JP2011035768A - Imaging apparatus and image sharing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A viewer of a captured image uploaded from a digital camera can grasp in detail the operation status of the digital camera in real time from the Internet, and can easily send a message to the digital camera that is the image transmission source. In addition, a photographer provides an imaging apparatus and an image sharing system that can communicate with a viewer via the Internet with a simple operation.
SOLUTION: Presence information generating means 212 for generating presence information indicating the current state of the imaging device (101), and image file generating means (200) for generating an image file in which a message and presence information are embedded in image data. And a communication means (241) for transmitting / receiving the image file to / from an image sharing service system that provides an image sharing service.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus having a communication function, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus that can upload an image file in which information indicating the current state of the imaging apparatus is embedded in real time from a shooting point.

Conventionally, a digital camera (imaging device) having a built-in wireless LAN communication function is known. According to this digital camera, a photographed image can be uploaded to the Internet in real time.
However, even if the photographer can upload the image in real time, the viewer cannot grasp the current position and operation status of the photographer, so it is easy to provide effective instructions for the photographed image and the image to be photographed. In addition, there was a problem that it was impossible to communicate to the photographer in real time.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for chatting between mobile phones with a digital camera. According to the mobile phone of Patent Document 1, since presence information is mutually notified in real time, it is possible to communicate while taking into consideration the state of the other party. Here, the presence information is information indicating what state the other party is currently in. For example, whether the mobile phone is in a state where it can respond by notifying the active mobile phone application as presence information. Can be grasped.

However, since the mobile phone with a digital camera described in Patent Document 1 mainly has a communication function, and the digital camera has a strong attached meaning, there are no functions provided in the conventional digital camera such as flash, autofocus, and shooting settings. . Therefore, there is a problem that there is a lack of functionality when it is desired to use the camera function for business purposes. In addition, since the digital camera with the wireless LAN communication function does not have a keyboard, there is a problem that communication between the photographer and the image viewer is difficult.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables a viewer of a captured image uploaded from a digital camera to grasp in detail the operation status of the digital camera in real time from the Internet, and at the image transmission source. It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging apparatus and an image sharing system that can easily transmit a message to a certain digital camera, and that allows a photographer to communicate with a viewer via the Internet with a simple operation.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 is an imaging apparatus that obtains image data by imaging a subject, and presence information generating means for generating presence information indicating a current state of the imaging apparatus; An image file generation unit that generates an image file in which a message and the presence information are embedded in the image data, and a communication unit that transmits and receives the image file between an image sharing service system that provides an image sharing service. The imaging apparatus provided is characterized.
The invention described in claim 2 includes a GPS receiver that acquires current position information of the imaging device, and the image file generation unit embeds the position information of the imaging device received by the GPS receiver in the image file. The imaging device according to item 1 is characterized.
The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the message embedded in the image file is selected from a message template stored in advance in the image pickup apparatus.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the presence information generating means generates the presence information from an operation mode or shooting setting information of the imaging device. .
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the message is a chat log, and the image file generating means embeds a chat log of an arbitrary sender set in advance in the image file. The imaging device is characterized.
The invention according to claim 6 is the message according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the message is a chat log, and the image file generating means embeds a chat log in an arbitrary period set in advance in the image file. It features an imaging device.
The invention according to claim 7 is an image that maps data of the image file on a map based on the imaging device according to any one of claims 2 to 6 and position information embedded in the image file. The image sharing system includes an image sharing service system that provides a sharing service, and a chat server that enables chat communication when an imaging apparatus logs in.

