JPH09138860A - System for taking actually taken picture into virtual picture space - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and the most suitably take an actually taken picture into a virtual space by means of providing a data system by which scale information on the actually taken picture and a subject can collectively managed by providing a specified registered data generation means, an overlapped picture generation mean and a virtual trial means. SOLUTION: In the system, a product salesman possesses the registered data generation device 1 generating product information obtained by adding additional information showing the attribute of the product to picture data of the product. A store has the virtual store generation device (overlapped picture generation means) 2 generating the pictures of the stores displaying the products and the picture of a store mole constituted by the aggregate of the plural stores on the virtual space. A purchaser has the product virtual trial device 3 reproducing the pictures of the store mole and the stores and generating the use state of the product which a user desires on the virtual space. The supply of product information from the product salesman to the store and the supply of store mole information from the store to the purchaser are executed by means of communication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for capturing a real image in a virtual space, which develops a real image on an image created in the virtual space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a new method of catalog shopping or mail order using a CD-ROM or a network has been proposed, and similarly, participation in living in a virtual city using a user's alter ego image. Various methods have been proposed.

However, in the conventional system, there is a problem that it is not easy to capture a real image in a virtual space with an appropriate size. That is, in the conventional system, the size of the subject of the photographed image cannot be associated with the scale defined in the virtual space, and an unnatural image is obtained when the photographed image and the virtual space are combined. There is a problem. Particularly in mail-order sales and catalog shopping, since the size of the product is an important factor, it is necessary to associate the scale of the real shot image with the scale of the virtual space.

[0004]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a data format capable of collectively managing a real shot image and scale information of a subject. An object of the present invention is to provide a system that can easily capture a real image in an appropriate size in a virtual space.

[0005]

The present invention has been made as follows to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, the real image capturing system in the virtual space of the present invention includes a registration data creating unit, a superimposed image creating unit, and a virtual trial unit.

The registration data creating means creates real shot image information by adding additional information indicating an attribute of the subject to image data including an image of an arbitrary subject and scale information indicating a size of the subject.

Here, the additional information is, for example, information including a color type and a price of a product when the object is a product. The superposed image creating means creates a superposed image on which the real image is to be superposed in a virtual space, holds scale information indicating the size of the superposed image, and, from the real image information, the image of the subject. And scale information of the subject are taken out, both display sizes are determined based on the scale information of the subject and the scale information of the superimposed image, and the image of the subject is superimposed on the superimposed image according to the determined display size. A superimposed image is created by superimposing it on the image, and further superimposed image information is created by adding the actual image to the superimposed image.

The virtual trial means holds user image data consisting of an image of a used object using the subject and scale information indicating the size of the used object, and is created by the superimposed image creating means. When the user specifies the subject by extracting the superimposed image from the superimposed image information and displaying the screen, the captured image information of the subject is extracted from the superimposed image information, and the scale information of the subject is extracted from the captured image information. The display sizes of both are determined based on this scale information and the scale information of the object to be used, and an image in a state where the subject is used as the object is created.

Here, the registration data creating means compresses the image of the subject according to the MPEG standard or the JPEG standard, and maps the scale information of the subject in a user-defined area of the data format of the MPEG standard or the JPEG standard. Alternatively, the photographed image data may be created.

Further, the registration data creating means includes a recording section for recording image data consisting of an image of the subject and scale information indicating the size of the subject, and a display for displaying the image recorded in the recording section on a screen. Section, an area information setting section for extracting only the display area of the object on the display screen of the display section, an input section for inputting additional information indicating the attribute of the object, and a display extracted by the area information setting section. A real image information information creating unit that creates real image information by adding the additional information input by the input unit to the image data of the area, and a database that registers the real image information created by the real image information creating unit. And a transmission unit that transmits the photographed image information to the superimposed image creating unit.

Further, the superimposed image creating means creates a superimposed image on which the subject is to be superimposed in the virtual space, and causes the superimposed image to hold scale information indicating the size of the superimposed image. An image creating unit, a receiving unit that receives the real image information from the registered data creating unit, and scale information of the subject from the real image information received by the receiving unit, and the scale information of the scale information and the superimposed image is extracted. A scale adjusting unit that adjusts display sizes of the subject and the superimposed image based on scale information, a position designating unit that designates a position where the image of the subject is superimposed in the superimposed image, and the scale adjusting unit And an image superimposing unit that superimposes the image of the subject whose display size is determined by the superimposition on the position designated by the position designating unit, and A data processing unit that creates the superimposed image information by adding the real image information to the superimposed image created by the image superimposing unit, and the superimposed image information created by the data processing unit is transmitted to the virtual trial means. It may be configured to include a transmission unit that operates.

Further, the virtual trial means is a recording section for recording user image data including an image of a used object using a subject and scale information indicating the size of the used object, and a superimposing image forming means for superimposing. A receiving unit for receiving image information,
A display unit that extracts the superimposed image from the superimposed image data received by the receiving unit, displays the extracted superimposed image, and displays a subject desired by the user from the superimposed image displayed by the display unit. A subject designating section that designates an area, and real shot image information of the subject designated by the subject designating section are taken out from the superposed image information, and scale information of the subject is taken out from the real shot image information, and the used part is taken from the recording section. A scale adjusting unit that reads out scale information of an object, compares both scale information, and makes the display size of the image of the subject correspond to the display size of the used object, and the subject adjusted by the scale adjusting unit. Image and the image of the object to be used, and the superimposed image is displayed on the display unit. Unishi may be.

