JP2007325651A - Flat puzzle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flat puzzle capable of providing content information by reading machine-readable codes for which imparted content information is coded corresponding to colors or shades from a picture appearing after the puzzle is completed. <P>SOLUTION: The flat puzzle 10 comprises an edge part 11, a mount 13 and a plurality of puzzle pieces 12, and color code information 20 which is the machine-readable code for which the content information 40 is coded corresponding to the colors or shades is imparted to the picture 14 appearing after arranging the pictures 14 on the surfaces of the respective puzzle pieces 12 and completing the puzzle. A client terminal 110 performs the decoding processing of the read color code information 20, transmits the decoded information to a decoder server 120, acquires reproduced content information 40, accesses a content server 130 on the basis of the content information 40, and acquires the content data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a planar puzzle composed of a plurality of puzzle pieces and completed by combining colors and patterns, and in particular, a machine-readable code in which predetermined content information is coded on the puzzle surface corresponding to color or shade. Relates to a planar puzzle to which is given.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a flat puzzle toy that is composed of a plurality of puzzle pieces to be fitted in a predetermined position, and has a pattern, a photograph, a pattern, and the like on the surface of the puzzle pieces to be completed while having fun (see, for example, Patent Document 1). . This puzzle is used as a learning material for an infant or child to learn while playing.

  On the other hand, a two-dimensional barcode (for example, a QR code) in which URL information of a Web site that presents detailed information on a posted product to a user is converted into encoded data on a printed matter such as a magazine or catalog is directly created. By publishing on the printed matter, the user can read the two-dimensional barcode with a camera-equipped mobile phone, etc., and send it to the server by the communication function of the mobile phone, making it possible to easily input necessary information (For example, patent document 2).

  Further, in recent years, a method has been disclosed in which data is encoded with a code using cells expressed in a plurality of colors or shades, and the encoded code is decoded using a computer and a peripheral device (for example, a patent). Reference 3).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-142094 JP 2004-80585 A JP 2001-319200 A

  However, considering such a puzzle as a learning material for young children, it was difficult to prevent the child from getting bored by simply aiming at completing the puzzle. There was a need for something that would continue to motivate learning while playing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and from a pattern that appears after the puzzle is completed, by reading a machine-readable code in which content information to be assigned is coded corresponding to color or shading, An object of the present invention is to provide a planar puzzle that can provide content information.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention is a planar puzzle having a mount and a plurality of puzzle pieces, the characters and / or patterns of the surface of each puzzle piece are aligned, and the puzzle pieces are superimposed on the mount, It is a planar puzzle characterized in that a machine-readable code in which predetermined content information is coded corresponding to color or shading is assigned to characters and / or patterns that appear when the puzzle is completed.

Further, the machine-readable code is read by a client terminal having a reading function capable of mechanically identifying a machine-readable code in which information is coded by color or shading, and the client terminal, and / or Alternatively, it is desirable that a read process of the machine-readable code is performed via a decoder server connected via a network, and the content information is reproduced from the decode process result.
The client terminal may access the content providing server via the network based on the reproduced content information and acquire content data.
In addition, it is preferable that the writing plane puzzle has two types of characters and / or patterns printed on both front and back sides of the puzzle piece.

  The planar puzzle according to the present invention has a mount and a plurality of puzzle pieces, aligns characters and / or patterns on the surface of each puzzle piece, superimposes the puzzle pieces on the mount, and completes the puzzle. A code that can be read by a machine in which predetermined content information is coded corresponding to color or shade is assigned to the picture.

The “machine-readable code” is a code obtained by coding predetermined content information corresponding to color or shading.
The “content information” is a character, number, symbol, or the like, and includes at least one of a URL of the content server, identification information for specifying content in the content providing server, identification information for specifying a network, and attribute information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a machine-readable code printed on a puzzle surface in accordance with color or shading of predetermined content information, and to provide content information for guiding to a content distribution site. In addition to the purpose of completing the puzzle, the pleasure of reproducing the content information by the reading device is added, the willingness to complete the puzzle is increased, and the learning effect can be demonstrated as a learning material. There is an effect.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and from a pattern that appears after the puzzle is completed, by reading a machine-readable code in which content information to be assigned is coded corresponding to color or shading, A plane puzzle that can provide content information can be provided.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the planar puzzle 10 and the like will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to components having substantially the same functional configuration, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a planar puzzle 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of the planar puzzle 10 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. It is sectional drawing by AA of Fig.1 (a). FIG. 1 shows an example of a plane puzzle 10, and as shown in FIG. 1A, the plane puzzle 10 includes an edge portion 11, a plurality of puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,. . A pattern provided with a machine-readable code (hereinafter referred to as “color code information”) on which the content information is coded corresponding to color or shading on the surface of the puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,. 14 is printed. The surface of the completed planar puzzle 10 in which the puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,... Are overlapped while arranging the patterns 14 is composed of cells 15 that are a plurality of blocks. For example, it consists of a plurality of cells 15 of 5 × 5 and 5 × 8. Each cell 15 has an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model, an HSV (Hue) for judging a color (or light and shade).
(angle, Saturation, Value) model, CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) model, HLS (Hue angle, Lightness, Saturation) model, and printed in red, green, blue, black It consists of one of four colors.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the planar puzzle 10 has a configuration in which an edge portion 11, puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,.

