JP2002140269A - Communication device and mail server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device capable of growing a virtual organism without requiring any special key operation and the like. SOLUTION: This communication device is provided with an electronic mail sending/receiving means 16 sending/receiving electronic mails and data about the virtual organism, a display means 21 capable of displaying the virtual organism, an organism storage means 12 storing image data and raising data for the virtual organism, a specification data storage means 13 storing specification data specifying the virtual organism, and a growth deciding means counting the number of letters in the electronic mail received by means of the electronic mail sending/receiving means 16 and deciding a speed of growth of the virtual organism according to the number of counted letters. The electronic mail receiving/sending means 16 receives/sends the specification data of the virtual organism with the electronic mail and grows the virtual organism on the basis of the virtual organism raising data shown by the specification data received by the electronic mail sending/receiving means 16 and the speed decided by the growth deciding means, and the grown virtual organism is displayed on the display means 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device and a mail server capable of transmitting and receiving virtual creatures and cultivating the virtual creatures.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, some portable telephones have a playing function. According to the mobile phone having the play function, the play can be performed by using the play function on the display screen when no communication is performed.

[0003] Among such play functions, there is a function for simulating the growth of a virtual creature. The user performs a key operation to feed and the like, and the virtual creature grows.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional breeding simulation, the user needs a special key operation only to grow the virtual creature as described above, which is very troublesome for the user. is there.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of growing a virtual creature without requiring any special key operation or the like.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication apparatus according to the present invention, comprising: an electronic mail transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an electronic mail and data relating to a virtual creature; Display means 21 capable of displaying virtual creatures, living body storage means 12 for storing image data and breeding data of virtual creatures, and specific data storage means 13 for storing specific data for specifying virtual creatures
And a growth determining unit that counts the number of characters of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmitting / receiving unit 16 and determines the speed of growing the virtual creature according to the number of counted characters. Is
The specific data of the virtual creature is transmitted / received together with the e-mail, and the virtual life based on the breeding data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data received by the e-mail transmission / reception means 16 and the speed determined by the growth determination means. The method is characterized in that the body is raised and the grown virtual living body is displayed on the display means 21.

A mail server according to the present invention is a mail server for receiving an electronic mail transmitted between communication devices provided with electronic mail transmitting / receiving means and display means. Mail storage means 41 for receiving and storing the e-mail transmitted from the device;
A communicator storage means 47 for storing a sender and a receiver of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means 41; a living body storage means 42 for storing image data and breeding data of virtual creatures; A specific data storage unit 43 for storing data for specifying a virtual creature assigned to each combination of a sender and a recipient stored in the unit, and counting the number of characters of the e-mail stored in the mail storage unit. A growth determining means for determining a speed of growing the virtual creature according to the number of counted characters, and cultivation data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data of the received e-mail; The virtual creature is grown based on the speed and the grown virtual creature is displayed on the display unit of the communication device.

According to the communication device and the mail server according to the first or fifth aspect of the present invention, the growth determining means determines the speed of growing the virtual creature according to the number of counted characters. Can cultivate a virtual creature without performing any specific key operation or the like as in the related art. Therefore, the user can easily breed a virtual creature. Furthermore, since the virtual creature is specified by the specific data, for example, a virtual creature with a specific communication partner can be grown by exchanging e-mail with the communication partner. Therefore, the user can observe the growth degree of the virtual creature as a barometer of communication with the communication partner. Here, raising is a concept including not only growth but also degeneration, death, and the like.

The communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a term storage unit that stores a preset term group that can be transmitted by the electronic mail transmission / reception unit.
And the character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means 16 is referred to the term group stored in the term storage means 14, and when the term included in the term group and the e-mail character string match, A change generation unit that generates change data that gives a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature; and a speed determined by the growth determination unit, the growth data of the virtual creature, and a change generation unit that generates the change data. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a virtual creature is grown based on the changed data and displayed on the display means 21.

