JPH11112857A - Image control apparatus, control method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To make it possible to confirm details of an object in a video. SOLUTION: A camera 10 according to an instruction from an external device.
When the angle of 03 is changed, it is determined whether or not the object (copier system 1007) is within the field of view. If it is determined that the object is within the field of view, an anchor is set near the image area of the object so that information unique to the object is transmitted when the object is clicked, and an external device is set together with the captured image. Transfer to When an object is specified on the screen of the external device, there is a file transfer request for the object in accordance with the description of the anchor, and the file is transferred to the external device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video control apparatus, a control method, and a storage medium, and more particularly, to a video control apparatus, a control method, and a storage medium for transferring an input video to a client in accordance with a request from a remote client. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system capable of connecting a remote camera server (a device for controlling a camera and transferring a photographed image to a client) via an existing network so that the photographed image can be viewed from the client has been proposed. The applicant has already filed several applications.

[0003] The camera server uses a general-purpose device such as a personal computer or a work station, and is equipped with a card (or board) having a video capture function, and a video camera is connected to the card. Further, in order to allow the client to control the camera angle (pan, tilt, zoom, etc.) of the camera server, the camera device can change the zoom value, and the camera device can be mounted on a predetermined camera platform. ,
There is also a proposal to output a signal for controlling the angle from the camera server main body to the camera device via a predetermined interface (for example, a serial interface that a personal computer has as a standard).

On the other hand, the client is also constituted by a general-purpose device such as a personal computer and a workstation.

[0005]

However, in the above proposal, although it is possible to confirm a video taken by a remote camera, for each displayed object, more information than the video of the object is displayed. I haven't gotten it.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a video control apparatus, a control method, and a storage medium that enable the details of an object in a video to be confirmed.

[0007]

In order to solve this problem, for example, an image control device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a video control device that includes a video input unit and transfers an image input according to a request from a remote client to a client, and stores object-specific information in a range that can be input by the imaging input unit. Means for transferring an image input by the video input means to the client, when an image stored in the storage means is included in an image to be transferred, the image position indicating the object is set to the client side. The first transfer control means for incorporating the predetermined information and transferring the image so that the instruction request information is returned when a predetermined instruction is given, and when an instruction request is received from the client, A second control for transferring corresponding information stored in the storage means to the client in accordance with an instruction request And a stage.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before describing an embodiment of the present invention in detail, its prerequisites will be described. After that, the embodiment will be described.

<Summary of Overview> The video of a camera connected to a remote camera server can be viewed on the client side via an existing network, and the angles (pan, tilt, As described above, the present applicant has proposed a proposal for controlling the zoom value and the like.

One of the main features of this proposal is that a general-purpose network (Internet) protocol is used, and the camera is controlled within the range of the protocol, instead of a generally known surveillance camera or the like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a camera server device, which is constituted by the following units. Reference numeral 1003 denotes a camera capable of controlling a camera angle, shooting conditions, and the like.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a camera 1003 according to an instruction from the external device 1002.
Is a control device that responds to the captured image by controlling the image processing, and is realized based on, for example, a personal computer. The control device 1001 outputs a control signal to the camera 1003 via an RS-232C interface or the like, and controls a camera angle.
And a communication interface unit 1011 for exchanging information between the present device and another device using a network adapter or the like. In addition to these resources, by realizing as a program and memory data using each resource such as a CPU, a storage device, and an auxiliary storage device of a computer, the following components are provided.

That is, 1012 command interpreters, 1
013 reception code generation unit, 1015 timed unit, 101
Reference numeral 9 denotes an image storage unit, and reference numeral 1014 denotes a reservation registration unit (these will be apparent from the following description).

The external device 1002 is, for example, a WWW server or a WWW browser. If the external device 1002 is a WWW server, this device is placed under the control of the WWW server, and a WWW browser (client)
From W, which is the storage destination of document data and image data.
The information is presented to the WW server according to the URL indicating the storage location of the target data. In response, the WWW server returns corresponding document data or image data to the WWW browser.

When the external device 1002 is a WWW browser, it can be interpreted that the function of the WWW server has been incorporated into the present device.

However, in order to simplify the description, the external device 1
Reference numeral 002 denotes a WWW server, which communicates between them using the HTTP protocol, and controls the control device 1001 of this configuration example.
In the application of video data, an example will be described in which it functions as a WWW server. This can be realized by using the communication method of the WWW server in the present control device.

It is well known that the following description is generally used when pasting image data into a WWW document.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/image0
01.gif "> This means that the image data stored in the image001.gif file on the WWW server www.foo.co.jp is transferred. Interpret as

As an example, pan, tilt, and zoom for specifying a camera angle are represented by the letters “P”,
The control amounts are represented by “T” and “Z”, and thereafter, the respective control amounts are represented by numbers. For example, pan angles from -50 degrees to 50 degrees,
Tilting angle is -20 to 20 degrees, zoom is 1 to 8 and there is a camera with a camera that can select 8 steps. Pan angle is 20 degrees, tilt is 5 degrees, and 2x zoom is taken.
If you want to paste (transfer) it as image data in the format, describe as follows. It is assumed that the network address of this device is cam.foo.co.jp.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/P20T5Z
2.gif "> If there is an HTML document description like above,
The external device 1002, which is a WW browser,
01 is requested for image data. That is, when a request is input to the control device 1001 via the communication interface unit 1011, the command interpretation unit 1012 is activated, and interpretation of the request and processing of a response to the request are started.

An example of the processing is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S101, a command described as a file name is interpreted. That is, if the start of the request is "P", the request is recognized as a shooting command, and step S10
Proceed to 2. Here, the user operates the camera with the specified pan, tilt, and zoom values via the camera control unit 1017.
(Step S102), the photographed image is converted into an image format of a designated method, and a response is sent to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011.

At this time, the communication interface unit 101
In No. 1, since the HTTP protocol is used, content type information, status information, and the like according to the image format are added to the head. Then, the present process ends.

As a result, the HTML document can be written as if W
Video taken like image data stored in a file of the WW server is pasted and displayed.

In the condition judgment in step S101, if the head of the request is "R", the request is recognized as a reservation command, and the process proceeds to step S105 via the condition judgment in step S104.

The reservation command is a service for reserving a captured video and transferring the captured video to a client later. In this case, the character starts with the letter "R", and the year, month, day, hour, and minute are each represented by an integer and are separated by periods. Then, instructions for panning, tilting, and zooming, which are shooting conditions, follow, and finally, a name representing an image format is given.