Further, the registration data creating means and the superimposed image creating means are connected by a communication line, and the superimposed image creating means and the virtual trial means are connected by a communication line so that image information can be exchanged online. Good.

Further, the superposed image creating means is provided with a writing section for writing the superposed image information in a recording medium, and the virtual trial means is provided with a reading section for reading out the superposed image information recorded in the recording medium. The image information may be exchanged offline. Here, the recording medium is a CD
-ROM, magnetic disk, etc. are considered.

Next, the system for capturing a photographed image in a virtual space according to the present invention may be configured by connecting an image providing device and a virtual trial device through a communication line. The image providing apparatus includes a registration data creating unit and a superimposed image creating unit, and the registration data creating unit adds the image data including an image of an arbitrary subject and scale information indicating the size of the subject to the image data. Real shot image information is created by adding additional information indicating the attribute of the subject. The superposed image creating means creates a superposed image on which the real image is to be superposed on the virtual space, holds scale information indicating the size of the superposed image, and stores the subject from the real image information. Image and scale information are taken out, both display sizes are determined based on the extracted scale information and the scale information of the superimposed image, and the image of the subject is superimposed on the superimposed image according to the determined display size. Then, a superimposed image is created, and further superimposed image information is created by adding the photographed image information to the superimposed image.

The virtual trial device holds user image data consisting of an image of a used object using a subject and scale information indicating the size of the used object, and the superposed image created by the superposed image creating means. When the user specifies the subject by extracting the superimposed image from the image information and displaying it on the screen, the captured image information of the subject is extracted from the superimposed image information, and the scale information of the subject is extracted from the captured image information. Both display sizes are determined based on the scale information and the scale information of the object to be used, and an image in a state where the subject is used as the object is created.

The image providing device and the virtual trial device may not be connected by a communication line, but image information may be exchanged between them via a recording medium.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, it is possible to create a product mall that sells various products in a virtual space, provide this virtual space image to the consumer, and purchase the product without the consumer having to go to the actual store. A new product distribution system will be taken up and a case where the system of the present invention is applied to this system will be described.

In the product distribution system, a product seller who sells the product, a store that actually displays and sells the product,
It is assumed to be a purchaser who purchases products from a store. This form is shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the product seller owns a registration data creating apparatus 1 for creating product information in which additional information indicating the attribute of the product is added to the image data of the product. In the virtual space, the virtual shop creation device 2 that creates an image of a shop that displays products and an image of a shop mall that is an aggregate of a plurality of shops is owned, and the purchaser is
It owns a product virtual trial device 3 that reproduces images of a mall and a store and creates a usage state of a product desired by a user in a virtual space.

Each device is connected by a communication line, and the product information is provided from the product seller to the store and the store mall information is provided from the store to the purchaser by communication. . However, it goes without saying that the data exchange between the respective devices is not limited to communication, and a method of recording and providing the data on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM may be used.

FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the registration data creating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the registration data creation device 1 includes a CPU 17, a ROM 16, and a V-RAM 18.
And is connected by a bus.

The bus also includes a digitizer 11, a keyboard 12, a CRT 13, and a product database (DB).
14 are connected via an input / output device (I / O).
Furthermore, the drive device 10a is connected to the bus, and the communication modem 15 is connected via an interface (IF).

The drive device 10a is a device for reading data from the IC memory card 10 as the recording means of the present invention. Here, the IC memory card 10 stores product image data. This image data is data including an image of a product taken as a subject, region information indicating an effective region of the image, and scale information of the product. That is, the IC memory card 10 stores, as image data, data input by the imaging device that can capture the image of the subject and the scale information of the subject. Here, the image data is data compressed according to the JPEG standard, and the area information and the scale information are J
It shall be mapped to APP (user-defined area) of the data format of the PEG standard (see FIG. 43).

The digitizer 11 is a device for cutting out an image of a predetermined area from the images displayed on the CRT 13. Specifically, for example, the image data read from the IC memory card 10 includes not only an image of the product but also an image of the background, and therefore only the image area of the product needs to be extracted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the digitizer 11 is used when extracting the image area of the product from the image data read from the IC memory card 10.
The image area of the product is specified by.

The keyboard 12 is a device for the user to input additional information indicating an attribute of a product, an arbitrary command, and the like. The CRT 13 is a device that displays various images.

The product database (DB) 14 registers product information created by adding additional information indicating product attributes to the image data read from the IC memory card 10. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the product database (DB) 14 is composed of product database management information and a plurality of product information (product information 1 to product information n).

Here, the product database management information is, as shown in FIG. 4, the data size of the product database management information, the number of products (product information) registered in the product database (DB) 14, and the spare area. (Future expansion area).

As shown in FIG. 5, the additional information of the product information includes the data size of the additional information, the registration date of the product information, the type of product color, the type of product size, and the product. Price, link information of shooting direction and image data,
It is composed of a spare area (area for future expansion). Here, the link information between the shooting direction and the image data is used when one product is imaged in two or more shooting directions (for example,
This information is necessary when one product is photographed from the front, right side, left side, rear, upper, lower, etc., and is link information that associates each image data with data indicating the photographing direction. .

