Information Processing Apparatus, Information Distribution Method, and Information Distribution Program

Abstract

To expand an opportunity for information distribution based on image acquired by a user.SOLUTION: An advertisement distribution system processes an original image to produce a processed image, specifies the original image related to a source of the processed image, identifies an object for advertisement included in the original image, adds advertisement information corresponding to the object for advertisement to the processed image, and distributes the processed image. Then, when browsing the processed image via a terminal apparatus, an advertisement image based on the advertisement information added to the processed image is displayed on a display.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information distribution method, and an information distribution program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, web advertisements that distribute advertisements to websites on the Internet and the like have become widespread. In addition, digital signage in which an information processing apparatus connected to the Internet distributes advertisements using a display device such as a liquid crystal display has also begun to spread.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a system that identifies an article worn by a customer by comparing a feature amount extracted from a customer image in which the customer appears with a feature amount stored in a related article database, and displays information on a related article related to the identified article on digital signage and presents it to the customer.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Here, it is generally performed to post an image processed by pasting another image such as a stamp or a frame on the captured image to a social networking service (SNS) or the like to share it with other users. However, when an article (object) exists in the processed image area and the feature amount of this article cannot be extracted, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to display information on a related article related to this article.

[0006] That is, when the processed image is shared, the opportunity for advertising distribution and the like can be expanded if related information can be displayed even for objects that cannot be identified by the processing.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information distribution method, and an information distribution program that can further expand the opportunity for information distribution based on an image acquired by a user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the information processing apparatus, information distribution method, and information distribution program of the present invention employ the following means.

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, an "information processing apparatus" which is an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that stores a distribution image distributed so as to be viewable via a computer network, and includes a specifying means for specifying a related image related to the distribution image and its source, an identifying means for identifying an object included in the related image, and an adding means for adding predetermined information corresponding to the object to the distribution image.

[0010] In order to solve the above problems, an "information distribution method" which is an aspect of the present invention includes a first step of specifying, by specifying means, a related image related to a distribution image distributed so as to be viewable via a computer network and its source, a second step of identifying, by identifying means, an object included in the related image, and a third step of adding, by adding means, predetermined information corresponding to the object to the distribution image and distributing it.

[0011] To solve the above problems, an "information distribution program" according to an aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute a first step of identifying, by an identifying means, a related image related to a distribution image distributed so as to be viewable via a computer network; a second step of identifying, by an identifying means, an object included in the related image; and a third step of adding, by an adding means, predetermined information corresponding to the object to the distribution image and distributing the result.

[0012] The above "information processing apparatus" may be subject to various technical limitations as exemplified below. Further, technical limitations of the same gist may be added to the processing steps executed by the "information distribution method" and the functions of the "information distribution program".

[0013] When the distributed distribution image is viewed, it includes a notification means for performing notification based on the predetermined information added to the distribution image.

[0014] It includes a reception means for receiving a request for adding the predetermined information to the distribution image.

[0015] The distribution image is a processed image obtained by processing the related image, and the information processing apparatus receives the processed image together with the distribution image from another information processing apparatus, or processes the related image received from another information processing apparatus to obtain the processed image.

[0016] It includes a reception means for receiving the related image captured by a camera from the camera, and a processing means for processing the related image to obtain the distribution image.

[0017] The predetermined information is information indicating an advertisement corresponding to the object.

[0018] The identifying means identifies a viewing object that is an object included in the distribution image, and the adding means adds predetermined information corresponding to a viewing object different from the object to the distribution image.

Advantages of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, there is an effect that the opportunity for information distribution based on the image acquired by the user can be further expanded.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020]

Figure 1

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] Hereinafter, an embodiment of an information processing apparatus, an information distribution method, and an information distribution program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0022] [1. First Embodiment] Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0023] [1-1. Configuration of Advertisement Distribution System] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the advertisement distribution system 10 according to the present embodiment. The advertisement distribution system 10 includes a mobile terminal device 12 with a camera function and a server 14 which is an information processing device.

[0024] The mobile terminal device 12 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a notebook computer, etc., and captures an image by its camera function. A user ID (identification) is attached to the image transmitted from the mobile terminal device 12 to the server 14. The server 14 can identify the user who transmitted the image by referring to the user ID.

[0025] The communication line 16 forms a computer network and is, for example, a wide - area communication line provided by an electric power company.

