JP2016018264A - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

Security is ensured while improving user convenience.
An image forming apparatus includes a camera capable of capturing a moving image and has a function of analyzing a user's face recognition function and gesture. After receiving a security print request from the user, when the user approaches and performs a gesture selected from a plurality of gestures registered in advance by the user, the user determines that he wants to print and starts printing. . Even if the user who issued the security print request approaches, if the gesture is not performed, it is determined that the user does not perform printing, and printing is not performed. Thus, since it is determined whether or not to start printing based on the presence or absence of a gesture, printing can be performed without impairing security.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present application relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a program.

  When printing using an image forming device that has a security authentication function, the user issues a security print request from the PC to the image forming device, goes to the front of the image forming device, and authenticates using an IC card or the like. And print to obtain the discharged paper. After authentication, the user must wait in front of the image forming apparatus while the image forming apparatus is warming up or performing printing processing.

  It is desired to improve convenience by reducing the waiting time of the user while ensuring the security of the printed matter. Therefore, by measuring the distance between the image forming apparatus and the user who issued the print request, predicting the time to reach the image forming apparatus, and completing the printing before the user reaches, the user's A technique for eliminating the waiting time is already known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, the technology that measures the distance between the image forming apparatus and the user, predicts the time to reach the image forming apparatus, and completes the printing before the user arrives, makes the user stand up for printing. If not, the printed matter is output by mistake, and security cannot be secured.

  In Patent Document 1, in order not to wait for the user who performs security printing, the distance between the image forming apparatus and the user who issued the print request is measured, and the time that the user reaches the image forming apparatus is predicted. An invention is disclosed in which printing is completed before the time reaches.

However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that printed matter is output even if the user does not stand up for printing.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to ensure security while improving user convenience.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a printing means capable of security printing, a camera capable of capturing moving images, a face recognition means capable of face recognition, and a gesture capable of gesture recognition. A person who approaches the image forming apparatus main body by face recognition, the person is the person who issued the print request, and performs a predetermined registered gesture When it is recognized that the printing is performed, it is determined that printing is to be executed, and control means for controlling to start printing is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to ensure security while improving user convenience.

2 is an explanatory diagram of a hardware block diagram of an image forming apparatus. FIG. It is explanatory drawing about a whole connection structure. It is explanatory drawing about the flow at the time of performing security printing by this invention. It is explanatory drawing about the table | surface for authenticating with face information and gesture with respect to an image forming apparatus. It is an example of the screen of the panel 11 at the time of performing gesture registration. It is explanatory drawing about the specific content of gesture definition. It is explanatory drawing about multiple registration of gesture definition. It is explanatory drawing about the content of the gesture definition at the time of the some gesture being registered. It is explanatory drawing about the method of strengthening security and performing security printing, without impairing convenience as much as possible.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
<Overview>
The present invention has the following characteristics when performing security printing to ensure that security is ensured and to prevent the user from waiting as much as possible.
In short, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a camera that can capture a moving image, and has a function of analyzing a user's face recognition function and gesture. After receiving a security print request from the user, the image forming apparatus determines that the user wants to perform printing when the user approaches and performs a gesture selected from a plurality of gestures registered in advance by the user, Start printing. Even if the user who issued the security print request approaches, if the gesture is not performed, it is determined that the user does not perform printing, and printing is not performed. Thus, since it is determined whether or not to start printing based on the presence or absence of a gesture, printing can be performed without impairing security.

<Configuration>
The features of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a hardware block diagram of the image forming apparatus.
In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 includes a panel 11, a scanner 12, a controller board 13, a printer 14, a FAX 15, an ID card reader 16, and a camera 17. Controller board 13 includes scanner I / F 18, panel I / F 19, image processing H / W (hardware) 20, nonvolatile memory 21, printer I / F 22, CPU 23, FAX I / F 24, RAM 25, network I / F 26, It has a card reader I / F27 and a camera I / F28.

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 23 is mounted on the controller board and controls the entire image forming apparatus 10.
The image forming apparatus 10 receives print data from a network (not shown), receives FAX reception data from the FAX 15, and receives scan data from the scanner 12 as input data. After the input data is shaped, it is output to the printer 14 and printed on paper, or sent to a device connected to the outside through a network connection or FAX 15. Some image forming apparatuses 10 have an ID card reader 16. This is a security printing function that, when a user issues a print request, does not print immediately upon receiving the print request, but performs printing after the user performs authentication by holding the ID card over the ID card reader 16 It has something. The gesture recognizing means, the face recognizing means, and the authenticating means are realized by software stored in the nonvolatile memory 21, for example, and the main operation is the CPU 23.

