JP2003303210A - Information processing method, information processing apparatus, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] Target data to be managed (image data, etc.)
As a result, the operability of searching for target data is improved even when information related to personal event information and information related to individual event information are mixed. An information search device includes an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least information on time, and an information storage unit capable of storing target data including attached information including at least information on time.
And Then, the event information related determination unit 103
Determines the association between the event and the target data based on the event information and the attached information, and the event display unit 104 displays information representing the target data so that the determination result can be recognized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method, an information processing apparatus, and an information processing apparatus for managing various kinds of information such as still images, moving images, audio information, document information, and schedule information in a computer or information processing equipment. The present invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium recording a control program for executing information processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of information have been digitized, and various types of information have been managed by computers and information processing equipment. For example, with the advent of digital cameras, still images and moving images are created as digitized information, and are stored and managed on hard disks of computers and information processing equipment as the capacity and cost of hard disks increase. Is becoming more common. With the spread of such digital devices to general consumers, there is a tendency for a large amount of personally created information to be stored in computers and information processing devices. How to implement a search for finding desired information from the inside becomes a problem.

In storing such a large amount of information,
With regard to text information, with the recent development of full-text search technology, it is possible to search for desired information without necessarily adding metadata such as a keyword for searching to individual information.

However, with respect to non-text information such as still images, moving images, and music, a technique for understanding the content of the information by machine processing has not been established yet. Therefore, in order to search for desired information from a large amount of information, it is effective to add metadata such as a keyword for searching and search using the metadata.

On the other hand, for information to be created by an individual such as a still image and a moving image taken by using a digital camera, it is troublesome to add metadata such as a keyword to each piece of information, and it is difficult to deal with it. The fact is that most people are not granted unless they are people.

As described above, with respect to the status of adding metadata to information created by an individual,
A method of searching by time information based on the memory of the personal experience is considered effective. For example, with respect to information photographed (created) by a digital camera or the like, the time when the information is created is automatically added as a time stamp of the image data, so that it is possible to search by time information. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-215457, by displaying a thumbnail of a captured image in the same manner as a calendar,
A method for facilitating retrieval by time information has been proposed.

However, when retrieving information based on the memory of an individual's experience, the reliability of the memory of the individual is not very high, and it is not clear what the information is about only by the time information of the created information. . Therefore, unless the information is actually browsed or viewed, it cannot be confirmed whether or not the search is a desired search, which is not efficient. Further, even when displaying thumbnails of captured images as in the calendar as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-215457, it is not possible to display thumbnails of all captured images when a large number of photos are captured in one day. Since it is possible, it cannot be confirmed that the photographed image cannot be confirmed unless the photographed image is actually viewed, and thus it cannot be said to be efficient.

On the other hand, it has been practiced to digitize and manage event information relating to an individual schedule. For past event information about this schedule,
It also has meaning as a record of personal experience. JP-A-8
-110911 proposes a method of searching a record of an individual's experience by using event information of a schedule, determining a time when desired information is created, and searching for information having a corresponding creation time.

[0009]

However, in the above proposed method, when searching for information of an event temporally related to the information to be searched from the schedule information, the event related to the information to be searched is searched. There is no distinction between events that have nothing to do with. For this reason, a large number of events are presented uniformly, and there is a problem that it is not possible to efficiently search for information on events that are temporally related to the information to be searched.

[0010] Generally, personally taken pictures are exchanged between family members and friends, and digitized images can be easily copied, so images obtained from family members or friends can be easily copied. Is also managed along with the images you created.

Images exchanged with others in this way are often exchanged every time there is a specific event such as a trip or an athletic meet. Therefore, in such an image to be exchanged with another person, event information may already be added to the image as metadata when the image is obtained from another person. Further, it is not so burdensome to add the metadata when the image is obtained.

However, in the method proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-110911, information is retrieved based on the event information of the schedule in which the individual is involved.
The information created in an event that does not involve an individual is not easy to search because there is no corresponding event information in the schedule.

[0013] The schedule is mainly used for managing the schedule, and there are new events such as suddenly canceling a scheduled event or accidentally meeting an old friend while eating and moving. There is a problem that it is impossible to reflect a sudden schedule change in the schedule information, such as in the case of sudden occurrence, unless the schedule information is carefully managed. JP-A-8-110911
As shown in, when attempting to retrieve a personal experience record using schedule information, it is necessary to increase the reliability of the schedule data itself.
For the above reasons, it is not easy.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-110911, in the case of a method of searching for desired information by utilizing a record of an individual's experience included in schedule information, the time of the individual's recording and the desired information. The assumption is used that the time of is relevant. Therefore, if the reliability of the schedule data itself cannot be increased as described above, the assumption may be broken. Therefore, as described above, if the event information is directly associated with the desired information as metadata, a highly reliable search can be performed using this metadata. However, the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-110911 has a problem in that the metadata has to be input for each piece of information, so that the labor of adding the metadata is very troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in the case where target data (image data, etc.) to be managed includes data related to individual event information and data not related to individual event information. , It is intended to improve the search operability of target data. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily retrieve the target data, even if the target data is received from another person, as in the case of personally created information. Another object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of the event information as a record of an individual's experience.

[0016]

An information processing method according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and at least time information. An information processing method in an apparatus including an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information, wherein the presence or absence of a relationship between an event and target data is determined based on the event information and the attached information. And a display step of displaying information representing the target data so that the determination result of the determination step can be recognized.

An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention which achieves the above object is an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and auxiliary information including at least time information. An information processing method in an apparatus including an information storage unit capable of storing target data having: a first step of setting a search condition, and searching the information storage unit based on the set search condition. A search step, an acquisition step of searching the event storage unit based on the set search condition, and acquiring information regarding time of the searched event information;
A second search step of searching the information storage unit using the information about the time acquired in the acquisition step as a search condition.

An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention which achieves the above object is an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and auxiliary information including at least time information. An information processing method in an apparatus including an information storage unit capable of storing target data having: a generation step of generating target data event information corresponding to target data based on the event information and the auxiliary information, And updating the event storage unit by storing target data event information not related to any event information stored in the event storage unit as new event information in the event storage unit.

