JP2001292440A - Scene monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a scene monitoring system that can provide a mobile device with a scene image that can always be displayed in an appropriate mode regardless of the type of the mobile device. An image processing center (14) includes an image acquisition unit (1).
9 is received via the private network 15 or the Internet 10 and stored therein, and is stored in the mobile station 11.
The conversion process is performed so that the color depth, image size, and image direction corresponding to the type of the image are obtained. The image processing center 14
The image is disclosed to the Internet 10 when a change in scene is detected from the sequentially stored images and when a request is received from the mobile device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scene monitoring system for monitoring a scene in a remote place and providing an image obtained by the monitoring to a mobile device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, live camera systems that disclose scenes of various places via the Internet have become widespread. With the widespread use of such systems, a situation has been created in which it is possible to grasp the scenes of various places using a terminal device such as a personal computer, a set-top box, a video game machine, or a car navigation device.

[0003]

By the way, it would be very convenient if the scene of a desired place could be monitored by a mobile device such as a portable telephone terminal. However,
Depending on the type of mobile device, the size and aspect ratio of the display screen are different, and the color depth suitable for display is different.
Therefore, when an image as a monitoring result is transmitted to a mobile device, there is a problem that an appropriate image display may not be performed depending on the type of the mobile device.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and provides a scene monitoring system that can provide image information of a scene that can be displayed in an appropriate mode regardless of the type of mobile device. It is intended to be.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image information storage section for storing image information obtained by photographing a scene or image information generated from the image information, and storing the image information in the image information storage section. Image conversion means for performing a predetermined conversion process corresponding to the mobile device on image information to be disclosed to the mobile device among the obtained image information, and storage means accessible from the mobile device via a network. On the other hand, an object of the present invention is to provide a scene surveillance system, comprising: an image publishing unit that publishes the image information by storing the image information subjected to the conversion processing by the image conversion unit. According to such a system,
Regardless of the type of the mobile device, image information of a scene that can be displayed in an appropriate manner can be provided. In this system, the conversion process includes, for example, a color depth conversion process, an image size conversion process, or an image orientation conversion process. The system may include an image acquisition unit that captures a scene and acquires image information. The image publishing unit includes a unit for creating an e-mail including link information for accessing the image information to be disclosed, and transmitting the e-mail to a mobile device to which the image information is provided. Means may be provided. By doing so, the user of the mobile device that has received the e-mail can immediately access the image information. In the same system,
An image information calculation unit for detecting a change in scene from image information sequentially stored in the image information storage unit is provided. The image publishing unit stores the image information in a storage unit accessible from the mobile device via a network. You may make it store the image information which shows the change of the scenery detected by the calculation part. In this way, when there is a change in the scene, image information indicating the change can be provided to the user of the mobile device. The process for detecting a change in the scene includes, for example, a process of obtaining background image information from a plurality of pieces of image information stored in an image information storage unit, and a process of obtaining image information newly stored in the image information storage unit and the background image. Detecting a change in scene when there is a change in the feature amount exceeding a predetermined threshold during the period, and after the change point, the changed feature amount is maintained by the subsequent image information. And In the same system, when a change in the scene is detected, the image information calculation unit generates image information of an enlarged image corresponding to one or a plurality of positions where the change occurs, and performs image processing on the image information of the enlarged image. The conversion means may perform the conversion processing, and the image publishing means may store the image information of the enlarged image after the conversion processing in the storage means accessible from the mobile device via the network. According to such a system, the details of the change in the scene can be disclosed to the user of the mobile device. In addition, the image information calculation unit,
Image information of a graph in which the history of the change of the feature amount is plotted is generated, and conversion processing is performed on the image information of the graph by the conversion unit. The image publishing unit is a storage unit accessible from the mobile device via a network. Against
The image information of the graph after the conversion processing may be stored. Further, the image publishing means may be provided with a means for storing image information of a scene of another place in a storage means which can be accessed from the mobile device via a network when a change in the scene is detected. . Further, the image publishing unit may store, together with a document including link information to image information to be disclosed, in a storage unit accessible from the mobile device via a network. In addition, the release time of published image information or documents is checked at regular intervals,
Means may be provided for updating the image information or the document stored in the storage means whose elapsed time from the publication time is within a predetermined time. In this way, the latest image information and document can always be provided to the user of the mobile device. Further, the release time of the published image information or document is confirmed at regular time intervals, and the image information or document stored in the storage unit that has elapsed since the release time exceeds a predetermined time is deleted. Means may be provided. By doing so, old image information and documents can be erased, thereby contributing to securing certain security and effective use of resources. Further, in the same system, when there is a request from a mobile device, an image for the mobile device may be made public. By doing so, it is possible to publish image information according to a user's request at an arbitrary time. Further, in order to ensure strong security, means for restricting access to the published image information or document for each access source may be provided.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A. 1. First Embodiment (1) Configuration of the Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall image of a scene monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this scene monitoring system, the image processing center 14 communicates with the mobile device 11 via the wireless communication system 12.