The communication modem 15 is connected to the communication line, transmits the created product information to the virtual shop creation device 2, and receives the order data from the virtual shop creation device 2.

The ROM 16 stores application programs to be executed by the CPU 17. V-RAM
Reference numeral 18 temporarily stores the image read from the IC memory card 10.

Here, the function realized by the CPU 17 executing the application program of the ROM 16 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the registration data creation device 1 includes an area information setting unit 4, an additional information input unit 6, a product information creation unit 5, and an order processing unit 42.

The area information setting unit 4 is used for the IC memory card 1
From the image data read from 0, only the image of the area designated by the digitizer 11 is cut out.
The additional information input unit 6 inputs additional information via the keyboard 12.

The product information creating unit 5 creates the product information by adding the additional information input by the additional information input unit 6 to the image data cut out by the area information setting unit 4. Further, the product information creation unit 5 registers the created product data in the product database (DB) 14 and updates the content of the product database management information.

The order processing unit 42, when receiving the order data of the product from the virtual store creation device 2, checks the stock of the ordered product, sets the shipping date and the shipping address of the product, registers the purchaser information, and charges. Perform processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the virtual store creation apparatus 2. The virtual store creation device 2 has a CPU
26, RAM 27, and ROM 25 are connected by a bus. The bus has a mouse 20, a keyboard 21, a CRT 22, and a store database (DB) 2
3 are connected via an input / output device (I / O). Further, the computer graphics creation device 1 is connected to the bus.
9 and the communication modem 24 are connected via an interface (IF).

Computer graphics creation device 19
Creates an image of a store that sells products, sets scale information indicating the size of the store, and causes the image of the store to hold the scale information. Then, the computer graphics creation device 19 creates an image of the mall that is made up of the created collection of stores. Here, the image of the store is JP
It is data compressed according to the EG standard, and scale information is to be mapped to an APP (user-defined area) of the data format of the JPEG standard (FIG. 4).
3).

The mouse 20 is an input device for designating where in the store the user desires to display the product. Specifically, when the image of the store is displayed on the CRT 22, the user clicks the area where the image of the product should be superimposed (overlaid) with the mouse 20.

The keyboard 21 is a device for the user to input arbitrary data or commands. CRT
22 displays various images on the screen.

As shown in FIG. 8, the store database (DB) 23 stores store mall management information and a plurality of store mall information (store mall information 1 to store mall information n). Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the store mall management information includes the data size of the store mall management information, the number of store malls registered in the store database (DB) 23, and a spare area (future expansion area). It consists of and.

Returning to FIG. 8, each mall information is composed of individual mall management information, mall image data, and store information (store information 1 to store information m) of each store constituting the store mall. Has been done. Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the individual mall management information includes the data size of the individual mall management information, the address (data position information) of the image data of the mall, and the number of stores included in the mall. Link information for associating the position of each store in the store mall with store information, and a spare region (region for future expansion).

Returning to FIG. 8, each store information (store information 1 to store information m) is composed of store management information, store image data, and a plurality of item information (item information 1 to item information k). It is configured.

As shown in FIG. 11, the store management information includes the data size of the store management information, the date when the store was registered in the store mall, the address of the store image data (data position information), and the sale at the store. The number of products (the number of products overlaid on the image data of the store), the link information that associates the position of each product in the store with the product information of each product, and the spare area (area for future expansion) ) And is composed of.

Returning to FIG. 8, the store image data is image data obtained by superimposing (overlaying) the image of the product on the image of the store created in the virtual space. Then, as described above, the store image data is compressed according to the JPEG standard, and the scale information indicating the size of the store is mapped to the APP (user-defined area) of the JPEG standard data format.

The communication modem 24 is the registration data creating device 1
From the product, the order data of the product to the registration data creating device 1, the mall information to the product virtual trial device 3, and the order data of the product from the product virtual trial device 3 are received. .

The ROM 25 stores application programs to be executed by the CPU 26. RAM27
Temporarily stores the product information.

Here, the function realized by the CPU 26 executing the application program of the ROM 25 will be described with reference to FIG. The virtual shop creation device 2 includes a scale adjusting section 7, an image superimposing section 8, a virtual shop display processing section 9, and an ordering / order processing section 38.

The scale adjusting section 7 determines the display size of the product with respect to the display size of the store by comparing the scale information of the product with the scale information of the store when the image data of the product is superimposed on the image data of the store. .

The image superimposing section 8 superimposes the image data of the product having the display size determined by the scale adjusting section 7 on the shop image data. Here, the position where the image data of the product is superimposed is the position designated by the mouse 20.

The virtual store display processing unit 9 adds the product information of the superimposed product and the store management information to the store image data created by the image superimposing unit 8 to create the store information. Further, the virtual store display processing unit 9 displays the store image data on which the image data of the product is superimposed on the CRT 22. Then, the virtual store display processing unit 9 registers the completed store information in the store mall information of the store database (DB) 23 and updates the contents of the store mall management information. Also,
When a command for sending store mall information is input by the keyboard 21 or the mouse 20, the virtual store display processing unit 9 reads the store mall information of the store mall desired by the user from the store database (DB) 23 and reads it. The store mall information is transmitted from the communication modem 24 to the product virtual trial device 3.

