JP2003122776A - System for generating album - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for supporting a work to generate a photo album in cooperation with a plurality of users through the use of portable telephones with an imaging function. SOLUTION: When a member A transmits a group register request to a server part 1 by using the portable telephone 5A, the server 1 informs the member A of a group ID. Acquaintances B and C perform participant register to the same group by using the group ID. The members A-C send images obtained through the use of the imaging function of each portable telephone to the server part 1 by E-mail. The server 1 generates album data by using the sent images and album proformas data and outputs them in different forms such a disclosure on the WEB or printing by a printer.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a system for creating a photo album using a mobile phone having an imaging function. 2. Description of the Related Art As an example of an apparatus that can be used to create a photo album, there is an information processing apparatus described in JP-A-2000-222381. In this device, album data (electronic album) is created by grouping content information (for example, still image data) transmitted from an information output device (client) based on shooting time and position information. As another example of a device that can be used for creating a photo album, there is a visible information sheet creating system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-272990. This system creates a visible information sheet (album, booklet, pamphlet, etc.) using electronic data of an image obtained using a photographing means such as a video camera or a digital camera, and a layout pattern prepared in advance. I do. [0004] Recently, mobile phones (hereinafter referred to as mobile phones with an imaging function) having built-in imaging means such as digital cameras have been widely used. When a mobile phone with an imaging function is used, an image captured by the imaging unit can be transmitted to another mobile phone on the spot using the message transmission function of the mobile phone, or transmitted to another terminal ( It can be easily transmitted to a mobile phone, an e-mail terminal, a personal computer connected to the Internet, or the like) on the spot. Also,
There is also known a service in which when a user transmits an image from a mobile phone to a predetermined server, the server automatically creates a WEB page including the image and makes the WEB page public. However, a service for creating an electronic album using a mobile phone with an imaging function is not yet known. An object of the present invention made in view of such a background is to provide a system for easily creating a photo album using a mobile phone with an imaging function. It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for supporting a user to create a photo album jointly. [0006] An album creation system according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, performs processing in response to a request sent from another communication terminal via a data communication network. A server unit that issues a group identifier when receiving a group registration request from the first mobile phone, associates the telephone number of the first mobile phone with the group identifier, and stores a user information storage unit. Group identifier issuance means for transmitting the group identifier to the first mobile phone, and when receiving a group participation request including the group identifier from another mobile phone, the telephone number of the another mobile phone is stored in the group. Participation accepting means for storing in the participant information storage unit in association with the identifier,
When an image storage request including image data is received from the mobile phone, a group identifier corresponding to the mobile phone telephone number is specified based on information in the user information storage unit and the participant information storage unit, and the image data is Image receiving means for storing in the image storage unit in association with the group identifier, and when receiving an album output request including the group identifier from another communication terminal, image data stored in the image storage unit corresponding to the group identifier And album output means for generating album data by a predetermined method using the method and outputting the album data by a predetermined method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The creation of an album by an album creation system according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present system) is performed, for example, in the following procedure. (Transmission of Group Registration Request) First, a first user transmits a group registration request from his / her own mobile phone (first mobile phone) to the present system. The group registration request is transmitted to this system in the following manner, for example. -Open the web page of the specified URL with the web browser of the mobile phone and press the send button on the screen. -Call a predetermined telephone number with a mobile phone and perform a request transmission operation according to the message. -Send an e-mail from a mobile phone to a predetermined e-mail address. (Notification of Group Identifier) Upon receiving a group registration request from a mobile phone, the server unit of the present system
The telephone number of the mobile phone of the request sender is extracted from the received data, the telephone number is stored in the user information storage unit in association with the newly issued group identifier, and the group identifier is transmitted to the mobile phone. The mobile phone