The private network 15 or the Internet 10
Is connected to the image acquisition means 19. The image acquisition unit 19 captures an image of the subject 13 or the like, and sends the image information to the image processing center 14 via the private network 15 or the Internet 10. The image processing center 14
The image information sent in this way is stored. The image processing center 14 transfers the image information received and stored in this way to the pre-registered user's mobile device 11 via the Internet 10 and a wireless link established by the wireless communication system 12. I do. There are the following two triggers for transferring the image information. a. When a change in scene is detected b. When there is an image request from the user's mobile device 11 registered in the image processing center 14 in advance

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the scene scene monitoring system outlined above. The mobile communication network 310 includes, in addition to a wireless communication network 313 known by a name such as a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) wireless packet switching network and an IMT-2000 network, a wireless communication device 312 for establishing a wireless link, and a wireless communication network. Net 31
A communication relay device 314 having a gateway function for isolating and relaying the Internet 3 from the Internet 10 and a mobile device 11 such as a mobile phone terminal or a portable information terminal.

The image processing center 340 includes an image publishing server device 330, a private communication network 345, and a communication relay device 34.
4, an image acquisition server device 329, an image collection server device 346, and an image calculation server device 347.

Here, the image publishing server device 330 is a device for publishing images and documents generated in the image processing center 340 for mobile devices, and is connected to the Internet 10. The mobile device 11 accesses the image publishing server device 330 via the above-described wireless communication device 312, the wireless communication network 313, the communication relay device 314, and the Internet 10 to obtain an image and an Documents can be referenced. The communication relay device 344 is connected to the local communication network 345 and the Internet 10
It has a barrier function for isolating and relaying the information.

[0012] The image acquisition server device 329 has a means (image acquisition means 19 in FIG. 1) for capturing an external scene and acquiring image information. The image acquisition server device 329 includes, in addition to those connected to the private network 345,
Some are connected to the Internet 10.

The image acquisition server 346 is connected to the image acquisition server 329 connected to the private network 345 or the image acquisition server 32 connected to the Internet 10.
9 is a device that collects image information via a private communication network 345. The image storage server device 348 is a device that stores the image information collected by the image collection server device 346.