The order receiving / ordering processing section 38 uses the virtual product trial device 3
When the order data for the product is received from, the order data is transmitted to the seller of the product. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the product virtual trial device 3.

The product virtual trial device 3 includes a CPU 35 and RA.
The M36, the ROM 37, and the drive device 28a are connected by a bus. Also, there is a mouse 2 on the bus.
9, keyboard 30, CRT 31, hard disk (H
DD) 32 is connected via an input / output device (I / O). Further, a communication modem 33 is connected to the bus via an interface (IF).

The drive device 28a is a device for reading data from the IC memory card 28. In the present embodiment, the IC memory card 28 stores user image management information and a plurality of user image data (user image data 1 to user image data n) as shown in FIG. 14A. . As shown in FIG. 14B, the user image management information is composed of the data size of the user image management information, the number of user image data, and a spare area (future expansion area). The user image data is data including an image of a place, thing or person who uses the product and scale information of the place, thing or person.
Specifically, it is assumed that the user image data is data compressed according to the JPEG standard, and scale information is mapped to APP (user-defined area) of the JPEG standard data format (see FIG. 43).

The mouse 29 is a device for designating a product desired by the user from the image of the store when the image of the store is displayed on the CRT 31. The keyboard 30 is a device for the user to input various data and commands.

The CRT 31 displays the mall image data on the screen. Further, when the store desired by the user is selected from the mall image data, the store image data of the selected store is displayed on the screen.

The hard disk (HDD) 32 is a device for storing the mall information received from the virtual store creation device 2. The communication modem 33 receives the mall information from the virtual store creation device 2 and transmits the ordering data of the product to the virtual store creation device 2.

The ROM 37 stores the application program to be executed by the CPU 35. RAM 36 is
The store mall information received from the virtual store creation device 2 is temporarily stored, and the user image data read from the IC memory card 28 is temporarily stored.

Here, the function realized by the CPU 35 executing the application program of the ROM 37 will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the product virtual trial device 3 includes a virtual store search processing unit 39, a scale adjusting unit 40, and an image superimposing unit 41.

The virtual store search processing section 39 extracts the mall image data from the store mall information received from the virtual store creation device 2 and displays it on the CRT 31. here,
When the user selects a desired store from the displayed mall image data, the store image data of the selected store is extracted from the store mall information and the CR is selected.
Display at T31. Further, when the user selects a desired product from the displayed store image data, the product information of the selected product from the store mall information is read and displayed on the CRT 31. At this time, CR
At T31, the image data of the product and the additional information are displayed at the same time.

The scale adjusting unit 40 reads the scale information of the product from the product information selected by the virtual store search processing unit 39. Further, the scale adjusting unit 40 is
From the C memory card 28, the place where the product is used,
The user image data of an object or a person is read, and the scale information of the place, object, or person is read from the user image data. Then, the scale adjusting unit 40 adjusts both display sizes based on the scale information of the product and the scale information of the place, object, or person.

The image superimposing unit 41 superimposes (overlays) the image of the product adjusted by the scale adjusting unit 40 and the image of the place, the object, or the person, and the image in a state in which the product is tried (or tried on). To create.

The operation and effect of this embodiment will be described below. First, the procedure for creating product information will be described with reference to FIGS. The user inputs a product information creation command using the keyboard 12 of the registration data creation device 1. Registration data creation device 1 with command input
Displays the screen shown in FIG. 16 on the CRT 13. In this screen, "File", "Target area", "Additional information"
The three menu bars are displayed.

First, the user sets the drive device 10a to I
Insert the C memory card 10 and select "File" from the menu bar. At this time, the registration data creation device 1
CR pull-down menu of menu bar "File"
It is displayed at T13 (see FIG. 17).

The user selects from the pull-down menu
Select “Load image”. At this time, the registration data creation device 1 displays a list of image data of products registered in the IC memory card 10 on the screen. Here, when the user selects the image data of the desired product, the registration data creation device 1 reads the image data of the selected product from the IC memory card 10 and displays it on the CRT 13 (see FIG. 18).

When the image data of the selected product is displayed on the CRT 13, the user can select "target area" on the menu bar.
Select to cut out the image. When the “target area” is selected, the registration data creation device 1 displays a pull-down menu of the “target area” on the menu bar (FIG. 19).
reference). Here, the user selects the "area designation" from the pull-down menu, then uses the digitizer 11 to specify the image area of the product, and again selects the "target area" of the menu bar, and pulls down the pull-down menu. Among them, “set” is selected (see FIG. 20). At this time, the registration data creation device 1 handles only the image of the area designated as the new image data.

Next, the user inputs additional information to be added to the image data. That is, “additional information” is selected from the menu bar “file”, “target area”, and “additional information”. At this time, the registration data creation device 1
Displays a pull-down menu of the "additional information" menu bar on the CRT 13 (see FIG. 21). Here, when the user selects "input information" in the figure, the registration data creation device 1 displays the additional information input screen on the CRT 13 (see FIG. 22). The user follows the input screen displayed on the CRT 13 to add additional information (registered date, color,
Enter size, price, etc.) To enter this additional information,
The keyboard 12 is used.