[0026] The server 14 has a function of distributing the image received from the mobile terminal device 12 so that it can be viewed on a predetermined SNS, an image - sharing site, etc., and displaying it on the terminal device 18. Further, the server 14 has an image - processing function for processing the image received from the mobile terminal device 12 (hereinafter referred to as the "original image") and an advertisement - adding function for adding an advertisement to the distributed image.

[0027] Thus, the server 14 can process the original image received from the mobile terminal device 12, add an advertisement to the processed image (hereinafter referred to as the "processed image"), and distribute it. Note that the server 14 can also distribute the original image to an SNS, etc. without executing the image - processing function or the advertisement - adding function on the original image, or can also execute only one of the image - processing function and the advertisement - adding function on the original image and distribute it to an SNS, etc.

[0028] The terminal device 18 is a mobile phone device 18A such as a smartphone that can access the server 14 via the communication line 16, a personal computer 18B including a notebook or desktop type, or a tablet terminal or the like. The user browses the image captured by the portable terminal device 12 and transmitted to the server 14 via the portable terminal device 12 or the terminal device 18. Further, the image can be browsed by a person other than the user via his or her own terminal device 18 by being distributed on SNS or the like.

[0029] [1-2. Configuration of Server] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the server 14 according to the present embodiment.

[0030] The server 14 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20 that controls the operation of the entire server 14, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 in which various programs and various data are stored in advance, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24 used as a work area when the CPU 20 executes various programs, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 26 as storage means for storing various programs and various data. Note that the storage means is not limited to the HDD 26, and may be other storage media such as a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

[0031] The HDD 26 stores the original image received from the portable terminal device 12, the processed image obtained by processing the original image, various images required for the processing, and data required for various functions.

[0032] Furthermore, the server 14 includes an operation input unit 28 composed of a keyboard and a mouse or the like that receives inputs of various operations, a monitor 30 such as a liquid crystal display device that displays various images, and is connected to other information processing devices such as the portable terminal device 12 via the communication line 16, and has an external interface 32 that transmits and receives various data to and from other information processing devices. The external interface 32 is also a receiving means for receiving the image captured by the mobile terminal device 12 from the mobile terminal device 12.

[0033] These CPU 20, ROM 22, RAM 24, HDD 26, operation input unit 28, monitor 30, and external interface 32 are electrically connected to each other via the system bus 34. Therefore, the CPU 20 can perform access to the ROM 22, RAM 24, and HDD 26, grasp the operation state of the operation input unit 28, display an image on the monitor 30, and transmit and receive various data with other information processing devices and the like via the external interface 32, respectively.

[0034] [1-3. Image processing function] The image processing function executed on the server will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3(A) shows the original image 40A, that is, the image before being processed, and FIG. 3(B) shows the processed image 40B, that is, the image obtained by processing the original image 40A.

[0035] In the original image 40A shown in FIG. 3(A), as an example, the brand name 42 is displayed on the clothes worn by the person who is the subject. The processed image 40B shown in FIG. 3(B) is generated by performing processing such as pasting the stamp 44 and the frame 46 on the original image 40A. In the processed image shown in FIG. 3(B), the brand name 42 is not displayed because the frame 46 is pasted. That is, although the brand name 42 existed in the real space, the user who viewed the processed image 40B generated by processing the original image 40A could not visually recognize the brand name 42.

[0036] Note that the processing performed on the original image 40A may be other processing such as blurring processing and distortion processing in addition to pasting the stamp 44 and the frame 46.

[0037] In addition, the processing performed on the original image 40A may be set in advance by the user of the mobile terminal device 12 for the server 14, and the server 14 may automatically perform the set processing when receiving the original image 40A. Alternatively, the user may access the server 14 and perform an operation using the image processing function of the server 14 to process the original image 40A. Even if the processed image 40B is generated, the original image 40A is stored in the server 14 as it is, associated with the processed image 40B. More specifically, the processed image 40B is stored in the server 14 with associated information indicating the original image 40A, which is the image before processing, added thereto.

[0038] [1-4. Advertising addition function] The advertising addition function according to this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0039] The advertising addition function identifies an associated image related to the source of the distribution image, identifies an object included in the associated image, and adds predetermined information corresponding to this object to the distribution image.

[0040] In this embodiment, the distribution image is the processed image 40B, and the associated image is the original image 40A. That is, in this embodiment, being related in terms of the source means the images before and after processing. The advertising addition function identifies the original image 40A related to the processed image 40B by reading the associated information added to the processed image 40B.

