JP2002259246A - Device, method and program for inputting url - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to accurately and quickly input a URL(Uniform Resource Locator) without imposing a labor hour when the user inputs the URL to a personal computer. SOLUTION: An image reading means 10 reads a URL character string stored in a recording medium 15, a character recognizing means 11 recognizes characters constituting the URL from the read image, the recognized URL character string is stored in a storing means 12, a code conversion mans 13 converts stored character string data into a code that can be used by the personal computer, etc., and an outputting means 14 inputs the URL subjected to code conversion to the personal computer, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a URL input device, a URL input method, and a URL input program for easily inputting a URL to an information processing device such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, "URL", which is the address of an Internet homepage, has been frequently written in advertisements such as newspaper advertisements, posters, and magazines. The addition of the URL has merits for both the advertiser and the user. Print media such as newspapers, posters, and magazines (hereinafter, a medium displaying information is referred to as a “recording medium”. In this specification, a recording medium is used to mean that information is recorded by printing). When the user accesses the URL displayed on the Internet via the Internet, the user gets a chance to touch extremely large amounts of information that cannot be written in the physical size of the recording medium. For example, for detailed specifications and sizes of home appliances, and related products (consumable prices)
I can't write enough for newspaper ads. However, such information is indispensable for making a purchase decision on a product. By displaying the URL, the user can access these detailed information, and the possibility of the user purchasing the product is further increased.

[0003] However, when a user who views the URL printed on the recording medium tries to view the home page, the user first writes the printed URL on another paper, copies the URL, looks at the written characters, and reads the characters from the keyboard to the personal computer. You fall into a squirrel that you enter by hand. Alternatively, even if the user does not make a note on paper, the user must bring the newspaper, magazine, or the like close to the personal computer, and input the URL into an information processing device such as a personal computer while viewing the newspaper, magazine, or the like.

[0004] The manual URL input described above is problematic in several respects. First, since the URL is composed of many alphanumeric characters, it takes time and effort to type. In addition, input errors are likely to occur. Further, when the URL is written on Boster, the recording medium itself cannot be brought back near the personal computer. Inevitably, it must be transcribed as a memo on some paper and brought back.

[0005] Further, there are many posters and many URs.
What if you are interested in L? Many U
Post the RL on a note paper, take it home or work,
The user is forced to input this one after another into a personal computer. If the user takes this trouble, the poster loses opportunity. Conversely, in order to prevent such loss of business opportunity, it is necessary to print only the URL limited to the poster. However, this means that originally abundant information cannot be posted to the user. This in itself,
Lost business opportunity.

One way to avoid the above problems is to not use too long URLs. However, this does not benefit the user. Because the URL is short, only the top page of the home page can be printed on the recording medium. There is no problem if the top page contains information that the user wants to get. However, in general, detailed information that the user wants to know is posted on a page to which the user has followed links one after another from the top page. If you want more information,
From the screen displayed by the short URL, it is necessary to follow links one after another one by one, and to work to reach the target information.

[0007]

As described above, the conventional URL input method is a method of copying a printed matter (recording medium) to another paper, and further viewing the copied paper and inputting it from a keyboard to a personal computer. Therefore, there is a problem that the input is very time-consuming. In addition, since there is a large number of characters even in one URL, there is a problem that erroneous input, transcription error, and the like may be caused by manual input.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has been developed in consideration of the above problem.
It is an object to provide an RL input device, a URL input method, and a URL input program.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a URL input device, comprising: an image reading means for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image; Character recognizing means for recognizing characters constituting a URL, storage means for storing a character string recognized by the character recognizing means, and a code capable of using the character string data stored in the storage means in an information processing apparatus , And output means for outputting the URL code-converted by the code conversion means to the information processing apparatus.

[0010] The URL input device of the present invention (claim 2) comprises an image reading means for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a URL from the image read by the image reading means. Character recognition means for recognizing characters, means for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition means, and code conversion for converting character string data stored in the storage means into a code usable by an information processing device Means, and an output means for outputting the URL code-converted by the code conversion means to an information processing apparatus, wherein the image reading means, the character recognition means and the storage means are housed in a portable container. It is characterized by being.

Further, the URL input device of the present invention (claim 3) forms an image reading means for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and forms a URL from the image read by the image reading means. Character recognition means for recognizing characters, means for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition means, and code conversion for converting character string data stored in the storage means into a code usable by an information processing device Means, and an output means for outputting the URL converted by the code conversion means to the information processing apparatus, wherein the character recognition means comprises: an electronic dictionary in which a URL registered in advance is stored; Comparing means for comparing with a URL registered in the dictionary.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a URL input method comprising the steps of: reading an URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image; and constructing the URL from the image read by the image reading step. A character recognition process for recognizing a character, a storage process for storing a character string recognized in the character recognition process, and a code for converting the character string data stored in the storage process to a code usable in an information processing device It is characterized by comprising a conversion step and an output step of outputting the URL code-converted by the code conversion step to an information processing device.

