KR20050036191A - Apparatus and method for creating eletronic naming card through character information acquisition in mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device and a method for creating an electronic card by acquiring text information in a mobile communication terminal.

2. The technical problem to be solved by the invention

According to the present invention, an electronic business card that obtains text information from an image information photographed through a camera using an optical character reader (OCR) in a mobile communication terminal equipped with a camera, and creates an electronic business card based on the obtained text information. To provide a writing device and a method thereof.

3. Summary of Solution to Invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of creating a business card, which is applied to an electronic business card creating apparatus of a mobile communication terminal, comprising: a first step of photographing a subject to be captured in an electronic business card creation mode; A second step of acquiring character information by reading a character from the image information, and constructing the acquired character information into a pair together with an information identifier; Generating a raw electronic business card by automatically inputting corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier; And a fourth step of outputting the original electronic card, editing each input field of the electronic card according to the user's confirmation, and storing and managing the edited electronic card.

4. Important uses of the invention

The present invention is used in a mobile communication terminal.

Description

Apparatus and method for creating eletronic naming card through character information acquisition in mobile communication terminal}

The present invention relates to the technical field of a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to obtain character information using an optical character reader (OCR) from captured image information such as a business card and an address book through a camera of the mobile communication terminal. The present invention relates to an electronic business card making apparatus and a method for creating an electronic business card based on the obtained text information.

Nowadays, from mobile pagers to cellular phones, personal mobile phones (PCS), IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service) based mobile communications in recent years The communication environment is developing at a tremendous speed, and with the development of mobile communication terminals, the search for additional services available through the terminals is actively being developed.

In particular, the development of ultra-high speed mobile communication to IMT-2000 and UMTS, which is actively progressing at home and abroad, foretells the growth of data communication field using wireless network, and among these data communication areas, which are currently receiving the most attention. It is the transmission and reception of various information through the wireless Internet, and as the transmission speed of wireless data transmission and reception is improved, it is possible to transmit and receive images with large data sizes.

In addition, due to the development of hardware, communication terminal devices using the transmitted images are being developed. In recent years, a communication system is provided to provide the mobile communication speed so that there is no shortage of video transmission. It is a situation that is commercialized.

In general, the photographing using a portable terminal device with a built-in camera function is mainly a function of capturing and storing a subject and later viewing it through a display device (LCD) or transmitting it to another terminal through communication. However, until now, mobile communication terminals equipped with cameras simply stop at functions such as image acquisition, storage, and image transmission through data communication, and the development directions shown so far are only for acquisition, storage, and transmission of video. It has been made, there is a problem that does not fully exhibit the various possibilities that can be had by the combination of the mobile terminal and the camera.

Although similar prior art, it is easy and simple to use business card recognition technology using camera mobile phone or PDA with camera device instead of using separate scanner hardware to obtain business card and related information as text or image. There is a "business card management method and apparatus using a mobile phone equipped with a camera (Korean Patent Publication No. 2003-0063249, published on July 28, 2003)", but here is a mobile phone or PDA equipped with a video input device such as a camera It only used to obtain and store printed materials or information materials such as business cards using the portable terminal. Therefore, various applications of the obtained information are required.

The present invention has been proposed in order to meet the above requirements, and obtains character information using an optical character reader (OCR) from the image information captured by the camera in a mobile communication terminal equipped with a camera, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic business card creating apparatus and a method for creating an electronic business card based on text information.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic business card creating apparatus comprising: control means for controlling and controlling the overall operation of each component for electronic business card creation and management; Image capturing means for capturing a subject to be imaged under the control of the control means in the electronic business card creating mode to obtain image information; Character information reading means for reading character from the image information to obtain character information under the control of the control means, and constructing the acquired character information in pairs with an information identifier; Electronic business card generating means for generating an electronic business card by automatically inputting corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier; Screen display means for outputting the electronic business card under the control of the control means; Key input means for editing / modifying / inputting a menu key operation and each input field of the electronic card generated automatically; And storage means for storing and managing the electronic business card under the control of the control means.

