JP2004179837A - Information transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an overall information service to the parents and families in the places, such as kindergardens, schools, and nursing facilities. <P>SOLUTION: The server 10 maintains web pages 21, 22 for specific information transmission and the like while they can be read through the Internet 1. IP cameras 31-34 are connected to the Internet 1 at an address specified by link information contained in the web pages independent of a server 17 and photographs image information that is in conjunction with specific information and contains a moving image for transmitting. Photography images are stored in a storage 28 in a server 26. The system facilitates the information exchange between the manager of facilities, such as the kindergardens, and the parents or the like and enables the perusal of the moving image and still images photographed by the cameras, thus allowing the parents to continuously confirming the situation of their own child. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information transmission system that can provide comprehensive information services to parents and families in places such as kindergartens, schools, nursing homes, and the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In kindergartens, children are being transported and various events are being held to enhance services for parents of children, and efforts are being made to acquire children who will decrease as the number of children decreases. As part of this service, it will be possible to use existing network-based remote monitoring technology to communicate the status of the kindergarten to parents. For example, a system has been introduced in which a camera server is connected to a web server via a dedicated line, and the daycare center can be freely monitored via the Internet (see Patent Document 1). In addition, as a general remote monitoring technique, a system has been developed in which a unit at a monitored location and a unit at a remote location are connected by a relay station to monitor the status of the monitored location from a remote location. In this system, there is a system in which a monitored site is imaged, a web page including the imaged image data is created and uploaded to a web server, and a remote unit accesses the web page via a packet communication network or the like. It is introduced (see Patent Document 2).
[0003]
Furthermore, there is introduced a device which can easily confirm the condition of an elderly living alone, the condition of a person requiring care, and the condition of an absence at home. This device automatically transfers still image data or moving image data for a predetermined period of time to a specific site configured to be able to exchange data with the network, stores the data, and stores the data on the site via the network. Is distributed via the network to the terminal that has requested (see Patent Document 3).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-064810
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2002-034029
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-2002-112245
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the conventional techniques as described above have the following problems to be solved.
In addition to providing images taken in kindergarten, kindergarten managers want to provide a variety of information to their parents. This can be realized by, for example, a homepage or a mail system. However, when such a system coexists, the operability becomes extremely poor for the parents of the children. Also, from the kindergarten side, there is a problem that the system becomes complicated and management costs increase. Similar problems also occurred in schools, nursing homes, etc., other than kindergartens.
The present invention has been made by focusing on the above points.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above problem by the following configuration.
<Configuration 1>
A server that holds a predetermined information transmission web page so that it can be browsed through the Internet, and an address specified by link information included in the web page, which is connected to the Internet independently of the server, An information transmission system, comprising: an IP camera that shoots and transmits image information including a moving image in cooperation with the information.
[0007]
<Configuration 2>
In the information transmission system according to the configuration 1, an IP camera including a local area network connected to the Internet via a network connection device, and having a function of holding a captured image so that the captured image can be browsed through the local area network; An information transmission system comprising: a representative server that acquires an image captured by the IP camera at a predetermined timing and holds the image so that the image can be browsed through a network.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described using specific examples.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the information transmission system.
In this system, a server 10 for providing a management service such as a homepage and a network in a kindergarten receiving the service are connected to the Internet 1. The local area network 12 connected to the illustrated router 11 is a network provided inside a kindergarten. The storage device 17 of the server 10 stores a web page for information transmission, for example, a home page 21 and contents 22. The homepage 21 is provided for transmitting information from the kindergarten to the parents. The content 22 includes various information provided using the homepage 21.
[0009]
A mobile phone 15 and a terminal device 16 for using information transmitted from the kindergarten are connected to the Internet. The mobile phone 15 and the terminal device 16 are used by parents of kindergarten children. The mobile phone 15 has an Internet connection function and can receive and display image data, for example. The terminal device 16 is a personal computer or the like. The homepage 21 and the content 22 can be freely browsed through the Internet 1 by accessing a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator) using the mobile phone 15 or the terminal device 16.
[0010]
The local area network 12 in the kindergarten connected to the Internet 1 via the router 11 includes, for example, a switching hub 25, a representative server 26, a terminal device 27, and IP cameras 31, 32, 33, 34. An IP (Internet Protocol) camera has a function of directly transferring captured images through the Internet by setting an IP address. The switching hub 25 has a known function of selectively connecting one of the representative server 26, the terminal device 27, and the IP cameras 31, 32, 33, and 34 to the Internet via the router 11. The IP cameras 31, 32, and 33 are fixed cameras, and are directly connected to the local area network 12. The IP camera 34 is a mobile camera, and is connected to the local area network 12 via the wireless LAN interfaces 37 and 38.
[0011]
The terminal device 27 includes a personal computer operated by a kindergarten administrator. This is used, for example, to send an e-mail or the like to the parents of the child through the Internet 1. Since image communication is performed, it is preferable to be connected to a broadband high-speed line. It is also used for rewriting the homepage 21 or the content 22. The representative server 26 includes a storage device 28 that receives and transfers images 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D captured by the IP cameras 31, 32, 33, and 34 for a predetermined period. These images 41 to 44 are all stored in a web page format, and are configured to be browsed from the mobile phone 15 or the terminal device 16 through the router 11. The images captured by the IP cameras 31, 32, 33, and 34 in the kindergarten and the images stored in the storage device 28 of the representative server 26 can be accessed by a parent browsing the homepage 21 in a predetermined procedure so that the kindergarten can be accessed. Various information is provided from the side. These also constitute an information transmission web page.
