JP2003044400A - Device and method for disclosing data, image pickup device, data disclosing system, storage medium and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data disclosing device which can easily and widely disclose data such as a picture on a home page. SOLUTION: A user purchasing a digital camera corresponding to ILS 101 obtains an electronic mail account (corresponding to peculiar individual by one to one) of the camera 101 included in a package and transmits profile information such as a self-introduction sentence by an electronic mail. The picture photographed by the camera 101 is transmitted to the electronic mail address of a company as the electronic mail (data mail) through the Internet with GPS data. An image library home page where individual ID specifying the camera 101 and GPS data are associated with the picture is generated and disclosed. When the data are carried on the home page, the user can register a comment with respect to a registered picture and voice (impression and the like) from a person referring to the picture is given to the user by using the profile.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data disclosure device for disclosing data such as image data provided from a device that can be a data transmission source such as a digital camera with a communication function on the Internet on a website. The present invention relates to a method, an imaging device, a data disclosure system, a storage medium, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The spread of the Internet has made it possible for users to distribute various digital data over a network. This is not an exception even for a digital camera as a transmission source device, for example, and a digital camera having a communication function to the Internet has been devised (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-146084). In the data disclosure system using this digital camera, the collection position of the collected field data can be specified, and the field data can be linked with the map information for browsing.

[0003]

However, the digital data camera currently invented, including the above-mentioned conventional data disclosure system, generally does not have the main purpose from the beginning to disclose the photographed image on the Internet. However, it is not always efficient when the photographed image is published on the Internet.

[0006] Further, although a device which is considered to be disclosed on the Internet is also disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-048050), the disclosure of data is private and widely disclosed in the form of an image library. Not suitable for.

Therefore, there is room for improvement in easily disclosing image data and the like widely like an image library and realizing a service that can be developed into a participatory event, for example.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is a data disclosure device and method, and an imaging device capable of easily disclosing data such as images on a home page. , A data disclosure system, a storage medium, and a program.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a data disclosure device according to claim 1 of the present invention is a source device capable of generating predetermined data, the predetermined data and the source device of the predetermined data. And an e-mail receiving unit for receiving an e-mail with data including identification information for identifying the transmission source device, based on the identification information included in the e-mail with data received by the e-mail receiving unit. Source device specifying means, predetermined data extracting means for extracting predetermined data from the data-added electronic mail received by the mail receiving means, and the predetermined data extracting for each source device specified by the source device specifying means Storage control means for storing the predetermined data retrieved by the means in a memory, and the predetermined data stored by the storage control means. A homepage creation means for creating the homepage, characterized in that said predetermined data on the homepage created by the website creation means and a public means to publish on the Internet.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure device according to the first aspect, wherein the home page creating means is
The home page is created by associating the predetermined data with a transmission source device of the predetermined data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data disclosure apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the data disclosure apparatus further comprises specific information registration means for registering the specific information, and the first electronic mail with data from the transmission source apparatus. Is transmitted after registration of the specific information by the specific information registration means.

According to the data disclosure device of claim 4, in the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the homepage includes the mail address of the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data to be posted. It is characterized by being done.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the third aspect, the specific information is a mail address of a user of the transmission source device or data corresponding to the mail address. .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the fifth aspect, the mail address is set based on a mail address given in advance to each sender device at the time of shipment of the sender device. It is characterized by being done.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the mail receiving means is a sender of the predetermined data posted on the home page. It is possible to receive a comment from the user of the apparatus, and when the comment is received, the homepage creating means updates the content of the homepage so as to add the received comment to the posted predetermined data. It is characterized by

According to the data disclosure device of claim 8, in the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the mail receiving means should delete the predetermined data from the created home page. An e-mail from the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data can be received, and when the e-mail is received, the home page creating means deletes the predetermined data from the created home page. Characterized by updating the contents of the homepage.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure device according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the predetermined data is image data.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the ninth aspect, the storage control means includes environmental data at the time of capturing the original image of the image data in the received electronic mail with data. If yes,
It is characterized in that the environmental data is stored in the memory in association with the image data, and the homepage creating means creates the homepage by associating the saved environmental data with the image data to be posted.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the tenth aspect, the environmental data includes at least one of an image pickup time of the original image, an image pickup location, and an image pickup condition. .

In order to achieve the above object, a data disclosure method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is a specification for specifying the predetermined data and a transmission source device of the predetermined data from a transmission source device capable of generating the predetermined data. A mail receiving step of receiving an electronic mail with data including information, and a transmission source device specifying step of specifying a transmission source device based on the specific information included in the electronic mail with data received by the mail receiving step; A predetermined data extraction step of extracting predetermined data from the electronic mail with data received in the mail receiving step, and a predetermined data extraction step of the predetermined data extraction step for each transmission source device identified in the transmission source device identification step A storage control process for storing the data in the memory, and a home page containing the predetermined data stored by the storage control process. A homepage creation step of creating a di, and having a public process that exposes the predetermined data on the homepage created by the website creation process on the Internet.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure method according to the twelfth aspect, wherein in the home page creating step, the home page is created by associating the predetermined data with a transmission source device of the predetermined data. Characterize.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure method according to the twelfth or thirteenth aspect, further comprising a specific information registration step of registering the specific information, wherein an email with data from the transmission source device is sent. The first transmission is performed after the registration of the specific information in the specific information registration step.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the invention, in the data disclosure method according to any one of the twelfth to fourteenth aspects, the mail address of the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data to be posted is posted on the home page. It is characterized by being done.