[0013] The URL input program of the present invention (claim 5) comprises an image reading process for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a URL from the image read by the image reading process. Character recognition processing for recognizing characters, storage processing for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition processing, and code for converting character string data stored by the storage processing to a code usable by an information processing device A process including a conversion process and an output process of outputting the URL converted by the code conversion process to the information processing device is executed.

Further, the URL input method of the present invention (claim 6) includes a URL transmission step of transmitting a URL from a radio transmission means provided in close proximity to URL information recorded on a recording medium visually. A URL receiving step of taking in the URL information transmitted by the URL transmitting step into a small electronic device; a storing step of storing the URL information received by the URL receiving step; and a URL storing the URL information stored by the storing step. It is characterized by comprising a code conversion step of converting to a code usable by the processing device, and an output step of outputting the URL converted in the code conversion process to the information processing device.

[0015] The URL input program of the present invention (claim 7) is a URL transmission process for transmitting a URL from a wireless transmission means provided in close proximity to URL information recorded on a recording medium visually. A URL reception process for taking the URL information transmitted by the URL transmission process into the small electronic device, a storage process for storing the URL information received by the URL reception process, and a process for storing the URL information stored by the storage process. A process including a code conversion process of converting the URL into a code usable by the processing device and an output process of outputting the URL converted by the code conversion process to the information processing device is executed.

Further, the URL input method of the present invention (claim 8) is a method of visually indicating a URL on a recording medium, encrypting the URL and displaying the URL in an appropriate place, A reading step of reading the URL encryption displayed as an image as an image, a decoding step of decoding the URL encryption read in the reading step into a URL, and an output for outputting the URL decrypted in the decoding step to the information processing device And a process.

Further, the URL input program of the present invention (claim 9) includes an encryption process for visually showing a URL on a recording medium, recording the URL in a cipher, and posting the cipher in a proper place; Reading processing for reading the URL encryption displayed as an image as an image, decoding processing for decoding the URL encryption read by the reading processing to a URL, and output for outputting the URL decrypted by the decoding processing to the information processing device And a process constituted by the process.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the example of composition of an input device (claim 1).

The URL input device 1 includes an image reading means 10 for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a character recognizing means 11 for recognizing characters constituting the URL from the image read by the image reading means 10.
A storage unit 12 for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition unit 11, a code conversion unit 13 for converting character string data stored in the storage unit 12 into a code usable by the information processing apparatus, And an output unit 14 for outputting the URL code-converted by the conversion unit 13 to the information processing apparatus.

The image reading means 10 reads a URL written on a recording medium 15 such as a poster as an image. For this purpose, for example, a TV camera can be used. The read image information is, for example, digital bitmap information expressing the shading of each pixel as a binary number (bit string).

The character recognition character 11 performs feature extraction from the image information and reads the URL portion. In particular,
First, a recognition frame is extracted, and a character area is specified. Generally, the extraction of the character recognition frame is performed based on the density information of the image. In particular, when the character strings are arranged in the left-right direction in the image, a rectangular character recognition frame whose bottom surface is placed in the left-right direction may be extracted on the image. Once the character recognition frame is extracted, character recognition is performed. There are a number of well-known methods for extracting character recognition frames and character recognition, and there are many well-known methods for a character recognition expert, and in this specification, it is desirable to avoid going deeper. The recognized result is
Output as a character code string.

The storage unit 12 is a unit for storing the recognized URL. Even temporarily, 2 to remember
There are two meanings. The first is to prevent the recognition result from disappearing. However, according to the present invention, this storage means offers the advantage that the place where character recognition is performed, the place where it is actually input to the personal computer, and the time are different. The URL information may be on a poster on the wall. However, in this case, it is hard to believe that a PC is right next to the poster. This is because the recognized URL has to be temporarily stored in the storage means 12 and later transferred to a personal computer installed in another place. In addition,
It is also conceivable to store the read image as it is, but this is not only because the amount of memory is too large, for example,
It is disadvantageous for once presenting the recognition result to the user and recognizing that the recognition was successful without error. This is because it is sufficient that the image information can be displayed to the user everywhere. However, if the URL input device of the present invention monitors only the recognition result for the user, once the user moves away from the poster, the recognition result is correct. This is because the user loses all means to confirm whether or not.