According to the present invention, since a chat communication function and a chat screen display function are added to the digital camera body, and presence information and a message can be transmitted and received, the operation status of the digital camera can be uploaded in real time via the network. . In addition, it is possible to communicate in real time by receiving a message transmitted to the digital camera and transmitting a reply.
In addition, an image sharing system including the digital camera of the present invention can be easily and inexpensively constructed.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image sharing system according to the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of a digital camera according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the digital camera according to the present invention. It is a flowchart of a presence information update task. It is the flowchart which showed the imaging operation by a digital camera. It is a conceptual diagram of the picked-up image image | photographed with the digital camera when the chat function is on. It is the flowchart which showed the EXIF header generation process of the digital camera. It is a timing chart showing processing of the whole image sharing system. It is the figure which showed the example of the imaging | photography screen of a digital camera, and a user interface. It is the figure which showed the example of the imaging | photography screen of a digital camera, and a user interface. It is an example of a chat message transmission screen of a digital camera. It is an example of the application screen which an image sharing service provides.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The present invention implements a chat function in a digital camera body, and publishes images taken by the digital camera and the operation status of the digital camera body to the Internet, and enables real-time communication with an image viewer via the Internet. There is a feature in the point.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image sharing system according to the present invention.
The image sharing system 100 can share an image with a digital camera 101 (imaging device) that digitizes and records a captured image, a public wireless LAN access point 102, a chat server 103, and a personal computer (PC) 104. And an image sharing server 105 that provides a service to be connected to each other, and each is connected via a network 110. Examples of the image sharing service include Picasa (registered trademark) and Google Earth (registered trademark).
The digital camera 101 includes a wireless LAN interface that can communicate with the wireless LAN access point 102 and can be connected to the Internet. In addition, it has a Bluetooth (registered trademark) interface that can communicate with the GPS receiver 106, can acquire current position information from the GPS receiver 106 via Bluetooth, and can embed the shooting position information in a captured image. . Further, the user can log in to the chat server 103 and can communicate with the user of the PC 104 who has logged into the chat server 103 by chat. Further, it is possible to upload a photographed image to the image sharing server 105. The PC 104 can log in to the chat server 103 and communicate with the digital camera 101 by chat.
Note that the chat server 103 and the image sharing server 105 may be integrated as an application server.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera according to the present invention.
The digital camera 101 is an area in which a CPU 200 that controls the entire digital camera 101, a ROM 210 that stores programs, a flash memory 220 that stores setting information and the like, and a program that is stored in the ROM 210 are executed. A certain SDRAM 230, a communication interface 240 that communicates with an external device, a user interface 250 necessary for the operation of the digital camera 101, an SD memory card 260 that stores captured image files, a lens unit of a digital camera, a drive unit, A digital camera function unit 290 including various sensor units and the like.
The ROM 210 includes a chat message generation unit 211 that generates a chat message, a presence information control unit 212 (presence information generation unit) that generates and updates presence information of the digital camera, and a chat communication unit 213 including, for example, an XMPP client unit. And comprising.
The flash memory 220 includes chat server login authentication information 221 in which user information and password information for logging in to the chat server 103 are stored, a chat member list 222 in which members who want to communicate in advance are saved, a chat A chat message template 223 in which a message template is registered, setting information 224 in which setting information about a digital camera other than the above such as shooting setting information is stored, and chatting to a predetermined member when an image is shot is used. And an image shooting notification list 225 which is a destination list for notifying that an image has been shot.

The chat server login authentication information 221 may be created with a soft keyboard on the digital camera. However, since it is difficult to create login authentication information using only the buttons provided on the digital camera, the login authentication information created on the PC in advance is registered in the digital camera 101 using a USB cable or SD memory card. It is desirable to do.
The chat message may be created using a soft keyboard on the digital camera 101. However, since it is difficult to create a message using only the buttons provided on the digital camera 101, several message templates created using a PC in advance using a USB cable, an SD memory card, etc. It is desirable to register as a chat message template 223 in the main body 101 and use it when sending a message.
The communication interface 240 is connected to the chat server 103 and includes a wireless LAN 241 used for transmitting image data and a Bluetooth 242 connected to a GPS receiver. Note that a GPS receiver may be built in the digital camera 101.
The user interface 250 includes a shutter button 251, a mode dial 252, a menu button 253, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the digital camera according to the present invention.
When the user turns on the digital camera 101, the digital camera 101 is activated (step S301). When the digital camera 101 is activated, it checks whether the chat function is turned on (step S302). Information regarding whether or not the chat function is on is stored in the setting information 224. If the chat function is on (Yes in step S302), the chat communication unit 213 logs in to the chat server 103 using the wireless LAN 241 using the chat server login authentication information 221 (step S303). Next, the presence information control unit 212 generates presence information from the operation mode of the digital camera 101 and the shooting setting information stored in the setting information 224 (step S304), and starts a presence information update task (step S305). After the presence information update task is started, it operates in the same manner as a normal digital camera. When the chat function is off in step S302 (No in step S302), the operation is the same as that of a normal digital camera.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the presence information update task.
The presence information control unit 212 updates the presence information every time the operation mode or shooting setting information of the digital camera 101 is changed (Yes in step S401) (step S402). The camera operation mode in the presence information includes a shooting mode, a playback mode, a setting mode, and the like. The shooting setting information includes an image quality mode, an image quality size, a focus setting, a macro setting, a white balance, an ISO sensitivity, and the like.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a photographing operation by the digital camera. Hereinafter, the user of the digital camera 101 is expressed as a user.
When the user presses the shutter button 251 to perform shooting, the digital camera 101 executes an EXIF header generation process to be described later (step S502), and stores the shot image file in the SD memory card 260 (step S503). When the storage is completed, the digital camera 101 uploads the captured image to the image sharing server 105 using the wireless LAN 241 (step S504). When the upload is completed (step S505), a shooting notification message is transmitted by chat to a destination registered in the image shooting notification list 225 (step S506).