In addition, the present invention, under the control of the control means, by dialing the telephone number of the other communication device, wireless processing the electronic business card stored in the storage means, and then transmitted over the antenna to the telephone number of the other communication device over the air It further comprises a dialing and radio processing means for.

The present invention provides a method for creating a business card in an electronic business card creating apparatus of a mobile communication terminal, comprising: a first step of capturing an image of a subject to be captured in an electronic business card creating mode; A second step of acquiring character information by reading a character from the image information, and constructing the acquired character information into a pair together with an information identifier; Generating a raw electronic business card by automatically inputting corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier; And outputting the original electronic business card, editing each input field of the electronic business card according to the user's confirmation, and storing and managing the edited electronic business card.

In addition, the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a fifth step of transmitting the stored business card to the phone number of another communication device.

The present invention not only uses a digital camera or a camera function that can be externally mounted in a mobile communication terminal such as a cellular, PCS, or personal digital assistant (PDA) to take a text image, but also to take a picture. The image is converted into text data through a reading engine, and the electronic card is created by filling it into a preset electronic business card form (background). Afterwards, the electronic business card thus created may be transmitted to a desired subject through a Short Message Service (SMS), a Multi-Media Service (MMS), or the like.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal to which an electronic business card creating apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic card creating apparatus in a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a control unit 10 for controlling overall control and management of each component for electronic card creation and management, and a controller ( Under the control of 10), the digital camera 11 and the control unit 10 for acquiring image information (strictly character image information) by capturing an image to be captured (cards, address book, etc.) in the electronic card creation mode state. Under the control of the OCR engine 14 and the control unit 10 which obtain character information by reading a character from the image information (OCR) and configure the obtained character information in pairs together with the information identifier. The electronic card generating unit 16 for generating electronic business cards by automatically inputting the corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier, and a display unit for displaying the electronic business card under the control of the controller 10. 13, A key input unit 12 for editing / modifying / inputting each input field of the electronic card generated automatically and a new key operation, and a memory 15 storing and managing the electronic business card under the control of the control unit 10; do. In addition, under the control of the control unit 10, by dialing the telephone number of the other communication device, the radio processing the electronic business card stored in the memory 15, and for transmitting over the antenna to the telephone number of the other communication device over the air It further includes a dialing and radio processing unit (not shown in the figure).

Here, the information identifier is used by the OCR engine 14 to read the image information (text image information) to obtain text information and then to write the obtained text information into each input field of the electronic business card automatically. In the OCR engine 14, the acquired character information (Pantech & Curitel, Hong Gil-dong, 02-555-0000, 011-555-0000, aaa@korea.com) is obtained from the information identifier (company, name, telephone, mobile phone). , E-mail) (for example, (Company, Pantech & Curitel), (Name, Hong Gil-dong), (Phone, 02-555-0000), (Mobile Phone, 011-555-)) 0000), (E-mail, aaa@korea.com), and the corresponding characters based on information identifiers (Pantech & Curitel, Gil-dong Hong, 02-555-0000, 011-555-0000, aaa@korea.com) The information is automatically filled into each field of the electronic business card to generate the electronic business card.

As described above, the digital camera 11 is built in many mobile communication terminals these days, or it can be mounted as an external device. In addition, the image quality of such a camera 11 is gradually improved, so that the technical level is improved to enable sufficient resolution for recognizing characters.

Therefore, the present invention not only uses the camera function of the mobile communication terminal to take a picture, but also captures an image by taking a business card or an address book and the like, and uses an optical character reading engine, that is, an OCR engine 14 to capture an image. It converts to text and fills it in a preset electronic business card form (background) to create an electronic business card. At this time, it is possible to edit, modify, and input the electronic business card, and the created electronic business card may be transmitted to the desired subject through SMS, MMS, and the like.

In this case, the character information acquisition technology of the present invention (strictly converting an image into a character using an OCR engine) is considered in view of the fact that a liquid crystal display (LCD) performance often fails to meet the camera performance. For example, even documents that are not visible to the naked eye in ordinary photographs can be read after image conversion. For example, when entering a phone number, taking a business card, photographing an address book, etc., converting them, sending other text messages (SMS), or saving important information, or printed text. You can also easily enter newspaper articles without using the keypad.

