JP2016200909A - Album creation support device, album creation support system, and album creation support method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve efficiency in the selection processing of photographic data as the raw materials of an electronic album.SOLUTION: An album creation support device 2 includes: a photographic information notification part 26 for applying, to respective photographic data registered from a user terminal 1a, the explanation data of the respective photographic data, and for notifying an agent terminal 6a of the applied explanation data; and a photographic data providing part 25 for receiving the request of the photographic data notified from the agent terminal 6a, and for selecting the respective photographic data with the explanation data designated in the request from the respective registered photographic data, and for providing the respective selected photographic data to the agent terminal 6a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an album creation support apparatus, an album creation support system, and an album creation support method.

With the spread of digital cameras and smartphones, the opportunity to create electronic albums by editing images taken with terminals has increased. When the user himself / herself creates an electronic album, the user pastes image data selected from a plurality of registered image data one by one into the electronic album.
However, this method places a heavy operational burden on the user and takes time to create an electronic album. For this reason, a system in which the editing process of the electronic album is partially automated has been proposed.

  In Patent Document 1, a travel scenario consisting of travel themes and travel themes such as watching and eating is prepared in advance, and an electronic album is associated with the travel scenario based on position information and time information at the time of shooting. A creation support apparatus is described. This makes it possible to set a prior layout without difficulty during the travel planning process, and facilitates subsequent classification and organization.

JP 2005-63302 A

When creating an electronic album, it is particularly important to select the photo data that will be the material of the album from the many photo data already taken. If the user who browses the electronic album misses the photographed object he wants to browse or does not take a beautiful photograph due to camera shake, the satisfaction of the electronic album is reduced.
For users of electronic albums and contractors who create electronic albums on their behalf, checking the adoption / non-adoption of each photo data to the album by visual inspection takes a lot of time and effort, so that the photo data can be efficiently stored. A system that can be selected is desired.

  In view of this, the main object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of the process of selecting the photo data that is the material of the electronic album.

In order to solve the above problems, the album creation support apparatus of the present invention provides:
A photo information notifying unit for giving explanation data of each photo data to each photo data registered from the user terminal, and notifying the given explanation data to the vendor terminal,
Upon receiving a request for photo data notified from the vendor terminal, each photo data to which the explanation data specified in the request is assigned is selected from each registered photo data, and each selected photo data is And a photograph data providing unit provided to the vendor terminal.

  In this way, the album creation support device automatically extracts explanatory data useful for selecting a photo to be used for a newly proposed album. Can be selected.

In the present invention, the photograph information notification unit specifies the user's action history from the shooting date and time and the shooting location of the photograph data taken by the same user, and the action history is used as the explanation data of the photograph data as the trader. Notify your device,
When the photograph data providing unit specifies the action history in the request for the photograph data notified from the vendor terminal, a set of photograph data taken by one or more users who acted along the action history It is provided to the vendor terminal.

  This allows you to select a set of photo data that you have acted in accordance with the same action history, such as participating in the same event, so you can not take pictures or take beautiful pictures with camera shake even if you are taking pictures. Even if it is not, you can provide a highly satisfied electronic album supplemented with photos of other users.

In the present invention, the storage means of the album creation support apparatus is associated with user preference information inferred from the behavior history for each behavior history,
The photo information notification unit identifies the corresponding preference information from the action history for each user, and notifies the trader terminal of the preference information as the explanation data of the photo data,
When the preference information is specified in the photo data request notified from the vendor terminal by the photo data providing unit, a set of photo data photographed by one or more users that match the preference information is stored in the vendor. It is provided to a terminal.

  Thus, even if a user does not explicitly input his / her preference information, a set of photo data based on the automatically extracted preference information is selected. You can receive the offer.

In the present invention, the photographic information notifying unit recognizes an image of a photographed object photographed in the photograph data, thereby identifying identification information of the photographed object, and using the identification information as the explanation data of the photograph data To the merchant terminal,
When the photo data providing unit designates the identification information of the photographed object in the request for the photograph data notified from the supplier terminal, the photographed object is photographed, and the photograph photographed by one or more users A set of data is provided to the vendor terminal.

