JP2002358310A - Creating system for electronic album, creating apparatus therefor and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a creating system for electronic album, a creating apparatus therefor and its method capable of creating an attractive original album by automatically acquiring attractive contents. SOLUTION: The system comprises an image acquiring means (imaging means 150, etc.), to acquire images and event information identifying a tourist site and the like related to the images, a retrieval means (information processing means 980, etc.), to retrieve appropriate contents based on the event information from a contents providing site 94 recording contents by associating then with the event information via a communication network 82, a receiving means (transmitting/receiving means 965, etc.), to receive the retrieved contents and a means for creating an electronic album (information processing means 980, etc.), to create an electronic album on which the acquired images and the received contents are affixed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic album creating system, an electronic album creating apparatus and an electronic album creating method, and more particularly to acquiring an appropriate content based on event information or a date associated with an acquired image. The present invention relates to an electronic album creating system for automatically creating an album pasted together with an image, an electronic album creating apparatus, and an electronic album creating method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a method of collecting photographed images, laying out the images at a predetermined location on a display screen, and recording them as an electronic album. Also in this conventional electronic album, the user himself searches for and obtains content that directs an album such as clip art in addition to photos,
It can be pasted together with the image.

[0003] In this case, the user judges the content of the displayed picture, and obtains and pastes the relevant presentation content suitable for the content of the picture. The electronic album with the photos
Instructs to paste animal clip art.

[0004]

However, in the case where a user himself / herself pastes a content for producing an album such as a clip art into an electronic album as in the prior art,
Since users need to find and paste content such as clip art on their own, it is necessary to search for the content and to lay out and paste the searched content on an electronic album and create it. Is troublesome.

[0005] In addition, there is a limit to a user searching for contents to be pasted on electronic albums scattered in many sites at an individual level. In general, there is a limit to the types of content that can be prepared by the user individually.
Therefore, there has been a problem that attractive presentation contents cannot always be pasted on an album.

Further, even when a user wants to use paid production contents for which compensation is incurred, it is difficult to provide and use the payment method, so that the downloaded production contents must be used legally. Was difficult.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when automatically creating an album in which appropriate contents are pasted using images, a user can collect news information or select information by himself. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic album creating system, an electronic album creating apparatus, and an electronic album creating method that can automatically create attractive original albums by acquiring attractive contents without performing the method.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information relating to the content of the image. An electronic album creation system for automatically creating an album, including at least a first server, an electronic device, a content providing server, and an electronic album management server, and includes event information or sightseeing for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like. A first server having first recording means for recording event information relating to an event held at a place, a theme park, or the like; first transmitting means for transmitting the event information to an electronic device; Acquiring means for acquiring an image in a theme park, a theme park, or the like; and a first means for receiving event information from the first server.
, An electronic device comprising: a second transmission unit that associates the acquired image with the event information and transmits the electronic image to the electronic album management server; and a content to be attached to the electronic album in association with the event information. A second recording unit for recording the event information from the electronic album management server, and a content recorded in association with the received event information upon receiving the event information. A content providing server comprising: a third transmitting unit that reads from the recording unit and transmits the electronic event to the electronic album management server; a third receiving unit that receives an image and event information from the electronic device; A fourth transmitting means for transmitting information to the content providing server; The fourth received from Ceiling providing server
And an electronic album management server having an electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album in which the received image and the content are pasted.

According to the electronic album creating system of the present invention, a first server including recording means for recording event information, transmitting means for transmitting the event information, image acquiring means for acquiring an image, An electronic device including a receiving unit that receives event information, a transmitting unit that associates the acquired image with the event information and transmits the electronic image to the electronic album management server, a recording unit that records content associated with the event information, A content providing server comprising: receiving means for receiving event information; transmitting means for reading content recorded in association with the received event information from the recording means and transmitting the content to the electronic album management server; Receiving means for receiving the event information, transmitting means for transmitting the received event information, and pasting to the electronic album And an electronic album management server having an electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album in which an image and the content are pasted. It is possible to create attractive original albums by acquiring appropriate contents.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic album creating apparatus for automatically creating an album on which an appropriate content is pasted using an image and information on a date associated with the image. A system, including at least each of an electronic device, a content providing server, and an electronic album management server, obtaining image information at a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like, and obtaining information of a date at which the image was obtained. An electronic device comprising: a date acquisition unit; and a first transmission unit that associates the acquired image with the date information and transmits the image to the electronic album management server.
First recording means for associating and recording content such as news and events with date information relating to the content; first receiving means for acquiring date information from the electronic album management server; and information on the date. A content providing server comprising: a second transmitting unit that reads out, from the first recording unit, content that is recorded in association with information of a date when the content is received, and transmits the content to an electronic album management server; A second receiving unit for receiving the image and the date information from the server; a third transmitting unit for transmitting the received date information to the content providing server;
An electronic album management server comprising: third receiving means for receiving a content to be pasted on an electronic album from a content providing server; and electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album on which the received image and the content are pasted. It is characterized by comprising.

According to the present invention, the image acquisition means for acquiring the image, the date acquisition means for acquiring the information on the date on which the image was acquired, and the transmission means for associating the acquired image with the information on the date and transmitting the image. Equipped electronic device, recording means for associating and recording content such as news and events and date information related to the content, receiving means for acquiring date information, and recording in association with received date information Content providing server, comprising: a transmitting unit that reads out and transmits the stored content from a recording unit; a receiving unit that receives image and date information; a transmitting unit that transmits received date information; and an electronic album. Receiving means for receiving the content to be pasted into the electronic album, and electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album in which the received image and the content are pasted. Since an electronic album management server was For example, it is possible to create an original album that is attractive to get the compelling content that is based on the date automatically.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an electronic album creating system, an electronic album creating apparatus and a method thereof according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an electronic album creating system according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the event information acquisition side of the electronic album creation system, an electronic camera 10 (electronic device) for capturing an image of a subject at a tourist spot or the like to acquire an image.
And an event information output means 20 for outputting, to the electronic camera 10 or the like, an event ID for specifying an imaging place such as a sightseeing spot, an event, an imaging date and time, etc. by wireless communication or the like
And an over-the-counter vending machine 22 that can transfer the corresponding event ID to the electronic camera 10 or the like by mounting the electronic camera 10.

A detachable recording medium 177 can be mounted on the electronic camera 10, and the electronic camera 10 transmits a corresponding event ID via the recording medium 177.
(Event information) can be obtained.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, a mobile phone, a PHS, or the like carried by the user performs photography using a current location acquisition unit based on location information of a base station with which communication is performed. The current event location may be acquired, and the corresponding event ID may be acquired based on this location information. Also, the current position is acquired using GPS or the like, and the event ID is obtained.
May be obtained. The event ID thus obtained is recorded on a recording unit such as the recording medium 177 in association with, for example, a captured image. Instead of recording the captured image and the event ID on the recording medium 177, the captured image and the event ID may be transmitted to the personal computer 80 or a server of an electronic album management site and output.

[0016] For example, in a hotel, theme park, amusement park, sports facility, or the like in a tourist spot, information of an image or guidance related to the tourist spot, the theme park, or the like is recorded in association with a corresponding event ID. A server 90A having a recording unit is provided, and can transmit and receive information to and from other communication devices via a communication network 82 such as the Internet. The server 90A has
Event information, coupon information, usage fee, usage fee for each electronic album management site 92, and billing information and payment information according to usage details such as fee for each user can be recorded in association with a predetermined event ID. It is possible.
Further, the server 90A may control the event information output unit 20 to output an event ID corresponding to an event or the like as appropriate.