When the additional information is input, the registration data creating device 1 displays the image specified by the digitizer 11 as
Product information is created by adding the input additional information and registered in the product database (DB) 14.

When transmitting the product information to the virtual store creation apparatus 2, the user inputs a product information transmission command. Next, FIG. 23 shows the procedure for creating the mall information.
~ It demonstrates along FIG. It is assumed that the image data of the shopping mall and the image data of the shops forming the shopping mall (including the image of the shop and the scale information of the shop) have already been created.

The user inputs a command for creating store mall information to the virtual store creating apparatus 2. The virtual shop creation device 2 to which the creation command is input displays the virtual shop creation screen as shown in FIG. On this virtual store creation screen,
Menu bar "File", "Store designation", "Scene", "Registration" are displayed.

Here, the user selects the "File" menu bar. The virtual shop creation device 2 in which the menu bar "file" is selected displays the pull-down menu of the menu bar "file" on the screen (see FIG. 24).

When the user selects "read merchandise information" from the pull-down menu, the virtual shop creation device 2 displays the merchandise information received from the registration data creation device 1 on the CRT 22 (see FIG. 25).

Next, the user selects "designate a store" from the menu bar. At this time, the virtual shop creation device 2
A list of store malls registered in the store database (DB) 23 is displayed as a pull-down menu of "designate store". Further, when the user selects a desired mall, the virtual store creation device 2 displays the types of stores included in the selected mall on the screen (FIG. 26).
reference).

When the mall is selected, the virtual store creation device 2 displays the type of each store included in the selected mall on the CRT 22. When the user selects a store in which a product should be displayed from the displayed list of stores, the virtual store creation device 2 reads the store information of the selected store from the store database (DB) 23, and stores the store. Store image data extracted from information, CRT2
2 is displayed (see FIG. 27).

Here, the user designates the position where the store is displayed in the store. That is, the user selects "Register" from the menu bar. When the menu bar "registration" is selected, the virtual shop creation device 2 displays a pull-down menu of the menu bar "registration" on the CRT 22 (see FIG. 28). This pull-down menu is composed of "designation of exhibition position" and "register in store", and the user first selects "designation of exhibition position".
At this time, the virtual store creation device 2 reads the scale information of the store from the store image data, reads the scale information of the product from the image data of the product, compares both scale information, and displays the display size of the product to the store. adjust. And the image of the product whose display size has been adjusted is
It is overlaid on the shop screen (see FIG. 29). Then, when the user moves the overlaid product with the mouse 20 and places it at the desired display position, he / she selects “Register” from the menu bar, and selects “Register in a store” from the pull-down menu of this “Register” menu bar. select.

When the "register in a store" is selected, the virtual store creation apparatus 2 updates the store information of the store (see FIG. 30). That is, the image data in which the image data of the product is overlaid is used as the store image data, and the product information of the product is added to the end of the store information. Furthermore, the number of registered products in the store management information is specified, and link information that associates the product position of the product with the product information is added.

Next, the operation procedure of the product virtual trial device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The user inputs a virtual trial command to the product virtual trial device 3. The commodity virtual trial device 3 to which the virtual trial command is input displays a screen as shown in FIG. 31 on the CRT 31. As shown in the figure, the menu bar "File",
“Store designation”, “scene”, “product designation”, and “user image” are displayed.

Here, the user selects the "File" menu bar. When “File” is selected, the product virtual trial device 3 displays a pull-down menu of the menu bar “File” on the CRT 31 (see FIG. 32). In the figure, “virtual store access” and “virtual store communication access” are displayed as pull-down menus. “Virtual store access” means store mall information provided by a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. When
“Virtual store communication access” is assumed to be a case where online store mall information is provided from the virtual store creation device 2. For example, if the user is "virtual store communication access"
Is selected, the product virtual trial device 3 determines that the communication modem 33
To set up a line with the virtual store creation device 2. Then, when the mall image data of the mall is transmitted from the virtual store creation device 2, the mall image data is displayed on the CRT 31 (see FIG. 33). The user
When the mall image data of the store mall is displayed on the CRT 31, the menu bar "store designation" is selected. At this time, a list of store malls registered in the store database (DB) 23 of the virtual store creation device 2 is displayed as a pull-down menu on the screen. When the user selects a desired mall, a list of stores included in the selected mall is further displayed on the screen (see FIG. 34). Here, when the user selects a desired store from the list, the store image data as shown in FIG. 30 is displayed on the CRT 31. For example, the list shown in FIG. 34 (“electronic store”, “furniture store”,
If "furniture store" is selected from "gallery" and "computer shop", store image data corresponding to this "furniture store" is displayed on the CRT 31 (see FIG. 35).

Next, when the user selects (single-clicks) a specific product from the store image displayed on the CRT 31 with the mouse 29, the product (vertically long position arranged at the rightmost end of the screen in FIG. 35). The outline frame 361 indicating that the chest of drawers has been selected is displayed (see FIG. 36), and when the user double-clicks in this state, additional information (“registration date”, “color”, “size”, “ Detailed information such as “price” is displayed on the CRT 31 (see FIG. 37).

Here, when the user selects "user image" in the menu bar, the product virtual trial device 3 displays the IC memory card 2 as a pull-down menu of "user image".
A list of user image data registered in No. 8 is displayed (see FIG. 38).