[0010] The mail server according to claim 5 may include:
As described in claim 6, the term storage means 44 for storing a preset term group, which can be transmitted by the e-mail transmission / reception means of the communication device, and stores the character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means. Inquiry is made to the term group stored in the term storage means 44, and when a term included in the term group matches the character string of the e-mail, change generation for generating change data that gives a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature Means are provided, and the virtual creature is grown and displayed on the display means based on the speed determined by the growth determining means, the growth data of the virtual creature, and the change data generated by the change generating means. It can also be configured as follows.

According to the communication device and the mail server according to the second or sixth aspect of the present invention, the growth of the virtual creature can be changed not only in one kind but also in various ways, so that the user can change the virtual creature. You can see the growth.
Therefore, even when one user has a plurality of virtual creatures, the growth of the virtual creatures is various, so that the user can observe the growth of the virtual creatures without getting bored.

[0012] In the communication device according to the first aspect, as in the third aspect, a time storage means for presetting and storing a time at which the e-mail can be received, and receiving the e-mail by the e-mail transmission / reception means 16 A change generation unit that generates change data that gives a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature when the time that has been performed matches the time stored in the time storage unit. The virtual creature may be grown and displayed on the display means 21 based on the determined speed, the growth data of the virtual creature, and the change data generated by the change generating means.

[0013] The mail server according to claim 5 may include:
8. A time storage means for presetting and storing a time at which the electronic mail can be received, and a time at which the electronic mail is received from the communication device 20 as a time stored in the time storage means. And a change generating means for generating change data for giving a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature when the speed is determined by the growth determining means, the growth data of the virtual creature, and According to the change data generated by the change generating means, a virtual creature may be grown and displayed on the display means of the communication device 20.

According to the communication device and the mail server according to the third or seventh aspect of the present invention, the communication device or the mail server can be operated at the time stored in the time storage means in advance.
When an e-mail is received from the communication device, the growth of the virtual creature is changed by the change generation means. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving an electronic mail and data relating to a virtual creature, a display means capable of displaying a virtual creature, and a virtual creature. Living body storage means 12 for storing image data and breeding data of the body, and specific data storage means 13 for storing specific data for specifying a virtual living body
Term storage means 14 for storing a preset term group
And the character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means 16 is referred to the term group stored in the term storage means 14, and when the terms included in the term group and the character string of the e-mail match, Growth determining means for growing the virtual creature, wherein the e-mail transmitting / receiving means 16 transmits / receives specific data of the virtual creature together with the e-mail, and the image data of the virtual creature received by the e-mail transmitting / receiving means 16 And the breeding data are stored in the living body storage means 1
Cultivating a virtual creature based on the breeding data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data of the virtual creature stored in the e-mail transmitting / receiving means 16 and the speed determined by the growth determining means, The cultivated virtual creature is displayed on the display means 21.

Further, the mail server according to the present invention comprises:
A mail server for receiving an e-mail transmitted between communication devices 20 provided with an e-mail transmission / reception means 16 and a display means 21, the e-mail receiving the e-mail transmitted from the communication device 20. Storage means 47 for storing the sender and receiver of the e-mail stored in the e-mail storage means 41, and the life storing the image data and the breeding data of the virtual creature. Body storage means 42 and said correspondent storage means 47
A specific data storage unit 43 for storing data for specifying a virtual creature assigned to each combination of a sender and a receiver stored in the communication device 20; A term storage means 44 for storing the extracted term group, and a character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means is referred to the term group stored in the term storage means 44, and the terms included in the term group and the When the character strings of the email match, the growth data determining means for determining the speed of growing the virtual creature, the growth data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data of the received e-mail,
The virtual creature is grown based on the speed determined by the growth determining means, and the grown virtual creature is displayed on the display means of the communication device 20.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an example of a connection relationship of a communication device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal configuration of the communication device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 indicates a user-side communication device that can be connected to the Internet 30 via a provider and a telephone line. The communication device 20 includes a display unit 2 including a liquid crystal display, a CRT display, and the like.
1 (see FIG. 2) and a personal computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a mobile phone having an e-mail function, etc., having an input means 22 (see FIG. 2) such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a numeric keypad are preferably used.