The operation principle of the present invention is as follows.

(1) First, at the request of the user, a business card, an address book, etc. containing a desired document is photographed.

(2) The captured document information is stored as a picture file (image file).

(3) Run the OCR engine to convert the image information into a text file.

(4) Automatically fill in the converted character information into a preset electronic business card form (background screen) to create an electronic business card. At this time, it is possible to edit, modify, and input the electronic business card.

(5) Save the electronic business card.

(6) Send electronic business card to other communication device through SMS, MMS, etc.

The present invention, based on the operation principle as described above, photographing the contrast, address book, etc. through the camera 11 of the mobile communication terminal to image data, and then through the optical character reading (OCR) from the captured image data character data (Name, company, phone number, e-mail, address, etc.) are obtained and filled out in a preset electronic business card form (background) to create an electronic business card. At this time, it is possible to edit, modify, and input the electronic business card, and the electronic business card is transmitted to the desired subject through SMS, MMS, and the like. In addition, there may be several electronic business card forms, and one of the electronic business card forms may be selected according to the user's selection, and thus the electronic card may be created by automatically filling in the selected electronic business card form with text information, or the default value when there is no user selection. An electronic business card form set as is provided and text information may be filled in the basic electronic business card form to create an electronic business card. At this time, the electronic business card can be loaded with the company's logo.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for creating an electronic card according to the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described from the perspective of a mobile terminal user.

1. Enter the required input menu (may be, for example, a business card creation menu).

2. When prompted, enter the shooting key or other camera mode (otherwise, you can enter the menu after shooting).

3. Take the necessary text and image it.

4. The captured image file is converted into text data using an OCR engine (where each text data is generated in pairs with an information identifier).

5. Create an electronic business card by automatically writing the corresponding character data into each input field (company, name, telephone number, e-mail, etc.) of the electronic business card based on the information identifier.

6. Edit, modify, and enter the electronic business card.

7. Save the electronic business card (the saved business card can also be edited at any time).

On the other hand, when writing a phone number or address book, sending other text messages (SMS), or when storing important information such as a memo pad, or printing printed text or newspaper article, If you want to input easily without having to use the keypad, you can keep the following procedure in mind.

1. Enter the required input menu (for example, the Address Book or Notepad menu).

2. When prompted, enter the shooting key or other camera mode (otherwise, you can enter the menu after shooting).

3. Take the necessary text and image it.

4. Convert captured image files to text data using OCR engine

5. Correct the text data of the required part by comparing with the original.

6. You can also temporarily store any or all parts you need.

7. Copy or select the required text from the converted text data and paste it into the text box.

8. Finish typing.

As described above, in the present invention, a mobile communication terminal equipped with a camera captures an image of a business card, an address book, etc. through a camera, and then converts the text through an OCR engine, thereby obtaining the desired character information and creating an electronic business card. In addition, the input field may be used when it is desired to easily input the keypad without using a keypad. However, hereinafter, a more preferred embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the electronic business card preparation example.

First, in response to a user's request, the mobile communication terminal provides an electronic card preparation menu (201). Receiving a photographing request from the user through the provided electronic business card creation menu, it operates in the camera mode to perform photographing of the requested object (business card, address book, etc.), thereby inquiring the user whether the desired image has been obtained. Check (203).

As a result of the check, if the image desired by the user has not been captured, the process is repeatedly performed from step 202 of taking a photograph of the requested object upon receiving the user's request.

As a result of the check, if the image desired by the user has been captured, the OCR engine 14 is driven (204) on the image to perform character reading, that is, conversion from image data to character data (205). At this time, the acquired character information (Pantech & Curitel, Hong Gil-dong, 02-555-0000, 011-555-0000, aaa@korea.com) together with the information identifier (company, name, phone, mobile phone, E-mail) Consists of a pair (for example, (company, Pantech & Curitel), (name, Hong Gil-dong), (telephone, 02-555-0000), (mobile phone, 011-555-0000), (E-mail) , aaa@korea.com).

