Abstract:
A video camera which can, without requiring troublesome operations, create a disc having a superimposed dialogue through voice recognition with use of a camera main body alone, and which allows a user to enjoy viewing a video with the superimposed dialogue with use of a general-purpose player. Since such a menu which allows person-by-person display based on face-recognized information is created, a video searching performance is enhanced and thus the user can quickly search for a person appearing in the content.

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from Japanese application JP2008-249494 filed on Sep. 29, 2008, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a disc recording/reproducing apparatus which includes a plurality of media including BD (Blu-ray Disc) and HDD (Hard Disc Drive). 
         [0003]    As one of background arts belonging to the technical field, there is JP-A-2007-027990 as an example. This publication discloses in ‘Abstract’ that “‘problem to be solved’ is to facilitate creation or editing of a balloon or a superimposed dialogue, and ‘Means for Solving Problem’ is to input motion picture data in a face detecting means  103  to detect a face feature and a face position and also to input the data in a voice identifying means  104  to detect a voice feature. The detected features are sent to a speaker identifying means  107  to be compared with speaker&#39;s features already stored in a voice/face linkage data memory means  106  and to identify the position of a specific speaker. The identified speaker&#39;s voice is converted to a text by a voice recognition means  105 . A balloon is created by a balloon creating means  112  with use of the speaker&#39;s position and the text data; and the motion picture data, the voice data and the balloon data are combined by a motion picture creating means  114  into new motion picture data.” 
         [0004]    As another one of the background arts belonging to this technical field, there is JP-A-2007-266793 as an example. This Publication discloses in ‘Abstract’ that “‘problem to be solved’ is to synthesize display data corresponding to a voice at a suitable position in an image, and ‘Means for Solving Problem’ is to determine whether or not there is a voice in a motion picture reproduction or playback mode (step S 325 ). In the presence of a voice, it is determined whether or not there is at least one mouth (step S 326 ). In the presence of at least one mouth, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of mouths (step S 328 ). If the determination is NO and only a single mouth is present, then balloon combining operation is executed (step S 332 ). In the presence of a plurality of mouths, it is determined whether or not there is moving one or ones of the mouths (step S 329 ) and it is also determined whether or not there is a single moving mouth (step S 330 ). If there is only a single moving mouth, then balloon combining operation is executed (step  332 ). The balloon combining operation causes balloon test data as a combination of a balloon with test data given therein to be combined with a background in the vicinity of the mouth determined as being moving.” 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In a video camera market, in these years, recording media is being shifted from tape to disc in favor of no possibility of inadvertent overwriting and ease of search. Further, a product having not only DVD but also HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or a semiconductor memory as its recording media is also coming along. In these years, further, in order to obtain a large capacity of and a high quality of video picture, a recording apparatus employing a BD (Blue-ray Disc) conforming to next generation optical disc standard determined by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is coming along. There is also present a hybrid type video camera which employs a combination of HDD and BD to facilitate data transfer or the like. However, as the capacity of a media is increased, many users often leave the recorded media without viewing the contents of photographed videos. Further, a problem will arise that it often takes a lot of time to search for a target video. It is likely that such a trend will continue in the future. 
         [0006]    In a digital camera market, on the other hand, such an application program as to have a face recognition function is employed as a new trend. For example, some of such application programs have a function of detecting a face position and performing exposure control and focus control according to the detected face. In these years, an application program having the face recognition function has been employed even in video cameras. For example, there is coming along even such a video camera which has not only the face detection/exposure control and focus control, but also assists photographing (such as advising of panning too fast, too dark to photograph or the like) by image recognition. It will be seen even in such a world of video camera that the recognition technique is becoming a differentiating technique as a trend. In the future, it is estimated that the recognition technique is applied not only to video but also to voice recognition. In fact, in the world of cellular phones, such an application program as to convert a voice to a text is employed. It is also generally practiced that, in TV programs, the conversation of a subject appears as a superimposed dialogue, and it is fun for a user to view it. 
         [0007]    As has been explained above, it is expected that the problem associated with the increased capacity of memory often will arise. In order to solve the problem, the point is how to make the user get interested in a photographed video. In other words, if such a video as to cause the user to get interested in the video once again can be created, then the user must pleasantly view the photographed video repeatedly. Even at present, the video can be edited on a personal computer (PC). Nevertheless, the editing is troublesome, and if the user has less experience and knowledge, then it is difficult to edit such a video as to cause the user to want to view it many times. 