When an image request is received from the user's mobile unit 11 registered in the image processing center 14 in advance, the image calculation server 347 performs image processing on the latest image information stored in the image storage server 348 in advance. The information is disclosed to the user's mobile device 11 registered in the center 14. Further, when a change in the scene is recognized when the image storage server device 346 receives and stores new image information, the image calculation server device 347 previously stores the image information indicating the change in the scene in the image processing center 14. Mobile device 1 of the user registered in
Publish to 1 The specific method of these disclosures will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image collection server device 346. As shown in FIG. 3, the image collection server device 346 includes an information control unit 51 and communication units 52 and 68. Here, the information control unit 51 is the image acquisition server device 329 connected to the private communication network 345.
Alternatively, it is a device that performs control for collecting image information obtained by the image acquisition server device 329 connected to the Internet 10. The communication unit 52 communicates with the private network 345 to collect images. The communication unit 68 communicates with the image storage server device 348 to record the collected images.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image calculation server device 347. As shown in FIG. 4, the image calculation server device 347 includes communication units 52 and 68, an image information calculation unit 57, an e-mail transmission unit 55, an e-mail reception unit 56, and an information control unit 51. ing. here,
The communication unit 52 is a device for performing communication via a private communication network. The communication unit 68 is a device that performs communication for transmitting and receiving image information with the image storage server device. The image information calculation unit 57 has a function of detecting a change in scene from the image information stored in the image storage server device 348, and a function of transmitting the image information stored in the image storage server device 348 to the mobile device 11. It has a function of converting image information so that image display matching 11 types can be performed. The e-mail transmission unit 55 is a device for notifying the mobile device 11 registered in advance when a change in the scene is detected by the image information calculation unit 57. The e-mail receiving unit 56 is a device that receives an image request transmitted from the mobile device 11. The information control unit 51 is a device that controls each unit in the control of the flow of the image information described above.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image storage server device 348. As shown in FIG. 5, the image storage server device 348 includes a communication unit 82 and an image information storage unit 58.
And an information control unit 51. Here, the communication unit 82
Are the image collection server device 346 and the image calculation server device 3
47 is an apparatus for transmitting and receiving images to and from the computer. The communication unit 82 is connected to the communication unit 68 of each of the image collection server device 346 and the image calculation server device 347 by a metallic cable, an optical cable, or the like.
The connection may be made through a general-purpose communication network such as an AN (storage area network) or a LAN (local area network). The image information storage unit 58 has a storage device, and stores image information in this storage device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image acquisition server device 329. As shown in FIG. 6, the image acquisition server device 329 includes an image acquisition unit 59, a communication unit 52,
And an information control unit 51. Here, the image acquisition unit 59 is a device that captures an external scene and outputs image information. The communication section 52 transmits the image information to the private communication network 34.
5 and an apparatus for transmitting data via the Internet 10.
The information control unit 51 is a device that controls the flow of the image information and controls each unit in the image acquisition server device 329.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image publishing server device 330. As shown in FIG. 7, the image disclosure server device 330 includes an image information storage unit 58 and a communication unit 52.
And an information control unit 51. Here, the image information storage unit 58 is a device that stores a public image and a public document. The public images and public documents are stored in the image information storage unit 58 under a directory that is appropriately created or appropriately created. These public images and public documents are referred to via a mobile communication network.

The storage device mounted on the image information storage unit 58 of the image publishing server device 330 or the image information storage unit 58 of the above-described image storage server device 348 includes a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk, a magneto-optical storage device, There are semiconductor storage devices and the like.

The communication unit 52 receives the image information to be stored in the image information storage unit 58 via the Internet 10, and transmits the public images and documents stored in the image information storage unit 58 to the Internet 10 and the mobile communication network 310. Is transmitted to the mobile device 11 via the.

The information control unit 51 is provided for the image publishing server 3
In addition to controlling the flow of image information and controlling the processing in 30, access restriction such as which information is disclosed to the Internet 10 and the mobile communication network 310 is performed. This access restriction may be performed on a directory basis or on a file basis. Internet of Images 10
The following methods can be considered as a method of restricting access in the case where disclosure to the whole is not desired. a. Method of limiting the IP address, network address, host name, domain name, etc. of the user who is permitted access b. Method of limiting access to only communication relay device 314 of mobile communication network 310 c. A method for requesting a user ID from the image publishing server device 330 to the mobile communication network 310 and permitting reference to image information only when the user ID returned from the mobile device 11 belongs to an authorized user

(2) Operation of the Embodiment FIGS. 8 to 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the image processing center. FIGS. 11 and 12 show the mobile device 11.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of the display device of FIG. Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to these drawings.

Processing spontaneously performed by the image processing center 14 The image processing center 14 constantly executes the processing shown in the flow chart of FIG. First, the image processing center 14 checks the current time (step S101). Then, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed (step S10).
2) If the result of this determination is "NO", the flow returns to step S101. More specifically, the image processing center 1
No. 4 repeats the process starting from step S103 at T1 time intervals, repeats the process starting from step S116 at T2 time intervals, and repeats the process starting from step S118 at T3 time intervals. In step S102, it is determined whether or not it has been a trigger to execute these three types of processing.

