JP2005065148A - Monitoring system, information processing apparatus and method therefor, recording medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable providing required quantity of information with less power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: Data of an event detected by an event detector are transmitted from a multi-sensor camera to a server 12 on the basis of data of a plurality of sensors obtained by a sensor. In an event presenting control unit 52 allows a presenting section to present the event. The judgement of a user is inputted into a user input interface 53 on the basis of this presentation. A sensor determining section 55 determines the performance of each sensor on the basis of the user's judgement input information, and a sensor power supply control instruction section 56 transmits a sensor power supply control signal to a sensor power supply control unit. The sensor power supply control unit controls the power supply of each of the sensor on the basis of this sensor power supply control signal. This system is applicable to a monitoring system for home use. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system, an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program, and more particularly, to a monitoring system, an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program that can efficiently reduce power consumption. .

  Conventionally, in a monitoring system, a method has been proposed in which a plurality of different types of sensors are provided and information of each sensor is displayed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Also, a method for detecting a human body that has entered a monitoring area by combining an infrared sensor and an image sensor has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, a system has been proposed in which a monitoring camera is provided with a moving body sensor to detect abnormal movement in the monitoring area and the output signal of the monitoring camera is controlled according to the detection output of the moving body sensor (for example, a patent Reference 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-124078 JP 2000-339554 A JP-A-7-212748

  However, in these inventions, regardless of whether or not the user contributes to the detection of an event that requires notification, a plurality of sensors including the camera are constantly operating, consuming wasteful power, There was a problem of having only a short time.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is capable of efficiently suppressing power consumption.

  The monitoring system of the present invention includes a data acquisition unit that acquires data output from a plurality of sensors, an event detection unit that detects occurrence of an event based on data of the plurality of sensors acquired by the data acquisition unit, and an event A presentation control means for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the detection means, an input acquisition means for obtaining a judgment input from the user based on the presentation controlled by the presentation control means, and a user obtained by the input acquisition means Based on a determination input from the power determination means, and a power supply control means for performing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capacity determination means. It is characterized by that.

  The data acquisition means can acquire data of at least two sensors among a CCD imaging device, a CMOS imaging device, a microphone, a microwave sensor, a photosensor, and an infrared pyroelectric sensor.

  It is possible to further comprise information storage means for storing the event information detected by the event detection means in association with the input information of the judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquisition means.

  The data acquisition means, event detection means, presentation control means, input acquisition means, capability determination means, and power supply control means are arranged separately in either the first information processing apparatus or the second information processing apparatus. Can be.

  The data acquisition means, the event detection means, and the power supply control means are arranged in the first information processing apparatus, and the presentation control means, the ability determination means, and the input acquisition means are arranged in the second information processing apparatus. can do.

  The data acquisition means and the power supply control means are arranged in the first information processing apparatus, and the presentation control means, the ability determination means, the input acquisition means and the event detection means are arranged in the second information processing apparatus. Can do.

  Communication between the first information processing apparatus and the second information processing apparatus can be performed by wireless communication.

  The first information processing apparatus can be driven by a battery.

  A first information processing method of the present invention includes a data acquisition step for acquiring data output from a plurality of sensors, an event detection step for detecting occurrence of an event based on data acquired by the processing of the data acquisition step, , A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection step processing, an input acquisition step for acquiring a judgment input from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step, and input acquisition A capability determination step for determining the capabilities of a plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the processing of the step, and a control for turning on or off the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination step. And a power control step to be executed.

  The program recorded on the first recording medium of the present invention includes an event detection step for detecting occurrence of an event based on data output from a plurality of sensors, and presentation of the event detected by the processing of the event detection step. Control step, an input acquisition step for acquiring a judgment input from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step, and a judgment input from the user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step A capability determining step for determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on the power, and a power control step for executing a control for turning on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determining step. .

  The first program of the present invention includes an event detection step for detecting the occurrence of an event based on data output from a plurality of sensors, and a presentation control step for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the processing of the event detection step. A plurality of sensors based on an input acquisition step for acquiring a judgment input from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step, and a judgment input from the user obtained by the processing of the input acquisition step And a power control step for executing control for turning on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination step.

  The first information processing apparatus of the present invention is based on a plurality of sensors that output data based on monitoring results, a data acquisition unit that acquires data from the plurality of sensors, and data acquired by the data acquisition unit, Based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from a generating unit that generates information about an event, a communication unit that communicates with another information processing device, and a user command transmitted from the other information processing device, the sensor is turned on or off. Power control means for executing control.

  Based on the information about the event generated by the generating unit, the event detecting unit detects the occurrence of the event and generates notification data for notifying the event, and the communication unit is generated by the event detecting unit The notification data can be transmitted to another information processing apparatus, and a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus can be received.

  The generation means uses the data acquired by the data acquisition means as information about the event, and the communication means transmits data as information about the event generated by the generation means to the other information processing apparatus, and from the other information processing apparatus. A signal based on a transmitted user command can be received.

  Communication by the communication means can be performed by wireless communication.

  The first information processing apparatus of the present invention can be driven by a battery.

  The plurality of sensors may include at least two of a CCD imaging device, a CMOS imaging device, a microphone, a microwave sensor, a photo sensor, and an infrared pyroelectric sensor.

  According to a second information processing method of the present invention, a data acquisition step for acquiring data output by a plurality of sensors, a generation step for generating information about an event based on the data acquired by the processing of the data acquisition step, Based on a signal based on a user's command transmitted from another information processing device and a transmission step for transmitting information related to the event generated by the processing of the generation step to the other information processing device, or And a power supply control step for executing a control to turn off.

  The program recorded on the second recording medium of the present invention includes a generation step for generating information about an event based on data output from a plurality of sensors, and information about the event generated by the processing of the generation step. A transmission step for transmitting to the information processing device, and a power control step for executing control to turn on or off the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from another information processing device. It is characterized by.

  The second program of the present invention transmits a generation step for generating information about an event based on data output from a plurality of sensors, and information about the event generated by the processing of the generation step to another information processing apparatus. The computer is caused to execute a transmission step and a power control step for performing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from another information processing apparatus. .

  The second information processing apparatus according to the present invention acquires a presentation control unit that controls the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors, and a user's input based on the presentation of the event controlled by the presentation control unit. It is characterized by comprising an input obtaining means and an ability judging means for judging the ability of a plurality of sensors based on the judgment input from the user obtained by the input obtaining means.

  Based on the determination result by the capability determination means, it is possible to further include power control means for controlling the other information processing apparatus to turn on or off the power of the sensor.

  Event detecting means for detecting occurrence of an event based on data from a plurality of sensors can be further provided.

  Information storage means for storing event information detected by the event detection means in association with information of a judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquisition means can be further provided.

  According to a third information processing method of the present invention, a presentation control step for controlling the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors, and an input of a judgment based on the presentation of the event controlled by the processing of the presentation control step by the user. An input acquisition step to be acquired; and a capability determination step of determining the capabilities of a plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step.

  The program recorded on the third recording medium of the present invention includes a presentation control step for controlling the presentation of events based on detection results of a plurality of sensors, and a user based on the presentation of events controlled by the processing of the presentation control step. An input acquisition step for acquiring an input of determination by the method, and an ability determination step of determining the capabilities of a plurality of sensors based on the input of determination from the user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step .

  The third program of the present invention acquires a presentation control step for controlling the presentation of an event based on the detection results of a plurality of sensors, and a user's judgment input based on the presentation of the event controlled by the processing of the presentation control step. The computer is caused to execute an input acquisition step and a capability determination step of determining the capabilities of a plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step.

  In the monitoring system, the first information processing method, the first program recorded on the recording medium, and the first program of the present invention, data output by a plurality of sensors is acquired, and the acquired plurality of Based on the sensor data, the occurrence of the event is detected, the presentation of the detected event is controlled, the judgment input from the user based on the controlled presentation is obtained, and the obtained judgment input from the user is obtained Based on the above, the capabilities of the plurality of sensors are determined, and control to turn on or off the power of the sensors is executed based on the determination result.

  In the first information processing apparatus, the second information processing method, the second program recorded on the recording medium, and the second program of the present invention, a plurality of sensors for outputting data based on the monitoring result The data is acquired from the information, and information about the event is generated based on the acquired data. Control to turn on or off the power of the sensor is executed based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus and communicated with the other information processing apparatus.