The code conversion means 13 converts the URL stored in the storage means 12 into a code which can be transferred to a personal computer. For example, the character code obtained by the character recognizing means 11 is a character number of a recognition dictionary (in general, a standard pattern for matching is stored for each character in the recognition dictionary. For example, this character number is stored in the recognition dictionary. It is necessary to convert this into an SJIS code that can be recognized by a personal computer. Also, even if the recognition result is SJIS
However, even if the character code is stored in the storage means 12, it may be assumed that the character code is hardly affected by a transmission medium such as MIME when transferred to a personal computer. Therefore, the code conversion means 13 performs such code conversion. If the storage unit 12 is in SJIS expression and the input to a personal computer or the like is also in SJIS, the code conversion unit 13 has only a role of transferring data from the storage unit 12 to the output unit 14. In the present specification, such a transfer function is understood to be “code conversion” in a broad sense.

The output means 14 transfers the URL received from the code conversion means 13 to an information processing device such as a personal computer. Specifically, RS232C, BlueTooth, etc.
The selection may be made by a person skilled in the art.

With the above configuration, the URL printed on the poster is recognized as a character code and is stored in the storage unit 12.
After that, the data is transferred to the personal computer by the output means 14. As a result, the user can access the URL printed on the poster without the trouble of typing the URL into the personal computer, and there is no input error due to typographical errors. In addition, since the storage unit 12 is provided according to the gist of the present invention, only the recognition of the URL is executed at the place where the poster is attached, and the access to the URL can be executed at a later date.

Although the output of the character recognition means 11 is stored in the storage means 12, the information after code conversion may be stored. The claims of this specification do not limit the installation position of such storage means 12, and the installation position of the storage means can be selected by the designer's arbitrary freedom.

FIG. 2 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the example of composition of an input device (claim 2).

The URL input device 2 includes an image reading means 20 for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a character recognizing means 21 for recognizing characters constituting the URL from the image read by the image reading means 20.
A storage unit 22 for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition unit 21; a code conversion unit 23 for converting character string data stored in the storage unit 22 into a code usable by the information processing apparatus; And an output unit 24 for outputting the URL converted by the conversion unit 23 to the information processing apparatus.

Image reading means 20, character recognition means 2
1, the storage unit 22, the code conversion unit 23, and the output unit 24 include the image reading unit 1 described in FIG.
0, the character recognition unit 11, the storage unit 12, the code conversion unit 13, and the output unit 14 have the same configuration and function. However, according to the gist of the present invention, the URL input device 2 of FIG. 2 is stored in a portable container 25 and can be easily carried. As a result, the URL printed on an advertising medium such as a poster can be replaced with the URL of the present invention.
After reading by the input device 2, the user moves to another location, where the URL information recognized by the output means 24 can be transferred to an information processing device such as a personal computer. This method of use eliminates the need for the user to write down or memorize the URL on paper, even if the poster is posted in an environment where a personal computer is not present, such as a mountain.

FIG. 3 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the example of composition of an input device (claim 3).

The URL input device 3 includes an image reading means 30 for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a character recognizing means 31 for recognizing characters constituting the URL from the image read by the image reading means 30.
A storage unit 32 for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition unit 31; a code conversion unit 33 for converting character string data stored in the storage unit 32 into a code usable by the information processing apparatus; An output unit 34 outputs the URL code-converted by the conversion unit 33 to the information processing apparatus. In particular, the character recognition unit 31 includes an electronic dictionary 35 storing URLs registered in advance, and a
The image reading unit 30, the storage unit 32, the code conversion unit 33, and the output unit 34, which are provided with a comparison unit 36 for comparing the RL with the URL registered in the electronic dictionary 35, are shown in FIG. The described image reading means 10, storage means 12, code conversion means 13, and output means 14 have the same configuration and function, respectively. In addition,
The character recognizing means 31 has almost the same function as the character recognizing means 11 shown in FIG. 1, but includes an electronic dictionary 35 and a comparing means 36 in order to obtain a higher recognition rate.

In the first place, URL information is generally "http
p: // ”and at the end or on the way“ .com ”
It often contains ".co.jp". It is realistic to utilize these prior knowledge when moving to character recognition work after cutting out the recognition frame. When the recognition target is a newspaper, the URL originally printed on the newspaper of the day is used.
As such, newspapers know what they have. Therefore, be allowed to flow, this information as digital data broadcasting of BS information, it has been found either in advance what URL has become a recognition target. Improving the recognition rate by limiting the recognition dictionary in advance is a well-known phenomenon for engineers who have touched even a little on character recognition technology. Therefore, the character recognition means 31 is provided with an electronic dictionary 35 in which URL candidates to be recognized by some method or partial characters of the URL to be recognized are stored. The character recognizing unit 31 compares the pattern stored in the electronic dictionary 31 with the character to be recognized by using the comparing unit 36 in the recognition process, and can eliminate an incorrect recognition result.

That is, for example, if all URL addresses on newspapers are transmitted by BS digital broadcasting or the like and stored in the electronic dictionary 35, even if there is a recognition error, the closest character string configuration can be obtained. It is also possible to use the URL address possessed as a recognition result.