A mail server 40 is connected to the Internet 30, and exchange of electronic mail from the communication device 20 to another communication device 20 is performed by the communication device 20.
Is performed via the mail server 40 to which the communication device 20 is connected and the mail server 40 to which the other communication device 20 is connected. In the following description, the exchange between the mail servers 40 connected to the communication device 20 is S
It is assumed that the process is performed through MTP, and the description is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the communication device 20 is provided with a mail section 10 capable of transmitting and receiving electronic mail.

Next, the configuration of the mail section 10 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the mail unit 10 includes:
E-mail storage means 11 storing information about e-mails, such as e-mail contents, e-mail addresses of senders, e-mail addresses of recipients, etc .; living body storage means 12 for storing data on living bodies; A specific data storage unit 13 for storing specific data and a term storage unit 14 for storing a preset term group are provided. A hard disk or the like may be suitably used as each of the storage units.

Further, data transfer,
Performs control of each part, various calculations, execution of programs, etc.,
A control unit 15 including a CPU and the like, and an electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 16 for transmitting / receiving electronic mail are provided. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the mail unit 10 is provided with a program storage unit for storing a main program, and is executed by the control unit 15. Here, the virtual creature means an image displayed on the display unit 21 of the communication device and growing as if it were actually alive on the display screen of the display unit.

A method of transmitting and receiving an e-mail using the communication device configured as described above and growing a virtual creature will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation between the communication devices when breeding a virtual creature. In the present embodiment, a virtual “plant” will be described as an example of a virtual living entity.

The living body storage means 12 of the user A shows in advance image data of seeds of a plurality of flower types, a program indicating conditions for growing the seeds of the image data, and a process of growing the seeds. It is assumed that image data (hereinafter referred to as training data) and the like are stored. First, an e-mail is transmitted from the communication device 20 of the user A to the communication device 20 of the user B. At this time, the seed that is the source of the virtual plant is also transmitted together with the e-mail (step S1 in FIG. 2).
0). The seed can be selected from a plurality of flower types given in advance.

Further, the species is provided with specific data for identifying (specifying) the species. When the species is selected, the specific data is transmitted together with the species together with the electronic mail. The seed is associated with breeding data, which is transmitted to the user B together with a program indicating conditions for breeding.

The e-mail transmitted by the user A from the communication device 20 using the e-mail transmission / reception means 16 is stored in the mail server to which the communication device 20 of the user B is connected via the Internet 30. The e-mail stored in the mail server is received by the e-mail transmission / reception unit 16 of the communication device 20 of the user B, and is stored in the mail storage unit 11 (step S20 in FIG. 3). On the other hand, a program indicating the seed image data, the breeding data, and the conditions for breeding is stored in the living body storage means 12 in the mail unit 10 of the user B, and the specific data for specifying the seed is the same as the seed image data. The associated data is stored in the specific data storage unit 13. FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen on the display means 21 when the received electronic mail is opened.
(A).

In the communication device 20 of the user B, first,
The main program in the mail unit 10 counts the number of characters of the received e-mail stored in the mail storage unit 11. A threshold storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) is provided in the mail unit 10, and the threshold stored in the threshold storage unit is compared with the number of characters of the received e-mail. .

When the number of characters of the received e-mail is larger than the threshold value, the growth of the virtual plant is twice as fast as normal, while when the number of characters is smaller than the threshold value, the growth of the virtual plant is normal. The growth rate is determined by the control means 15 so as to be the speed (step S30 in FIG. 3). Here, the control unit 15 plays a role as a growth determining unit that determines the growth speed of the virtual plant.