An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object is an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and auxiliary information including at least time information. An information processing method in an apparatus including an information storage unit capable of storing target data having: a generation step of generating target data event information corresponding to target data based on the event information and the auxiliary information, And an updating step of updating the auxiliary information stored in the information storage unit based on the target data event information generated in the generating step.

[0020]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the outline of this embodiment will be described. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the information search device according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, an event storage unit 102 stores individual event information in the schedule database. Event information such as event name and time is stored in the event storage unit 102 in association with each other. An information storage unit 101 stores image data managed by an image database and its associated information in this embodiment. The auxiliary information stored in the information storage unit 101 includes event information such as the event name and time when each image data was created.

Reference numeral 103 is an event information related determination section,
Event information stored in the event storage unit 102 and attached information (event information) stored in the information storage unit 101
It is determined whether or not both events are related to each other based on. The event display unit 104 displays a part of the event information stored in the event storage unit 102 and the event information stored in the information storage unit 101 so that the determination result can be recognized by the user.

Specifically, the event information relation judging unit 10
In 3, the relationship between both events is determined based on the event information stored in the event storage unit 102 and the attached information (event information) stored in the information storage unit 101.
Event information for image search is generated, and the event display unit 10
4 displays this image search event information. At this time, a display is provided with a mark indicating the relevance of both events determined by the event information relation determination unit 103 (described later with reference to FIG. 11).

Reference numeral 105 denotes an information search unit. When one of the image search event information displayed by the event display unit 104 is selected, the information storage unit 101 is searched based on this event information and the related image data is searched. Is obtained. The information search unit 105 can also perform a more detailed search. In this case, the information search unit 101
Searches the information storage unit 101 based on the selected event information for image search, and at the same time, the event storage unit 10
2 is searched, and the information storage unit 101 is searched again based on the period indicated by the searched event information.

An event changing unit 106 updates the event information stored in the event storage unit 102 or the information storage unit 101 based on the selected image search event information, and stores the event storage unit 102 in the event storage unit 102. The content and the attached information (event information) of the information storage unit 101 are matched.

The information retrieval apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information search device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the CPU 20
1 executes various control programs stored in the ROM 202 or the RAM 203 to realize various controls in this apparatus, including the processes described below. ROM
As shown in FIG. 4, a control procedure program 401 as a boot program is stored in 202.
As shown in FIG. 6, the RAM 203 has a schedule program 603, an image search program 604, a schedule database 605, and an image database 60.
6, an image event buffer 607 and the like are stored.

Reference numeral 204 denotes a CD-ROM drive, which is a C
The control program and various data stored in the D-ROM 205 are read and provided to this system. Figure 3 is a CD
-ROM 205 indicates that the control program and the like are supplied to the computer system. FIG. 5 shows the schedule program 5 in the recording medium CD-ROM 205.
01 and the image search program 502 are stored.

CD via CD-ROM drive 204
-The schedule program 501 and the image search program 502 from the ROM 205 can be executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203. FIG. 5 shows a schedule program 501 and an image search program 50 stored in the CD-ROM 205.
2 shows a memory map in a state where it is loaded into the RAM 203 and becomes executable. In the executable state, in addition to the schedule program 501 (schedule program 603) and the image search program 502 (image search program 604), the schedule database 60 is used as a memory used by the moving image search program.
5 and the image database 606 are loaded from the hard disk drive 206 and initialized.

Reference numeral 206 denotes a hard disk drive,
Provides a large storage area. CD-ROM 2 described above
The control program stored in 05 may be installed in the hard disk and loaded into the RAM 203 as needed. 207 is a keyboard, 208 is a display, 209 is a mouse, 21
Reference numeral 0 is a printer, and 211 is a modem. Reference numeral 212 denotes a system bus, which connects the above-described components so that they can communicate with each other.

Next, the operation of the information search apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the schedule program 501 and the image retrieval program 502 stored in the CD-ROM 205 are transferred from the CD-ROM drive 204 to the RAM 2
03, and then hard disk drive 20
6, the schedule database 605, the image database 606, and the like are loaded into the RAM 203, and necessary initialization is performed. (Step S101).

Next, in step S102, the process is branched according to an instruction from the operator using the keyboard 207 or the mouse 209. If the schedule is instructed, the process branches to step S103, if the image addition is instructed, the process branches to step S104, and if the image search is instructed, the process branches to step S105.

In step S103, the schedule program 603 for managing the schedule is activated, and the operator views and edits the schedule. Details of step S103 are shown in FIGS.
Will be described later.

In step S104, the image database 6
This is a process of adding an image or a photograph to 06. FIG. 10 shows a data configuration example of the image database 606. As shown in FIG. 10, each image data stored in the image database 606 is associated with metadata such as “time”, “subject”, “place”, “person”, “keyword”, and “time”. Are sorted and stored by. The "time" stores the time when the image data was created or shot, the "subject" stores the event name when the image data was created or shot, and the "place" stores the image data created or shot. The stored location is stored and "person"
Stores the name of the person displayed in the image,
Other keywords that are useful when searching for an image are stored in the “keyword”.

For example, in the image database 606 shown in FIG. 10, images (photographs) taken at the "Meal dinner" event held at "A Hotel" at 12:15 on April 7, 2000. Is stored, and it can be seen that "Tanaka" and "Nakada" are shown in the picture. Further, since the metadata (other than "time") is not added to the image (photograph) created (taken) at "19:21 April 3, 2000", the contents of this image (photograph), etc. I don't know from here.

As described above, "time" is always added as metadata to the images stored in the image database 606, but other metadata ("subject", "place", "person", It is not decided whether or not the contents are stored in the "keyword"). The process of registering an image or a photograph with metadata or no metadata other than "time" in such an image database is a process generally performed in an image database processing device of the same type, and is known. So I will omit more details.