The received group identifier is displayed on the display unit. The user who has received the group identifier (hereinafter, referred to as a group leader) notifies a person who creates the same album in cooperation with the user (hereinafter, referred to as a group member) of the group identifier by an arbitrary method. (Transmission of Group Participation Request) A group member transmits a group participation request including the group identifier notified from the group leader from his / her own mobile phone to the present system. The group participation request is transmitted to the present system in the following manner, for example. -Open the WEB page of the predetermined URL with the WEB browser of the mobile phone, enter the group identifier in the predetermined column, and press the transmission button on the screen. -Call a predetermined telephone number using a mobile phone, and perform a group identifier input operation and a request transmission operation according to the message. Send an e-mail from a mobile phone to a predetermined e-mail address with a group identifier written in a predetermined format. (Group participation registration) Upon receiving a group participation request from a mobile phone, the server unit of the system extracts the telephone number and group identifier of the mobile phone of the requesting sender from the received data, and stores the telephone number in the group. The information is stored in the participant information storage unit in association with the identifier, and a registration completion notification is transmitted to the mobile phone. (Transmission of Image Storage Request) As described above, after registering the telephone number of the mobile phone in the present system, the group leader and the group members make an image storage request including the data of the image captured by the imaging means of the mobile phone. To the system. The image storage request is transmitted to the present system by, for example, transmitting an e-mail attached with an image data file from a mobile phone to a predetermined e-mail address. (Image Storage) Upon receiving an image storage request from a mobile phone, the server unit of the present system extracts the telephone number of the mobile phone of the request sender from the received data, and stores the user information storage unit and the participant information. A group identifier corresponding to the telephone number is specified based on the storage information in the storage unit, and image data extracted from the received data is stored in the image storage unit in association with the group identifier. (Transmission of Album Output Request) After the image capturing is completed, the group leader transmits an album output request to the present system using a mobile phone or another communication terminal (for example, a personal computer). The album output request is transmitted to this system in the following manner, for example. -Open the WEB page of the predetermined URL with the WEB browser of the mobile phone, and press the predetermined transmission button. Alternatively, open a web page of a predetermined URL using a web browser of the communication terminal,
Enter the phone number and / or group identifier of the mobile phone and press the send button on the screen. -Call a predetermined telephone number with a mobile phone and perform a request transmission operation according to the message. Send an e-mail from a mobile phone to a predetermined e-mail address with a group identifier written in a predetermined format. Or
The communication terminal transmits an electronic mail in which a telephone number and / or a group identifier of the mobile phone are described in a predetermined format to a predetermined mail address. (Output of Album) When an album output request is received from a mobile phone or a communication terminal, the server unit of the present system executes the following processing. First, the telephone number of the mobile phone of the request sender is extracted from the received data, and the group identifier corresponding to the telephone number is specified based on the information stored in the user information storage unit. If the received data includes a group identifier, it may be directly extracted. Next, the image data corresponding to the group identifier is read from the image storage unit and album data is created by a predetermined method (for example, an image itself or a link to an image file is embedded in album mount data specified by the user). . Next, the user (group leader)
Output album data in a predetermined format designated by (for example, output as a WEB page, print on a paper medium,
Output to electronic media such as CD-ROM in the form of a file). FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an album creating system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system in FIG. 1 includes a server unit 1, the Internet 2, a mobile phone network 3, a relay station 4, mobile phones 5A to 5C, and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 6. In the following description, in the description regarding the common parts of the mobile phones 5A to 5C, the three devices will be simply referred to as the mobile phone 5 without distinction. The server unit 1 is a computer connected to the Internet 2. The server unit 1 includes a central management unit 10, a WWW server 12, a mail server 13, and a database management unit 14, which are functional units configured as software by a computer program. Have. The server unit 1 includes a storage device 16, a printer 18, a CD-ROM creator (C
