latitude and longitude position information in the target space of the photographable range into corresponding coordinates in the image photographed by the camera 140. For example, the right diagram of FIG. 15 shows an important area defined by four points. The coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3', y3'), and (x4', y4') of the important area in the right diagram of FIG. 15 correspond to the coordinates of the four corners of the important area in the left diagram of FIG. 15. The important area identification unit 102a outputs the enlarged important area to the notification unit 103.

[0105] In the example of Figure 15, the vehicle speed is faster than a predetermined threshold, so processing is performed to enlarge the important area. However, if the vehicle speed is slower than a predetermined threshold, processing to reduce the important area can also be performed.

[0106] 16 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the important region specifying device according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 16, the important region specifying unit 102a specifies an enlarged important region ROI1a for a vehicle 30a moving straight ahead in an image 900 according to its speed.

[0107] The important region identifying unit 102a can identify the important region using the vehicle type, acceleration, operation information of the steering wheel, accelerator, blinker, etc., in addition to the vehicle speed. For example, as shown in Fig. 17, when the bus 30c is blinking its blinker to change lanes to the right (left in Fig. 17) with respect to the traveling direction, the important region identifying unit 102a acquires operation information of the blinker of the bus 30c from the V2X information providing device 200a, and identifies an important region ROI5 having a width of the bus 30c as the lane after the lane change.

[0108] In addition, the important area identifying unit 102a may acquire steering wheel operation information of the bus 30c from the V2X information providing device 200a, and identify the important area by identifying the traveling direction of the bus 30c according to the steering wheel operation information.

[0109] In addition, the important area identifying unit 102a may acquire acceleration or accelerator operation information of the bus 30c from the V2X information providing device 200a, and identify the important area by identifying the traveling speed of the bus from that information.

[0110] In addition, the important region identifying unit 102a may acquire the vehicle model from the V2X information providing device 200a, and set the width and size of the important region according to the vehicle model.

[0111] In the above description, the vehicle speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and blinker are exemplified as V2X information, but these are merely examples, and other V2X information can be used to identify the important area. For example, when the V2X information includes the driver's attributes, the important area identification unit 102a may identify the important area based on the driver's attributes (age, driving history, license type, accident history, etc.). For example, for a driver with a short driving history or an elderly driver, the important area identification unit 102a identifies an important area that is wider than usual on the forward side of the vehicle's traveling direction. In this way, it becomes possible to have a control center or the like perform abnormality monitoring of the road based on the wider important area and notify the driver or the like of the results.

[0112] Furthermore, when the V2X information includes vehicle attributes, the important area identifying unit 102a may identify an important area based on the vehicle attributes (such as vehicle type and whether it is an emergency vehicle). In this way, it is possible to differentiate important areas identified between general vehicles and emergency vehicles (ambulances, fire engines, etc.). For example, for an ambulance, the important area identifying unit 102a identifies an important area that is wider than that of a general vehicle, forward in the vehicle's traveling direction. In this way, it is possible to have a control center or the like perform abnormality monitoring of the road based on the wider important area and notify the driver or the like of the results.

[0113] As described above, according to the important region identifying device 100a according to this exemplary embodiment, the important region identifying unit 102a identifies an important region in the captureable region of the camera based on one or more of the operation information of the vehicle speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal, and the vehicle position information. Therefore, the important region identifying unit 102a can identify an important region more appropriately based on the operation information.

[0114] [Fifth embodiment] In the above-mentioned first to fourth exemplary embodiments, the camera 140 is described as a fixed camera installed at an intersection, but the camera that captures the image to be identified as an important region is not limited to a fixed camera. The important region identification device according to this exemplary embodiment identifies an important region in an image captured by an on-board camera mounted on a vehicle, for example.