<Operation Performed at T1 Time Interval>
When the process proceeds from step S102 to S103 or in FIG.
When the time T1 elapses from the start of the processing shown in (1), the image processing center 14 advances the processing from step S102 to step S103. In this step S103, the image collection server device 346 in the image processing center 14
New image information is acquired by the image acquisition server device 329 connected to the private network 345 or the Internet 10. Then, the image storage server device 348 stores the image information in the image information storage unit 58 (Step S104). Next, when the process proceeds to step S105, the image calculation server device 347 of the image processing center 14 extracts the newly stored image information and a background image described later from the image information storage unit 58, and performs image comparison. And
The amount of change in the feature amount (eg, brightness) of the image between the two images is determined, and it is determined whether the amount of change exceeds a certain threshold. Then, when a change in the feature amount of the image exceeding the threshold value is confirmed, in subsequent step S105, it is determined whether or not the feature amount after the change has continued for a certain period of time after the point of change of the feature amount. Then, when it is confirmed that the feature amount after the change has continued for a certain period of time or more after the change time of the feature amount, the image calculation server device 347 indicates that the image has changed in the process of step S105 at that time. Make a judgment. In addition, at this time, the image calculation server device 347 estimates an event in which such a change in the image may occur from the aspect of the change in the feature amount of the image. As a method for performing such an estimation, a table that defines various aspects of the feature amount of an image and events corresponding thereto is prepared in advance, and the mode of the confirmed feature amount change is prepared. A method of finding the corresponding event from this table can be used. For example, when a mode of a change in the feature amount of an image in which the brightness suddenly decreases is confirmed, an event corresponding to such a mode of the change, for example, a final exiting person leaves the floor and nobody is left. “Termination”
Is obtained from the table.

Next, in step S106, step S10
The branch of the process corresponding to the determination result in 5 is performed. That is, in step S106, when there is no change in the image in step S105 or when there is no background image to be compared, the process returns to step S101, and when there is a change in the image, the process proceeds to step S107.

Next, in step S107, the history of the change in the feature amount of the image over a predetermined number of frames before and after including the time point of the image change is determined, and drawing information of a graph in which the history is plotted is generated. Here, the size and format of the graph are determined so as to match the type of the mobile device that is the transmission destination. For drawing the start time and end time of the image feature amount graph, the name of the image feature amount, the event estimated from the change in the image feature amount, the image shooting location, the date, the memory, etc. The information is added to prepare the drawing information of the graph, and is recorded in the image information storage unit.

Next, in step S108, the image calculation server device 347 performs display corresponding to the type of the mobile station as the transmission destination for each image immediately before and immediately after the change of the feature amount of the image. , And records the result in the image information storage unit. Here, the type of the agent may differ depending on the type of the mobile device that is the transmission destination. Therefore,
A conversion table that defines the parameters of the image to be converted and the conversion method is prepared in advance for each type of agent. Then, the type of the agent corresponding to the mobile device is obtained, the conversion target and the conversion method corresponding to the type of the agent are obtained from the conversion table, and the image is converted according to the conversion table. The parameter of the image to be converted is the color depth (black and white 2 gradations, pseudo color 256 gradations, etc.)
And the size of the image (vertical and horizontal). As a method of converting the color depth, a dither method, an error diffusion method, or the like can be used. Depending on the type of mobile device, the aspect ratio of the display screen may be significantly different from other normal devices, and it is better to display the image by rotating the image by 90 degrees so that the mobile device looks natural. . Therefore, for such a mobile device, information instructing a conversion process of rotating an image by 90 degrees is stored in a conversion table. If the image calculation server device 347 discloses an image to a certain mobile device, and if the conversion table includes an instruction to rotate the image to be disclosed to the mobile device by 90 degrees, According to this, the image is rotated by 90 degrees.

After the end of the conversion process on the image, the image calculation server device 347 processes the image after the conversion process into a format that can be referred to by the mobile device. The format is GIF (Graphics Interchange)
Format) and BMP (Portable Network Graphics). Which format to process depends on the type of mobile device. Therefore, information specifying this format is also defined in the conversion table for each mobile device, and this information is referred to when processing the image.

Next, in step S109, the graph recorded in the image information storage unit and the converted image are transferred to the image publishing server (step S109). This makes it possible to read out the graph and the image via the Internet.

In step S110, the menu document in which the link information for the graph and the image and the content of the estimated scene change are written are made public via the Internet by means such as transferring the document to the image publishing server device. . This menu document is processed in advance in a form that can be referred to by the mobile device through the wireless communication device, the wireless communication network, and the communication relay device in preparation for a request from the mobile device.
The format of this menu document is C-HTML (Comp
act Hyper Text Markup Language) or HDML (Handhe
ld Device Markup Language). Which form to process depends on the type of mobile device.