DR / RW) 20, an operation unit 22, and a display unit 24. In the storage device 16, various databases (hereinafter, abbreviated as DB as appropriate) and a data storage unit described below are created. The operation unit 22 and the display unit 24 allow the operator to input data and instructions to the server unit 1,
Is used to display various information output by the. The mobile phone 5 has the following functions in addition to the function of performing voice communication and data communication with other mobile phones via the mobile phone network 3. -Web browser function Various web resources (contents) published on the mobile phone network 3 and the Internet 2 can be browsed and acquired (downloaded). E-mail transmission / reception function E-mail can be transmitted / received to / from another mobile phone or computer connected to the mobile phone network 3 or the Internet 2. -Images can be acquired using a digital camera with a built-in imaging function and stored in memory.・ Sound can be captured using a microphone with a built-in voice recording function and stored in memory. The configuration of a database created in the recording device 16 of the server unit 1 and processing using the database will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6 show the configuration of each database, FIG. 7 shows a transition diagram of a menu screen displayed on the mobile phone 5 or the personal computer 6, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show screens displayed on the personal computer 6. Show. (Member Registration) A person who wishes to use the service of the present system must first register as a member. Member registration can be performed on the WEB site 31 of the present system. That is, when "member registration" is selected in the "main menu" 50 (see FIG. 7) provided on the web site 31, a member registration screen (not shown) is displayed on the communication terminal (mobile phone 5, personal computer 6). Then, when information such as a name and an address is input, the input data is transmitted to the server unit 1, and a new member ID is notified from the server unit 1. The input data is stored in the member DB 30 using the member ID as a key (see FIG. 2). A member registered in the present system can act as a group leader when using the album creation service. In the following description, it is assumed that the user A is a member of the present system. (Group Registration) In order to use the service of the present system, any member must first perform group registration. Group registration is performed in the following procedure. First, the member A uses the WEB browser function of the mobile phone 5A to open the “Main menu” 50 of the WEB site 31, selects “Member menu” there, and further displays “New menu” on the next “Member menu” screen 51. When "create album" is selected, a "create new album" screen 52 is displayed on mobile phone 5A. When the member A inputs the title of the new album on this screen and presses the “OK” button, the telephone number of the mobile phone 5A and the input title are transmitted from the mobile phone 5A to the server unit 1. The information sent to the server unit 1 in this way corresponds to the group registration request of the present invention. The group registration request is passed to the central management unit 10 through the WWW server 12 of the server unit 1. The central management unit 10 examines the request content and confirms that the request is a group registration request.
Instruct issuance. Upon receiving this instruction, the DB management unit 14
A record of a new group ID is added to the group management DB 32, and information such as the member ID, the title, the group registration date and time is stored in the record (see FIG. 3). After the storage of the information is completed, the central management unit 10 sets the WWW server 1
Then, the group ID is transmitted to the mobile phone 5A through the step S2. As a result, a group ID notification screen (not shown) is displayed on the mobile phone 5A. (Participant Registration) After obtaining the group ID in this way, the member A notifies an acquaintance who creates an album together with the member A of the group ID by an arbitrary method. In this embodiment, it is assumed that acquaintances B and C create an album in cooperation with the member A. Acquaintances B and C have their own mobile phones 5
By performing participant registration using B and 5C, an album can be created in cooperation with member A. Hereinafter, a case in which acquaintance B performs participant registration will be described (acquaintance C
The procedure for registering a participant is the same.) An acquaintance B uses his / her mobile phone 5B to WE
When the “main menu” 50 of the B site 31 is opened and “participant registration” is selected, a participant registration screen 53 is displayed on the mobile phone 5B. When the acquaintance B inputs the group ID received from the member A on this screen and presses the "send" button, the telephone number of the mobile phone 5B and the input group ID are transmitted from the mobile phone 5B to the server unit 1. The information transmitted to the server unit 1 in this manner corresponds to the group participation request of the present invention. The group participation request is passed to the central management unit 10 through the WWW server 12 of the server unit 1. The central management unit 10 inspects the content of the request, and when confirming that the request is a group participation request, instructs the DB management unit 14 to register a participant. Upon receiving this instruction, the DB management unit 14 stores the telephone number of the mobile phone 5B and the group ID in the participant DB 34.