[0012]
The information transmission web page is a web page for transmitting various predetermined information through the Internet 1 which is uploaded to the storage device 17 of the server 10 so as to be linked to the home page 21 established in the kindergarten. is there. By making this web page available for browsing through the Internet 1, information can be easily transmitted to the kindergarten parents and the like. In addition, the IP cameras 31 to 34 shoot and transmit image information including a moving image linked to the homepage 21. Each of the IP cameras 31 to 34 is connected to the Internet 1 independently of the server 10. Transmission of image information including moving images imposes a heavy load on the server. In addition, the IP camera transmits information to cooperate with an arbitrary number as needed. Therefore, the IP cameras 31 to 34 are independently connected to the Internet 1 to transmit information. For the terminal device 16 or the like who browses information, it is desired that information to be linked can be transmitted without an operation of reconnection. For this purpose, the IP cameras 31 to 34 are set to addresses specified by the link information included in the web page. When there are a plurality of IP cameras, the link information indicates that the terminal device can be connected to the URL of an arbitrary IP camera, and at any time, can return to the homepage and switch the connection of the terminal device 16 to the URL of another IP camera. It is preferable to be able to do so.
[0013]
The network connection device such as the router 11 has a function of connecting the Internet 1 and the local area network 12. A general Internet service provider provides a network connection service for each IP address. For example, if a system for transmitting information by assigning an IP address to each of several IP cameras 31 to 34, the server 26, and the terminal device 27, a network connection fee becomes high. On the other hand, by connecting devices such as the IP cameras 31 to 34 and the server 26 to the local area network 12 connected to the Internet 1 via a network connection device such as the router 11 and assigning a sub-address to each device, With one IP address contract, each device can be connected to the Internet. It should be noted that there are terminal devices having a function capable of distinguishing and accessing each device from the Internet, and terminal devices not having such a function. Therefore, the representative server 26 is provided with a function of acquiring images captured by the IP cameras 31 to 34 at a predetermined timing and holding the images so that they can be browsed through a network. Thus, a terminal device that can directly access the IP camera through the Internet can directly acquire a captured image, and a terminal device that can access only the representative server 26 can acquire an image captured by the IP camera through the representative server 26. Although about 15 images are transmitted from the IP camera every second and provided as moving images, all of these images have relatively high resolution and can be used as still images. Therefore, for example, in a mobile phone or the like having an insufficient moving image reproduction function, only a part of still images can be downloaded and a desired image can be selectively displayed. If the user wishes to browse past records, the user can connect to the representative server 26 and browse.
[0014]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a specific configuration example of a homepage.
On the homepage 40, menus 41 to 46 for displaying various contents are displayed. For example, the menu 41 is linked to contents as shown in a screen 50 in the figure. The screen 50 lists various messages to the children's families. The menu 42 is for activating a message creation processing program for sending a mail. That is, when the menu 42 is clicked, mail software is started, and an opinion or an inquiry to the kindergarten manager can be input and mail can be transmitted. The menu 43 is for starting a well-known bulletin board. When you click here, various categories of bulletin boards are displayed, and you can write your opinion here. The structure of the bulletin board is very general, and the detailed description is omitted here.
[0015]
The menu 44 is linked to contents such as those shown on a screen 51 showing an event schedule. The screen 51 displays, for example, monthly events of a kindergarten in a calendar format. The menu 45 is linked to content for displaying the operation status of the shuttle bus of the engine. Click here to display screen 52. This screen 52 displays a state such as where the shuttle bus of the child is currently traveling. The location information of the shuttle bus is transmitted from a kindergarten bus driver by a mobile phone or the like. The process of generating the screen 52 may be performed by the terminal device 27 shown in FIG. 1 or may be performed by the server 10. In any case, when the position information is transmitted from the driver of the kindergarten bus using a mobile phone, the image 52 is generated by designating the position of the figure of the kindergarten bus based on this information.
[0016]
FIG. 3 is a screen for selectively displaying images captured by the IP cameras 31 to 34.
The screen 60 is provided with buttons 61 to 64 for selecting a shooting location. For example, when the button 61 is clicked, an image photographed by the IP camera 31 shown in FIG. The IP camera 31 takes an image of a kindergarten garden, for example. When the other buttons 62, 63, and 64 are clicked, images captured by different IP cameras 31 are displayed in the display frame 67. The IP camera 32 takes an image of the inside of the classroom, for example. The IP camera 33 photographs the inside of the gymnasium. The IP camera 34 is, for example, carried by the garden director and photographs a characteristic scene in the garden. Each of the IP cameras can display a moving image when the captured image is a set of still images obtained by capturing an object at a speed of, for example, about 15 frames per second and is reproduced at a speed substantially equal to the capturing speed. The button written as homepage 65 is a button for returning to the homepage.