In step S105, an image search program 604 for searching for an image is started, and an image search or the like is performed by an operator's operation. Step S10
Details of 5 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

First, the processing by the schedule program executed in step S103 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen example of the display 208 displayed by the schedule program 603 in step S103. In FIG. 8, 8
Reference numeral 01 denotes a program title display area in which "schedule" indicating the title of the program and "2000" which is the year of the schedule being displayed are displayed. 802
Is a schedule display area for displaying the data of the schedule corresponding to the set period, and in the figure, 4
The weekly schedule from Monday 3rd to April 9th is displayed. In FIG. 8, the schedule display area 802 is composed of seven blocks, the date is displayed in the header part of each block, and the event registered for that day is displayed in the body part by the start time and subject of the event. To be done. For example, on April 3, it is displayed that an event has a regular meeting from 8:30 and an outpatient visit from 16:00.

Reference numeral 803 is a focus for indicating an event to be operated, and the start time and subject of the displayed event are highlighted. Reference numeral 804 denotes an event detail display area for displaying the details of the focused event, which includes a “subject” indicating the title of the event, a “period” indicating the start time and end time of the event, and “event execution”. “Place” and “person” indicating a person who participates in the event are displayed. In FIG. 8, since “golf” indicated by 803 is in focus,
In the event details display area 804, the subject is "Golf" and the period is "April 8, 2000 8: 00-1.
7:00 ”, the place is“ ABC golf club ”, and the persons are“ Yoshida, Inoue, Goto ”. By editing each item in the event details display area 804 using the keyboard 207 or the like, change or addition of event information,
Can be deleted.

Reference numerals 805 and 806 are a previous screen button and a next screen button for switching the screens displayed in the schedule display area 802, respectively. For example, when the previous screen button 805 is clicked with the mouse 209, the schedule display area 802 displays from March 27 (Mon) to April 2
The schedule up to the day is displayed. When the next screen button 806 is clicked with the mouse 209 in the state shown in the figure, the schedule display area 802 displays April 1
The schedule from 0th (Monday) to 16th April (Sunday) is displayed. Reference numeral 807 denotes a display switching button for switching the schedule period displayed in the schedule display area 802. In FIG. 8, the schedule display area 8
02 shows the schedule for one week,
When the display switching button 807 is clicked with the mouse 209, a schedule for one month, for example, is displayed in the schedule display area 802.

Reference numeral 808 denotes an image search button for ending the schedule program of step S103 and instructing to start the image search program. Image search button 8
If 08 is clicked with the mouse 209, the schedule program of step S103 is ended, and control is passed to step S105 via step S102.

In order to display the schedule information in the schedule display area 802 and the event details display area 804 of FIG. 8, the schedule program 603 retrieves and displays the necessary information from the schedule database 605 (FIG. 9).

FIG. 9 shows the schedule database 605.
It is a figure showing an example of a data structure of. As shown in the figure, each event is stored in the schedule database 605.
It is stored as event information including data items of “period”, “subject”, “place”, and “person”. In the "period",
The pair of the start time and end time of the event is separated by "-" and stored, and the name of the event is stored in "Subject".
The "place" stores the name of the place where the event is held, and the "person" stores the name of the person who participates in the event. Each event information is sorted and stored according to the start time of the “period”. Further, when a plurality of items are stored in “place” and “person”, each item is separated by “,” and stored.

Using the schedule database as shown in FIG. 9, the schedule data is displayed in the schedule display area 802 and the event details display area 804 shown in FIG. 8 to realize the above-mentioned functions such as viewing and editing the schedule. Since the processing to be performed is generally performed by a so-called schedule management program and is known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the processing by the image search program (502, 604) in step S105 will be described.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a screen example of the display 208 displayed in the image search in step S105. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1101 denotes a program title display area, which is “image search” indicating the program title and “2000” which is the target of the image search being displayed.
"Year" is displayed.

Reference numeral 1102 denotes an event display area for displaying an event corresponding to the image data within the set period, and in the figure, one week from April 3 (Mon) to April 9 (Sun). Events are displayed. The display contents of the event display area 1102 in the image search processing are
This is performed with reference to the contents of the image database (FIG. 10) and the schedule database (FIG. 9), and details of this point will be described later.

In FIG. 11, the event display area 1102 is composed of seven blocks, the date is displayed in the header of each block, and the event of the day is displayed in the body by its start time and subject. For example,
On April 5, it is displayed that the company B will be visited from 13:00 and the banquet will be held from 17:00 as an event. However, the name of the event corresponding to the image data,
That is, when the information of “subject” does not exist in either the image database or the schedule database, the subject of the event is not displayed in the body part, and only the start time is displayed. For example, in the body part on April 3, only the start time of 19:21 is displayed, and the subject of the event is not displayed.

The event displayed in the event display area 1102 in this way is an event determined to have some relation to the image, and the schedule database 60.
Event stored in 5 and image database 60
It is extracted from both of the metadata (“time” and “subject”) corresponding to the image stored in 6. Therefore, there are three types of displayed events: an event whose subject exists only in the schedule database 605, an event which exists only in the image database 606, and an event whose subject exists in both the schedule database 605 and the image database 606. There is. Therefore,
In order to identify these, an identification mark 1103 is displayed on the left side of the time of each event displayed in the event display area 1102. In the present embodiment, “black Δ (black-filled Δ)” is assigned to an event whose subject is present only in the schedule database 605, and “black □ (black-filled) is assigned to an event which is present only in the image database 606. □) ”is the schedule database 60
5 is used as an identification mark for the event in which the subject of both 5 and the image database 606 match.

Reference numeral 1104 is a focus for indicating an event to be operated, and the start time and subject of the displayed event are highlighted. An event image display area 1105 displays a thumbnail of an image corresponding to the focused event. 1106
Are thumbnails displayed in the event image display area 1105. In FIG. 11, since “golf” shown in 1104 is focused, a thumbnail of each image stored in the image database 606 corresponding to the event “golf” is displayed in the event image display area 1105.

Reference numerals 1107 and 1108 are a previous screen button and a next screen button, respectively, for switching the screen displayed in the event display area 1102. For example, when the previous screen button 1107 is clicked with the mouse 209, the events from March 27 (Mon) to April 2 (Sun) are displayed in the event display area 1102, and the next screen button 1
When 108 is clicked with the mouse 209, the event display area 1102 is displayed from April 10 (Mon) to April 16
Events up to the day are displayed. A detailed search button 1109 is used to perform an image search by designating various conditions using the screen shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 1110 is a schedule button for terminating the image retrieval program of step S105 and instructing to start the schedule program. When the schedule button 1110 is clicked with the mouse 209, the image search program of step S105 is terminated,
Control passes to step S103 via step S102.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for explaining the flow of the image search processing in step S105.