After the growth rate is determined, the user B inputs a predetermined command or button using the input means 21 of the communication device 20 to display a virtual plant on the screen. FIG. 4B shows an example of a display screen when a seed is received from the user A. When a seed is received, an image showing that the seed is planted on a virtual flowerbed is displayed first.

Next, an image of watering with a watering can to show that the seeds are growing at the determined growth rate is
It is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 5 (step S4 in FIG. 3).
0). Here, when the growth rate is normal, the amount of water coming out of the watering can is normal, and when the growth rate is twice the normal, the image should be displayed so that the amount of water coming out of the watering can be large. Thus, the growth rate can be visually notified to the user.

When displaying a virtual plant on the screen,
Images such as watering with a watering can be displayed after opening the email that caused the watering action. When the exchange of the e-mail is repeated a predetermined number of times, an image in which seeds grow and flowers bloom is displayed. At this time, the number of e-mail exchanges is counted as two when the growth speed is doubled, and as one when the growth speed is normal, and an image that blooms when a predetermined number of times is reached. Is displayed.

Next, the main program of the mail section 10 detects whether or not the seeds have grown and bloomed, that is, whether or not the number of e-mail exchanges has exceeded a predetermined number as described above (see FIG. Third step S50).

If the number of exchanges of the e-mail is less than the predetermined number and there is a reply mail to the user A, the e-mail is returned to the user A (step S60 in FIG. 3).

The user A receives the e-mail from the user B from the mail server to which the communication device 20 of the user A is connected via the Internet 30 (step S70 in FIG. 3).

When the user A sends an e-mail to the user B, the user A sends the e-mail to the user B together with specific data for specifying the species.
An e-mail is transmitted (step S80 in FIG. 3).

In the above-described step of detecting whether or not a flower has bloomed, if the flower is blooming (in other words, if a predetermined number or more of e-mails have been transmitted from user A to user B), it will bloom. The user A can select whether or not to make the pressed flower "pressed flower" (step S61 in FIG. 3).

Here, "to make a pressed flower" means that an image of a flower is displayed together with the screen of the display means displaying the text of the mail on the communication device of the other party who has transmitted the seed. .

When the user B selects the "blowing flower" as "pressed flower", when the electronic mail is transmitted to the user A, the blooming flower is transmitted together (step S in FIG. 3).
62), is displayed at the same time as displaying the mail text. In this way, the blooming flower is transmitted and displayed together with the e-mail to the other party who has transmitted the seed, so that when the user A receives the e-mail, It can be seen whether the flower has grown (step S63 in FIG. 3).

The e-mail includes a seed (virtual plant).
Is transmitted together and stored in the specific data storage means 13, so that a specific seed can be cultivated by exchanging e-mail with a communication partner.
Therefore, the degree of growth of the virtual plant can be used as a barometer of the number of times of communication with the communication partner.

In the above description, the case where the growth rate changes according to the number of characters has been described. Next, the case where a preset flower changes and grows using the term storage means 14 of the mail unit 10 will be described.

In step S20 of FIG. 3, after receiving the electronic mail from the user A, the number of characters is counted, and the character string used in the mail body of the electronic mail is stored in the term storage means 14. The control means 15 detects whether or not the term is included (step S3 in FIG. 3).
1).

If the text stored in the term storage means 14 is included in the character string used in the mail body of the e-mail, the control means 15 generates change data for changing the growth, and It is stored in a change storage means (not shown) in the unit 10 (step S32 in FIG. 3).

Here, the "change data" refers to, for example, changing the color data at the time of growth so as to display an image in which flowers of a color different from a preset color bloom, or showing a smile on the flowers. Change or add data to display an image different from the preset flower stored when the seed is transmitted, such as adding facial image data to display an image, etc. That means.

If the e-mail is exchanged more than a predetermined number of times, a flower image based on the change data is displayed on the screen of the display means of the user B.

As described above, by growing the flower changed by the change data, the user can see various kinds of flowers even with the same kind of virtual plant. Therefore, there is an advantage that the user can observe the growth of the virtual plant without getting tired.