When the user selects a desired user image from the displayed list ("My room", "My appearance"), the product virtual trial device 3 displays the image data of the selected product. The scale information of the product is read out from the user, and the scale information of the place, object, or person who uses the product is read from the selected user image data, and the display size of the product and the place of use are read based on the scale information. , After adjusting the display size of objects or people,
The image of the product is used by overlaying the image of the product with the image of the place, object, or person. The created image is displayed on the CRT 31 (see FIG. 39).

The operation processes of the registration data creation device 1, the virtual store creation device 2, and the product virtual trial device 3 will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 40 to 42. First, regarding the operation process of the registration data creation device 1,
It will be described with reference to FIG.

When the user inputs a product information creation command, the CPU 17 activates the drive device 10a.
The drive device 10a reads the image data of the product from the IC memory card 10 (S4001).

Here, when one product is imaged from various directions, all the images are read out.
Then, the image data read from the IC memory card 10 is displayed on the CRT 13. At this time, the user uses the digitizer 11 to specify only a necessary image area from the images displayed on the CRT 13.
When the image area is designated by the digitizer 11, the CPU 17 cuts out only the image in the designated area (S4002).

The cut out image is displayed on the CRT 13. Here, when one product is imaged from various directions, the above process is performed for each image. Then, the user inputs the imaging direction (front, back, right side, left side, top, bottom) of each image from the keyboard 12 (S4003). Subsequently, the user inputs additional information such as product price, product color variation, delivery date, photographing direction (front, right side, left side, back side, upper side, lower side, etc.) with the keyboard 12 (S4004). .

At this time, the CPU 17 controls the digitizer 11
Product information is generated by adding the additional information input by the keyboard 12 to the image data cut out by (S4005). Then, the CPU 17 registers the created product information in the product database (DB) 14 and updates the content of the product database management information in the product database (DB) 14 (S4006).

After that, when a product data transmission command is input from the keyboard 12, the CPU 17 reads out the product information of the specified product from the product database (DB) 14 and transfers it to the communication modem 15. The communication modem 15 uses the transferred product information as the virtual shop creation device 2
Send to

Next, the operation of the virtual shop creation device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In advance, the computer graphics creation device 19 creates an image of a store that displays products according to a user's instruction, and sets scale information indicating the size of the store in this image. Further, the computer graphics creation device 19 creates an image of a mall that is a collection of a plurality of stores (S410).
1). Then, the communication modem 24 of the virtual shop creation device 2
However, when the product information is received from the registration data creation device 1 (S4102), the CPU 26 temporarily stores the received product data in the RAM 27. Then, when the user specifies a store in which the product is displayed, the store database (D
B) Read the store information of the specified store from 23,
Further, the shop image data is extracted from the shop information and displayed on the CRT 22.

When the user designates the position where the product is to be displayed, the CPU 26 reads the scale information of the product from the image data of the product and the scale information of the store from the image data of the store, and the scale information of these stores is displayed. The information is collated to determine the display size of the product for the store. Then, the image of the product is adjusted to the determined display size.

Here, the CPU 26 overlays the image of the product of the adjusted display size on the area designated by the user (S4103). Further, the CPU 26
Updating the contents of the store information with the store image data in which the image of the item is overlaid and the item information of the item,
New store information is created (S4104).

Subsequently, the CPU 26 updates the mall information in the store database (DB) 23 with the created store information (S4105). After that, when the user inputs a command to send the mall information from the keyboard 21 or the mouse 20, the CPU 26 reads the mall information of the designated mall from the store database (DB) 23 and transfers it to the communication modem 24. To do.

The communication modem 24 sends the transferred store mall information to the product virtual trial device 3. The operation of the product virtual trial device 3 will be described below with reference to FIG.

The figure shows the processing realized by the CPU 35 executing the application program in the ROM 37. That is, in the store virtual trial device 3, a computer graphics (not shown) that does not show a user image database including a place (room, garden, etc.) where a product is used, an object (furniture, car, etc.), or an image of a person and scale information. Created by creation device or imaging device
An image is taken and this image is recorded in the IC memory card 28 (S4201, S4202). In addition, the place where the product is used by the computer graphics creation device,
When an image of an object or a person is created, the actual size information of the place, the object, or the person is added to the created image. In addition, depending on the imaging device,
Alternatively, when capturing an image of a person, an imaging device having a function of measuring the actual size of a subject is used.
The image of the place, object, or person is compressed according to the JPEG standard when it is recorded on the IC memory card 28. Then, the scale information of the place, object, or person is mapped to the APP of the data format of the JPEG standard.

Then, when the communication modem 33 receives the mall information from the virtual store creation device 2 (S420).
3), the CPU 35 extracts the mall image data from the mall information and displays it on the CRT 31 (S420).
4).

At this time, when the user refers to the display screen of the CRT 31 and selects a desired store from the store malls, the CPU 35 extracts the store information of the store designated from the store mall information, and further, , Store image data is extracted from the store information and displayed on the CRT 31. here,
When the user finds a desired product in the store image displayed on the CRT 31, the user specifies the image area of the product with the mouse 29.