         [0008]    In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is to propose easy creation of such a video as to cause a user to pleasantly view with use of a camera main body alone. More specifically, when a camera provided with an HDD and a BD as its media is used, the user is encouraged to photograph into the HDD without any special concern during the photographing. When copying the photographed video onto a BD media (with or without retaining the photographed original video), the conversation or voice recorded during the photographing is converted to a text, and a video with a superimposed dialogue is created on the basis of the converted text information. By making the superimposed dialogue conform to the BD standard, the video with the superimposed dialogue can be pleasantly viewed with use of even a general-purpose player. If videos with a superimposed dialog, which is familiar in the case of TV programs, can be easily viewed with use of a camera main body alone, the user can pleasantly enjoy the viewing of the video any time. Further, when combined with the face recognition function, persons appearing in the video can be distinguished. When a menu which is displayed person-by-person for each of the persons involved can be created using the distinguishing information, a searching performance can also be increased upon searching the video. 
         [0009]    In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information recording/reproducing apparatus convenient in handling which, for example, creates a disc on which a video with a superimposed dialogue is recorded and also creates a menu which can be displayed for each of the persons based on a face recognition function with use of a camera main body alone, as has been explained above. 
         [0010]    In order to implement the above apparatus, such arrangements as set forth in the appending claims are employed. 
         [0011]    For example, there is provided an information recording/reproducing apparatus which has a plurality of drive devices corresponding to a plurality of recording media and which performs recording and reproducing operations conforming to the standard of each of the recording media. The information recording/reproducing apparatus includes a face/person recognition device for recognizing a face and a person from a video signal input to the information recording/reproducing apparatus, a voice recognition device for recognizing person&#39;s voice from an input voice signal, a recognition controller for managing results recognized by the face/person recognition device and by the voice recognition device, a voice-to-text conversion device for converting spoken words recognized by the voice recognition device to a text, and a copying management device for managing data transfer between the plurality of media. In a copying mode, a superimposed dialogue can be created from voice. 
         [0012]    In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an information recording/reproducing apparatus which is convenient in handling. For example, since a disc with a superimposed dialogue can be created based on a voice recognition function with use of a camera main body alone, a user can enjoy viewing a video with the superimposed dialogue with use of a general-purpose player. Since such a menu is created that can be displayed person by person according to face-recognized information, a searching performance for the video can be increased. For this reason, desired one of persons appearing in the contents of the video can be quickly searched. 
         [0013]    Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is an arrangement of a system in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a diagram for explaining the operation of the system in a record mode; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a diagram for explaining the operation of the system in a dubbing mode; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  shows an example when a content with a superimposed dialogue is reproduced; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  shows a relationship between a source of copying and a destination of copying; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  shows a menu conforming to a standard. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    A first embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the attached drawings. 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a recording apparatus integrated with a camera. In  FIG. 1 , reference numeral  100  denotes an operating unit operated by a user, which has keys for recognition including a record/stop key, a zoom key and a key for selection of a recording mode. Reference numeral  101  denotes a system control unit for performing en bloc multiplexing/demultiplexing operation, various types of format control, read/write control over a medium and so on. Reference numeral  110  denotes a CCD or CMOS sensor as a photoelectric conversion means for converting light focused by an optical lens for imaging a subject into an electric signal, numeral  111  denotes an A/D converter for converting a video electric signal to a digital signal,  112  denotes a signal processor for converting image information converted to the digital signal into a video signal, and  113  denotes a video compressor/decompressor for performing compressing/decompressing operation over the video signal according to a predetermined encoding scheme such as MPEG2 or H.264. Reference numeral  114  denotes a display unit for displaying a video, which may be divided into a display part for a finder and a movable display part provided outside of the casing of a video camera. Reference numeral  120  denotes a microphone for converting a collected voice into an electric voice signal;  124  denotes a loudspeaker for generating a voice;  121  denotes an amplifier for amplifying the voice signal; and  122  denotes an A/D converter (or D/A converter) for converting the voice electric signal into a digital signal. Reference numeral  123  denotes a voice compressor/decompressor for performing compressing/decompressing operation over the digital voice according to a predetermined encoding scheme such as Dolby Digital or Mpeg. Numeral  131  denotes a multiplexer for multiplexing a motion picture compressed stream generated by the video compressor/decompressor  113  and a voice compressed stream generated by the voice compressor/decompressor  123 . Numeral  130  denotes a large capacity of memory for temporarily storing image data compressed by the video compressor/decompressor  113 , voice data compressed by the voice compressor/decompressor  123  and multiplexed data thereof, which memory is used as a buffer. An ATAPI/ATA unit  132  is an interface based on a specific standard,  141  denotes an optical disc such as BD or DVD. Reference numeral  142  denotes a recording media such as HDD (Hard Disc Drive). A media R/W (read/write) control unit  133  performs controlling operation to read/write a data file for a motion image in a predetermined file format to record/reproduce the data file in the optical disc  141  and the recording media  142 . 