For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996.
A 3x zoom image with a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees per minute
If you want to make a shooting reservation in gif format, describe as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.
7.6.13.15P25T0Z3.gif "> When the reservation command as described above is specified, the camera server transfers the unique identification number as a reception code to the external device 1002 from the reception code generation unit 1013 in step S105. The external device 1002 that has received this can transfer the reception code to the camera server later to capture the reserved and photographed video. It may be realized as a counter that is incremented by one, or may be realized by a numerical value representing the time of the requested date.

Then, the reception code, the reservation time, the photographing condition, and the information of the image format are registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S106), and the reception code is transmitted via the communication interface unit 1011 to the requesting external device 1002.
(Step S107).

At this time, content type information and status information indicating that the reply content is a reception code are added to the head. Then, the present process ends.

When an HTML document including such a shooting reservation is simply created and displayed on a general WWW browser, a reception code is returned instead of image data. After all, the image is not displayed,
The control device 1 is executed by a CGI program or the like of the WWW server.
For 001, a photographing reservation is made in the same manner as in a WWW browser, and when a reception code is obtained, an HTML document including an image data description specifying the reception code with an image retrieval command described later is generated. When the generated document is displayed on a WWW browser, shooting is performed as scheduled, and the image data is displayed.

The retrieval command starts with the letter "G", is followed by a reception code, and is finally given a name representing an image format. The reception code here is returned when a reservation is made to the external device 1002.

For example, when "12543" is returned as the reception code, and the image reserved for shooting is taken out after shooting, the following description is used.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/G1254
3.gif "> The reservation registration unit 1014 can be realized in a storage device or an auxiliary storage device of the control device 1001 in the form of a table as shown in FIG. 3, for example. When the reception code is "12543", it is recorded as shown in the first column.

When the registration of the reservation is completed, the image is taken as instructed at the reserved time by the time limit unit described later, and the image data is stored in the image storage unit 1019.

The image storage unit 1019 can be realized in a storage device or an auxiliary storage device of the control device 1001 in the form of a table as shown in FIG. 4, for example. For example, the photographing result of the above-mentioned reservation example is recorded as image data according to the specified format together with the reception code and the information of the image format as shown in the first column.

In the condition judgment in step S101, if the start of the request is "G", the request is recognized as an image fetch command, and the process proceeds to step S109 via the condition judgment in step S104 and step S108, and the image storage unit 10
Search for data stored in 19.

Then, it is determined whether or not the image data is stored with the same value as the reception code described as the image fetching command (step S110).
11 to the requesting external device 1002.

At this time, the communication interface unit 10
In step 11, since the HTTP protocol is used, content type information, status information, and the like corresponding to the image format are added to the head (step S111). Then, in step S112, the column of the image storage unit 1019 in which the image data just taken out is stored is deleted. Then, the present process ends.

If it is determined in step S110 that the image data corresponding to the designated reception code is not stored, error information indicating that the target image has not been captured is transmitted via the communication interface unit 1011 to the requesting external device 1002.
And ends this processing.

In step S108, the external device 10
If the start of the request from 02 is not “G”, error information indicating that the request is an undefined command is returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011, and this processing ends.

As described above, information exchange between the external device 1002 and the control device 1001 of the present invention is performed.

Next, a description will be given of a time limiter 1015 for performing camera control, photographing, and storing photographing results based on the reservation data registered in the reservation registering section 1014.

In the time limit unit 1015, a fixed time interval,
For example, a timed program is activated every other minute. This can be achieved by using a computer timer. The operation of the timed program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the current time is read from the timer of the control device 1001 (step S201), and step S20
Proceed to 2. In step S202, the reservation registration unit 1014
The registered items are taken out one by one in order from. If it is determined in step S203 that all items have been taken out, the present process ends, and if the reserved items have been taken out, the process proceeds to step S204. If the set time in the target reservation item is
If it is later than the current time, the process returns to step S202 and the process is repeated. Otherwise, it is determined that the set time has come, and the process proceeds to step S205, where the camera 1003 is controlled via the camera control unit 1017 according to the shooting condition of the taken out reservation item, and shooting is performed. Then, the photographed image is converted into the image format of the method specified by the reservation item, and the image data is stored in the image storage unit 1019 together with the reception code and the image format information (step S206). Subsequently, the currently retrieved reservation item is deleted from the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S207),
Returning to step S202, the process is repeated.

As a result, the photographing is performed according to the reservation, the result is stored, and when an image retrieval command is requested from the external device 1002 later, the image data is replied.

As described above, simply connecting the camera control device to the network of the WWW system and describing the URL in which the description of the photographing condition of the camera is added to the address of the camera control device as the source of the image data makes it easy for remote control. It is possible to paste a live image (that is, a current image) obtained by operating the camera in a WWW document. In order to realize only this, each of the reception code unit 1013, the time limit unit 1015, the image storage unit 1019, and the reservation registration unit 1014 is unnecessary, and the command interpretation unit 1
Steps subsequent to step S104 of 012 are unnecessary.

The time limit unit 1015 and the image storage unit 101
9. By providing the reservation registration unit 1014, if a CGI program or the like of the WWW server is used, it is possible to make a reservation for camera shooting and to retrieve and display the result on a WWW page later. In particular, even if an attempt is made to take a picture with a remote camera during a time when the network is congested, it takes time to transfer the image and the image data cannot be collected as desired. It is possible to make a reservation in advance for a necessary time at a specific camera angle and to take out and use the stored image data when the network goes down, such as at night.

In particular, it is possible to photograph a plurality of images at short intervals at the same camera angle regardless of the transmission capacity of the network.

Of course, here, the interface with the external device 1002 has been described as the HTTP protocol, but any communication interface may be used.

In this configuration example, the reception code is used to identify the photographing data for the reservation, but a unique request number is generated by the external device 1002 requesting an image without using the reception code generation unit. Then, a request may be made as a part of the reservation command, and the control device may use a method of identifying the target image data based on the combination of the external device 1002 and the request number.

Although the reservation time is set in units of minutes, it may be extended to units of seconds or milliseconds.

Although the image format is exemplified by gif, JPEG may be represented by a file extension of jpg and either one of them may be switched or another file format may be adopted. Absent.

Although the file name is regarded as a command, a URL parameter description may be used. For example, when the pan, tilt, zoom, and image formats are 25 degrees, 5 degrees, 2 times, and gif, respectively, they may be described as follows.