Next, in step S111, a URL (Uniform Resource), which is link information for the menu document, is entered.
(e.g., ce Locators), and sends the e-mail to the mobile device by the e-mail transmission unit.

Next, in step S112, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to display a scene of another place. When it is not necessary to display the scenery or the like of another place, the process proceeds to step S115. On the other hand, if it is necessary to display a scene of another place or the like, a necessary conversion process is performed on the image as in step S108 (step S113).
The image is made public via the Internet by means such as transferring it to an image publicizing server device (step S11).
4), proceed to step S115. As a method for providing the link information for the image to the user, for example, there is a method of embedding it in the menu document in step S110, a method of recreating the menu again, and performing a process of publishing the menu document.

Next, in step S115, it is determined whether there is any other mobile device to which a change in the image is to be notified. If such a mobile device remains, step S107 is performed for that mobile device. To S114 (S107 to S1
The processing of 11) is executed. On the other hand, if no such mobile device remains, the process returns to step S101.

When the user receives an electronic mail having a URL as the link information to the menu document as a text by the mobile device, the user accesses the menu document stored in the image publishing server device using the URL, and the user accesses the menu document. Can be received by the mobile device and displayed on the display screen. In addition, the user of the mobile device, for example, U information which is link information to a public image embedded in the menu document.
Using the RL, it is possible to access the drawing information of the graph and the public image stored in the image public server device, receive them, and display them on the display screen of the mobile device.

FIG. 11 (a) illustrates a graph of the characteristic amount (brightness in the illustrated example) of the image displayed on the display screen of the mobile device in this manner. In this example, since the brightness of the image sharply decreases, the image calculation server device 347 determines from the aspect of the change of the feature amount that
It is estimated that the event has ended, that is, the event that the last exiting person has exited from the floor to be photographed and nobody is left, and a message indicating the estimation result is superimposed in the image. For this reason, the message "It seems to be quitting" is displayed on the display screen of the mobile device.

In addition to the graph, the mobile device receives the image immediately before and after the change of the feature amount of the image. The user can display these images by scrolling the display screen of the mobile device.

FIG. 11B shows an image immediately before the change of the feature amount of the image displayed in this way. In this example, the event estimated from the change in the feature amount of the image is “declined”
Therefore, the image is superimposed with the message “image before retreat”. FIG. 11 (c)
Is an image immediately after the change of the feature amount of the image. This image is superimposed with the message “Image after retreat”.

<Operation Performed at T2 Time Interval>
When the process proceeds from step S102 to S116 or in FIG.
When the time T2 elapses from the start of the process shown in (2), the image calculation server device 347 advances the process from step S102 to step S116.

In this step S116, a predetermined number of past frames of images recorded in the image information storage unit are extracted, and the background image is updated with the group of these images. Here, there are various methods for obtaining each pixel value of the background image. If the parameters of the camera as the image acquisition unit do not change, for example, the following method can be considered. That is, for each pixel position of the background image, the median (median) or average (average) of the pixel values of all pixels corresponding to the pixel position in the image group is calculated, and the result is assigned to the pixel position. The pixel value of the pixel of the background image is used.

Next, the process proceeds to step S117,
The background image obtained at 116 is recorded in the image information storage unit. Then, the process of the image calculation server device 347 returns to step S101.

<Operation Performed at T3 Time Interval>
When the process proceeds from step S102 to S118 or in FIG.
When the time T3 has elapsed from the start of the process shown in (1), the image calculation server device 347 of the image processing center 14 advances the process from step S102 to step S118.

First, in step S 118, the image calculation server device 34 sets the time stamp of the published image and the published document currently published by the image publishing server device 330 or the time stamp of the directory or the published time of the published information. Examine the records.

Next, in step S119, the time corresponding to these time stamps and the elapsed time from the publication time to the current time are compared with a predetermined time, and the comparison shows that the publication has been performed for more than a predetermined time since the publication. It is determined whether there is an image, a public document, or information. Then, if there is a corresponding public image, public document or information, a request is made to the image public server device 347 to delete it (step S12).
0). Deleting public images, documents, or information that have passed a predetermined time or more from the release in this way reduces the probability that such public information will be accessed by a third party, ensures a certain level of security, and increases the efficiency of resources. This is to contribute to the use.

