KR101622046B1 - Method of acquiring image in a user terminal and system for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention is a method for collecting images, to be used in an execution process of an application, in a user terminal. The image collecting method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: installing the application in the user terminal; allowing the user terminal to receive, from a service server, information on a plurality of image URLs respectively corresponding to each of a plurality of images to be used in the execution process of the application; collecting images by connecting to a plurality of websites respectively corresponding to each of the image URLs; and displaying the collected images on an application execution screen. According to the present invention, when an application using various images such as language learning or learning games is used, an application provider may more easily provide the user terminal with bulk images through an indirect method. In addition, the service server transmits only image URL information to the user terminal without directly transmitting image files to the user terminal, thus significantly reducing a communication load of the service server. Further, the service server collects a large amount of URL information of thumbnail images and provides the user terminal with the collected URL information, thus preventing copyright infringement problems caused by unauthorized use of the images.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for acquiring images from a user terminal,

The present invention relates to a method for collecting images used when an application is executed in a user terminal, and more particularly, to a method of collecting images using a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) list stored in an application or received from a service server .

In general, language learning applications used in computers and portable terminals use various images to enhance user's interest and to enhance educational effect.

These images are downloaded together with the executable file when the application is downloaded and stored in the user terminal, or received from the service providing server during execution of the application.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a language learning system in which an image database is built in a user terminal, displays an image corresponding to a learner's input during execution of an application, and includes an image database in a learning server.

In addition, Patent Document 2 introduces a language learning system that utilizes an image in which a plurality of partial images are sequentially provided from a server to a user terminal in accordance with a learning development sequence.

In this way, images used as content when running an application may be produced by the application provider or purchased from the copyright owner. However, if you are developing an application that requires a large amount of images, it will take a significant amount of time and money to create the image for your application, and you will have to purchase the image from the copyright holder if it is difficult There is a problem that the cost of manufacturing and purchasing images is large.

In order to reduce the cost burden, it is possible to collect necessary images from other people's web site through web crawling, but since the act of collecting and using the original image without permission is copyright infringement and legally prohibited Actual use is impossible.

On the other hand, when the image is directly transmitted from the service server to the user terminal as in the conventional learning system, since the transmission time is long when the number of images is large or the capacity of the image file is large, the user's inconvenience and desire Is lowered.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2009-0000662 (published on Jan. 10, 2009) Korean Patent No. 10-0798153 (published on January 28, 2008)

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently and easily collecting an image to be used when a user terminal executes a specific application.

In order to achieve this object, one aspect of the present invention relates to A method of collecting an image to be used in an application execution process in a user terminal, the method comprising: installing the application in a user terminal; A URL receiving step in which a user terminal receives a plurality of image URL information corresponding to a plurality of images to be used in execution of the application from a service server; An image collecting step of acquiring images by accessing a plurality of web sites respectively corresponding to the plurality of image URLs; And displaying a collected image on an application execution screen.

In the image collection method according to an aspect of the present invention, the image URL information may be URL information for a thumbnail image.

In the image collection method according to an aspect of the present invention, the plurality of image URLs are divided into a plurality of groups corresponding to a plurality of execution stages of the application, and in the image collection step, Collecting the collected data.

In the image gathering step of the image gathering method according to an aspect of the present invention, an image of an image URL group corresponding to a higher level may be collected when the lower step is executed among the plurality of execution steps.

In the image collection method according to an aspect of the present invention, the plurality of image URLs are divided into a plurality of groups corresponding to a plurality of category items, and in the image collection step, And collecting the image.

Further, in the image collection method according to an aspect of the present invention, the image collection step stores a plurality of images associated with each execution step of the application in association with each other, and in the display step, And one or more images are displayed sequentially or randomly.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing an image to be used in an application execution process, the system comprising: image URL collection means for collecting image URLs corresponding to inputted search terms; A service server including an image URL providing means for providing the image URL; And an image collecting means for acquiring an image by accessing a web site corresponding to the image URL received from the image URL providing means, the image URL storing the image URL information received from the image URL providing means And a user terminal including an image storing means for storing the image received by the image collecting means.