FIG. 4 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the example of composition of an input method (claim 4).

The URL input method 4 includes an image reading step 40 for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a character recognition step 41 for recognizing characters constituting the URL from the image read by the image reading step 40.
A storage step 42 for storing the character string recognized by the character recognition step 41; a code conversion step 43 for converting the character string data stored by the storage step 42 into a code usable by the information processing apparatus; And an output step 44 for outputting the URL code-converted by the conversion step 43 to the information processing apparatus.

Image reading step 40, character recognition step 4
1, storage step 42, code conversion step 43, output step 44
Are equivalent to the functions of the image reading means 10, character recognition means 11, storage means 12, code conversion means 13, and output means 14 in FIG. Image reading process 40
In, an image of a poster or the like is read using a TV camera or the like. The result is temporarily stored in, for example, a memory of the computer. The character recognition step 41 is a step in which a recognition frame is extracted, character recognition, and the like are executed by software based on the imaging result of the TV camera, which is grayscale information. The storage step 42 is a step of storing the recognition result in a memory or the like, and the number of stored URLs does not need to be one, and a plurality of URLs may be stored one after another. The code conversion process 43 is a process performed when a character code representing a URL is inappropriate for output, and realizes, for example, a process of converting an SJIS code into a MIME code system convenient for transfer. The output step 44 realizes a function of transferring the obtained URL to an information processing device such as a personal computer outside.

According to the above method, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is read, and stored in the storage step 42.
Once stored, it is sent to a personal computer or the like by an output process 44. Thus, the information of the URL is displayed by the browser of the personal computer. Even if a plurality of URLs are read by the storage process 42, the URLs are displayed on the personal computer image at another place without putting any psychological burden on the user.

FIG. 5 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the composition of an input program (claim 5).

The URL input program 5 includes an image reading process 50 for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a character recognition process for recognizing characters constituting a URL from the image read by the image reading process 50. 51, a storage process 52 for storing the character string recognized by the character recognition process 51, a code conversion process 53 for converting the character string data stored by the storage process 52 into a code usable by the information processing device, And an output process 54 for outputting the URL converted by the code conversion process to the information processing device.

Image reading processing 50, character recognition processing 5
1, storage processing 52, code conversion processing 53, output processing 54
Is realized by the image reading process 4 in FIG.
0, character recognition step 41, storage step 42, code conversion step 43, and output step 44. The image reading process 50 reads an image of a poster or the like using a TV camera or the like. The result is temporarily stored on, for example, a memory of the computer. In the character recognition process 51, extraction of a recognition frame, character recognition, and the like are executed based on the imaging result of the TV camera, which is grayscale information. In the storage process 52, the recognition result is stored in a memory or the like. The number of stored URLs need not be one, and a plurality of URLs may be stored one after another. The code conversion process 53 is a process performed when a character code representing a URL is inappropriate for output.
The S code is converted into a MIME code system convenient for transfer. The output process 54 transfers the obtained URL to an information processing device such as a personal computer outside the URL.

Through the above processing, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is read, temporarily stored by the storage processing 52, and then sent to the personal computer or the like by the output processing 54. Thus, the information of the URL is displayed by the browser of the personal computer. Even if there are a plurality of URLs read by the storage processing 52, the URLs are displayed on the personal computer image at another place without putting any psychological burden on the user.

FIG. 6 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the composition of an input method (claim 6).

The URL input method 6 of the present invention
5 that transmits a URL from a wireless transmission means 67 provided in close proximity to URL information 66 visually recorded on
An L transmitting step 60, a URL receiving step 61 for taking the URL information transmitted by the URL transmitting step 60 into the small electronic device, a storing step 62 for storing the URL information received by the URL receiving step 61, and a storing step 62 A code conversion step 63 for converting the stored URL information into a code usable by the information processing apparatus, and a code conversion step 6
And an output step 64 of outputting the URL code-converted to the information processing apparatus to the information processing apparatus.

The recording medium 65 is, for example, paper for printing a poster. Any material such as glass and gypsum boat can be used. However, it is assumed that the URL information 66 is printed visually from a human eye, such as a poster or a bulletin board. It should be noted that the term “visible” here includes a case where it is expressed in Braille for those who have a visual handicap. In this case, a material suitable for Braille engraving should be selected.

The radio transmission means 67 is, for example, a BlueTo
oth transmitter. It may be embedded in the wall behind the poster. Alternatively, it may be pasted on the poster surface in the form of a PC card. From the gist of the present invention, the printed URL information 66 and the wireless
7 is desirably installed relatively close to the vicinity.