In step S119, if there is no corresponding one, a public image update process is executed (step S121). In order to avoid repetition of the description, the specific contents of the public image update processing will be described together with the processing contents of the image processing center 14 corresponding to the image request from the mobile device.

Next, after performing the public image update process, the image calculation server device 347 determines whether or not there is any other image to be updated (image within a predetermined time after being published) (step S122). If there is a corresponding one, it is updated (step S121). The above is the details of the processing spontaneously performed by the image processing center 14.

Operation in Response to Image Request from Mobile Station 11 The image processing center 14 always executes the processing shown in FIG. 9 in addition to the processing shown in FIG.
In the present embodiment, the user of the mobile device can send an e-mail with the image request as a text to the image processing center 14.

When receiving the e-mail from the mobile device (step S201), the image calculation server 347 determines the contents of the e-mail (step S202). If the e-mail does not include an image request, or if the e-mail is not an e-mail according to a predetermined user of the mobile device or the legitimate route, the process returns to step S201 to wait for the next e-mail. On the other hand, if the received e-mail includes an image request and is an e-mail from a user of the mobile device that has been limited in advance and is on a regular route, the image calculation server device 347 performs steps S203 to S205.
Execute

First, in step S 203, a menu document in which a menu of images that can be displayed and link information for an image to be published on the Internet are written is created, and the menu document is transferred to the image publication server device 330. Publish menu documents over the Internet. As in step S110, this menu document is processed in advance in a form that can be referred to by the mobile device in preparation for a request from the mobile device.

Next, in step S204, an e-mail having a URL as the link information to the published menu document as a text is created and transmitted to the mobile device by the e-mail transmission section.

Next, in step S205, a public image update process shown in FIG. 10 is executed. First, it is determined whether or not a new image to be updated has been obtained immediately before in step S103 and the like described above (step S30).
1) If it has been acquired immediately before, step S304
Proceed to. On the other hand, if the image has not been obtained immediately before, a new image is obtained by the image obtaining means (step S30).
2) The image is recorded in the image information storage unit (step S)
303), and proceeds to step S304.

When the process proceeds to step S304, the image is converted in order to perform display corresponding to the type of the mobile station, and recorded in the image information storage unit, as in step S108 described above.

Next, in step S305, the converted image recorded in the image storage unit is disclosed to the Internet by means such as transferring the image to the image publishing server. Here, the URL for the image to be published is determined in step S
The link information matches the link information included in the menu document released in 203.

Steps S304 and S305 may be executed a plurality of times while changing the contents of the image conversion. For example, first create and publish a regular image of the subject,
Next, this is converted into a line drawing image and made public. Then, in the second execution of releasing the line drawing image, the menu document including the link information to the line drawing image is simultaneously updated and released again. In this re-opening operation, the original menu document is overwritten and deleted.

Next, in step S306, the newly recorded image information and the above-described background image are taken out from the image information storage unit and image comparison is performed. Then, the amount of change in the feature amount of the image between the two images is obtained, and it is determined whether or not this amount of change exceeds a certain threshold. Then, when a change in the feature amount of the image exceeding the threshold value is confirmed, in subsequent step S306, it is determined whether or not the feature amount after the change has continued for a certain period of time after the point of change of the feature amount. Then, when it is confirmed that the feature amount after the change has continued for a certain period of time or more after the time point of the change of the feature amount, the image calculation server device 347 indicates that the image has changed in the process of step S306 at that time point. Make a judgment.

Next, in step S307, step S3
The branch corresponding to the determination result in 06 is performed. That is, if a change in the image is found in step S306, the process proceeds to step S308. If no change in the image is found, the public image update process ends.

Next, in step S308, the portion where the image has changed is obtained, and the mobile station, which is the transmission destination,
The image is converted and recorded in the image information storage unit so that the portion can be enlarged and displayed. Further, an image having guide information for an enlarged image of a changed portion is created and recorded in the image information storage unit.

Next, in step S309, the image recorded in the image information storage unit is made public on the Internet by means such as transferring it to an image publishing server device.

When the process proceeds to step S310, the menu document that has been opened in step S203 is updated. That is, the menu document is updated to include the link information to the image obtained by enlarging the changed portion and the link information to the image having the guide information, and is re-released. The user of the mobile device can receive a desired image from the image publishing server device using the link information included in the republished menu document and display the desired image on the display screen of the mobile device.

