Recording control method

Abstract

To provide a technology for controlling ON / OFF of a recording function of a wearable imaging device.SOLUTION: A recording control method according to an embodiment of the present invention that controls a recording function of an imaging device wearable by a person causes a computer to execute a determination procedure for determining whether a human hand is detected within an imaging range of the imaging device, and a control procedure of enabling the recording function when the human hand is detected, and disabling the recording function when the human hand is not detected within the imaging range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a recording control method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, wearable cameras have been increasingly introduced in factories, work sites, and the like (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Images captured and recorded by these wearable cameras are expected to be used for various purposes, such as improving safety at the site, improving work efficiency, and technology transfer. However, images captured at factories, work sites, and the like may capture unrelated third parties or personal information, and there may be scenes that cannot be saved without permission from the perspective of privacy protection. Furthermore, although this is not a problem from the perspective of privacy protection, there is also the possibility that unwanted scenes other than those during work may be captured and recorded.

[0003] For this reason, conventionally, workers often manually turn on / off the camera's recording function depending on whether or not unrelated third parties or personal information is likely to be captured on the camera, whether or not they are working, etc. Note that in addition to switch and button operations, operations for turning the recording function on / off also include, for example, voice operation and gesture operation. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] "On-site Work DX Solution", Internet<URL:https: / / www.ntt-tx.co.jp / products / fw-sol / > Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, when manually turning the camera's recording function on and off, workers sometimes forget to do so. This can result in, for example, recording footage that captures third parties or personal information, or recording unnecessary footage. Conversely, it can also result in the camera failing to record necessary footage. Furthermore, when using voice control to turn the recording function on and off, voice recognition can fail depending on the surrounding noise, resulting in failure to turn the recording function on and off. Similarly, when using gesture control to turn the recording function on and off, gesture recognition can fail, and there is also the problem of the worker having to consciously perform gestures that are easily recognized, which is time-consuming.

[0006] It is also possible to protect privacy by performing image processing on captured and recorded video to blur third parties and personal information in the video, but this requires time and costs.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above points, and aims to provide a technique for controlling ON / OFF of a recording function in a wearable imaging device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A recording control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a recording control method for controlling a recording function of an imaging device that can be worn by a person, in which a computer executes a determination procedure for determining whether or not the person's hand is detected within an imaging range of the imaging device, and a control procedure for enabling the recording function if the person's hand is detected within the imaging range, and disabling the recording function if the person's hand is not detected within the imaging range. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] A technique for controlling ON / OFF of a recording function of a wearable imaging device is provided. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the wearable imaging device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recording control process according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of the positional relationship between the arm and a captured image according to the position at which the wearable imaging device is worn; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the following embodiment, a wearable imaging device 10 capable of controlling the ON / OFF of a recording function will be described, assuming that the device is worn by a worker in a factory, a work site, or the like. However, wearing the wearable imaging device 10 by a worker in a factory, a work site, or the like is one example and is not limited to this. The wearable imaging device 10 described below may be worn by a worker performing some kind of work in various locations. Note that the wearing position of the wearable imaging device 10 is not limited to a specific position, but it is assumed that the device will be worn, for example, above the worker's head, on the chest, on the waist, or the like.

[0012] Here, workers generally want to record video of themselves working, but do not want to record video of anything other than work. This is because video of work being done is useful for purposes such as improving safety on-site, improving work efficiency, and technology transfer, while video of anything other than work being done is often unnecessary and not useful for such purposes. Furthermore, video of anything other than work being done may contain, for example, unrelated third parties or personal information, and may not be able to be saved from the perspective of privacy protection, or may require image processing such as blurring or mosaic.

[0013] Focusing on the difference between video footage of work and video footage of non-work activities, the worker's hands are often visible in video footage of work, while the hands are often not visible in video footage of non-work activities. Therefore, the wearable imaging device 10 according to this embodiment controls the ON / OFF of the recording function based on whether hands are visible in the video footage. This allows for control to record video footage of work while not recording video footage of non-work activities. This prevents, for example, unnecessary video from being recorded, or video footage that cannot be saved or requires image processing for privacy reasons, and allows only necessary video to be recorded.

[0014] <Example of functional configuration of wearable imaging device 10> An example of the functional configuration of a wearable imaging device 10 according to this embodiment is shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the wearable imaging device 10 according to this embodiment includes an imaging unit 101, a recording control unit 102, and a recording unit 103. These units are realized by, for example, processing executed by one or more programs installed in the wearable imaging device 10 in an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit).

[0015] The imaging unit 101 is a functional unit that realizes an imaging function, and controls the camera device included in the wearable imaging device 10 to capture images within the imaging range of the camera device. When the imaging unit 101 captures images within the imaging range, a video (moving image) is created using images within the imaging range (hereinafter also referred to as captured images) as frame images. Note that capturing images may also be called "photography." In addition to controlling the camera device, the imaging unit 101 may also control a microphone included in the wearable imaging device 10 to collect ambient sounds.