[0115] Fig. 18 is a diagram showing the configuration of an important region identifying device 100b according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention together with its peripheral configuration. As shown in Fig. 18, the important region identifying device 100b according to this exemplary embodiment includes an information acquiring unit 101, an important region identifying unit 102b, and a notifying unit 103. Note that components having the same functions as those described in the third and fourth exemplary embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0116] In this exemplary embodiment, instead of the camera 140 installed so as to be able to capture the road, an on-board camera is mounted on the vehicle 30d. Also, the V2X information providing device 200b provides the important area identifying device 100b with V2X information including position information of vehicles around the vehicle 30d. Then, the important area identifying device 100b identifies an important area in the image of the on-board camera 140b by referring to the V2X information provided by the V2X information providing device 200b.

[0117] The V2X information providing device 200b grasps the position of the vehicle 30d, and provides the important area identifying device 100b with V2X information including the positions of other vehicles located in the vicinity of the vehicle 30d on which the in-vehicle camera 140b is mounted.

[0118] The important area identifying device 100b refers to the V2X information acquired from the V2X information providing device 200b, identifies an important area in the image of the on-board camera 140b provided from the vehicle 30d via the server 300b, and notifies the server 300b. The important area identifying device 100b according to the present exemplary embodiment performs coordinate conversion and the like, taking into consideration that the captureable range of the on-board camera 140b changes with the movement of the vehicle 30d. For example, the important area identifying unit 102b identifies a rectangular area ahead of the vehicle 30d in the traveling direction as an important area, based on the position information of the vehicle 30d. This important area is expressed as a relative position from the position of the vehicle (for example, a rectangular area 2 m wide and 5 m long from the front end of the vehicle). Then, the important area identifying unit 102b converts this important area into coordinates in the image of the on-board camera 140b.

[0119] For example, if an important area is identified in the target space within the captureable range shown in the left diagram of Fig. 9 based on the position information of the vehicle 30d acquired from the V2X information provision device 200b, the coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the latitude and longitude position information in the target space within the captureable range shown in the left diagram of Fig. 9 into a relative position based on the lower left position in the left diagram. For example, the coordinate conversion unit 1021 sets the lower left coordinates in the target space of the captureable range to (0,0) and the upper right coordinates to (1023,1023), and calculates the relative positions of the four corners of the important area.

[0120] The coordinate conversion unit 1021 stores in advance a table showing the correspondence between the relative positions of the captureable range in the object space and the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140b. The coordinate conversion unit 1021 then refers to the table to convert the relative positions of the four corners of the important area in the object space of the captureable range into the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140b. If the coordinates of the important area in the object space of the captureable range are between the relative coordinates stored in the table, an interpolation process may be performed to convert them into the corresponding coordinates in the image captured by the camera 140b.

[0121] The coordinate conversion unit 1021 converts the important area described by such latitude and longitude into coordinates in the image of the camera 140b. For example, the diagram on the right side of FIG. 9 shows an important area defined by four points. The coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3), and (x4, y4) of the important area in the diagram on the right side of FIG. 9 correspond to the coordinates of the four corners of the important area in the diagram on the left side of FIG. 9.

[0122] The server 300b transmits the image received from the vehicle-mounted camera 140b to the important region identification device 100b. The server 300b also transmits the image received from the vehicle-mounted camera 140b and the information on the important region sent from the important region identification device 100b to the traffic control system 400.

[0123] The traffic control system 400 uses the image received from the vehicle-mounted camera 140b and the information on the important region sent from the important region identification device 100b to provide information to an operator performing traffic control work. For example, the traffic control system 400 uses the information on the important region sent from the important region identification device 100b to locally sharpen the image obtained from the vehicle-mounted camera 140b, recognize objects, and so on.

[0124] As described above, according to the important region identifying device 100b according to this exemplary embodiment, the important region identifying unit 102b identifies an important region in an image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 140b. Therefore, it is possible to provide information on remote assistance to an autonomous vehicle or a vehicle whose driver is not accustomed to driving a vehicle. [Software implementation example] A part or all of the functions of the important region identifying systems 1, 1a and the important region identifying devices 10, 10a, 100, 100a, 100b may be realized by hardware such as an integrated circuit (IC chip) or by software.