It is preferable that the preset term group is not fixed but is changed every predetermined period in order to prevent the user from getting tired.

On the other hand, if the e-mail has not been opened or the e-mail has not been received after the preset period, the virtual plant will not grow and a withered image will be displayed or A shrunk image is displayed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the screen for displaying the mail text and the virtual plant is changed by the command or button input from the input means. However, as shown in FIG. Virtual plants may be displayed at the same time.

Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the case where data relating to plants is stored in the communication device has been described. However, an embodiment in which data relating to plants is stored in the mail server instead of the communication device. Will be described below with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the mail server according to the present invention comprises: a mail storage means 41 for storing data relating to mail; a living body storage means 42 for storing data relating to living bodies; Specific data storage means 43 for storing specific data specifying a virtual creature assigned to each combination, term storage means 44 for storing a preset term group, and e-mail stored in the mail storage means 41 Communicator storage means 47 for storing the sender and receiver of the communication.

The data relating to the mail stored in the mail storage means 41 includes, for example, the contents of the e-mail, sender data, receiver data, and specific data of the virtual creature.

Further, as the data on the creature stored in the creature storage means 42, virtual creatures (hereinafter, referred to as virtual creatures)
A growth program (including seed image data) indicating the growth process of a virtual plant (described as an example) and a program indicating conditions for the growth are included.

The mail server 40 performs data transfer, control of each section, various calculations, execution of programs, and the like, control means 45 including a CPU and the like, and an electronic mail for receiving the electronic mail. Receiving means 46 is also provided. Note that a hard disk or the like may be suitably used as each of the storage units.

Hereinafter, a method of growing a virtual creature using a mail server will be described. It is assumed that the user A transmits a seed to the user B as in the first embodiment. Upon receiving the e-mail from the communication device 20, the mail server 40 first stores the received contents in the mail storage means 41, and stores the e-mail addresses of the sender and the receiver of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means 41. Is stored in the communication person storage means 47.

Next, specific data for specifying the transmitted virtual plant is given to each combination of the sender and the receiver stored in the communication person storage means 47. This particular data
It is stored in the specific data storage unit 43 in association with the breeding data stored in the living body storage unit.

When the mail server 40 receives an e-mail from the communication device of the user A via the e-mail receiving means 46, the control means 45 counts the number of characters of the body of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means 41. Then, the growth rate is determined according to the number of characters. Here, the control unit 45 plays a role as a growth determining unit that determines the growth speed of the virtual plant.

When the growth rate of the virtual plant is determined, both the image data (for example, seeds) of the state of the virtual plant transmitted from the communication device of the user A and the image data of the state where the virtual plant has grown are obtained. It is called from the living body storage means 42 and stored in the e-mail storage means 41 in association with the received e-mail.

When the electronic mail is received by the communication device of the user B, the electronic mail is stored in the mail storage means 41 of the mail server 40 together with the electronic mail.
The image data (for example, seeds) of the state of the virtual plant and the image data of the state where the virtual plant has grown transmitted from the communication device of the user A are received and displayed on the display unit of the communication device.

By repeating the above operation, the virtual plant grows, and an image in which flowers bloom after a predetermined number of times is displayed, as in the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the case where the virtual plant is grown according to the number of characters has been described. However, similarly to the first embodiment, the growth of the virtual plant may be changed using the term storage unit 64. Term storage means 64 in that case
Is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, this embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a program for breeding is stored in the mail server 40. There is an advantage that the amount of data to be stored in the device is reduced.

According to the above embodiments, the virtual creature is cultivated by the number of characters of the e-mail, so that the user does not need to input any special keys or commands, and
Virtual creatures can be easily raised.

In the above embodiments, the number of characters is counted from the received e-mail, the growth rate is determined according to the number of characters, and the terms stored in the term storage means are included in the e-mail. If so, the case where the growth of the virtual plant is changed is taken as an example, but it may be configured to grow according to the terms stored in the term storage means.