  As a result, even users who are inferior in photographing technology and equipment can be provided with highly satisfied electronic albums using high-quality photos of other users who photographed the same object. .

In the present invention, the photo information notification unit notifies the vendor terminal of the access frequency for the registered photo data as the explanation data of the photo data,
When the access frequency is specified in the request for photo data notified from the supplier terminal, the photo data providing unit is adapted to the access frequency and a set of photo data taken by one or more users It is provided to a vendor terminal.

  Thereby, it is possible to receive a highly satisfied electronic album including preferentially included popular photograph data that has been purchased a lot.

The present invention includes the album creation support device and the user terminal,
The user terminal sends the recorded photo data to the album creation support device when the photographed photo data is recorded on the user terminal, and causes the album creation support device to register the photo data. And

  This eliminates the need for the user to perform a separate registration operation every time photograph data is taken, so that album material data can be supplied easily.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the process of selecting photo data that is the material of an electronic album.

It is a block diagram of the album creation assistance system regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the user attribute data regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the 1st information provision process regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the 2nd information provision process regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the album creation assistance process regarding one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an album creation support system.
Each of the user terminals 1a and 1b is a terminal used by a user who is a photographer and who is a prospective purchaser of an album that uses the photographed photograph as a material.
Each trader terminal 6a, 6b is a terminal used by a trader who proposes and sells albums to the users of the user terminals 1a, 1b.
The album creation support device 2 is a device that supports the sale of albums between the user terminals 1a and 1b and the merchant terminals 6a and 6b. Each user terminal 1a and 1b is connected to a network (cloud). It is recognized to be located in front of.

Each apparatus of the album creation support system shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a hard disk (storage means), and a network interface. Each processing unit is operated by executing the program.
Moreover, in FIG. 1, the flow of main data between each component is described with the arrow. In other words, this arrow only illustrates a part of the data flow between the components, and the data flow exists even if the arrow does not exist (or the arrow head does not point). Sometimes.

The album creation support apparatus 2 serves as information providing means (each processing unit) relating to photos to the merchant terminals 6a and 6b. An analysis unit 24, a photo data providing unit 25, and a photo information notification unit 26 are included.
The album creation support apparatus 2 includes an album image presentation unit 31, an album image correction unit 32, an album order unit 33, and a fee settlement unit 34 as album sales support means (each processing unit).
The storage means of the album creation support apparatus 2 stores registered photo data 21a, photo tag data 22a, related photo data 23a, and user attribute data 24a as data used by each processing unit.

Below, the outline | summary of each component of the album creation assistance apparatus 2 is demonstrated. Details of each component will be made clear in the description of FIG.
The photo registration receiving unit 21 registers the photo data from the user terminals 1a and 1b in the storage unit of the album creation support apparatus 2 as the registered photo data 21a.
The photo tag assigning unit 22 assigns photo tag data 22a to each photo of the registered photo data 21a.
The photo association unit 23 associates other related photo data 23a related to the registered photo data 21a. The related photo data 23a is, for example, a photo taken by a photographer different from the photographer of the registered photo data 21a, and is received by the photo registration receiving unit 21 in the past.
The user attribute analysis unit 24 creates user attribute data 24a analyzing the user.
The photograph data providing unit 25 provides photograph data selected from the registered photograph data 21a and the related photograph data 23a to the dealer terminals 6a and 6b.
The photograph information notifying unit 26 notifies the respective photographer terminals 6a and 6b of the photograph tag data 22a of the photograph data and the user attribute data 24a thereof as photograph information (description data of the photograph data).