[0125] In the latter case, the important region identification system 1, 1a and the important region identification device 10, 10a, 100, 100a, 100b are realized by a computer that executes instructions of a program, which is software that realizes each function. An example of such a computer (hereinafter, referred to as computer C) is shown in FIG. 19. The computer C includes at least one processor C1 and at least one memory C2. The memory C2 stores a program P for operating the computer C as the important region identification system 1, 1a and the important region identification device 10, 10a, 100, 100a, 100b. In the computer C, the processor C1 reads the program P from the memory C2 and executes it to realize each function of the important region identification system 1, 1a and the important region identification device 10, 10a, 100, 100a, 100b.

[0126] The processor C1 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro processing unit (MPU), a floating point number processing unit (FPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a microcontroller, or a combination of these. The memory C2 may be, for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a combination of these.

[0127] The computer C may further include a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program P during execution and for temporarily storing various data. The computer C may further include a communication interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from other devices. The computer C may further include an input / output interface for connecting input / output devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a display, and a printer.

[0128] Furthermore, the program P can be recorded on a non-transitory tangible recording medium M that can be read by the computer C. Such a recording medium M can be, for example, a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, or a programmable logic circuit. The computer C can obtain the program P via such a recording medium M. Furthermore, the program P can be transmitted via a transmission medium. Such a transmission medium can be, for example, a communication network or broadcast waves. The computer C can also obtain the program P via such a transmission medium.

[0129] [Additional Note 1] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. For example, embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in the above-described embodiment are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0130] [Additional Note 2] Some or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as follows. However, the present invention is not limited to the following described aspects.

[0131] (Appendix 1) An information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information; an important area specifying means for specifying an important area within a photographable area of ​​the camera based on the position information of the vehicle; an important area notifying means for notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A critical area identification system with

[0132] According to the above configuration, the important area identifying means can appropriately identify image areas that are important to the vehicle, and these important areas can be used by a video user, for example, a human visually monitoring the image, or by a computer for various image processing.

[0133] (Appendix 2) 2. The important area identification system according to claim 1, wherein the important area identification means identifies an area in the vehicle's traveling direction as the important area based on position information of the vehicle.

[0134] According to the above configuration, the important area specifying means can appropriately specify an image area that is important for the vehicle.

[0135] (Appendix 3) The important area identification system described in Appendix 2, wherein the important area identification means identifies a range to be an important area based on position information of the vehicle, and identifies the important area by converting the range into coordinates in the image captured by the camera.

[0136] According to the above configuration, it is possible to identify an important area at an appropriate position in an image captured by a camera.

[0137] (Appendix 4) The information acquisition means further acquires one or more of the following: speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering, accelerator, and turn signal operation information of the vehicle; The important area identification system according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the important area identification means identifies an important area within the area that can be captured by the camera based on one or more of the vehicle's speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation information and vehicle position information.

[0138] According to the above configuration, the important region specifying means can more appropriately specify the important region based on the operation information.

[0139] (Appendix 5) An important area identification system according to any one of appendices 1 to 4, further comprising an image quality adjustment means for changing the image quality of the image captured by the camera based on information of the identified important area.

[0140] According to the above configuration, the image quality adjustment means changes the image quality so as to suppress degradation of the image in important areas, thereby enabling humans to visually monitor the image and for computers to perform various image processing in more detail.

[0141] (Appendix 6) 6. The important area identification system according to any one of appendixes 1 to 5, wherein the camera is a camera installed at an intersection or a camera mounted on a vehicle.

[0142] (Appendix 7) Further, a display means for displaying an image captured by the camera is provided, 7. The important region identification system according to claim 1, wherein the display means displays the image using the important region.

[0143] According to the above configuration, the display means displays the image captured by the camera using the important area, so that visual monitoring of the image by a person can be performed in more detail.

[0144] (Appendix 8) An information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information; an important area specifying means for specifying an important area within a photographable area of ​​the camera based on the position information of the vehicle; an important area notifying means for notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; An important area identification device comprising:

[0145] According to the above configuration, the important area identifying means can appropriately identify image areas that are important to the vehicle, and these important areas can be used by a video user, for example, a human visually monitoring the image, or by a computer for various image processing.