A data disclosure method according to a sixteenth aspect is the configuration according to the fourteenth aspect, wherein the specific information is a mail address of a user of the transmission source device or data corresponding to the mail address. .

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure method according to the sixteenth aspect, wherein the mail address is set based on a mail address given in advance to each sender device at the time of shipment of the sender device. It is characterized by being done.

A data disclosure method according to claim 18 is the configuration according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the mail receiving step is a transmission source of the predetermined data with respect to the predetermined data posted on the home page. It is possible to receive a comment from the user of the device, and when the comment is received, the home page creating step updates the content of the home page so as to add the received comment to the posted predetermined data. It is characterized by

A data disclosure method according to claim 19 is the configuration according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the mail receiving step deletes the predetermined data from the created homepage. , An e-mail from the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data can be received, and when the e-mail is received, the home page creating step deletes the predetermined data from the created home page. Characterized by updating the contents of the homepage.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the data disclosure method according to any one of the twelfth to nineteenth aspects, wherein the predetermined data is image data.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the twenty-first aspect, the storage control step includes environmental data at the time of capturing the original image of the image data in the received electronic mail with data. If it is, the environmental data is stored in the memory in association with the image data, and the homepage creating step creates the homepage by associating the saved environmental data with the image data to be posted. Is characterized by.

A data disclosure method according to a twenty-second aspect is characterized in that, in the configuration according to the twenty-first aspect, the environmental data includes at least one of an image capturing time, an image capturing location, and an image capturing condition of the original image. .

In order to achieve the above object, the image pickup device according to claim 23 of the present invention is capable of generating image data as the predetermined data by image pickup, and the data according to any one of claims 1-11. It is characterized in that it can function as a transmission source device capable of transmitting an electronic mail with data including the predetermined data to the public device.

An image pickup apparatus according to a twenty-fourth aspect is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect.
In the configuration described above, an image pickup unit that obtains image data as the predetermined data by image pickup, an Internet connection unit that enables connection to the Internet, an image data obtained by the image pickup unit, and a specification that identifies the image pickup apparatus. And a mail sending means for sending the image-added electronic mail created by the mail creating means to the data disclosure device as the data-added electronic mail. It is characterized by

An image pickup device according to a twenty-fifth aspect is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect.
Alternatively, in the configuration described in Item 24, the function of the Internet connection unit is realized by a connection function to an Internet connection service of a mobile phone company.

An image pickup apparatus according to a twenty-sixth aspect is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect.
Alternatively, in the configuration described in 24, the function of the Internet connection unit is realized by a function of connecting to a communication service of a mobile phone company and a function of a modem.

An image pickup device according to a twenty-seventh aspect is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect.
27. The configuration according to any one of items 1 to 26, further comprising an environmental data acquisition unit that acquires environmental data at the time of capturing the image captured by the image capturing unit, wherein the mail creating unit includes the image-attached electronic mail to be created. In addition, the environmental data acquired by the environmental data acquisition means is included.

An image pickup apparatus according to a twenty-eighth aspect is the above-mentioned twenty-seventh aspect.
In the described configuration, the environmental data includes at least one of an image capturing time, an image capturing location, and an image capturing condition of the image.

An image pickup device according to claim 29 is the image pickup device according to claim 28.
In the described configuration, the image capturing time and the image capturing location are acquired by a GPS function.

In order to achieve the above object, a data disclosure system according to claim 30 of the present invention is the data disclosure device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 and any one of claims 23 to 29. It is characterized in that it is configured to be connected to the described imaging device via the Internet.

To achieve the above object, a storage medium according to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention is a storage medium storing a computer-readable program used in a data disclosure method, and a transmission source device capable of generating predetermined data. From a code of a mail receiving step of receiving an electronic mail with data including the predetermined data and specific information for specifying a transmission source device of the predetermined data, and an electronic mail with data received by the mail receiving step. A code of a transmission source device identifying step for identifying a transmission source device based on the identification information contained in the code, and a code of a predetermined data extracting step for extracting predetermined data from the data-attached electronic mail received by the code of the mail receiving step. , For each transmission source device identified by the code of the transmission source device identification step, A code for a save control step of saving the predetermined data retrieved by the memory in a memory, a code for a home page creating step for creating a home page listing the predetermined data saved by the code for the save control step, and the home page creating step And a code of a publishing process for publishing the predetermined data on the Internet on a home page created by the code.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a program according to claim 32 of the present invention is a program which is used in a data disclosure method and can be executed by a computer, wherein the transmission source device capable of generating predetermined data is capable of generating the predetermined data. A code of a mail receiving step of receiving an electronic mail with data including data and specific information for specifying a transmission source device of the predetermined data, and a code included in the electronic mail with data received by the mail receiving step. A code of a transmission source device specifying step of specifying a transmission source device based on specific information, a code of a predetermined data extracting step of extracting predetermined data from an electronic mail with data received by the code of the mail receiving step, and the transmission source For each transmission source device identified by the device identification process code, the data is retrieved by the predetermined data retrieval process code. Created by the code of the save control step of saving the specified data stored in the memory, the code of the home page creating step of creating the home page on which the specified data saved by the code of the save control step is created, and the code of the home page creating step And a code of a publishing process for publishing the predetermined data on the Internet on the created home page.