The user of the electronic album creation system can communicate with the electronic camera 10 by mounting the electronic camera 10 so that power can be supplied to the electronic camera 10 or the electronic album 10 can be connected to another electronic device such as the personal computer 80. Cradle 12 provided with means and electronic camera 1 via cradle 12
0 can transmit and receive information such as images and the like, and transmit and receive information such as images to and from the server 90B (electronic album management server) of the electronic album management site 92 via a communication network 82 such as the Internet. User-side personal computer 80 equipped with communication means capable of communication
(Electronic device). In addition, the personal computer 80
When a public telephone line is used for connecting the communication network 82 and the communication network 82, the communication protocol may be converted via a modem.

A communication interface 14 for connecting the electronic camera 10 and the personal computer 80 is provided with a USB (Universal Serial Communication).
Communication means such as a communication means based on the communication standard of the serial bus) may be used. By adopting the USB interface, the user can place the electronic camera 10 in the cradle 1
2 automatically attaches to the USB port on the PC 80
When the driver detects that the electronic camera 10 is connected, it becomes possible to automatically start an application program (image viewing program) for image viewing.

When the image browsing program is automatically started, a recording medium of the electronic camera 10 (a removable recording medium such as a memory card, or a recording means built in the electronic camera 10). It is possible to automatically read out the images and the like recorded in the “OK” and display a list of thumbnail images and the like on a display unit 868 such as a display.

Further, the user's schedule information is recorded in the recording means in the personal computer 80, and when the image and the date information of the date when the image was taken are transferred from the electronic camera 10 to the personal computer 80, they are associated with the image. The user's schedule is obtained from the date and time information, and the corresponding event ID is obtained from the user's destination information included in the obtained schedule.
May be generated and recorded in association with the image.

The electronic album management site 92 of the electronic album creation system includes servers 90B, 90C... (Electronic album management servers).
B, 90C... Are communicably connected via a communication network 82. The servers 90B, 90C ...
May be configured to include the following functions according to various functions of the service relating to the creation of an electronic album.

Various functions of services related to the creation of an electronic album include an image database, an electronic album creation program, an image accompanying information server for managing information such as an event ID attached to an image, and content information related to an event ID. Search means or search program for searching from one server, a content information obtaining program for obtaining content information related to an event ID from another server, use of content information for managing the number of usages and usage fees of the obtained content information Frequency management server,
An album database server that records information of an electronic album created by providing and securing a predetermined image recording area for each user, individual user's name, ID, password, age, gender, preference, companion information, family It may include various functions such as a personal information file server that manages personal information such as the configuration, and an album usage detail server that manages the usage status of an electronic album created for each user.

The server group (90C, 90D...) Of the electronic album management site 92 may be collectively managed by, for example, a server 90B that executes an electronic album creation program.

A contents providing site 9 for providing contents such as images and information in the electronic album creating system
4, a server 90F (content providing server) is provided. The server 90F is communicably connected to communication devices such as other servers via a communication network 82.

The content providing site 94 is a site for a newspaper company, a sightseeing spot, a theme park, an amusement park, etc., and obtains information such as an event ID, the date and time the image was taken, the user's preference, age, and gender. Then, it is possible to provide, to the electronic album management site 92 or the like, contents related to news and events considered appropriate in accordance with the acquired information, for a fee or free of charge.

The electronic album creating system prints an image for which a print order has been received from a user on paper and delivers it to the user, or sends an order for creating an electronic medium such as a CD-ROM in which images are recorded to the user. , A print media service site 96 is provided for creating the ordered electronic media and delivering it to the user,
The site is provided with a server 90G that performs service processing according to the order. The server 90G is communicably connected to communication devices such as other servers via a communication network 82.

When the user requests a print of the created electronic album or a process of creating an electronic medium such as a CD-ROM in which the electronic album is recorded, the print media service site 96 prints the requested album. It performs processing and creation processing of electronic media, and performs processing for delivery to the user.

A personal computer 80A operated by another user can be connected to the electronic album management site 92 of the electronic album creation system via a communication network 82. The user notifies the other user of an ID and a password that allow the user to browse and search the created predetermined electronic album, so that the other user can obtain the electronic album created by the user via the personal computer 80A. You can browse and search albums.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a signal processing system of the electronic camera.

The image processing unit of the electronic camera 10 includes an image pickup unit 150 (including a function of an image acquisition unit) that forms an image of a subject on a light receiving surface, performs photoelectric conversion, and outputs an image signal.
And image size change, sharpness correction, contour processing,
Image processing means 153 for performing processing such as contrast correction
And an A / D converter 154 for converting an analog image signal into digital image data.

The communication means of the electronic camera 10 for transmitting / receiving information such as image data to / from other communication devices through communication is a short-range transmission / reception for transmitting / receiving information such as image data on a carrier wave such as a radio wave. Means 157 (transmitting means,
(Includes functions of receiving means, communication means, and image acquisition means)
And an antenna 15 for transmitting and receiving a carrier wave and image data
6, a communication connector 162 for transmitting / receiving information such as image data to / from another communication device via a communication cable, and a cradle connector 163 for transmitting / receiving information to / from another communication device via a cradle to which the electronic camera 10 is attached. It is composed of

The electronic camera 10 also includes a compression / expansion means 167 for subjecting information such as image data to compression or decimation processing by a method typified by JPEG or motion JPEG, or for expanding / decompressing image data or the like obtained by compressing. OS for on-screen display of various characters and message data to be displayed on the display means 168 together with images
D169 and a signal processing unit 170 that performs white balance processing on image data obtained by imaging, performs gamma conversion, YC conversion processing, conversion processing of the number of pixels, electronic zoom processing, trimming processing, and the like; A frame memory 171 for temporarily storing image data for display,
A D / A converter 172 for converting digital image data into a composite signal for display and the like, and a connector 173 for outputting a display signal to a display device of each unit are provided.

The electronic camera 10 has input means 174 provided with a power switch, release button, communication button, transmission button, function switch, cross button, confirmation switch, mode switch, and the like.
I / O1 which is an interface for inputting / outputting input information from input means 174 and information for display means such as LEDs.
75, a recording medium mounting unit 178 for detachably mounting the recording medium 177, and a recording medium interface 179 for recording and reading information such as image data on and from the recording medium 177 (including the function of an image acquisition unit). Are provided. Note that the recording medium 177 is a semiconductor such as a memory card, or a removable recording medium such as a magnetic recording type represented by an MO or an optical recording type.

The electronic camera 10 includes an electronic camera 10.
Performs overall control and controls image data sampling timing control, image data recording control, image data graphic recognition, electronic camera 10 model information or device-specific identification information reading processing, communication control, image and voice recording. Information processing means 18 for performing control such as control and display control
0, a non-volatile memory 182 capable of rewriting information and capable of continuing to store stored information such as various constants for adjustment even after power is turned off, and a model name and a serial number of the electronic camera 10. RO storing unique identification information, operation program, each constant, information on display, etc.
M183 and a RAM 184, which is a high-speed readable / writable storage unit serving as a work area when the program is executed, are provided.

The electronic camera 10 receives power from a calendar clock 190 (date acquisition means) for ticking time, a power supply 191 for supplying various powers for driving the electronic camera 10, and an external power supply. A power connector 192;
A light emitting unit 193 that emits light to a subject during imaging to compensate for a shortage of light amount, and a light emission control unit 194 that adjusts the light emission timing of the light emitting unit 193 and the amount of emitted light are provided. Note that the information processing means 180 of the electronic camera 10 and the peripheral circuits are connected by a bus 199 so that information can be transmitted to each other at high speed.