The album image presenting unit 31 presents each album plan using the photo data provided by the photo data providing unit 25 as a material to the user terminals 1a and 1b.
The album image correction unit 32 receives the correction contents for each presented album proposal.
The album ordering unit 33 receives an order from each user terminal 1a, 1b for each album plan.
The fee settlement unit 34 confirms the order by fee settlement etc. with respect to the album plan for which the order has been accepted.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the user attribute data 24a.
For each user ID of the user terminals 1a and 1b, user attribute data 24a includes input information (attribute information such as age, sex, hobby, etc.) by the user, and history information (Web access information) by the user. History, action history related to photography, album purchase history, and the like) and the user's preference information.
The user attribute analysis unit 24 specifies the user's preference information from at least one of the input information and the history information of the user attribute data 24a based on a predetermined preference specifying rule. For example, the user attribute analysis unit 24 uses a preference specifying rule that combines purchase history such as “if there are many tags“ festivals ”in the purchase history, preference information = like festival”, alone or in combination with other information. Identify user preference information.

  In another example, it is assumed that the position information of the X shrine and the time information when the fair date of the X shrine is registered in advance in the storage means in the album creation support apparatus 2. The user attribute analysis unit 24 reads the shooting date and position of the photo data taken by the predetermined user A from the registered photo data 21a from the photo data tag, and the read data and the X shrine's date data To identify an action history of “photographing the X Shrine fair”.

Then, the user attribute analysis unit 24 uses a rule that matches the preference specification rule when the preference specification rule “Preference information = I like festival when shooting the X Shrine fair” is set in advance. “Festival lover” is added to the preference information of the person A.
The preference information “festival lover” may be attached to other users. Then, the photo associating unit 23 associates each photo data taken by a plurality of users with the same preference information “festival lover” with each other, so that the album proposed to the user A can have another “festival lover”. Photo data taken by users can be included.

In the above example, the preference information is specified based only on the action history. However, the preference specification such as “When a user in his 40s takes a picture of the X Shrine's fair, the preference information = likes a festival” is specified. For example, preference information may be specified by combining input information and Web history with an action history.
On the other hand, if the preference information is specified only from the user's input information, a new preference cannot be extracted when the user's preference changes from the time of registration.
In addition, if preference information is specified only from the Web history (browsing page, search word), noise data that does not directly reflect the preference of the photographed object is also mixed, and unnecessary album proposals are made. Sometimes it ends up.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a first information providing process for the dealer terminals 6a and 6b. Each process of FIG. 3 is executed after user registration (after the input information of FIG. 2 is input).

As S <b> 10 a and S <b> 10 b, the user terminals 1 a and 1 b register the photo data taken by the user terminals 1 a and 1 b in the album creation support apparatus 2. Note that each piece of photo data is associated with extended information about the photo such as the shooting date and time and the shooting position in a format such as Exif (Exchangeable image file format).
Here, the user terminals 1a and 1b receive an explicit instruction from the user when the photo data in a predetermined storage area (camera roll or the like) is updated (new addition, correction, or deletion). Even if it does not exist, it may be automatically uploaded to a database on the cloud (storage means in the album creation support apparatus 2).
As S11, the photo registration receiving unit 21 registers the photo data transmitted in S10a and S10b in the album creation support apparatus 2 as the registered photo data 21a.

As S12, the photo tag assigning unit 22 assigns photo tag data 22a for the photo to each photo of the registered photo data 21a of S11. Examples of photo tags to be given are listed below.
The tag “data at the time of shooting” is configured by the shooting date and time, the shooting location, and the like, and is associated with the user terminals 1a and 1b as described above.
The tag “attribute information” is input data of individual users such as age, sex, hobbies, etc. registered in advance by the user before shooting.
The tag “access frequency” is an access frequency for each photo by the user, and may be an access frequency of the photographer himself or an access frequency including not only the photographer himself but also other viewers.
The tag “identification information” is information for identifying a subject to be photographed (photographed person, scene being reflected, etc.) photographed in the photograph data. Note that the recognition processing of an object photographed in a photograph is described, for example, as “object extraction / class identification means 202” in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-145416.