[0039]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a data disclosure system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This data disclosure system is an image library service (hereinafter, referred to as “I”) that widely publishes images provided by an image provider on a home page in association with an imaging device or an image provider.
This is referred to as "LS").

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an ILS compatible digital camera (source device, image pickup device) (also referred to as circular). The digital camera 101 used here is
Although not shown, a function of capturing a still image (imaging unit), a function of retaining the captured image as digital image data (predetermined data), GPS (Global Positioning)
System) function (environmental data acquisition means) and Internet connection function (Internet connection means, mail transmission means). The connection function to the Internet is realized by the same configuration as the Internet connection function of the mobile phone. That is, it is possible to connect to the Internet using the infrastructure of the mobile phone. The digital camera 101 holds an ID unique to each individual (hereinafter referred to as “individual ID”) (specific information). This individual ID is assigned as different information for each digital camera 101 at the time of shipment as a product of the digital camera 101.

Since the digital camera 101 has the above-mentioned functions, the captured digital image data, the geographical position data and the photographing time data in which the digital camera 101 existed at the time of photographing (hereinafter, these two are combined). "GPS data") and an electronic mail including the individual ID (hereinafter referred to as "data mail") (electronic mail with image) can be created and transmitted (mail creating means).

The digital camera 101 has a CPU (mail creating means) for executing various processes,
A RAM for storing various data, a ROM, a slot for an external storage medium, and the like are provided (all not shown).

Reference numeral 102 denotes an ILS compatible digital camera 10.
It is an e-mail server for managing the e-mail accounts given to all those who purchased 1. The e-mail server 102 is connected to the internet. Assuming that the purchaser of the digital camera 101 is a person who exclusively uses the digital camera 101, the purchaser is hereinafter referred to as a “user”. The contact between the user and the company that provides the ILS (hereinafter referred to as “ILS providing company”) is performed using this electronic mail account.

Reference numeral 103 is a base station used by the digital camera 101 to connect to the Internet. The base station 103 is a base station that is generally used for mobile phones and does not perform special processing for ILS. 104 is
An ILS electronic mail server (mail receiving means) for receiving an electronic mail transmitted from the digital camera 101. The ILS email server 104 is connected to the Internet. The ILS electronic mail server 104 is provided with an electronic mail address on the company side for receiving an electronic mail transmitted from the digital camera 101. The ILS email server 104 is also used to send an email from an ILS providing company to the email server 102.

Reference numeral 105 denotes an ILS home page creation device (transmission source device identification means, predetermined data extraction means,) for an ILS providing company to create an ILS home page.
Storage control means, homepage creation means). 106
Is a database server for ILS (specific information registration means, memory) that holds a database of user information and image data. Reference numeral 107 denotes an ILS Web server (publication means) for publicly disclosing the homepage created by the homepage creating apparatus 105 on the Internet. The ILS Web server 107 is a generally available Web server and is connected to the Internet. The ILS Web server 107 does not perform special processing for ILS. Homepage creation device 105
Is the ILS email server 104 and the ILS We
Since it is locally connected to the b server 107, it is not necessary to connect to the Internet. Database server 106
Is locally connected to the homepage creation device 105.

The home page creation device 105 uses the digital camera 10 received by the ILS electronic mail server 104.
1 or according to the electronic mail information from the electronic mail server 102, the data of the database server 106 is updated, the home page according to the database is created and updated, and this is transmitted to the ILS Web server 107.

The data disclosure device of the present invention is the ILS
E-mail server 104, homepage creation device 10
5, the database server 106 and the ILS Web server 107.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a general procedure for using ILS as seen from the user.

First, as shown in step S201, the user who purchased the digital camera 101 obtains the electronic mail account included in the package of the digital camera 101.

Next, as shown in step S202, the user uses this e-mail account to set his / her name or the e-mail address (specific information) obtained in step S201 to the e-mail address of the ILS providing company. E-mail address change information to make it easier to use (actually, both original and post-change e-mail addresses will be available instead of being changed. The original address will not be lost), self-introduction sentence, etc. Send your profile information by email. This work can be done at any time before the image is published in the image library (via the home page) described below. It should be noted that changing the user's e-mail address is not essential for receiving the ILS, and the one initially given may be used.

Next, as shown in step S203, the user takes the digital camera 101 purchased in step S201 to a travel destination or the like and takes an image. The photographed image is sent to the e-mail address of the company as an e-mail (data mail) through the Internet together with the GPS data.