  In the second information processing apparatus, the third information processing method, the third program recorded on the recording medium, and the third program of the present invention, an event is presented based on the detection results of a plurality of sensors. A decision input by a user based on controlled and controlled event presentation is obtained, and the capabilities of the plurality of sensors are determined based on the obtained decision input from the user.

  According to the present invention, an event can be notified. In particular, according to the present invention, the sensor to be used can be switched based on the input of the user's judgment. As a result, a necessary and sufficient amount of information can be provided to the user with less power.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The correspondence between the invention described in this specification and the embodiments is illustrated as follows. Although this description is described in this specification, there is an embodiment which is not described here as corresponding to the invention. It does not mean that it does not correspond to. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described herein as corresponding to an invention, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to an invention other than the invention. Absent.

  Further, this description does not mean that all the inventions described in this specification are claimed. In other words, this description is an invention described in the present specification and is not claimed in this application, that is, a future divisional application, appearing by amendment, or added. It does not deny the existence of the invention.

  According to the present invention, a monitoring system is provided. This monitoring system (for example, the monitoring system 1 in FIG. 1) has data (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2) output from the data ( For example, a data acquisition unit (for example, sensor unit 31 in FIG. 2) that acquires sensor data) and an event detection unit that detects the occurrence of an event based on data of the plurality of sensors acquired by the data acquisition unit (For example, the event detection unit 33 in FIG. 2), a presentation control unit for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection unit (for example, the event presentation control unit 52 in FIG. 3), and the presentation control unit. Input acquisition means (for example, FIG. 3) that acquires an input of a determination from the user (for example, determination of whether event notification is unnecessary) based on the presented presentation A user input interface unit 53), a capability determination unit (for example, a sensor determination unit 55 in FIG. 3) that determines the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the input acquisition unit. And power control means (for example, sensor power supply control unit 35 in FIG. 2) for executing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination means.

  This monitoring system (for example, the monitoring system 1 in FIG. 1) uses the information of the event detected by the event detection means (for example, event information) as the input of judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquisition means. And an information storage unit (for example, the event information storage unit 54 in FIG. 3) that stores the information in association with each other.

  In this monitoring system (for example, the monitoring system 1 in FIG. 1), the data acquisition unit (for example, the sensor unit 31 in FIG. 2), the event detection unit (for example, the event detection unit 33 in FIG. 2), and the presentation control. Means (for example, the event presentation control unit 52 in FIG. 3), the input acquisition unit (for example, the user input interface unit 53 in FIG. 3), the ability determination unit (for example, the sensor determination unit 55 in FIG. 3), and the power source The control means (for example, the sensor power supply control unit 35 in FIG. 2) includes a first information processing apparatus (for example, the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 1) and a second information processing apparatus (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1). It can be made to arrange | position separately in either.

  According to the present invention, an information processing method is provided. In this information processing method, data (for example, sensor data) obtained by a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2) is acquired. An acquisition step (for example, step S1 in FIG. 10), an event detection step (for example, step S3 in FIG. 10) for detecting the occurrence of an event based on the sensor data acquired by the processing in the data acquisition step; A presentation control step (for example, step S42 in FIG. 12) for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection step processing, and a judgment from the user based on the presentation controlled by the presentation control step processing ( For example, an input acquisition step (for example, FIG. 1) for acquiring an input of event determination) 2 step S45), a capability determination step (for example, step S49 in FIG. 13) for determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step, And a power control step (for example, step S14 in FIG. 11) for executing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination step.

  According to the present invention, a program is provided. This program is based on data (for example, sensor data) output from the plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2). An event detection step (for example, step S3 in FIG. 10) for detecting occurrence of the event, a presentation control step (for example, step S42 in FIG. 12) for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the process of the event detection step, Capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on input from a user (for example, determination of whether or not event notification is necessary) based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step (For example, step S49 in FIG. 13) and based on the determination result of the capability determination step, the sensor is turned on. Or a power supply control step (for example, step S14 in FIG. 11) for executing the control to turn off.

  According to the present invention, an information processing apparatus is provided. The information processing apparatus (for example, the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 1) includes a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging apparatus 41 and the CMOS imaging apparatus 42 in FIG. 2) that output data (for example, sensor data) based on the monitoring result. And photosensors 43-1 to 43-n), data acquisition means for acquiring the data from the plurality of sensors (for example, the sensor unit 31 in FIG. 2), and the data acquired by the data acquisition means. Communication that communicates with other information processing devices (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1) and generation means (for example, the sensor data processing unit 32 in FIG. 2) that generates information (for example, event processing data) on the basis of the event. Means (for example, the communication unit 34 in FIG. 2) and a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus (for example, determination of whether notification of an event is unnecessary) Power supply control means (for example, the sensor power supply control unit 35 in FIG. 2) that performs control to turn on or off the power supply of the sensor based on a signal based on (for example, a sensor power supply control signal).

  In this information processing apparatus (for example, the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 1), the notification data for detecting the occurrence of the event and notifying the event based on the information about the event generated by the generating unit. (For example, event notification data) is further provided, and the communication unit transmits the notification data generated by the event detection unit to the other information processing apparatus and the other information. It is possible to receive a signal (for example, a sensor power supply control signal) based on a user command transmitted from the processing device (for example, determination of whether notification of an event is unnecessary).

  In the information processing apparatus (for example, the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 1), the generation unit uses the data acquired by the data acquisition unit as information on the event (for example, event processing data), and the communication unit. Transmits the data as information related to the event generated by the generating means to the other information processing apparatus, and a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus (for example, notification of an event is unnecessary) A signal (for example, sensor power supply control signal) based on the determination of whether or not.

  According to the present invention, an information processing method is provided. In this information processing method, data (for example, sensor data) obtained by a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2) is acquired. An acquisition step (for example, step S1 in FIG. 10) and a generation step (for example, the step in FIG. 10) that generates information about the event (for example, event notification data) based on the data acquired by the processing of the data acquisition step. S6), a transmission step (for example, step S7 in FIG. 10) for transmitting information on the event generated by the processing in the generation step to another information processing apparatus (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1), and the other A signal based on a user command transmitted from the information processing apparatus (for example, determination of whether or not event notification is necessary) And a power control step (for example, step S14 in FIG. 11) for executing a control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on (for example, a sensor power control signal).

  According to the present invention, a program is provided. This program relates to an event based on data (for example, sensor data) output from a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2). A generation step (for example, step S6 in FIG. 10) for generating information (for example, event notification data), and information related to the event generated by the processing in the generation step are transferred to another information processing apparatus (for example, the server in FIG. 1). 12) a signal based on a transmission step (for example, step S7 in FIG. 10) and a user instruction (for example, determination of whether event notification is unnecessary) transmitted from the other information processing apparatus ( For example, on the basis of a sensor power control signal), a power control step (for example, executing control for turning on or off the power of the sensor) , And step S14) of FIG.

  According to the present invention, an information processing apparatus is provided. The information processing apparatus (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1) includes a presentation control unit (for example, the event presentation control unit 52 in FIG. 3) that controls the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors, and the presentation control unit. Input acquisition means (for example, the user input interface unit 53 in FIG. 3) for acquiring an input of determination by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the user (for example, determination of whether notification of the event is unnecessary), and the input A capability determination unit (for example, the sensor determination unit 55 in FIG. 3) that determines the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the acquisition unit.

  The information processing apparatus (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1) turns on the power of the sensor to another information processing apparatus (for example, the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 1) based on the determination result by the capability determination unit. It is possible to further include power supply control means (for example, the sensor power supply control command unit 56 in FIG. 3) that controls to turn off.

  This information processing apparatus (for example, server 312 in FIG. 20) further includes event detection means (for example, event detection unit 357 in FIG. 20) that detects the occurrence of an event based on data output from the plurality of sensors. Can be.

  This information processing apparatus (for example, the server 12 in FIG. 1) uses the information on the event detected by the event detecting means (for example, event information) to input the judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquiring means. And an information storage unit (for example, the event information storage unit 54 in FIG. 3) that stores the information in association with each other.

  According to the present invention, an information processing method is provided. This information processing method is a presentation control step for controlling the presentation of events based on the detection results of a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2). (For example, step S42 in FIG. 12) and input acquisition for acquiring an input of judgment by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the processing of the presentation control step (for example, judgment of whether notification of the event is unnecessary) Step (for example, step S45 in FIG. 12) and a capability determination step for determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on the determination input from the user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step (for example, in FIG. 13) Step S49).