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a photographed image taken with a digital camera when the chat function is on. The digital camera 101 according to the present invention has a chat information addition function.
The photographed image file 700 includes an image area 701 in which the body of photographed image data is recorded, and an EXIF header 702 in which metadata such as the camera model and condition information at the time of photographing is recorded. With the chat information addition function, the digital camera 101 can embed chat communication log data in a manufacturer-specific area such as the APP5 marker segment 703 in the EXIF header 702 of the captured image file 700. The chat communication log data embedded in the EXIF header 702 allows the user to manage and search the photographed image on the PC 104 based on the partner and the contents that have been communicated by chat in the past. In the EXIF header 702, presence information and position information of the imaging device can be embedded in addition to the chat message.

Hereinafter, a method for embedding chat communication log data will be described.
For chat communication log data to be embedded in a photographed image, the size upper limit, log period, and filtering settings are set in advance using the photographing setting menu. The set contents are stored in the setting information 224.
In the chat communication log data, only the chat data transmitted / received within the set period within the range not exceeding the set upper limit size is embedded by the CPU 200 (image file generating means). The upper limit size can be set to several tens of kilobytes, for example. For example, the log period can be set so as to embed data for the shooting date only or for the past several hours. Further, with respect to the chat communication log data to be embedded, it is possible to perform filtering for embedding only a message from a specific sender.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the EXIF header generation processing of the digital camera.
The digital camera 101 confirms whether the chat information addition function in the shooting setting is on or off (step S601). If the chat information addition setting is turned on, it is confirmed whether or not the sender filtering setting related to the chat information to be saved is turned on (step S602). If it is turned on, only the past message of the designated sender is extracted from the chat log data (step S603). Next, it is confirmed whether or not the chat log data size exceeds a preset upper limit size (step S604). If the chat log data size exceeds the predetermined upper limit size, only a prescribed size is extracted (step S605). Next, an APP5 area is created based on the data extracted from the chat log data (step S606). Next, another EXIF header part is generated (step S607), and the EXIF header generation process is terminated.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing processing of the entire image sharing system. The overall system flow will be described below with reference to FIG.
<Login to Chat Server 103 of Digital Camera 101>
When the power of the digital camera 101 is turned on by the user A (step S1201), the digital camera 101 logs in to the chat server 103. When the login is completed, a chat message screen is displayed on the digital camera 101 (step S1202).
<Login to image viewer's image sharing server>
On the other hand, the user B using the image browsing PC 104 starts to log in to the image sharing server 105 (step S1209).
The image sharing server 105 also provides a client function of the chat server 103, and the login authentication information of the image sharing server 105 is used as it is to log in to the chat server 103. When the login of the user B to the image sharing server 105 and the chat server 103 is completed, the user B can use the image sharing application provided by the image sharing server 105 (step S1210).
<Shooting with Digital Camera 101 and Notification to Image Viewer>
Thereafter, when shooting is executed by the user A (step S1203), the shot image is transmitted to the image sharing server 105. (Step S1207) When the digital camera 101 completes the transmission of the shooting data, the digital camera 101 transmits an image shooting notification message to a preset chat member. (Step S1204) The user B receives the image shooting notification message by chat, knows that the user A has shot, and confirms the shot image from the screen of the image sharing application.
<Communication by chat between user A of digital camera 101 and image viewing user B>
User B transmits a message to user A as necessary (step S1212). The message of user B is displayed on the display unit of the digital camera 101 (step S1205), and user A returns a message to user B as necessary (step S1206).

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are diagrams showing an example of a photographing screen of the digital camera and a user interface. FIG. 11 is an example of a chat message transmission screen of the digital camera. It is displayed on the digital camera 101 after step S1202 of the timing chart shown in FIG.
On the rear surface 800 of the digital camera 101, a monitor 801 on which images, chat messages, and the like are displayed, an ADJ button 802, a PLY button 803, a DSP button 804 that can be set for shooting and chat, a cross key 805, and an enter key 806 Etc. On the chat message screen displayed on the monitor 801, chat messages from image viewers are displayed as “user1” and “user2” together with images taken by the user A.
Since the digital camera 101 according to the present embodiment does not include a hardware keyboard for inputting a text message, a standard message registered in the chat message template 223 can be selected and transmitted in advance, Reply and chat screen can be turned on and off with as few buttons as possible.
Specifically, the user A moves to a chat message transmission menu by pressing the ADJ button 802, calls a template from the chat message template 223, and displays the template on the monitor 801. User A uses the cross key 805 to select one transmission sentence from a plurality of transmission sentence candidates and presses the PLY button 803, thereby transmitting a chat message.