Next, as shown in step S204, the sent image is registered and posted on the image library home page. At the time of publication, as shown in step S205, the user can perform the work of registering a comment for the registered image. After the image is made public, as shown in step S206, the voice (impression etc.) from the person who has viewed the image is registered in step S202 and then step S202.
It is sent to the user using the profile (user's email address) published in 204.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow chart of the data mail transmission processing by the digital camera 101. The program for executing this process is stored in the digital camera 101 at the time of shipment of the digital camera 101, for example. The digital camera 101 may be newly stored or upgraded by downloading it via the Internet after the purchase.

First, it is determined whether or not a photographing button (not shown) of the digital camera 101 has been pressed to perform photographing (step S300), and the determination is repeated until photographing is performed, and when photographing is performed. Saves the image data obtained by converting the captured original image into digital data (step S301) and saves the GPS data (step S301).
302). These data are stored in the memory (for example, RAM) provided in the digital camera 101.

Next, it is judged whether or not the image transfer mode is set (step S303). As a result of the judgment,
If the image transfer mode is not set, the process returns to step S300 to return to the normal standby state, while if the image transfer mode is set, the process proceeds to step S304 to send an image registration electronic mail, that is, a data mail. To create.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format example of the data mail created in step S304 of FIG. This data mail follows the electronic mail format generally used on the Internet and can be processed by a normal electronic mail server.

The data mail is composed of an electronic mail header 401 and an electronic mail body 402. The e-mail header 401 includes an e-mail address 403 of a company, an e-mail address 404 of a user, and target data 405 representing work items (types). The e-mail address 403 of the company is held in the memory (ROM or the like) from the time of shipment of the digital camera 101. The user's e-mail address 404 is the e-mail address obtained in step S201 of FIG.
It is held in the memory (ROM or the like) from the time of shipment.
In the case of data mail, the target data 405 represents “image registration” as the type of work.

The e-mail text 402 includes GPS data (shooting time data 406, shooting location data 407), individual ID data 408, and text-converted image data 4.
It consists of 09. When attaching binary data to an e-mail, text conversion is usually performed.

Returning to FIG. 3, in the following step S305,
Access the Internet connection service and secure the connection with the Internet. This connection is between the digital camera 101 and the base station 103. Next, the created data mail is transmitted to the e-mail address of the company (step S306). This data mail is transmitted to the ILS electronic mail server 104 via the base station 103.

Next, the connection to the Internet connection service is cut off, that is, the connection between the secured digital camera 101 and the base station 103 is cut off (step S30).
7) The process returns to step S300 to return to the normal standby state.

By the processing of FIG. 3, the image data obtained by the digital camera 101 is sent to the ILS electronic mail server 104 by electronic mail.

FIG. 5 shows the electronic mail server 104 for ILS.
It is a figure which shows the flowchart which shows the procedure of the received mail process (check of electronic mail) by.

First, it is checked whether a new e-mail has arrived at the e-mail address of the company, that is, whether or not a new e-mail has arrived (step S50).
1). This determination is repeated until new mail arrives, and when new mail arrives, the new mail that arrives is
It is determined whether the email is to be processed by the LS email server 104 (step S502). This determination is made by checking whether or not the data required for processing is included in the e-mail in the correct format, and when the format matches, it is determined that the e-mail is to be processed by the server 104. To be done.

Here, the ILS electronic mail server 104
In addition to the data mails shown in FIG. 4, the electronic mails received in step 2 include profile registration mails shown in FIG. 10, which will be described later, comment registration mails shown in FIG. 11, image registration deletion mails shown in FIG.

As a result of the determination in the step S502, if the new incoming electronic mail is an electronic mail to be processed by the present ILS electronic mail server 104, the work described in the new incoming electronic mail is performed by the home page creating device 105. Is added to a work list (shown in FIG. 6 to be described later) which is a queue of work to be performed by (step S503), and the process returns to step S501, while new e-mail should be processed by the ILS e-mail server 104. If it is not an electronic mail, an error notification mail for notifying an error is transmitted to the sender of the new electronic mail (step S504), and the process returns to step S501.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format example of the work list.

The work list is the ILS electronic mail server 1
It is a list of the emails (mail header and text) received in 04 and determined to be the emails to be processed. However, a work item start tag 601 and a work item end tag 6 indicating the beginning and end of the contents of each e-mail are provided so that each e-mail can be distinguished.
02 is used. The contents between the work item start tag 601 and the work item end tag 602 indicate work items (for example, image registration work, image registration deletion work, etc.).
Although the work list is stored in the memory in the ILS email server 104, the home page creation device 105
It may be stored in the internal memory.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a database held by the database server 106.

In this database, the individual ID of the camera shown in 701, the user name shown in 702, the electronic mail address given at the time of purchasing the camera shown in 703, the changed electronic mail address shown in 704, and the self-introduction sentence shown in 705, A registered image ID 706, an image storage location 707 (information indicating where in the database server 106 the image is stored), a shooting time 708, 70
Data such as the shooting location shown in 9 and the comment of the image shown in 710 are associated and held.