  Also, different types of patterns 14 are printed on both the front and back surfaces of each puzzle piece 12 so that two types of patterns can be enjoyed with one plane puzzle 10.

  There is no need to associate the cell 15 with each puzzle piece 12. For example, the surface of all completed puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,. 5 cells 15 can be divided and displayed.

  The planar puzzle 10 is used as, for example, a learning material for an infant to read the assigned color code information 20 from the pattern 14 that appears after completion of the puzzle, which is a feature of the present invention, and provide the content information 40. In this case, the original picture information to be referred to is line drawing information 17 representing the picture 14, color information 18 indicating the color of the picture 14, or the like. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing pattern information to be referred to on the mount 13 of the planar puzzle 10. As shown in FIG. 2A, the mount 13 has the edge 11 bonded, the line drawing information 17 expressing the pattern 14 on the surface of the mount recess 16 formed with the mount 13 as the bottom and the edge 12 as the frame. Are printed, and puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,... Are arranged while referring to the line drawing information 17. When the puzzle is completed, the pattern 14 with the color code information 20 printed on the surface of the planar puzzle 10 is reproduced. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, color information 18 of the pattern 14 is printed on the surface of the mount recess 16, and the puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,. Place.

  In the present embodiment, line drawing information 17 representing the pattern 14 and color information 18 indicating the color of the pattern 14 are printed on the mount 13 as the original pattern information to be referred to. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the pattern information may be printed on another paper medium and given to the plane puzzle 10.

  Next, the color code information 20 that is a machine-readable code obtained by coding the predetermined content information 40 according to the present embodiment in accordance with the color or shading will be described with reference to FIG. The encoding and decoding method of the color code information 20 is a widely practiced matter in the computer field and is not specified in the present invention. For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-397172 discloses various colors or shades. A method of encoding data with a code using an array of cells expressed by the above and decoding the encoded code using a computer and a peripheral device is shown. As the color code information of the present embodiment, a machine-readable code as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-397172 can be used.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the color code information 20 formed as an image so that the content information can be read by a machine. FIG. 3 shows an example of the color code information 20. The color code information 20 includes at least two areas, a data area 21 and a parity area 22, and each area has at least one cell. The data area 21 is formed of at least one data cell 31 that is displayed with the color or shading encoded according to the information content, and the parity area 22 is a parity for checking a recognition error of the cell displayed in the data area 21. Formed of cells.

  Further, the color code information 20 further includes a reference area and a control area (not shown) as necessary. The reference region is formed of at least one reference cell that provides a reference color or reference shade for determining the color or shade of the data cell 31 formed in the data region 21. The control area is formed of at least one control cell that displays instructions and services provided using information displayed in the data area 21.

The data area 21 is composed of one or more data cells 31 in which characters and the like are encoded with images. Each of the data cells 31 is configured to indicate information such as one character, and a plurality of data cell sets may be configured to indicate one or more pieces of information. For example, the character “A” can be represented by one red cell or two cells of red and green.
The content information (purpose information) 40 included in the data area 21 is made up of characters, numbers, and symbols, and the characters, numbers, symbols, URL information of the content server, identification information for specifying content in the content providing server, and network. The identification information and attribute information may vary depending on the needs of the user.

  The parity area 22 is used to determine whether the color or shading is expressed in conformity with the data cell 31 corresponding to the contents of the content information 40. The parity area 22 obtains parity data by a code value defined corresponding to the color or shading displayed in the data cell, forms a parity cell with the color or shading corresponding to the parity data, and the parity cell is included in the code image. Located in various ways. For example, row parity cells 32-1,..., 32-4 having parity information for cells in the same column are displayed in the rightmost column and at the same time column parity cells 33 having parity information for cells in the same row. -1,..., 33-4 are shown in the lowermost row. A position cell 34 having parity information for the column parity cell 33 and the row parity cell 32 is included.