In the URL transmission step 60 of FIG. 6, the same radio transmission means 67 is used to transmit a URL equivalent to the URL information 66.
The RL information is transmitted wirelessly. The transmitted URL information is received by a URL receiving step 61. This is, for example, a BlueTooth receiver (receiving LSI chip)
Is realized by: The received URL information is temporarily stored in a memory by a storage process 62. The stored URL information can be used, if necessary, in a code conversion step 63.
After receiving the character code conversion, the data is sent to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer in an output step 64.

With the above processing, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is accurately read without error, and
2 and stored in an output step 64 to a personal computer or the like. Thereby, the information of the URL is displayed by the browser of the personal computer. Even if there are a plurality of URLs read by the storage process 62, the URLs can be displayed on a personal computer image at another place without putting any psychological burden on the user.

FIG. 7 shows a URL according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the composition of an input program (claim 7).

The URL input program 7 of the present invention comprises a URL transmission process 70 for transmitting a URL from a radio transmission means 77 provided in close proximity to URL information 76 visually recorded on a recording medium 75, A URL reception process 71 for taking in the URL information transmitted by the transmission process 70 into the small-sized electronic device, and a U received by the URL reception process 71.
A storage process 72 for storing RL information, a code conversion process 73 for converting the URL information stored by the storage process 72 into a code usable by the information processing apparatus, and a URL converted by the code conversion process 73 And an output process 74 for outputting to the processing device.

The recording medium 75 is the same as the recording medium 65 in FIG. The URL information 76 has the same gist as the URL information 66 in FIG. The wireless transmitting means 77 may be of the same model and configuration as the wireless transmitting means 67 of FIG. The URL transmission process 70, the URL reception process 71, the storage process 72, the code conversion process 73, and the output process 74 of FIG. 7 correspond to the URL transmission process 60, URL reception process 61, storage process 62, code conversion process 63, The same function as the output step 64 is realized.

By the above processing, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is accurately read without error, and
After the data is temporarily stored in step 2, it is sent to a personal computer or the like by output processing 74. Thereby, the information of the URL is displayed by the browser of the personal computer. Even if there are a plurality of URLs read by the storage processing 72, the URLs can be displayed on the personal computer image at another place without putting any psychological burden on the user.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of a URL input method (claim 8) of the present invention.

The URL input method 8 of the present invention illustrates a URL 84 visually displayed on a recording medium,
An encryption process 80 for encrypting the URL 84 and posting it in a proper place; and a URL encryption 8 displayed by the encryption process 80
5 as an image, a decryption process 82 for decrypting the URL code 85 read by the read process 81 into a URL, and an output process 83 for outputting the URL decrypted by the decryption process 82 to the information processing apparatus. It is characterized by comprising.

The visually displayed URL 84 may be in a normal URL format. UR printed on poster
L is an example. Next, the URL 84 has been encrypted in advance by the encryption process 80. Various cases are assumed as the encryption here. For example, one approach is to convert to a number, such as a G code for video reservation. If all are converted into numbers by encryption, a dictionary including only numbers from 0 to 9 can be used as a recognition dictionary in the reading process 81. This obviously improves the accuracy of character recognition. In the present invention, this encryption does not aim at confidentiality like a bar code. Rather, it may be a device for performing more accurate mechanical reading. The barcode can be read almost 100% without error even by scanning with a small TV camera. Thereby, the reading error can be made as close to zero as possible.

The reading step 81 in FIG. 8 is realized by, for example, a TV camera and software for recognizing a bar code. However, for the purpose of the present invention, the reading here is not merely acquisition of a bitmap, but may include recognition processing such as recognition frame extraction and character recognition in some cases. The read URL is subjected to a process opposite to the encryption, and is converted into URL information by a decryption process 82.
The obtained URL is finally sent to an information processing device such as a personal computer in an output step 83.

Through the above processing, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is read as encrypted information in the reading step 81, decrypted, and sent to an information processing device such as a personal computer. Performing the encryption so that the length of the URL information is shortened means that a space such as a newspaper is not wasted. In addition, when a method of making the recognition error of a bar code or the like as close to zero as possible is adopted, the homepage can be referred to with an overwhelmingly high recognition probability as compared with the case where a general character recognition algorithm is used. If the encryption cannot be performed without a decryption key, such as the RSA encryption, the encrypted URL
There is an advantage that other people cannot develop or sell the means for reading out.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the URL input program (claim 9) of the present invention.

The URL input program according to the present invention visually illustrates the URL 94 on a recording medium,
An encryption process 90 for recording the information 94 in an encrypted form and posting it in the appropriate place
A reading process 91 for reading the URL encryption 95 displayed by the encryption process 90 as an image; a decoding process 92 for decoding the URL encryption 94 read by the reading process 91 into a URL;
And an output process 93 for outputting the RL to the information processing apparatus.