The individual ID (701) is the digital camera 1
There is a one-to-one correspondence with the e-mail account included in the 01 package, and the profile registration shown in FIG. 10 from the e-mail server 102 is performed by the process of FIG. 13 (step S202 in FIG. 2) described later. Email is I
By being transmitted to the LS e-mail server 104, the transmission source digital camera 101 is specified by the individual ID added to the mail. As a result, the individual I stored in the database in the database server 106
D (701) is also determined.

The e-mail address indicated by 703 is shown in FIG.
It is acquired in step S201. Also, 7
The user name indicated by 02, the changed e-mail address indicated by 704, and the self-introduction sentence indicated by 705 are those registered in step S202 of FIG. The registered image ID 706 is information that identifies the image captured by the user identified by the individual ID of the camera. The image comment 710 is registered in step S205 of FIG.

This database is the individual ID of the camera.
Items are associated with each other based on (701). Note that the registered image ID (70
6), the photographing time (708), and the photographing place (709) may be provided as a plurality of associated databases. If you have multiple databases, you need to pay attention to the consistency between databases.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of homepage creation / update processing executed by the homepage creation device 105.

First, it is determined whether or not there is a work item in the work list (step S801). As a result of the determination, if there is no work item in the work list, the determination is repeated. If there is a work item in the work list,
In the following step S802, the target data described in the work item is examined and sorted according to the target data,
The processing according to the target data is executed in step S803 and the subsequent steps. Depending on whether the target data is "image registration", "user profile registration", "image comment registration" or "image registration deletion", steps S803 to S8.
Since the processing of 06 is different, it will be described individually.

First, if the result of the sorting in step S802 is that the target data is "image registration" (when the electronic mail is the data mail shown in FIG. 4), the database held by the database server 106 is stored in step S803. And the database is searched from the individual ID. The individual camera ID (or its user) that is the sender of the transmitted image is specified by the individual ID in the data mail and the individual ID registered in the database. Next, in step S804,
Database update process, that is, the discovered individual ID
The image data extracted from the data mail and the GPS data are registered in association with. At that time, the image data included in the work list is converted and held in the database server 106. This process corresponds to the process immediately after step S203 in FIG. Next, the process proceeds to step S805, the image is transmitted to the ILS Web server 107, and the process proceeds to step S807.

As a result of the sorting in step S802, if the target data is "user's profile registration mail" (the e-mail is the profile registration mail shown in FIG. 10), the database is inquired in step S803. Search the database by ID. Next, in the database update process of step S804, the profile data of the user is registered in association with the found individual ID. This process corresponds to the process of step S202 of FIG. Then, step S80
Proceed to 7.

As a result of the sorting in step S802, if the target data is "image comment registration" (when the e-mail is the comment registration mail shown in FIG. 11), the individual ID is determined in the database inquiry in step S803. , Search the database from the image ID. Next, in the database update processing of step S804, the comment data is registered in association with the found image ID. This process corresponds to the process of step S205 in FIG. Then, it progresses to step S807.

As a result of the sorting in step S802, if the target data is "image registration deletion" (when the electronic mail is the registration deletion mail shown in FIG. 12).
Is a database inquiry in step S803,
The database is searched from the individual ID and the image ID. Next, in step S806, image data (including image data that has been converted) and GPS data related to the found image ID are deleted. At that time, the corresponding image data held by the ILS Web server 107 is also deleted. Then, it progresses to step S807.

After the database updating work corresponding to each work,
In step S807, the homepage published on the ILS Web server 107 is updated according to the updated database. The same thing as this home page is held not only in the home page creating device 105 but also in the ILS web server 107. Step S8
In the process of 07, the home page on the home page creation device 105 is updated, and in the process of step S808,
The updated home page is transmitted to the ILS Web server 107. By replacing the home page on the ILS Web server 107 with the sent home page, ILS
The home page on the web server 107 for business is updated. Then, it progresses to step S809.

On the other hand, in the database inquiry in step S803, if the search cannot be performed due to inconsistency with the database or the like, the process immediately proceeds from step S803 to step S809.

Next, in step S809, the work result is reported to the user by transmitting a work result notification mail to the user through the ILS electronic mail server 104.
For example, when the image registration is successful, a work result notification mail in a format as illustrated in FIG. 9 is transmitted. As a result, the user who provided the image can know the image ID, and it becomes easy to perform various processes such as subsequent registration deletion by designating the image.

Next, in step S810, the work item for which the processes up to step S809 have been normally completed is deleted from the work list, and the process returns to step S801.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format example of the user profile registration mail transmitted to the e-mail address of the company in step S202 of FIG. Figure 11
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format example of a comment registration mail of an image transmitted to the e-mail address of the company in step S205 of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a format example of an image deregistration mail sent to an e-mail address of a company when it is desired to deregister a registered image.

These three types of mails, the profile registration mail, the comment registration mail, and the image registration deletion mail, are electronic mails received by the ILS electronic mail server 104 other than the data mails having the image registration target data shown in FIG. is there. Unlike the data mail, these three types of e-mail are always sent to the e-mail address of the company by using the e-mail server 102. The ones shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 are sent by the user. It is a format example when doing. These emails are processed by the email server and sent to the corporate email address. Details of each email will be described later. In addition, each e-mail follows the e-mail format generally used on the Internet and can be processed by an ordinary e-mail server.