As described above, if the virtual plant grows if the term included in the term group stored in the term storage means is used in the e-mail, the sender of the e-mail can It is possible to enjoy various ways of thinking about the content of the text to be transmitted by anticipating the term group, and can transmit the e-mail as if it were a game. The term group may be registered in advance by a user who uses the term group, or may be automatically extracted from a database or the like by a program and stored in the term storage unit.

Further, it is only necessary that the virtual plant grows by counting at least the number of characters, and the change of the plant depending on whether or not the term stored in the term storage means is included in the e-mail. Is not always necessary. However, by giving a change so that the plant grows differently than usual, for example, even if the user is growing a virtual plant many times or growing multiple virtual plants Because it becomes a variety of plants, it can be grown without getting tired.

As another embodiment, a time storage means for storing a preset time is provided in place of the term storage means of the first embodiment, and when an e-mail is received at the set time, a virtual plant is stored. The communication device may be configured such that the growth changes.

Further, as still another embodiment, the time required from the time at which the e-mail is received to the time at which the e-mail is returned is set in the time storage means in advance, and the set required time and the actual time required are set. The communication device may be configured so that the growth of the virtual plant changes when the time taken from the reception to the reply to the reply matches.

As described above, when an e-mail is received at a preset time, or when the required time set in advance coincides with the time required from the reception of the e-mail to the actual reply. By configuring the communication device such that there is a change in the growth of virtual plants,
Since there is a change in the growth of the plant due to the accidental factor described above, it is possible to send and receive e-mails to the sending user and the receiving user as if playing a game.

The program may be configured so that an e-mail that opens only when a flower blooms can be set. In this way, by setting an e-mail that opens only when flowers bloom, if the virtual plant withers, the e-mail cannot be opened, so the user who received the seed will need to read the e-mail Can continue to exchange e-mail with the user who sent the seeds. Also, since the user who has transmitted the seed is not sure when the flower will bloom, the user can enjoy the thrill of waiting for the time to read the e-mail.

In each of the above embodiments, a virtual plant is described as an example of the virtual living entity. However, the virtual living entity according to the present invention is not limited to a plant, and may be a real animal or a fictitious animal. Can be changed as appropriate, such as a representation of an image.

[0070]

According to the communication device and the mail server of the present invention, the virtual creature can be cultivated without requiring any special key operation or command input. Can be nurtured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of a configuration of a communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation between communication devices when breeding a virtual creature according to the present invention.

FIG. 4A is an example of a screen displaying a mail text of an e-mail, and FIG. 4B is an example of a screen displaying a virtual plant.

FIG. 5 is an example of a screen showing a virtual plant growing.

FIG. 6 is an example of a screen on which a mail body of an e-mail and a virtual plant are simultaneously displayed.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of a configuration of a mail server according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Mail storage means 12 Living body storage means 13 Specific data storage means 14 Term storage means 20 Communication device 40 Mail server