  This type of security printing function is used when a large number of people share an image forming device, but if they forget to go and get a print, they can see the print. This is because there is a risk of being taken away. The security printing function is a function for solving such a security problem. As another user authentication method, a method of performing authentication by performing face recognition using a camera is also conceivable. In this case, authentication can be performed by analyzing the user's face image acquired by the camera and discriminating the user.

The image forming apparatus 10 of the present invention is premised on having a camera 17 capable of capturing a moving image and having a function of performing face recognition and gesture recognition. The camera 17 is assumed to be a camera that can shoot a wide angle or a camera that can shoot 360 degrees in all directions so that a user's movement can be captured in a wide range.
Print data for performing security printing is temporarily stored in the nonvolatile memory 21. Instead of the nonvolatile memory 21, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) may be used. Alternatively, a server may be arranged outside and the server may hold print data.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the overall connection configuration.
This figure describes the image forming apparatus 10, PCs 31, 33, and 34 that issue print requests to the image forming apparatus 10, and a server 32 that holds print data for security printing.
The user issues a security print request from the PCs 31, 33, and 34. The print data is held in the image forming apparatus 10 or the server 32. Since the PCs 31, 33 and 34 and the image forming apparatus 10 are separated from each other, the user has to walk to the front of the image forming apparatus 10 in order to obtain a printed matter.
When the authentication is completed, the image forming apparatus 10 prints the print data held therein or acquires the print data from the server 32 and performs printing. The server 32 may or may not be present and is not relevant to the essence of the present invention.

  Whether the user performs security printing or normal printing that is not security printing may be selected as a print driver option. Alternatively, as a policy of the company / department, security printing can be enforced for the entire company / department. However, how security printing is performed is not related to the essence of the present invention.

<Operation>
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a flow when performing security printing according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the user performs security printing in the connection configuration of FIG. However, it is assumed that the security print data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 21 or HDD in the image forming apparatus 10.
When the user issues a security print request (S1), the print data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 21 or HDD of the image forming apparatus 10. The stored print data is held until user authentication is performed and printing is completed (S2).

The user who performed printing determines whether or not registration has been completed (S3).
If the user who issued the security print request has not registered for camera video authentication (S3 / No), authentication using camera video cannot be performed. Authentication is performed (S8).

If it has been registered (S3 / Yes), the process proceeds to step S4.
The image forming apparatus 10 includes a camera 17 that can capture a moving image, and can determine whether a person is approaching the image forming apparatus 10 by analyzing the acquired moving image (S4, S5). If a person is approaching (S5 / Yes), it is determined whether or not the person is a user who issued a security print request (S6). In order to make this determination, it is possible to determine whether or not the user has performed security printing by face recognition processing using a moving image acquired from the camera 17. In order to perform face recognition, a face image must be registered in the image forming apparatus 10 in advance.

If the approaching person is a user who has performed security printing (S7 / Yes), it is determined whether or not the person has made a predetermined gesture. Whether or not a predetermined gesture has been performed can be determined from the moving image acquired from the camera 17 by gesture recognition processing (S9, S10). In order to perform the gesture recognition process, a predetermined gesture must be registered in the image forming apparatus 10 in advance.
When the user who issued the security print request performs a predetermined gesture (S10 / Yes), the image forming apparatus 10 determines that the user is picking up the printed material and holds it in the nonvolatile memory 21 or the HDD. Print data is taken out and printed (S11).
If no person is approaching at step S5 (S5 / No), and if the person approaching at step S7 is not the user who made the security print request (S7 / No), the process returns to step S4.
When the approaching person is not performing a predetermined gesture (S10 / No), it is determined whether or not the user is away by analysis from the moving image of the camera 17 (S12, S13), and the user is away ( S13 / Yes), returning to step S4. If the user is not away (S13 / No), the process proceeds to step S9.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a table for authenticating the image forming apparatus with face information and gestures.
In order to perform authentication according to the present invention, the user must register his / her ID number and his / her face image in the image forming apparatus 10 in advance. The image forming apparatus 10 has a table regarding registered users as shown in FIG. 4 in the internal nonvolatile memory 21 or HDD. Each entry in the table holds information about a single user, which consists of an ID number, face image file name, and gesture definition. It is assumed that a face image file can have a plurality of face image data in one file. The gesture definition will be described with reference to FIG.
When registering a new user, information about the user is added to a new entry in the table.
A user who performs registration goes to the front of the image forming apparatus 10, operates the panel 11, and enters a registration mode. The user inputs his / her ID number and stands in front of the camera 17 to cause the image forming apparatus 10 to acquire an image of his / her face. In order to improve the recognition rate, it is desirable to acquire a plurality of image data while changing the angle of the face. Furthermore, a predetermined gesture is selected from the menu on the panel 11 and registered. This method will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus 10 acquires the ID number, the user's face image, and gesture definition information, and stores them in the internal nonvolatile memory 21 or a new entry in the registered user table in the HDD. In addition, the face image file is also stored in the nonvolatile memory 21 or the HDD.
With this registration operation, the image forming apparatus 10 can perform authentication using a moving image from the camera 17 when the registered user performs security printing.
When the user issues a secure print request, the user's ID number is added to the transmitted print data. When the image forming apparatus 10 receives a security print request and receives print data, the added ID number can be acquired. The image forming apparatus 10 searches the registered user table for the obtained ID number, and when it finds a corresponding entry, reads the face image file from the nonvolatile memory 21 or the HDD. When a person approaches by a moving image from the camera 17, a face image is extracted from the moving image, compared with the face image data in the face image file, and whether or not it is the person who issued the print request. to decide.
If they are the same person, the user's gesture action based on the moving image from the camera 17 is compared with the registered gesture definition. If it is determined that the user is performing the same gesture as the registered gesture, the image forming apparatus 10 determines that the user is about to print and performs printing.
If the ID number obtained from the security print data is not found in the registered user table, the camera 17 does not authenticate with a moving image. In this case, it is necessary to perform authentication using a conventional technique such as an ID card reader. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining gesture definition registration.