[0041] The advertising addition function identifies an object included in the original image 40A by performing image analysis on the original image 40A. The object to be identified according to this embodiment (hereinafter also referred to as "advertising target object") 50 is, for example, a mark, character, etc. related to a product sold by a company, such as a product name, brand name, or company name. In the example of Fig. 3(A), the brand name 42 corresponds to the advertising target object 50. The server 14 stores data showing a list of the advertising target objects 50 (hereinafter referred to as "advertising target list"). The server 14 stores data showing a list of the advertising target objects 50 (hereinafter referred to as "advertising target list").

[0042] Note that the advertising target object 50 may be not limited to characters or the like, but may be a figure or the shape of a beverage container that houses a beverage, etc.

[0043] The advertisement adding function adds predetermined information corresponding to the advertising target object 50 to the processed image 40B. The predetermined information is information that can be an advertisement, such as a mark, character, or image related to a product sold by a company (hereinafter referred to as "advertising information"). The advertising information is associated with the advertising target object 50 shown in the advertising target list and stored in the server 14. Note that the advertising information may be, for example, a product list indicating candidates for pre-order items to be purchased on an EC (Electronic Commerce) site.

[0044] That is, the server 14 refers to the advertising target list to determine whether the identified object corresponds to the advertising target object 50, and if it corresponds, adds the advertising information to the processed image 40B. Note that information on the area where the advertising target object 50 was displayed in the original image 40A (hereinafter referred to as "display area information") is added to the processed image 40B. The display area information is, for example, coordinates in the original image 40A.

[0045] When the advertisement adding function causes the processed image 40B to be displayed on the terminal device 18, it also displays an image (hereinafter referred to as an "advertisement image") based on the advertising information added to the processed image 40B together with the processed image 40B.

[0046] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an aspect of the advertisement image 56 displayed on the display 54 of the terminal device 18.

[0047] FIG. 4(A) shows an aspect in which the advertisement image 56 is displayed in a balloon shape. As an example, the balloon shape is displayed so as to originate from the vicinity of the area where the advertising target object 50 existed in the original image 40A.

[0048] FIG. 4(B) shows an aspect in which the advertisement image 56 is displayed adjacent to the processed image 40B. In the example of FIG. 4(B), the display position of the advertisement image 56 is made adjacent to the lower side of the processed image 40B.

[0049] The display position of the advertisement image 56 is determined based on the display area information added to the processed image 40B. For example, if the display area information indicates the lower side of the processed image 40B, the advertisement image 56 is displayed below the processed image 40B. Also, the position where the speech balloon graphic is generated is determined based on the display area information. Note that the display position of the advertisement image 56 may be a predetermined position such as the left and right or the upper side of the processed image 40B regardless of the display area information.

[0050] Also, when the advertisement image 56 is to be displayed on the display 54, as shown in FIG. 4, a switching button 58 for switching the display (on) or non-display (off) of the advertisement image 56 may be displayed on the display 54. A user who is viewing the processed image 40B using the terminal device 18 can switch the display and non-display of the advertisement image 56 by performing an operation such as a touch or a click on the switching button 58. Note that this is not limited to this, and the display and non-display of the advertisement image 56 may be switched by the user performing an operation such as a touch or a mouse over on the processed image 40B.

[0051] As shown in FIGS. 3(A) and (B), in the process of processing the original image 40A, the advertisement target object 50 is no longer displayed in the processed image 40B, and the advertisement target object 50 that existed in the real space may not be visible to the user. Therefore, the advertisement addition function according to the present embodiment identifies the advertisement target object 50 from the original image 40A and adds advertisement information related thereto to the processed image 40B, so as to display an advertisement image based on the advertisement information together with the processed image 40B. Therefore, the advertisement addition function according to the present embodiment can expand the opportunity for advertisement distribution based on the image acquired by the user. When the object 50 cannot be visually recognized by the user. Therefore, the advertisement addition function according to the present embodiment identifies the advertisement target object 50 from the original image 40A and adds advertisement information related thereto to the processed image 40B, so as to display an advertisement image based on the advertisement information together with the processed image 40B. Therefore, the advertisement addition function according to the present embodiment can expand the opportunity for advertisement distribution based on the image acquired by the user.

[0052] In addition, the server 14 receives a request from an enterprise or the like to add advertisement information to the processed image 40B. For example, the enterprise transmits information about the advertisement target object 50 and advertisement information to the server 14 via a homepage for receiving requests. When the server 14 receives these pieces of information, it adds them to the advertisement target list. At this time, the enterprise pays a predetermined fee to the business operator that provides the advertisement addition function. The fee may be an amount set by the business operator, or may be determined, for example, by the enterprise bidding for each type of product.

