JP2007080021A - Electronic device with fingerprint verification function - Google Patents

Abstract

To increase the number of operations that can be executed by fingerprint input.
In registering a correspondence relationship between an operation and fingerprint information, the user is prompted to input a fingerprint and two or more pieces of fingerprint information are obtained from the fingerprint detection means, and a combination of two or more fingerprint information is associated with one operation. Register in the storage means. When fingerprint input is detected after registration, an operation corresponding to a combination of two or more fingerprint information is called from the registered correspondence relationship, and the called operation is executed.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device that operates based on a fingerprint collation result.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a camera that detects a fingerprint, determines the type of a finger, and performs an operation corresponding to the finger.

JP 2001-296576 A

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1, since one fingerprint is associated with one operation, the number of operations that can be realized by fingerprint input is limited, and the usability is poor.

An electronic device with a fingerprint collation function according to the present invention detects a fingerprint of a user's finger placed on a predetermined detection unit and outputs fingerprint information; and two or more fingerprints output from the fingerprint detection unit Control means for calling an operation corresponding to the combination of information from a correspondence relationship registered in advance and executing the called operation.
In the invention of claim 2, in registering the correspondence between the operation and the fingerprint information, the user is prompted to input the fingerprint and two or more pieces of fingerprint information are obtained from the fingerprint detection means. Registration means for registering in the storage means in association with each other is further provided.
The invention of claim 3 enables registration of any combination of fingerprint information as a password, and the control means permits the original use of the device when the combination of fingerprint information registered as a password is output from the fingerprint detection means. To do.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a finger is placed on the detection unit while operating a specific operation member, so that execution of an operation using a fingerprint is permitted.
The invention of claim 5 is configured such that execution of an operation by a fingerprint is permitted by placing a finger on the detection unit in a state where a specific mode is set.

  According to the present invention, when performing an operation by fingerprint input, the operation can be selected by combining two or more pieces of fingerprint information. Therefore, the number of operations that can be realized by fingerprint input can be greatly increased, and convenience is improved. Rise.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic camera in the present embodiment. The camera operation unit 1 is mainly composed of various circuits (imaging circuit, exposure control circuit, image processing circuit, image recording circuit, focus circuit, etc.) that perform functions related to photographing, and each circuit receives commands from the control unit 2. Acts accordingly.

  The display unit 3 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal monitor and a display drive circuit thereof, and displays an image or the like according to a command from the control unit 2. For example, when the playback mode is set with a camera, an image that has already been captured and recorded can be read and displayed on the display unit 3. Further, a menu screen is displayed on the display unit 3, and various settings can be made here. The menu is divided into a reproduction menu, a shooting menu, a custom menu, and the like. For example, setting items of the shooting menu include an image quality mode, an image size, white balance, ISO sensitivity, and the like. This embodiment is characterized in that these item settings can be performed by fingerprint input, and details thereof will be described later.

  The fingerprint detection unit 4 detects a fingerprint of a finger via the fingerprint sensor unit 4a, and information (hereinafter referred to as fingerprint information) representing the characteristics of the detected fingerprint is used for fingerprint verification. As a fingerprint matching algorithm, a pattern matching method, a minutia method (feature point extraction matching method), a frequency analysis method, and the like are known. In the pattern matching method, a fingerprint image is registered as fingerprint information, and the detected fingerprint image is compared with a registered image to determine match / mismatch. The minutiae method registers the fingerprint ridge end and branch point attributes and their relative positional relationship as fingerprint information, and the frequency analysis method uses fingerprint cross-section data as a waveform for fingerprint information. Register as In any case, the detected fingerprint information is compared with the registered fingerprint information to obtain a result. The camera has one of these fingerprint collation algorithms, and the fingerprint detection unit 4 detects fingerprint information by a method corresponding to the algorithm.