Of course, although not shown in the figure, a process of checking whether the character conversion is exactly as desired by the user is added before the character reading, that is, the conversion from the image data to the character data, and before pairing the character information and the information identifier. Can be. In this case, if the character conversion is not correct, the process of inquiring the user about re-shooting and checking the response result of the user, receiving a request from the user when the user wants to re-shoot, and performing a shooting on the requested object Repeated from (202). However, if the user does not want to retake, the converted character information and information identifier are paired.

On the other hand, if the character conversion has not been performed correctly as described above, in addition to selecting and processing whether to retake the image, the character data conversion process in the OCR engine 14 may be performed again.

Thereafter, (information identifier, character information) is temporarily stored in the memory before the electronic document is created.

Next, the electronic business card generation unit 16 selects the information identifiers (Pantech & Curitel, Hong Gil-dong, 02-555-0000, 011-555-0000, aaa@korea.com) from the set of (information identifier, character information) pairs. Based on the corresponding text information in each field of the electronic business card, the electronic business card is generated (206).

At this time, the generated business card is loaded with the company's logo is also output to the display unit 13, the user can edit, modify, input the electronic business card through the key input unit 12 (207).

The final edited business card is stored in the memory 15 (208), and the stored business card can also be edited at any time.

Afterwards, the electronic business card stored in the memory 15 may be transmitted at any time via SMS, MMS, etc. to the desired subject (209).

On the other hand, when writing a phone number or address book, sending other text messages (SMS), or when storing important information such as a memo pad, or printing printed text or newspaper article, If you want to input easily without having to use the keypad, etc., it is necessary to read the character, that is, convert the image data to the character data, and then check whether the character conversion is performed exactly as desired by the user. If it is done correctly, the input area is selected by the user based on the data in which the character conversion is performed. At this time, of course, as described above, after the character reading, that is, the conversion from the image data to the character data, if the character conversion is not exactly as desired by the user, re-shoot, or the character data conversion process in the OCR engine 14 You can also rerun.

The selected content is presented to the user through a display to analyze whether the selected content is the correct content desired by the user. In this case, it is analyzed whether or not there is an error that can be corrected by the user, such as whether or not the corresponding character data is placed at the correct position in the case of the above-mentioned business card or the like. As a result of the analysis, if the contents are not exactly desired by the user, the contents are corrected by the user and input processing is performed, and if the contents are desired by the user, the input processing is performed.

3A to 3E are diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a method for creating an electronic business card according to the present invention.

3A through 3E illustrate a process of creating an electronic business card by photographing a business card, an address book, etc. using a user's mobile communication terminal as an embodiment of the present invention. This can be seen that the processing according to the present invention is made based on the above FIG.

First, FIG. 3A illustrates a state in which a user selects and receives an input menu for creating a business card on his mobile terminal.

3B illustrates a photographed image displayed on a mobile communication terminal by photographing a business card of a target to which a user selects photographing and registers a phone number in the electronic business card input menu state.

In FIG. 3C, character conversion is performed from the image shown in FIG. 3B, and the converted character information (Pantech & Curitel, Hong Gil-dong, 02-555-0000, 011-555-0000, aaa@korea.com) is used as an information identifier ( Company, name, phone, mobile phone, e-mail) together with a pair (for example, (company, Pantech & Curitel), (name, Hong Gil-dong), (telephone, 02-555-0000), (Mobile phone, 011-555-0000), (E-mail, aaa@korea.com), etc.)

FIG. 3D shows a screen of the editing, modification, and input process in which the user can edit the character-converted data. At this time, there may be a plurality of electronic business card form (background), one of the electronic business card form is selected according to the user's selection, the text information is automatically filled in the selected electronic business card form to create the electronic business card, or the user's selection If not, a default electronic business card form is provided and text information may be filled in the basic business card form to create an electronic business card. In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the electronic business card may also be loaded with the company's logo.

Finally, FIG. 3E shows a state in which a desired electronic card is created according to the present invention.