  According to the present invention, a program is provided. This program is a presentation control step (for example, for controlling the presentation of events based on the detection results of a plurality of sensors (for example, the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n in FIG. 2). , Step S42 in FIG. 12 and an input acquisition step of acquiring an input of a judgment by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the processing of the presentation control step (for example, judgment of whether or not event notification is unnecessary) ( For example, step S45 in FIG. 12 and a capability determination step for determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the processing in the input acquisition step (for example, step in FIG. 13). S49).

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a monitoring system 1 to which the present invention is applied. In this configuration example, a multi-sensor camera 11 is provided on the left monitoring area side in the figure, and a server 12 and a presentation unit 13 are provided on the notification / presentation side on the right side in the figure. The multi-sensor camera 11 and the server 12 perform wireless communication. The presentation unit 13 is, for example, a general television receiver or a dedicated monitor.

  The multi-sensor camera 11 is provided with a plurality of sensors, and each sensor is driven by a battery. In addition, each sensor is installed so that an area (necessary place) where an event is to be monitored can be monitored. When an event occurs, detection data is notified from the multi-sensor camera 11 to the server 12, and data for presentation is created by the server 12, and is notified to the presentation unit 13 and presented.

  The user 14 determines whether or not notification is required in the future for the presented event, and inputs a command indicating the determination to the server 12. Based on the determination input from the user 14, a sensor determination process to be described later selects an optimal sensor for the user 14 to detect an event that requires notification, and the other sensors are turned off. Thus, useless power consumption is suppressed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the multi-sensor camera 11 of FIG.

  The multi-sensor camera 11 includes a sensor unit 31, a sensor data processing unit 32, an event detection unit 33, a communication unit 34, a sensor power supply control unit 35, and a battery 36. The sensor unit 31 includes a CCD imaging device 41, a CMOS imaging device 42, and n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n. Although the value of n is arbitrary, it is four, for example. Both the CCD imaging device 41 and the CMOS imaging device 42 image an object in the monitoring area. The photosensors 43-1 to 43-n detect the presence or absence of an object in each monitoring area. Further, the CCD image pickup device 41, the CMOS image pickup device 42, and the photosensors 43-i (i = 1, 2,..., N) in that order have large power consumption and high resolution.

  Until the sensor determination process described later with reference to FIG. 14 is executed, all the sensors provided in the sensor unit 31 are powered on, and all the sensors detect an event (hereinafter referred to as event detection). The monitoring area is monitored as a sensor). After the sensor determination process is executed and the event detection sensor is selected, only the selected event detection sensor is powered on, which monitors the monitoring area. Further, when an event occurs, an image captured by the CCD imaging device 41 is presented to the user. Therefore, when the CCD imaging device 41 is not selected as an event detection sensor by the sensor determination process, the power of the CCD imaging device 41 is turned on in accordance with the occurrence of the event.

  The sensor data processing unit 32 detects data output from the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the plurality of photosensors 43-1 to 43-n that detect humans, animals, and other objects to be monitored (hereinafter referred to as sensors). Data required for event detection and event presentation (hereinafter referred to as event processing data) is extracted from the data and output to the event detection unit 33.

  The event detection unit 33 performs event detection processing based on the event processing data obtained from the sensor data processing unit 32. When detecting an event, the event detection unit 33 generates data (hereinafter, referred to as event notification data) including detection status of each sensor with respect to the detected event and data necessary for event presentation, via the communication unit 34. Send to server 12. In addition, the communication unit 34 receives the sensor power control signal transmitted from the server 12 and supplies it to the sensor power control unit 35.

  The sensor power supply control unit 35 controls the power supply state of each sensor of the sensor unit 31 based on the sensor power supply control signal. In addition, the sensor power supply control unit 35 controls the power supply of the CCD imaging device 41 after the above-described sensor determination process. When the CCD imaging device 41 is not selected as the event detection sensor, the sensor power supply control unit 35 turns on the power of the CCD imaging device 41 when an event occurs, and turns off the power of the CCD imaging device 41 when the event ends.

  The sensor power supply control unit 35 controls the power supply state of each sensor of the sensor unit 31 and turns off the power supply other than the sensor optimal for the detection of an event that requires notification to the user. Suppress.

  The battery 36 supplies necessary power to each part of the multi-sensor camera 11.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the server 12 of FIG.

  The server 12 includes a communication unit 51, an event presentation control unit 52, a user input interface unit 53, an event information storage unit 54, a sensor determination unit 55, and a sensor power supply control command unit 56.

  The communication unit 51 communicates with the communication unit 34 of the multi-sensor camera 11 wirelessly. The event presentation control unit 52 receives event notification data transmitted from the communication unit 34 of the multi-sensor camera 11 via the communication unit 51. The event presentation control unit 52 creates presentation data for the presentation unit 13 based on the acquired event notification data and outputs the presentation data to the presentation unit 13. In addition, the event presentation control unit 52 stores event information of the presented event in the event information storage unit 54.

  The user input interface unit 53 accepts an input for the user to determine whether the notification is required in the future or not in the future, and the acquired determination input information is sent to the event information storage unit 54. Add to saved event information.

  The sensor determination unit 55 is based on the event information accumulated in the event information accumulation unit 54, and is an optimum sensor (a sensor that can obtain the minimum necessary resolution (information amount) for detecting an event for which the user needs to be notified. ) And the sensor power control command unit 56 is notified of the selection result.

  The sensor power control command unit 56 transmits a sensor power control signal to the multi-sensor camera 11 via the communication unit 51 based on the notification of the sensor determination result from the sensor determination unit 55.

  Next, the concept of the sensor determination process performed by the monitoring system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9, and the flow of the process executed by the monitoring system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15. Will be explained.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of information used (having) for detecting an event and the power required for detecting the event of each sensor provided in the multi-sensor camera 11. is there. The horizontal axis represents the amount of information, and the vertical axis represents power. A line 101 is a characteristic of the CCD image pickup device 41, a line 102 is a characteristic of the CMOS image pickup device 42, a line 103 is a characteristic when n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n are used, and a line 104 is a photosensor. The characteristics in the case of using one photosensor among 43-1 to 43-n are respectively shown.

  The line 101 in FIG. 4 indicates that the amount of information from an event in which the CCD image pickup device 41 has a smaller amount of information (low resolution) than the CMOS image pickup device 42 having the characteristics of the line 102 and the photosensor 43 having the characteristics of the lines 103 and 104. It is possible to detect up to many events (with high resolution), but the power required for event detection increases. The CMOS imaging device 42 having the characteristics of the line 102 can detect events having a small amount of information (low resolution) to events having a large amount of information (high resolution) compared to the photosensor 43 having the characteristics of the lines 103 and 104. However, it shows that the power required for event detection increases. On the other hand, the n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n having the characteristic of the line 103 can detect an event with a larger amount of information (high resolution) than the one photosensor 43i having the characteristic of the line 104. It shows that the power required for detection also increases. Therefore, the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 can be minimized by switching the sensor to be used according to the amount of information necessary for detecting the event that the user wants to notify.

  For example, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show examples of images in which the same scene is detected by different sensors, FIG. 5 shows examples of images detected by the CCD imaging device 41 as a high resolution sensor, and FIG. The example of the image detected with the CMOS imaging device 42 as a sensor of is shown. The presence of the doll 61 shown in the center of FIG. 5 can be detected even in a portion surrounded by a circle 62 in FIG. Therefore, for example, if the user needs to be notified of an event that requires an amount of information sufficient to detect the presence of the doll 61 in this example, the use of a high-resolution sensor (for example, the CCD imaging device 41) should be used. Instead, only low resolution sensors (eg, CMOS imaging device 42) can be used to detect events that require notification by the user. Thereby, compared with the case where a high-resolution sensor (for example, CCD imaging device 41) is used, the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 can be suppressed.

  Similarly, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show examples of images in which the same scene is detected by another sensor, FIG. 7 is a high-resolution sensor (for example, CCD imaging device 41), and FIG. 8 is a low-resolution sensor (for example, for example). Examples of images respectively detected by the CMOS imaging device 42) are shown. The car shown in the part surrounded by the circle 71 in FIG. 7 cannot be distinguished from the previous car in the image of FIG. Therefore, for example, when a user wants to monitor the traffic of a car, use a high-resolution sensor (for example, the CCD imaging device 41) and stop using a low-resolution sensor (for example, the CMOS imaging device 42). Thus, it is possible to detect an event for which the user needs to be notified.