[0146] (Appendix 9) 9. The important area identification device according to claim 8, wherein the important area identification means identifies an area in a traveling direction of the vehicle as the important area based on position information of the vehicle.

[0147] According to the above configuration, the important area specifying means can appropriately specify an image area that is important for the vehicle.

[0148] (Appendix 10) The important area identification device described in Appendix 9, wherein the important area identification means identifies a range to be an important area based on position information of the vehicle, and identifies the important area by converting the range into coordinates in the image captured by the camera.

[0149] According to the above configuration, it is possible to identify an important area at an appropriate position in an image captured by a camera.

[0150] (Appendix 11) The information acquisition means further acquires one or more of the following: speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering, accelerator, and turn signal operation information of the vehicle; The important area identification means identifies an important area within a captureable area of ​​the camera based on one or more of the vehicle's speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation information and vehicle position information.

[0151] According to the above configuration, the important region specifying means can more appropriately specify the important region based on the operation information.

[0152] (Appendix 12) 12. The important region identification device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, further comprising an image quality adjustment means for changing the image quality of the image captured by the camera based on information of the identified important region.

[0153] According to the above configuration, the image quality adjustment means changes the image quality so as to suppress degradation of the image in important areas, thereby enabling humans to visually monitor the image and for computers to perform various image processing in more detail.

[0154] (Appendix 13) 13. The important area identification device according to any one of appendices 8 to 12, wherein the camera is a camera installed at an intersection or a camera mounted on a vehicle.

[0155] (Appendix 14) Further, a display means for displaying an image captured by the camera is provided, 14. The important region identifying device according to claim 8, wherein the display means displays the image using the important region.

[0156] According to the above configuration, the display means displays the image captured by the camera using the important area, so that visual monitoring of the image by a person can be performed in more detail.

[0157] (Appendix 15) Acquire vehicle location information, Identifying an important area within a captureable area of ​​the camera based on the position information of the vehicle; an image processing device that processes the image captured by the camera is notified of the important region;

[0158] According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to appropriately identify image areas that are important to the vehicle. These important areas can be used by a video user, for example, a human visually monitoring the image, or by a computer for various image processing.

[0159] (Appendix 16) 16. The important area identification method according to claim 15, further comprising identifying an area in a direction in which the vehicle is traveling as the important area based on position information of the vehicle.

[0160] According to the above configuration, it is possible to appropriately identify image areas that are important to the vehicle.

[0161] (Appendix 17) 17. The method for identifying an important area described in claim 16, further comprising identifying an area to be an important area based on position information of the vehicle, and converting the area into coordinates in an image captured by the camera, thereby identifying the important area.

[0162] According to the above configuration, it is possible to identify an important area at an appropriate position in an image captured by a camera.

[0163] (Appendix 18) Furthermore, at least one of the following information is acquired: speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation information of the vehicle; An important area identification method according to any one of appendices 15 to 17, which identifies an important area within the camera's captureable area based on one or more of the vehicle's speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation information and vehicle position information.

[0164] According to the above configuration, it is possible to more appropriately identify an important area based on operation information.

[0165] (Appendix 19) The important region identification method according to any one of appendices 15 to 18, further comprising changing the image quality of the image captured by the camera based on information of the identified important region.

[0166] According to the above configuration, by changing the image quality so as to suppress degradation of the image within the important area, it becomes possible for a person to visually monitor the image, and for a computer to perform various image processing in more detail.

[0167] (Appendix 20) 20. The method for identifying an important area according to any one of appendices 15 to 19, wherein the camera is a camera installed at an intersection or a camera mounted on a vehicle.

[0168] (Appendix 21) On the computer, A process of acquiring vehicle location information; A process of identifying an important area within a captureable area of ​​the camera based on position information of the vehicle; a process of notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A program to execute.

[0169] According to the above-mentioned configuration, it is possible to appropriately identify image areas that are important to the vehicle. These important areas can be used by a video user, for example, a human visually monitoring the image, or by a computer for various image processing.