In step S201, the period of the event displayed in the event display area 1102 is set. As the event period, the schedule period displayed in the schedule display area 802 when the image search button 808 is clicked is set. For example, when the image search button 808 is clicked in the state shown in FIG.
The set event period is from April 3, 2000 to April 9, 2000. When the setting is completed, the process proceeds to step S202.

Step S202 is a process for displaying an image search screen as shown in FIG. 11 according to the event period set in step S201. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to FIG. When the screen display is completed, the process proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, the keyboard 2
The processing is branched according to 07 or an instruction from the mouse 209. When one of the thumbnails displayed in the event image display area 1105 is selected with the mouse 209 and double-clicked, it means that the enlarged display of the target thumbnail is instructed, and the process branches to step S204.
When the detailed search button 1109 is clicked by the mouse 209 or the event displayed in the event display area 1102 is clicked by the mouse 209,
It branches to step S205. Schedule button 11
When 01 is clicked by the mouse 209, the image search program of step S105 is terminated, and step S105
After 102, the control proceeds to step S103. Otherwise, the process branches to step S206.

Step S204 is an enlarged display process for enlarging and displaying the image selected in step S203 and processing the selected image. In this process, a screen as shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the display 208. The details of this process will be described later with reference to FIG. When the processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S203.

In step S205, whether the detailed search button 1109 is clicked by the mouse 209,
This is image detail search processing when an event displayed in the event display area 1102 is double-clicked by the mouse 209. In this process, a screen as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the display 208. Details of this processing will be described later with reference to FIG. When the processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S203.

In step S206, necessary processing is performed according to the instructed content. For example, the previous screen button 1
When 107 or the next screen button 1108 is clicked, the period of the event displayed in the event display area 1102 is changed. When the processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S203.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for explaining the flow of the screen display processing in step S202. In step S301, the image event buffer 607
Perform necessary processing such as clearing step S3
Go to 02. The image event buffer 607 is a buffer for storing event information to be displayed in the event display area 1102, and FIG. 14 shows a data configuration example thereof. In the image event buffer 607, as shown in FIG. 14, information of each event includes “period” indicating the start time and end time of the event, “subject” indicating the name of the event, and “location” where the event is performed. , "Person" that represents the names of participants in the event, and "Synchronization" that represents the synchronization relationship between the schedule database 605 and the image database.
Are stored in association with each other. If there are multiple items such as "location" and "person", comma ","
Separated by and stored.

In step S302, from among the images stored in the image database 606, step S
Images corresponding to the period set in 201 are taken out one by one in order of oldest time. In the image database 606,
Since the images are sorted by time, it is easy to retrieve them in order of time. The process branches at step S303 depending on whether or not the image can be extracted. If the image can be extracted, the process branches to step S304. On the other hand, if there is no corresponding image within the set period or if all the images have been extracted, the process branches to step S311.

In step S304, step S302
The schedule database 605 is searched for and acquired for an event that includes the “time” of the image taken out in step 7 within the “period”. In step S305, the process branches depending on whether the corresponding event has been acquired in step S304. If the corresponding event exists and can be acquired, the process branches to step S306. If the corresponding event does not exist and cannot be acquired, the process branches to step S310.

In step S306, step S302
The process branches depending on whether or not “subject” is present as metadata in the image database 606 for the image extracted in step S6. If "Subject" exists, step S
If it does not exist, the process branches to step S308.

In step S307, step S3
The event of the image extracted in 02 and step S304
Whether the events of the schedule data retrieved in step 3 are the same, that is, the "subject" for the image
Branches depending on whether or not the "subject" of schedule data matches. If they match, step S309
If there is no match, the process branches to step S310.

Step S308 is an event storing process when the information (subject name) regarding the event of the image extracted in step S302 exists only in the schedule database 605 but not in the image database 606. That is, when an event having a “period” including the “time” of the image extracted in step S302 exists in the schedule database 605 and information is not stored in the “subject” of the metadata of the image, the image This is processing for adding an event to the image event buffer 607.

The "period" of the event retrieved from the schedule database 605 in step S304,
“Subject”, “place”, and “person” are added as new events in the image event buffer 607. Then, “synchronization” of the image event buffer 607 stores “black Δ” indicating that the event has a subject only in the schedule database 605. However, in this event addition processing, the same event as the event extracted in step S304 is the image event buffer 6
It is performed only when it is not stored in 07 and is not added when the same event is already stored in the image event buffer 607.

For example, the state of the schedule database is the state shown in FIG.
10 is the state shown in FIG. 10, the "time" is "2000/04/08 /" in step 302.
When the image of “09/10” is extracted, this process causes the image event buffer 607 to have a “period” of “20”.
00/04/08/08 / 00-2000 / 04/08
/ 17/00 "," Subject "is" Golf "," Place "is" A Golf Club "," Person "is" Yoshida, Inoue, Goto ", and" Sync "is" Black △ ". It However, in step S302, "time"
When the image of “2000/04/08/09/12” is retrieved, the event of the corresponding schedule has already been registered in the image event buffer 607, so the image event buffer 607 is a new event.
Not added to.

When the above processing is completed, the process proceeds to step S302.

In step S309, the event subject of the image extracted in step S302 and step S304.
This is a process of adding an event of an image to the image event buffer 607 when the subject of the event of the schedule data extracted in step 3 is matched. Step S3
In 09, the "period", "subject", "place" of the event of the schedule extracted in step S304,
“Person” is added as a new event in the image event buffer 607. The “synchronization” of the image event buffer 607 stores “black ◯” indicating that the event information is stored in both the schedule database 605 and the image database 606 and that synchronization is achieved.
Further, similar to step S308, if the same event as the event extracted in step S304 is already stored in the image event buffer 607,
The event is not additionally stored in the image event buffer 607.