[0053] [1-5. Functional block diagram related to advertisement addition function] The CPU 20 according to this embodiment includes an image processing unit 60 and an advertisement addition unit 62. The functions related to the image processing unit 60 and the advertisement addition unit 62 are realized by a program.

[0054] The image processing unit 60 executes the above-described image processing function, performs processing such as attaching the stamp 44 and the frame 46 to the original image 40A, and generates a processed image 40B.

[0055] The advertisement addition unit 62 executes the above-described advertisement addition function, and includes a related image identification unit 64, an object identification unit 66, an advertisement information addition unit 68, an advertisement target verification unit 70, an image distribution unit 72, an advertisement display control unit 74, and an advertisement request reception unit 76.

[0056] The related image identification unit 64 identifies the original image 40A whose origin is related to the processed image 40B based on the related information added to the processed image 40B.

[0057] The object identification unit 66 identifies the object included in the original image 40A identified by the related image identification unit 64 by image analysis. Note that the method of image analysis for identifying the object may be a conventionally known method.

[0058] The advertisement target verification unit 70 verifies the identified object and the advertisement target list, and determines whether the object is the advertisement target object 50.

[0059] The advertisement information addition unit 68 adds advertisement information corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 and display area information to the processed image 40B.

[0060] The image distribution unit 72 distributes the processed image 40B or the original image 40A to be distributed to a predetermined SNS or image sharing site.

[0061] When the distributed processed image 40B is viewed, the advertisement display control unit 74 displays an advertisement image based on the advertisement information added to the processed image 40B on the display 54 of the terminal device 18, thereby performing notification based on the advertisement information. Specifically, the function of the advertisement display control unit 74 is possessed by the SNS or image sharing site that distributes the processed image 40B.

[0062] The advertisement request reception unit 76 receives a request for adding advertisement information to the processed image 40B.

[0063] [1-6. Advertisement addition process] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process (hereinafter referred to as “advertisement addition process”) executed by the advertisement addition function according to the present embodiment. A program for executing the advertisement addition process is stored in advance in a predetermined area of the HDD 26. The advertisement addition process shown in FIG. 6 is executed when the server 14 receives the original image 40A.

[0064] First, in step 100, the image processing unit 60 processes the original image 40A to generate a processed image 40B. The processing of the original image 40A may be automatically performed with predetermined processing, or may be performed by the user using the function of the image processing unit 60.

[0065] In the next step 102, the related image specifying unit 64 specifies the original image 40A related to the processed image 40B.

[0066] In the next step 104, the object identification unit 66 analyzes the original image 40A and identifies the objects included in the original image 40A.

[0067] In the next step 106, the advertisement target collating unit 70 collates the identified object and the advertisement target list.

[0068] In the next step 108, the advertisement target collating unit 70 determines whether or not the advertisement target object 50 is included in the identified object. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 110. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 112.

[0069] In step 110, the advertisement information adding unit 68 adds advertisement information corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 to the processed image 40B and proceeds to step 112.

[0070] In step 112, the image distribution unit 72 distributes the processed image 40B, and this advertisement addition process ends.

[0071] As described above, the advertisement distribution system 10 according to the present embodiment identifies the original image 40A related to the processed image 40B, identifies the advertisement target object 50 included in the original image 40A, adds advertisement information corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 to the processed image 40B, and distributes the processed image 40B. Then, when the processed image 40B is viewed via the terminal device 18, the advertisement image 56 based on the advertisement information added to the processed image 40B is displayed on the display 54.

[0072] Thereby, the advertisement distribution system 10 displays the advertisement image 56 corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 that is included in the original image 40A but not included in the processed image 40B together with the processed image 40B, so that the opportunity for advertisement distribution based on the image acquired by the user can be expanded.

[0073] Note that in the present embodiment, by identifying the advertisement target object 50 included in the original image 40A, the advertisement image 56 corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 displayed not only in the original image 40A but also in the processed image 40B can be displayed.

[0074] In addition, in this embodiment, the form in which the original image 40A is processed by the server 14 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the original image 40A may be processed by another information processing device such as the mobile terminal device 12, and the processed image 40B may be transmitted to the server 14. In the case of this form, the original image 40A associated with the processed image 40B is transmitted from the mobile terminal device 12 to the server 14 together with the processed image 40B, and the server 14 receives the original image 40A together with the processed image 40B. Further, the image may be captured by a digital camera, the image may be transmitted to another information processing device such as the mobile terminal device 12, and the processed image 40B and the original image 40A processed by the other information processing device may be transmitted to the server 14.