FIGS. 12A to 12D show display examples in this case. First, FIG. 12A shows an image to be captured when there is a change in the feature amount of the image. FIG. 12B is a line drawing image generated from this image.
This line drawing image includes numbers “1” and “2”, and these numbers indicate that the feature amount of the image has changed at that position. We decided to put these numbers in the line drawing image because we can find them more easily than in a normal image. The position where the change has occurred may be indicated without using such a line drawing image. For example, although the data size of an image is slightly larger, an animation GIF that can alternately display a normal image and an image in which a number is placed in the normal image.
The position where the change has occurred may be indicated by using an image format such as. FIG. 12C is an image including guide information for the enlarged image corresponding to the position of the numeral “1” and the enlarged image corresponding to the position of the numeral “2”. In this image, link information for each enlarged image is embedded. By scrolling the display screen, the user can display the above-described images of FIGS. 12A to 12C on the display screen of the mobile device. And FIG.
In the display state of FIG. 12B, a desired enlarged image is pressed by pressing a key corresponding to a desired enlarged image among the numbers “1” or “2” or by operating a cursor in the display state of FIG. By selecting
A desired enlarged image can be read from the image disclosure server device and received, and the enlarged image can be displayed on the display screen of the mobile device. FIG. 12D shows an enlarged image at the position of the numeral “1” thus displayed.

In the image processing center, when the processing in step S310 ends, the public image updating processing ends, and the processing returns to the processing shown in FIG. The above is the details of the operation of providing an image from the image processing center 14 in response to an image request from the mobile device 11.

(3) Modifications of the Embodiment The following various modifications are conceivable in the embodiment described above.

Modification Example 1 As shown in FIG. 13, an image collection / calculation / accumulation server device may be configured by integrating an image collection server device, an image calculation server device, and an image storage server device on the image processing center side. Good. In this case, each of the image collection server device, the image calculation server device, and the image storage server device can share the image information storage unit 58 that is separately provided, so that the entire device can be simplified.

Modification 2 In the above embodiment, the image processing center is configured to be independent of the mobile communication network. However, as shown in FIG.
The components of the image processing center may be incorporated into 10 so as to simplify the entire system. In this case, a communication relay device may be placed in each of the wireless communication network 313 and the private communication network 345. However, if the communication relay device 314 is shared as shown in FIG. Become. In the above embodiment, the image disclosure server device 330 is directly connected to the Internet 10. However, in FIG. 14, security measures appropriate for the communication relay device 314 are taken, and the image disclosure server device 340 is connected to the private communication network 345. The device 330 may be connected. Note that the image disclosure server device 330 may be connected to the communication relay device 314 instead of the private communication network 345.

B. Second Embodiment FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a scene monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the image processing center in the first embodiment is replaced with an integrated image server device 24. The integrated image server device 24 accumulates the image of the subject 23 acquired by the external image acquisition means 29 or the built-in image acquisition means and provides the image to the mobile device 11 via the wireless communication system 12. FIG. 16 shows an integrated image server device 2
4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of FIG. Since the components of the integrated image server device 24 are the same as those already described in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0066]

As described above, according to the scene monitoring system of the present invention, an image information storage unit for storing image information obtained by photographing a scene, and the image information stored in the image information storage unit. Image conversion means for performing a predetermined conversion process corresponding to the mobile device to which the image information is provided, and storage means accessible from the mobile device via a network. Means for publishing the image information by storing the image information subjected to the conversion processing by the means, so that the image of the scene that can always be displayed in an appropriate mode regardless of the type of the mobile device is provided. There is an effect that it can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall view of a scene monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the same scene monitoring system.

FIG. 3 is an image collection server device 3 of the simultaneous scene monitoring system.
FIG. 46 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a controller 46.

FIG. 4 is an image calculation server device 3 of the simultaneous scene monitoring system.
FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a 47.

FIG. 5 is an image storage server device 3 of the simultaneous scene monitoring system.
FIG. 48 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a 48.