The cradle connector 163 may be provided with a terminal related to the power switch, a terminal related to the power connector 192, and the like, in addition to the terminal related to the communication connector 162. When the power supply function is provided in the cradle serving as a holding table for the electronic camera 10, the electronic camera 10 is mounted on the cradle to supply power to the electronic camera 10 from the cradle, and Operation and charging of a rechargeable battery provided in the power supply 191 can be performed.

When the cradle is provided with a communication interface function, the electronic camera 10 can transmit and receive information to and from other communication devices via the cradle by mounting the electronic camera 10 on the cradle. Becomes possible.

When the cradle is provided with a switch equivalent to a so-called power switch for switching the operation mode of the electronic camera 10 between an operation state and a non-operation state, the cradle connector 163 is provided. Through the terminal related to the power switch, the user can switch the operation state of the electronic camera 10 without operating the power switch provided on the electronic camera 10.

The transmission / reception means 157 is connected to the imaging means 1
The image acquired by the image acquisition unit 50 and the transmission / reception unit 15
7 can be transmitted to the server of the electronic album management site 92 or the personal computer 80 in association with the acquired event information.

The transmitting / receiving means 157 is connected to the imaging means 1
50 and the date acquisition means (calendar clock 19)
0) can be transmitted to the server of the electronic album management site 92, the personal computer 80 or the like in association with the acquired date information.

The imaging process of the electronic camera 10 configured as described above will be described.

The image to be picked up is taken by the image pickup means 15 by a lens.
The image of the subject formed on the light receiving surface 0 is photoelectrically converted and output to the image processing unit 153. Image processing means 1
At 53, the image signal is subjected to image processing such as correlated double sampling, amplification, and noise reduction processing.
The data is converted into digital data by the D converter 154.

The image data converted into the digital data is transferred to the signal processing means 170 in accordance with a command from the information processing means 180, and white balance, gamma correction, YC
After performing image processing such as conversion, zoom processing, and pixel number conversion processing, the image data is temporarily stored in a frame memory 171 such as a VRAM.

The information processing means 180 includes a frame memory 1
Image data stored in the D / A converter 1
The instruction is transmitted to the display unit 168 and displayed on the display unit 168 together with information such as a character generated from the OSD 169.

When the user presses a release button provided on the input unit 174 for instructing image capturing, the information processing unit 180 enters a mode for capturing an image of a subject. Then, the information processing unit 180 records, in the RAM 184, image data having a 12-bit gradation for each of the RGB primary colors, for example, converted into digital data by the A / D converter 154.

When the image is finally recorded on the recording medium 177, the image stored in the RAM 184 is sequentially read out and transferred to the signal processing means 170, where the white balance, gamma correction, YC conversion, Zoom processing,
Performing image processing such as pixel number conversion processing, gradation conversion of each color,
After performing image size conversion processing and the like, the image data is transferred to the compression / expansion means 167.

The image data subjected to the compression processing under the predetermined conditions by the compression / expansion means 167 is temporarily stored again in the FILE work area of the RAM 184 for a period of time based on the instruction of the information processing means 180, and thereafter, is stored. After converting the image data into image data, the image data is output to the recording medium interface 179, and the image data is sequentially recorded on the recording medium 177.

On the other hand, the information of the event ID to be recorded in association with the image to be recorded is obtained as follows through the transmission / reception means 157, the recording medium interface 179, and the like.

For example, when the transmitting / receiving means 157 obtains an event ID using a wireless communication means, the predetermined information transmitted from the event information output means 20 provided at a hotel, theme park or the like at a tourist spot is transmitted. The event ID information is obtained via the antenna 156. Event I acquired
The information D is read by the information processing means 180 and converted into a predetermined recording format, and then associated with the image and stored in the recording medium 1.
A process for recording in 77 is performed. The event ID information may be obtained by reading the information output by the event information output means 20 provided at a hotel or the like in a tourist spot as described above, or obtained from a mobile phone carried by the user. You may make it.

In the above description, the embodiment has been described in which the electronic device is an electronic camera provided with an image pickup means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image, an event ID, and the like can be stored in an external device. It is possible to achieve the object of the present invention even with an electronic device such as a personal computer that obtains an image from the server and outputs the image to another server or the like.

FIG. 3 shows event IDs to be distributed and information related to the individual event IDs.

The event ID and the information related to the event ID shown in the figure are recorded and managed in a server 90A provided in a hotel, theme park or the like at a tourist spot. As shown in the figure, as the information related to the event ID, a unique theme park ID for specifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like.
(Identification information), the name of the theme park, etc., information on the entertainment held at the sightseeing spot or the theme park, and an entertainment code (identification information) for specifying the entertainment held. Therefore, by acquiring the event ID recorded in association with the image and inquiring the information related to the event ID to the server 90A or the like via the communication network 82, the user can pick up the image at any theme park or the like. It is possible to specify which image was taken, and which image was taken when any entertainment was being held.

FIG. 4 shows an image recording sequence using an electronic camera.

When the user presses a release button provided on the input unit 174 for imaging instructions, the processing executed by the information processing unit 180 branches to the processing routine of step S100 "photographing (pressing the release button)". Will come. Then, the process proceeds to the next S102 “Execution of shooting”.

In S102, the image data captured by the image capturing means 150 as described above is recorded in the RAM 184. Then, the process proceeds to the next S104 “acquiring date and time from calendar IC and attaching it to image data”.

In step S104, the information processing means 180 acquires date and time information at the time of shooting from the calendar
184 is temporarily recorded. Subsequently, the process proceeds to the next S106 “Reception for T seconds (T> T0)”, and attempts to acquire an event ID via the transmission / reception means 157 during a predetermined time T0 or more. Then, the next S108 “Successful reception of event ID?”
Proceed to judge.

In S108, it is determined whether the reception of the event ID from the event information output means 20 or the like has succeeded within the time T. If the event ID cannot be received because the event information output means 20 is not present in the vicinity of the electronic camera 10, the process proceeds to S112.
Proceed to “Record image data”. If the event ID has been successfully acquired in S108, the process proceeds to S11.
Go to 0 “attach event ID to image data”.

In S110, the information processing means 180
A process for associating the image recorded in 184 with the received event ID is performed. The associating process is RA
The process may be a process of associating the file name of the image recorded in M184 with the file name of the event ID, or the event ID may be recorded in a comment record column or the like inside the image file. Good.

FIG. 5 shows an event ID in the image file.
3 shows the structure of the image file when the image is recorded.

As shown in the figure, an image file 30 has a main image 3 in which image data obtained by imaging is recorded.
4 and a portion for recording the image attachment information 32 in which various information attached to the main image 34 are recorded. The image attachment information 32 includes shooting date and time information 36 indicating the shooting date, received event ID information 38, accompanying information 40 indicating the name of the photographer and the accompanying person, and the electronic device used for the imaging. Device-specific identification information 42 such as the serial number of the camera 10, title information 44 of a captured image, and the like, and a reduced image 46 with a reduced image data amount of the main image 34 used for performing index display and the like are recorded. Have been.

If the event ID cannot be obtained, leave the column of the event ID information 38 blank or
Alternatively, a code indicating that the event ID is unknown is described.

When the process of attaching the event ID to the image data is completed in S110 shown in FIG.
Proceed to 112 “Record image data”. In S112, the information processing unit 180 reads the image recorded in the RAM 184, performs predetermined compression processing or the like, and
Is performed.

When the recording processing of the image data is completed in S112, the processing executed by the information processing means 180 is the next S1.
The process proceeds to 14 “Next shooting ready” to end the recording sequence of the current image and prepare for the next shooting.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a signal processing system of the personal computer 80.