         [0022]    Reference numeral  150  denotes a face/person recognizer for capturing a video signal from the signal processor and recognizing a face or a person, and numeral  151  denotes a voice recognizer for recognizing a voce from PCM data as an input or output of the voice compressor/decompressor  123 . Numeral  160  denotes a recognition manager for managing recognition results of the face/person recognizer  150  and the voice recognizer  151 ,  170  denotes a coping manager for managing coping,  180  denotes a text generator for generating a text, and  190  denotes a menu generator for generating a menu conforming to a standard. 
         [0023]    Reference numeral  134  denotes an MMC controller which is used when data is recorded in a media  143  having an MMC interface such as an SD card. A still image as the data is usually recorded, but motion picture data obtained by converting the result of the multiplexer/demultiplexer into a predetermined format may be recorded. In particular, AVCHD recording is carried out. 
         [0024]    In this case, the functions of the video compressor/decompressor  113 , voice compressor/decompressor  123 , multiplexer/demultiplexer  131 , face/person recognizer  150 , and operating unit  100  are implemented under control of a program by a microprocessor. However, some or all of the functions may be provided in the form of hardware. In  FIG. 1 , control and information lines are shown as lines at least necessary for explanation, but all the control and information lines are not necessarily illustrated when viewed as a product. In actuality, it can be considered that almost all constituent units are mutually connected. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  shows a relationship between a scene and management information when a face or a person is recognized in a record mode. A one-time recording unit is called a scene. Reference numeral  200  denotes a first scene, and numerals  201  and  202  denote second and third scenes respectively. Reference numeral  203  denotes management information acquired through face or person recognition in the first scene. Numerals  204  and  205  denote management information in the second and third scenes respectively. In the illustrated example, one person, who is recorded as a registered name “Hitomi”, is recognized during a time from a frame A to a frame B in the first scene. In the second scene, no face and no person is recognized. In the third scene, there are two locations where faces or persons appear. In one of the two locations, persons named “Sato” and “Tanaka” are recognized; and a person named “Yuriko” is recognized in the other scene. 
         [0026]    Explanation will next be made as to the recognizing operation in the record mode by referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0027]    When a motion picture photographing mode is selected through the operation of the operating unit  100  in  FIG. 1 , the operating unit  100  recognizes the selection and controls the entire system in such a manner as to be explained below. The CCD or CMOS sensor  110  is driven by a driver (not shown) to a motion picture signal generation mode. An image formed by an optical lens is converted by the CCD or CMOS sensor  110  to an electric signal, converted by the A/D converter  111  to a digital signal, which is then converted by the signal processor  112  to video data, and then compressed by the video compressor/decompressor  113 . In the compressing operation, the video data being compressed is sequentially converted to a motion picture compressed stream while the video data is transferred between the memory  130  and the video compressor/decompressor  113 . Simultaneously with the compression, a face or a person is detected by the face/person recognizer  150  from an image of the video signal received from the signal processor  112 . At this time, the image is one frame unit video but may be resized to a necessary size for recognition. A recognized result is sent to the recognition manager  160  and managed in units of scene. For example, when a face or a person is recognized at a single location in the first scene, the associated management information corresponds to the management information  203  of  FIG. 2 . Information about whether or not recognition was carried out is managed by “1” (presence) or “0” (absence), video frame information about the first and last frames in the recognized time duration are previously recorded, and when the frame information coincides with a face already registered, the associated name is previously recorded. In the illustrated example, it will be seen that recognition is carried out, the recognition time duration is between the frame A and the frame B (alternatively, time information during streaming may be used), and the recognized face or person is named “Hitomi”. Management information  204  is for the second scene. In the second scene, no face nor person is recognized and hence all the management information is indicated as none. Management information  205  is for the third scene. In the third scene, there are two locations where recognized face or person appears. In one of the two locations, persons named “Sato” and “Tanaka” are recognized during a time from a frame C to a frame D. In the other scene, only a person named “Yuriko” is recognized during a time from a frame E to a frame F. Such management information as shown in  FIG. 2  is previously recorded in the record mode. 