FIG. 6 is an image acquisition server device 3 of the simultaneous scene monitoring system.
FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an image disclosure server device 3 of the same-site scene monitoring system.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing center of the same scene monitoring system.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the image processing center of the same scenery monitoring system.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of an image processing center of the same scene monitoring system.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a display screen of the mobile device in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a display screen of the mobile device in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing center according to a first modification of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a scene monitoring system that is a modification 2 of the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a scene monitoring system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an integrated image server device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

19 image acquisition means, 14 image processing center, 13
... Subject, 10 ... Internet, 15 ... Local communication network, 12 ... Wireless communication system, 330 ... Image release server device, 347 ... Image calculation server device, 346 ...
... Image collection server device, 348 ... Image storage server device, 329 ... Image acquisition server device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/915 H04N 5/91 K F term (Reference) 5C023 AA02 AA03 AA27 AA34 AA35 AA37 AA38 CA01 DA04 5C053 FA11 FA23 FA30 LA11 LA15 5C054 AA01 CA04 CC03 CH02 DA07 EA01 EA03 EA05 EA07 EE00 FA00 FE05 GA00 GB02 GC03 GD03 HA24 5C056 FA03 FA05 HA01 HA04 5K067 AA21 BB04 BB21 BB44 DD52 EE02 EE10 EE16 FF23H11

Claims (14)

[Claims] An image information storage unit for storing image information obtained by photographing a scene or image information generated from the image information, and a mobile device among image information stored in the image information storage unit Image conversion means for performing predetermined conversion processing corresponding to the mobile device on the image information to be disclosed to the mobile device, and conversion by the image conversion device to storage means accessible from the mobile device via a network. A scene monitoring system comprising: an image publishing unit that publishes the image information by storing the processed image information. 2. The color conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion process is a color depth conversion process.
The scene scene monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an image size conversion process or an image orientation conversion process. 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image acquisition means for acquiring image information by photographing a scene.
Scene monitoring system described in 1. 4. The image publishing means includes: means for creating an e-mail including link information for accessing image information to be disclosed; and sending the e-mail to a mobile device to which the image information is provided. And means for transmitting to the user.
The scene monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. An image information calculating unit for detecting a change in scene from image information sequentially stored in the image information storing unit, wherein the image publishing unit is a storage accessible from the mobile device via a network. The scene monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein image information indicating a change in the scene detected by the image information calculation unit is stored in the means. 6. A process for detecting a change in scenes includes a step of obtaining background image information from a plurality of pieces of image information stored in the image information storage unit, and a step of newly obtaining the background image information in the image information storage unit. When there is a change in the feature amount exceeding a predetermined threshold between the image information and the background image, and after the change point, the changed feature amount is maintained by the subsequent image information. 6. The scene monitoring system according to claim 5, further comprising a step of detecting the presence of the event. 7. The image information calculation unit, when detecting a change in the scene, generates image information of an enlarged image corresponding to one or a plurality of positions where the change occurs, and generates image information of the enlarged image. The conversion means performs conversion processing on the image data, and the image publishing means stores image information of the enlarged image after the conversion processing in a storage means accessible from the mobile device via a network. The scene monitoring system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein 8. The image publishing unit, wherein the image information calculation unit generates image information of a graph in which the history of the change of the feature amount is plotted, and performs a conversion process on the image information of the graph by the conversion unit. Storing the image information of the graph after the conversion processing in a storage means accessible from the mobile device via a network.
The scene monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The image publishing unit, when the change of the scene is detected, stores image information of the scene of another place in a storage unit accessible from the mobile device via a network. The scene monitoring system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, further comprising: 10. The image publishing unit publishes a document containing link information to image information to be disclosed by storing the document in a storage unit accessible from the mobile device via a network. The scene monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: 11. The release time of the published image information or document is confirmed at regular time intervals, and the update of the image information or document stored in the storage means whose elapsed time from the release time is within a predetermined time is performed. 11. The scene monitoring system according to claim 10, further comprising means for performing: 12. The release time of the published image information or document is checked at regular time intervals, and the image information or document stored in the storage means whose time elapsed from the release time exceeds a predetermined time is determined. 12. The scene monitoring system according to claim 10, further comprising means for performing erasure. 13. The scene monitoring according to claim 1, wherein when the mobile device receives a request, the image is disclosed for the mobile device. system. 14. The scene monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising means for restricting access to the published image information or document for each access source.