Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Matsushita Electric Ind. Co., Ltd.

Shuhei Taguchi

Kikuo Ohta

Tsutomu Murakami

Benito Mishiro

Teruyuki Nishimoto

Toshio Igo

Atsushi Morimura

Masanori Hamada

Kenya Uomori

Kimihiko Higashio

Kunio Hoshino

Akira Murakawa

Takao Okada

Kazumasa Takenaka

Takao Shudo

Shinichi Ban

Tetsuji Abe

Kagumi Moriwaki

Kinya Hasegawa

Munenori Fujimoto

Shuji Nakao

Takahiro Fujii

Masayuki Mukai

Masako Inoue

Takasuke Sonoyama

Takuma Masuda

Miyuki Ono

An apparatus for processing an image, containing the 3D positional information of an object, realizes highly user-friendly and entertaining functions. The object image is presented on a display panel. When the user specifies a point on the panel screen, a real size of the object at the specified point is obtained in accordance with the 3D positional information. Then, a scale image substantially representing the real size obtained is generated, combined with the object image and a synthesized image is presented. The user is allowed to freely change the direction or location of the scale image.

Image processor, method of providing image processing services and order processing method

In image data retrieval, image data that becomes the base of search is specified. When the search is to be carried out according to the distance from the image data on an image map, an automatic setting process of retrieval information is carried out. Here, a keyword, icon, chromaticity and the like of that image data are automatically set as retrieval information. The position of that image data on the image map becomes the center of a range when the ambiguity is set. By setting the ambiguity of the image map, keyword, icon, chromaticity, and the like in this state, the range of ambiguity is displayed, and image data within that range is automatically retrieved. As a result, analogous image data can be searched for according to subtle and ambiguous information or information that cannot be quantified.

Growing community of inventors

Hirakata, Japan

Shuhei Taguchi