For example, the state of the schedule database is as shown in FIG.
10 is the state shown in FIG. 10, the "time" is "2000/04/07 /" in step 302.
When the image of “12/15” is taken out, the “period” is set to “20” in the image event buffer 607 by this processing.
00/04/07/12 / 00-2000 / 04/07
/ 13/00 "," Subject "is" Meals "," Place "is" A "
"Hotel", "Person" is "Yoshida, Tanaka, Nakata", "Synchronization"
A new event with "Black ○" is added. However, after this, in step 302, the "time" is "2000 /
When the image of “04/07/12/16” is taken out, since the event of the corresponding schedule has already been registered in the image event buffer 607, a new event is not added to the image event buffer 607.

When the above process is completed, the process proceeds to step S302.

The step S310 is (1) the step S3.
When the event corresponding to the event of the image extracted in 02 does not exist in the schedule database 607, that is, the “time” of the image extracted in step S302
If there is no event having a “duration” including “in” in the schedule database 605, or (2) an event having a corresponding “duration” is in the schedule database 6
If the "Subject" of the event in the image database does not match the "Subject" of the event in the schedule database even if it exists in 05 (including the case where there is no subject in the schedule data or the event of the image), the event of the image Image event buffer 607
Is a process to be added to.

In step S310, the "subject" of the last image event of the valid data in the image event buffer 607 and the "subject" of the event of the image extracted in step S302 are compared, and depending on whether they match,
Storage method is different. If they do not match, step S
The event of the image taken out at 302 is added to the end of the valid data of the image event buffer 607 as a new event. That is, "time", which is the metadata of the image extracted in step S302, is stored as the start time and end time of the "period" in the image event buffer 607, and the "subject", which is the metadata of the image extracted in step S302, “Place” and “person” are stored in “subject”, “place”, and “person” of the image event buffer 607, respectively. The “synchronization” of the image event buffer 607 stores “black □” indicating that the event exists only in the image database 606.

For example, in step 302, FIG.
In the image database 606 shown in FIG.
If the “subject” of the event at the end of the valid data in the image event buffer 607 is not “Karaoke”, this processing causes
In the image event buffer 607, the “period” is “2000.
/ 04/09/17 / 42-2000 / 04/09/1
7/42 ”,“ Subject ”is“ Karaoke ”,“ Place ”is“ Karaoke A ”,“ Person ”is“ Yoshida, Yoshinaka ”, and“ Sync ”is“ Black □ ”. The state of the buffer 607 is as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the "subject" of the last image event in the valid data of the image event buffer 607 and the step S
The "subject" of the event of the image extracted in 302 is compared, and if they match, the event of the image extracted in step S302 is added as a new event to the end of valid data in the image event buffer 607 and The event information of the image extracted in step S302 is added to the event of the image event buffer 607 being processed.

That is, the image event buffer 6 in which the "time" of the image taken out in step S302 matches
It is updated as the end time of the "period" of the 07 event.
Furthermore, the “location” and “person”, which are the metadata of the image extracted in step S302, respectively match the “location” of the event in the image event buffer 607 that matches.
If there is information that does not exist in the image event buffer 607 as compared with “person”, that information is added to the image event buffer 607 and updated.

For example, in step 302, FIG.
In the image database 606 shown in FIG.
"04/04/09/17/45", and when the state of the image event buffer 607 is as shown in FIG.
"Period" of "2000/04/09/17 / 42-2
"000/04/09/17/42" is "2000/04
/ 09/17 / 42-2000 / 04/09/17/4
5 ”and“ Person ”“ Yoshida, Yoshinaka ”is updated to“ Yoshida, Yoshinaka, Yoshino ”, but“ Place ”is not updated.

However, no value is stored in both the "subject" of the last image event of the valid data in the image event buffer 607 and the "subject" of the event of the image extracted in step S302, and the image The date of the "period" of the last image event in the event buffer 607,
If the "time" date of the image extracted in step S302 is different, the event information of the image extracted in step S302 is added to the image event buffer 607 as a new event. When processing is completed, step S
Proceed to 302.

In step S311, the event stored in the image event buffer 607 is displayed in the event display area 1102, the focus 1104 is set to the first event in the image event buffer 607, and the focused event is dealt with. The obtained image data is obtained from the image database 606, a thumbnail is displayed in the event image display area, and other necessary items are displayed on the display 208.

Next, the enlarged display processing in step S204 will be described.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on the display 208 in the enlarged display processing of step S204. In FIG. 15, a shooting time display area 1501 displays the time when the target image was created or shot. This time is the image database 60
“Time” in 6 is displayed. Reference numeral 1502 is an enlarged image display area for displaying a target image. On the left side of the enlarged image display area, as shown by 1503, identification marks (“black Δ”, “black □”, “black □”, “black □”, “ One of “black circles” is displayed.
The target image is the one displayed in the event image display area 1105, and is the image event buffer 607.
Since it is associated with the event inside, the image event buffer 607 is used as the identification mark 1503 on the initial screen.
The same content as "Sync" in the above is displayed.

Reference numeral 1504 denotes an event information display area for displaying event information of a target image, and items of "subject", "period", "place", and "person" as image event information. Information is displayed. The content of each item displayed in the event information display area 1504 is
It can be edited using the keyboard 207.
Since the target image is displayed in the event image display area 1105 and is associated with the event in the image event buffer 607, the event information display area 1
As the initial screen of 504, the image event buffer 60
The information of the items "subject", "period", "place", and "person" in 7 will be displayed.

Reference numeral 1505 denotes a metadata display area for displaying the unique metadata of the target image, and "person" and "keyword" are displayed as the metadata. The contents of each item displayed in the metadata display area 1505 can be edited using the keyboard 207. As the initial screen of the metadata display area 1505,
"Person" of the target image in the image database 606
And the contents of "keyword" are displayed.

Reference numeral 1506 designates the contents displayed in the information display area 1504 and the metadata display area 1505 as the schedule database 605 and the image database 606.
This is a meta synchronization button for instructing to reflect the information of the event between the schedule database 605 and the image database 606 and to update the metadata of the image in the image database 606. When the meta synchronization button 1506 is clicked with the mouse 209, the database to be updated is determined according to the identification mark 1503, and the target database is updated.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart for explaining the procedure of the meta synchronization processing executed when the meta synchronization button 1506 is instructed.