[0170] (Appendix 22) The method includes: acquiring vehicle position information; A process of identifying an important area within a captureable area of ​​a camera based on the position information of the vehicle; a process of notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A critical area identification system that performs the following:

[0171] The important area identification system may further include a memory, and the memory may store a program for causing the processor to execute the acquiring process, the identifying process, and the notifying process. The program may be recorded in a computer-readable, non-transitory, tangible recording medium.

[0172] (Appendix 23) The method includes: acquiring vehicle position information; A process of identifying an important area within a captureable area of ​​a camera based on the position information of the vehicle; a process of notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A critical area identification device that performs the above.

[0173] The important region identifying device may further include a memory, and the memory may store a program for causing the processor to execute the acquiring process, the identifying process, and the notifying process. The program may be recorded in a computer-readable, non-transitory, tangible recording medium. [Explanation of symbols]

[0174] 1. 1a Critical Area Identification System 10, 10a, 100, 100a, 100b Important area identification device 11 Information acquisition means 12 Means for identifying important areas 13 Important area notification means 14 Image quality adjustment methods 15 Display means 30a, 30b, 30d vehicles 30c Bus 140 Camera 140b In-vehicle camera 101 Information Acquisition Department 102, 102a, 102b Important area identification section 103 Notification Department 200, 200a, 200b V2X information provision equipment 300, 300b Server 400 Traffic Control System 1021 Coordinate conversion unit ROI1~ROI3, ROI5, ROI1a Important areas

Claims

1. An information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information; an important area specification means for extracting vehicles within a photographable area of ​​the camera based on position information of the vehicles, selecting a vehicle to be targeted for identification of an important area from among the extracted vehicles according to a predetermined rule, and specifying a predetermined area within the photographable area corresponding to the selected vehicle as an important area; an important area notifying means for notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A critical area identification system with

2. 2. The important area specifying system according to claim 1, wherein the important area specifying means specifies, as the important area, an area in a traveling direction of the selected vehicle, based on position information of the vehicle.

3. 3. The important area identification system according to claim 2, wherein the important area identification means identifies a range to be the important area based on position information of the selected vehicle, and identifies the important area by converting the range into coordinates in the image captured by the camera.

4. The information acquisition means further acquires one or more of the following information regarding the speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation of the selected vehicle; The important area identification means identifies an important area within the camera's captureable area based on one or more of the speed, vehicle type, acceleration, steering wheel, accelerator, and turn signal operation information of the selected vehicle and position information of the selected vehicle.

5. 5. The important region specifying system according to claim 1, further comprising image quality adjustment means for changing an image quality of the image captured by the camera based on information on the specified important region.

6. The important area identification system according to claim 1 , wherein the camera is a camera installed at an intersection or a camera mounted on a vehicle.

7. Further, a display means for displaying an image captured by the camera is provided, The important region specifying system according to claim 1 , wherein the display means displays the image using the important region.

8. An information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle position information; an important area specification means for extracting vehicles within a photographable area of ​​the camera based on position information of the vehicles, selecting a vehicle to be targeted for identification of an important area from among the extracted vehicles according to a predetermined rule, and specifying a predetermined area within the photographable area corresponding to the selected vehicle as an important area; an important area notifying means for notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; An important area identification device comprising:

9. A computer-implemented method for identifying important regions, comprising: Acquire vehicle location information, Extracting vehicles within a capture area of ​​the camera based on the position information of the vehicles, selecting vehicles to be targeted for identifying an important area from among the extracted vehicles according to a predetermined rule, and identifying a predetermined area within the capture area corresponding to the selected vehicle as an important area; an image processing device that processes the image captured by the camera is notified of the important region;

10. On the computer, A process of acquiring vehicle location information; A process of extracting vehicles within a photographable area of ​​the camera based on position information of the vehicles, selecting a vehicle to be a target of identifying an important area from among the extracted vehicles according to a predetermined rule, and identifying a predetermined area within the photographable area corresponding to the selected vehicle as an important area; a process of notifying an image processing device that processes an image captured by the camera of the important area; A program to execute.

Images