URL9 visually shown on the storage medium
4 is equivalent to the URL in FIG. Further, the encrypted URL encryption 95 is also equal to the URL encryption 85 in FIG. The encryption process 90, the read process 91, the decryption process 92, and the output process 93 realize the same processes as the encryption process 80, the read process 81, the decryption process 82, and the output process 83 of FIG.

According to the above processing, the URL information printed on the poster or the like is read as encrypted information having a smaller number of characters in the reading process 91, decrypted, and sent to an information processing device such as a personal computer. . If encryption is performed so that the length of the URL information is shortened,
Application of the present invention results in fewer recognition errors. Also,
The small number of characters does not waste space on newspapers or the like. In addition, when a method of making the recognition error of a bar code or the like as close to zero as possible is adopted, the homepage can be referred to with an overwhelmingly high recognition probability as compared with the case where a general character recognition algorithm is used.

FIG. 10 shows a specific mode of application of the present invention (claim 1).

In FIG. 10, a URL input device 110
Comprises a reading pen 102 and a USB interface 103. The reading pen 102 is placed close to the recording medium 100. The recording medium 100 has a URL
101 is printed. The reading pen 102 is provided with, for example, a TV camera, and an image read from the TV camera is converted into a character code by a character recognition unit. The converted URL information is transferred to the personal computer 104 by the USB interface 103. The URL input to the personal computer 104 displays the home page on the display 105 via access to the interface.

FIG. 11 shows a specific example of the implementation of the reading pen 102. The reading pen 102 is a small visual sensor 1
10, OCR software 111, flash memory 112,
A driver software 113 and a USB connector 114 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 11, the small visual sensor 110 can be constructed from an imaging CCD, its driving circuit, and an image memory. The imaging device is not different from a normal TV camera. The CCD drive circuit sends a signal to the CCD in order to realize an operation corresponding to a raster scan. The obtained CCD signal is amplified by a sense amplifier, subjected to AD conversion, and temporarily stored as a digital signal in an image memory. In this configuration example,
The image memory may be a volatile DRAM or the like.

Next, the imaging result is transmitted to the OCR software 111. OCR software is not different from ordinary character recognition software in function. The obtained image signal is first subjected to extraction of a recognition frame. As a result, it is possible to know where the characters are written, and then feature extraction is performed. Since various methods of feature extraction have been proposed by character recognition researchers, they will not be discussed here in depth. It should be selected according to the judgment of a person skilled in the art. The feature extraction result is a multidimensional vector having numerical values as elements, and the distance is calculated by pattern matching with a representative multidimensional vector for each character stored in the character dictionary. The one with the shortest distance is the recognition result. Needless to say, pattern matching needs to be performed for each character. Therefore, in the above-described recognition frame extraction, character segmentation is also performed at the same time. These OCR
The processing of the software 111 is not specific to the present invention,
It is widely realized by those skilled in character recognition.
Thereby, the alphanumeric characters and the like constituting the URL are recognized. One point to be noted is that the recognition dictionary in FIG. 11 is a character dictionary having a multidimensional vector for each character. That is, the characters are recognized for each character after the character frame is cut out.

The recognition result is sent to the flash memory 112 according to the gist of the present invention. As is well known, a flash memory is a non-volatile memory, and if it is about 10,000 to 100,000 times, stored information is stored even when the power is turned off. Therefore, the reading pen 102 uses the URL
And the actual URL on the Internet
There is no problem even if the access location is different.

UR stored in flash memory 112
The L information is obtained by the driver software 113 as necessary.
It is sent from the USB connector 114. Here, US
Parallel / serial conversion suitable for transmission of B is performed. This is because USB is a serial interface. This can also be regarded as one embodiment of code conversion in accordance with the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 11 disclosed above is a specific configuration example of claim 1 (FIG. 1) and claim 2 (FIG. 2) of the present invention.
Further, claim 4 (FIG. 4) of the present invention is a method executed by FIG. 10, and the program of claim 5 (FIG. 5)
Is a program that runs on an Intel chip to achieve Needless to say, each process in FIG. 10 is generally realized by a program on a personal computer, and in that sense, FIG. 10 shows a specific example of FIGS.

The function and operation of the third aspect (FIG. 3) of the present invention are slightly different. In claim 3 (FIG. 3), the recognition dictionary of the OCR software 111 (FIG. 11) is not only a character dictionary, but a dictionary of a plurality of characters (electronic dictionary).
It has as.