As shown in the figure, the information transmitting / receiving section of the personal computer 80 has an antenna 856 used as a short-distance wireless communication means or a long-distance wireless network communication means, and a predetermined signal for wirelessly or wiredly transmitting / receiving information. Transmitting / receiving means 857 for converting data into a format (transmitting means, event I
D) and other communication devices (servers 90A, 90B, etc.) via a communication network such as a public line 860 or a communication network 82. And a transmission / reception unit 865 (including functions of a transmission unit, a reception unit, a communication unit, and an image acquisition unit) for transmitting and receiving information. When performing short-range communication with the electronic camera 10 via the cradle 12 by wire, the communication cable of the cradle 12 is connected to the communication connector 859 to transmit and receive information.

The personal computer 80 has a display means 868 for displaying information such as images and characters, and a display control means 869 for outputting a display image signal to the display means 868 based on a command from the information processing means. And the user enters the input means 87
I / O 8 for reading various information input through the interface 4 and transmitting it to information processing means described later, or outputting a display command to notification means such as an LED based on an instruction from the information processing means.
75 are provided.

The personal computer 80 has a recording medium 877.
And a recording medium interface 879 (image acquisition means) for recording and reading information such as image data on and from the recording medium 877. The recording medium 877
Is a removable recording medium typified by a semiconductor such as a memory card, a magnetic recording type typified by an MO, an optical recording type typified by an MO, and the like.

The personal computer 80 includes an information processing means (CPU) 880 for controlling the whole of the personal computer 80, and a ROM or information processing means 880 in which a program for operating the information processing means 880 and various constants are recorded. A memory 881 composed of a RAM serving as a recording means serving as a work area when executing the processing, various constants relating to the processing of the personal computer 80, a dial-up telephone number for connecting to communication equipment on a network, and attribute information , URL (Unif
A recording means 886 such as a hard disk for recording information such as connection information such as orm resource locators), addresses, site addresses, and gateway information DNS (Domain Name System), and a calendar clock 890 for keeping time.

Information processing means 880 in personal computer 80,
Peripheral circuits including a display control unit 869, an I / O 875, a memory 881, a recording unit 886, a calendar clock 890 (date obtaining unit) and the like are connected by a bus 899, and an information processing unit 880 controls each peripheral circuit. It is possible to do.

The short-range wireless communication means is a communication means using light such as radio waves, ultrasonic waves and infrared rays as a carrier wave. When using radio waves, it may be based on wireless communication specifications such as a wireless LAN (local area network).

The transmitting / receiving means 857 can transmit the acquired image and the event information to the server or the like of the electronic album management site 92 in association with each other. The transmission / reception unit 857 can transmit the acquired image to the server of the electronic album management site 92 in association with the date information acquired by the date acquisition unit (such as the calendar clock 890).

In the above description, the communication device has been described as an example in which the personal computer 80 is used. However, as long as the communication device includes recording means, communication means, and the like, a communication terminal such as a mobile phone or an electronic organizer may be used. Good. The electronic camera 10 is connected to the personal computer 8.
0 function may be provided.

The display means 868 can display the electronic album obtained from the electronic album management site 92, and the user can browse the electronic album created on the electronic album management site 92. Is possible. Further, the user can input, via the input unit 874, editing information for editing the electronic album, such as a change in the image or content included in the displayed electronic album or a change in the layout of the image or content. It has become.

The editing information input by the user is transmitted to the server 90 B of the electronic album management site 92 via transmission means such as transmission / reception means 857.

By attaching the electronic camera 10 to the cradle 12, the personal computer 80 automatically detects the connection of the electronic camera 10 via a communication means such as a USB (Plug & Play).
Then, an image viewer which is application software for displaying a list of images recorded in the electronic camera 10 is automatically started. For example, the function of automatically detecting the connection of the electronic camera 10 is provided when the system program of the personal computer 80 is started or after the start.
A device driver that automatically detects the connection of the device is installed and monitors Plug & Play events of the communication system. When the device driver recognizes the connection of the electronic camera 10,
An image viewing program such as an image viewer required according to the processing mode of the electronic camera 10 is started.

When the image browsing program is automatically started, the recording medium of the electronic camera 10 (removable recording medium 177 such as a memory card or the electronic camera 10
It is also possible to automatically read out the images and the like recorded in the recording means incorporated in the display device) and display a list of thumbnail images and the like on the display means 868 such as a display. The information processing means 88 of the personal computer 80
A value of 0 makes it possible to acquire various types of image attached information 32 recorded in the image file 30 together with the main image 34.

If the image and the event ID are not recorded in association with each other, for example, the event ID is not described in the image file 30, the date information on which the read image was captured is stored in the personal computer 80. The information processing means 880 acquires and retrieves the user's schedule information recorded in the recording means 886 in the personal computer 80 and searches for the event ID corresponding to the user's destination information included in the retrieved schedule. May be generated and recorded in association with the image. Also,
The companion information included in the schedule information may be read out and recorded in the recording portion of the companion information 40 of the image file 30 (see FIG. 7). When the companion is specified as described above and the companion's mail address is obtained, the electronic album created later can be automatically distributed to the companion's mail address.

FIG. 8 shows servers 90A, 90B, 90C,
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a signal processing system of 90D, 90F, and 90G.

According to the figure, the information transmitting / receiving section of the server 90A has an antenna 956 used as a long-distance wireless network communication means, and converts data into a predetermined format for transmitting / receiving information wirelessly or by wire. Transmitting and receiving means 9
57 (including the functions of the transmitting unit, the receiving unit, the communication unit, and the image acquisition unit) and other communication devices (the personal computer 80, the electronic camera 10 and the like) via a public network 960 or a communication network such as a communication network. A transmission / reception unit 965 (including functions of a transmission unit, a reception unit, a communication unit, and an image acquisition unit) for performing transmission / reception is provided.

Further, the server 90A displays display means 9 for displaying information such as images and characters as necessary for confirmation.
68 and display means 968 based on a command from the information processing means.
Display control means 96 for outputting an image signal for display to
And I which reads various information input by the administrator via the input means 974 and transmits it to an information processing means described later, or outputs a display command to a notifying means such as an LED based on an instruction from the information processing means. / O975.

Also, the servers 90A...
Information processing means (CPU) 980 for performing overall control of ...
(Including the functions of a search unit, an electronic album creating unit, and an editing unit); a ROM for storing a program for operating the information processing unit 980 and various constants;
0, a memory 981 including a RAM serving as a recording unit serving as a work area when executing processing, and a server 90A.
… Various constants related to the processing, self attribute information on the network, URL (Uniform Resource Locators), address, site address, gateway information DNS (Doma)
connection information such as in Name System), user information such as user ID and address, image browsing information to be displayed on the display means of the personal computer 80, menu information, template images and information related to template images, and calendar-related information. There are provided a recording means 986 such as a hard disk for recording various information such as information to be displayed, news or information for comment display such as guidance, and a calendar clock 990 for counting time. In addition,
Since the date and time set by the calendar clock 990 need to be set accurately, a date and time correction unit that always adjusts the date and time accurately to the standard time may be provided.

Information processing means 980 in the servers 90A ...
Display control means 969, I / O 975, memory 98
1. Peripheral circuits including a recording unit 986, a calendar clock 990, and the like are connected by a bus 999.
80 is capable of controlling each peripheral circuit.

The information processing means 980 such as the server 90A
Retrieves yearly event data, news, event information, and the like corresponding to the date from the recording unit 986 or the like based on the information on the date obtained via the receiving unit such as the transmitting / receiving unit 965, and A template image, a content image, content information, and the like may be read from the recording unit 986 or the like to create an electronic album. Also,
The created electronic album can be transmitted to the user's personal computer 80, the server 90G of the print / media service site 96, or the like via transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965.