As described above, the present invention may be used not only to create an electronic business card through a business card, address book, etc., but also to use an address book or SMS, and furthermore, it requires a text input such as a dictionary search of a PDA, a web search, or a site input. It can be used everywhere. In addition, by making the editing possible, its use is even more endless.

The present invention can be edited as described above, which does not mean that it is possible to simply copy / move / delete / modify, etc., but it is a character obtained in a designated format such as an electronic business card, a phone book, an address book, etc. according to a user's selection. The data may be modified, and in addition, various processing may be performed at the request of the user.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible in the art without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those of ordinary knowledge.

According to the present invention as described above, the camera is provided in the mobile communication terminal to obtain an image, and extracts the text data through the optical character reading (OCR) from the obtained image to automatically create and edit the electronic business card and Also, depending on the few keypads of the existing mobile communication terminal, not only can the long adaptation period or effort for inputting text be reduced, but also the input time can be reduced.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of minimizing the inconvenience of having to learn the input system between different terminal manufacturers each time the user purchases the terminal by extracting the text information from the photographed image.

In addition, the present invention can not only input the phone number through the photographed business card image, but also can be used in the address book or SMS, etc. Furthermore, it requires text input such as a dictionary search of the PDA, a web search, or a site input. As it can be used everywhere, there is an effect that can increase the user's convenience.

In addition, the present invention can edit the text data extracted from the image obtained through the shooting to be used in various ways according to the user's selection, the mobile communication terminal provider can provide a terminal that maximizes the user's convenience In addition, the user of the mobile communication terminal has an effect of easily and stylishly processing text input through a digital camera provided in the mobile communication terminal.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal to which an electronic business card creating apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

Figure 2 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of the electronic business card creation method according to the present invention.

3A to 3E are diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a method for creating an electronic business card according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

10 control unit 11: digital camera

12: key input unit 13: display unit (LCD)

14: OCR Engine 15: Memory

16: electronic business card generation unit

Claims (6)

In the electronic card making apparatus, Control means for overall control and management of the operation of each component for the electronic business card creation and management; Image capturing means for capturing a subject to be imaged under the control of the control means in the electronic business card creating mode to obtain image information; Character information reading means for reading character from the image information to obtain character information under the control of the control means, and constructing the acquired character information in pairs with an information identifier; Electronic business card generating means for generating an electronic business card by automatically inputting corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier; Screen display means for outputting the electronic business card under the control of the control means; Key input means for editing / modifying / inputting a menu key operation and each input field of the electronic card generated automatically; And Storage means for storing and managing the electronic business card under the control of the control means; Electronic business card creation device by acquiring text information in a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, Under the control of the control means, by dialing the telephone number of the other communication device, radio processing the electronic business card stored in the storage means, and dialing and wireless for transmitting over the antenna to the telephone number of the other communication device over the air Processing means Electronic business card creation apparatus through the text information acquisition in the mobile communication terminal further comprising. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The information identifier, After acquiring the character information by reading the image information (text image information), the text information is used to automatically write the obtained text information into each input field of the electronic card, and paired with the corresponding text information. Electronic business card creation device through the acquisition of text information in the mobile communication terminal. In the electronic card making method applied to the electronic card making apparatus of the mobile communication terminal, A first step of acquiring image information by capturing a subject to be imaged in the electronic card creation mode; A second step of acquiring character information by reading a character from the image information, and constructing the acquired character information into a pair together with an information identifier; Generating a raw electronic business card by automatically inputting corresponding character information into each field of the electronic business card based on the information identifier; And A fourth step of outputting the raw electronic card, editing each input field of the electronic card according to the user's confirmation, and storing and managing the edited electronic card Electronic business card creation method by acquiring text information in a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein A fifth step of transmitting the stored business card to a telephone number of another communication device; Electronic business card creation method through the text information acquisition in the mobile communication terminal further comprising. The method according to claim 4 or 5, The information identifier, After acquiring the character information by reading the image information (text image information), the text information is used to automatically write the obtained text information into each input field of the electronic card, and paired with the corresponding text information. Electronic business card creation method by acquiring text information in a mobile communication terminal.