When the image area of the product desired by the user is designated by the mouse 29 (S4205), the CP
U35 extracts the product data of the product specified by the mouse 29 from the mall information.

When the user inputs a virtual trial command, the CPU 35 displays a list of user image data registered in the IC memory card 28 on the screen. Here, when the user selects the user image data of the place, object, or person who should use the product, the CPU 35
Activates the drive device 28a to read the user image data designated by the user from the IC memory card 28 (S4206).

Then, the CPU 35 reads out the scale information of the product from the image data of the selected product, and also reads out the scale information of the place, the object, or the person who uses the product from the selected user image data. By comparing the scale information, the display size of the product,
Determine the display size of a place, thing, or person. Further, the CPU 35 changes the image of the product and the image of the place, the object, or the person to the determined display size. The image of the product, the display size of which has been changed, and the image of the place, the object, or the person are overlaid to create a virtual trial image (S4207). .

The created virtual trial image is displayed on the CRT 31. At this time, the user examines the virtual trial image displayed on the CRT 31 and considers whether or not to purchase the product. When a purchase request command for the product is input with the keyboard 30 or the mouse 29 (S4208), the CPU 35 determines from the product number of the product, the size of the product desired by the user, the color of the product desired by the user, and the like. Order data is created (S420
9).

The created order data is sent to the communication modem 33.
Is transmitted to the virtual store creation device 2 (S421).
0). The virtual store creation device 2 that has received the order data determines the seller of the product and sends the order data to the registration data creation device of the seller.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by collectively managing the image of the product and the scale information, the image of the product can be easily exhibited in the store created in the virtual space, and the store can be easily displayed. It is possible to extract only the image of the product from the image and re-synthesize and rearrange it in a virtual space representing a place, an object, or a person who uses the product.

[0101]

According to the present invention, by collectively managing the image of the subject and the scale information, when the image of the subject is captured in the virtual space, the optimum capture is performed based on the actual scale information. You can For example, when the product is a subject, based on the scale information of the product and the scale information of the place, the object, or the person who uses the product, the state where the product is used for the place, the object, or the person,
It can be accurately reproduced in the virtual space.

Even when an image once captured in a virtual space is captured in another virtual space, accurate capturing can be performed based on the scale information of the subject.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a product distribution system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a registration data creation device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of a product database (DB).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of product database management information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of additional information.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a registration data creating device.

FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a structure of a store database (DB).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the structure of store mall management information.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the structure of individual mall management information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the structure of store management information.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 13 is a hardware configuration diagram of a product virtual trial device

14A is a diagram showing a configuration of an IC memory card 28, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing a configuration of user image management information.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram of the product virtual trial device.

FIG. 16: Display screen of registration data creation device (1)

FIG. 17: Display screen of registration data creation device (2)

FIG. 18: Display screen of registration data creation device (3)

FIG. 19: Display screen of registration data creation device (4)

FIG. 20: Display screen of registration data creation device (5)

FIG. 21: Display screen of registration data creation device (6)

FIG. 22: Display screen of registration data creation device (7)

FIG. 23 is a display screen (1) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 24 is a display screen (2) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 25: Display screen of virtual shop creation device (3)

FIG. 26 is a display screen (4) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 27 is a display screen (5) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 28 is a display screen (6) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 29 is a display screen (7) of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 30: Display screen of virtual shop creation device (8)

FIG. 31 is a display screen (1) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 32 is a display screen (2) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 33 is a display screen (3) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 34 is a display screen (4) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 35 is a display screen (5) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 36 is a display screen (6) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 37 is a display screen (7) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 38 is a display screen (8) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 39 is a display screen (9) of the product virtual trial device

FIG. 40 is an operation flowchart of the registration data creation device.

FIG. 41 is an operation flowchart of the virtual shop creation device.