The colors of the cells 15 displayed in each area are RGB (Red Green Blue) color model, HSV (Hue Saturation Value) color model, CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) model, HLS (Hue).
(angle, Lightness, and Saturation) models are displayed in red, green, blue, and black colors based on at least one of the methods. In addition, even when a code is formed by black and white shading (gray scale), information on each cell can be accurately recognized based on black and / or white displayed in the reference area. It should be noted that recognition is possible with colors or shades that occupy 40% from the center of each cell.

  The color code information 20 including at least the data area 21 and the parity area 22 is composed of a matrix-shaped code image, and is composed of, for example, cells of 5 × 5 blocks and 5 × 8 blocks.

  Next, an example of the encoding system 100 that performs the encoding process of the color code information 20 when producing the planar puzzle 10 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an encoding system 100 that performs encoding processing of color code information when producing the planar puzzle 10 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the encoding system 100 includes a computer 101, a printer 102, a plane puzzle 10, and the like. The computer 101 is a personal computer or the like, has an encoding unit 103, inputs content information 40 (for example, URL) as target information, generates a code image of the color code information 20 by encoding, and the printer 102 Is printed on the printing medium of the plane puzzle 10.

Next, the encoding process performed by the encoding unit 103 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for performing an encoding process on the content information 40 with the code image of the color code information 20.
In advance, a code conversion table is set in which each character that can be recognized including numerals and symbols is associated with a color or shade (or gray level).

  The control unit of the computer 101 inputs target information to be converted into a code image (step S501). The purpose information is content information 40 or information associated with the content information 40. The content information 40 is, for example, the URL of the content server 130 that provides content data and services.

The control unit of the computer 101 encodes the target information using a preset code conversion table, obtains a code value corresponding to the characters and numbers included in the target information, and determines the data cell according to the color and shading determined by the code value. The data area 21 is generated by arranging the data cells 31 imaged in the order in which the characters of the target information are arranged (step S502).
The control unit of the computer 101 obtains a parity value using the color and shading code values displayed in the data area 21, sets the color and shading corresponding to the parity value, and generates them in the parity area 22 (step S503). ).

The control unit of the computer 101 generates color code information 20 that is a code image including a data area 21 and a parity area 22 (and a reference area and a control area as necessary) according to a predetermined layout (step S504).
The control unit of the computer 101 prints the pattern 14 and / or the code image of the character including the color code information 20 that is the printer 102 on the print medium of the plane puzzle 10 (step S505).

  Next, an example of a decoding system that performs the decoding process of the color code information 20 printed on the planar puzzle 10 that appears after completion according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a decoding system 200 that performs decoding processing of color code information printed on the planar puzzle 10 that appears after completion according to the present invention on the client terminal side and content identification processing on the decoder server side.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the decoding system 200 includes a client terminal 110, a decoder server 120, a content server 130, a plane puzzle 10, a network 109, and the like.

  In the decoding system 200, a client terminal 110, a decoder server 120, and a content server 130 are connected via a network 109. The decoding system 200 is a configuration diagram realized by using WWW (World Wide Web) technology.

  The client 140 is a user of the planar puzzle 10 and has a client terminal 110. The client terminal 110 is a portable terminal, personal computer, or the like, and includes an imaging unit, a color code information reading unit 111, a decoding unit 112, and a Web browser. The client terminal 110 is, for example, a portable terminal having an imaging function such as a camera-equipped mobile phone, and the camera captures the color code information 20 appearing on the surface of the completed planar puzzle 10 with the camera, and the color code information reading unit 111. Thus, the color code information 20 is read, and the color code information 20 read by the decoding means 112 is decoded. The client terminal 110 transmits the decode information 42 to the decoder server 120, accesses the content server 130 using the content information 40 returned from the decoder server 120, and stores the content data 41 corresponding to the photographed color code information 20. Display and browse web pages to be provided.

  The decoder server 120 is a personal computer or the like, and has content specifying means 122. The content specifying unit 122 specifies the original content information 40 from the received decode information 42.

  The content server 130 is a personal computer or the like, has content providing means 131, and provides corresponding content data and services in response to an access request from the client terminal 110 using content information 40 such as a URL.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a decoding process of color code information composed of a code image according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart showing a processing procedure of color code information decoding processing including a code image according to the present embodiment.