Next, an example of fingerprint verification in the camera will be described.
<Fingerprint registration>
In the present embodiment, fingerprints for ten fingers of both hands can be registered as a set. When the fingerprint registration mode is set by the camera, the control unit 2 starts the program shown in FIG. When the registrant contacts the corresponding finger with the sensor unit 4a according to the display, the fingerprint detection unit 4 detects the fingerprint, and the fingerprint information is registered in the memory 5 in association with the type of the finger (steps S2 → S3). ). For example, when “right index finger” is displayed, the fingerprint information of the right index finger is registered by bringing the index finger of the right hand into contact with the sensor unit 4a. In step S4, it is determined whether or not registration has been completed for all 10 fingers. If the determination is affirmative, the process ends. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step S1. In step S1, the finger to be registered next is displayed, and this is repeated thereafter.

  Note that ten fingers can be set as one set, and a plurality of sets of fingerprints can be registered. For each set, it is desirable to be able to register specific information such as a user name so that it can be understood who the information is.

<Association between motion and fingerprint>
Conventional cameras generally perform various camera operations in accordance with operations such as operation buttons and operation dials. However, by replacing these operations with fingerprint input, operation members can be greatly reduced. For example, if only the release button and some other operation members are left, many of the operation members for function setting and menu operation may be eliminated. In order to realize this, it is necessary to associate the camera operation with the fingerprint and register the correspondence relationship in advance. Examples of camera operations that can be associated include the above-described menu item settings, exposure mode settings, focus mode settings, and playback mode operations.

  When the fingerprint association mode is set by the camera, the control unit 2 activates the program shown in FIG. In step S11, it is determined whether or not a mode canceling operation has been performed. If the determination is affirmative, the process ends. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the process waits until an operation to be associated is determined by the user's selection operation. When the operation is determined, a message for prompting fingerprint input is displayed on the display unit 3 in step S13. Fingerprint input is requested a plurality of times (here, twice) for one operation. When the user first contacts one of the fingers with the sensor unit 4a, the fingerprint detection unit 4 detects the fingerprint, stores the fingerprint information, and prompts another fingerprint input. When the user brings any finger into contact with the sensor unit 4a, the fingerprint detection unit 4 detects the fingerprint and stores the fingerprint information.

  In step S14, the inputted two fingerprints are collated with the fingerprint registration information (registered in the process of FIG. 2) in the memory 5. In step S15, the collation result is determined. If at least one of the input fingerprints does not match any of the registered fingerprints, a warning message indicating no match is displayed in step S16, and the process is terminated. If there is a match between both the fingerprints, the fingerprint registration information is used to identify which fingerprint of the finger, and a confirmation message is displayed in step S17. For example, a display such as “Can I use my right index finger and left middle finger?” Is displayed.

  If OK is input in step S18, the two fingerprint information and the operation are associated with each other and registered in the memory 5 in step S20. When registration is performed, the process returns to step S11, and registration processing for the next operation becomes possible. If NG is input in step S19, the process returns to step S13 to wait for fingerprint input again.

  The user can freely associate the fingerprint with the operation by the above procedure. As a specific example, for example, in the operation of selecting and setting “Sunny” from a plurality of setting items (“Sunny”, “Cloudy”, “Incandescent”, “Fluorescent”, etc.) in white balance setting, A combination of fingerprints of the right index finger and the left middle finger can be registered in association with each other. Alternatively, a specific fingerprint combination can be associated with the operation of shifting to the white balance setting screen or other setting screen.

  Here, when registering the correspondence, if the input order of the two fingerprints is also known, two types of fingerprints can be associated with each other. For example, different operations can be associated with “first index finger first, then left middle finger” and “first middle left finger, then right index finger”. It is not always necessary to consider the input order. In this case, only one operation can be associated with two types of fingerprints. It is also possible to associate an action with the same fingerprint as in the case of “first index finger first, then right index finger first”.

<Operation execution by fingerprint input>
If the correspondence between the motion and the fingerprint is registered, the motion can be instructed by inputting the fingerprint. While the camera may be in the normal use mode, the operation may be instructed simply by inputting a fingerprint, but in order to prevent unintentional fingerprint input, the user may input a fingerprint while pressing an operation member. Alternatively, fingerprint input may be performed after setting the fingerprint input mode.