[0017]
According to the IP camera, such an image is transmitted to the Internet in real time. Therefore, the kindergarten parents can freely check their child's condition at home or on a mobile phone at any time through the Internet. The images captured by the IP cameras 31 to 34 can be browsed directly from the Internet 1 through the router 11. On the other hand, the images captured by the IP cameras 31 to 34 are transferred to the storage device 28 of the representative server 26 by FTP (File Transfer Protocol) at a cycle as short as possible. As a result, the images photographed in the garden retroactively are stored in the storage device 28 and can be browsed through the representative server 26 at any time. Further, if the FTP is operated at a sufficiently short cycle, it is possible to access the representative server 26 without accessing the IP cameras 31 to 34 and to browse images taken by the cameras in almost real time.
[0018]
According to the system as described above, for example, a kindergarten manager can use the terminal device 27 to distribute an event schedule, attendance confirmation, and the like by e-mail. Thereby, the communication work becomes smoother. For example, when the parents have a mobile phone 15 or the like, a quick response is possible. At the same time, sufficient communication can be achieved by e-mail communication with the parents. Further, various information can be transmitted to the parents using the homepage 21, and the contents of the service can be reported. At the same time, it is possible to view moving images and still images taken by the IP camera, so that the parent can check the state of his or her child at any time. In order to prevent unauthorized access, it is preferable to execute an authentication process for confirming a predetermined user when browsing a homepage.
[0019]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific use form of the above system.
FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between links between a homepage and each content.
If the user wants to browse each content 22 while browsing the homepage 40, he or she can click an arbitrary item while looking at the menu of the homepage as usual. After browsing each content, it returns to the homepage 40 again. On the other hand, when browsing an image captured by the IP camera, information linking to the URL of the IP camera is set on the homepage 40. When this is clicked, the corresponding IP camera and the parent terminal device 16 are connected via the router 11 shown in FIG. Thus, the image captured by the IP camera can be viewed on the mobile phone. The same applies to the representative server 72. In order to ensure security, neither the IP camera photographed image 71 nor the representative server accumulated image 72 can be accessed without going through the homepage 40. In addition, this allows the parent who is the user to view the moving image only by browsing the homepage.
[0020]
For example, in a system in which the server 10 shown in FIG. 1 receives a transfer of a captured image from the IP cameras 31 to 34 and can browse the captured image via the Internet, the server 10 receives the transfer of a moving image, Processing load is required to allow the user to browse the web page as required. Thereby, the traffic of the Internet 1 connection point of the server 10 increases. In this case, the moving image distribution operation itself becomes unstable. On the other hand, when the IP camera 31 can be directly accessed, the IP camera can deliver about 15 moving images per second without delay even when about 30 terminal devices access simultaneously. For this reason, each terminal device 16 can be directly connected to the IP camera. In order to permit access to the IP camera after performing a certain authentication process through the homepage 21, browsing is possible only through the homepage.
[0021]
FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram of an image browsing method according to the type of the mobile phone.
The captured images are transferred from the IP cameras 31, 32, 33, and 34 to the representative server 26 by FTP at predetermined time intervals. These captured images are stored and accumulated in the representative server 26. Here, a certain mobile phone 15N can directly acquire a moving image or a still image captured by the IP camera 31 via the router 11. On the other hand, a certain mobile phone 15J can access only the representative server 26 when browsing an image with the global address of the router 11. Thus, there should be no difference in the contents of the information transmission web page that can be viewed depending on the function of the mobile phone. Therefore, for example, even if the image transfer interval by FTP is set to about one minute or several minutes and the moving image transferred to the representative server is viewed, the image captured by the camera can be viewed almost in real time. In addition, the above system is widely used not only for kindergarten comprehensive information services, but also for elementary schools, nursing homes, nursing homes, and other facilities that have relatively many users and transmit real-time image information along with various information. Applicable.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific example of an information transmission system.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific configuration example of a homepage.
FIG. 3 is a screen for selectively displaying images captured by IP cameras 31 to 34.
FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams showing specific usage modes of the system, wherein FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing a link relationship between a homepage and each content, and FIG. 4B is an image corresponding to a type of a mobile phone; It is explanatory drawing of a browsing method.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Internet 10 Server 11 Router 15 Mobile phone 16 Terminal device 17 Storage device 12 Local area network 21 Home page 22 Content 25 Switching hub 26 Representative server 27 Terminal device 28 Storage device 31, 32, 33, 34 IP camera 41, 42, 43, 44 Image taken by camera

Claims (2)

A server that holds a predetermined information transmission web page so that it can be browsed through the Internet,
An IP camera that is connected to the Internet independently of the server at an address specified by the link information included in the web page, cooperates with the predetermined information, and shoots and transmits image information including a moving image; An information transmission system comprising: The information transmission system according to claim 1,
A local area network connected to the Internet via a network connection device,
An IP camera having a function of holding a captured image so as to be viewable through the local area network;
An information transmission system comprising: a representative server that acquires an image captured by the IP camera at a predetermined timing and holds the image so that the image can be browsed through a network.

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