IP Library Granted Patent US 12695973
Granted Patent B2
US 12695973 · App. 18/724,221 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Camera control apparatus, control method, and non-transitory computer readable medium

Inventors: Yuta Shimizu (Tokyo, JP); Kazuki Inagaki (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
H04N23/611G06V10/98G06V20/597G06V40/172H04N23/71
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12695973
App. No.
18/724,221
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A camera control apparatus, a control method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium which are capable of, even when a plurality of authentication targets are detected, sequentially capturing images of the plurality of authentication targets efficiently in a short time. The camera control apparatus includes a processor configured to: detect a plurality of authentication targets from an image obtained by capturing a nearby environment; determine, for each of the plurality of authentication targets, a part of the image including the authentication target as an area; determine a state of the image of each of a plurality of the areas; and determine an order in which images of the plurality of authentication targets are captured.

Claims (44)

1 . A camera control apparatus comprising:

at least one memory storing instructions, and

at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:

detect a plurality of authentication targets from an image obtained by capturing a nearby environment;

determine, for each of the plurality of authentication targets, a part of the image including the authentication target as an area;

determine a state of the image of each of a plurality of the areas;

determine an order in which images of the plurality of authentication targets are captured based on a result of the determination about the state of the image of each of the plurality of the areas; and

set a control parameter of the camera control apparatus for each of the plurality of the areas so that the state of the image of each of the areas becomes an optimum state for authentication of the authentication target in the area and control the camera control apparatus to capture an image of the authentication target in accordance with the order, wherein

the authentication target is limited to a face of a person, and

the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine the order in which images of the faces of a plurality of the persons are captured to be a descending order of the sizes of the faces of the plurality of the persons.

2 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to acquire in advance the control parameter by which the state of the image becomes an optimum state for authentication of the authentication target in the area.

3 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the state of the image includes at least one of an average value of luminance values of the image, dispersion in the luminance values, a standard deviation of the luminance values, and a histogram of the luminance values.

4 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control parameter includes at least one of an exposure time, a sensitivity, and a contrast.

5 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to set the control parameter so that a state of the image of one of the plurality of the areas becomes an optimum state for authentication in a first frame, and set the control parameter so that a state of the image of another one of the plurality of the areas becomes an optimum state for authentication in a second frame after the first frame.

6 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to capture an image of the nearby environment.

7 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to store the image obtained by capturing the nearby environment.

8 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured to be an order in which a direction of the face of each of the persons is closer to a front direction.

9 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to;

perform authentication processing for the person before the control parameter is set for each of the areas in accordance with the order;

acquire an authentication score as a result of the authentication processing; and

determine the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured to be a descending order of the authentication scores instead of determining the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured based on the result of the determination.

10 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein when there is an unauthenticated person for whom the authentication processing has not been performed, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to adjust the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured so that the order of an image of the face of the unauthenticated person is moved up by a predetermined number.

11 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured to be an order in which a brightness of each of the faces is closer to a brightness suitable for face authentication.

12 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when a face of a person is captured by a camera provided on a driver's side of a vehicle, the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to adjust the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured so that the order of an image of the face of the person captured by the camera provided on the driver's side is moved up by a predetermined number instead of determining the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured based on the result of the determination.

13 . The camera control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured to be an ascending order of distances between a smart key of a vehicle owned by the person and the camera control apparatus instead of determining the order in which images of the faces of the plurality of the persons are captured based on the result of the determination.

14 . A camera control apparatus comprising:

at least one memory storing instructions, and

at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:

detect faces of a plurality of persons from an image obtained by capturing a nearby environment;

group the faces of the plurality of the persons based on sizes of the faces of the plurality of the persons, thereby generating a plurality of face groups;

determine a state of the image of each of the plurality of face groups;

determine an order of the plurality of face groups when images of the faces of the persons are captured based on a result of the determination about the state of the image of each of the plurality of face groups; and

set a control parameter of the camera control apparatus for each of the plurality of face groups so that the state of the image of each of the faces of the plurality of the persons in each of the face groups becomes an optimum state for each of the face groups for authentication of the face of the person and control the camera control apparatus to capture images of the faces of the persons in each of the face groups in accordance with the order, wherein

the authentication target is limited to a face of a person, and

the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to determine the order in which images of the faces of a plurality of the persons are captured to be a descending order of the sizes of the faces of the plurality of the persons.

15 . A control method comprising:

detecting a plurality of authentication targets from an image obtained by capturing a nearby environment;

determining, for each of the plurality of authentication targets, a part of the image including the authentication target as an area;

determining a state of the image of each of a plurality of the areas;

determining an order in which images of the plurality of authentication targets are captured based on a result of the determination about the state of the image of each of the plurality of the areas; and

setting a control parameter of a camera control apparatus for each of the plurality of the areas so that the state of the image of each of the areas becomes an optimum state for authentication of the authentication target in the area and controlling the camera control apparatus to capture an image of the authentication target in accordance with the order, wherein

the authentication target is limited to a face of a person, and

the determining an order includes determining the order in which images of the faces of a plurality of the persons are captured to be a descending order of the sizes of the faces of the plurality of the persons.