In the image providing system according to the present invention, the image URL collecting means may collect URL information corresponding to the thumbnail image.

According to the present invention, an application provider can more easily provide a large amount of images to a user terminal in an indirect way when using an application in which various images are used, such as a language learning or a learning game.

In addition, since only the image URL information is transmitted to the user terminal without directly transmitting the image file from the service server to the user terminal, the communication load of the service server can be greatly reduced.

In addition, the service server collects a large amount of URL information of the thumbnail image and provides the URL information to the user terminal, thereby preventing copyright infringement due to image unauthorized use.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of acquiring an image from a user terminal through an image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an initial execution screen of a language learning game application for collecting images according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 and 6 are views showing an execution screen of a language learning game application in which a thumbnail image collected by a method according to an embodiment of the present invention is displayed on the screen

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1, the image providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a user terminal 10, a service server 40 that communicates with the user terminal 10 through the communication network 30, A web site 50 that communicates with the service server 40 through the communication network 30, and the like. And may include an administrator terminal not shown in the figure, but connected directly to the service server 40 or through the communication network 30. [

The user terminal 10 and the administrator terminal may be a deck-stop computer, a notebook computer, or a portable terminal such as a smart phone or a tablet PC. In the case of a portable terminal, it is preferable to provide a wireless Internet access function.

2 schematically shows the configuration of a user terminal 10 capable of collecting images according to an embodiment of the present invention. An application 11 having an image collecting means 12 is installed, and the storing means 13 A communication means 16, a display means 17, an input means 18, a control means 19, and the like.

It is preferable that the application 11 installed in the user terminal 10 is an application for a language learning or learning game. However, since the type of application is not necessarily limited to this, the application of other types of displaying various images on the execution screen An image acquisition method according to the present invention can be applied.

The storage means 13 includes an image URL storing means 14 for storing image URL information received from the service server 40 and an image storing means 14 for storing the image collected by the image collecting means 12 using the image URL information Means (15).

A plurality of image URLs may be randomly stored in the image URL storing means 14, and a plurality of image URLs may be stored in a plurality of groups in accordance with execution stages of an application. Wherein the execution phase of the application may be a learning phase in the case of a training application and may be a game level in the case of a game application.

In this way, it is not necessary for the image collecting means 12 of the user terminal 10 to access all the image URLs and receive the images at once after the application 11 is installed, and the image files are sequentially received The time required for image reception can be shortened and the communication load of the user terminal 10 can be reduced.

In addition, since the application can receive the image necessary for the upper step execution while the sub-step is executed, the user can receive the image without knowing it. Therefore, not only the inconvenience of the user can be reduced, .

On the other hand, the image URL storing means 14 may store a plurality of image URL lists into a plurality of groups by category. The classification items of the category are not particularly limited, and one category item may be classified into a major category, a middle category, a small category, and the like. When a plurality of image URLs are classified and stored in a category format, when a user selects a category of interest in the application, the user accesses an image URL belonging to the category and receives the image, Distributed can be collected.

The image collecting means 12 accesses the corresponding URL by using the image URL stored in the image URL storing means 14, acquires a corresponding image, and stores the acquired image in the image storing means 15.

The image collecting means 12 may access all the URLs stored in the image URL storing means 14 immediately after the application 11 is installed in the user terminal 10 to collect the corresponding images at once, It can also be collected sequentially by execution steps. Also, images belonging to the category selected by the user can be preferentially collected. Also, when a new image URL is received for changing or adding an image, a corresponding image is collected by connecting to the URL.

The type of the communication network 30 for relaying communication between the user terminal 10 and the service server 40 is not particularly limited and the wired network or the wireless network may be appropriately selected or combined.

The service server 40 includes an interface means 41, an application providing means 43, an image URL collecting means 45, an image URL providing means 47, a control means 49 and the like. Although not shown in the figure, the service server 40 may include a user DB, an image URL DB, an image DB, or the like, or may interwork with the DB.

The interface means 41 provides an appropriate interface screen according to the type of the user terminal 10 or the administrator terminal when receiving the connection request from the user terminal 10 or the administrator terminal, (40).