(See FIG. 4). In addition, the DB management unit 14 adds 1 to the value of the “current number of participants” column of the group management DB 32 (see FIG. 3). (Confirmation of Information on Album) The member A, which is a group leader, can acquire information on an album currently being created in the following procedure. First, when the member A opens the “member menu” screen 51 using the mobile phone 5A as described above and selects “current album”, the “current album” screen 54 is displayed on the mobile phone 5A.
Is displayed. The screen 54 displays a group ID, an album title, a current state, the number of images, and a current participant corresponding to the album currently being created. In the “current status” column, the status of the album at that time is indicated as, for example, “participation is being accepted”, “posting is being accepted”, “posting is being accepted”. The “number of images” column indicates the number of images that have been received by the server unit 1 up to now, together with the maximum number of images that can be received. The "current participant" column lists the telephone numbers of the participants (including the member A) of the group managed by the user. (Submission acceptance start) After confirming that the registration of the participants of acquaintances B and C has been completed on the "current album" screen 54, when the member A presses the "start" button, the cellular phone 5
A sends a post acceptance start request including the group ID to the server unit 1. Upon receiving this request, the DB management unit 14
Updates the value of the “current status” field of the group management DB 32 to “posting is being accepted” (see FIG. 3). After this,
When the “current album” screen 54 is opened again, “posting is being accepted” is displayed in the “current state” column. The button changes to an "end" button. (Posting of Image) While the status of the album is “posting is being accepted”, the group member can post an image shot using the imaging function of his / her mobile phone to the server unit 1. Posting of an image is performed by attaching image data to an e-mail and transmitting it to a predetermined mail address. If necessary, supplementary information such as characters (memos) or voices can be attached to the e-mail. This e-mail corresponds to the image storage request of the present invention. The electronic mail is transferred from the mail server 13 of the server unit 1 to the central management unit 10. Central management unit 10
Inspects the e-mail and confirms that it has the content corresponding to the image storage request.
4 is instructed to save the image. Upon receiving this instruction, the DB management unit 14 stores the image management information in the image management DB 36. The image management DB 36 is a database created for each group (each album), and information such as the date and time of posting, the telephone number of the poster, character information (memo), presence / absence of additional audio data, and the like are stored as image IDs as key items. (See FIG. 5). Further, the DB management unit 14 stores the image data extracted from the electronic mail in the image storage unit 37. In the present embodiment, the image management information is associated with the image data by giving the image file name using the group ID and the image ID (for example, the file name of the image data corresponding to the image ID = 001 in FIG. 20010901
-003-001. jpg ”). When voice data is attached to the e-mail, the DB management unit 14
Assigns a file name to the data in a similar manner, and stores the data in the voice storage unit 39. (End of Post Acceptance) After the photographing work of all members is completed, the member A opens the “current album” screen 54 using the mobile phone 5A as described above, and presses the “end” button. Group ID from phone 5A to server 1
Is transmitted. Upon receiving this request, the DB management unit 14 updates the value of the “current state” field of the group management DB 32 to “accepted”. When a predetermined time (for example, one hour) elapses from the last image posting date and time (see FIG. 3), the mobile phone 5
If a notification is sent to A to inquire whether the reception should be terminated, the post reception termination operation will not be forgotten. (Album Edit Data Creation) The member A creates album edit data using the personal computer 6 at an arbitrary time after the group registration in the following procedure. First, Member A
Opens "Member Menu" screen 51 using mobile phone 5A as described above, and selects "Album Management".
The “album management” screen 55 is displayed on the personal computer 6.
On the "album management" screen 55, summary information on the albums created so far and the album currently being created is displayed as shown in FIG. When the “edit” button corresponding to the target album is pressed on this screen 55, the “album edit” screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. On the "album edit" screen, first, the title of the album, the name of the creator, and the date of creation are input as the overall settings, and then the style of the cover and the mount is selected. For the style of the cover, a texture and a character layout are selected. For the style of mount, see Textures, Images &
A character layout and an image frame are selected (data for selection is stored in the template data storage unit 41). Next, the images to be posted on the album are displayed in the image display area 6.