         [0028]    A voice collected by the microphone  120 , on the other hand, is passed through the amplifier  121  and the A/D (or D/A) converter  122 , compressed by the voice compressor/decompressor  123 , and then temporarily stored in the memory  130 . Thereafter, a motion picture compressed stream generated by the video compressor/decompressor  113  and a voice compressed stream generated by the voice compressor/decompressor  123  which have been stored in the memory  130  are multiplexed by the multiplexer/demultiplexer  131 , and the multiplexed data is temporarily stored in the memory  130 . At this time, the format controller makes a format conforming to the standard. The multiplexed data is eventually output from the memory  130 , and recorded through the media R/W control unit  133  and the ATAPI/ATA unit  132  in the optical disc  141  and the recording media  142  in a predetermined recording format. In the present embodiment, the data is recorded in the HDD. 
         [0029]    Explanation will then be made as to the operation of creating a disc having a superimposed dialogue added in a copying mode on the basis of management information in a record mode, by referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a diagram for explaining the operation when a voice is converted to a text in the copying mode. Reference numeral  300  denotes a first scene, and numerals  301  and  302  denote second and third scenes, respectively. Reference numeral  303  denotes a voice recognition time duration in the first scene, during which voice recognition is carried out during a time acquired by face and person recognition, and the recognized voice result is converted to a text. Reference numerals  304  and  305  denote voice recognition time durations in the second and third scenes, during which voice recognition and text conversion are carried out respectively. 
         [0031]    Copying is a function of copying a content on the HDD to an optical disc or an SD card or of moving the content thereto. More specifically, copying is achieved by once reading out data on the HDD, demultiplexing it to a video and a voice, and thereafter again compressing and multiplexing it in a format conforming to the format of the copying destination. Voice recognition is carried out at the timing of decompressing the demultiplexed data, the voice is converted to a text, and the resulted text is multiplexed on the video and the voice in a remultiplexing mode. Multiplexing means to convert data added with information about a reproduction time into a packet or packets. Take for example the BD, by making this multiplexing method conform to the Standard of the Blue-ray Disc Association (BDA), a superimposed dialogue can be displayed with use of a general-purpose player. Therefore, it is indispensable to make the multiplexing method conform to the associated standard. For example, in the case of DVD or SD card, its recording is required to conform to the standard such as AVCHD. If there is a leeway in the system performance, then voice recognition may be carried out simultaneously with acquisition of the management information in the record mode. 
         [0032]    Explanation will be made as to the specific operation of copying data from the recording media  142  to the optical disc  141 , with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 3 . When receiving a copying instruction from the operating unit  100  in  FIG. 1 , the system control unit  101  informs the copying manager  170  of the type of a disc to be recorded. The instruction may be obtained not only from the operating unit but also from a pull-down menu. When the copying destination is BD, the copying manager  170  prepares for multiplexing (prepares for a necessary library or the like) so as to conform to the standard of the BD. Thereafter, a content is sent from the HDD  142  via the ATAPI/ATA unit  132  to the multiplexer/demultiplexer  131  under control of an instruction of the media R/W control unit  133 . In this case, a video and a voice are once separated in the multiplexer/demultiplexer, but separated information is once stored in the large capacity memory. If it is desired to convert the rates of the video and the voice, the video and the voice may be once re-compressed by the video compressor/decompressor  113  and by the voice compressor/decompressor  123  to necessary rates. In this case, the system control unit  101  refers to the management information created by the recognition manager  160  in the record mode and obtains information about which ones of the frames in the scene contain a face or a person. For example, the voice recognition time duration  303  in  FIG. 3  corresponds to such frame part. While this frame part is being demultiplexed, the voice compressed stream demultiplexed by the multiplexer/demultiplexer  131  is converted by the voice compressor/decompressor to PCM data (non-compressed data) via the large-capacity memory. The converted PCM data is voice-recognized by the voice recognizer  151  to recognize the speaker&#39;s conversation. The recognized information is once managed by the recognition manager  160  and thereafter converted by the text generator  180  to a text corresponding to the speaker&#39;s conversation. In this case, if the voice recognizer fails to recognize some words in the conversation data, such words may be excluded from voice recognition. Thereafter, the multiplexer/demultiplexer converts the text words into a superimposed dialogue and multiplexes it with the video and the voice. In the case of BD, the voice and video are multiplexed in the form of TS (transport stream) and a superimposed dialogue is multiplexed in the form of a presentation graphic (PG) stream. Similarly, text conversion time durations  307  and  308  are generated for the voice recognition time durations  304  and  305  in  FIG. 3 , and are used in the re-multiplexing operation. Even in the case of DVD, this can cope with it by generating a superimposed dialogue conforming to the DVD standard. 
