JP2001339708A - Camera image distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible for parents to confirm an appearance of a child existing within a day nursery by a camera image through a terminal at home, a working place or a traveling place being remote from the nursery. SOLUTION: When a specific registered identification number and password and inputted to a database server 16 through terminals 11A, 11B and 11C, this system makes it possible to access to camera servers 22A and 22B through terminals 11A, 11B and 11C. Following to the instruction from the terminals 11A, 11B and 11C, this system drives mobile cameras 23A, 23B and 23C under the control of the camera servers 22A and 22B, makes the observation region adjustable and distributes the acquired observation images to the terminals 11A, 11B and 11C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera video distribution system that receives distribution of video captured by a camera in accordance with an instruction from a terminal and allows the terminal to check the content of the video.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Children entrusted to day care centers such as kindergartens and kindergartens temporarily leave their parents or guardians and are nursed while being monitored by a nursery at the day care center. However, a nurse can care for more than one child and cannot focus on one child. On the other hand, a guardian who takes care of a child may want to know what kind of environment and how his or her child lives in the nursery.

[0003]

However, when the nursing mother looks away, there is a case where the nursing mother may be injured by playing dangerously or fall down due to illness. There was a problem that it could be important.

[0004] In addition, when a parent or guardian wants to see the condition of his / her child, such as how his / her child is being treated during his work or travel, There is a problem that it is not feasible in reality if the place is located in an area away from the workplace or travel destination.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and allows a parent to check the state of a child in a daycare center by using a camera image from a terminal at home, at work, or at a destination away from the daycare center. The purpose is to obtain a camera video distribution system.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned object, and its gist is that when a specific identification number and password registered in a database server are inputted from a terminal, Enables connection from a terminal to a camera server, drives a movable camera under the control of the camera server, adjusts a monitoring area according to instructions from the terminal, and distributes the obtained monitoring video to the terminal. A camera video distribution system.

According to this aspect, by inputting a specific identification number and a password, a parent can easily confirm the state of his / her child in a nursery from a terminal such as a home, a work place, or a travel destination with a video taken by a camera. can do.

Another aspect of the present invention resides in a camera video distribution system, wherein the terminal is connected to a database server via the Internet.

[0009] According to this aspect, domestically,
From any remote area outside the country, you can quickly check the status of your child on the video.

Another aspect of the present invention is a camera video distribution system, wherein the database server and the camera server are connected by a dedicated line.

According to this aspect, the video from the movable camera provided through the camera server can be securely supplied only to members having a specific ID number and password.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing a camera video distribution system of the present invention. In the following, a case of monitoring a child in a nursery will be described as an example.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 11A, 11B, and 11C denote terminals provided at members' homes, terminals installed at workplaces, and terminals installed at travel destination hotels and the like, to which services of a camera video distribution system can be received. Yes, these terminals 11A, 11B, 11C are connected to the Internet network 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a plurality of terminals as 1
A router that connects to the contracted Internet network 12, which is connected to the information terminals 11A and 11A via the Internet network 12.
B, 11C. This router 13 has L
In the AN connection, a web (WWW) server 15 and a database server 16 are connected via a hub 14 as a concentrator for bundling a plurality of cables.

The web server 15 manages and holds content such as a homepage that can be provided by multimedia such as the nursery, using image data, audio data, and character data. In addition, the database server 16 functions to store and manage member data that can receive the service of the camera video distribution system, and at least a member-registered identification (ID) number and a password in order to ensure security in using the nursery. Is stored. The router 13, the hub 14, the web server 1
5 and the database server 16 provide a camera image interposed between the terminals 11A, 11B, 11C and the nursery to provide various services to the members and manage various data. Installed at the headquarters of the distribution system.

The hub 14 has a router 1 on the headquarters side.
7 is connected to the router 17 and the router 18 on the daycare center side.
Are connected via a dedicated line 19. Further, the nursery-side router 18 is connected to an information terminal 21 and a plurality of (here, two) camera servers 22A via a hub 20.
22B. Among these, the camera server 22A is capable of controlling two movable cameras 23A and 23B, and the camera server 22B is capable of controlling one movable camera 2A.
3C is controllable.

Here, each of the movable cameras 23A to 23C
According to the instructions from the terminals 11A, 11B, 11C,
The photographing area and the zoom can be adjusted in each direction of up, down, left, and right. Further, the information terminal 21 functions to feed back information from the nursery to the guardian via a bulletin board, mail, or the like.

Next, the procedure of video distribution by the camera video distribution system will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3, taking the case of child care in the nursery as an example. First, the user goes to a window such as a day care center, registers as a member, and receives a membership number as an ID number. This member registration is performed with a center code “HM” and a number “00001” for identifying a nursery school, for example.
The member number "HM00001" is issued (step S1).

