US-20260129286-A1 - IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS CONFIGURABLE FOR AUTONOMOUS OPERATION, CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

US20260129286A1US 20260129286 A1US20260129286 A1US 20260129286A1US-20260129286-A1

Abstract

An imaging apparatus including one or more processors that execute a program stored in a memory and thereby function as an input unit configured to receive an input of arbitrary sentence information as an imaging instruction, a transmission unit configured to transmit the arbitrary sentence information received by the input unit to a generation unit for generating an imaging condition based on an arbitrary sentence, a reception unit configured to receive the imaging condition from the generation unit, an output unit configured to output an imaging plan based on the imaging condition received by the reception unit, and a control unit configured to control an imaging unit to perform imaging based on the imaging plan.

Inventors

Yasuhiro Mizobuchi
Masahiro Shindo

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251024
Priority Date: 20241101

Claims (17)

1 . An imaging apparatus comprising: one or more processors that execute a program stored in a memory and thereby function as: an input unit configured to receive an input of arbitrary sentence information as an imaging instruction; a transmission unit configured to transmit the arbitrary sentence information received by the input unit to a generation unit for generating an imaging condition based on an arbitrary sentence; a reception unit configured to receive the imaging condition from the generation unit; an output unit configured to output an imaging plan based on the imaging condition received by the reception unit; and a control unit configured to control an imaging unit to perform imaging based on the imaging plan.
2 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the generation unit is a large language model, wherein the one or more processors that execute the program stored in the memory function further as a prompt generation unit configured to generate a prompt for causing the generation unit to generate an imaging condition, and wherein the prompt generation unit generates a prompt that specifies using the arbitrary sentence information as an input and generating the imaging condition.
3 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the prompt generation unit is a large language model for generating a prompt that specifies using the arbitrary sentence information and the imaging condition as inputs and generating a keyword based on the imaging instruction.
4 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of an imaging target subject, a composition, an imaging period, or an imaging frequency is generated as the imaging condition.
5 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors that execute the program stored in the memory function further as a registration unit configured to register subject information, wherein the transmission unit transmits the subject information registered by the registration unit together with the arbitrary sentence information received by the input unit to the generation unit, and wherein the generation unit generates the imaging condition based on the arbitrary sentence information and the subject information.
6 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors that execute the program stored in the memory function further as a history recording unit configured to record information that has been acquired by converting a keyword based on the imaging instruction and the imaging condition based on the registered subject information as a response history.
7 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors that execute the program stored in the memory function further as a change unit configured to change a composition of imaging, wherein the control unit controls the imaging unit to perform imaging based on the imaging plan while causing the change unit to change the composition.
8 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the change unit changes the composition by using pan and tilt functions of the imaging apparatus.
9 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the change unit changes the composition by cropping an image.
10 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the change unit changes the composition by using a zoom function of the imaging apparatus.
11 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus detects that information for use in outputting the imaging plan is missing and notifies a user of the missing information.
12 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the imaging apparatus causes a display unit to display an inquiry sentence corresponding to the missing information to notify the user of the missing information.
13 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors that execute the program stored in the memory function further as a search unit configured to search whether there is a response history similar to the imaging instruction based on the arbitrary sentence information, and wherein, in a case where there is the similar response history, the output unit outputs an imaging plan based on the response history.
14 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the search unit converts the response history based on registered subject information, compares the arbitrary sentence information with the converted response history, and performs a search to determine whether there is a similar response history.
15 . The imaging apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the response history includes the imaging instruction based on the arbitrary sentence information, a keyword based on the imaging instruction generated based on the imaging condition, and the imaging condition.
16 . A control method for an imaging apparatus having an input unit, the method comprising: receiving, by the input unit, an input of arbitrary sentence information as an imaging instruction; transmitting the arbitrary sentence information received by the input unit to a generation unit for generating an imaging condition based on an arbitrary sentence; receiving the imaging condition from the generation unit; outputting an imaging plan based on the imaging condition received from the generation unit; and controlling an imaging unit to perform imaging based on the imaging plan.
17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 16 .

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Technology The present disclosure relates to an imaging apparatus that automatically captures an image based on an imaging instruction from a user, a method for controlling the same, and a storage medium. Description of the Related Art In recent years, systems that automatically start an imaging process in response to a user voice input have reached a practical application stage. This technique significantly reduces the need for manual operation and enables more intuitive and faster imaging. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-111133 describes an imaging instruction method in which, if a user speaks a password to start imaging (for example, “Take a picture” or the like), the user's voice is recognized by a voice processing unit and used as a trigger to perform an imaging operation. According to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-111133, voice commands are limited to phrases registered in advance, and a user needs to memorize and use the specific registered phrases. SUMMARY The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above situation and is directed to providing of an imaging apparatus that can control an imaging operation in response to an automatic imaging instruction of arbitrary expression received from a user. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an imaging apparatus includes one or more processors that execute a program stored in a memory and thereby function as an input unit configured to receive an input of arbitrary sentence information as an imaging instruction, a transmission unit configured to transmit the arbitrary sentence information received by the input unit to a generation unit for generating an imaging condition based on an arbitrary sentence, a reception unit configured to receive the imaging condition from the generation unit, an output unit configured to output an imaging plan based on the imaging condition received by the reception unit, and a control unit configured to control an imaging unit to perform imaging based on the imaging plan. Features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The following description of embodiments is described by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is schematic diagram illustrating an imaging apparatus according to first, second, and third embodiments. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus according to the first, second, and third embodiments. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging purpose estimation server according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus and the imaging purpose estimation server according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a prompt according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from receiving a user instruction to performing an imaging operation according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating imaging purposes and imaging plans that are output in response to a user instruction according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an imaging plan generation operation according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a rising-sun flag composition adjustment operation according to the first and second embodiments. FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams each illustrating a rule-of-thirds composition adjustment operation according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from receiving a user instruction to inquiring about a missing imaging condition and performing an imaging operation according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a prompt according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging purpose estimation server according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus and the imaging purpose estimation server according to the third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a prompt according to the third embodiment. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from receiving a user instruction to performing an imaging operation according to the third embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating keyword outputs according to the third embodiment. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating response history records according to the third embodiment. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating response history searches according to the third embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure will now be described in detail based on embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the disclosure as defined in the claims. Although multiple features are desc