The server 9 of the content providing site 94
The information processing means 980 (search means) such as 0F searches the recording means 986 for event information or the like corresponding to the event ID or the like based on the event ID or date information obtained via the transmission / reception means 965 or the like. The server image of one or a plurality of content providing sites 94 can be stored in the template image, the content image, the content information, etc. at that time.
A, 90F, it is possible to read out from the recording means 986 or the like and transmit it to other electronic devices or servers via transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965 or to create an electronic album using the read contents. I have. The created electronic album can be transmitted to the user's personal computer 80 or the like via transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965.

The server 90 of the electronic album management site
The transmission / reception means 965 such as B can receive editing information for editing the electronic album from an electronic device such as the personal computer 80, and the information processing means 980 (editing means)
Can edit a created electronic album based on the received editing information to create a new electronic album.

The recording means 986 of the server 90B, 90C, 90D of the electronic album management site 92 and the content providing site 94 store information relating to the images received from the user's personal computer 80, the created electronic album, and the usage fee. It is possible to record information on the number of uses.

The information processing means 980 such as the servers 90B, 90C, 90D of the electronic album management site 92
When an image and event information are received from an electronic device such as the electronic camera 10 or the personal computer 80 via a receiving unit such as the transmitting / receiving unit 965, the received event information is transmitted to the server 90F or the like of the content providing site 94 by the transmitting / receiving unit 965 or the like. It is possible to transmit via transmission means. Further, the information processing means 980 receives the content to be attached to the electronic album from the server 90F or the like of the content providing site 94 via the receiving means such as the transmitting / receiving means 965, and transmits the image acquired from the electronic device such as the personal computer 80 to the content. It is possible to create an electronic album to which is pasted.

The recording means 986 such as the servers 90A and 90F of the sightseeing spot or theme park content providing site 94 stores event information for identifying the corresponding sightseeing spot or theme park or the event information held at the sightseeing spot or theme park or the like. It is possible to record event information relating to an event that is present, and transmit the event information recorded in the recording unit 986 or the like to an electronic device such as the electronic camera 10 or the personal computer 80 via a transmission unit such as the transmission / reception unit 957. It is possible to do.

The recording means 986 such as the servers 90A and 90F of the content providing site 94 such as sightseeing spots and theme parks associate the contents such as news and events and the information on the date related to the contents with each other. When the date information is acquired from the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92, the content recorded in association with the received date information is read from the recording unit 986 and transmitted by the transmission / reception unit 965 or the like. Server 90 of electronic album management site 92 via means
B or the like.

A recording means 986 such as a server 90F of a content providing site 94 such as a newspaper company can record contents to be pasted on an electronic album in association with dates and event information. When event information or date information is received from a server or the like of the electronic album management site via a receiving unit such as the transmitting / receiving unit 965, a process of reading the content recorded in association with the received event information or the like from the recording unit 986 is performed. .

The read content may be transmitted to the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 via the transmission / reception means 965, or an electronic album may be created by pasting the image obtained by the information processing means 980. It may be.

Server 90 of content providing site 94
When the content is transmitted by A, 90F, or the like, information relating to the usage fee of the content may be recorded in the recording unit 986 in association with the content to be transmitted as necessary. Further, information regarding the usage fee of the recorded content may be transmitted to the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 via transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965.

On the other hand, the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92, which has received the information on the usage fee of the content via the receiving means such as the transmission / reception means 965, reduces the usage fee of the received content for each user as necessary. Alternatively, the content may be recorded in the recording unit 986, and the counted usage fee of the content may be transmitted to the user's personal computer 80 or the electronic camera 10 via the transmission unit such as the transmission / reception unit 965.

The information processing means 980 of the electronic album management site 92 transmits, via the transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965, information that the use fee of the content is paid to the content providing site 94 side by using the content. You may do so.

On the other hand, in the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 which has received the information on the usage fee of the content through the transmission means such as the transmission / reception means 965,
The usage fee of the received content is counted and recorded by means 986
May be output to the content providing site 94 via the transmitting means such as the transmitting / receiving means 965.

In the above description, the electronic devices such as the electronic camera 10 and the personal computer 80, the servers 90B and 90C of the electronic album management site 92, the servers 90A and 90F of the content providing site 94, and the print / media service site Each of the 96 servers 90G has been described as an independent device in the embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the functions provided in the servers 90B, 90C,. ,
An electronic album creation system or an electronic album creation device having a plurality of these functions such that the same device (server or the like) has the functions of the servers 90A and 90F of the content providing site 94. Even so, the object of the present invention can be achieved.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a process performed by each device of the electronic album creating system when creating an electronic album.

When the user inputs an instruction to create an electronic album via input means 874 of personal computer 80, the processing executed by information processing means 880 of personal computer 80 is S200
The process branches to “Create electronic album (PC)”. Then, the process proceeds to the next step S202 “Electronic album creation program activation”.

In S202, the electronic album creation program is started on the personal computer 80, and the processing proceeds to the next S204.
Proceed to “Registration of photographed image with incidental information”. In S204, the recording medium 177 of the electronic camera 10 or the recording unit 88
6 is read out and transmitted to the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 via the transmission / reception means 865 to read one or a plurality of image files 30 for creating an electronic album recorded in the File 30
Is registered in the electronic album management site 92.

On the other hand, in the electronic album management site 92 for creating an electronic album, a processing program for creating an electronic album has been started in S300 “Create electronic album (site)”. When the user 965 obtains an image for creating an electronic album from the personal computer 80, the processing performed by the information processing means 980 proceeds to S302 “DB conversion of photographed image and incidental information”, and the image attachment recorded in the obtained image file 30 is added. Information 3
Recording means 9 associating a database 2 with an image as a database
86 and so on. The user can edit the image attachment information 32 recorded in this database by operating the personal computer 80.

When the transmission processing of the image file 30 is completed, the processing performed by the information processing means 880 proceeds to the determination of S206 “Do you instruct retrieval of content information based on incidental information?”. In the judgment of S206, the user sends the personal computer 8
When the personal computer 80 determines that an instruction to search for the content to be pasted on the electronic album has been given through the input unit 874 provided in the electronic album management site 92, the personal computer 80 sends the instruction to search for the content via the transmission / reception unit 865.
, And the process proceeds to the next step S208 of “acquire content information?”.

If it is determined in step S206 that the user has not instructed to search for the content to be pasted on the electronic album via the input unit 874 provided on the personal computer 80, the information processing unit 880 determines The processing to be performed proceeds to S216 “End”, and the processing routine for creating an electronic album is ended.

On the other hand, in the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 which has received the instruction to search for the content, the content information acquisition program corresponding to the acquired image attached information is activated, and S304 "content distribution based on the accompanying information" Proceed to the "search ahead" process. In S304, based on the shooting date / time information 36, the event ID information 38, and the like described in the image attachment information 32 of the image file 30, the content providing site 94, a sightseeing hotel, a theme park, an amusement park, and a sports facility are provided. From the server 90A or the like, a server that is considered to have appropriate contents such as images and guidance is specified, and a process of automatically searching for appropriate contents is performed.

The server 90 B of the electronic album management site 92 stores the URL of the content providing site 94 for providing content corresponding to the event ID information 38 described in the image attached information 32. Various kinds of content information (content information recorded by the server 90A of the hotel, content information recorded by the server 90F of the newspaper company, amusement parks, theme parks, etc.) Content information and the like recorded by a server). In particular, when acquiring content information from the newspaper server 90F or the like, the shooting date / time information 36 described in the image attached information 32 is transmitted to the newspaper server 90F or the like together with the event ID information 38, The content related to the shooting date / time information 36 of the image to be pasted on the electronic album is searched for and obtained.

