Tracking assistance device, a tracking assistance system and a tracking assistance method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9357181-B2
Application number	US-201414326683-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2014
Priority date	Jul 11, 2013
Publication date	May 31, 2016
Grant date	May 31, 2016

Abstract

A tracking assistance device includes: a target-to-be-tracked setting unit that, in response to an input operation performed by a monitoring person on one of display views to designate a moving object to be tracked, sets the designated moving object as a target to be tracked, the display views displaying captured images taken by respective cameras and stored in a recorder; a camera selection unit that, based on tracing information obtained by processing the captured images, selects any of the cameras inferred to have taken an image of the moving object designated as the target to be tracked from among the cameras other than the camera corresponding to the display view on which the target to be tracked was designated; and a playback unit that causes the captured images taken by each camera selected by the camera selection unit to be displayed in a corresponding one of the display views.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tracking assistance device for assisting a monitoring person in performing a task of tracking a moving object to be tracked, by displaying a screen on a display device, the screen including a plurality of display views displaying captured images taken by respective cameras and stored in an image storage, the plurality of display views being arranged on a map image representing a monitored area in accordance with an actual arrangement of the cameras, the tracking assistance device comprising:
a target-to-be-tracked setter that causes the captured images stored in the image storage to be displayed in the plurality of display views in accordance with a specified search condition, including a capture time, and, in response to an input operation performed by the monitoring person on one of the plurality of display views to designate a moving object to be tracked, sets the designated moving object as a target to be tracked;
a camera selector that, based on tracing information obtained by processing the captured images, selects at least one camera inferred to have taken an image of the moving object designated as the target to be tracked, from the cameras other than a camera corresponding to the display view on which the target to be tracked was designated;
a confirmation image presenter that extracts a confirmation image, based on the tracing information relating to the moving object set as the target to be tracked, from the captured images taken by each of the at least one camera selected by the camera selector, and causes the display device to display a target-to-be-tracked confirmation screen including the confirmation image, the confirmation image comprising a captured image taken by each of the at least one camera selected by the camera selector when tracing of the moving object started and supposed to include the moving object; and
a playback device that performs a continuous playback in which the captured images from which the confirmation image is extracted by the confirmation image presenter are displayed in the plurality of display views sequentially along with passage of time.

2. The tracking assistance device according to claim 1 , further comprising a screen generator including:
a target-to-be-tracked indicator that provides a first highlighting to highlight a moving object frame associated with the moving object set as the target to be tracked; and
a display view indicator that provides a second highlighting to highlight a display frame associated with the display view in which the moving object set as the target to be tracked currently appears in a continuous playback screen in which the continuous playback is performed.

3. The tracking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein, when tracing of the moving object set as the target to be tracked is interrupted in the tracing information, the display view indicator simultaneously indicates two of the display views that display captured images including the moving object set as the target to be tracked respectively before and after a period in which the tracing is interrupted.

4. The tracking assistance device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a candidates selector that, when there is an error in the tracing information relating to the moving object set as the target to be tracked, selects, as a candidate, a moving object having a high degree of relevance with the moving object set as the target to be tracked based on the tracing information;
a candidate image presenter that extracts, as a candidate image, a captured image in which the moving object selected as the candidate is included, and causes the display device to display a candidate selection screen in which the candidate image is arranged such that the monitoring person selects on the candidate selection screen a candidate image in which the moving object designated as the target to be tracked is included; and
a tracing information corrector that changes the target to be tracked to the moving object included in the candidate image selected on the candidate selection screen, and corrects the tracing information relating to the moving object designated as the target to be tracked.

5. The tracking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein processes performed by the camera selector and the playback device are performed with regard to events occurring before, after, or both before and after a capture time of a target-to-be-tracked designation image on which the monitoring person designated the moving object to be tracked.

6. A tracking assistance system for assisting a monitoring person in performing a task of tracking a moving object to be tracked by displaying a screen on a display device, the screen including a plurality of display views displaying captured images taken by respective cameras and stored in an image storage, the plurality of display views being arranged on a map image representing a monitored area in accordance with an actual arrangement of the cameras, the tracking assistance system comprising:
the cameras that take images of the monitored area;
the display device that displays the screen; and
a plurality of information processing devices,
wherein the plurality of information processing devices jointly include:
a tracing processor that traces a moving object detected from the captured images taken by the cameras and generates tracing information of the moving object;
a target-to-be-tracked setter that causes the captured images stored in the image storage to be displayed in the plurality of display views in accordance with a specified search condition, including a capture time and, in response to an input operation performed by the monitoring person on one of the plurality of display views to designate a moving object to be tracked, sets the designated moving object as a target to be tracked;
a camera selector that, based on the tracing information obtained from the tracing processor, selects at least one camera inferred to have taken an image of the moving object designated as the target to be tracked, from the cameras other than a camera corresponding to the display view on which the target to be tracked was designated;
a confirmation image presenter that extracts a confirmation image, based on the tracing information relating to the moving object set as the target to be tracked, from the captured images taken by each of the at least one camera selected by the camera selector, and causes the display device to display a target-to-be-tracked confirmation screen including the confirmation image, the confirmation image comprising a captured image taken by each of the at least one camera selected by the camera selector when tracing of the moving object was started and supposed to include the moving object; and
a playback device that performs continuous playback in which the captured images from which the confirmation image is extracted by the confirmation image presenter are displayed in the plurality of display views sequentially along with passage of time.

7. A tracking assistance method for assisting a monitoring person in performing a task of tracking a moving object to be tracked by displaying a screen on a display device, the screen including a plurality of display views displaying captured images taken by respective cameras and stored in an image storage, the plurality of display views being arranged on a map image representing a monitored area in accordance with an actual arrangement of the cameras, the method comprising:
causing the captured images stored in the image storage to be displayed in the plurality of display views in accordance with a specified search condition, including a capture time, and, in response to an input operation performed by the monitoring person on one of the pl

Assignees

• Panasonic Corp
• Panasonic Intellectual Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fujimatsu Takeshi
• Hirasawa Sonoko
• Yamamoto Hiroyuki

Classifications

• G06K9/00362

  Physics · mapped topic

• G11B27/30

  on the same track as the main recording · CPC title

• H04N7/181 Primary

  for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources · CPC title

• G06K9/00718

  Physics · mapped topic

• G11B27/34

  Indicating arrangements  {(indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D)} · CPC title