[0016] The recording control unit 102 is a functional unit that controls ON / OFF of the recording function, and turns the recording function ON or OFF based on whether a hand is captured within the range of image capture by the imaging unit 101. Whether the recording function is ON or OFF can be expressed, for example, by a flag. Note that ON / OFF of the recording function may also be referred to as, for example, enabling / disabling the recording function.

[0017] Recording unit 103 is a functional unit that realizes the recording function, and when the recording function is ON, records images (captured images) within the imaging range captured by imaging unit 101. Recording unit 103 may store a video consisting of these recorded captured images in memory (for example, flash memory, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, microSD card, etc. provided in wearable imaging device 10), or may store the video in another device (for example, PC (Personal Computer), server, etc.) connected to wearable imaging device 10 wirelessly or via a wire.

[0018] <Recording control process> The following describes the recording control process for controlling the recording of images generated by capturing an image within the imaging range by the imaging unit 101, with reference to Fig. 2. Steps S101 to S105 in Fig. 2 are repeatedly executed during imaging (for example, repeated every nΔ seconds, where Δ seconds is the frame interval between frame images and n is a predetermined integer of 1 or greater). Note that the current time will be represented by t below.

[0019] First, the recording control unit 102 determines whether the recording function is ON (step S101).

[0020] If it is not determined in step S101 that the recording function is ON (that is, if the recording function is OFF at the current time t), the recording control unit 102 determines whether or not a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t (step S102). The recording control unit 102 may determine whether or not a hand is detected in the captured image using, for example, an existing image recognition technology.

[0021] The recording control unit 102 may determine whether or not a hand has been detected using images captured between time t-mΔ and the current time t, where m is a predetermined integer equal to or greater than 1. This allows for more accurate detection of hands.

[0022] If it is determined in step S102 that a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t, the recording control unit 102 turns on the recording function (step S103). As a result, the captured image is recorded by the recording unit 103 from the current time t onwards until the recording function is turned off.

[0023] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that a hand has not been detected in the captured image at the current time t, the recording control unit 102 ends the recording control process. In this case, the recording function remains OFF.

[0024] If it is determined in step S101 above that the recording function is ON (i.e., if the recording function is ON at the current time t), the recording control unit 102 determines whether a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t, as in step S102 above (step S104).

[0025] If it is determined in step S104 above that a hand is not detected in the captured image at the current time t, the recording control unit 102 turns off the recording function (step S105). This stops the recording of captured images by the recording unit 103 from the current time t onwards until the recording function is turned on.

[0026] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 that a hand has been detected in the captured image at the current time t, the recording control unit 102 ends the recording control process. In this case, the recording function remains ON.

[0027] As described above, the wearable imaging device 10 according to this embodiment turns on the recording function while a hand is detected in the captured image and turns off the recording function otherwise. This allows the recording function to be turned on only while the worker is working, thereby recording only footage of the worker working and preventing the recording of other footage. This prevents, for example, unnecessary footage from being recorded, or footage that cannot be saved due to privacy concerns or that requires image processing from being recorded, making it possible to record only the footage that is necessary.

[0028] Furthermore, since there is no need to perform any operation to turn the recording function on or off, the operator can turn the recording function on or off without even thinking about it. This prevents situations where, for example, necessary video is not recorded due to an oversight of an operation, or conversely, unnecessary video is recorded.

[0029] <Modification> A modification of the above embodiment will now be described.

[0030] <<Variation 1>> In the above embodiment, there is no particular limitation on the hands detected in the captured image, but for example, the recording function may be turned on / off only when a right hand is detected, or the recording function may be turned on / off only when a left hand is detected, or the recording function may be turned on / off only when both hands are detected.

[0031] <<Variation 2>> In the above embodiment, only ON / OFF of the recording function is controlled, but in addition to this, for example, the imaging mode of the imaging unit 101 may be controlled depending on whether a "left hand," a "right hand," or "both hands" is detected. To give a specific example, for example, when "both hands" are detected, the hands may be zoomed in (enlarged), and when a "left hand" or a "right hand" is detected, the hands may be zoomed out (reduced).

[0032] Furthermore, the imaging mode of the imaging unit 101 may be controlled according to the shape of the hand, for example. To cite a specific example, if a "left hand" or a "right hand" is detected, the imaging unit 101 may zoom out, whereas if the shape of the hand is a pointing finger, the imaging unit 101 may zoom in on the pointing finger (or may not zoom out). This is because, when a user is pointing at an object with a finger, the user is likely checking the appearance of the object, and it is preferable to record the object without zooming out or to record the object by zooming in.