The user profile registration mail shown in FIG. 10 is an email header 1001 and an email body 1
002 and an electronic mail header 1001 includes an electronic mail address 1003 of a company, an electronic mail address 1004 of a user, and purpose data 1005 (in the case of this electronic mail, profile registration is shown). Also, the email body 1002 is the name data 1 of the user.
006, e-mail address change data 1007 (for details, see the explanation of step S202 in FIG. 2), and one self-introduction sentence 1008.

The comment registration mail of the image shown in FIG. 11 includes an electronic mail header 1101 and an electronic mail body 110.
2, the e-mail header 1101 includes a company e-mail address 1103, a user e-mail address 1104, and target data 1105 (in the case of this e-mail, a comment registration of an image is shown). Also,
The email body 1102 includes an image ID 1106 of an image for which a comment is registered and comment data 1107.

The deregistration mail of the image shown in FIG. 12 is composed of an electronic mail header 1201 and an electronic mail body 1202. The electronic mail header 1201 includes an electronic mail address 1203 of a company and an electronic mail address 1 of a user.
204 and target data 1205 (in the case of this mail, the registration deletion of the image is shown). Further, the email body 1202 has the image ID 1206 of the image whose registration is to be deleted.
Consists of.

In FIG. 13, the user has the electronic mail server 10
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an e-mail transmission process executed by the e-mail server 102 when an e-mail is sent by using 2;

The e-mail server 102 can be used without particular limitation when receiving e-mail, but transmission can be used only for sending to a company e-mail address for ILS. The emails that the email server 102 can send are only the user profile registration email, the image comment registration email, and the image registration deletion email illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12.

When a user tries to send an electronic mail, first, in step S1301, it is determined whether the destination electronic mail address is a corporate electronic mail address. As a result of the determination, if the destination e-mail address is not the company e-mail address, the user is notified of an error indicating that the sending has failed (step S1302) and the process ends. To do.

On the other hand, when the destination electronic mail address is the corporate electronic mail address, individual ID data is added to the electronic mail body (step S1303). As described above, the individual ID has a one-to-one correspondence with the email account. Since the corresponding data is held in the electronic mail server 102, this processing work can be realized.

Next, the modified e-mail with the individual ID data added is transmitted to the e-mail address of the company (step S1304), and this processing ends.

The reason why the electronic mail server 102 prohibits the electronic mail transmission to the general address is that the above-mentioned step S1.
This is because there is the processing of 303. That is, by avoiding the transmission of the e-mail to which the individual ID data is added to a general address, there is no risk of the individual ID being exposed to the eyes of the user throughout the ILS system. This reduces the burden on the user and prevents others from impersonating the user.

Since the user and the company interact with each other through the homepage creating device 105 by using an e-mail according to a normal format, the user uses e-mail software that is generally available as e-mail software. can do.

According to the present embodiment, the digital camera 1
01 has an e-mail sending function, and a system in which an e-mail with an image from the digital camera 101 is automatically interpreted, a home page with an image is created, and automatically published on the Internet. Since it is constructed, the user can easily publish the image taken by the digital camera 101 on the spot on the Internet, and the publication is operated by a well-known company, not a personal home page. Since it is done on the homepage, it can be published more widely. Therefore, it is possible to realize an image library service for easily and widely disclosing personal images.

Further, since the image to be posted is published in association with the individual ID for specifying the digital camera 101, the home page is published in the state where the imaged device or the photographer (user) is associated with the imaged image. Furthermore, the digital camera 101 has a function of acquiring GPS data at the time of shooting, and when the image is published on the website, GP
Since the S data is also associated with the image, the library viewer can obtain more detailed information at the time of shooting, such as shooting time data and position data of the device on the earth at the time of shooting.

Further, as for the registered and posted images, it is possible to post-register comments, feedback of the voice from the viewer, deregistration, etc., so that the service as a more expansive and participatory event Is realized.

In the present embodiment, the service using the digital camera compatible with ILS is illustrated, but this service can be used even with a digital camera not compatible with ILS. However, there are some restrictions. In the case of a digital camera not compatible with ILS, first, an e-mail account of the e-mail server 102 is purchased from a company that provides services. Then, the image registration work is performed using this mail account. Registration cannot be done at the same time as shooting, and in addition to the image data, G
The work of adding the PS data by itself is added. If the company opens the e-mail account of the e-mail server 102 in the above-described manner, such a service form can be realized.

In this embodiment, GPS data is used as environment data at the time of shooting. Other environmental data that can be considered can be obtained if the camera has a gyro function, as well as information on imaging conditions, such as focal length data that the camera has at the time of shooting, exposure time data, and whether or not flash is used. Data such as shooting direction data can be considered. These data can be handled in the same way as the GPS data, and more information can be given to the library viewer. At least one of the GPS data and the other environmental data may be used as the data associated with the image.