  However, the amount of information required for event detection varies depending on the event that the user needs to notify, and in general, the user does not know how much information is required to detect the event. .

  FIG. 9 is a graph obtained by adding lines and points for assisting the explanation to the characteristic graph of FIG. From the graph of FIG. 9, it is shown that by grasping a sensor that can detect an event for a certain event, it is possible to grasp a guideline for the amount of information necessary to detect the event. For example, if all sensors have detected a certain event, the amount of information necessary to detect the event is the area on the right side of the point I4 of the information amount corresponding to the right end point of the line 104 in FIG. Become. Similarly, when the CMOS imaging device 42 and the CCD imaging device 41 can detect an event, the amount of information necessary to detect the event is the point of the information amount corresponding to the right end point of the line 102 in FIG. It is the area on the right side from I2.

  In the monitoring system 1, an input for determining whether a notification is necessary in the future or whether a notification is unnecessary in the future is acquired from the user with respect to the event presented by the monitoring system 1. For all events that the user has determined to need to be notified in the future, by gathering statistics on the sensors that were able to detect those events, grasp the amount of information necessary to detect the events that the user needs be able to. Then, based on the statistical results, the most suitable sensor for detecting an event for which the user needs to be notified is selected, and the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 is suppressed by turning off the power of the other sensors. Can do. For example, if the amount of information necessary to detect an event required by the user is less than or equal to the point I2 (a range that can be detected by the CMOS imaging device 42), CCD imaging can be performed by using only the CMOS imaging device 42. Compared with the case where the apparatus 41 is used, the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 can be suppressed.

  Next, processing executed by the monitoring system 1 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 15.

  First, an event monitoring process executed by the multi-sensor camera 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. The description will be made in the order of the process after the sensor detection process is executed, the process until the sensor detection process is selected, the sensor determination process is executed, and the event detection sensor is selected. This process is started when the user gives an instruction to start monitoring in the monitoring area. All the sensors provided in the sensor unit 31 of the multi-sensor camera 11 from the start of the event monitoring process in the monitoring system 1 to the selection of a predetermined event detection sensor by the sensor determination process are all event detections. As a sensor, the power is always turned on and the monitoring area is monitored.

  In the state before the sensor determination process is executed, the following process is performed. That is, in step S1, the sensor unit 31 acquires sensor data from each of the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n provided in the monitoring area, and a sensor data processing unit. 32. Each of the CCD imaging device 41 and the CMOS imaging device 42 outputs image data obtained by imaging an object as sensor data, and each of the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n includes the presence / absence of an object (change presence / absence). ) Is output as sensor data.

  In step S2, the sensor data processing unit 32 extracts data necessary for event detection and event presentation from the acquired sensor data, and generates event processing data.

  In step S3, the event detection unit 33 acquires event processing data from the sensor data processing unit 32, and determines whether an event to be notified to the user is occurring based on the acquired event processing data. For example, the interframe difference of the image data acquired by the CCD image pickup device 41 or the CMOS image pickup device 42 is calculated, the feature amount is calculated from the barycentric position of the interframe difference, and it is determined whether or not an event is occurring from the feature amount. Or whether or not an event is occurring is determined based on whether or not a change in brightness that exceeds a reference value is detected by the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n. If it is determined in step S3 that an event to be notified to the user is not occurring (an event has not yet occurred), the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S <b> 13, the communication unit 34 determines whether a sensor power supply control signal has been received from the server 12. This sensor power control signal is transmitted from the server 12 to turn off power other than the event detection sensor selected in the sensor determination process in step S50 of FIG. The sensor determination process is performed when sufficient event information is accumulated in the server 12 for the sensor determination process after the event ends. In this case, since sufficient event information has not yet been accumulated, the process of step S14 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area. If it is determined that there is no termination command, the process returns to step S1 and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that the user has instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the event monitoring process is ended.

  If it is determined in step S3 that an event to be notified to the user is occurring (newly generated), the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S <b> 4, the sensor power supply control unit 35 determines whether the CCD imaging device 41 is an event detection sensor. In this case, it is before the sensor determination process is performed, and like the other sensors, the CCD imaging device 41 is also an event detection sensor. Therefore, the process of step S5 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, the event detection unit 33 generates data (event notification data) including the detection status of each sensor for the detected event and data necessary for event presentation based on the event processing data acquired in step S3.

  In step S <b> 7, the event detection unit 33 transmits event notification data to the server 12 via the communication unit 34.

  In step S <b> 8, as in step S <b> 1, the sensor unit 31 acquires sensor data from each of the CCD imaging device 41, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n and outputs the sensor data to the sensor data processing unit 32. To do.

  In step S9, as in step S2, the sensor data processing unit 32 generates event processing data.

  In step S10, as in step S3, the event detection unit 33 determines whether an event to be notified to the user is still occurring. If it is determined that an event to be notified to the user is still occurring (the event is continuing), the processing returns to step S6, and the subsequent processing (transmission of event notification data to the server 12) is repeated. . As a result, once the event has occurred, it is continuously notified to the server.

  If it is determined in step S10 that no event has occurred (the event has ended), the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, as in step S4, the sensor power supply control unit 35 determines whether or not the CCD imaging device 41 is an event detection sensor. In this case, it is before the sensor determination process is performed, and like the other sensors, the CCD imaging device 41 is also an event detection sensor. Therefore, the process of step S12 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S <b> 13, as described above, the communication unit 34 determines whether the sensor power supply control signal transmitted from the server 12 has been received. Until the server 12 performs the sensor determination process and transmits the sensor power control signal, the process of step S14 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, when it is determined that the user has not instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the process returns to step S1, the monitoring process is continued as it is, and the instruction is given to end the monitoring. If so, the monitoring process ends.

  When event detection is repeated in the monitoring system 1 and sufficient event information is accumulated in the server 12 for sensor determination processing, the sensor determination processing is performed in the server 12 in step S49 of FIG. The In step S50 of FIG. 13, a sensor power supply control signal is transmitted from the server 12. In this case, in step S13, the communication unit 34 of the multi-sensor camera 11 receives the sensor power supply control signal, and the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S <b> 14, the sensor power supply control unit 35 acquires a sensor power supply control signal from the communication unit 34. The sensor power supply control unit 35 controls the power supply other than the event detection sensor selected in the sensor determination process to be turned off based on the sensor power supply control signal, so that the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 can be suppressed thereafter. Further, the sensor power supply control unit 35 stores the type of event detection sensor selected in the event determination process. Then, the process proceeds to step S15, and when it is determined that the user has not instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the process returns to step S1, the monitoring process is continued, and the monitoring is ended. When the command is issued, the monitoring process ends.

  Next, a process after the event detection sensor is selected in the sensor determination process will be described. Here, it is assumed that the CMOS imaging device 42 is selected as the event detection sensor, and that the power supply other than the CMOS imaging device 42 is turned off in the process of step S14 in FIG. 13 described above.

  In step S <b> 1, the sensor unit 31 acquires sensor data (image data) from the CMOS imaging device 42 and outputs it to the sensor data processing unit 32.

  In step S2, the sensor data processing unit 32 extracts data necessary for event detection and event presentation from the acquired sensor data, and generates event processing data.

  In step S3, the event detection unit 33 acquires event processing data from the sensor data processing unit 32, and determines whether an event to be notified to the user is occurring based on the acquired event processing data. If it is determined that an event to be notified to the user is not occurring, the process proceeds to step S13, and the same process as before the sensor determination process described above is performed.

  If it is determined in step S3 that an event to be notified to the user is occurring (occurred), the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S <b> 4, the sensor power supply control unit 35 determines whether the CCD imaging device 41 is an event detection sensor. In this case, since the CMOS imaging device 42, not the CCD imaging device 41, is an event detection sensor, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S <b> 5, the sensor power supply control unit 35 turns on the power of the CCD imaging device 41. The sensor unit 31 acquires sensor data (image data) of the CCD imaging device 41 whose power is turned on and outputs the sensor data to the sensor data processing unit 32. The sensor data processing unit 32 extracts data (event processing data) necessary for event presentation from the acquired sensor data (in this case, the image data is extracted as event processing data as it is), and is sent to the event detection unit 33. The process proceeds to step S6. As described above, this process is performed to cause the user to present an image captured by the CCD imaging device 41 when an event occurs. If the CCD imaging device 41 is an event detection sensor, it is not necessary to turn on the power of the CCD imaging device 41, and thus the process of step S5 is skipped.