FIG. 42 is an operation flowchart of the product virtual trial device

43A is a diagram showing a data format of the JPEG standard, and FIG. 43B is an explanatory diagram of functions of each format.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Registration data creation device (registration data creation means) 2 ... Virtual store creation device (superimposed image creation means) 3 ... Product virtual trial device (virtual trial device) 4 ... Area information setting unit 5 ... Product information Creation unit 6-Additional information input unit 7-Scale adjustment unit 8-Image superimposing unit 9-Virtual store display processing unit 10-IC memory card 10a-Drive device 11-Digitizer 12-Keyboard 13- · CRT 14 · · Product database (DB) 15 · · Communication modem 16 · · ROM 17 · · CPU 18 · · V-RAM 19 · · Computer graphics creation device 20 · · Mouse 21 · · Keyboard 22 · · CRT 23 ·・ Store database (DB) 24 ・ ・ Communication modem 25 ・ ・ ROM 26 ・ ・ CPU 27 ・ ・ RAM 28 ・ ・ IC memory card 28a・ Drive device 29 ・ ・ Mouse 30 ・ ・ Keyboard 31 ・ ・ CRT 32 ・ ・ Hard disk (HDD) 33 ・ ・ Communication modem 35 ・ ・ CPU 36 ・ ・ RAM 37 ・ ・ ROM 38 ・ ・ Order processing unit 39 ・ ・ Virtual Store search processing unit 40 .. Scale adjustment unit 41 .. Image superimposing unit 42 .. Order processing unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Registered data creating means for creating live-action image information obtained by adding additional information indicating an attribute of the subject to image data including an image of an arbitrary subject and scale information indicating a size of the subject. A superposed image on which the real shot image is to be superposed in a virtual space to hold scale information indicating the size of the superposed image, and the image of the subject and the scale of the subject from the real shot image information. Information is taken out, both display sizes are determined based on this scale information and the scale information of the superimposed image, and the superimposed image is created by superimposing the subject image on the superimposed image according to the determined display size. A superimposed image creating means for creating superimposed image information by further adding the photographed image information to the superimposed image; and an image of an object using the subject. , And user image data consisting of scale information indicating the size of the object to be used, and displaying the superimposed image from the superimposed image information created by the superimposed image creating means and displaying it on the screen. Is specified, the photographed image information of the subject is extracted from the superimposed image information, the scale information of the subject is further extracted from the photographed image information, and both are displayed based on this scale information and the scale information of the used object. A virtual image capturing system in a virtual image space, comprising: a virtual trial unit that determines a size and creates an image of a state where the subject is used as the object. 2. The registration data creating means compresses an image of a subject in accordance with the MPEG standard or the JPEG standard, and maps scale information of the subject in a user-defined area of a data format of the MPEG standard or the JPEG standard. The real image capturing system into the virtual space according to claim 1, wherein the real image data is created. 3. The recording unit for recording the image data including the image of the subject and scale information indicating the size of the subject, and the screen for displaying the image recorded in the recording unit. A display unit, a region information setting unit that extracts only the display region of the subject on the display screen of the display unit, an input unit that inputs additional information indicating the attribute of the subject, and a region information setting unit that retrieves the additional information. The additional image information input by the input unit is added to the image data of the display area, and the actual image information creating unit that creates actual image information, and the actual image information created by the actual image information creating unit are registered. A database for storing the captured real image, and a transmission unit for transmitting the captured image information to the superimposed image creating unit. Beam. 4. The superimposed image creating means creates a superimposed image on which the subject is to be superimposed in a virtual space, and causes the superimposed image to hold scale information indicating the size of the superimposed image. an image creating unit, wherein a receiving unit for receiving the real image information from the registration data preparation means, from the photographed image information received by the reception unit, reads the scale information before Symbol object, the object overlaps with the scale information A scale adjusting unit that adjusts both display sizes based on the scale information of the image, a position specifying unit that specifies a position where the image of the subject is superimposed in the superimposed image, and a display size by the scale adjusting unit. An image superimposing unit that superimposes the adjusted image of the subject on the position designated by the position designating unit to generate a superimposed image, and an image superimposing unit that creates the superimposed image. A data processing unit that creates the superimposed image information by adding the captured image information to the formed superimposed image; and the superimposed image information created by the data processing unit,
The image capturing system for capturing a real image in a virtual space image according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits to the virtual trial means. 5. The virtual trial means records a user image data including an image of a used object using the subject and scale information indicating a size of the used object, and the superimposed image creating means. From the superimposed image data received by the receiving unit, a display unit that displays the extracted superimposed image, and a superimposition displayed by the display unit. From the image, a subject designation unit that designates a display region of the subject desired by the user, and real image information of the subject designated by the subject designation unit is extracted from the superimposed image information, and the subject is further extracted from the real image information. Scale information of the subject is read out from the recording unit, both scale information is collated, and the scale information of the subject is read. A scale adjusting unit that associates a display size of an image with a display size of the object to be used, an image of a subject adjusted by the scale adjusting unit, and an image of the object to be superimposed, and the superimposed image is The image capturing system in the virtual space according to claim 1, further comprising: an image superimposing unit displayed on the display unit. 6. The virtual according to claim 1, wherein the registration data creating means and the superimposed image creating means are connected by a communication line, and the superimposed image creating means and the virtual trial means are connected by a communication line. A system for capturing live-action images in space. 7. A writing unit for writing the superimposed image information created by the superimposed image creating unit onto a recording medium, and a read unit for reading the superimposed image information recorded on the recording medium in the virtual trial unit. The system for capturing a photographed image in a virtual space according to claim 1, further comprising: 8. Registration data creating means for creating real image information, which is obtained by adding additional information indicating an attribute of the subject to image data including an image of an arbitrary subject and scale information indicating a size of the subject. A superposed image on which the real shot image is to be superposed in a virtual space to hold scale information indicating the size of the superposed image, and the image of the subject and the scale of the subject from the real shot image information. Information is taken out, both display sizes are determined based on this scale information and the scale information of the superimposed image, and the image of the subject is superimposed on the superimposed image according to the determined display size to create a superimposed image. And a virtual space image providing device further comprising: a superimposition image creating unit that creates superimposition image information by adding the real shot image information to the superimposition image. An image of a used object that uses the subject and user image data including scale information indicating the size of the used object are held, and the superimposed image is generated from the superimposed image information created by the superimposed image creating means. When the user designates the subject by taking out and displaying on the screen, the photographed image information of the subject is fetched from the superimposed image information, and the scale information of the subject is fetched from the photographed image information. And a virtual trial device that creates an image of the state in which the subject is used as the object, the virtual space image providing device and the virtual trial device. A system for capturing live-action images in a virtual image space connected by a communication line.