Search support system and search support method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12136268-B2
Application number	US-202217578096-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2022
Priority date	Feb 17, 2021
Publication date	Nov 5, 2024
Grant date	Nov 5, 2024

Abstract

A search support system includes at least one camera, and a server capable of communicating with the camera. The camera transmits, to the server, a captured image of the object and image color information of the captured image. The server determines whether a search condition of the captured image set by a user includes a color condition of at least one of white, black, and gray. When the color condition is included in the search condition, the server excludes a captured image associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all captured images stored in the database from a search target, and outputs a search result including a captured image satisfying the search condition. When the color condition is not included in the search condition, the server outputs a search result including a captured image satisfying the search condition among all captured images stored in the database.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A search support system comprising:
at least one camera that captures an image of an object; and
a server capable of communicating with the camera,
wherein the camera transmits, to the server, a captured image of the object and image color information indicating that the captured image is either a black-and-white image or a color image,
wherein the server
stores the captured image and the image color information in association with each other in a database, and
determines whether or not a search condition of the captured image set based on a user operation includes a color condition of at least one of white color, black color, and gray color,

wherein when it is determined that the search condition includes the color condition, the server excludes a captured image associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all captured images stored in the database from a search target, and generates and outputs a search result including a captured image that satisfies the search condition,
wherein when it is determined that the search condition does not include the color condition, the server generates and outputs a search result including a captured image that satisfies the search condition among all captured images stored in the database,
wherein the server further determines whether or not the search condition includes the color condition and a first search condition for searching for a captured image of the color image among all captured images stored in the database, and
wherein when it is determined that the search condition includes the color condition and the first search condition, the server excludes a captured image associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all captured images stored in the database from a search target, and searches for a captured image that satisfies the search condition.

2. The search support system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the server further determines whether or not the search condition includes the color condition and a second search condition for searching for a captured image captured to an extent that a face of a person serving as the object is suitable for a face authentication among captured images that are stored in the database and are associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image, and
wherein when it is determined that the search condition includes the color condition and the second search condition, the server searches for a captured image that satisfies the search condition from the captured images that are associated with image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all of the captured images that are stored in the database.

3. The search support system according to claim 2 ,
wherein the server displays a screen for a user to designate the second search condition on a terminal, and receives the second search condition based on a user operation on the screen.

4. The search support system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the black-and-white image is the captured image captured at night.

5. The search support system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the color image is the captured image captured in daytime.

6. The search support system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the server displays a screen for a user to designate the first search condition on a terminal, and receives the first search condition based on a user operation on the screen.

7. A search support method executed by a computer communicably connected to at least one camera that captures an image of an object, the search support method comprising:
storing a captured image of the object and image color information indicating whether the captured image is a black-and-white image or a color image in association with each other in a database;
determining whether or not a search condition of the captured image set based on a user operation includes a color condition of at least one of white color, black color, and gray color;
excluding a captured image associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all captured images stored in the database from a search target, generating and outputting a search result including a captured image that satisfies the search condition, when it is determined that the search condition includes the color condition; and
generating and outputting a search result including a captured image that satisfies the search condition among all captured images stored in the database when it is determined that the search condition does not include the color condition,
wherein the determining includes determining whether or not the search condition includes the color condition and a first search condition for searching for a captured image of the color image among all captured images stored in the database, and
wherein when it is determined that the search condition includes the color condition and the first search condition, excluding a captured image associated with the image color information indicating the black-and-white image among all captured images stored in the database from a search target, and searches for a captured image that satisfies the search condition.

Assignees

• Panasonic I Pro Sensing Solutions Co Ltd
• I Pro Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fukushima Yoshitaka
• Shimada Takeshi
• Ootake Hiroaki
• Kise Takuya
• Fujii Masakazu

Classifications

• G06F16/5838

  using colour · CPC title

• G06F3/04847

  Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials · CPC title

• G06F3/0482

  Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus · CPC title

• G06V40/172

  Classification, e.g. identification · CPC title

• G06V40/173

  face re-identification, e.g. recognising unknown faces across different face tracks · CPC title