  In any case, when the finger touches the sensor unit 4a in a state where fingerprint input is possible, the control unit 2 starts the program of FIG. In step S31, the detected fingerprint information is stored as fingerprint information A. In step S32, another fingerprint input is prompted. When the fingerprint is input again in step S33, the fingerprint information is stored as fingerprint information B in step S34. In step S35, the two pieces of stored fingerprint information are collated. The fingerprint collation here refers to an operation for detecting whether or not an operation corresponding to the combination of fingerprint information A and B is registered. If it is determined in step S36 that there is a corresponding action, the action is selected in step S37 and executed in step S38. On the other hand, if there is no corresponding operation, a warning message is displayed in step S39 and the process is terminated.

  According to the present embodiment, various operations can be performed by fingerprint input. As an example, when white balance setting is performed, by inputting a specific combination of fingerprints, it is possible to call the white balance setting screen all at once without following normal procedures. Then, for a plurality of items that can be selected on the screen, the item (for example, “sunny sky”) can be selected by performing fingerprint input (twice) for the item to be set. In particular, in this embodiment, by associating a combination of a plurality of fingerprints with one operation, more operations can be performed by fingerprint input than in the case of one operation and one fingerprint, and convenience is increased.

  By the way, it is desirable to be able to display the correspondence relationship in a list format, for example, by performing a predetermined confirmation operation in case the user forgets the combination of fingerprints corresponding to the operation. In the present embodiment, since fingerprints and finger types are registered in association with each other during fingerprint registration (FIG. 2), the user is notified of which two fingers are associated with each operation. Can do.

  It is also possible to register a specific fingerprint combination as a password. In this case, the control unit 2 prompts the user to input a password using a fingerprint when the camera is turned on, and permits the camera operation only after confirming the fingerprint input (multiple times) registered in advance as a password. Further, for example, by using the association between the fingerprint registration and the user name described above, and the user inputs a fingerprint when using the camera, the control unit 2 can specify the camera user at that time. For example, an image file generated by shooting includes additional information such as Exif information, and the user name of the specified user is automatically written in “additional photographer” which is one of the additional information. If this is done, it is convenient to know who has taken the image later.

  Note that the fingerprint associated with the action may be a combination of three or more fingers. Or you may enable it to change the number of combinations like one finger | toe, two fingers, and three according to operation | movement. In addition, although the electronic camera has been described, the present invention can be applied to a mobile phone and other electronic devices.

The control block diagram of the electronic camera in one Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of fingerprint registration. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of matching with a fingerprint and operation | movement. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of operation | movement execution by fingerprint input.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 4 Fingerprint detection part 4a Sensor part 5 Memory

Claims (5)

Fingerprint detection means for detecting a fingerprint of a user's finger placed on a predetermined detection unit and outputting fingerprint information;
A fingerprint collation function comprising: a control unit that calls an operation corresponding to a combination of two or more fingerprint information output from the fingerprint detection unit from a previously registered correspondence and executes the called operation With electronic equipment.   In registering the correspondence between the operation and the fingerprint information, the user is prompted to input a fingerprint and two or more pieces of fingerprint information are obtained from the fingerprint detection means, and a combination of the two or more fingerprint information is associated with one operation. 2. The electronic device with fingerprint collation function according to claim 1, further comprising registration means for registering in the storage means.   An arbitrary combination of fingerprint information can be registered as a password, and the control unit permits original use of the device when the combination of fingerprint information registered as the password is output from the fingerprint detection unit. The electronic device with a fingerprint collation function according to claim 2.   The fingerprint collation function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein execution of the operation by the fingerprint is permitted by placing a finger on the detection unit while operating a specific operation member. With electronic equipment.   The fingerprint collation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein execution of the operation by the fingerprint is permitted by placing a finger on the detection unit in a state where a specific mode is set. Functional electronic equipment.

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