Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, and computer program

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• arrangement evaluating means for evaluating a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the second evaluation value, wherein
• the arrangement evaluating means is configured to perform a comparative calculation on the positions of the detected faces with a position pattern in which two or more detected faces are aligned at the same height or three or more detected faces are arranged on a substantially straight line to obtain the second evaluation value.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• arrangement evaluating means for evaluating a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the second evaluation value, wherein
• the arrangement evaluating means is configured to perform a comparative calculation with a position pattern based on a polygon having positions of three or more detected faces as vertices, and obtains the second evaluation value.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• arrangement evaluating means for evaluating a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the second evaluation value;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting items of attribute information of the detected faces;
• and
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between the plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of the detected faces, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness,
• wherein the image-capturing determining means determines the timing to capture the input image based on the first and second evaluation values, and
• wherein the degree-of-friendliness computing means evaluates the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• arrangement evaluating means for evaluating a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the second evaluation value;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting items of attribute information of the detected faces;
• and
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between the plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of the detected faces, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness,
• wherein the image-capturing determining means determines the timing to capture the input image based on the first and second evaluation values, and
• wherein the degree-of-friendliness computing means performs a weighted calculation of a distance between the detected faces, a difference between inclinations of the detected faces, and degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and evaluates the degree of friendliness.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• display means for displaying the input image on a screen;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting attribute information of the detected face;
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• animation control means for controlling an animated cartoon to be displayed on the screen of the display means in accordance with the level of the first evaluation value;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value.

An image capturing method for performing image capturing control by using a computer, comprising the steps of:

• detecting, by using face detecting means included in the computer, a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• detecting, by using face-attribute detecting means included in the computer, attribute information of the detected face;
• evaluating, by using degree-of-friendliness computing means included in the computer, a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected in the step of detecting attribute information, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• and
• determining, by using image-capturing determining means included in the computer, a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value Hlove, wherein
• the degree-of-friendliness computing means, in the evaluating the degree of friendliness, evaluates the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means in the detecting the attribute information of the detected face.

An image capturing method for performing image capturing control by using a computer, comprising the steps of:

• detecting, by using face detecting means included in the computer, a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• detecting, by using face-attribute detecting means included in the computer, attribute information of the detected face;
• evaluating, by using arrangement evaluating means included in the computer, a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• evaluating, by using degree-of-friendliness computing means included in the computer, a degree of friendliness between the plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of the detected faces, the items of attribute information being detected in the step of detecting attribute information, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• and
• determining, by using image-capturing determining means included in the computer, a timing to capture the input image based on the first and second evaluation values,
• wherein the degree-of-friendliness computing means, in the evaluating the degree of friendliness, evaluates the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means in the detecting the attribute information.

An image capturing method for performing image capturing control by using a computer, comprising the steps of:

• detecting, by using face detecting means included in the computer, a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• detecting, by using face-attribute detecting means included in the computer, attribute information of the detected face;
• evaluating, by using degree-of-friendliness computing means included in the computer, a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected in the step of detecting attribute information, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• controlling, by using animation control means included in the computer, an animated cartoon to be displayed on a screen in accordance with the level of the first evaluation value;
• and
• determining, by using image-capturing determining means included in the computer, a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program written thereon to execute processing for performing image capturing control by using a computer, the computer program causing the computer to function as:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting attribute information of the detected face;
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value,
• wherein the degree-of-friendliness computing means evaluates the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program written thereon to execute processing for performing image capturing control by using a computer, the computer program causing the computer to function as:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting attribute information of the detected face;
• arrangement evaluating means for evaluating a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between the plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of the detected faces, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the first and second evaluation values,
• wherein the degree-of-friendliness computing means evaluates the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting means.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program written thereon to execute processing for performing image capturing control by using a computer, the computer program causing the computer to function as:

• image input means for inputting an image to be captured;
• display means for displaying the input image on a screen;
• face detecting means for detecting a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• face-attribute detecting means for detecting attribute information of the detected face;
• degree-of-friendliness computing means for evaluating a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting means, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• animation control means for controlling an animated cartoon to be displayed on the screen of the display means in accordance with the level of the first evaluation value;
• and
• image-capturing determining means for determining a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• an image input unit configured to input an image to be captured;
• a face detecting unit configured to detect a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• a face-attribute detecting unit configured to detect attribute information of the detected face;
• a degree-of-friendliness computing unit configured to evaluate a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting unit, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• and
• an image-capturing determining unit configured to determine a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value, wherein
• the degree-of-friendliness computing unit is configured to evaluate the degree of friendliness by taking into consideration degrees of smiling of the detected faces, the degrees of smiling being detected by the face-attribute detecting unit.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• an image input unit configured to input an image to be captured;
• a face detecting unit configured to detect a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• an arrangement evaluating unit configured to evaluate a correlation between positions or angles of detected faces of a plurality of photographic subjects, and outputting a second evaluation value representing the evaluation result;
• and
• an image-capturing determining unit configured to determine a timing to capture the input image based on the second evaluation value, wherein
• the arrangement evaluating unit is configured to perform a comparative calculation on the positions of the detected faces with a position pattern in which two or more detected faces are aligned at the same height or three or more detected faces are arranged on a substantially straight line to obtain the second evaluation value.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• an image input unit configured to input an image to be captured;
• a display unit configured to display the input image on a screen;
• a face detecting unit configured to detect a face of at least one photographic subject included in the input image;
• a face-attribute detecting unit configured to detect attribute information of the detected face;
• a degree-of-friendliness computing unit configured to evaluate a degree of friendliness between a plurality of photographic subjects based on a correlation between items of attribute information of detected faces of the plurality of photographic subjects, the items of attribute information being detected by the face-attribute detecting unit, and outputting a first evaluation value representing the degree of friendliness;
• an animation control unit configured to control an animated cartoon to be displayed on the screen of the display unit in accordance with the level of the first evaluation value;
• and
• an image-capturing determining unit configured to determine a timing to capture the input image based on the first evaluation value.