Select with 1. After the above operation, when the "preview" button is pressed, the completed image of the album is displayed on the screen. When the “register” button is pressed, the album editing data is transmitted to the server unit 1 and the album management DB 40
(See FIG. 6). (Album output) When the "output" button on the "album edit" screen is pressed, the "album output" screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. On this screen, set the output method to "WEB
Select from "Open", "Create CD-ROM", and "Print".
When the “execute” button is pressed, an album output request including an output method designation is transmitted from the personal computer 6 to the server unit 1.
The server unit 1 uploads album data to the WEB site 31 and performs CD-R / R
The album CD-ROM is created by W20, or the album is printed by the printer 18. CD-ROM
Alternatively, the printed album is sent to the destination designated by the member by the person in charge of sending. As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings, but this embodiment is merely an example. For example, the type and configuration of the database prepared in the server unit 1 or the type and configuration of the screen displayed on the mobile phone 5 or the personal computer 6 are not limited to those shown in FIGS. Needless to say, it can be realized in a form. Further, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the persons (members A, acquaintances B and C) who have taken the images use albums created in the form of CD-ROM, paper or the like. Further, the image may be disclosed to other people so that the applicant can freely create an album. For example,
Member A sends the URL of the site for album output to the applicant in advance
Is notified, and the requester accesses the site to open the album editing screen of FIG. 8 and selects a cover, a mount, and an image according to his / her preference, thereby creating an original album for himself / herself in the above-described various forms. Create it. It is also possible to construct a system in which images are priced and released to an unspecified number of people, and those who wish to create and sell original albums as described above. As described above, by using the album creating system according to the present invention, a plurality of users having a cellular phone with an imaging function can easily and easily create an album. The system of the present invention can be used not only for creating a travel album by a plurality of people, but also for various purposes such as creating a photo book at a construction site or creating a wedding album. When the system according to the present invention is used for creating a wedding album, a screen for applying a service for sending an album (CD-ROM version or print version) to the address of each participant at the reception can be prepared. Good. With this service, you can send the album as a gift to each participant at the reception. Further, a “group name” column may be provided in the group management DB 32, and the names of the bride and groom may be recorded in the column, and a service that allows an album viewer to search for an album by the group name may be provided. In the system according to the present invention, not only the image, the character information (memo), and the sound as described above,
It is of course possible to store moving pictures and other types of electronic data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an album creating system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration of a member database. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a group management database. FIG. 4 is a configuration of a participant database. FIG. 5 is a configuration of an image management database. FIG. 6 shows the configuration of an album management database. FIG. 7 is a screen transition of a mobile phone or a personal computer. FIG. 8 is an album editing screen. FIG. 9 is an album output screen. [Description of Signs] 1 ... Server unit 2 ... Internet 3 ... Mobile phone network 5 ... Mobile phone 6 ... Personal computer

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A server unit for performing a process according to a request sent from another communication terminal via a data communication network, wherein the server unit receives a group registration request from a first mobile phone. Upon receipt, a group identifier is issued, and the telephone number of the first mobile phone is stored in the user information storage unit in association with the group identifier, and the group identifier is transmitted to the first mobile phone. Means for receiving a group participation request including a group identifier from another mobile phone, storing the telephone number of the another mobile phone in the participant information storage unit in association with the group identifier; When an image storage request including data is received, a telephone number of the mobile phone is checked based on information in the user information storage unit and the participant information storage unit. An image receiving unit for identifying a corresponding group identifier and storing the image data in an image storage unit in association with the group identifier; and when receiving an album output request including the group identifier from another communication terminal, the group identifier 1. An album creation system, comprising: an album output unit that creates album data by a predetermined method using image data stored in an image storage unit corresponding to the above and outputs the album data by a predetermined method.