<Img src = "http://cam.foo.co.jp/camera
image? P = 20, T = 5, Z = 2, F = gif "> In addition, this control unit has WWW
Servers may be implemented simultaneously. In this case, for example, a program of the command interpreter 1012 is given a name of camctl.exe as a CGI program of the WWW server,
This can be realized by making the following description.

<Img src = "http://cam.foo.co.jp/cgi-bi
n / camctl.exe? P = 20, T = 5, Z = 2, F = gif "><Secondexample> In the above configuration example (first example), only one image can be reserved for camera shooting at a time. Example of this configuration (second example)
In, a file extension representing an image format is added to a file name formed by combining a plurality of reservation commands with "+", thereby making it possible to reserve a plurality of times and camera angles at once.

For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996.
The following description will be given in the case where the image is shot at 3 × zoom at a pan angle of 25 ° and a tilt angle of 0 ° at minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes, and three images are later taken out in gif format.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996."
7.6.13.15P25T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.30P25T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.
13.45P25T0Z3.gif "> Here, the character string enclosed by""and""may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description does not include a line break. Write in one line.

If the date and time and the camera angle are the same or the camera angle is the same, they may be omitted. In that case, the same reservation as described above can be described as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996."
7.6.13.15P25T0Z3 + R .... 30 + R .... 45.gif "> This second example is
It is the same as the first example except for the following changes.

That is, the command interpreting unit 1012 can interpret step S106, step S111, and step S112 of the program as described above.

That is, in step S106, the number of requested commands is not limited to one, but is analyzed as a plurality of reserved commands linked by "+", and the reserved code and image format information generated in step S105 are made the same. Then, the reservation time and the photographing condition designated by each reservation command are registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 as a plurality of reservations.

On the other hand, in step S111, a plurality of image data registered with the same reservation code are taken out, re-formatted as one image data including a plurality of image data, and re-formatted via the communication interface unit 1011. A reply is sent to the requesting external device 1002. Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information and status information corresponding to the image format are added to the head.

In step S112, with respect to the plurality of extracted image data, the corresponding image storage units 1
019 is deleted.

With the above arrangement, many reservations can be made at one time, and these can be handled collectively as one image data composed of a plurality of images. It saves the trouble of managing multiple reception codes.

When the present invention is applied to intermittent photographing, such as a record of plant growth, it becomes possible to handle a plurality of photographed images as a pseudo moving image in one image data.

<Third Example> In the second example described above, even when intermittent photographing is performed at the same camera angle at the same time interval, it is necessary to connect and designate the reservation commands as many as the number of images to be photographed. In these three examples, the end time and the intermittent time are added immediately after the designation of the time of the reservation command, and thereafter the photographing conditions such as the camera angle and the image format are designated. For the end time, a time is specified after "t", and for the intermittent time, a time in minutes is specified after "e".

For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996.
Pan angle 2 at minutes, 30 minutes and 45 minutes (ie, every 15 minutes)
Shoot at 3x zoom with 5 ° tilt angle 0 ° and 3 images
If you want to retrieve it later in gif format, write as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.
7.6.13.15t1996.7.6.13.45e15P25T0Z3.gif "> Here, the character string enclosed by""and""may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description Is described on one line without line breaks.

Of course, in this case as well, if the date and time of the end time are the same, the omission may be omitted. In that case, the same reservation as described above can be described as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996.
7.6.13.15t .... 45e15P25T0Z3.gif "> The basic configuration of the third example is the same as that of the first example except for the following changes.

That is, the command interpreting unit 1012 can interpret the above description in steps S106, S111, and S112 of the program.

However, at this time, the reservation registration unit 1014
Requires that the configuration of the management table be as shown in FIG. That is, an intermittent time item is required as shown in the figure.

In step S106, if the requested reservation command has an end time and an intermittent time, the reservation time is used as the photographing time in the reservation registration unit 1014 together with the reception code, the photographing condition, and the image format. sign up. If the requested reservation command is a simple reservation and does not have an end time and an intermittent time, the end time is set to be the same as the shooting time, and the intermittent time is set to 1.

In step S111, a plurality of image data registered with the same reservation code is extracted, re-formatted as one image data including a plurality of image data, and re-formatted via the communication interface unit 1011. A reply is sent to the requesting external device 1002. Also at this time, since the communication interface unit 1011 uses the HTTP protocol, content type information and status information corresponding to the image format are added to the head. In step S112, the columns of the image storage unit 1019 corresponding to the plurality of extracted image data are deleted.

On the other hand, in step S3207, the timer unit 3015 updates the registered reservation information by adding the intermittent time of the taken out reservation item to the photographing time.
When the shooting time is later than the end time, this item is deleted from the reservation registration unit 2014.

With the above configuration, the intermittent photograph can be easily obtained with a short command.

Particularly, in the case of taking an intermittent photograph for a long period of time, in the method of the second example, the command becomes extremely long in many cases, and it becomes impossible to realize the command in many cases. For example, this can be realized if the storage amount of the storage device for storing image data is sufficiently prepared.

<Fourth Example> In the third example, the result of intermittent photographing is taken out as a plurality of still image data, but in the present configuration example, the form of taking out the result as moving image data is also added.

When extracting as moving image data, the file extension is set to "mpg". For example, it is described as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996."
7.6.13.15t .... 45P25T0Z3.mpg "> The basic configuration of this configuration example is as shown in Fig. 7. This is the same as the third example except for the following changes, that is, the MPEG1 compression device and the like. In that a moving image compression unit 2021 is added, and that the command interpretation unit 3012 can interpret and execute the above command.

For example, in step S111, if the image format is a still image format such as jpg or gif, a plurality of image data registered with the same reservation code is extracted, and a plurality of image data is It is re-formatted as one piece of image data included, and is replied to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011. If the image format is designated as mpg, a plurality of image data registered with the same reservation code are taken out, each image is restored, and the image data is delivered to the moving image compression unit 2021 and compressed, and the resulting moving image is compressed. The data is returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011.

At this time, the communication interface unit 10
In 11, since the HTTP protocol is used, content type information and status information according to the image format are added to the head. With the above-described configuration, compression using association between image frames is performed. Particularly, in an intermittent photograph having little change, a large amount of image data compression is performed. The communication volume can be reduced, and the communication time can be significantly reduced.

<Fifth Example> In the third example, the camera angles for photographing were the same, but in the fifth example,
Immediately before the time designation of the reservation command, the definition of the control variable is added, and thereafter the time designation is made, and thereafter, it is possible to perform repetitive photographing by designating the photographing conditions such as the camera angle and the image format. It is intended to be able to designate the reference of the control variable in the time designation and the photographing condition.