  In step S6, the event detection unit 33 generates event notification data based on the event processing data acquired in steps S3 and S5. In this case, the image data is generated as it is as event notification data.

  In step S <b> 7, the event detection unit 33 transmits event notification data to the server 12 via the communication unit 34.

  In step S <b> 8, as in step S <b> 1, the sensor unit 31 acquires sensor data from the CCD imaging device 41 and the CMOS imaging device 42 and outputs the sensor data to the sensor data processing unit 32.

  In step S9, as in step S2, the sensor data processing unit 32 generates event processing data. In this case, the image data output from the CCD imaging device 41 and the image data output from the CCD imaging device 42 are event processing data.

  In step S10, the event detection unit 33 acquires event processing data from the sensor data processing unit 32, and determines whether an event to be notified to the user is still occurring based on the acquired event processing data. However, since the CCD imaging device 41 is not an event detection sensor, the sensor data of the CCD imaging device 41 is not used for the event determination process, and the sensor data (image data) of the CMOS imaging device 42 selected as the event detection sensor. Is used for event determination processing. If it is determined that an event to be notified to the user is still occurring, the process returns to step S6, and the subsequent processing (transmission processing of event notification data to the server 12) is repeated.

  If it is determined in step S10 that an event has not occurred (the event has ended), the process proceeds to step S11, and, similar to step S4, the sensor power supply control unit 35 causes the CCD imaging device 41 to detect an event. It is determined whether or not it is a sensor. In this case, since the event detection sensor is the CMOS image pickup device 42 and not the CCD image pickup device 41, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, the presentation of the event to the user is terminated with the end of the event, so the sensor power supply control unit 35 turns off the power of the CCD imaging device 41 for the event presentation. As described above, the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11 can be suppressed by controlling the power supply of the CCD imaging device 41 according to the state of the event. Note that when the CCD imaging device 41 is an event detection sensor, it is not necessary to turn off the power of the CCD imaging device 41, and thus the process of step S12 is skipped.

  In step S13 and subsequent steps, processing similar to that before the sensor determination processing described above is performed.

  In the above description, the CCD imaging device 41 is described as the sensor that captures an image presented to the user after the sensor determination process. However, the image of the CMOS imaging device 42 is presented to the user as it is, or the presented image is captured. It is also possible to allow the user to select a sensor to perform.

  Next, event monitoring processing executed by the server 12 in response to the processing by the multi-sensor camera 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. This process is started when the user gives an instruction to start the event monitoring process.

  In step S <b> 41, the communication unit 51 determines whether event notification data has been received from the multi-sensor camera 11. This event notification data is data transmitted from the multi-sensor camera 11 in step S7 of FIG. If it is determined that the event notification data has not been received, the process proceeds to step S51.

  In step S51, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area. If it is determined that there is no termination command, the process returns to step S41, and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that the user has instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the event monitoring process is ended.

  If it is determined in step S41 that event notification data has been received, the process proceeds to step S42, and the event presentation control unit 52 acquires event notification data from the communication unit 51. The event presentation control unit 52 creates data to be presented to the user based on the acquired event notification data, and outputs the data to the presentation unit 13 in FIG. 1 for presentation. As a result, an image detected as an event (an image captured by the CCD imaging device 41) is presented to the user.

  In step S43, as in step S41, the communication unit 51 determines whether event notification data transmitted from the multi-sensor camera 11 is still being received. If it is determined that event notification data is being received, the process returns to step S42, and the subsequent processes (event presentation process) are repeated.

  If it is determined in step S43 that event notification data is not being received (reception of event notification data has ended), the process proceeds to step S44. In step S44, the event presentation control unit 52 stores information on the presented event in the event information storage unit 54 as event information. In this event information, the event occurrence time, the event detection information of each sensor indicating whether or not each sensor has detected the event, and whether or not future notification input from the user in step S45 is necessary are determined. Judgment input information is included.

  In step S <b> 45, the user input interface unit 53 determines whether or not an input for determining whether or not further notification is necessary for the event presented in step S <b> 42 has been acquired from the user. When the determination input from the user is acquired, the process proceeds to step S46, and the user input interface unit 53 adds the acquired determination input information to the event information stored in the event information storage unit 54 in step S44. ,save. If the determination input from the user is not acquired, the process of step S46 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S47.

  Note that the judgment input from the user acquired in step S45 can be input during the event presentation in step S42, and if input during the event presentation, the user input interface unit 53 until the processing in step S45 is performed. Is temporarily saved.

  In step S47, the sensor determination unit 55 determines whether the sensor determination process is not performed. If the sensor determination process has not been performed, the process proceeds to step S48.

  In step S48, the sensor determination unit 55 determines that the accumulated amount of the judgment input information from the user stored in the event information accumulation unit 54 is a predetermined amount sufficient to execute the sensor determination process (for example, a predetermined number of times). ) Is exceeded. Until the accumulated amount of the judgment input information exceeds a predetermined amount, the processing of the next steps S49 and S50 is skipped as in the case where it is judged that the sensor judgment processing has been performed in step S47, and the processing is step. Proceed to S51. If it is determined in step S51 that the user has not instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area, the process returns to step S41, and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that the user has instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the event monitoring process is ended.

  When event detection is repeated and it is determined in step S48 that the accumulated amount of determination input information has exceeded a predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S49, where sensor determination processing is performed and an event for which the user needs to be notified. The most suitable sensor for detecting the event is selected as the event detection sensor. Details of the sensor determination process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S50, the sensor determination unit 55 notifies the sensor power supply control command unit 56 of the result of the sensor determination process. The sensor power control command unit 56 transmits a sensor power control signal for turning off the power other than the event detection sensor selected in step S49 to the multi-sensor camera 11 via the communication unit 51. Based on this sensor power control signal, the multi-sensor camera 11 turns off the power other than the event detection sensor in step S14 of FIG. 11 described above. In addition, the sensor power control command unit 56 stores the type of sensor selected in the sensor determination process.

  If it is determined in step S51 that the user has not instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area, the process returns to step S41, and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that the user has instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the event monitoring process is ended.

  The processing executed by the server 12 after the sensor determination processing (processing when NO is determined in step S47) is the same as the processing before the sensor determination processing. Note that the user's determination input information for the event acquired in step S45 is, for example, after the sensor determination process, classifies events detected by the event detection sensor into events that require further notification and events that do not require notification. It can be used as information for controlling to notify only events for which notification is determined to be necessary.

  Next, the sensor determination process executed in step S49 of FIG. 13 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S <b> 101, the sensor determination unit 55 loads past event information accumulated in the event information accumulation unit 54.

  FIG. 15 shows an example of the event information loaded in step S101.

  The first line in FIG. 15 shows the event occurrence time except for the rightmost column. In the example of this figure, a total of three events have occurred at times T = t, T = t + M, and T = t + M + N.

  The second to fifth lines in FIG. 15 represent event detection information for each sensor indicating whether or not each sensor described in the first column can detect an event at each time except the most rightmost column. . “Change detection” indicates that the sensor has detected an event, and “no response” indicates that the sensor has not detected an event. For example, the event that occurred at time T = t was detected by the CCD imaging device 41 and the CMOS imaging device 42. However, the n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n and the photosensors 43-1 to 43- An event could not be detected with only one of n.

  The sixth line in FIG. 15 shows the user's judgment input information for each event. “Notification required” indicates that the user has entered a determination that the event will continue to be required, and “Notification not required” indicates that the user has entered a determination that the event will no longer be required. Show.

  The sensor determination unit 55 obtains the total result of each sensor shown in the rightmost column of FIG. 15 based on the above event information. The denominator of the counting result represents the number of events that the user has entered a judgment that needs to be notified in the future, and the numerator represents the number of times each sensor can detect the event that the user has entered a judgment that needs to be notified in the future. Represent. For example, when n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n are used, since the user can detect one out of two events in which a determination that notification is still necessary is input, the counting result (probability) Becomes 1/2.

