US-12619302-B2 - Imaging apparatus, method of controlling imaging apparatus, and program

Abstract

An imaging apparatus includes a control unit that executes control in a manner corresponding to the fact that a state of an image capturing person determined on the basis of line-of-sight information is a gaze target undetermined state in which a gaze target has not been determined.

Inventors

• Masakazu Mitsugi
• Masanari Sugita

Assignees

• Sony Group Corporation

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20210401

Priority Date

20200409

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An imaging apparatus comprising: a memory storing program code, and a processor configured to execute the program code to perform operations comprising: generate line-of-sight information based on a result of detecting a line of sight of an image capturing person; ascertaining whether a gaze target of an image capturing person is determined on a basis of the line-of-sight information; applying a gaze target undetermined state where it is ascertained, based on the line-of-sight information, that the gaze target of the image capturing person is not determined, wherein the gaze target undetermined state is applied when it is determined that a gaze target unselected state is present, the gaze target unselected state being a state in which it is undetermined which one of multiple candidate target subjects is the gaze target; determining a focus region to include a target subject when the gaze target undetermined state is applied; and determining the target subject on a basis of an imaging situation during a prior gaze target determined state, wherein the imaging situation is a subject type of a prior target subject of the prior gaze target determined state.
2. 2 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: applying the gaze target undetermined state when distribution of a line-of-sight detection result indicated by the line-of-sight information does not have a peak of a variance value smaller than a predetermined value.
3. 3 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: determining the target subject on a basis of a subject that was the gaze target during the prior gaze target determined state.
4. 4 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gaze target unselected state is a state of the image capturing person corresponding to a fact that a distribution of a line-of-sight detection result indicated by the line-of-sight information has only a plurality of peaks of a variance value larger than a predetermined value.
5. 5 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the gaze target unselected state is a state of the image capturing person corresponding to a fact that a trajectory of a line-of-sight detection result indicated by the line-of-sight information reciprocates to a plurality of locations on a display image.
6. 6 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state that is the undetermined state, when the state of the image capturing person is changed from a state other than the idle state to the idle state, making an angle of view wider than in the state other than the idle state.
7. 7 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state that is the undetermined state, performing power saving control.
8. 8 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state that is the undetermined state, performing image storage control.
9. 9 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state that is the undetermined state, when the state of the image capturing person is changed from a state other than the idle state to the idle state, making a distance measurement range wider than in the state other than the idle state.
10. 10 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state, selecting a control method corresponding to an imaging situation from among a plurality of control methods.
11. 11 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state, selecting a control method corresponding to an imaging mode as the imaging situation from among the plurality of control methods.
12. 12 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state, selecting a control method corresponding to a type of a subject as the imaging situation from among the plurality of control methods.
13. 13 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise: in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state, selecting a control method corresponding to a duration of the idle state as the imaging situation from among the plurality of control methods.
14. 14 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the idle state is a state of the image capturing person corresponding to a fact that a distribution of a line-of-sight detection result indicated by the line-of-sight information has a variance value larger than a predetermined value.
15. 15 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the idle state is a state of the image capturing person corresponding to a fact that a trajectory of a line-of-sight detection result indicated by the line-of-sight information is wider than in a gaze target determined state in which the gaze target has been determined.
16. 16 . The imaging apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the subject type is one of a landscape, an animal, or an object.
17. 17 . A method of controlling an imaging apparatus, the method comprising generate line-of-sight information based on a result of detecting a line of sight of an image capturing person; ascertaining whether a gaze target of an image capturing person is determined on a basis of the line-of-sight information; applying a gaze target undetermined state where it is ascertained, based on the line-of-sight information, that the gaze target of the image capturing person is not determined, wherein the gaze target undetermined state is applied when it is determined that a gaze target unselected state is present, the gaze target unselected state being a state in which it is undetermined which one of multiple candidate target subjects is the gaze target; determining a focus region to include a target subject when the gaze target undetermined state is applied; and, determining the target subject on a basis of an imaging situation during a prior gaze target determined state, wherein the imaging situation is a subject type of a prior target subject of the prior gaze target determined state.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the subject type is one of a landscape, an animal, or an object.