The definition of the control variable starts with “$ (”, has a definition body, and ends with “)”.

There are two ways to write the definition body. One is a method of specifying an initial value, a closing price, and an increment. The method is further divided into two types depending on whether the increment is positive or negative. Another format is to write down all values of control variables.

That is, $ (<control variable> = initial value, upto close value, up increment) $ (<control variable> = initial value, downto close value, down increment) or $ (<control variable> = value 1, value 2, Value 3, value 4,... Value n).

Here, <control variable> is a character string composed of one or more English characters, and is an identifier of the control variable.

Control variable reference begins with “$ (”, has a reference body, and ends with “)”. The reference body is a four-rule operation expression including a control variable.

For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996.
When the minute is reached, zoom 3 times at a pan angle of 25 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees,
Shooting with a pan angle of 30 degrees and a tilt angle of 0 degrees with 3 times zoom, and a pan angle of 35 degrees with a tilt angle of 0 degrees with 3 times zoom (actually, since the angle is changed, a time lag occurs between them) However, when three images are to be extracted later in the gif format, the description is as follows.

"Http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=25,upto3
5, up5) 1996.7.6.13.15P $ (pan) T0Z3.gif "or" http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=0,upto10,up5)1996.7.
6.13.15P $ (pan + 25) T0Z3.gif "or" http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=35,downto25,down5)199
6.7.6.13.15P $ (pan) T0Z3.gif "or" http://www.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=25,30,35) 1996.7.6.13.
15P $ (pan) T0Z3.gif "Here, the character string enclosed by""and""may be displayed over two or more lines, but the actual description is Do not include, describe in one line.

The present configuration example is different from the second example in that the above description can be interpreted in the command interpretation unit 2012, but the other configurations are the same.

For example, FIG. 8 shows the inside of step S106.

If the character next to "R" is $, this is the definition of the control variable, and is the reserved command of the fifth example.
In step S501, one control variable definition that starts with "$ (""and ends with") "is acquired, and in step S502, it is checked whether all the definitions have been extracted. After all the control variable definitions have been extracted, the initial values are bound to the control variables in step S503.

In step S504, the remaining part of the command is scanned, and control variable references starting with "$ (""and ending with") "are searched, and all references are replaced with bound values.
In step S506, the character string obtained as a result is analyzed as the above-described reservation command for repetitive photographing, and step S10
The reservation code and the image format information generated in step 5 are the same, and the reservation time and the photographing condition specified by each reservation command are registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 as a plurality of reservations. This is repeated until all the control variables reach the final values.

With the above configuration, an intermittent photo with a changed camera angle can be easily obtained with a short command.

In the description, only one control variable definition is used. However, a plurality of definitions can be written, and in this case, the definitions are interpreted in a nested manner.

In this configuration example, the introduction of the repetition syntax has been described. However, in the same manner, a syntax such as a conditional judgment syntax, a variable definition, a variable assignment, and an arithmetic operation can be introduced.

That is, the command interpreting section can be realized as a program interpreter, and the contents of the URL can be regarded as a program, held, and interpreted and executed. This makes it possible to automatically execute complicated camera control and the like.

<Sixth Example> In the fifth example, all camera angles to be photographed must be described in the same URL. In the sixth example, a part of the reservation command can be separately registered as a macro library. An example will be described in which data describing time designation and shooting conditions is stored in an external device.

For the sake of explanation, it is assumed that, for example, from 13:00 on July 6, 1996, the following camera angles are sequentially changed every minute to perform photographing.

Pan angle 25 degrees, tilt angle 0 degrees, 3 times zoom,
3x zoom at 30 ° pan angle, 0x tilt angle, 3x zoom at 35 ° pan angle, 4x zoom at 35 ° pan angle, 1x tilt angle, 4x zoom at 30 ° pan angle, 2 ° tilt angle Zoom, pan angle 35 degrees, tilt angle 3 degrees, 5 times zoom, pan angle 3
5 degree zoom at 5 degree tilt angle 4 degrees, 6 times zoom at 35 degree pan angle 5 degrees tilt angle, 7 times zoom at 35 degree pan angle 5 degrees tilt angle, 8 times zoom at 35 degree pan angle 5 degrees tilt angle Is stored in the second external device http://www.bar.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl.

This is as follows, for example.

R1996.7.6.13.0P25T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.1P3
0T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.2P35T0Z3 + R1996.7.6.13.3P35T1Z4 +
R1996.7.6.13.4P35T2Z4 + R1996.7.6.13.5P35T3Z5 + R1996.
7.6.13.6P35T4Z5 + R1996.7.6.13.3P35T5Z6 + R1996.7.6.1
3.4P35T5Z7 + R1996.7.6.13.3P35T5Z8.gif The command given to the controller to use this is "% 2
This is an external reference command that starts with 3 (), continues with the URL, and ends with “)”. An example is as follows.

"Http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(httpd%3e//ww
w.bar.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl) "In this case, www.bar.co.jp corresponds to the second external device. That is, the camera server www.foo.co. j
This means that p is requested to perform control in accordance with the content described in www.bar.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl. camc
On-a.ctl stores the above description of "R1996 ...".

FIG. 9 shows the sixth example. As compared with the fifth example, the difference is that the command interpreting unit 6012 can interpret the above command, and the other points are substantially the same.

The operation of command interpreting section 6012 will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S621, a command described as a file name is interpreted. Request starts with "% 23"
If it is, it is recognized as an external reference command, and step S622
Proceed to. In step S622, "(" and ")"
The part sandwiched between is regarded as a specified URL of a file in which a command is described and stored, and a request is sent according to the URL. In the above example, a request is issued to the second external device 1004. Then, in step S623, a reply is waited.

In response, for example, a long reservation command as described above is returned. The external reference command interpreted here is expanded by replacing it with the external reference command so that it can be applied to the subsequent command interpretation (step S
624). Then, the process proceeds to step S101.

If the command is not an external reference command in step S621, the process proceeds to step S101.

The processing after step S101 is the same as that shown in FIG. 2 used when the description of the first example is made, so that the description is omitted. The extension from the second example to the fifth example can be similarly applied.

With the above configuration, a complicated time reservation or an intermittent photograph with a complicatedly changed camera angle can be easily obtained with a short command.