  When the client 140 uses the imaging function (camera) of the client terminal 110 to shoot a picture printed on the surface of the planar puzzle 10, the control unit of the client terminal 110 uses the color code information reading unit 111 to execute the data area. The color code information 20 which is a code image formed by 21 and the parity area 22 (and the reference area and the control area, if any) is input (step S701). When the color code information 20 is recognized, colors other than the recognized red, green, blue, and black are skipped.

The client terminal 110 decodes the color code information 20 that is the acquired code image (step S702), and transmits decode information 42 (for example, a 10-digit numerical value) that is the decoding result to the decoder server 120 (step S702). S703).
The decoder server 120 receives the decoding information 42 (step S704), and extracts and specifies the content information 40 associated with the input decoding information 42 using a table defined and stored in the storage unit. Is performed (step S705).
The decoder server 120 returns the extracted content information 40 to the client terminal 110 (step S706).

The client terminal 110 displays the content information 40 (step S707).
When the content information 40 is the URL of the content server 130, the identification information specifying the content in the content providing server, or the identification information specifying the network such as the IP address, the client terminal 110 accesses the address indicated by the URL ( Step S708).
The content server 130 provides the corresponding content data 41 and service in response to the access request by the URL from the client terminal 110 (step S709).
The client terminal 110 acquires the content data 41, the service, etc. (Step S710).

The decoding process by the decoding means 112 extracts the original purpose information from the code image as defined in the code conversion table, and further searches for the form, color, pattern, and character included in the code image. And a process for correcting a distorted image. Here, RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model, HSV (Hue angle, Saturation, Value) model, CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) model, HLS (Hue)
The color can be determined using one or more methods in an angle, lightness, saturation) model. After detecting the color of the cell in the data area 21, the parity area 22 or the control area, the color difference from the reference color is detected and converted into a code value for each cell. The code value obtained from the parity area 22, that is, parity data is used to check for parity errors for each column and row of the code image. The obtained code value of each cell is converted into original target information composed of recognizable characters including numbers and symbols by a code conversion table.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the planar puzzle 10 includes the edge portion 11, the mount 13, the plurality of puzzle pieces 12-1, 12-2,..., And the surface of each puzzle piece 12. The color is a code that can be read by a machine in which the content information 40 is coded according to color or shading on the pattern 14 that appears when the puzzle piece 12 is superimposed on the mount 13 and the puzzle is completed. Code information 20 is given. The client terminal (mobile phone with camera) 110 reads the color code information 20 using a camera and decodes the color code information 20. The client terminal 110 sends decode information to the decoder server 110 via the network 109, and the decoder server 110 extracts and specifies the original content information 40 from the received decode information 42, and sends it back to the client terminal 110. The client terminal 110 accesses the content server 130 via the network 109 based on the reproduced content information 40, and acquires content data.

As a result, it is possible to print a machine-readable code in which predetermined content information is encoded corresponding to color or shade on the puzzle surface, and to provide content information for guiding to a content distribution site. In addition to the purpose of completing the content, the pleasure of reproducing the content information by the reading device is added, the willingness to complete the puzzle is increased, and the learning effect can be demonstrated as a learning material. Play.
In addition, by adding color code information, which is a machine-readable code that encodes content information corresponding to color or shading, to a plane puzzle, it can be easily read by a device equipped with a digital camera. Content data useful only to users can be obtained and used.

  In this embodiment, the decoding process is performed on the client terminal 110 side, the decoding information is sent to the decoder server 120, and the content information is specified from the decoding information received on the decoder server 120 side. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Decoding processing of color code information and content specifying processing may be performed on the decoder server side. Further, color code information decoding processing and content identification processing may be performed on the client terminal side.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a decoding system 300 that performs color code information decoding processing and content identification processing on the decoder server side.
As shown in FIG. 8, in the decoding system 300, the client terminal 110 images the color code information 20 appearing on the surface of the completed planar puzzle 10 with a camera, and the color code information reading unit 111 causes the color code information 20 to be captured. The color code information 20 is transmitted to the decoder server 120, and the decoder server 120 decodes the received color code information by the decoding means 121 and the content specifying means 122, and specifies the content information 40 from the decode information. To do. The decoder server 120 directly accesses the content providing server 130 using the specified content information 40 and distributes the content data 41 to the client terminal 110 via the content providing server 130. Further, the decoder server 120 may return the identified content information 40 to the client terminal and return the content information 40 to the client terminal 110.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a decoding system 400 that performs color code information decoding processing and content identification processing on the client terminal side.
As shown in FIG. 9, in the decoding system 400, the client terminal 110 images the color code information 20 appearing on the surface of the completed planar puzzle 10 with a camera, and the color code information reading unit 111 causes the color code information 20 to be captured. The decoding means 112 decodes the color code information 20, specifies the content information from the decoded decode information, accesses the content server 130 using the specified content information 40, and acquires the content data To do. Further, directly using the specified content information (for example, identification information on the recording medium), the recording medium 140 (for example, smart media, compact flash (registered trademark) card (CF card), floppy (registered trademark) disk, Content data may be read from a PC card, CD-ROM, or the like.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a pattern made up of the code image of the color code information 20 is printed on one side of the puzzle piece 12, but a pattern that gives different code images to both sides may be printed and used. As a result, it is possible to enjoy two types of patterns with one plane puzzle 10.
In the present embodiment, one cell 15 is associated with each puzzle piece 12, but it is not necessary to correspond to each puzzle piece 12. For example, for an 8 × 10 puzzle piece 12, all completed puzzle pieces The 12 surfaces may be divided into 5 × 5 cells 15 for printing.
In this embodiment, line drawing information 17 representing the pattern 14 and color information 18 indicating the color of the pattern 14 are printed on the mount 13 as the original pattern information to be referred to. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
In this embodiment, a camera-equipped mobile phone is used as the client terminal 110. However, a personal computer may be used as the client terminal 110, and a digital camera, a scanner, or the like may be used as an imaging unit.

