Image Management Apparatus Importance Judgment Multi-Event Analysis

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing photobook creation systems struggle to accurately identify important individuals in image groups across multiple events, often misjudging individuals who appear frequently in other events but rarely in the specific event of interest, such as family members or photographers.

Innovation Solution

An information processing method and apparatus that calculates a person score by considering appearance counts across multiple events, using a person score table to evaluate the importance of individuals based on their presence in both specific and overall event groups, with thresholds to determine importance and compensate for insufficient data by referencing similar events.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If a person's importance is judged solely by their appearance count in the target event image group, then the judgment is simple and fast, but important persons who appear rarely in the target event but frequently in other events (such as family members or photographers) are misjudged as unimportant

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimportance judgment accuracyVSAvoidcalculation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extends the evaluation from a single dimension (appearance count in target event only) to multiple dimensions by incorporating appearance counts across multiple events and image groups. This dimensional expansion allows the system to capture important persons who may appear infrequently in the target event but frequently in related events, thereby improving judgment accuracy without excessive complexity increase

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary calculation of appearance counts across all events and image groups before making the final importance judgment. By pre-computing these baseline metrics, the system prepares comprehensive data that enables more accurate importance assessment when evaluating persons in the target event, avoiding the need for complex real-time calculations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If the system considers appearance counts across multiple events and image groups, then the importance judgment becomes more accurate, but the calculation complexity and processing time increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimportance judgment accuracyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system pre-calculates and stores appearance counts for each person across multiple events and image groups before the actual importance judgment is needed. This preliminary computation creates a reusable data foundation that speeds up subsequent importance assessments, as the system only needs to retrieve and compare pre-computed values rather than performing complex counting operations in real-time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements a two-threshold mechanism where persons are first filtered by a basic threshold, and only then subjected to more comprehensive multi-event analysis. This partial application of the full calculation methodology reduces processing time by avoiding unnecessary complex calculations for persons who clearly don't meet the basic importance criteria, while still maintaining accuracy for candidates who do meet the threshold

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP3128732B1Information processing method, information processing apparatus, and program
Publication Date: 2021.05.12 CANON KK
  • EP3128732B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3128732B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3128732B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In an information processing method, the importance degree of each person who appears in a first image group and the importance degree of each person who appears in a second image group containing the first image group are determined, and when selecting the image of the output target from the first image group, in a case in which the importance degree of a candidate image of the output target included in the first image group, which is determined from the appearance count in the first image group, exceeds a first threshold and in a case in which the importance degree of the candidate image of the output target, which is determined from the appearance count in the second image group, exceeds a second threshold, the candidate image is selected as the output target.