Here, for the sake of explanation, the control device and the external device have been described as different devices, but the two devices may be the same. In that case, the URL could be described as:

[0112] "http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(httpd%3e//ww
w.foo.co.jp/camcon-a.ctl) "or" http://www.foo.co.jp/%23(camcon-a.ctl) "Of course, the command to the external device that makes the request first Is stored, the address may be used, in which case the second external device is unnecessary.

<Explanation of Embodiment> As described above,
In the first to sixth examples, various description methods can be used. Although a raw image or a reserved and photographed image can be viewed on a WWW browser, further information, that is, displayed information is displayed. It is not possible to obtain more detailed information (additional information) of the desired object in the video. Thus, this embodiment makes this possible.

For simplicity of description, in this embodiment,
A case will be described in which a device serving as a camera server as described above and a client are provided on a network installed in a company. It is needless to say that there may be a plurality of camera servers and a plurality of clients.

Generally, when constructing a network, various servers can be installed therein. In particular, in recent years, an attempt has been made to construct an integrated system by connecting a device that has been used as a stand-alone device, such as a copying machine and a facsimile device, on a network.

When a network is constructed and printing is performed by a remote print server, for example, print data output is completed in a very short time from the viewpoint of the client. This is because the print server spools the print data. Since the print server can also receive print data from any number of clients, the print server outputs the print data to the printer in the order of spooling.

The problem here is that the print server is not very close to the client. If several clients perform print processing at the same time, the print data will be queued, and it is often the case that as a result of getting the print result, another print is still being performed. .

In this embodiment, when a remote printer is controlled and a target printer is seen in its field of view,
The status of the printer is added to the camera image as additional information, and it can be transmitted to the client.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the server according to the embodiment, which is constituted by the following units.

Reference numeral 1003 denotes a camera capable of controlling a camera angle and photographing conditions, and 1001 denotes a control device which controls the camera 1003 in response to an instruction from the external device 1002 and returns a photographed image. You.

The control device 1001 further includes a camera 100
A camera control unit 1017 for controlling the camera 3 with an RS-232C interface or the like, a video input unit 1018 for inputting a video captured by the camera 1003 with an image capture device, etc. In addition to these resources, the communication interface unit 1011 has the following units realized as programs and memory data using resources such as a CPU, a storage device, and an auxiliary storage device of a computer.

That is, 1012 command interpreters, 1
013 reception code generation unit, 1015 timed unit, 101
9 image storage unit, 1014 reservation registration unit, video input unit 1
An image processing unit 7020 that processes the image obtained from 018 as necessary. Further, in the present embodiment, an anchor generation unit 7031 for generating an anchor to be clicked (instructed) by the user on the display screen of the client with a pointing device such as a mouse;
And an anchor interpreting unit 7032 for interpreting the clicked anchor information.

The external device 1002 is, for example, a WWW server or a WWW browser.
Communicate by protocol. That is, from the WWW browser, the WW that is the storage destination of the
The information is presented to the W server in accordance with the URL indicating the storage location of the target data. In response, the WWW server returns corresponding document data or image data to the WWW browser.

The copier system 1007 is a copier equipped with a network interface, and responds to the status information request via communication to return the status information of the copier at that time. For example, if the identifier (name) of this copier is "cop
ier_445 ", and if printing is in progress when the status information request is received, a reply is made as follows, including the printing progress status and print settings.

("Copier_445" Client: Kurosawa printing "80%""1 copy, 23 pages, both sides""http: //www.foo.co,jp/netdevices/copier_445/snmp.h
tml ") where" client: Kurosawa "is the client name (or ID) on the network that is the source of the job currently being printed.
Wa, “1 copy”, “double-sided”, etc. depend on the print job, and “80%”, “23 pages”, etc. change with time. Also, the information item to be replied to is not limited to this, and may be any information. For example, if the recording paper is exhausted and recording cannot be performed, a message to that effect is returned.

Incidentally, the copying machine system 1007 also functions as a normal printer or image scanner. Also, since it is impossible to return the above status without knowing the total number of pages of one print job, the copier system 1007 has a large capacity hard disk or the like capable of queuing print jobs. An external storage device is provided. Also, a copier system 1007
In the case of a single copier, the above-mentioned external storage device is necessary.For example, in the case of a general-purpose device such as a personal computer and a device having only printing, copying and image reading functions, The general-purpose device manages individual jobs. Therefore, the function of managing the job can be provided in the present apparatus 1001 since the function can be provided if there is an external storage device and a program for performing the processing.

In the present configuration example, the communication interface 1011 uses a method realized by a WWW server. That is, communication is performed using the HTTP protocol, and the control device 1001 of this configuration example performs
Acts like a WWW server. This is WW
This can be realized by using the communication method of the W server also in the present control device.

<Description of Procedure> The external device 1002 requests video information by issuing the following description in accordance with the first to sixth examples described above.

$ (Pan = 0, upto180, up10) P $ (pan) T0Z2 Here, the camera 1001 requesting an image (for example, "camera_
The address of the control device 1001 corresponding to “122”) is “www.camera122.foo.co.jp”, and the time zone for requesting the image is “1 from 1:00 pm on November 11, 1996. Assuming 1:18 pm at minute intervals, the above request would be written as: In practice, this is described on one line.

[0130] http://www.camera122.foo.co.jp/R$(pan=
0, upto180, up10) 1996.11.11.13.0t1996.11.11.13.18e1 $
(pan) T0Z2.mpg On the other hand, the camera control device 1001 operates as follows.

With respect to the given control information, the camera is operated and video information is photographed in the same manner as in the first to sixth examples described above. However, if it is determined that a device such as a copying machine is within the field of view (a management table of angle information where the copying machine exists is stored in a predetermined storage device in advance), the state of the device is taken out in order to retrieve the state of the device. The current status is inquired of the device, and the description of the information is used as an anchor to compose the video captured by the camera.

For the management for determining whether or not the image is within the visual field, for example, a management table as shown in FIG. 17 is stored in a predetermined storage device (for example, a hard disk device) in advance and used. In this table, the first
Indicates a management target (address or ID on a network) such as a copying machine or a printer. The second column indicates where the device is located. In this example, the floor is specified indoors where the devices are arranged and specified by three-dimensional coordinates (unit: centimeter) within the floor. The third column shows the size of the device (unit: centimeter). For example, the first line shows that the device with the identifier "printer_231"
Using the center of the floor on the north side of the floor as the origin coordinates, it is located 300 cm in the north-south direction, 450 cm in the east-west direction, and 100 cm from the floor, and its size is 30 cm in length, Width 8
Meaning 0 cm and depth 75 cm.

