# US 2013/0156306 A1 · Image providing device, image processing method, image processing program, and recording medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0156306 A1 - Document ID: US20130156306A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/819,183 - Filed: 2012-04-02 - Published: 2013-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2011-06-24 - Assignees: Rakuten, Inc. - Inventors: Soh Masuko - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130156306A1 ## CPC - H04N 1/3873: {defined only by a limited number of coordinate points or parameters, e.g. corners, centre; for trimming} - G06T 11/00: Two-dimensional [2D] image generation - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract Even a mosaic image in an uncompleted state, it makes a mosaic image having high recognizability of a picture of an original image displayed. An image providing device includes an image acquisition means that acquires an image specified by a user, a candidate determination means that, on the basis of color information of the acquired image and color information of the regions, determines regions to be candidates for a region to which the acquired image is assigned, an edge degree acquisition means that acquires edge degrees indicating degrees of edges in the regions determined as the candidates, an assignment determination means that, on the basis of the acquired edge degrees, determines a region to which the acquired image is assigned from the regions determined as the candidates, and a presentation means that, on the basis of assignment determined by the assignment determination means, causes a mosaic image in which the acquired image is placed to be presented. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 -9. (canceled) ### Claim 10 An image providing device for providing a mosaic image of an original image divided into a plurality of regions, the image providing device comprising: an image acquisition unit that acquires an image specified by a user; a candidate determination unit that, on the basis of color information of the acquired image and color information of the regions, determines the regions to be candidates for a region to which the acquired image is assigned; an edge degree acquisition unit that acquires edge degrees indicating degrees of edges in the regions determined as the candidates; an assignment determination unit that, on the basis of the acquired edge degrees, determines the region to which the acquired image is assigned from the regions determined as the candidates; and a presentation unit that, on the basis of assignment determined by the assignment determination unit, causes a mosaic image in which the acquired image is placed to be presented. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The image providing device according to claim 10, further comprising: a first calculation unit that calculates a first edge degree indicating a degree of an edge included in an image of the region, wherein the edge degree acquisition unit acquires the calculated first edge degree as the edge degree. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The image providing device according to claim 11, further comprising: a second calculation unit that calculates a second edge degree indicating a degree of an edge in a certain region on the basis of the first edge degree of the certain region and the first edge degree of the regions adjacent to the certain region, the second calculation unit calculating the second edge degree so that the higher the first edge degree is, the higher the second edge degree is, wherein the edge degree acquisition unit acquires the calculated second edge degree as the edge degree. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The image providing device according to claim 12, wherein the second calculation unit calculates the second edge degree by weighting the first edge degrees so that a weight of the first edge degree of the certain region is greater than a weight of the first edge degree of the adjacent region. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The image providing device according to claim 10, wherein the assignment determination unit determines the region where the acquired edge degree is highest to be a region to which the acquired image is assigned. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The image providing device according to claim 10, further comprising: a color information acquisition unit that acquires color information indicating a representative color of the acquired image by a value and color information indicating a representative color of the region by a value, wherein the candidate determination unit determines the region where a difference between the value of the color information of the acquired image and the value of the color information of the region is smaller than or equal to a threshold value to be the candidate. ### Claim 16 An image processing method in an image providing device for providing a mosaic image of an original image divided into a plurality of regions, the image processing method comprising: an image acquisition step of acquiring an image specified by a user; a candidate determination step of, on the basis of color information of the acquired image and color information of the regions, determining the regions to be candidates for a region to which the acquired image is assigned; an edge degree acquisition step of acquiring edge degrees indicating degrees of edges in the regions determined as the candidates; an assignment determination step of, on the basis of the acquired edge degrees, determining the region to which the acquired image is assigned from the regions determined as the candidates; and a presentation step of, on the basis of assignment determined in the assignment determination step, causing a mosaic image in which the acquired image is placed to be presented. ### Claim 17 A non-transitory recording medium in which an image processing program is computer-readably recorded, the image processing program causing a computer, which is included in an image providing device for providing a mosaic image of an original image divided into a plurality of regions, to function as: an image acquisition unit that acquires an image specified by a user; a candidate determination unit that, on the basis of color information of the acquired image and color information of the regions, determines the regions to be candidates for a region to which the acquired image is assigned; an edge degree acquisition unit that acquires edge degrees indicating degrees of edges in the regions determined as the candidates; an assignment determination unit that, on the basis of the acquired edge degrees, determines the region to which the acquired image is assigned from the regions determined as the candidates; and a presentation unit that, on the basis of assignment determined by the assignment determination unit, causes a mosaic image in which the acquired image is placed to be presented.