FIG. 12 is a sketch of the physical action of the electronic dictionary. At the top of FIG. 12, a URL to be recognized is displayed. Here, http:
// www. 000. com. The middle part of FIG. 12 shows the recognition result for each character as the first recognition candidate, the second recognition candidate, and the third recognition candidate. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, if the character recognizing means 31 has only a dictionary for each character, a result like the first recognition candidate in the middle part of FIG. 12 is only obtained. However, with this (output of only the first recognition candidates), a correct URL cannot be reproduced.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, an electronic dictionary 35 and a comparing means 36 are provided. For example, as shown in the lower part of FIG.
The URL such as “http: //” or “.com” holds a character pattern that frequently appears as much as possible. As can be seen from FIG. 12, such a frequent pattern has a recognition error and does not appear as a recognition candidate as it is. However, looking up to the third candidate in FIG. 12, there is a part that fits perfectly. That is, in the pattern match with the first candidate, "ht
There is no perfect match with "tp: //", but if a mismatched character is chased up to the second and third recognition candidates and compared, the recognized character can be correctly identified even if there is a recognition error. Since it is considered that a person skilled in the art can easily configure the electronic dictionary 35 and the specific configuration method of the comparison unit 36,
Further description is omitted in this specification.

FIG. 13 shows the effect of the reading pen 102 which is an embodiment of the URL input device of the present invention. The user brings only the reading pen 102 and reads the URL printed on the poster 120 and the newspaper 121 posted on a train, a building, or the like. Then, take it home or office, connect it to the USB of the personal computer, and display the homepage. Thus, the URL can be easily read anytime and anywhere, and can be input to the personal computer 122 without any trouble. This reading pen 102
It may have an i-mode mobile phone function.

FIG. 14 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a more specific embodiment of the RL input method (claim 6). In this URL input method, a transmitting device 131 for wirelessly transmitting a URL is mounted on a poster 130 on which the URL is recorded or on a wall surface on which the poster is posted. The URL transmission process 60 in FIG. 6 is nothing less than the operation process of the transmitting device 131. This transmission is realized by, for example, a BlueTooth transmission LSI.

In FIG. 14, the mobile personal computer 132 receives the signal from the transmitting device 131.
The mobile personal computer 132 includes a BlueTooth receiver 133. URL information is BlueTo
The process of receiving by the other receiver is represented by U in FIG.
This is the RL reception process 61. The configuration of a BlueTooth receiver is well known and will not be described in further detail herein.

The flash memory 134 shown in FIG.
Is realized. Specifically, for example, the information may be stored in a flash ATA memory card, or another storage means such as a memory stick.

The driver software 135 shown in FIG. 14 takes out the URL information stored in the flash memory 134, places it on a USB interface cable, and transfers it to a personal computer. The driver software 135 embodies the code conversion process 63 of FIG. Finally, it should be understood that the output process 64 of FIG. 6 is the USB interface cable itself.

With the configuration described above, the U of the present invention shown in FIG.
An RL input method can be realized. Also, if the processing described in FIG. 14 is realized by a program, the URL input program itself in FIG. 7 is realized.

FIG. 15 shows an example of implementation of the URL input method of FIG. According to the gist of the present invention, the poster includes U
RL information is posted but encrypted. This can be deciphered by the practitioner of the present invention, but not by other ordinary users. Examples of such encryption are well known. For example, in the RSA encryption, since the key for encryption is public, anyone can encrypt the URL information. However, in order to return it, a specific decryption key is required, and this decryption key cannot be inferred from the publicly available encryption key.

In the URL input method shown in FIG.
An encrypted URL (original number or alphabet) is recorded in 40. The URL encryption of the poster 140 is performed by the reading pen
Read at 02. However, this reading pen 102
Has a decryption function added to the reading pen 102 of FIG. The image information read by the small visual sensor 110 is sent to the OCR software 111, where it becomes a character string. This character string is sent to the software 141 for translating into an encryption URL. Small vision sensor 110 and OC
The R software 111 is equivalent to FIG. The software 141 for translating into an encryption URL is basically, for example, a decryption process of RSA encryption. Since the description is well known to those skilled in the art, the description is omitted in this specification. The flash memory and driver software shown in FIG. 11 are omitted in FIG.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 15, URL information printed on a poster or the like can be read only by a device having a decryption key. Therefore, if the manufacturer of the reading pen 102 devises that the key cannot be read by others, there is an advantage that the reading pen cannot be sold to anyone other than the pen seller.

It should be noted that if the processing steps in FIG. 15 are realized as a program, it is apparent that the URL input program in FIG. 9 is configured.

[0083]

As described above, the present invention (Claims 1 to 5)
According to the ninth aspect, a large number of URLs can be collected simply by carrying a small reading input pen, and can be easily input to a personal computer at home or at a company. At this time, there is no need to write down the URL, and the input is quick.

Further, according to the present invention (claims 1 to 9), there is an advantage that input errors are eliminated as compared with the case where the URL is manually input.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, URL reading with higher accuracy is possible as compared with an input pen or the like using a conventional character recognition device.

According to the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention, since the URL is transmitted from a poster or the like, a large amount of detailed contents can be transmitted to the mobile personal computer beyond the physical area of the poster. And so on.