More specifically, the command interpreting section is extended as described below, and a video adding section 7020, an anchor generating section 7031, and an anchor interpreting section 7032 are additionally provided in accordance with the expanded command interpreting section. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S701, the control contents are interpreted as follows, and the field of view is predicted.

First, control items to be executed are extracted according to the control syntax of the control information. Next, the obtained control items are interpreted to predict the field of view when the control content is given to the camera 1003, and whether or not a device such as a copying machine registered in the management table 11 is included in the field of view. judge.

As a result of the judgment, if it is within the visual field, it communicates with the target device and obtains status information 7021. State information 7
021 is, for example, as follows.

("Copier_445" client: Kurosawa printing "80%""1 copy, 23 pages, both sides") Next, in step S101, the command described as the file name is interpreted. That is, if the start of the request is "P", the request is recognized as a shooting command, and step S10
Proceed to 2. Here, the user operates the camera with the specified pan, tilt, and zoom values via the camera control unit 1017.
(S102) The photographed image is converted into an image format of a designated method.

Thereafter, in step S702, video synthesis is performed. That is, the position in the video of the target device is calculated from the control information at the time of capturing the video, and an image based on the state information 7021 obtained by the previous communication is generated in the vicinity of the target device in the video. Combine the captured video with the image. The synthesis result is, for example, as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the flow advances to step S802 to generate an anchor. Here, the same combination as the imagemap of the clickable map method generally used on www can be used. That is, the anchor interpreting means 70 is used as the interpreting means when the target video is clicked.
After setting 32 as follows, <a href = "http://www.xxx.co.jp/cgi-bin/imagemap/cam
era122.map "><embed SRC = camera122.wvp.width = 290 height = 179></ e
mbed></a> The above-mentioned image-combined area is added to the management information file of the clickable map, and a “copier management page” obtained by communication with the target device is set as the link destination.

Specifically, using the status information 7021 obtained by communication, the link information of this “copier management page” is http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_445/snmp.ht
ml, and the area where the status information was image-combined (relative position in the image) was defined as the top left and bottom right vertices of <15,8, respectively.
> And <135, 39>, the following information may be written in the management information of the clickable map.

Rect http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/c
opier_445 / snmp.html 15,8 135,39 After that, a reply is sent to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface means 1011 (step S103).

At this time, the communication interface means 101
In No. 1, since the HTTP protocol is used, content type information, status information, and the like according to the image format are added to the head. Then, the present process ends.

As described above, the HTML document displayed on the client side can be used as if it were image data stored in a file of the WWW server.
The captured video is displayed in a stuck state, and
When the user clicks the composite part with a mouse, etc.,
The display is switched to the “copier management page”.

For example, the above www.foo.co.jp/netdevices
If the file /copier_445/snmp.html is a hypertext file as shown in FIG. 19 (shown in a format that can be viewed with a browser in the drawing), the client user can click the vicinity of the copier to click on it. The contents of the figure will be displayed.

In the condition judgment in step S101, if the beginning of the request is "R", the request is recognized as a reservation command, and the process proceeds to step S105 via the condition judgment in step S104. The reservation command is as described above, starting with the letter "R", representing the year, month, day, hour, and minute as integers, followed by a period separated by a period, and A pan / tilt / zoom instruction follows, and finally a name indicating the image format is given.
For example, at 13:15 on July 6, 1996, the pan angle 2
In the case where it is desired to make a reservation for shooting a 3 × zoom video with a tilt angle of 0 ° and a tilt angle of 0 ° in the gif format, the description is as follows.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/R1996."
7.6.13.15P25T0Z3.gif "> When the reservation command as described above is specified, in step S105, a unique identification number is received from the reception code generation unit 1013 as a reception code. +1
It may be realized as a counter which is executed, or may be realized by a numerical value representing the time of the requested date. Then, the reception code, the reservation time, the photographing condition, and the information of the image format are registered in the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S106), and the reception code is registered in the communication interface unit 1014.
A response is sent to the requesting external device 1002 via the server 11 (step S107).

At this time, content type information and status information indicating that the reply content is a reception code are added to the head. Then, the present process ends.

If an HTML document including such a shooting reservation is simply created and is to be displayed on a general WWW browser, the reception code is returned instead of the image data. After all, the image is not displayed,
The control device 1 is executed by a CGI program or the like of the WWW server.
For 001, a photographing reservation is made in the same manner as in a WWW browser, and when a reception code is obtained, an HTML document including an image data description specifying the reception code with an image retrieval command described later is generated. When the generated document is displayed on a WWW browser, shooting is performed as scheduled, and the image data is displayed.

As described above, the retrieval command starts with the letter "G", continues with the reception code, and ends with a name indicating the image format.
The reception code here is returned when a reservation is made to the external device 1002.

For example, when “12543” is returned as the reception code, and the image reserved for shooting is taken out after shooting, the following description is used.

<Img src = "http://www.foo.co.jp/G1254"
3.gif "> The reservation registration unit 1014 can be realized in a storage device or an auxiliary storage device of the control device 1001 in the form of a table as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

For example, in the case of the above-mentioned reservation example, when the reception code is "12543", it is recorded as shown in the first column of FIG.

Upon completion of the reservation registration, a time limit unit described below performs photographing as instructed at the reserved time, and the image data is held in the image storage unit 1019.

The image storage unit 1019 can be realized in a storage device or an auxiliary storage device of the control device 1001 in the form of a table as shown in FIG. 4, for example. For example, the photographing result of the above-mentioned reservation example is recorded as image data according to the specified format together with the reception code and the information of the image format as shown in the first column of FIG.

In the condition judgment in step S101, if the start of the request is "G", it is recognized that the request is an image fetch command, and the process proceeds to step S109 via the condition judgment in step S104 and step S108, where the image storage unit 10
Search for data stored in 19.

Then, it is determined whether or not the image data is stored with the same value as the reception code described as the image fetching command (step S110).
11 to the requesting external device 1002. Also at this time, the communication interface
Since the TP protocol is used, content type information, status information, and the like according to the image format are added at the beginning.
(Step S111).

Then, in step S112, the column of the image storage unit 1019 in which the image data just taken out is stored is deleted. Then, the present process ends.

If it is determined in step S110 that the image data corresponding to the designated reception code is not stored, error information indicating that the target image has not been shot is transmitted via the communication interface unit 1011 to the requesting external device 1002.
And ends this processing.