When the identification mark 1503 is “black Δ” or “black o”, the event information exists in the schedule database 605. Therefore, first, the contents of the event information display area 1504 and the schedule database 605 It is checked whether or not there is a contradiction with the contents (steps S401 and S402). Since the target image is associated with the event in the image event buffer 607, the image event buffer 6
Corresponding event in 07 and event information display area 1
The “subject”, “period”, “place”, and “person” with 504 are compared. If the result of this comparison is that they are different, it is determined that the contents of the event information display area 1504 have been updated, and the schedule database 605 is updated (steps S403 to S406).

At this time, the operator is allowed to select whether to add new schedule data to the schedule database 605 or to update the contents of the associated schedule data (step S404). Add schedule data or update the corresponding schedule data.
When addition to the schedule database 605 is selected, an event having “subject”, “period”, “place”, and “person” displayed in the event information display area 1504 is added to the schedule database 605 as a new event. Add (step S406). On the other hand, if updating the contents of the associated schedule data is selected, the event information display area 1504
"Subject", "Period", "Location", "Person" displayed in
The content of the corresponding event in the schedule database 605 is updated with the content of (step S405).

In particular, when the identification mark 1503 is “black Δ”, the name of the event is not stored as metadata of the image, and the information on the corresponding event in the schedule database 605 (depending on the time) is temporarily stored. Since it is only given, the schedule database 605 may not store information on the event at which the image was captured. In such a case, since the information of the event in which the image was captured is input in the event information display area 1504, it becomes necessary to add the schedule data from the event of the image as described above.

The contents of the event information display area 1504,
If there is no inconsistency with the contents of the schedule database 605, the schedule database 605 is not changed (steps S403 to S407).
Skip to).

Subsequently, the metadata of the target image in the image database is updated (step S40).
7). That is, the contents of “subject” and “place” in the event information display area 1504 are stored in “subject” and “location” of the target image in the image database 606, and “person” and “person” in the metadata display area are stored. The content of the “keyword” is set to the “person” of the target image in the image database 606,
Store in "keyword".

On the other hand, when the identification mark 1503 is "black square", the event information is the schedule database 6
05, the contents of the event information display area 1504 are first added to the schedule database 605 as new schedule data (event) (step S408). Then, the metadata of the target image is updated (step S409). Change the contents of “Subject” and “Location” in the event information display area 1504 to
The contents of “person” and “keyword” in the metadata display area are stored in the “subject” and “location” of the target image in the image database 606.
It is stored in “Person” and “Keyword” of the target image in 6.

When the updating of the schedule database 605 and the image database 606 is completed as described above, the event information of the target image is synchronized between the schedule database 605 and the image database 606. Therefore, the identification mark 1503 is changed to "black circle" (step S410).

In FIG. 15, 1507 represents step S.
This is an image search button for instructing the shift to an image search program for terminating the enlargement display processing of 204 and using the screen as shown in FIG. 11 to search for images in the time order of events. When the image search button 1507 is clicked on with the mouse 209, the enlargement display processing in step S204 ends, the screen as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed in the same manner as in step S202, and control is passed to step S203.

Next, the image detailed search in step S205 will be described.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on the display 208 in the image detail search processing in step S205. In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1601 denotes a program title display area in which “image detail search” indicating the title of the program is displayed.

Reference numeral 1602 denotes a search condition setting area for setting a condition for searching for an image.
Search conditions such as “period”, “place”, “person”, and “keyword” are displayed. In step S203, when the detailed search button 1109 is clicked with the mouse 209, as the initial screen, each of “subject”, “period”, “place”, “person”, and “keyword” in the search condition setting area 1602 is displayed. Nothing is displayed in the item. However, in the display state of FIG. 11, when one of the events displayed in the event display area 1102 is selected by the mouse 209, the event information corresponding to the selected event is obtained from the image event buffer 607. As shown in FIG. 16, the initial screen is displayed in the items “subject”, “period”, “place”, and “person” in the search condition setting area. Also,
Each "subject", "period", and search condition setting area 1602
The contents of "Place", "Person", and "Keyword" are
Editing such as input, deletion, and correction is possible with the keyboard 207, and the edited result is displayed.

Reference numeral 1603 is a search result display area for displaying the result of image search under the conditions set in the search condition setting area 1602. Search condition setting area 1
Thumbnails of images satisfying the conditions set in 602 are displayed as shown in 1604, and an identification indicating the synchronization relationship between the event schedule database 605 and the image database 606 of the image is displayed at the upper left of each thumbnail. A mark (one of “black Δ”, “black □”, and “black o”) is displayed. As the initial screen of the search result display area 1603, when the detailed search button 1109 is clicked by the mouse 209 in step S203, nothing is displayed in the search result display area 1603, but in the event display area 1102. When the displayed event is clicked by the mouse 209, the image corresponding to the clicked event is obtained from the image database 606, and the search result display area 16 is displayed.
The thumbnail is displayed at 03. When one of the thumbnails of the images displayed in the search result display area 1603 is double-clicked, the same processing as the enlarged display in step 204 is performed on the image.

Reference numerals 1605 and 1606 are a previous screen button and a next screen button for switching the next candidate of the search result displayed in the search result display area 1603.

Reference numeral 1607 denotes the image database 6 according to the conditions set in the search condition setting area 1602.
This is a search button that gives an instruction to search for an image stored in 06. A search process when a search is instructed by the search button 1607 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When search button 1607 is clicked on with mouse 209, "subject", "period", "place", "person", which is displayed in search condition setting area 1602,
Images that satisfy all the "keyword" items are searched from the image database, and thumbnails of the searched images are displayed in the search result display area 1603 (step S50).
1, S502).

Further, excluding the item of "keyword",
The schedule database 605 is searched by the items of “subject”, “period”, “place”, and “person” (step S503). When the schedule database 605 is searched and an event satisfying the conditions is found, it is checked whether or not an image having “time” included in the “period” of the event exists in the image database 606 (step S504). If such an image exists, the search condition setting area 1 is added to the corresponding image.
Whether all the conditions displayed in 602 are satisfied
Check (whether “subject”, “place”, “person” and “keyword” match). If all the conditions are satisfied, the image is recognized as a search result, and the thumbnail is displayed in the search result display area 1603 (steps S505 and S506).