The member numbers issued in this manner include:
Although there is a password to be paired with, a password is not issued to a member who has not registered as a monthly member, and this camera video distribution system cannot be used (step S2). This is a step taken to ensure the security of monthly registered members who regularly receive children.If you are not a monthly member, such as when you are only registering members and you do not actually keep children, this camera video distribution system The use of is not allowed.

Next, after registering as a monthly member, the child goes to the daycare center again and receives in writing a password using alphanumeric characters (step S4). Thereafter, the homepage of the web server 15 of the camera video system is accessed from any of the terminals 11A, 11B, and 11C at home or work, and a default screen is displayed (step S5). Next, the user presses a menu button displayed in the default screen, inputs a member number as an identification (ID) number from the displayed homepage login screen, and inputs the password to log in to the member-only page ( Step S6).

As a result, a screen exclusive to the member is obtained, and “Live Camera”, “Child Rearing Bulletin Board”, “Sitter Bulletin Board”, “Chat Room” in the “Community” column in the menu list displayed on a part of this screen. "Live camera" is selected from the display including "" and "Gallery" (step S7). For this reason, for example, "room 1"
-The current state of "room 3" is displayed as a still image. Next, either a button for simultaneously controlling the movable cameras 23A and 23B installed in "Room 1" and "Room 2" or a button for controlling the movable camera 23C in "Room 3" is pressed (step S8). . As a result, a window for a relay image corresponding to the button that is selectively pressed is opened, and the movable cameras 23A and 23A are viewed while viewing the relay image.
B, 23C is operated by the terminal 11A, 11C.
This can be performed on the B and 11C sides (step S9).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the member presses a "start control" button displayed on the relay image window, and the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C are displayed.
Is displayed, that is, the camera control right is asserted (step S10). If there is another member using the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C (step S11), the remaining time of the control right of the other member in use is displayed on the screen. It waits for the time to elapse while watching the relay images of the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C operated by the other members (step S12).

On the other hand, movable cameras 23A, 23B, 23
If there is no other member using C, or if another member has finished using C, control of the camera is obtained for the first time within the usage time. Thus, when the control right is obtained, the direction of the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C is adjusted by operating each one of the slide bars in the relay image window in the up, down, left, and right directions. The child's location can be found, and if found, the user can operate the zoom slide bar to enlarge to the required magnification and check the child's appearance in detail. In addition,
By directly clicking the object (child) in the screen with the mouse, the directions of the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C can be automatically adjusted so that the child is at the center of the screen (step S13).

In this way, even when the child has confirmed his / her child and the use time has expired (step S14), if no control right is claimed by another member (step S15),
Until another member operates the "start control" button, the camera can be used continuously (step S16). However, when the control right is asserted by the button operation of "start control" by another member, the right to use the movable cameras 23A, 23B and 23C is transferred to the other member (step S17). After the control of the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and 23C is transferred to another member, the movable cameras 23A, 23B, and
When trying to use 3C (step S18),
You need to press the "Start Control" button again to gain control. On the other hand, movable cameras 23A, 23B, 2
When it is no longer necessary to use 3C, the user presses the "x" button on the screen to close the window for the relay image and terminate the video distribution work (step S1).
9).

[0024] In this way, the member can freely check the state of his or her child in the remote nursery at any time by using the terminal at home or work. In the above description, the case of confirming or monitoring the state of the child in the day care center has been described, but the camera image distribution system of the present invention is applicable to any use for confirming and monitoring the living condition of a person such as a caregiver or an animal. Needless to say, is widely available.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a specific identification number and a password registered in the database server are input from a terminal, connection from the terminal to the camera server is enabled, and Follow the instructions in
Since the surveillance area is adjustable by driving the movable camera under the control of the camera server, and the obtained surveillance video is distributed to the terminal, for example, a home or a work place away from the nursery, or From the terminal at the travel destination, an effect is obtained in which the guardian can easily and quickly confirm the state of the child in the daycare center by the image of the camera.

In the present invention, the terminal is connected to a data server via an Internet network. The present state of a child can be obtained from any region in Japan and abroad without limiting the region. Can be quickly confirmed on the video.

Also, in the present invention, since the database server and the camera server are connected by a dedicated line, the video from the movable camera provided through the camera server can be securely assigned a specific ID number and password. The effect is obtained that it can be supplied only to the members who have it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a camera video distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a camera video distribution procedure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a camera video distribution procedure according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11A, 11B, 11C Terminal (movable camera) 12 Internet network 16 Database server 22A, 22B Camera server 23A, 23B, 23C Movable camera

Claims (3)

[Claims] When a specific identification number and a password registered in a database server are input from a terminal, connection from the terminal to a camera server is enabled, and under the control of the camera server in accordance with an instruction from the terminal. A camera video distribution system, comprising: driving a movable camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to adjust a monitoring area, and distributing an obtained monitoring video to the terminal. 2. The camera video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein said terminal is connected to a database server via an Internet network. 3. The camera video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the database server and the camera server are connected by a dedicated line.