In step S108, the external device 10
If the start of the request from 02 is not “G”, error information indicating that the request is an undefined command is returned to the requesting external device 1002 via the communication interface unit 1011, and this processing ends.

As described above, information exchange between the external device 1002 and the control device 1001 of the present invention is performed.

Next, the time limiter 1015 for controlling the camera, shooting and storing the shooting result based on the reservation data registered in the reservation registering section 1014 will be described.

In the time limit section 1015, a fixed time interval,
For example, a timed program is activated every other minute. This can be achieved by using a computer timer.

The operation of the timed program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the current time is read from the timer of the control device 1001 (step S201), and step S20
Proceed to 2. In step S202, the reservation registration unit 1014
The registered items are taken out one by one in order from. If it is determined in step S203 that all items have been taken out, the present process ends, and if the reserved items have been taken out, the process proceeds to step S204. If the set time in the target reservation item is
If it is later than the current time, the process returns to step S202 and the process is repeated. Otherwise, it is determined that the set time has come, and the process proceeds to step S205, where the camera 1003 is controlled via the camera control unit 1017 according to the shooting condition of the taken out reservation item, and shooting is performed.

Thereafter, in step S703, video synthesis is performed. That is, the position of the target device in the video is calculated from the control information at the time of capturing the video, and the state information 7021 obtained by communication is combined with the image in the vicinity of the target device in the video. Since the result of the combination is the same as that in step S702 described above, the description is omitted here. Subsequently, in the anchor generation processing of step S803, step S8
02, and the description thereof is omitted. The synthesis result is, for example, as shown in FIG.

Then, the synthesized image is converted into the image format of the method designated by the reservation item, and the image data is stored in the image storage unit 1019 together with the reception code and the image format information (step S206). continue,
The currently retrieved reservation item is deleted from the reservation registration unit 1014 (step S207), and the process returns to step S202 to repeat the processing.

As a result, the photographing is performed according to the reservation, the result is stored, and when an image retrieval command is later requested from the external device 1002, this image data is replied.

As a result, not only can the client observe the video captured by controlling the camera of the remote camera server while staying, but also the object registered in advance (in the above example, the integrated copying machine) You can check the status that changes every moment. On the client side, when a specific position in the displayed video is clicked, if an anchor is provided, the content information can be viewed.

In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the state of the copying machine is synthesized on the screen. However, this is not limited to the copying machine.
It may be an OA device such as a facsimile or a printer, or another AV device.

In this embodiment, an example in which only one anchor is combined in a video has been described. However, if a plurality of information is entered in the management information of the clickable map, a plurality of anchors can be expressed in one video. You can understand that you can do it. For example, the following clickable map management information is prepared. rect http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_445/sn
mp.html 15,8 135,39 rect http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/facsimile_28/
snmp.html 20,18 55,39 rect http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/colorprinterr
_4 / snmp.html 55,21 135,39 rect http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/printer_266/s
nmp.html 15,8 135,39 In the embodiment, an example has been described in which, when a device such as a copying machine is connected online to a network, its management information is accessed in a hypertext style.
By preparing the management table as shown in FIG. 8, the information officer can be more appropriately and directly associated. That is, the fourth column “link destination UR” in the management table of FIG.
In this method, the information shown in the item "L" is directly used as the link destination of the anchor.

It should be noted that it is easy to understand that a separate program for changing the link destination item in the fourth column of FIG. 18 at any time is prepared.

In the embodiment, the example in which the URL of WWW is overlapped with the anchor has been described, but the same applies to the case where the anchor of other hypertext is overlapped.

<Second Embodiment> In the second embodiment,
As in the first embodiment, the camera server placed in the office provides control information such as zoom and pan / tilt from the input device, adjusts the comb camera according to the control information, and displays the image. It is the same in that the video is given added value, but the video processing unit for the video is different.

In particular, in this embodiment, when the image of the office to be output includes the seat of the employee and the employee is absent in a meeting or the like, the image of the conference room is superimposed and synthesized. Are different.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 15, the image processing means 7020 and the anchor generating means 7 of the first embodiment are used.
031, an extended image processing means 7120 and an extended anchor generating means 71, respectively, in place of the anchor interpreting means 7032
31, by using the extended anchor interpreting means 7132,
The feature is that the anchor information is directly added to the video information and sent to the client.

The extended video processing means 7120 is almost the same as the video processing means 7020, except that the extended anchor generating means 7131 has attached thereto anchor information called "anchor script" in addition to the video information of the synthesized result. The difference is that it is sent to the client.

[0177] In addition to the simple interpretation of video data, the client has a function of interpreting the anchor script received by using the extended anchor interpretation means 7132 at the time of detecting a click, and searching for an appropriate link destination. to add. Extension anchor interpreting means 713 to the client
2 may be provided by using a technique such as a plug-in or a helper application.

The extended anchor generation means 7131 predicts the visual field of view as a result of interpreting the control contents, as shown in FIG.
Then, an appropriate anchor script is generated from the position information and link destination information of each device indicated in the management table.

Hereinafter, these operations will be described.

To realize the above, step S70 in the description of the “camera control device” of the first embodiment is executed.
2. Change S802 to the following steps S702 ′ and 802 ′. Step S702 ′ First, a video is synthesized according to step S702, and then the anchor script generated by the extended anchor generation unit 7131 is added to the video information. Step S802 ′ First, similarly to step S701, the photographing visual field is predicted from the interpretation of the control contents. Next, the predicted field of view and FIG.
An anchor script as shown below is generated from the position information and link destination information of each device indicated in the management table. Here, the link destination is “http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_445/snmp.
html "is generated, and the upper left and lower right vertices are <15, 8> and <135, 3
9>. <anchors><a href = "http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_44
5 / snmp.html "> a1 </a><embed a = a1 range = 15,8 + 135,39></embed></anchors>.

As described above, here, by interpreting the control information given to the video input means and predicting the video to be shot by the video input means in advance, it is not limited to a simple video information service. It has a feature in producing high-quality video information.

In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, an example in which only one anchor is combined in a video has been described. However, by expanding the anchor list, a plurality of anchors can be included in one video. It is easy to understand that it is easy to express. For example, it is conceivable to generate the following anchor script. <anchors><a href = "http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_44
5 / snmp.html "> a1 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/facsimile
_28 / snmp.html "> a2 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/colorprin
ter_4 / snmp.html "> a3 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/printer_2
66 / snmp.html "> a4 </a><embed a = a1 range = 5,8 + 15,19></embed><embed a = a2 range = 20,18 + 35,39></embed><embed a = a3 range = 55,21 + 135,39></embed><embed a = a4 range = 30,30 + 135,45></embed></anchors>.