[0075] [2. Second Embodiment] Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the advertising distribution system 10 according to the present second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the advertising distribution system 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

[0076] Note that in this embodiment, images captured before and after the time when the distribution image 80A was captured are transmitted from the mobile terminal device 12 to the server 14 together with the distribution image 80A.

[0077] [2-1. Advertising Addition Function] The advertising addition function executed by the advertising addition unit 62 according to this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0078] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a distribution image 80A and a related image 80B according to this embodiment. FIG. 7(A) shows the distribution image 80A arbitrarily selected by the user, and FIG. 7(B) shows the related image 80B.

[0079] Although the distribution image 80A and the related image 80B were captured at approximately the same time and have the same subject, the object (hereinafter referred to as the "viewing object") 82A included in the distribution image 80A is not included in the related image 80B, and the object (hereinafter referred to as the "related object") 82B included in the related image 80B is not included in the distribution image 80A. Thus, there may be objects that are not included in each other between the distribution image 80A and the related image 80B. Note that the related image 80B is acquired by the same mobile terminal device 12 that acquired the distribution image 80A.

[0080] Next, a method for specifying the related image 80B according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0081] The related image specifying unit 64 according to the present embodiment extracts, as candidates for related images (hereinafter referred to as "related image candidates"), images included within a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) before and after the time when the distribution image 80A was captured. The object identification unit 66 performs image analysis on the distribution image 80A and the related image candidates. The related image specifying unit 64 specifies, as the related image 80B, those related image candidates for which the degree of coincidence with the distribution image 80A is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Note that a plurality of related images 80B may be specified as long as the degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

[0082] The object identification unit 66 identifies the viewing object 82A included in the distribution image 80A and the related object 82B included in the related image 80B.

[0083] The advertisement target collating unit 70 collates the identified viewing object 82A and related object 82B with the advertisement target list.

[0084] The advertisement information addition unit 68 adds corresponding advertisement information and display area information to the distribution image 80A for those among the related objects 82B that correspond to the advertisement target object 50. Further, when there is a browsing object 82A that corresponds to an advertisement target object 50 different from the related object 82B, the advertisement information addition unit 68 adds advertisement information and display area information corresponding to the browsing object 82A to the distribution image 80A.

[0085] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display mode of the advertisement images 56 displayed on the display 54 of the terminal device 18. In the example of FIG. 8, advertisement images 56A and 56B are displayed below the distribution image 80A. The advertisement image 56A corresponds to the browsing object 82A included in the distribution image 80A. The advertisement image 56B corresponds to the related object 82B included in the related image 80B.

[0086] Note that, as a method for specifying the related image 80B, it is not always necessary to perform image analysis on the distribution image 80A and the related image candidates to determine the degree of coincidence. For example, the advertisement addition unit 62 according to the present embodiment may use all the images within a predetermined time before and after the time when the distribution image 80A was captured as the related image 80B and identify the related object 82B.

[0087] [2-2. Advertisement addition process] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of the advertisement addition process according to the present embodiment. Note that the advertisement addition process according to the present embodiment is executed when the distribution image 80A to be distributed is selected by the user.

[0088] First, in step 200, the related image specifying unit 64 specifies the related image 80B related to the distribution image 80A.

[0089] In the next step 202, the object identification unit 66 performs image analysis on the distribution image 80A and the related image 80B, and identifies the browsing object 82A included in the distribution image 80A and the related object 82B included in the related image 80B.

[0090] In the next step 204, the advertisement target collating unit 70 collates the identified browsing object 82A and related object 82B with the advertisement target list.

[0091] In the next step 206, the advertisement target collating unit 70 determines whether the advertisement target object 50 is included in the identified browsing object 82A and related object 82B. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 208; if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 210.

[0092] In step 208, the advertisement information adding unit 68 adds the advertisement information corresponding to the advertisement target object 50 to the distribution image 80A and proceeds to step 210.

[0093] In step 210, the image distribution unit 72 distributes the distribution image 80A and ends this advertisement addition process.

[0094] As described above, in the advertisement distribution system 10 according to the present embodiment, the related image 80B related to the distribution image 80A is an image that is close to the time when the distribution image 80A was captured at the time of shooting. Thereby, the advertisement distribution system 10 can display the advertisement image 56B corresponding to the related object 82B included in the related image 80B but not included in the distribution image 80A together with the distribution image 80A, so that the opportunity for advertisement distribution based on the image acquired by the user can be expanded.