         [0033]    Next shown in  FIG. 4  is the disc effect of a generated superimposed dialogue.  FIG. 4  shows an example when a superimposed dialogue is being reproduced. Reference numeral  400  denotes a display screen when a video is played back with use of a general-purpose player, and numeral  401  denotes a superimposed dialogue displayed when the superimposed dialogue playback function of the player is activated. 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , so long as the general-purpose player conforms to the standard, the superimposed dialogue can be confirmed by activating the superimposed dialogue playback function of the player. It will be seen that this is assumed that the management information  205  have two persons (“Sato” and “Tanaka”) and their conversation is given as the superimposed dialogue. Although timing is not specifically explained here, the timing between the conversation and the superimposed dialogue may be strictly managed by also applying a lip-synching. 
         [0035]    As mentioned above, voice analysis and text conversion are carried out on the basis of management information generated during recording operation in a desired time duration, re-multiplexing operation is carried out with use of the text information as a superimposed dialogue, whereby a pleasant disc with the superimposed dialogue can be created with use of a general-purpose player. Since the conversation is changed to a superimposed dialogue, it is fun to view it. 
         [0036]    A second embodiment of the present invention will be explained by referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  5  and  6 .  FIG. 5  shows a relationship between a copying source and a copying destination when a menu is generated according to face and person. Reference numeral  500  denotes a first scene at the copying source. Numerals  501  and  502  denote second and third scenes, respectively, of the recording source. Numeral  503  denotes first scene as the copying destination where a person “Hitomi” appears. Similarly, reference numerals  504  and  505  denote a second scene where persons “Sato” and “Tanaka” appear and a third scene where a person “Yuriko” appears, as copying destinations. 
         [0037]      FIG. 6  shows a display screen on which a menu conforming to the standards of BD and DVD is displayed. This menu can be displayed with use of a general-purpose player since the menu conforms to the standards. Reference numeral  600  denotes an entire menu, numeral  601  denotes a thumbnail for the first scene  503  in  FIG. 5 . Similarly, numerals  602  and  603  denote thumbnails for the second and third scenes  504  and  505 , respectively, of  FIG. 5 . Numeral  605  denotes menu commands. 
         [0038]    When an instruction of menu generation is issued from the operating unit  100  in  FIG. 1 , the system control unit  101  instructs the menu generator  190  to prepare necessary thumbnail, background and so forth, and menu data is sequentially recorded in a disc while the necessary data are multiplexed by the multiplexer/demultiplexer according to the standard. 
         [0039]    In a general menu, a thumbnail is displayed for each of photographed scenes. In this embodiment, however, it is possible to generate a menu for a collection of not only the aforementioned scene thumbnails but also a collection of face or person appearing scenes. More specifically, the first, second and third scenes  503 ,  504  and  505  having one person or persons appear therein as in  FIG. 5  are recognized as new scenes. For example, the face/person appearing parts are divided and extracted from the first scene  500  as the copying source on the basis of the management information in the record mode. Similarly, the second and third scenes  504  and  505  are prepared. The new scenes are copied as in the first embodiment. In this case, a superimposed dialogue may or may not be provided. Thereafter, when a menu conforming to the standard is generated for the new scenes of the copying destinations, a menu having only a collection of persons or faces can be generated. 
         [0040]    How to generate a menu conforming to the standard is not specifically mentioned. However, since the menu generation method is eventually only required to conform to the standard, the menu generation method is not limited to a specific method. 
         [0041]      FIG. 6  shows a result of generation by implementing the method above. An illustrated title (passage) of each thumbnail given under the thumbnail in  FIG. 6  can be created by arbitrary method. In the illustrated example of  FIG. 6 , “-chan” (Japanese expression like “-o” in “daddy-o” in English expression) or “-san” (Japanese expression similar to “-o” but more formal) are added to the person&#39;s name when creating the menu. 
         [0042]    Since a menu having a collection of face and person appearing scene parts can be generated as has been explained above, the user can quickly find a target subject with use of a general-purpose player. 
         [0043]    It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.