FIG. 5 is an example of the screen of the panel 11 when performing gesture registration.
The user registers gestures by left hand movement, right hand movement, and combinations of movements. Three actions are displayed as options for the left-hand action and the right-hand action, and one can be selected for each. One of the five combinations can be selected as described above. When the registration button is pressed while selecting one from a combination of right hand movement, left hand movement, and movement, a gesture is registered. For example, if you select and register "Raise your left hand" as your left hand action, "Shake your right hand" as your right hand action, and "Left hand action after your right hand action" as a combination of actions, you say "Raise your left hand after shaking your right hand" The gesture is registered.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of specific contents of the gesture definition.
FIG. 6 shows a specific example of the contents of the gesture definition in the registered user table of FIG. Gestures are defined by left hand movement, right hand movement, and combination movement. L represents a left hand motion, R represents a right hand motion, and C represents a combination motion. Numerical values corresponding to L, R, and C correspond to the menu display of FIG. For example, in the left hand motion, 1 represents “raise left hand”, 2 represents “turn left hand”, and 3 represents “shake left hand”. L = 1, R = 3, and C = 2 indicate that the left hand motion is “raise the left hand”, the right hand motion is “shake the right hand”, and the combined motion is “right hand motion followed by left hand motion”. Therefore, it represents a gesture of “raising the left hand after waving the right hand”. When the image forming apparatus 10 receives the security print request, the image forming apparatus 10 reads this information, and compares the gesture motion from the camera moving image with the gesture information to determine whether the user has performed the predetermined gesture registered. To do.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a plurality of gesture definition registrations.
It is also possible to register a plurality of gestures. In that case, after the registration button is pressed on the gesture registration screen of FIG. 5, the screen transitions to a screen as shown in FIG. If you press the “Registration Complete” button on this screen, gesture registration is complete. To register another gesture, press the “Register another gesture” button. If it does so, it will return to the screen of FIG. 6 and another gesture can be registered now.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the gesture definition when a plurality of gestures are registered.
FIG. 8 shows a specific example of gesture definition when a plurality of gestures are registered. In this example, two gestures are registered. As in the description of FIG. 5, (L = 1, R = 3, C = 2) represents a gesture of “raising the left hand after waving the right hand”. Similarly, (L = 2, R = 2, C = 1) represents a gesture of “turning the left hand after turning the left hand”.

  When receiving the security print request, the image forming apparatus 10 reads this information and compares the gesture motions from the camera moving image to determine whether or not the user has performed the registered gesture. If a plurality of gestures are registered, it is determined that the user is trying to print when the user performs any one gesture. In the example of FIG. 8, when it is recognized that the user has made the gesture of raising the left hand after waving the right hand or the gesture of turning the right hand after turning the left hand, it is determined that the user is going to print.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a method for performing security printing with enhanced security without impairing convenience as much as possible.
FIG. 9 is almost the same as FIG. 3, but only steps S30 and S31 for finally printing are different. That is, steps S1 to S10, S12, and S13 are the same as steps S21 to S29, S32, and S33, and thus description thereof is omitted.
After performing face authentication and gesture recognition using a camera moving image, the image forming apparatus 10 warms up the printer 14 so that printing can be performed immediately, and generates a print image from the print data. After the user authenticates with the ID card reader 16, the image forming apparatus 10 performs printing. Since the printer 14 has already been warmed up and a print image has been completed, the user does not have to wait much.
With this method, it is possible to avoid the problem of erroneous printing when the accuracy of face authentication and gesture authentication is not high. In addition, the convenience that prevents the user from waiting as much as possible is enhanced.
If the ID card reader 16 does not authenticate within a specified time even if the face authentication or gesture recognition is mistakenly performed and the print image is generated, the warm-up is canceled and the print image is discarded. If this is the case, there will be little harm.

