Abstract: An imaging device for receiving a radio signal output from an RF tag attached to a subject to acquire identification information of the subject, includes: an imaging unit for continuously imaging a plurality of subjects to acquire a moving image; a radio receiver for receiving a plurality of radio signals respectively output from RF tags attached to the subjects to acquire a plurality of units of subject identification information respectively indicated by the radio signals, the subject identification information identifying a corresponding subject, the radio receiver moving together with the imaging unit and having directivity in a direction approximately the same as an imaging direction of the imaging unit; a moving amount calculation unit for calculating a moving amount of the radio receiver based on the acquired moving image; and a subject direction specifying unit for specifying directions of the subjects respectively identified by the plurality of units of subject identification information based on cha

Abstract: One or more representative images extracted from an image group comprising a plurality of images is/are displayed. A part or all of the representative image or images, such as a main subject region or a background region including a search target, is/are selected from the representative image or images, and used for setting search conditions. The image group is searched for an image or images agreeing with the search conditions having been set.

Abstract: In a service provision method wherein a person is authenticated by a face image recording medium and granted a predetermined request right for provision of a predetermined service by presentation of the request right, a service provider issues a reservation by combining recognition data of the service and validation data specific thereto when the person having been authenticated requests the reservation based on the request right. When provision of the reserved service is requested, the request is received by presentation of a combination of recognition data and specific validation data. The service is provided in the case where the combination agrees with the combination used at the time of issuing the reservation. Therefore, the service can be provided to another person other than the person having the request right.

Abstract: A face image obtaining apparatus which includes: a biological information preliminarily obtaining means for preliminarily obtaining biological information of a user; a biological information determining means for determining whether the biological information obtained by the biological information preliminarily obtaining means is applicable to biometric authentication; a biological information storing means for storing the biological information as biometric authentication information if the biological information is determined to be applicable to biometric authentication by the biological information determining means; an input means for obtaining biological information of the user through inputting action of the user for obtaining a face image of the user; and a face image obtaining and storing means.

Abstract: It is an object to provide an image of a desired composition in case the user is unsatisfied with the composition of an image already captured. An image capturing apparatus for capturing an image is provided, wherein the apparatus includes an image capturing designation range acquiring unit for acquiring an image capturing designation range designated by a user; an image capturing unit for capturing an image of a range wider than the image capturing designation range; a storing unit for storing information indicative of the image capturing designation range corresponding to the captured image; and an image displaying unit for displaying at least an image within the image capturing designation range out of the captured image by making the user recognize the image capturing designation range.

Abstract: The image capturing apparatus instructs a user to take an image of a type not stored among types of images necessary for making an album.

Abstract: An output apparatus for easily outputting sounds associated with the captured images without getting bored users is provided. The image output apparatus includes: an image storage section for storing a plurality of captured images; an image output section for outputting the images stored in the image storage section; an image output control section for controlling the image output section to output the images stored in the image storage section; a sound storage section for storing a plurality of recorded sounds, a sound output section for outputting the sounds stored in the sound storage section; and a sound output control section, when the image output section outputs the image, for selecting a first sound among the plurality of sounds stored in the sound storage section and causing the sound output section to output the same, and when the image output section outputs the same image again, for selecting a second sound different from the first sound and causing the sound output section to output the same.

Abstract: The sense of contrast perceived by a viewer of an image is quantified and adequate image processing is carried out on image data based on the sense of contrast. Contrast-sense quantification means generates unsharp image data of the image data and then generates a histogram of the unsharp image data. Since the histogram of the image data includes lightness information of details of the image, a distribution width thereof does not represent the contrast perceived by the viewer of the image as a whole. However, since the histogram of the unsharp image data excludes information of the details, a distribution width of the unsharp image data represents the contrast of the overall image. The distribution width of the histogram of the unsharp image data is found as the sense of contrast and input to processing means. In the processing means, tone conversion processing is carried out on the image data by changing a tone conversion LUT based on the sense of contrast, and processed image data are obtained.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus or reproducing apparatus which allows a user to easily obtain a desirable sound and image is provided.

Abstract: The sense of contrast perceived by a viewer of an image is quantified and adequate image processing is carried out on image data based on the sense of contrast. Contrast-sense quantification means generates unsharp image data of the image data and then generates a histogram of the unsharp image data. Since the histogram of the image data includes lightness information of details of the image, a distribution width thereof does not represent the contrast perceived by the viewer of the image as a whole. However, since the histogram of the unsharp image data excludes information of the details, a distribution width of the unsharp image data represents the contrast of the overall image. The distribution width of the histogram of the unsharp image data is found as the sense of contrast and input to processing means. In the processing means, tone conversion processing is carried out on the image data by changing a tone conversion LUT based on the sense of contrast, and processed image data are obtained.

Abstract: The synthesized image generation method for generating synthesized image data by extracting face images of characters contained in image data and synthesizing the extracted face images with a template into a plurality of synthesis positions which have been set in advance on the template, the method comprising the steps of: forming groups of the synthesis positions by combining the adjacent synthesis positions; determining an order of the groups according to number of synthesis positions belonging to each of the groups; detecting the face images of the characters contained in the image data; detecting a relationship between the detected face images; distributing the face images to the groups in the determined order according to the relationship between the face images; and generating the synthesized image data by synthesizing the distributed face images with the template into the synthesis positions of the groups.