However, in this case, the image database 60
In No. 6, there is a case where there is no information in the items of “subject”, “place”, and “person”. In such a case, it is considered that the information of these items has not been decided, and the schedule database 605 If the “subject”, “place”, and “person” of the event of “1” meet the conditions, the image also satisfies the conditions.

Next, regarding the searched image, the synchronization state between the image database and the schedule database is checked, and an identification mark is displayed at the upper left of each thumbnail in the search result display area 1603 (step S507). The identification mark to be displayed may be obtained in the same manner as “synchronization” in the image event buffer 607. That is, as described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 13, the “time” and “subject” in the image database 606 and the “period” and “subject” in the schedule database 605 can be compared and obtained.

In FIG. 16, 1608 is step S.
A time search button for instructing the shift to an image search program for terminating the image detailed search processing of 205 and using the screen as shown in FIG. 11 to search for images in time order of events. Click the time search button 1608 with the mouse 209
When the button is clicked, the image detail search process of step S205 is completed, and the process shown in FIG.
A screen as shown in 1 is displayed, and control proceeds to step S203.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the schedule program and the image retrieval program are directly loaded from the CD-ROM to the RAM 203 and executed as the external storage device is shown. Image search program once HD2
It is stored (installed) in 06, and when the schedule program and the image search program are operated, H
You may make it load from D206 to RAM203.

A medium for recording the schedule program and the image retrieval program is an FD other than the CD-ROM.
It may be a (flexible disk), an IC memory card, or the like.

Further, it is also possible to record the schedule program and the image search program in the ROM, configure the program so as to be a part of the memory map, and execute the program directly by the CPU.

Further, the schedule program and the image search program may be stored in a server on the network and downloaded from the server on the network to the RAM 203 via the modem 211, if necessary.

In the above embodiment, images and photographs are handled as information to be searched in association with events.
The search target of the present invention is not limited to images and photographs. For example, it is possible to retrieve a moving image by managing the information of each shot taken by a home video camera in the same manner as the image database 606 and managing it in correspondence with the shooting time. Also, in the same way, audio information recorded by the tape recorder, song information composed,
As in the present embodiment, it is possible to search for any multimedia information such as haiku or poetry text information in association with an event.

Further, in the above embodiment, the information of each event is displayed in the event display area 1102 divided by date as in the case of the schedule display area 802. However, in the image event buffer 607 of FIG. Similar to the configuration, the image event buffer 607 is not distinguished by date.
The contents of each event stored in may be displayed in a list format simply sorted by the start time of the event. Similarly, in the event display area 1102, the contents of each event stored in the image event buffer 607 may be displayed in a list format simply sorted by the event name.

In the above embodiment, the events displayed in the event display area 1102 exist only in the schedule database 605 and the image database 60.
Information of events that do not exist in 6 is not displayed,
The event that exists only in the schedule database 605 may be displayed. In this case, for an event existing only in the schedule database 605, for example, no identification mark is displayed and the event is displayed so as to be distinguishable from others. By doing so, since “black Δ”, “black □”, or “black ◯” is displayed as the identification mark in other events, there is an image corresponding to the displayed event. You can immediately judge whether or not.

Further, in the above embodiment, only one image database was handled, but a plurality of image databases may be handled and the events existing in each image database may be displayed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the information creation time is used to combine the events of the same name stored in the image database 606, but the unique identifier is explicitly given to each event, and You may make it match several information with one event using an identifier.

Further, in the above embodiment, the events having different identification marks are mixedly displayed in the event display area 1102, but the mode is switched so that only the events having the specific identification mark are displayed. Good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the event information is synchronized with the image one by one as described with reference to FIG. 15, but the detailed search screen of FIG. 16 is similar to that of FIG. A meta-sync button may be provided to synchronize event information for a plurality of images at once. At that time, the target image may be selected with a mouse.

Further, in the above embodiment, the identification mark of “black Δ”, “black □” or “black o” is used to express the synchronization relationship between the schedule database 605 and the image database 606. However, the display form may be changed by changing the character color or font of the displayed event information.

In the above embodiment, the image pickup module, the microphone, etc. are not provided, but the functional modules are provided to form a camera-integrated device configuration, and the printer, the CD-ROM drive, the keyboard, etc. can be carried around. It is also possible to omit the large and heavy module and make it portable, thereby facilitating the management of the schedule and facilitating the immediate addition of the metadata to the captured image or sound.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although it is realized in the stand-alone mode, the present invention is implemented as a service of a server on a network, and the function of the present invention is utilized in a client machine. Is also possible.

In the above embodiment, the schedule
The program and the image search program were run on the same device, but it is also possible to run each program on another device by exchanging schedule event information or image metadata. Is.

In the above embodiment, in order to synchronize the event information between the schedule database 605 and the image database 606, the image event buffer 6
07 was created and synchronized based on the image event buffer 607. However, in order to achieve synchronization, only the difference in event information between the schedule database 605 and the image database 606 is stored in the buffer, and the difference is stored. The synchronization may be performed based on the event information of.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the information (image data) stored in the information storage unit 102 as the image database is searched with the clue of the event temporally related to the information. In this case, an event unrelated to an event temporally related to the information to be searched is displayed for easy identification. Therefore, an event that is temporally related to the information to be searched can be easily searched, and as a result, desired information (image data) can be easily searched.

In particular, when the information stored in the information storage unit 102 is searched by using an event temporally related to the information as a clue, only the events temporally related to the information to be searched are displayed. By doing so, it is possible to easily search for an event that is temporally related to the information to be searched, and as a result, it is possible to easily search for desired information.

According to the above embodiment, the information stored in the information storage unit 102 is stored in the event storage unit 101 as a schedule database when searching for an event that is temporally related to the information. By referring to both the generated event and the event stored in the information storage unit, the event information corresponding to the image data is generated and displayed. Therefore, information on an event in which an individual is not involved can be obtained from the information storage unit 102, and information received from another person can be easily searched for, similar to information created by an individual.