On the other hand, in the content providing site 94 for providing the content, a processing program for managing the content is started in S400 “content providing”, for example, the electronic album management site 92 or the user's personal computer 8
When the transmission / reception unit 965 such as the server 90F acquires information requesting the purchase or provision of the content based on the shooting date / time information 36 and the event ID information 38, the server 9
The processing performed by the information processing means 980 such as 0F is S402
Proceed to “Content distribution”.

In S402, based on the information for requesting the purchase or provision of the acquired contents, the contents information such as the requested image or guidance is transmitted via the transmission / reception means 965 to the server 90B of the electronic album management site 92 or the personal computer 80. And so on.

If the requested content is a paid content, the usage fee is counted together with the content distribution, and the usage fee billing information is transmitted to the content distribution destination. On the other hand, if the requested content is such as to advertise a hotel, theme park, amusement park, sports facility, or the like at a tourist spot, the content providing site 94 may change the electronic album management site 92 from the content providing site 94.
And the like, the payment information of the insertion fee as an advertisement is transmitted. If the requested content is free content, no billing information is transmitted.

In the electronic album management site 92 which has obtained the content information from the content providing site 94,
In S306 “Converting the content information into DB / content data / price and payment direction”, the acquired content information is recorded in the recording unit 986, and the information on the payment direction of the payment and the charging information are converted into a database and stored in the recording unit 986 or the like. Perform recording processing. At this time, it is possible to record the acquired content information in association with the images constituting the electronic album.

In S208, the personal computer 80 displays the display means 8
At 68, a guide asking the user whether to purchase (or acquire) the content information received by the electronic album management site 92 is displayed, and the user inputs information indicating that the content information is to be acquired. A determination is made as to whether or not it is.

If the user has input information indicating that content information is not to be obtained, the processing performed by the information processing means 880 proceeds to S216, and the processing routine for creating an electronic album is terminated. If the user has input information indicating that content information is to be obtained, the process performed by the information processing unit 880 proceeds to S210 “selection of content information display”.

In S210, the display means 8 of the personal computer 80
At 68, a process of displaying one or a plurality of pieces of content information received by the electronic album management site 92 is performed. When the user selects or designates the desired content, information on the acquisition of the content selected or designated by the user is transmitted to the server 90B of the electronic album management site 92 or the like.

The processing performed by the information processing means such as the server 90B of the electronic album management site 92 that has received the information on the acquisition of the content selected or designated by the user is described in S308 “Creating an electronic album with content information and registered images. And performs a process of reading out content information related to all or a part of the user's image recorded in the recording unit 986 or the like and creating an electronic album. When creating the electronic album, the electronic album is created by automatically laying out the images acquired from the user side and the acquired contents appropriately according to the size.

[0113] The created electronic album is transmitted to the user's personal computer 80 via the communication network 82.
This electronic album may be created by pasting the image uploaded by the user and the effect content downloaded from the server 90F of the content providing site 94 or the server 90A of the hotel on a screen corresponding to a mount. Further, the content may be a template image for decorating the image 52.

As shown in FIG. 1, the user's personal computer 80
The display means 868 displays the created electronic album 50. The electronic album 50 includes an image 52 of the user.
And shooting date and time information 54 indicating the date when the image 52 was shot.
And a comment column 56 in which a comment about the image 52 is written, a title column 58 in which a title about the image 52 is written, an article 60 as content information such as news at the shooting date and time, and an event ID. And a guide 62 for a theme park or the like.

[0115] In the example described in the electronic album 50, the article 60 and the guide 62 are described with character information. However, the object of the present invention can be achieved even with a picture or a pattern. . In the comment field 56, the user can write desired information at the time of editing.
Also, in the layout of contents such as the image 52, the title column 58, the article 60, the guidance 62, and the selection of contents, the user operates input means of the personal computer 80 to select or edit various contents. It has become possible. Note that the image 52 may be the main image 34 or a reduced image resized to a predetermined size.

The image files registered by the user in the electronic album management site 92 and the database for the electronic album are stored in the electronic album management site 9 in the form of an electronic album.
2 and can be searched and browsed according to the user's request. It should be noted that even a user other than the registered user can input the unique ID and password via the input means of the personal computer 80A and transmit it to the electronic album management site 92, thereby creating the electronic album management site 92. 50 can be browsed.

When the user edits the electronic album 50 displayed on the display means 868 of the personal computer 80 as necessary, and inputs an instruction to the effect that the electronic album 50 is completed via the input means 874. , The processing is performed as shown in FIG.
Proceed to 212 “Completion of creation of electronic album with content information”. In S212, when the user inputs information indicating that the creation of the electronic album 50 has been completed, the information is transmitted to the server 90B of the electronic album management site 92 or the like.

When the server 90B or the like of the electronic album management site 92 obtains information indicating that the creation of the electronic album 50 has been completed, a calculation to settle the usage fee for the creation of the electronic album is performed in S310 “Charge Calculation”. If the content used by the user to create the electronic album 50 is a paid content such as the article 60 provided by the content providing site 94, the usage fee of the content is added to the electronic album management fee and used later. Of the electronic album creation fee to the user.

If the content used is information such as a guide 62 for promoting a hotel, a theme park, an amusement park, a sports facility, or the like at a tourist spot, the publication fee of the content is changed to the electronic album management site 92. Etc. received,
Appropriate for operating expenses related to electronic album creation. Also, in the case of free content, the user is not charged for the usage fee of the content itself.
May be charged to the user.

In the next step S312 “Send billing data”, the billing information such as the electronic album creation fee calculated in S310 is transmitted to the user's personal computer 80, and the fee payment information is sent to the content providing site 94 as necessary. Or send billing information. In step S214 “Charge display”, the user's personal computer 80 that has received the charging information displays the received charging information such as the electronic album creation fee on the display unit 868 to notify the user. Then, the processing executed by the information processing means 880 of the personal computer 80 is the next S216 “End”
Proceed to.

In the server 90F or the like of the content providing site 94 from which the fee payment information and the like are acquired, S404
In “Update charging DB”, a process of adding the fee payment information to the charging database in which the charging information for the electronic album management site 92 is recorded and updating the charging database is performed. Then, the process advances to the next S406 “end” to end the current content providing process.

For example, if the content providing site 94 is a newspaper company and the provided content itself is charged, it is registered in the charging database of the electronic album management site 90 as fee payment information. Is registered as income in the billing database of a newspaper company.

When the content providing site 94 is a hotel or a theme park, and the content is provided and pasted on the electronic album 50 to be reused by the user (when it becomes a repeater),
The advertisement effect is expected if another person who sees the information has a possibility of newly using the electronic album management site 92.
Is registered as an income in the charging database, and is registered as an expenditure in the charging database of the content providing site 94. At this time, the user is charged as charging information the total usage fee of the plurality of contents and the cost required to create the electronic album 50 (or a fee obtained by subtracting the margin of the electronic album management site 92).

On the other hand, in the electronic album management site 92, S
When the billing data transmission process is completed in 312, the process proceeds to the next S314 “Billing DB Update”, where the electronic album 5
A process for updating the charging information and the billing statement for the user who created 0 and the database of the payment information and the payment statement for the content providing site 94 is performed. At this time, use points (e.g., the number of use of the electronic album, the number of use of the content, etc.) which are awarded for the user creating the electronic album 50 are added or added, and the use points are accumulated and managed for each user. You may make it. It is also possible to read out the content usage frequency from the usage points, and to pay the content providing site 94 a payment or a total of bills according to the content usage fee in accordance with the content usage frequency.