In this embodiment, since the digital camera 101 has the Internet connection function, the digital camera has the Internet connection function using the Internet connection service of the mobile phone company, so that the existing infrastructure Can be used to connect to the Internet. However, the Internet connection function may be provided by another device. For example, by connecting a mobile phone having an Internet connection function and an ILS compatible digital camera, the same function as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. In this way, since the digital camera has the function of connecting to the communication service of the mobile phone company and the modem function, it is possible to connect to the Internet using the infrastructure of the phone company that does not provide the Internet connection service. .

In the present embodiment, the image data is exemplified as the data to be disclosed, but it may be a moving image in addition to a still image. Further, in place of the digital camera 101, a voice recording device or a musical sound creating device may be used and the recorded voice or the created musical sound data may be made public.

A storage medium recording a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the homepage creation device 105 or the data disclosure system, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the device or system is supplied. Needless to say, the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and when the program code is supplied via a transmission medium or the like, the program code itself is the original. It constitutes the invention. A storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk,
Hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-
ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS or the like running on the computer is executed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, this also includes the case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0108]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Data such as images can be easily and widely published on the homepage.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a data disclosure system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a general usage procedure of ILS viewed from a user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a data mail transmission process by a digital camera.

4 is a diagram showing a format example of a data mail created in step S304 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing a procedure of received mail processing (e-mail check) by the ILS e-mail server.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format example of a work list.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a database held by a database server.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing a procedure of homepage creation / update processing executed by the homepage creation apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a work result notification mail.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format example of a user profile registration mail transmitted to the e-mail address of the company in step S202 of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a format example of a comment registration mail of an image transmitted to the e-mail address of the company in step S205 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a format example of an image deregistration email transmitted to an e-mail address of a company when it is desired to deregister a registered image.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an e-mail transmission process executed by the e-mail server 102 when the user uses the e-mail server 102 to send an e-mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 101 ILS-compatible digital camera (transmission source device, imaging device) 102 E-mail server 103 Base station 104 ILS e-mail server (mail receiving means) 105 ILS home page creation device (transmission source device identification means, predetermined data extraction means, storage) Control means, homepage creation means) 106 ILS database server (specific information registration means, memory) 107 ILS Web server (publication means)

Claims (32)