  The capability of the sensor is determined based on whether the value of the total result is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. For example, in the example of FIG. 15, when the sensor capability determination threshold is 90%, the CCD imaging device 41 and the CMOS imaging device 42 detect the event that the user needs to be notified because the counting result is 100%. Determined to have the ability to In contrast, only one of the n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n and one of the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n has a count result of 50%, so the user needs to be notified. It is determined that it does not have the ability to detect the event.

  Hereinafter, based on the event information of FIG. 15, the processing of FIG. 14 will be described with the sensor capability determination threshold set to 90%.

  In step S <b> 102, the sensor determination unit 55 selects a sensor with the least power consumption from the sensors that have not been subjected to the sensor determination process as a target for the sensor determination process. Therefore, in the sensor determination process, one of the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n, the n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n, the CMOS imaging device 42, and the CCD imaging device are sequentially arranged from the sensor with the lowest power consumption. It is performed in the order of 41.

  In step S103, the sensor determination unit 55 determines whether or not the sensor selected in step S102 has an ability to detect an event that requires notification from the user. First, sensor determination processing is performed when only one of the photosensors 43-1 to 43-n is used, and processing is performed when it is determined that the user does not have the ability to detect an event that requires notification. Advances to step S105.

  In step S <b> 105, the sensor determination unit 55 determines whether determination processing for all sensors has been completed. In this case, since the determination process for all the sensors has not been completed, the process returns to step S102.

  Next, in step S102, n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n are subjected to sensor determination processing. Even when n photosensors 43-1 to 43-n are used, if it is determined that the user does not have the ability to detect an event that requires notification, the process returns to step S102 by the same processing, and the next In this case, the CMOS imaging device 42 is a target of the sensor determination process, and the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the CMOS imaging device 42 is determined to have the ability to detect an event that requires a user notification. Since the sensor determination process is performed in order from the sensor with the lowest power consumption, the CMOS imaging device 42 is the sensor with the highest power consumption among the sensors having the ability to detect an event for which the user needs to be notified. Therefore, the sensor selection process is completed, and the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, the sensor determination unit 55 selects a determination target sensor (CMOS imaging device 42) as an event detection sensor, and the sensor determination process is ended.

  In step S105, it is determined that the determination process for all the sensors has been completed, and the process proceeds to step S106. All sensors do not have the ability to detect an event for which the user needs to be notified. Is determined. The CCD imaging device 41 is capable of detecting an event detected by another sensor and is assumed to have an event detection rate of 100%. If the CCD imaging device 41 cannot detect an event under some condition and the process proceeds to step S106, the sensor determination unit 55 selects a sensor (CCD imaging device 41) that can detect an event with the largest amount of information as an event. A sensor for detection is selected, and the sensor determination process is terminated.

  Through the series of processes of the monitoring system 1 described above, the monitoring system 1 has the ability to detect an event that requires notification from the sensors of the multi-sensor camera 11, and consumes the least amount of power. The sensor is selected as the event detection sensor, and the other sensors are turned off. In addition, after the sensor determination process, the power supply of the CCD imaging device 41 that captures an image to be presented to the user is controlled in accordance with the occurrence of the event. Therefore, it is possible to present an event for which the user needs to be notified while minimizing the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 11.

  Further, the monitoring system 1 detects objects based on different principles such as a photosensitive CCD imaging device 241 and a photosensor 243 and a thermal infrared pyroelectric sensor 244 as in the multi-sensor camera 211 of FIG. Sensors can be used. In FIG. 16, portions corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals or the last two digits, and the description thereof will be omitted because it is repeated.

  In the case of sensors with different detection principles and, therefore, detection targets, it is difficult to simply compare which sensor has better detection capability. However, the monitoring system 1 determines whether or not the user has the ability to detect an event that requires notification for each sensor by the sensor determination process described above with reference to FIG. By selecting the sensor that consumes the least amount of power from among the sensors it has, it is possible to select the most appropriate sensor for detecting an event that requires notification by the user, regardless of the detection target of the sensor. It is.

  FIG. 17 shows an example of event information accumulated in the monitoring system 1 when the multi-sensor camera 211 is used. In FIG. 17, when the threshold for determining the capability of the sensor is 90%, the CCD imaging device 241 and the photosensor 243 have the capability of detecting an event for which the user needs to be notified, and the sensor determination described with reference to FIG. Through the processing, the photosensor 243 with low power consumption is selected as the event detection sensor.

  In addition, a microphone, a microwave sensor, and other sensors can be used for the multi-sensor camera.

  In the above, the event detection process is performed on the multi-sensor camera 11 side, but it can also be performed on the server. FIG. 18 shows a configuration example of the monitoring system 301 in this case. Compared to the monitoring system 1 of FIG. 1, the multi-sensor camera 11 is replaced with a multi-sensor camera 311 and the server 12 is replaced with a server 312. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. The monitoring system 301 is applied when the power consumed by the event detection process is large, and the event detection process performed by the server 312 can reduce the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 311.

  FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the multi-sensor camera 311, and FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the server 312. The multi-sensor camera 311 and the server 312 are different from the multi-sensor camera 11 in FIG. 2 and the server 12 in FIG. 3 in that the event detection unit 357 is arranged in the server 312 instead of the multi-sensor camera 311. . Other configurations are the same as those in FIGS. In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals in the last two digits, and the description of parts having the same processing will be omitted because it will be repeated.

  The multi-sensor camera 311 is provided with a sensor unit 331, a sensor data processing unit 332, a communication unit 334, a sensor power supply control unit 335, and a battery 336. The sensor unit 331 includes a CCD image pickup device 341, a CMOS image pickup device 342, and n sensors of a plurality of photosensors 343-1 to 343-n.

  The sensor data processing unit 332 is necessary for event detection and event presentation from data (sensor data) obtained from a plurality of sensors of the CCD imaging device 341, the CMOS imaging device 342, and the n photosensors 343-1 to 343-n. Data (event processing data) is extracted and transmitted to the server 312 via the communication unit 334.

  The server 312 is provided with an event detection unit 357 in addition to a communication unit 351, an event presentation control unit 352, a user input interface unit 353, an event information storage unit 354, a sensor determination unit 355, and a sensor power supply control command unit 356. Yes.

  The event detection unit 357 performs event detection processing based on event processing data acquired from the multi-sensor camera 311 via the communication unit 351. When the event detection unit 357 detects an event, the event detection unit 357 outputs, to the event presentation control unit 352, data (event notification data) including detection status of each sensor for the detected event and data necessary for event presentation.

  The event presentation control unit 352 acquires event notification data from the event detection unit 357, creates presentation data based on the acquired event notification data, and outputs the presentation data to the presentation unit 13. In addition, the event presentation control unit 352 stores information on the presented event in the event information storage unit 354.

  The sensor power control command unit 356 transmits a sensor power control signal to the multi-sensor camera 311 via the communication unit 351 based on the notification of the result of the sensor determination process from the sensor determination unit 355. The sensor power supply control command unit 356 stores the type of event detection sensor selected in the sensor determination process, and controls the power supply of the CCD imaging device 341 in accordance with the occurrence and end of the event after the sensor determination process. A sensor power supply control signal is transmitted to the multi-sensor camera 311 via the communication unit 351.

  Next, processing executed by the monitoring system 301 in FIG. 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. The processing differs from the monitoring system of FIG. 1 when an event occurs in the monitoring area before the sensor determination process, when an event occurs in the monitoring area after the sensor determination process, and when the event has ended. Those cases will be described.

  First, processing executed by the multi-sensor camera 311 before the sensor determination processing is performed will be described with reference to FIG. This process is executed regardless of whether or not an event in the monitoring area has occurred.

  In step S <b> 201, the sensor unit 331 acquires sensor data from each of the CCD imaging device 341, the CMOS imaging device 342, and the photosensors 343-1 to 343-n provided in the monitoring area, and sends them to the sensor data processing unit 332. Output.

  In step S202, the sensor data processing unit 332 extracts data necessary for event detection and event presentation from the acquired sensor data, and generates event processing data.

  In step S <b> 203, the sensor data processing unit 332 transmits the data to the server 312 via the communication unit 334 regardless of whether an event has occurred in the monitoring area. The transmitted event processing data is received by the server 312 in S241 of FIG. 22 to be described later and used for event detection processing.