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an electronic mail and data relating to a virtual creature, a display means capable of displaying a virtual creature, and a living body storage means for storing image data and breeding data of the virtual creature. A specific data storage unit for storing specific data for specifying a virtual creature; and counting the number of characters of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception unit, and increasing the speed of growing the virtual creature according to the magnitude of the counted number of characters. The e-mail transmitting and receiving means transmits and receives specific data of the virtual creature together with the e-mail, and the growth data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data received by the e-mail transmitting and receiving means, The virtual creature is grown based on the speed determined by the growth determining means, and the grown virtual creature is displayed on the display means. A communication device characterized by displaying. 2. A term storage means for storing a preset term group which can be transmitted by the e-mail transmission / reception means, and a character string of an e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means is stored in the term storage means. And a change generating means for generating change data for giving a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature when the term included in the term group matches the character string of the e-mail. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the virtual living organism is grown and displayed on the display means based on the speed determined by the growth determining means, the growth data of the virtual living organism, and the change data generated by the change generating means. . 3. A time storage means for presetting and storing a time at which the e-mail can be received, and a time at which the e-mail is received by the e-mail transmission / reception means is stored in the time storage means. A change generating unit that generates change data that gives a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature when they match; a speed determined by the growth determining unit, the growth data of the virtual creature, The communication device according to claim 1, wherein a virtual creature is grown based on the change data generated by the change generator and displayed on the display. 4. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving electronic mail and data relating to a virtual creature, a display means capable of displaying a virtual creature, and a living body storage means for storing image data and breeding data of the virtual creature. A specific data storage unit that stores specific data specifying a virtual creature; a term storage unit that stores a group of terms set in advance; and a character string of an e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception unit. Means for inquiring the term group stored in the means, and determining the speed of growing the virtual creature when the term included in the term group and the character string of the e-mail match, the e-mail sending / receiving means Transmits and receives the specific data of the virtual creature together with the e-mail, and the image data and the breeding data of the virtual creature received by the e-mail transmitting / receiving means. Is stored in the living body storage means, and the virtual living body based on the growth data of the virtual living body indicated by the specific data of the virtual living body received by the e-mail transmitting / receiving means and the speed determined by the growth determining means. And a display means for displaying the grown virtual creature on a display means. 5. A mail server for receiving an e-mail transmitted between communication devices provided with an e-mail transmission / reception means and a display means, the e-mail storage receiving and storing the e-mail transmitted from the communication device. Means, a communicator storage means for storing a sender and a receiver of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means, a living body storage means for storing image data and breeding data of virtual creatures, and the communicator storage Specific data storage means for storing data specifying a virtual creature given to each combination of sender and receiver stored in the means, and counting the number of characters of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means, Growth determining means for determining a speed of growing the virtual creature according to the number of counted characters, wherein the virtual life indicated by the specific data of the received e-mail is provided. A mail server for growing a virtual creature based on body growth data and the speed determined by the growth deciding means, and displaying the grown virtual creature on a display means of the communication device; . 6. A term storage means for storing a predetermined term group which can be transmitted by an e-mail transmission / reception means of the communication device, and a character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means, the term storage means And a change generation means for generating change data for giving a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature when a term included in the term group matches a character string of the e-mail. The virtual creature is grown and displayed on the display means based on the speed determined by the growth determining means, the growth data of the virtual creature, and the change data generated by the change generating means. Mail server. 7. A time storage means for presetting and storing a time at which the electronic mail can be received, and a time at which the electronic mail is received from the communication device coincides with a time stored in the time storage means. In this case, there is provided change generation means for generating change data for giving a predetermined change to the growth of the virtual creature, wherein the speed determined by the growth determination means, the growth data of the virtual creature, and the change generation are provided. 6. The mail server according to claim 5, wherein a virtual creature is grown by the change data generated by the means and displayed on the display means of the communication device. 8. A mail server for receiving an e-mail transmitted between communication devices provided with an e-mail transmission / reception means and a display means, the mail storage receiving and storing the e-mail transmitted from the communication device. Means, a communicator storage means for storing a sender and a receiver of the e-mail stored in the mail storage means, a living body storage means for storing image data and breeding data of virtual creatures, and the communicator storage A specific data storage unit that stores data that specifies a virtual creature given to each combination of a sender and a receiver that is stored in the unit; and a preset data that can be transmitted by an e-mail transmission / reception unit of the communication device. Term storage means for storing the term group, and a character string of the e-mail received by the e-mail transmission / reception means is referred to the term group stored in the term storage means, A growth determining means for determining a speed at which the virtual creature grows when a term included in the term group and the character string of the e-mail are matched, and cultivation data of the virtual creature indicated by the specific data of the received e-mail And a virtual server that grows the virtual creature based on the speed determined by the growth determiner, and displays the grown virtual creature on a display of the communication device.