<Effect>
The image forming apparatus has a camera capable of capturing a moving image, and has a function of analyzing a user's face recognition function and gesture. After receiving the security print request from the user, when the user approaches and performs a gesture registered in advance by the user, the image forming apparatus determines that the user wants to perform printing and starts printing. Even if the user who issued the security print request approaches, if the gesture is not performed, it is determined that the user does not perform printing, and printing is not performed. As described above, since it is determined whether or not to start printing based on the presence or absence of a gesture, printing can be performed without impairing security. As a result, the gesture recognition function can accurately determine whether or not the user has actually come to print, and can perform printing while ensuring security.

<Program>
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention described above is realized by a program that causes a computer to execute processing. Examples of the computer include general-purpose computers such as personal computers and workstations, but the present invention is not limited to this. Therefore, as an example, a case where the function of the present invention is realized by a program will be described below.

For example,
A computer-executable program of an image forming apparatus having a printing unit capable of security printing, a camera capable of capturing moving images, a face recognition unit capable of face recognition, and a gesture recognition unit capable of gesture recognition Because
On the computer,
Printing is performed when the facial expression recognition unit identifies a person approaching the image forming apparatus main body, recognizes that the person is the person who issued the print request, and is performing a registered predetermined gesture Procedures to determine what to do,
A procedure for the printing means to start printing;
A program for executing

  Such a program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

<Storage medium>
Here, examples of the storage medium include computer-readable storage media such as CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), and CD-R, semiconductor memories such as flash memory, RAM, ROM, and FeRAM, and HDD.

  CD-ROM is an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. Flexible disk means Flexible Disk (FD). CD-R is an abbreviation for CD Recordable. RAM is an abbreviation for Random-Access Memory. ROM is an abbreviation for Read-Only Memory. FeRAM is an abbreviation for Ferroelectric RAM and means a ferroelectric memory. HDD is an abbreviation for Hard Disc Drive.

  The above-described embodiment shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. is there.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Panel 12 Scanner 13 Controller board 14 Printer 15 FAX
16 ID card reader 17 Camera 18 Scanner I / F
19 Panel I / F
20 Image processing H / W
21 Non-volatile memory 22 Printer I / F
23 CPU
24 FAX I / F
25 RAM
26 Network I / F
27 Card reader I / F
28 Camera 31, 33, 34 PC
32 servers

JP 2011-005779 A

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus having a printing unit capable of security printing, a camera capable of capturing a moving image, a face recognition unit capable of face recognition, and a gesture recognition unit capable of gesture recognition,
When a person who approaches the image forming apparatus main body is identified by face recognition, and the person is the person who issued the print request and recognizes that the registered predetermined gesture is performed, printing is executed. An image forming apparatus comprising control means for determining and controlling to start printing.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print data for security printing is held in a server on a network, and the control unit acquires the print data from the server after authentication by the authentication unit is completed, An image forming apparatus controlled to perform printing.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the authentication by the authentication unit is completed, the control unit performs warm-up of the printing unit and generation of a print image from the print data. An image forming apparatus that performs control so that printing is performed after authentication is performed.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein print data for security printing is held in a server on the network, and the control unit acquires the print data from the server after the authentication by the authentication unit is completed and prints the print data. An image forming apparatus that is controlled as described above.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of gestures can be registered, and the control unit is one of the registered gestures when the user performs security printing. An image forming apparatus that performs control so as to execute printing if the operation is performed.   When a person who approaches the image forming apparatus main body is identified by face recognition, and the person is the person who issued the print request and recognizes that the registered predetermined gesture is performed, printing is executed. An image forming method comprising: determining and controlling to start printing. A computer-executable program of an image forming apparatus having a printing unit capable of security printing, a camera capable of capturing moving images, a face recognition unit capable of face recognition, and a gesture recognition unit capable of gesture recognition Because
In the computer,
Printing is performed when the face recognition unit identifies a person approaching the image forming apparatus body, recognizes that the person is the person who issued the print request, and is performing a registered predetermined gesture Procedures to determine what to do,
A procedure for the printing means to start printing;
A program for running.

Images