  In step S <b> 204, the communication unit 334 determines whether a sensor power supply control signal has been received from the server 312. Since the sensor power supply control signal is not received before the sensor determination process, the process of step S205 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S206.

  In step S206, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area. If it is determined that there is no termination command, the process returns to step S201, and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that the user has instructed to end the monitoring in the monitoring area, the event monitoring process is ended.

  Next, a process executed by the server 312 when an event is detected before the sensor determination process is performed will be described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23. FIG.

  In step S241, the event detection unit 357 acquires event processing data transmitted from the multi-sensor camera 311 through the communication unit 351 in step S203 in FIG.

  In step S242, the event detection unit 357 determines whether an event to be notified to the user is occurring based on the event processing data acquired in step S241 by the same processing as in step S3 of FIG. 10 of the multi-sensor camera 11. Determine. In this case, since the event is detected, the process proceeds to step S243.

  In step S243, the sensor power supply control command unit 356 determines whether the CCD imaging device 341 is an event detection sensor. Before the sensor determination process, the CCD imaging device 341 is also an event detection sensor together with other sensors, so the processes of steps S244 and S245 are skipped, and the process proceeds to step S246.

  In step S246, the event detection unit 357 generates data (event notification data) including the detection status of each sensor for the event and data necessary for event presentation based on the event processing data acquired in step S241, and event presentation control is performed. To the unit 352. The event presentation control unit 352 creates data to be presented to the user based on the acquired event notification data, and outputs the data to the presentation unit 13 in FIG. 18 for presentation.

  In step S247, the event detection unit 357 acquires the event processing data transmitted from the multi-sensor camera 311 in the process of step S203 in FIG. 21 as in step S241.

  In step S248, the event detection unit 357 determines whether an event to be notified to the user is occurring, as in step S242. If it is determined in step S248 that an event is occurring, the process returns to step S246, and the subsequent process (event presentation process) is repeated.

  If it is determined in step S248 that no event is occurring (the event has ended), the process proceeds to step S249. The processing after step S249 is the same as the processing after step S44 of FIG.

  Next, a process executed by the monitoring system 1 when an event occurs in the monitoring area and when the generation ends after the sensor determination process is performed will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, it is assumed that the CMOS imaging device 342 is selected as the event detection sensor by the sensor determination process, and the power supply other than the CMOS imaging device 342 is turned off.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, in the monitoring system 1, the sensor power control unit 35 of the multi-sensor camera 11 captures an image of the CCD imaging device 41 to be presented to the user when an event occurs after the sensor determination process. The power source of the CCD imaging device 41 is controlled in accordance with the event state. On the other hand, in the monitoring system 301, since the multi-sensor camera 311 does not have an event detection unit and the event state cannot be determined, the sensor determination unit 355 of the server 312 sends the sensor power control signal to the multi-sensor camera in accordance with the event state. By transmitting to 311, the power source of the CCD imaging device 341 of the multi-sensor camera 311 is controlled.

  First, with reference to FIG. 21, a process executed by the multi-sensor camera 311 when an event occurs in the monitoring area and when the generation ends after the sensor determination process is performed will be described.

  If the server 312 determines that an event to be notified to the user has occurred, a sensor power supply control signal for turning on the CCD imaging device 341 is transmitted from the server 312 by the processing in step S244 in FIG. . The sensor power supply control signal is received by the communication unit 334 of the multi-sensor camera 311 in the process of step S204 in FIG. 21, and the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, the sensor power supply control unit 335 acquires a sensor power supply control signal from the communication unit 334, and turns on the power of the CCD imaging device 341 based on the sensor power supply control signal.

  If it is determined in step S206 that the user has not instructed termination of monitoring in the monitoring area, the process returns to step S201.

  In step S <b> 201, the sensor unit 331 acquires sensor data from the CMOS imaging device 342 and the CCD imaging device 341 that has been powered on in step S <b> 205, and outputs the sensor data to the sensor data processing unit 332.

  In step S202, the sensor data processing unit 332 extracts data necessary for event detection and event presentation from the acquired sensor data, and generates event processing data.

  In step S <b> 203, the sensor data processing unit 332 transmits the data to the server 312 via the communication unit 334 regardless of whether an event has occurred in the monitoring area. The transmitted event processing data is received by the server 312 in step S241 of FIG. 22 described later, and is used for event detection processing.

  Thereafter, the processes in steps S201 and S203 are repeated until the event detection process is completed.

  When the server 312 determines that the occurrence of the event has ended, a sensor power supply control signal for turning off the CCD imaging device 341 is transmitted from the server 312 by processing in step S259 of FIG. The sensor power supply control signal is received by the communication unit 334 of the multi-sensor camera 311 in the process of step S204 in FIG. 21, and the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, the sensor power supply control unit 335 acquires a sensor power supply control signal from the communication unit 334, and turns off the power of the CCD imaging device 341 based on the sensor power supply control signal.

  Thereafter, event processing data based on the sensor data detected by the CMOS imaging device 342 is transmitted to the server 312 through the processing of steps S201 and S203 until an event is detected by the server 312.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, a process executed by the server 312 when an event occurs in the monitoring area and when the generation ends after the sensor determination process is performed will be described.

  In step S241, event processing data is received from the multi-sensor camera 311. If it is determined in step S242 that an event to be notified to the user has occurred, the process proceeds to step S243. In step S243, the sensor power supply control command unit 356 determines whether the CCD imaging device 341 is an event detection sensor. In this case, since the CCD imaging device 341 is not an event detection sensor, the process proceeds to step S244.

  In step S244, the sensor power control command unit 356 transmits a sensor power control signal for turning on the power of the CCD imaging device 341 to the multi-sensor camera 311 via the communication unit 351. This sensor power control signal is received by the multi-sensor camera 311 in the process of step S204 of FIG. 21 described above, and the power of the CCD imaging device 341 is turned on in the process of step S205.

  Thereafter, event presentation processing similar to that at the time of event occurrence before the sensor determination processing is performed until the event occurrence ends. However, in step S248, since the CCD imaging device 341 is not an event detection sensor, the sensor data of the CCD imaging device 341 is not used for event determination processing.

  Thereafter, when the occurrence of the event is finished in the monitoring area, it is determined in step S248 that the event is not occurring (the event is finished), and the process proceeds to step S249.

  In step S249, event information is recorded in the event information storage unit 354. In steps S250 and S251, determination input information from the user is acquired and added to the event information, and then the process proceeds to step S252.

  In step S252, in this case, since the sensor determination process has been performed, the process proceeds to step S258. In step S258, the sensor power supply control command unit 356 determines whether or not the CCD imaging device 341 is an event detection sensor. In this case, since the CCD imaging device 341 is not an event detection sensor, the process proceeds to step S259.

  In step S <b> 259, the sensor power control command unit 356 transmits a sensor power control signal for turning off the CCD imaging device 341 to the multi-sensor camera 311 via the communication unit 351. This sensor power control signal is received by the multi-sensor camera 311 in the process of step S204 of FIG. 21 described above, and the power of the CCD imaging device 341 is turned off in the process of step S205.

  If it is determined in step S257 that the user has instructed to end monitoring in the monitoring area, the monitoring process ends. If the user has not instructed monitoring termination, the process returns to step S241 and the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.

  When the power consumed by the event detection process is large, and when the event processing data is transmitted from the multi-sensor camera 311 to the server 312 and the event detection process is executed by the server 312, the power consumption of the multi-sensor camera 311 can be reduced. The event detection processing can be executed by the server 312 by the processing of the monitoring system 301 described.

  In addition, the above example is an example which implement | achieves the monitoring system 1 and the monitoring system 301, and many other system configurations can be considered. An example is shown below.

  For example, communication between the multi-sensor camera 11 and the server 12 or between the multi-sensor camera 311 and the server 312 is not limited to wireless communication, and may be wired communication.

  Further, the multi-sensor camera 11 or the multi-sensor camera 311 may be provided in a plurality instead of one.

  Furthermore, it is possible to provide a plurality of the presenting units 13 instead of one.

  Further, the server 12 or the server 312 can be integrated with the presenting unit 13 instead of a separate housing.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software executes various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. It can be installed from a recording medium such as a general-purpose personal computer. In this case, the processing described above is executed by a personal computer 500 as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 24, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501 performs various processes according to a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 502 or a program loaded from a storage unit 508 to a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503. Execute. The RAM 503 also appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 501 to execute various processes.