[Claims] 1. A mail receiving means for receiving, from a transmission source device capable of generating predetermined data, an electronic mail with data including the predetermined data and identification information for identifying the transmission source device of the predetermined data, Source device identifying means for identifying a source device based on identification information included in the data-added electronic mail received by the mail receiving means, and predetermined data from the data-added electronic mail received by the mail receiving means. Predetermined data extracting means for extracting, storage control means for storing the predetermined data extracted by the predetermined data extracting means in a memory for each transmission source device specified by the transmission source device specifying means, and saving by the storage control means Homepage creating means for creating a homepage carrying the specified data, and the homepage creation Data disclosing device, characterized in that said predetermined data on the homepage created with the public means for publishing on the Internet by the stage. 2. The data publishing device according to claim 1, wherein the homepage creating means creates the homepage by associating the predetermined data with a transmission source device of the predetermined data. 3. A specific information registration unit for registering the specific information is provided, and the first transmission of the data-equipped electronic mail from the transmission source device is performed after the specific information registration unit registers the specific information. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
Alternatively, the data disclosure device described in 2. 4. The data disclosing device according to claim 1, wherein the homepage stores an e-mail address of a user of a transmission source device of the predetermined data to be posted. 5. The data disclosure device according to claim 3, wherein the specific information is a mail address of a user of the transmission source device or data corresponding to the mail address. 6. The mail address is set based on a mail address given in advance to each sender device at the time of shipment of the sender device.
The disclosed data disclosure device. 7. The mail receiving means is capable of receiving a comment from a user of a transmission source device of the predetermined data for the predetermined data posted on the home page, and when the comment is received, the home page is created. 7. The data disclosure device according to claim 1, wherein the means updates the contents of the homepage so as to add the received comment to the posted predetermined data. 8. The e-mail receiving means can receive an e-mail from the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data, which indicates that the predetermined data should be deleted from the created home page. 8. When received, the homepage creating means updates the contents of the homepage so as to delete the predetermined data from the created homepage, and the homepage creating means updates the contents of the homepage. Data publishing device. 9. The data disclosure device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined data is image data. 10. The storage control means associates the environment data with the image data when the received e-mail with data includes environment data at the time of capturing the original image of the image data. 10. The data disclosure device according to claim 9, wherein the homepage creating means creates the homepage by associating the saved environment data with the image data to be posted. 11. The data disclosure device according to claim 10, wherein the environment data includes at least one of a time of capturing the original image, an image capturing location, and an image capturing condition. 12. A mail receiving step of receiving, from a transmission source device capable of generating predetermined data, an electronic mail with data including the predetermined data and identification information for identifying a transmission source device of the predetermined data, A sender device specifying step of specifying a sender device based on the specifying information included in the data-added electronic mail received by the mail receiving step; and predetermined data from the data-added electronic mail received by the mail receiving step. A predetermined data extraction step of extracting, a storage control step of storing the predetermined data extracted by the predetermined data extraction step in a memory for each transmission source device identified by the transmission source device identification step, and a storage control step of saving by the storage control step A homepage creating step for creating a homepage carrying the specified data, and the homepage creation Data published method characterized by having a public process that exposes the predetermined data on the Internet home page created by the process. 13. The homepage creating step creates the homepage by associating the predetermined data with a transmission source device of the predetermined data.
Data disclosure method described. 14. A specific information registration step of registering the specific information, wherein the first transmission of an electronic mail with data from the transmission source device is performed after registration of the specific information by the specific information registration step. The data disclosure method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that. 15. The mail address of a user of a transmission source device of predetermined data to be posted is posted on the home page, according to any one of claims 12 to 14.
The data disclosure method described in section. 16. The data disclosure method according to claim 14, wherein the specific information is a mail address of a user of the transmission source device or data corresponding to the mail address. 17. The data disclosure method according to claim 16, wherein the mail address is set based on a mail address given in advance for each transmission source device at the time of shipment of the transmission source device. 18. The e-mail receiving step can receive a comment from a user of a transmission source device of the predetermined data on the predetermined data posted on the home page, and when the comment is received, the home page creation is performed. 18. The data disclosure method according to claim 12, wherein the step updates the content of the homepage so as to add the received comment to the posted predetermined data. 19. The step of receiving the e-mail, wherein the predetermined data should be deleted from the created home page,
It is possible to receive an email from the user of the transmission source device of the predetermined data, and when the email is received, the homepage creating step deletes the predetermined data from the created homepage. The data disclosure method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that the content of the above is updated. 20. The data disclosure method according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined data is image data. 21. When the received e-mail with data includes environmental data at the time of capturing the original image of the image data, the storage control step associates the environmental data with the image data. 21. The data disclosure method according to claim 20, wherein the homepage is created by storing the environment data in the memory, and the homepage creating step associates the saved environmental data with the image data to be posted to create the homepage. 22. The data disclosure method according to claim 21, wherein the environment data includes at least one of an image capture time, an image capture location, and an image capture condition of the original image. 23. An image-capable e-mail that can generate image data as the predetermined data by imaging, and includes the predetermined data to the data disclosure apparatus according to claim 1. Description: An imaging device, which is capable of functioning as a transmission source device capable of transmission. 24. An image pickup unit for obtaining image data as the predetermined data by image pickup, an Internet connection unit for enabling connection to the Internet, an image data obtained by the image pickup unit, and a specification for specifying the image pickup apparatus. And a mail sending means for sending the image-added electronic mail created by the mail creating means to the data disclosure device as the data-added electronic mail. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: 25. The function of the Internet connection means is realized by a function of connecting to an Internet connection service of a mobile phone company.
Alternatively, the image pickup device described in 24. 26. The function of the Internet connection means is realized by a function of connecting to a communication service of a mobile phone company and a function of a modem.
Alternatively, the image pickup device described in 24. 27. An environment data acquisition unit for acquiring environment data at the time of capturing an image captured by the image capturing unit, wherein the mail creating unit adds the image-attached electronic mail to the environment data acquiring unit. 24. The acquired environmental data is included.
The imaging device according to any one of 26. 28. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the environmental data includes at least one of an image pickup time, an image pickup place, and an image pickup condition of the image. 29. The imaging time and the imaging location are G
29. Obtained by the PS function.
The imaging device described. 30. The data disclosure device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 and the imaging device according to any one of claims 23 to 29 are connected to each other via the Internet. A data disclosure system characterized by. 31. A storage medium for storing a computer-readable program used in a data disclosure method, wherein the transmission source device capable of generating predetermined data specifies the predetermined data and the transmission source device of the predetermined data. And a code of a mail receiving step for receiving an electronic mail with data including specific information for specifying a transmission source device based on the specific information included in the electronic mail with data received by the mail receiving step A code of the original device identification step, a code of a predetermined data extraction step of extracting predetermined data from the data-attached electronic mail received by the code of the mail reception step, and a transmission source apparatus specified by the code of the transmission source device identification step Each time, the specified data extracted by the code of the specified data extraction process is stored in the memory. A code for a storage control process, a code for a homepage creating process for creating a homepage containing the predetermined data stored by the code for the storage control process, and the predetermined data on the homepage created by the code for the homepage creating process. A storage medium having stored therein a code of a publishing process to be published on the Internet. 32. A computer-executable program used in a data disclosure method, for identifying the predetermined data and a transmission source device of the predetermined data from a transmission source device capable of generating the predetermined data. A code of a mail receiving step of receiving an electronic mail with data including information, and a transmission source apparatus specifying the transmission source apparatus based on the specific information included in the electronic mail with data received by the mail receiving step A process code, a code of a predetermined data extracting process for extracting predetermined data from an electronic mail with data received by the code of the mail receiving process, and a transmission source device identified by the code of the transmission source device identifying process, A storage control step of storing the predetermined data extracted by the code of the predetermined data extraction step in a memory And a code for a homepage creation process for creating a homepage listing predetermined data stored by the code for the storage control process, and publishing the predetermined data on the Internet with the homepage created by the code for the homepage creation process. A program in which the code of the publishing process to be described is described.