[0033] <<Variation 3>> When "both hands" are detected in the above-mentioned modified example 2 and the hands are zoomed in, the zoom in (enlargement) may be performed by centering on the midpoint of the line segment connecting the coordinates of the left hand and the coordinates of the right hand. That is, for example, when the coordinates of the left hand are (x1, y1) and the coordinates of the right hand are (x2, y2), (x c ,y c ) can be used as the center of zoom-in. c =(x1+x2) / 2, y c = (y1 + y2) / 2. This is because when working with both hands, the object of the work that you want to record as video is likely to be near both hands.

[0034] The coordinates (x1, y1) of the left hand may be, for example, the center of gravity of the area representing the left hand, or the coordinates pointed to by the tip of the left hand.Similarly, the coordinates (x2, y2) of the right hand may be, for example, the center of gravity of the area representing the right hand, or the coordinates pointed to by the tip of the right hand.

[0035] <<Variation 4>> In the above embodiment, it is determined whether or not a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t, but even during work, a hand may temporarily disappear from the captured image range due to, for example, changing a tool or picking up a part, etc. Therefore, if it is simply determined whether or not a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t, the recording function may be frequently switched on and off.

[0036] Therefore, for example, even if a hand is no longer detected in the captured image, the recording function may not be turned off if the time during which the hand is not detected is within a certain period of time (for example, within kΔ seconds, where k is a predetermined integer greater than or equal to 1). This prevents the recording function from being turned on and off frequently, causing the recorded video to be cut into small pieces.

[0037] <<Variation 5>> In the above embodiment, it is determined whether a hand is detected in the captured image at the current time t, but it may be determined in what position or range within the captured image whether a hand is detected. In other words, it may be determined whether a hand is detected in the captured image taking into account the position of the hand.

[0038] This makes it possible to, for example, not detect a hand that appears at the edge of a captured image, but to detect a hand that appears near the center of the captured image. Therefore, for example, if the hand of someone other than the worker appears at the edge of the captured image, it is possible to not detect the other person's hand, thereby preventing malfunction.

[0039] Variation 6 The positional relationship between the arms and the captured image when hands are detected in the captured image may vary depending on the wearing position of the wearable imaging device 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 3(a), when the worker wears the wearable imaging device 10 on his head, the arms 1100 and 1200 are likely to be at the bottom in the captured image 1000 and be in contact with the bottom, left, and right sides of the captured image 1000. For example, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the worker wears the wearable imaging device 10 on his chest, the arms 1100 and 1200 are likely to be between the bottom and top in the captured image 1000 and be in contact with the left and right sides of the captured image 1000. For example, as shown in FIG. 3(c), when the worker wears the wearable imaging device 10 on his waist, the arms 1100 and 1200 are likely to be at the top in the captured image 1000 and be in contact with the bottom, left, and right sides of the captured image 1000.

[0040] Therefore, when determining whether a hand has been detected in the captured image at the current time t, the positional relationship between the arm and the captured image (i.e., the position or area in which the arm is captured, which side of the captured image the arm is in contact with, etc.) may be taken into consideration depending on how wearable imaging device 10 is worn. This makes it possible to prevent the hand from being detected if the positional relationship between the arm and the captured image differs from a predetermined one. For example, if a worker wears wearable imaging device 10 on their waist, even if another person's hand is captured at the bottom of the captured image, it is possible to prevent the hand from being detected, thereby preventing malfunction.

[0041] The present invention is not limited to the above-described specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications, changes, and combinations with known technologies are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 10 Wearable imaging device 101 Imaging unit 102 Recording control unit 103 Recording Department

Claims

1. A recording control method for controlling a recording function of a wearable imaging device, comprising: a determination step of determining whether the person's hand is detected within an imaging range of the imaging device; a control procedure for enabling the recording function when the person's hand is detected within the imaging range and controlling an imaging mode of the imaging device in accordance with the detected hand, and disabling the recording function when the person's hand is not detected within the imaging range; The computer executes The determination procedure includes: A recording control method in which, when determining whether the person's hand has been detected within the imaging range, the method determines whether the person's hand has been detected based on the positional relationship between the person's arm and the imaging range, depending on the position at which the imaging device is worn.

2. A recording control method for controlling a recording function of a wearable imaging device, comprising: a determination step of determining whether the person's hand is detected within an imaging range of the imaging device; a control procedure for enabling the recording function when the person's hand is detected within the imaging range and controlling an imaging mode of the imaging device in accordance with the detected hand, and disabling the recording function when the person's hand is not detected within the imaging range; The computer executes The control procedure includes: A recording control method for controlling an imaging mode of the imaging device when the person's hand is detected within the imaging range, depending on whether the detected hand is a left hand, a right hand, or both hands.

Images