19. 19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for controlling an imaging apparatus, the program being executable by a processor to perform operations comprising: generate line-of-sight information based on a result of detecting a line of sight of an image capturing person; ascertaining whether a gaze target of an image capturing person is determined on a basis of the line-of-sight information; applying a gaze target undetermined state where it is ascertained, based on the line-of-sight information, that the gaze target of the image capturing person is not determined, wherein the gaze target undetermined state is applied when it is determined that a gaze target unselected state is present, the gaze target unselected state being a state in which it is undetermined which one of multiple candidate target subjects is the gaze target; determining a focus region to include a target subject when the gaze target undetermined state is applied; and, determining the target subject on a basis of an imaging situation during a prior gaze target determined state, wherein the imaging situation is a subject type of a prior target subject of the prior gaze target determined state.
20. 20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the subject type is one of a landscape, an animal, or an object.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an imaging apparatus, a control method of the imaging apparatus, and a program. BACKGROUND ART An imaging apparatus that performs control according to as operation of an image capturing person is known. For example, Patent Document 1 below describes a technique of monitoring whether or not an image capturing person is looking into a finder and of stopping capturing a moving image in a case where the image capturing person is not looking into the finder. CITATION LIST Patent Document Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-306533 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described in Patent Document 1, it is desirable to appropriately perform control on not only a state in which an image capturing person actively performs a predetermined operation but also other states of the image capturing person. An object of the present disclosure is, for example, to provide an imaging apparatus, a control method of the imaging apparatus, and a program capable of performing appropriate control even in a state (undetermined state) where an image capturing person has not determined a gaze target. Solutions to Problems The present disclosure provides, for example, an imaging apparatus includinga control unit that executes control in a manner corresponding to the fact that a state of an image capturing person determined on the basis of line-of-sight information is a gaze target undetermined state in which a gaze target has not been determined. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides, for example, a method of controlling an imaging apparatus, the method includingcausing a control unit to execute control in a manner corresponding to the fact that a state of an image capturing person determined on the basis of line-of-sight information is a gaze target undetermined state in which a Gaze target has not been determined. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides, for example, a program for causing a computer to execute a method of controlling an imaging apparatus, the method includingcausing a control unit to execute control in a manner corresponding to the fact that a state of an image capturing person determined on the basis of line-off-sight information is a gaze target undetermined state in which a gaze target has not been determined. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a distribution of a line-of-sight detection result FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by the imaging apparatus according to the embodiment. FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams for explaining an example of control performed in a case where a state of an image capturing person is a gaze target unselected state. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flow of control performed in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the gaze target unselected state. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flow of control performed in a case where the state of the image capturing person is an idle state. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of a flow of control performed in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of a flow of control performed in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of a flow of control performed in a case where the state of the image capturing person is the idle state. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a modification. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a modification. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment and the like of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the description will be given in the following order. One Embodiment <Modifications> The embodiment and the like described below are preferred specific examples of the present disclosure, and the contents of the present disclosure are not limited to the embodiment and the like. One Embodiment Configuration Example of Imaging Apparatus First, a configuration example of an imaging apparatus (imaging apparatus 100) according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The imaging apparatus 100 includes a control unit 101, an optical imaging system. 102, a lens drive driver 103, an imaging element 104, an image signal processing unit 105, a codec unit 106, a storage unit 107, an interface 108, an input unit 109, a display unit 110, a microphone 111, a detection unit 112, an AF control unit 113, and a line-of-sight detection unit 114. The control unit 101 includes, as a functional block, an image capturing person state determination unit 101A that determines a state of an image capturing person on the basis of line-of