In the anchor script described in the present embodiment, the arrangement of the anchors in the video is described as “range = 15,8
Although it is specified using two-dimensional coordinates such as "+135, 39", it is also easy to specify using a simple fractional expression. For example, as shown in FIG. 16A, the first quadrant (upper right portion) in the video display area (window) divided into four is designated as “range = 1/4”. Similarly, when the video display area is divided into nine as shown in FIG. 16B, numbers are assigned in order from the upper left area, and for example, the sixth area is set to “range = 6/9”. You only have to decide.

Further, in this embodiment, the method of attaching the anchor information to each screen in the video has been described. However, the efficiency can be improved by attaching the anchor information to a series of scenes. For example: <anchors><a href = "http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/copier_44
5 / snmp.html "> a1 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/facsimile
_28 / snmp.html "> a2 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/colorprin
ter_4 / snmp.html "> a3 </a><a href =" http://www.foo.co.jp/netdevices/printer_2
66 / snmp.html "> a4 </a><embed a = a1 scene = 132714 + 50 range = 5,8 + 15,19></ embe
d><embed a = a2 scene = 132730 + 20 range = 20,18 + 35,39></ e
mbed><embed a = a3 scene = 132720 + 40 range = 55,21 + 135,39></
embed><embed a = a4 scene = 132714 + 50 range = 30,30 + 135,45></
embed></anchors>.

In the first and second embodiments described above,
An example has been described in which an object whose state changes every moment (copier in the embodiment) is displayed by remote control, but an object whose state is fixed is connected to a special network. There is no need, and the object does not need to be electrically operated.

This is because, for example, when an image in the office is displayed and a desired desk in the office is clicked, information on the owner of the desk can be displayed.

In the first and second embodiments, for example, when an object (copier) is placed in the field of view of a camera, the state information of the object is synthesized and displayed on a video, and the object is displayed. Further details of the copying machine are displayed by clicking, but the status information and the detailed information may be displayed when clicked.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), a single device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile, etc.) May be applied.

An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or a CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus.
Needless to say, this can also be achieved by the PU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS and the like running on the computer are actually executed based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above-described processing is performed, and the functions of the embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in an extended function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0194]

As described above, according to the present invention, not only the provision of an object as a video but also a video provided with appropriate processing using the video as a material is provided. Can be performed.

[0195]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for explaining a premise of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation processing contents of a command interpretation unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information generated by a reservation registration unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in an image storage unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a time limit unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information generated by a reservation registration unit in a third example of the premise unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system according to a fourth example of the premise part of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a reservation content registration unit in a fifth example of the premise part of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a system according to a sixth example of the premise of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation content of a command interpretation unit 6012 in a sixth example of the premise part of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a command interpretation unit in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a time period unit in the eleventh embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a time transition of a video transferred from a server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an area designation method according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing contents of a management table in the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the content of the management table in the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of information displayed when an anchor is clicked in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1001 Camera control device 1002 External device 1003 Camera 1007 Copier system 1011 Communication interface 1013 Reception code generation unit 1014 Reservation registration unit 1015 Time limit unit 1017 Camera control unit 1018 Image input unit 1019 Image storage unit 7012 Command interpretation unit 7020 Image processing unit 7021 State Information 7031 anchor generating means 7032 anchor analyzing means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI // H04N 7/173 H04N 7/173

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image control apparatus, comprising: a video input unit, for transferring an image input according to a request from a remote client to a client, wherein information unique to an object in a range that can be input by the imaging input unit is provided. When transferring an image input by the video input unit to the client, when an image to be transferred includes an object stored in the storage unit, at an image position indicating the object, A first transfer control unit that incorporates predetermined information and transfers the image so that the instruction request information is returned when a predetermined instruction is issued on the client side; and an instruction request is issued from the client. In the case, in accordance with the instruction request, a second information for transferring the corresponding information stored in the storage means to the client is provided. An image control device, comprising: a control unit. 2. The image control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image input means is means for inputting an image from a predetermined camera device. And detecting means for detecting state information of the object when the object is a device connected on a network, and when the object is within a field of view of the video input means, Combining means for combining an image based on the state information detected by the means with the image input by the video input means, wherein the first transfer control means transfers the combined image. The video control device according to claim 1. 4. The first transfer control unit includes: a determination unit configured to determine whether an object corresponding to unique information stored in the storage unit exists in an image to be transferred; Generating means for generating an anchor for generating the instruction request information allocated to a position near the object image in the image to be transferred when it is determined that the corresponding object exists in the image to be transferred by the means; 2. The video control device according to claim 1, wherein the video control device transmits the generated anchor information together with the image information. 5. A control method of a video control device, comprising: a video input unit, for transferring an image input according to a request from a remote client to a client, wherein the image input by the video input unit is transmitted to the client. When a predetermined object is included in the image to be transferred, the instruction request information is returned to the image position indicating the object when a predetermined instruction is given on the client side. A first transfer control step of transferring the image by incorporating predetermined information, and when an instruction request is issued from the client, reads out the information unique to the object from predetermined storage means and transfers the information to the client. And a second transfer control step for controlling the video control device. 6. The control method according to claim 5, wherein said image input means is means for inputting an image from a predetermined camera device. 7. A detecting step for detecting state information of an object when the object is a device connected on a network, and when the object is within a field of view of the video input means, A combining step of combining an image based on the state information detected in the step with the image input by the video input means, wherein the first transfer control step transfers the combined image. A control method for a video control device according to claim 5. 8. The first transfer control step includes: a determination step of determining whether an object corresponding to the unique information stored in the storage means exists in an image to be transferred; A generating step for generating an anchor for generating the instruction request information allocated to a position near the object image in the image to be transferred when it is determined that the corresponding object exists in the image to be transferred in the step; The method according to claim 5, wherein the generated anchor information is transferred together with the image information. 9. A storage medium storing a program which, when read and executed by a computer, includes a video input unit and functions as a video control device for transferring an input image to a client in accordance with a request from a remote client. When transferring an image input by the video input unit to the client, if a predetermined object is included in the image to be transferred, a predetermined instruction is given on the client side to an image position indicating the object. The program code of the first transfer control step for transferring the image by incorporating predetermined information so that the instruction request information is returned when A second step of reading the unique information from a predetermined storage means and transferring the information to the client; Storage medium characterized by storing a program code for a transfer control step.