As S13, the photo association unit 23 refers to the photo tag data 22a of S12, and associates other related photo data 23a related to the registered photo data 21a with the registered photo data 21a.
The difference between the registered photo data 21a and the related photo data 23a is, for example, different photographers, different photographing dates / times even for the same photographer, different photographing devices at the same photographing date / time, and the same photographing location. is there. By this association, for example, various photo data are grouped under the same theme as follows.
・ Registered photo data 21a showing “X shrine” taken by photographer A and “X shrine” taken by photographer B are shown as photo data of “X shrine” with the same tag “identification information”. Related photo data 23a.
・ Registered photograph data 21a showing this year's “Y plant” taken by photographer A as photograph data of “Y plant” with the same tag “photographing data”, and last year ’s “photographed by photographer A” Related photo data 23a showing "Y plant" is associated. That is, the material data of the electronic album of the life log for “Y plant” is grouped.
The “Z singer” photographed by the photographer A is shown as (popular) photo data in which the tag “identification information” is the same “Z singer” and the tag “access frequency” is a predetermined value or more. Registered photo data 21a and related photo data 23a showing “Z singer” taken by the photographer C are associated with each other.

As S14, as described in FIG. 2, the user attribute analysis unit 24 refers to the photo tag data 22a assigned in S12 (such as the shooting date and time and the shooting location for specifying the action history), and the registered photo data 21a. User attribute data 24a that analyzes the preference of the user who took each of the photos is created.
In addition to the process of associating photographs with the same tag, the photograph associating unit 23 may perform a process of associating the photographs of the user analyzed with the same preference in S14.

In S15, the photo information notification unit 26 uses the photo tag data 22a (S12) and the user attribute data 24a (S13) as photo information for each photo data transmitted in S10a and S10b. 6a and 6b are notified.
Each album creator (trader terminal 6a, 6b) can upload the user's photo anew by the notification in S15, and know the contents and trends as exemplified below.
・ When, where, and what kind of photos were taken (photo tag data 22a shooting data tag and identification information tag)
・ Whether other users were in the same place (behavior history of user attribute data 24a)
・ What hobbies you have (preference information for user attribute data 24a)
・ What kind of albums have you bought in the past (Purchase history of user attribute data 24a)
These pieces of information are very useful information in selecting a photo to be used for a newly proposed album.

  In S15x, the merchant terminals 6a and 6b request the registered photo data 21a, which is the material of the album, from the album creation support apparatus 2 from each piece of photo information notified in S15. This photo request includes a tag of the photo tag data 22a (for example, a set of photos showing “A shrine”) and history information of the user attribute data 24a (for example, a set of photos taken of the “X shrine” festival). As described above, it may be a rough request based on the photographic information provided in S15.

As S16, the photograph data providing unit 25 selects the photograph data requested from the dealer terminals 6a and 6b from the registered photograph data 21a, and provides the selected photograph data to the dealer terminals 6a and 6b. Here, the photo data providing unit 25 may include not only the registered photo data 21a explicitly requested in S15x, but also related photo data 23a related by the photo associating unit 23 in the provision target.
Furthermore, the photo data providing unit 25 provides photo tag data 22a related to the photo data to be provided, and user attribute data 24a (user attributes, what are frequently seen photos? May also be provided.

  Each album creator (trader terminals 6a and 6b) can efficiently obtain and acquire material data of newly proposed albums by providing photos in S16. For example, the provided material data may include not only shooting data by the user of the proposal partner but also shooting data by other users associated with tags and history information. As a result, even if the user's own photographing equipment and photographing technique are poor, beautiful photographs taken by other users who have photographed the same photographing object or missed photographs can be included in the album proposed this time.