Abstract: For generating a photo album of an event such as wedding, images to be inserted in image insertion areas in a template of the photo album can be selected easily. A professional photographer photographs the bride and groom of a wedding. Images are read from a developed film and stored in a file server. An editing screen is displayed including a template display field having the template therein and a catalog display field having a catalog of the images therein. When an operator selects any one of pages in the template, condition specification information sets comprising conditions for representing a state of images to be inserted in the image insertion areas in the selected page are referred to, and page fitting images that satisfy a common condition in the condition specification information sets are sifted from the catalog of the images.

Abstract: The image playback device includes: an image database storing, in association with one another, specific places in a predetermined region, photographed images relating to the specific places, position information of photographed places of the photographed images, and photographing time period information of the photographed images; a display section displaying the specific places; a selecting section for selecting a specific place; an operation section for instructing display, in the order of the eras, of the photographed images relating to the specific place selected by the selecting section; and a display control section which, in accordance with operation of the operation section, reads-out the photographed images relating to the specific place from the image database in the order of the eras, and displays the photographed images at the display section.

Abstract: For generating a photo album of an event such as wedding, images to be inserted in image insertion areas in a template of the photo album can be selected easily. A professional photographer photographs the bride and groom of a wedding. Images are read from a developed film and stored in a file server. An editing screen is displayed including a template display field having the template therein and a catalog display field having a catalog of the images therein. When an operator selects any one of the image insertion areas in the template, a condition specification information set representing a state of the image to be inserted in the selected image insertion area is referred to, and appropriate images that agree with the condition specification information set are sifted from the catalog of the images.

Abstract: An image accumulation device is provided so as to include: an input unit that inputs, as input images, images of specific shot locations; an image database in which specific locations in a predetermined region, shot images relating to the specific locations, position information of shot locations of the shot images and shooting time information of the shot images are associated and stored; and an identification unit that identifies, on the basis of the input images and the image database, at least one of specific locations corresponding to the shot locations of the input images and shooting times of the input images

Abstract: For generating photo albums on events such as weddings, the photo albums can always be generated in the same quality. A professional photographer photographs the bride and groom on a wedding. Images are read from a developed film and stored in a file server. A template used for generating a photo album is added with composition information representing composition of images to be inserted in image insertion areas therein. When an operator selects one of the images to be inserted in any one of the image insertion areas with reference to an editing screen having a catalog display field and a template display field, processing information representing a magnification ratio and/or a trimming position is generated based on the composition information so that the selected image has the composition appropriate for the image insertion area. The selected image is processed according to the processing information.

Abstract: A collation system for selecting a registrant matched with a passer-by among a plurality of registrants registered in advance includes a photographing section for photographing the passer-by, a candidate searching section for searching a plurality of candidates for the registrant matched with the passer-by among the plurality of registrants based on a first image of the passer-by photographed by the photographing section, and a passer-by collating section for selecting the registrant matched with the passer-by among the plurality of candidates based on a second image of the passer-by photographed by the photographing section when the passer-by is closer to the photographing section than when the first image is photographed.

Abstract: An imaging device for receiving a radio signal output from an RF tag attached to a subject to acquire identification information of the subject, includes: an imaging unit for continuously imaging a plurality of subjects to acquire a moving image; a radio receiver for receiving a plurality of radio signals respectively output from RF tags attached to the subjects to acquire a plurality of units of subject identification information respectively indicated by the radio signals, the subject identification information identifying a corresponding subject, the radio receiver moving together with the imaging unit and having directivity in a direction approximately the same as an imaging direction of the imaging unit; a moving amount calculation unit for calculating a moving amount of the radio receiver based on the acquired moving image; and a subject direction specifying unit for specifying directions of the subjects respectively identified by the plurality of units of subject identification information based on cha

Abstract: An authentication system is provided that can carry out accurate authentication efficiently. The authentication system includes the first imaging device, provided in a path of a passerby, for capturing the first authentication image of the passerby; the second imaging device for capturing the second authentication image of said passerby to contain the larger amount of information than the first authentication image, the second imaging device being provided in the path of the passerby in such a manner that the passerby passes by the first imaging device and the second imaging device in that order; the first authentication unit for carrying out the first authentication of the passerby; and the second authentication unit for carrying out the second authentication of the passerby based on the result of the first authentication and the second authentication image.

Abstract: A partial image identifying section extracts objects from an inputted image inputted by an image inputting section, and identifies types of the objects. A characteristic information generating section generates characteristic information of each object on the basis of a characteristic amount computed for each object. A plurality of partial image databases are provided for the respective types of objects. For each object, a degree of similarity computing section computes, on the basis of both characteristic information, degrees of similarity with all objects registered in the partial image database which corresponds to the type of the object. A photographing time period specifying section specifies a photographing time period, from the respective degrees of similarity computed by the degree of similarity computing section. A registering section registers extracted objects in association with the specified photographing time period, in the databases of the types corresponding to the objects.