FIG. 12 is an example of an application screen provided by the image sharing service. Displayed on the PC 104 operated by the user B after step S1210 of the timing chart shown in FIG.
The captured image file with position information captured by the digital camera 101 is mapped on a map 1010 displayed on the application screen 1000 and displayed as captured image data icons 1020 to 1040 as shown in FIG. The captured image data icon 1020 displays image thumbnail information 1021, camera identification name 1022, and camera operation mode 1023 (presence information). The same applies to the other icons.
When the user B selects one captured image data icon and double-clicks it, it is enlarged and a detailed screen 1050 is displayed. The detail screen 1050 displays a captured image 1051, a camera identification name 1052, a camera operation mode 1053, detailed information 1054 of the captured image, a message creation field 1055, a message transmission button 1056, and chat communication log data 1057.
User B writes a message in message creation field 1055 and clicks message send button 1056 to send a chat message to digital camera 101 displayed on detail screen 1050. The chat message is displayed on the digital camera 101 that has received the chat message.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the chat communication function and the chat screen display function are added to the digital camera body, the image sharing system can be constructed inexpensively and easily.
Since the digital camera uploads the captured image and the presence information to the image sharing service in real time, the image viewer can determine whether the digital camera is currently in operation via the network.
In addition, since the image viewer can easily send a message to the operating digital camera by using the chat function, the photographer can obtain an impression of the captured image in real time. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain requests for shooting points and shooting image quality while at the shooting site.
In addition, since the chat communication function is implemented in the digital camera body, it is effective when priority is given to the shooting function and image quality of the digital camera. This includes cases where digital cameras are used for business purposes.
By registering and storing the chat message to be transmitted in advance in the digital camera, the photographer can easily perform chat communication via the digital camera.
A chat partner who transmits a captured image can be registered in the digital camera as an image shooting notification list, so that a chat message can be exchanged with a specific partner.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Image sharing system, 101 ... Digital camera, 102 ... Wireless LAN access point, 103 ... Chat server, 104 ... PC, 105 ... Image sharing server, 106 ... GPS receiver, 110 ... Network, 200 ... CPU, 210 ... ROM 211 ... Chat message generation unit 212 ... Presence information control unit 213 ... Chat communication unit 220 ... Flash memory 221 ... Chat server login authentication information 222 ... Chat member list 223 ... Chat message template 224 ... Setting information 225 ... Image shooting notification list, 240 ... Communication interface, 241 ... Wireless LAN, 242 ... Bluetooth, 250 ... User interface, 251 ... Shutter button, 252 ... Mode dial, 253 ... Menu button 290 ... Digital camera function unit, 1000 ... Application screen, 1010 ... Map, 1020, 1030, 1040 ... Photographed image data icon, 1021 ... Thumbnail information, 1022 ... Camera identification name, 1023 ... Camera operation mode, 1050 ... Detail screen, 1051 ... shot image, 1052 ... camera identification name, 1053 ... camera operation mode, 1054 ... detailed information, 1055 ... message creation field, 1056 ... message transmission button, 1057 ... chat communication log data

JP 2008-147944 A

Claims (7)

In an imaging device that obtains image data by imaging a subject,
Presence information generation means for generating presence information indicating the current state of the imaging device, image file generation means for generating an image file in which a message and the presence information are embedded in the image data, and an image providing an image sharing service An imaging apparatus comprising: communication means for transmitting and receiving the image file to and from a shared service system.   2. The GPS receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a GPS receiver that acquires current position information of the imaging device, wherein the image file generation unit embeds the position information of the imaging device received by the GPS receiver in the image file. Imaging device.   3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the message embedded in the image file is selected from a message template stored in the imaging apparatus in advance.   The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the presence information generating unit generates the presence information from an operation mode of the imaging apparatus or shooting setting information.   5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the message is a chat log, and the image file generation unit embeds a chat log of an arbitrary sender set in advance in the image file.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the message is a chat log, and the image file generation unit embeds a chat log for an arbitrary period set in advance in the image file. The imaging device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
An image sharing service system that provides an image sharing service that maps the data of the image file onto a map based on position information embedded in the image file;
An image sharing system comprising: a chat server that enables chat communication when an imaging device logs in.

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