  The preferred embodiments of the planar puzzle 10 and the like according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea disclosed in the present application, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

The figure which shows the structure of the plane puzzle 10 which concerns on this Embodiment. The figure which shows the pattern information to refer on the mount 13 of the plane puzzle 10 The figure which shows the structure of the color code information 20 formed with the image so that content information can be read with a machine The figure which shows the encoding system 100 which implements the encoding process of the color code information at the time of preparation of the plane puzzle 10 based on this invention Flowchart for encoding content information 40 with a code image of color code information 20 The figure which shows the decoding system 200 which performs the decoding process of the color code information printed on the plane puzzle 10 which appears after completion according to the present invention on the client terminal side, and performs the content specifying process on the decoder server side The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the decoding process of the color code information which consists of a code image by this Embodiment Decoding system 300 diagram for performing decoding processing and content identification processing of color code information printed on a planar puzzle 10 appearing after completion according to the present invention on the decoder server side The figure which shows the decoding system 400 which performs the decoding process of the color code information printed on the planar puzzle 10 which appears after completion based on this invention, and a content specific process on the client terminal side.

Explanation of symbols

10 ……… Plane puzzle 11 ……… Edges 12-1, 12-2 ……… Puzzle piece 13 ……… Mount 14 ……… Picture 15 ……… Cell 16 ……… Mount recess 17 ……… Line drawing Information 18 ... Color information 20 ... Color code information 21 ... Data area 22 ... Parity area 31 ... Data cell 40 ... Content information (URL)
32-1, 32-4 ......... row parity cells 33-1, 33-4 ......... column parity cells 34 ......... position cells 100 ......... encoding system 101 ......... computer 102 ......... printer 103 ... ...... Encoding means 109... Network 110... Client terminal 111... Color code information reading means 112 and 121... Decoding means 113 and 122. ...... Content server 131 ......... Content providing means 200, 300, 400 ......... Decoding system

Claims (7)

A planar puzzle having a mount and a plurality of puzzle pieces,
Characters and / or patterns on the surface of each puzzle piece are aligned, the puzzle pieces are superimposed on the mount, and characters and / or patterns that appear by completing the puzzle correspond to predetermined content information in color or shade. A plane puzzle characterized by a code that can be read by a coded machine. The machine-readable code is read by a client terminal having a reading function capable of mechanically identifying a machine-readable code in which information is coded by color or shading, and the client terminal, and / or The decoding process of the read code that can be read by the machine is performed via a decoder server connected via a network, and the content information is reproduced from the decoding process result. Plane puzzle. The planar puzzle according to claim 2, wherein the client terminal accesses a content providing server or a recording medium connected via a network based on the reproduced content information, and acquires content data. . The content information includes at least one of URL information of the content providing server, identification information for specifying content in the content providing server, identification information for specifying a network, and attribute information. A planar puzzle according to claim 1. The puzzle piece is partially connected to other adjacent puzzle pieces and / or edges, and codes printed on each puzzle piece have a relation of the content information to each other. The described planar puzzle. 2. The planar puzzle according to claim 1, wherein two types of characters and / or patterns are printed on the front and back surfaces of the puzzle piece. The planar puzzle according to claim 1, wherein the planar puzzle is a jigsaw puzzle.

Images