In the electronic album management site 92,
It is possible to automatically issue a management ID when creating an electronic album. This management ID corresponds to the electronic album 5
It is possible to contact a specific or unspecified address in the personal information management database of the user who created 0 using electronic mail.

The created electronic album 50 may be requested by a print / media service site 96 or the like for printing on paper at the request of the user, or the CD-RO may be used.
It is possible to request a service for recording in M or the like. The electronic album to be created may be a diary, a childcare diary, an essay, a biography, or the like.

[0127]

As described above, according to the electronic album creating system, the electronic album creating apparatus and the method thereof according to the present invention, recording means for recording event information,
A first server including a transmission unit that transmits the event information, an image acquisition unit that acquires an image, a reception unit that receives the event information, and an electronic album management server that associates the acquired image with the event information. Electronic device comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the event information; a recording unit that records content associated with the event information; a receiving unit that receives the event information; and a recording unit that records the content recorded in association with the received event information. Content providing server comprising: transmitting means for reading from the electronic album managing server; receiving means for receiving the image and the event information; transmitting means for transmitting the received event information; and content to be pasted on the electronic album. Creating an electronic album in which an image and the content are pasted. Since an electronic album management server having a child album creating means, it is possible to create an original album attractive to obtain attractive content based on event information automatically.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an image acquiring unit for acquiring an image, a date acquiring unit for acquiring information on a date on which an image is acquired, and transmitting the acquired image in association with date information. An electronic device having a transmitting unit that performs the recording, a recording unit that records content such as news and events and information of a date related to the content in association with each other,
A content providing server including a receiving unit that acquires date information, a transmitting unit that reads and transmits content recorded in association with the received date information from the recording unit, and receives image and date information. Receiving means,
An electronic album comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits information of a received date; a receiving unit that receives content to be pasted on an electronic album; and an electronic album creating unit that creates an electronic album to which a received image and content are pasted. With the management server, it is possible to automatically acquire attractive contents based on the date and create an attractive original album.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic album creating system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of the electronic camera.

FIG. 3 shows event IDs to be distributed and their individual events I
Diagram showing information related to D

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image recording sequence using an electronic camera.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of an image file in which an event ID is recorded.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of the personal computer 80;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of an image file in which accompanying information is recorded.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a signal processing system of the server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process performed by each device when creating an electronic album.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electronic camera, 12 ... Cradle, 14 ... Communication interface, 20 ... Event information output means, 22 ... Over-the-counter vending machine, 30 ... Image file, 32 ... Image attachment information,
34: main image, 36: shooting date and time information, 38: event I
D information, 40 ... accompanying information, 42 ... identification information, 44 ... title information, 46 ... reduced image, 50 ... electronic album, 5
2 ... Image, 54 ... Date and time information, 56 ... Comment column, 58 ...
Title section, 60 ... Article, 62 ... Guidance, 80 ... PC, 8
2: Communication network, 90: Server, 92: Electronic album management site, 94: Content providing site, 96:
Print / media service site, 150: imaging means, 153: image processing means, 154: A / D converter, 1
56 antenna, 157 transmission / reception means, 162 communication connector, 163 cradle connector, 167 compression / expansion means, 168 display means, 169 OSD, 170
Signal processing means, 171 ... frame memory, 172 ... D /
A converter, 173 ... connector, 174 ... input means, 17
5 I / O, 177 recording medium, 178 recording medium mounting section, 179 recording medium interface, 180 information processing means, 182 nonvolatile memory, 183 ROM,
184: RAM, 190: calendar clock, 191: power supply, 192: power connector, 193: light emitting means, 194
... Emission control means, 199 ... Bus, 856 ... Antenna, 8
57: transmission / reception means, 859: communication connector, 860: public line, 865: transmission / reception means, 868: display means, 86
9 display control means 874 input means 875 I /
O, 877: recording medium, 878: recording medium mounting portion, 87
9 Recording medium interface, 880 Information processing means, 881 Memory, 886 Recording means, 890 Calendar clock, 899 Bus, 956 Antenna, 957
Transmitting / receiving means, 960: public line, 965: transmitting / receiving means,
968: display means, 969: display control means, 974: input means, 975: I / O, 980: information processing means, 98
1: memory, 986: recording means, 990: calendar clock, 999: bus

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06T 11/60 100 G06T 11/60 100D 11/80 11/80 E H04N 1/00 107 H04N 1/00 107Z F-term (Reference) 5B050 AA09 BA06 BA12 BA16 BA20 CA05 CA06 CA07 CA08 EA19 FA02 FA09 FA19 GA08 5B075 KK02 ND20 UU40 5C062 AA11 AA13 AA29 AB38 AC24 AC41 AF00 BA00