  Each album creator (commercial terminals 6a and 6b) performs an editing operation to make the selected photo data into an album as a material. This editing work includes, for example, a photo modification process, a photo color correction process, and a photo layout process. By these editing operations, a composition image of the album is created.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a second information providing process for the vendor terminals 6a and 6b. Compared with FIG. 3, the processes of S15 and S15x are replaced with the processes of S15y and S15z.
First, in FIG. 4, since the photo registration (S10a, S10b) is not triggered by the photo information notification (S15), the process of S15 is omitted.
In S15y, the trader terminals 6a and 6b transmit a search request for the registered photo data 21a, which is the material of the album, to the album creation support apparatus 2. This search request may be a request as described in S15x, or may be a request such as “all photo data taken (stored) by user A”.
In S15z, the photo data providing unit 25 searches the registered photo data 21a for photo data that matches the search request in S15y.
As S16, the photograph data providing unit 25 selects the photograph data requested in S15y from the dealer terminals 6a and 6b from the registered photograph data 21a, and provides the selected photograph data to the dealer terminals 6a and 6b.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing album creation support processing between the user terminals 1a and 1b and the vendor terminals 6a and 6b. The process of FIG. 5 is executed after the process of FIG. 3 or the process of FIG.

As S21, the album image presenting unit 31 receives the album proposals A and B using the photographic data provided in S16 as materials, from the respective dealer terminals 6a and 6b, and receives the proposals A and B as the user terminals 1a. , 1b. In other words, a business operator such as a photo shop uses the photos on the cloud to perform album proposal activities and sales activities.
As a result, the user can get an opportunity to purchase an album without having to take active actions such as selecting a photo as an album material or applying for album creation. Note that the album plan includes the composition image of the album and its price. Therefore, the users of the respective user terminals 1a and 1b can compare and examine the album proposals of a plurality of companies without taking time and effort through the cloud.
In the following, it is assumed that the user terminal 1a does not show interest in the proposed album and the user terminal 1b shows interest in the proposed album.

As S22, when the album image correcting unit 32 wants to correct each album proposal presented in S21, the instruction of the correction content received via each user terminal 1a, 1b is notified to each vendor terminal 6a, 6b. To do. Note that the album creation support apparatus 2 may newly send an instruction for correction contents to another vendor (not shown) that has not proposed an album in S21. The instruction of the correction content is, for example, the following instruction.
・ I want you to do this design ・ I want you to use this photo ・ I want to receive presentations from other companies ・ Is the price going down? The results (responses A and B) are transmitted to the user terminal 1b via the album creation support device 2.

  As S23, the album ordering unit 33 accepts an order from the user terminal 1b for each album plan presented in S21 or each album plan modified in S22. Here, it is assumed that the user terminal 1b adopts (orders) the answer B of the supplier terminal 6b. The album ordering unit 33 transfers the order contents to the merchant terminal 6b and notifies the merchant terminal 6b that the answer A has not been ordered.

As S24, the fee settlement unit 34 performs each process for confirming an order such as fee settlement for the album plan accepted in S23.
First, the trader terminal 6b directly distributes the ordered album to the user terminal 1b. Next, the user terminal 1b requests the charge settlement unit 34 to pay for the distributed album.
The fee settlement unit 34 executes a payment process based on the requested settlement data and notifies the contractor terminal 6b of the result. For example, when the requested payment data includes a credit card number, the price payment process is a process of subtracting only the price from the credit account and depositing the price into the account of the trader terminal 6b. is there.

In the album creation support apparatus 2 of the present embodiment described above, the image album taken by a registered user of the album creation support system with a digital camera is edited by the electronic album creation company into an electronic album and sold to the registered user. To help.
The users of the user terminals 1a and 1b register in advance attribute information such as age, sex, and hobbies when registering use of the system. The photos taken by the user terminals 1a and 1b are automatically uploaded to the cloud database (registered photo data 21a).
The album creation support device 2 extracts information useful for album creation, such as photo tag data 22a, related photo data 23a, user attribute data 24a, and the like based on the uploaded photos. By notifying the vendor terminals 6a and 6b, album creation is supported for each vendor.

