Image capturing apparatus and image capturing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9648195-B2
Application number	US-201414528122-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2014
Priority date	Nov 6, 2013
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

There is provided an image capturing apparatus. A first image capturing unit captures an image of a subject to generate image data. A second image capturing unit captures an image of a user who captures the image of the subject, for a predetermined period before and after the image of the subject is captured. An obtainment unit obtains first classification information by analyzing, in the image captured by the second image capturing unit, each of a state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and a state of the user after the image of the subject is captured. A recording unit records the first classification information in association with the image data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
a first image capturing device;
a second image capturing device;
a processor; and
a memory having stored thereon instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
capture an image of a subject to generate image data using the first image capturing device;
capture an image of a user who captures the image of the subject using the second image capturing device, for a predetermined period before and after the image of the subject is captured;
obtain first classification information by analyzing, in the image captured by the second image capturing device, each of a state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and a state of the user after the image of the subject is captured; and
record the first classification information in association with the image data.

2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first classification information is obtained based on a combination of the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured.

3. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein to obtain is configured to execute at least any of:
obtaining first information as the first classification information, in a case where the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured includes a smile and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured includes a smile;
obtaining second information as the first classification information, in a case where the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured includes a smile and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured does not include a smile;
obtaining third information as the first classification information, in a case where the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured does not include a smile and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured includes a smile; and
obtaining fourth information as the first classification information, in a case where the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured does not include a smile and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured does not include a smile.

4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to
store the first classification information set beforehand to be added to the image data, based on a combination of the state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and the state of the user after the image of the subject is captured.

5. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a display device,
wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
perform control so that a through image of the subject is obtained by the first image capturing device and displayed on the display device before the image of the subject is captured, and the image data is displayed on the display device after the image of the subject is captured; and
determine whether or not a gaze of the user captured by the second image capturing device is directed to the display device,
wherein to determine is configured to perform the determination when the through image is displayed according to the control and when the image data is displayed according to the control, and
to record is configured to record information indicating a result of the determination as to whether or not a gaze of the user captured by the second image capturing device is directed to the display device, in association with the image data.

6. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein to record is configured to record moving image data obtained by the second image capturing device, in association with the image data.

7. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first classification information is based on analysis of a facial expression of the user or based on analysis of a gesture of the user.

8. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein to record is configured to record reduced image data that is based on an image obtained by the second image capturing device at a time of capturing the image of the subject, in association with moving image data obtained by the second image capturing device.

9. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to
collect voice of the user for the predetermined period, to generate voice data,
wherein to obtain is configured to obtain second classification information, by analyzing each of a part of the voice data corresponding to the voice collected before the image of the subject is captured and a part of the voice data corresponding to the voice collected after the image of the subject is captured, and
to record is configured to record the second classification information in association with the image data.

10. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the analysis of the voice data includes determining whether or not a volume level of the voice data exceeds a threshold, and
the second classification information includes information indicating a result of the determination as to whether or not a volume level of the voice data exceeds a threshold.

11. An image capturing method by an image capturing apparatus comprising a first image capturing device and a second image capturing device, the image capturing method comprising:
capturing an image of a subject to generate image data using the first image capturing device;
capturing an image of a user who captures the image of the subject using the second image capturing device, for a predetermined period before and after the image of the subject is captured;
obtaining first classification information by analyzing, in the image captured by the second image capturing device, each of a state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and a state of the user after the image of the subject is captured; and
recording the first classification information in association with the image data.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program for causing a computer to execute an image capturing method by an image capturing apparatus comprising a first image capturing device and a second image capturing device, the image capturing method comprising:
capturing an image of a subject to generate image data using the first image capturing device;
capturing an image of a user who captures the image of the subject using the second image capturing device, for a predetermined period before and after the image of the subject is captured;
obtaining first classification information by analyzing, in the image captured by the second image capturing device, each of a state of the user before the image of the subject is captured and a state of the user after the image of the subject is captured; and
recording the first classification information in association with the image data.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Kaku Wataru
• Takatani Keita
• Watanabe Kazuhiro

Classifications

• G06F2218/12

  Classification; Matching · CPC title

• H04N23/80

  Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/667

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/45

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• H04N23/64

  Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image · CPC title