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An electronic album creation system for automatically creating an album in which appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, wherein at least a first server And electronic device, a content providing server, and an electronic album management server. The first device records event information for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like, or event information about an event held at a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like. Recording means, a first server having a first transmission means for transmitting the event information to an electronic device, an image acquisition means for acquiring an image at a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like, and the first server First receiving means for receiving event information from the electronic album management unit, and associating the acquired image with the event information. An electronic device comprising: a second transmitting unit that transmits the event information to the electronic album; a second recording unit that records a content to be attached to the electronic album in association with the event information; Second receiving means for receiving, and third transmitting means for reading the content recorded in association with the received event information from the second recording means upon receiving the event information, and transmitting the content to the electronic album management server. A content providing server comprising: a third server for receiving an image and event information from the electronic device;
Receiving means, a fourth transmitting means for transmitting the received event information to the content providing server, a fourth receiving means for receiving the content to be pasted to the electronic album from the content providing server, An electronic album management server having electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album pasted with the contents. 2. The electronic album creation system according to claim 1, wherein the event information is identification information for identifying and identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, and the like, and an event at the sightseeing spot, the theme park, and the like. 3. An electronic album creating system for automatically creating an album in which appropriate contents are pasted using an image and date information related to the image, the electronic album creating system comprising at least an electronic device, a content providing server, and an electronic device. Including each device of the album management server, image acquisition means for acquiring images at sightseeing spots, theme parks, etc., date acquisition means for acquiring information on the date on which the images were acquired, information on the acquired images and the dates An electronic device including a first transmission unit that transmits the content to the electronic album management server in association with the content, a first recording that records content such as news and events, and date information related to the content in association with each other Means, first receiving means for acquiring date information from the electronic album management server, and date received when the date information is received A content providing server comprising: a second transmission unit that reads content recorded in association with information from the first recording unit and transmits the content to the electronic album management server; and information on images and dates from the electronic device. Second receiving means for receiving the information of the date received, third transmitting means for transmitting the information of the received date to the content providing server, third receiving means for receiving the content to be pasted on the electronic album from the content providing server, An electronic album management system, comprising: an electronic album management server including an electronic album creation unit that creates an electronic album in which the received image and the content are pasted. 4. The image acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition device is an imaging device that captures an image at a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like, or a device that reads and acquires an image recorded on a removable recording medium. The electronic album creation system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein 5. The electronic album management server further comprises: fifth transmission means for transmitting the created electronic album to the electronic device, wherein the electronic device receives the electronic album from the electronic album management server. 5. The electronic album creation system according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit, and a display unit for displaying the received electronic album. 6. The electronic device sends, from a user, editing information for editing an electronic album such as a change of an image or a content included in the electronic album displayed on the display means or a change of a layout of the image or the content. An input unit for inputting, and a sixth transmission unit for transmitting the input editing information to an electronic album management server, wherein the electronic album management server receives editing information for editing an electronic album from an electronic device. Receiving means,
6. The electronic album creating system according to claim 5, further comprising editing means for editing the created electronic album based on the received editing information to create a new electronic album. 7. The content providing server further includes a third recording unit that records information related to a usage fee of the content in association with the content to be transmitted as necessary, and the third recording unit records the information on the third recording unit. And a seventh transmitting unit for transmitting information relating to the usage fee of the content to the electronic album management server, wherein the electronic album management server receives the usage fee of the content, Recording means for counting and recording the usage fee for each user as necessary, and information for charging the user side for the usage fee of the counted content recorded in the fourth recording means. 7. The electronic album creating system according to claim 1, further comprising an eighth transmitting unit that outputs the electronic album. 8. The electronic album management server according to claim 7, wherein said electronic album management server includes ninth transmission means for transmitting information indicating that the usage fee of said used content is paid to a content providing server. Creation system. 9. The electronic device, the one or more content providing servers, and the electronic album management server can transmit and receive information to and from each other via a communication line network such as the Internet. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a search unit configured to search and extract appropriate content from one or more content providing servers based on the event information or the date information. Album creation system. 10. The content providing server according to claim 5, further comprising: a fifth recording unit that records information relating to a usage fee of the content in association with the content to be transmitted; The electronic album management server further comprises: tenth transmission means for transmitting information relating to the usage fee of the content to the electronic album management server, wherein the electronic album management server receives the content usage fee, Sixth recording means for counting and recording the usage fee, and eleventh transmission means for outputting information for charging the content providing server side for the usage fee of the counted content recorded in the sixth recording means. The electronic album creation system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: 11. An electronic album creation system for automatically creating an album in which appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, wherein at least the electronic device and the content An image acquisition unit that includes an apparatus of a providing server and an electronic album management server, acquires an image at a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like; a first receiving unit that receives event information from a content providing server; An electronic device including a first transmission unit that transmits the electronic information to the electronic album management server in association with the event information; and event information for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like. First recording means for recording event information relating to an event, and transmitting the event information to an electronic device A second transmission unit that, the second recording means for recording the content to paste in the electronic album in association with the event information, the second to receive the event information from the electronic album managing server
Receiving means for receiving the event information, and third transmitting means for reading out the content recorded in association with the received event information from the second recording means and transmitting the content to the electronic album management server A providing server, and a third receiving an image and event information from the electronic device
Receiving means, a fourth transmitting means for transmitting the received event information to the content providing server, a fourth receiving means for receiving the content to be pasted to the electronic album from the content providing server, An electronic album management server having electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album pasted with the contents. 12. An electronic album creating system for automatically creating an album in which appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, wherein at least the first server A first recording unit for recording event information for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like, or event information relating to an event being held at a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like, including each device of an electronic device and an electronic album management server A first server comprising: a first transmission unit that transmits the event information to an electronic device; an image acquisition unit that acquires an image at a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like; and an event acquisition unit that acquires the event information from the first server. First receiving means for receiving, and second means for associating the acquired image with the event information and transmitting the image information to the electronic album management server An electronic device including a transmitting unit, a second recording unit that records a content to be pasted on an electronic album in association with the event information, and a second receiving unit that receives an image and event information from the electronic device. Receiving the event information, reading the content recorded in association with the received event information from the second recording means, and creating an electronic album in which the content and the received image are pasted; An electronic album management system comprising: an electronic album management server comprising: 13. An electronic album creation system for automatically creating an album in which appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, wherein at least an electronic device and an electronic device An image acquisition unit that includes an album management server and acquires images at sightseeing spots, theme parks, and the like; a first reception unit that receives event information from an electronic album management server; and associates the acquired images with the event information. An electronic device having first transmission means for transmitting to an electronic album management server, and event information for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like, or event information relating to an event held at a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like. First recording means for transmitting the event information to an electronic device; Second recording means for recording a content to be pasted to an electronic album in association with event information, second receiving means for receiving an image and event information from the electronic device, and event information received when the event information is received. An electronic album management server comprising: an electronic album creating unit that reads out the content recorded in association with the content from the second recording unit and creates an electronic album in which the content and the received image are pasted. An electronic album creation system, comprising: 14. An electronic album creating apparatus which acquires an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, searches for an appropriate content, and automatically creates an album in which the searched content is pasted. Image acquiring means for acquiring an image and event information for identifying a sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like related to the image or event information about an event held at the sightseeing spot, a theme park, or the like; Search means for searching, via a communication means, a content providing server that records appropriate content based on the event information in association with the event information; and receiving the received content from the content providing server. Means, an electronic alba on which the acquired image and the received content are pasted Electronic album creating apparatus characterized by comprising a an electronic album creating means for creating a. 15. An electronic album creating apparatus for searching for an appropriate content by using an image and date information related to the image, and automatically creating an album in which the searched content is pasted. Image acquisition means for acquiring date information associated with the image; and communicating appropriate content based on the acquired date information from a content providing server that records the content in association with the date information. Searching means for searching through means; receiving means for receiving the searched content from a content providing server; electronic album creating means for creating an electronic album in which the obtained image and the received content are pasted; An electronic album creating device, comprising: 16. An electronic album creating method for automatically creating an album in which appropriate content is pasted using an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, wherein the event information is provided. A first server, an electronic device that records or transmits the image in association with the acquired event information, a content providing server that provides a content to be pasted into an electronic album, and acquires an image and event information from the electronic device. And an electronic album management system that obtains content from the content providing server and creates an electronic album, using an electronic album creating system, wherein the information processing means of the first server records information of the first server. Event information or sightseeing spots or tables that identify sightseeing spots, theme parks, etc. A step of reading event information relating to an event held in a park or the like and transmitting the event information to an electronic device via a transmitting unit; Acquiring the first, the information processing means of the electronic device, the receiving means, the first
Receiving the event information from the server; transmitting information to the electronic album management server by associating the acquired image with the event information via a transmission unit; A step in which the information processing means receives event information from the electronic album management server via the receiving means; and a step in which the information processing means in the content providing server receives the event information through the receiving means and associates the received event information with the received event information. Reading the content recorded in the recording means and transmitting the content to the electronic album management server via the transmission means, and the information processing means of the electronic album management server reads the image and event information from the electronic device via the reception means. Receiving the event, and the information processing means of the electronic album management server Transmitting the content information to the content providing server via the transmitting means, the information processing means of the electronic album management server receiving the content to be pasted on the electronic album from the content providing server via the receiving means, A step of creating an electronic album in which the received image and the content are pasted by an electronic album creating means of the management server. 17. An electronic album creation method for acquiring an image and event information which is information related to the content of the image, searching for an appropriate content, and automatically creating an album pasting the searched content. An electronic album creating apparatus including an image acquiring unit, a communication unit, a searching unit, a receiving unit, and an electronic album creating unit is used. The image acquiring unit includes an image and a sightseeing spot or theme related to the image. A step of acquiring event information for identifying a park or the like or event information relating to an event held in a tourist spot, a theme park, or the like; A step of searching via a communication means from a content providing server in which the contents are recorded in association with each other; Receiving the retrieved content from a content providing server; and generating electronic album in which the obtained image and the received content are pasted by the electronic album generating means. How to create an electronic album. 18. An electronic album creating method for searching for an appropriate content using an image and date information related to the image, and automatically creating an album in which the searched content is pasted, comprising the steps of: Using an electronic album creating apparatus, comprising: an electronic album creating device, comprising: a communication unit, a communication unit, a search unit, a receiving unit, and an electronic album creating unit, wherein the image acquiring unit acquires information on an image and a date associated with the image; Means for searching, via a communication means, an appropriate content based on the acquired date information from a content providing server which records the content in association with the date information, and receiving means, Receiving the searched content from the content providing server, and the electronic album creating unit pastes the obtained image and the received content. Electronic album creating method characterized by comprising the steps of: creating an electronic album with, the.