Further, since the event stored only in the event storage unit 101 and the event stored only in the information storage unit 102 are displayed in a distinguishable manner, the reliability of the association between the event and the information is judged. At the same time, it is possible to determine whether it is an event in which you are involved or whether it is information in which you are involved, which facilitates searching.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the event information stored in the information storage unit 102 can be reflected as it is or by being edited (the contents of the event storage unit 101 can be updated). Therefore, the schedule data can be easily maintained at the timing of searching for information, and the reliability of the schedule data as a record of an individual's experience can be easily improved.

Further, the information of the event stored in the event storage unit 101 can be easily added as it is or as the metadata of the corresponding information (the contents of the information storage unit 102 can be updated). , Can facilitate future information retrieval. Further, when the information is distributed to an acquaintance or the like, it can be distributed with the metadata added, so that the information can be easily searched even at the distribution destination. Similarly, even at the distribution destination, it becomes possible to update the schedule data using the event information added to the information.

It is an object of the present invention to supply a storage medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to supply a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
It is needless to say that it can be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM,
CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, RO
M or the like can be used.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. It is needless to say that this also includes a case where the above) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0135]

As described above, according to the present invention,
As target data (image data etc.) that is the target of management,
It is possible to improve the search operability of the target data in the case where information related to individual event information and information not related to the event information are mixed. Further, according to the present invention, even if the target data is received from another person, it is possible to easily retrieve it as in the case of information created by an individual. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the reliability of the event information as a record of an individual's experience.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional reason of an information search device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information search device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing that a program or the like is supplied from a medium to a computer system.

4 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a ROM 202 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a medium in which a schedule program, an image search program and the like are recorded.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data configuration example on a RAM 203 when a processing program is executed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the information processing device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen example of a schedule display by a schedule program.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of a schedule database.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data configuration example of an image database.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen display example by an image search program.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of image search processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating screen display processing in image search processing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration example of an image event buffer.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when an image is enlarged and displayed.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a screen in a detailed image search.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a meta synchronization process executed when the meta synchronization button 1506 is instructed.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a search process when a search is instructed by a search button 1607.

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. Information in an apparatus including an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information. A processing method, wherein the determination step of determining whether there is a relationship between the event and the target data based on the event information and the attached information, and the determination result of the determination step are recognizable to represent the target data. And a display step of displaying information. 2. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the display step displays information representing the target data only for the target data determined to be related in the determination step. 3. In the display step, based on the result of the determination in the determination step, the target data in which the related event exists and the target data in which the related event does not exist are attached or the display form is changed to change the target data The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying information indicating 4. The event information and the attached information can each further include an event name, and the determination step further matches the event name with respect to the target data determined to have related event information. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the display step displays information representing the target data such that each determination result of the determination step can be identified. 5. The display step displays a related event when the information representing the target data determined to be related in the determination step does not have an event name when the attached information of the target data is displayed. The information processing method according to claim 4, wherein the event name included in the information is displayed. 6. The displaying step classifies an event consisting of one or a plurality of target data based on ancillary information of the target data, displays the classified event as a unit, and displays the event in the displaying step. The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a search step of searching the information storage unit for target data corresponding to a specified event from the event. 7. The information processing method according to claim 6, wherein the target data is image data, and the method further comprises a thumbnail display step of displaying a thumbnail of the target data searched in the search step. 8. Information in an apparatus comprising: an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information; and an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information. A processing method, comprising a setting step of setting a search condition, a first search step of searching the information storage unit based on the set search condition, and an event storage unit based on the set search condition. An acquisition step of acquiring information about time of the searched event information and a second search step of searching the information storage unit with the information about time acquired in the acquisition step as a search condition. A characteristic information processing method. 9. The method further comprises a display step of generating event information corresponding to the target data based on the attached information of the target data, and displaying the generated event information, wherein the setting step is displayed in the display step. 9. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein the search condition is set based on event information designated from the event information. 10. The information processing method according to claim 9, further comprising an editing step of editing the search condition set in the setting step. 11. The target data is image data,
The thumbnail display step of displaying the search results by the first search step and the second search step as thumbnails of the searched image data.
Information processing method described in. 12. Information in an apparatus including an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, and an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information. A method of processing, wherein the event storage is performed by storing information as new event information in the event storage unit by using information of an appendage of the target data that is not related to any event information stored in the event storage unit. An information processing method comprising an updating step of updating a copy. 13. Information in an apparatus comprising: an event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information; and an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information. A processing method, the generating step of generating target data event information corresponding to target data based on the event information and the attached information, and the information storage based on the target data event information generated in the generating step. And an updating step of updating the attached information stored in the unit. 14. The target data event information corresponding to the target data is generated in the generating step based on event information and auxiliary information that are determined to be related to each other based on time-related information. 12. The information processing method according to 12 or 13. 15. The method further comprises a display step of displaying the target data event information using at least a part of the target data event information generated in the generating step, and the updating step includes the target displayed in the display step. 14. The process is executed by using target data event information designated by the data event information.
Information processing method described in. 16. The information processing method according to claim 12, further comprising an editing step of editing the target data event information generated in the generating step. 17. An event storage unit capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least information about time, an information storage unit capable of storing target data having attached information including at least information about time, the event information and the A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a relationship between the event and the target data based on the attached information; and a display unit that displays the information representing the target data so that the determination result of the determination unit can be recognized. A characteristic information processing device. 18. Event storage means capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, information storage means capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information, said event information and said Generating means for generating target data event information corresponding to the target data based on the attached information; and target data event information not related to any event information stored in the event storage means, to a new event in the event storage means An information processing apparatus comprising: an updating unit that updates the event storage unit by storing the information as information. 19. Event storage means capable of storing a plurality of event information including at least time information, information storage means capable of storing target data having attached information including at least time information, said event information and said Generating means for generating target data event information corresponding to the target data based on the attached information; and updating for updating the attached information stored in the information storage means based on the target data event information generated by the generating means. An information processing apparatus comprising: 20. A storage medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 1. Description: 21. A control program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.