The application providing means 43 serves to provide a specific application in response to a request of the user terminal 10. [ In a case where an application is provided only through an application store or the like, the application providing means 43 may be omitted. The application providing means 43 may also push the update file to the user terminal 10 or transmit it in response to a request from the user terminal 10. [

The image URL collection means 45 accesses a plurality of web sites 50 through the communication network 30 and collects a URL list of necessary images. Specifically, a search term for an image to be collected is input from an administrator terminal, a plurality of URL lists of images corresponding to the search term are collected through a web crawl using the input search term, and the collected URL list is linked with a search term And stores it in the related DB. And may collect and store corresponding images together with the image URL list.

For example, when an image used in a language learning application is collected, it is preferable to collect a corresponding image URL list when a word or a sentence is inputted as a search word through an administrator terminal, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As described above, collecting the original image through web crawling corresponds to copyright infringement. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the image URL collecting means 45 collects the thumbnail image Collect URL list. This is because it is established that the act of collecting and utilizing thumbnail images can not be regarded as copyright infringement.

The collection of the image URL corresponding to the inputted search term may be performed only once, or the image URL of the same search term may be collected periodically to update the related DB periodically. The updated URL list is transmitted periodically or at the request of the user terminal (10) to the user terminal (10).

The image URL providing means 47 provides the user terminal 10 with a list of URLs of images necessary for application execution.

The image URL providing means 47 may transmit the image URL information to the user terminal 10 in response to the request of the application providing means 43 when the application providing means 43 transmits the application to the user terminal 10, Or may be transmitted when a request is received from the terminal 10.

In addition, when adding or changing words, phrases, images, and the like used in the application is required, the image URL list to be added or changed according to the criteria set for the user terminal 10 that has already received the image URL list is transmitted to the user terminal 10 may be updated. In this case, it is needless to say that the user terminal 10 has to store information on whether or not image collection has been performed on the stored image URL.

In addition, the image URL providing means 47 may transmit all the image URL lists stored in the DB to the user terminal 10 at the same time, or may transmit only the set number of URLs (e.g., 10) The list of remaining URLs for the user terminal 10 may be updated to the image stored in the user terminal 10 according to a user's request or periodically transmitted to the user terminal 10. [

The control means 47 controls the overall operation of the interface means 41, the application providing means 43, the image URL collecting means 45, the image URL providing means 47, etc. constituting the service server 40.

Although not shown in the figure, the service server 40 may include means for processing registration and authentication procedures of the connection requestor.

Each of the means of the service server 40 may be realized by software or hardware, or may be implemented by a combination of software and hardware.

Hereinafter, a process of collecting images necessary for application execution in a user terminal will be described with reference to FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the service provider that supplies the application 11 must collect and store a list of URLs of a plurality of images necessary for executing the application in the service server 40. [

For example, if a search term corresponding to an image to be collected through the administrator terminal is input and the image search is requested to the service server 40, the image URL collecting means 45 performs a web crawl based on the search term, A plurality of image URL lists are collected and stored in the DB. At this time, an image corresponding to each image URL may also be collected and stored. (ST11)

Then, the service server 40 transmits the image URL list to the user terminal 10 in which the application 11 is installed. The image URL list may be transmitted together with the executable file when the user terminal 10 downloads the application 11 or after the download is finished and may be transmitted to the request of the user terminal 10 in a state where the application 11 is executed And may be transmitted in response.

The application executable file and the image URL list may be transmitted simultaneously by storing or packaging the image URL list in the application executable file. This method is useful when distributing the application executable file in an application store or the like. (ST12)

The user terminal 10 stores the received image URL list in the image URL storing means 14 and then connects to each URL through the image collecting means 12 to collect the corresponding image. The image collecting means 12 may collect the image immediately after the installation of the application is finished, or the application execution menu may be selected to collect the image while the application is being loaded, It is possible.

Also, as described above, all the images may be collected at once by accessing all the URLs, or the images may be collected sequentially in accordance with application execution steps. You can also collect images by category or by category you select.