According to the eighth and ninth aspects of the present invention, since the URL is recorded and read by encryption, information can be provided only to special registered members.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input device (claim 1) of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input device (claim 2) of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input device (claim 3) of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input device (claim 4) of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input program (claim 5) of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input method (claim 6) of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input program (claim 7) of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input method (claim 8) of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL input program (claim 9) of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an application state of a URL input device (claim 1).

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a URL input device (claim 1).

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the principle of a URL input method (claim 3).

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an effect of the URL input device (claim 2).

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an application state of a URL input method (claim 6).

FIG. 15 is a block diagram for explaining a URL input method (claim 8).

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, 3 URL input device 10, 20, 30 Image reading means 11, 21, 31, Character recognition means 12, 22, 32 Storage means 13, 23, 33 Code conversion means 14, 24, 34 Output means 15, 65, 75 recording medium 25 portable container 33 code conversion means 34 output means 35 electronic dictionary 36 comparison means 4, 6, 8 URL input method 40 image reading process 41 character recognition process 42, 62 storage process 43, 63 code conversion process 44, 64, 83 output process 5, 7, 9 URL input program 50 image reading process 51 character recognition process 52, 72 storage process 53, 73 code conversion process 54, 74, 93 output process 60 URL transmission process 61 URL reception process 66, 76 URL information 67, 77 Wireless transmission means 70 URL transmission processing 71 URL reception Sense 80 encryption process 81 reads the course 82 decoding process 84, 94 URL 85, 95 URL encrypted 90 encrypting process 91 reading process 92 decoding

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takuji Okuno 38-149 Oshima, Momoyama-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto (72) Inventor Masao Miyaguchi 78-14 Kita-Shirakawa Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi (72) Inventor, Shigeo Kaneda Domesha University Graduate School of Policy Science

Claims (9)

[Claims] An image reading means for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and a UR based on the image read by the image reading means.
Character recognizing means for recognizing characters constituting L; storage means for storing a character string recognized by the character recognizing means; code capable of using character string data stored in the storage means in an information processing device A URL input device, comprising: a conversion unit that converts the URL into a URL; 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least said image reading means, said character recognizing means and said storage means are housed in a portable container.
RL input device. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the character recognizing means includes a URL registered in advance
2. The URL input device according to claim 1, further comprising: an electronic dictionary storing the URL, and comparing means for comparing the read URL with a URL registered in the electronic dictionary. 4. An image reading step of reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and UR from an image read in the image reading step.
A character recognition process for recognizing characters constituting L; a storage process for storing a character string recognized in the character recognition process; and a code capable of using the character string data stored in the storage process in an information processing device. A URL input method, comprising: a code conversion process of converting the URL into a URL; and an output process of outputting the URL converted in the code conversion process to the information processing device. 5. An image reading process for reading a URL character string recorded on a recording medium as an image, and UR from an image read by the image reading process.
A character recognition process for recognizing a character constituting L; a storage process for storing a character string recognized by the character recognition process; and a code capable of using the character string data stored by the storage process in an information processing device. A URL input program for realizing a process consisting of: a code conversion process of converting the URL into a URL; and an output process of outputting the URL converted by the code conversion process to the information processing apparatus. 6. A URL transmitting step of transmitting a URL from a wireless transmission means provided in close proximity to URL information visually recorded on a recording medium, and transmitting the URL information transmitted in the URL transmitting step to a small electronic device. A URL receiving step to be taken into the device; a storing step of storing the URL information received in the URL receiving step; and a code converting step of converting the URL information stored in the storing step into a code usable by the information processing apparatus. And an output step of outputting the URL code-converted by the code conversion step to an information processing device. 7. A URL transmission process for transmitting a URL from wireless transmission means provided in close proximity to URL information visually recorded on a recording medium; and transmitting the URL information transmitted by the URL transmission process to a small electronic device. URL reception processing to be taken into the device, storage processing for storing the URL information received by the URL reception processing, and code conversion processing for converting the URL information stored by the storage processing into a code usable by the information processing device And an output process for outputting the URL code-converted by the code conversion process to the information processing device. 8. An encryption process for visually displaying a URL on a recording medium, recording the URL in a cipher, and posting the URL in a proper place, and reading and reading a URL cipher displayed in the enciphering process as an image. The URL encryption read by the reading step
A URL input method, comprising: a decoding step of decoding to L; and an output step of outputting the URL decoded by the decoding step to an information processing device. 9. An encryption process for visually displaying a URL on a recording medium, recording the URL in a cipher and posting it in a suitable place, and reading and reading a URL cipher displayed by the encrypting process as an image. Processing, the URL encryption read by the reading processing is UR
A URL input program for realizing a process consisting of: a decoding process for decoding into L; and an output process for outputting the URL decoded by the decoding process to an information processing device.