As a result, the user's preference can be sufficiently reflected without imposing an excessive burden on the album preparation preparation work such as actively requesting the album creation, etc., according to various purposes. You can receive proposals for electronic albums from vendors.
This proposed album is individually customized for each user according to various purposes such as travel, party, children's growth record, etc., so landscape photo collections and celebrities with fixed shooting contents It's easier to buy than public (non-customized) albums such as photo albums.

Further, the album creation support apparatus 2 accepts registration of photo data taken by each of a plurality of users as registered photo data 21a and related photo data 23a. Therefore, even when a photograph taken by the person alone is missed or a beautiful photograph cannot be taken, it is possible to receive an album proposal that interpolates the photograph taken by another person.
Each of the vendor terminals 6a and 6b (individually operated photo shops, etc.) that receives information for album creation from the album creation support device 2 is a user who brings photo data to a photo shop or applies online. Can be omitted, so it is possible to propose album creation easily and increase sales.

1a, 1b User terminal 2 Album creation support device 6a, 6b Trader terminal 21 Photo registration receiving unit 21a Registered photo data 22 Photo tag assigning unit 22a Photo tag data 23 Photo association unit 23a Related photo data 24 User attribute analysis unit 24a Person attribute data 25 Photo data providing unit 26 Photo information notifying unit 31 Album image presenting unit 32 Album image correcting unit 33 Album ordering unit 34 Fee settlement unit

Claims (7)

A photo information notifying unit for giving explanation data of each photo data to each photo data registered from the user terminal, and notifying the given explanation data to the vendor terminal,
Upon receiving a request for photo data notified from the vendor terminal, each photo data to which the explanation data specified in the request is assigned is selected from each registered photo data, and each selected photo data is An album creation support apparatus, comprising: a photo data providing unit provided to a vendor terminal. The photo information notification unit identifies the user's action history from the shooting date and time of the photo data taken by the same user, and notifies the dealer terminal of the action history as the explanation data of the photo data. ,
When the action history is specified in the request for the photograph data notified from the trader terminal, the photograph data providing unit is configured to collect a set of photograph data taken by one or more users who acted along the action history. The album creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the album creation support apparatus is provided to the vendor terminal. The storage means of the album creation support apparatus is associated with user preference information inferred from the behavior history for each behavior history,
The photo information notification unit identifies the corresponding preference information from the action history for each user, notifies the merchant terminal of the preference information as the explanation data of the photo data,
When the preference information is specified in the request for photo data notified from the supplier terminal, the photograph data providing unit displays a set of photograph data photographed by one or more users who match the preference information. The album creation support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the album creation support apparatus is provided to a terminal. The photograph information notifying unit identifies the photographed object identification information by recognizing the photographed object photographed in the photograph data, and uses the identification information as the explanation data of the photograph data. Notify your device,
When the identification information of the photographed object is specified in the photograph data request notified from the supplier terminal, the photograph data providing unit has photographed the photographed object and photographed by one or more users The album creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a set of data is provided to the vendor terminal. The photo information notification unit notifies the vendor terminal of the access frequency for the registered photo data as the explanation data of the photo data,
When the access frequency is specified in the request for photo data notified from the supplier terminal, the photo data providing unit is adapted to the access frequency and sets a set of photo data taken by one or more users. The album creation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the album creation support apparatus is provided to a vendor terminal. It is comprised including the album creation assistance apparatus of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 5, and the said user terminal,
The user terminal sends the recorded photo data to the album creation support device when the photographed photo data is recorded on the user terminal, and causes the album creation support device to register the photo data. An album creation support system. The album creation support device has a photo information notification unit and a photo data providing unit,
The photo information notifying unit attaches explanation data of each photo data to each photo data registered from the user terminal, and notifies the supplier terminal of the assigned explanation data.
The photo data providing unit receives a request for photo data notified from the supplier terminal, selects each photo data to which the explanation data specified in the request is assigned, from each registered photo data, and An album creation support method comprising providing each selected photograph data to the vendor terminal.

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