If there is a URL which can not be collected from the received URL list, the image collecting means 12 may request the service server 40 to transmit another URL. (ST13)

When an image necessary for application execution is collected through this process, the user terminal 10 displays an appropriate image on the screen in accordance with the execution step when the application is executed. At this time, one image may be fixedly displayed for each execution step, or a plurality of images may be linked to each execution step so that one or more images among a plurality of images are sequentially or randomly displayed each time the application is executed . (ST14)

On the other hand, when an image used for an application is added or changed, the service server 40 transmits a new image URL list to the user terminal 10, and the user terminal 10 updates the image URL information, Can be collected. (ST15)

4 to 6 illustrate execution screens of a game application for word learning for collecting thumbnail images by applying the method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

4 shows a loading process of accessing a URL stored as a screen when an application is first executed and collecting a thumbnail image. If all URLs have already been collected, the thumbnail collection process may be skipped at the beginning of the application's execution.

FIG. 5 illustrates an actual game screen using the collected thumbnail images. FIG. 5 shows various screens displaying four thumbnail images related to the English word 'DIVISION'.

Also, FIG. 6 shows multiple screens displaying four thumbnail images related to the English word 'CALCULATION'.

In the meantime, since a very large number of thumbnail images for one word can be directly collected from the user terminal 10 by applying the embodiment of the present invention, not only the same image is displayed every time for the same word but also a plurality of thumbnail images You can display some of them sequentially or randomly so that you always have a new feel.

Although the applications illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 use approximately 10,000 or more thumbnail images, since only the URL list of the thumbnail image is stored or packaged in the application executable file, the size of the application executable file is very small, Is possible.

In addition, since the application provider does not directly provide the image to the user terminal 10, there is no need to construct a large-capacity server in order to smoothly provide a large amount of images, which is advantageous in cost reduction for the provider.

In addition, when the application executable file is executed, the application loading time is very short because the user does not access all the list of the entire URL but accesses the URL belonging to the set step or item and sequentially collects a small thumbnail image. There is an advantage that the inconvenience is reduced and the concentration and learning effect are increased.

In addition, since a thumbnail image is utilized, there is no risk of copyright problems, and since a low-capacity thumbnail image is collected, communication load and collection time of the user terminal 10 due to image collection can be greatly reduced.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, Of course, fall within the scope of the present invention.

10: user terminal 11: application
12: image collecting means 13: storage means
14: Image URL storing means 15: Image storing means
16: communication means 17: display means
18: input means 19: control means
30: communication network 40: service server
41: interface means 43: application providing means
45: Image URL collecting means 47: Image URL providing means
49: control means 50: website

Claims (8)

A method for collecting images to be displayed on an execution screen of an application executed in a user terminal,
A URL receiving step in which a user terminal receives a plurality of image URL information corresponding to a plurality of images to be displayed on an execution screen of the application from a service server;
An image collecting step in which a user terminal accesses a plurality of websites corresponding respectively to the plurality of image URLs to collect images;
When the application is executed in the user terminal, displaying the collected image in accordance with the criteria set on the execution screen of the application
A method for collecting images at a user terminal comprising The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image URL information is URL information for a thumbnail image. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of image URLs are divided into a plurality of groups respectively corresponding to a plurality of execution steps of the application,
Wherein the image collection step sequentially collects images for the plurality of groups. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the image collecting step collects the image of the image URL group corresponding to the higher level when executing the lower step among the plurality of execution steps The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of image URLs are divided into a plurality of groups corresponding to a plurality of category items,
Wherein the image collection step collects images for each group corresponding to the plurality of category items, The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image collection step stores a plurality of images in association with each execution step of the application,
Wherein the displaying step sequentially or randomly displays one or more images among a plurality of images corresponding to each execution step A system for providing an image to be used in an application execution process,
An image URL collecting unit that collects a plurality of image URLs corresponding to the inputted search word; and an image URL providing unit that provides a plurality of image URL information collected by the image URL collecting unit;
Image storing means for storing a plurality of image URL information received from the image URL providing means; image acquiring means for acquiring images by accessing a website corresponding to each of the plurality of image URLs; And an image storing means for storing a plurality of received images. When the application is executed, the user terminal displays the collected images in accordance with the criteria set on the execution screen of the application.
≪ / RTI > 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the image URL collecting means collects URL information corresponding to the thumbnail image.

Images