  The CPU 501, ROM 502, and RAM 503 are connected to each other via an internal bus 504. An input / output interface 505 is also connected to the internal bus 504.

  The input / output interface 505 includes an input unit 506 including a keyboard and a mouse, a display including a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an output unit 507 including a speaker, and a hard disk. A communication unit 509 including a storage unit 508, a modem, a terminal adapter, and the like is connected. A communication unit 509 performs communication processing via various networks including a telephone line and CATV.

  A drive 510 is connected to the input / output interface 505 as necessary, and a removable medium 521 made of a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is appropriately mounted, and a computer program read therefrom is It is installed in the storage unit 508 as necessary.

  When a series of processing is executed by software, various functions can be realized by installing a program that constitutes the software in a dedicated dedicated hardware computer or by installing various programs. For example, a general-purpose personal computer or the like that can be executed is installed from a network or a recording medium.

  As shown in FIG. 24, this recording medium is not only composed of a package medium consisting of a removable medium 521 on which a program is recorded, which is distributed to provide a program to the user, separately from the computer. These are configured by a hard disk including a ROM 502 storing a program and a storage unit 508 provided to the user in a state of being pre-installed in the apparatus main body.

  In the present specification, the step of describing a computer program includes not only processing performed in time series according to the described order but also processing executed in parallel or individually even if not necessarily processed in time series. Is also included.

  Further, in the present specification, the term “system” means an overall apparatus constituted by a plurality of apparatuses and means.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the monitoring system to which this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of one Embodiment of the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of one Embodiment of the server of FIG. It is a figure which shows the characteristic of the sensor mounted in the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an image detected with the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an image detected with the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an image detected with the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an image detected with the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the characteristic of the sensor mounted in the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the multi-sensor camera of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the multi-sensor camera of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the server of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the server of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the sensor determination process in the server of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the event information by the monitoring system of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of one Embodiment of the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the event information by the monitoring system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the monitoring system to which this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of one Embodiment of the multi sensor camera of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of one Embodiment of the server of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the camera of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the server of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the monitoring process in the server of FIG. And FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a personal computer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Surveillance system, 11 Multi sensor camera, 12 Server, 13 Presentation part, 31 Sensor part, 32 Sensor data processing part, 33 Event detection part, 34 Communication part, 35 Sensor power supply control part, 36 Battery, 51 Communication part, 52 Event Presentation control unit, 53 user input interface unit, 54 event information storage unit, 55 sensor determination unit, 56 sensor power supply control command unit, 301 monitoring system, 311 multi-sensor camera, 312 server, 357 event detection unit

Claims (27)

In a monitoring system that executes monitoring processing,
Data acquisition means for acquiring data output by a plurality of sensors;
Event detection means for detecting the occurrence of an event based on data of the plurality of sensors acquired by the data acquisition means;
Presentation control means for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection means;
Input acquisition means for acquiring a judgment input from the user based on the presentation controlled by the presentation control means;
A capability determination unit that determines the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the input acquisition unit;
A monitoring system comprising: power control means for executing control for turning on or off the power of the sensor based on a determination result of the capability determination means. The data acquisition unit acquires data of at least two sensors among a CCD imaging device, a CMOS imaging device, a microphone, a microwave sensor, a photo sensor, and an infrared pyroelectric sensor. Monitoring system. The information storage means for storing the event information detected by the event detection means in association with the input information of the judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquisition means. The monitoring system described. The data acquisition unit, the event detection unit, the presentation control unit, the input acquisition unit, the capability determination unit, and the power control unit may be any one of the first information processing apparatus and the second information processing apparatus. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring system is arranged separately. The data acquisition means, the event detection means, and the power supply control means are arranged in the first information processing apparatus,
The monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the presentation control unit, the capability determination unit, and the input acquisition unit are arranged in the second information processing apparatus. The data acquisition means and the power supply control means are arranged in the first information processing apparatus,
The monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the presentation control unit, the ability determination unit, the input acquisition unit, and the event detection unit are arranged in the second information processing apparatus. The monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein communication between the first information processing apparatus and the second information processing apparatus is performed by wireless communication. The monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the first information processing apparatus is driven by a battery. In an information processing method of a monitoring system that executes monitoring processing,
A data acquisition step for acquiring data output by a plurality of sensors;
An event detection step of detecting the occurrence of an event based on the data acquired by the data acquisition step;
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection step;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step;
A capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the input acquisition step;
A power control step of performing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination step. A program for executing a monitoring process based on data output from a plurality of sensors,
An event detection step of detecting the occurrence of an event based on data output by the plurality of sensors;
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection step;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step;
A capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the input acquisition step;
And a power control step for executing a control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on a determination result of the capability determination step. A recording medium on which a computer-readable program is recorded. A program for executing a monitoring process based on data output from a plurality of sensors,
An event detection step of detecting the occurrence of an event based on data output by the plurality of sensors;
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of the event detected by the event detection step;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment from the user based on the presentation controlled by the processing of the presentation control step;
A capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from the user acquired by the input acquisition step;
A program that causes a computer to execute a power supply control step of executing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on the determination result of the capability determination step. In an information processing apparatus that executes a monitoring process,
A plurality of sensors that output data based on monitoring results;
Data acquisition means for acquiring the data from the plurality of sensors;
Generating means for generating information about an event based on the data acquired by the data acquiring means;
Communication means for communicating with other information processing devices;
An information processing apparatus comprising: power control means for executing control for turning on or off the power of the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. Further comprising event detection means for detecting occurrence of an event based on information about the event generated by the generation means and generating notification data for notifying the event;
The communication means transmits the notification data generated by the event detection means to the other information processing apparatus and receives a signal based on a user instruction transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12. The generating means uses the data acquired by the data acquiring means as information relating to the event,
The communication means transmits the data as information on the event generated by the generation means to the other information processing apparatus and receives a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein: The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein communication by the communication unit is performed by wireless communication. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the information processing apparatus is driven by a battery. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of sensors include at least two of a CCD imaging device, a CMOS imaging device, a microphone, a microwave sensor, a photo sensor, and an infrared pyroelectric sensor. In the information processing method of the information processing apparatus that executes the monitoring process,
A data acquisition step for acquiring data output by a plurality of sensors;
A generating step for generating information about the event based on the data acquired by the processing of the data acquiring step;
A transmission step of transmitting information related to the event generated by the processing of the generation step to another information processing device;
A power control step of performing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. A program for executing a monitoring process,
A generating step for generating information about the event based on data output by the plurality of sensors;
A transmission step of transmitting information related to the event generated by the processing of the generation step to another information processing device;
And a power control step for executing a control for turning on or off the power of the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. A recording medium on which the program is recorded. In the program that executes the monitoring process,
A generating step for generating information about the event based on data output by the plurality of sensors;
A transmission step of transmitting information related to the event generated by the processing of the generation step to another information processing device;
A program for causing a computer to execute a power supply control step of executing control to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on a signal based on a user command transmitted from the other information processing apparatus. In an information processing apparatus that executes a monitoring process,
Presentation control means for controlling the presentation of an event based on the detection results of a plurality of sensors;
Input acquisition means for acquiring a judgment input by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the presentation control means;
An information processing apparatus comprising: capability determination means for determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the input acquisition means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising: a power control unit that controls another information processing apparatus to turn on or off the power of the sensor based on a determination result by the capability determination unit. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising event detection means for detecting occurrence of an event based on data output from the plurality of sensors. The information storage means for storing the event information detected by the event detection means in association with the input information of the judgment input from the user acquired by the input acquisition means. The information processing apparatus described. In the information processing method of the information processing apparatus that executes the monitoring process,
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the process of the presentation control step;
And a capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step. A program for executing a monitoring process,
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the process of the presentation control step;
A computer-readable program is recorded, comprising: an ability determination step that determines an ability of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the process of the input acquisition step. Recording medium. In the program that executes the monitoring process,
A presentation control step for controlling the presentation of an event based on detection results of a plurality of sensors;
An input acquisition step of acquiring an input of judgment by the user based on the presentation of the event controlled by the process of the presentation control step;
A program for causing a computer to execute a capability determination step of determining the capabilities of the plurality of sensors based on a determination input from a user acquired by the processing of the input acquisition step.

Images