[0095] [3. Other Embodiments] As described above, the present invention has been described using the above-described embodiments. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the gist of the invention, and the forms to which such changes or improvements are added are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Also, the above embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

[0096] For example, in each of the above embodiments, the form in which the image to be distributed is a still image has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the form in which the image to be distributed is a moving image may also be used. In this case, the distributed image is a thumbnail image selected from one frame of the moving image, and the related images are a predetermined number of frames before and after the thumbnail image. Then, the server 14 adds advertisement information to the distributed image in the same manner as the advertisement addition function according to the second embodiment.

[0097] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the form in which the server 14 has an advertisement addition function has been described However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the form in which the mobile terminal device 12 is provided with an advertisement addition function may also be used. In this case, the mobile terminal device 12 transmits a distributed image with advertisement information or the like added thereto to the server 14, and the server 14 distributes the image.

[0098] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the form in which an advertisement image based on advertisement information is displayed as notification based on the advertisement information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as the above notification, a form in which sound output or video playback based on the advertisement information is performed may also be used.

[0099] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the form in which the predetermined information added to the distributed image is advertisement information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other information may be added. Other information is, for example, an explanation of the subject existing in the area where the original image 40A was processed or other images related to the subject shown in the distributed image. Other images are images of people, animals, landscapes, etc. related to the subject, and are selected based on, for example, the content set by the user as related images or image matching from the images stored in the server 14 as an album service via the Internet.

[0100] In the above-described embodiment, the apparatus for imaging an image has been described in the form of the mobile terminal device 12 with a camera function. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, instead of the mobile terminal device 12, a camera having an imaging function and a communication function may be used. In this case, the camera transmits the captured image to a predetermined server 14 via the communication line 16. The communication function of the camera according to this embodiment enables communication with the server 14, but cannot communicate with other information processing devices. Further, the camera is provided with a minimum storage medium for temporarily storing the captured image until it is transmitted to the server 14, but does not have a large-capacity storage medium capable of storing a large amount of images. The image transmitted to the server 14 is automatically deleted from the storage medium. That is, the camera according to the present embodiment is a simple-type camera having only the minimum necessary functions that enable only imaging of a subject and communication with the server 14. Note that the image transmitted from the camera to the server 14 is attached with an ID unique to the camera, in other words, a user ID. The user can select an image to be distributed or an image to be processed from the images stored in the server 14 via the mobile terminal device 12.

[0101] Also, the flow of the advertisement addition process described in each of the above embodiments is also an example, and unnecessary steps may be deleted, new steps may be added, or the processing order may be changed within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0102] 10 Advertising distribution system 14 Server (information processing device) 16 Communication line (computer network) 32 External interface (reception means) 40A Original image (related image) 40B Processed image (distributed image) 50 Object 60 Image processing unit (processing means) 64 Related image specifying unit (specifying means) 66 Object identification unit (identifying means) 68 Advertising information addition section (addition means) 74 Advertising display control section (notification means) 76 Advertising request reception section (reception means) 80A Distribution image 80B Related image 82A Browsing object 82B Related object

Claims

1. A server device comprising a processor, wherein the processor identifies, by referring to the associated information added to the first image, a second image before processing of the first image to be distributed, which is selected by a user, from among the images stored in the server device and associated with the user, and the processor adds predetermined information identified by image analysis of the second image to the first image and distributes it so that it can be viewed by other users. Server device.

2. The predetermined information is an advertisement image, and an operation area capable of switching whether or not to display the advertisement image is displayed on the terminal of the other user. The server device according to Claim 1.

3. A processor included in a server device identifies, by referring to the associated information added to the first image, a second image before processing of the first image to be distributed, which is selected by a user, from among the images stored in the server device and associated with the user, and the processor included in the server device adds predetermined information identified by image analysis of the second image to the first image and distributes it so that it can be viewed by other users. Information processing method.

4. A program for causing a processor included in a server device to perform a process of identifying, by referring to the associated information added to the first image, a second image before processing of the first image to be distributed, which is selected by a user, from among the images stored in the server device and associated with the user, and a process of adding predetermined information identified by image analysis of the second image to the first image and distributing it so that it can be viewed by other users. Program.

5. A system comprising a server and a terminal, wherein the server identifies, by referring to the associated information added to the first image, a second image before processing of the first image to be distributed, which is selected by a user, from among the images stored in the server and associated with the user, adds predetermined information identified by image analysis of the second image to the first image and distributes it so that it can be viewed by the terminals of other users. System.

Images