JP2003196382A - Image information managing and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system organizing and managing a digital picture by a region photographed by means of a portable terminal and capable of easily printing the digital picture. <P>SOLUTION: An image information managing and printing system comprises: a step for photographing the picture by means of a camera-born wireless portable browser terminal; a step for simultaneously obtaining the location of the camera-born wireless portable browser terminal; a step for transmitting and registering the location information-born picture to and at a location picture managing and printing site; a step for adding editorial processing to the photographed picture; and a step for printing edited and created picture information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to management of digital photograph information using a wireless communication line, and more particularly to printout of digital photographs taken by a wireless portable browser terminal with a digital camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a wireless mobile browser terminal has been used to provide mail and web browsing services, and it has been possible to exchange electronic mail and browse the Internet anytime and anywhere as long as the user has a wireless mobile browser terminal. Furthermore, wireless mobile browser terminals that have a built-in digital camera or can be attached by an adapter are in widespread use, and using this wireless mobile browser terminal with a digital camera, you can send a digital photo that you have just taken by attaching it to e-mail, etc. It has become possible to do. However, the current situation is that no application other than an application for attaching a photo to an email even though the wireless portable browser terminal has a digital camera.

Further, the recent progress of wireless mobile browser terminals has been rapidly occurring, and wireless mobile browser terminals with a position information acquisition function have also appeared. However, in most cases, the position information is used only for acquiring information, and the information transmission is not possible. The usage for is not fully developed. Further, since the image captured by the wireless mobile browser terminal needs a function of displaying the image attached to the mail, it is more effective if it is transmitted by a print medium or the like.

[0004]

There has been a long-awaited system for effectively utilizing digital photographs taken by a wireless portable browser terminal with a digital camera, which can be carried around anytime and anywhere and can be photographed anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, there has been a long-awaited demand for an online service that is convenient for the user and that combines the terminal position acquired by the wireless mobile browser terminal with the position acquisition function and the digital photograph described above. For example, it would be very convenient to have a system that makes it easy to take a digital photo at a travel destination and send a two-shot photo with someone related to the area as a postcard to someone.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present invention have made the following measures as a result of earnest research.
The invention of claim 1 is a system for managing digital images through a wireless communication line, 1) an image database placed at a site connectable from a wireless mobile terminal and managed by a geographical position, and 2) having an image capturing means. The digital image to be managed is edited and printed by including a sending means for sending an image photographed by the wireless mobile terminal to the above-mentioned site, and 3) an edit printing means for editing and printing the sent image on a print medium. An image information management printing system characterized by providing services was adopted.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the printing medium is a postcard or a letter.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned site, the destination address input means which the user can input or the address book in which the user is registered in advance is used. It has a destination address acquisition means composed of destination selection means capable of selecting an address, and an edit printing means for editing and printing the obtained destination address on the letter or postcard. It has a feature.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first or third aspect of the invention, the edit printing means edits the advertisement information at the same time as the image.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image information management printing system according to the fourth aspect of the invention, a question content display means for displaying a question to the user on the site, and a question answer obtaining means for obtaining an answer to the question from the user. And a partner attribute acquisition unit that acquires the attribute of the partner from the questionnaire unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image information management printing system according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the advertisement is selected as the optimum advertisement according to the destination attribute, the destination address, or both.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the transmitting means determines the access means for accessing the site, and the user accessing the site determines whether the image can be registered. It is characterized in that it comprises a registration permission / prohibition judging means and a user image input means.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the transmitting means is a mail with an image.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, the wireless mobile terminal has a position acquisition means, and is selected from a frame image, a background image and an object image according to the image pickup position. It is characterized in that at least one image is selected, added to the captured image, and edited and printed.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided image discrimination means for discriminating whether or not the registered image violates public order and morals. An image that has passed is characterized by being prohibited from printing or being image-processed in an inappropriate portion.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image information management printing system according to the first aspect of the invention, points are set for each user at the above-mentioned site, and point management is added to the points each time the user edits and prints an image. It is characterized by comprising means.

[0016]

[Mode of implementation] A more detailed description will be given below based on an actual example. FIG. 1 is a system schematic diagram of an embodiment. The print editing management site 101 and the wireless public base station 102 are wireless portable browser terminals 103 and 104 with cameras. The print editing management site 101 has a communication unit 10
5, an editing unit 106, a printing unit 107, an image information database 108, an address information database 109, and an advertisement information database 110 are provided.

The communication means 105 is data communication via a wireless public line. The site on the server side and the wireless mobile browser terminal as a client communicate with each other by a protocol such as http to send information including images captured by the wireless mobile browser terminals 103 and 104 and a terminal position at the time of capturing. E-mail may be adopted as the communication means.

The editing means 106 has an editing function of color correction, contrast correction, resolution correction, edge correction, trimming, ghost image composition and character addition correction for an image once registered in the image information database, and the address information. Edits and produces image information for obtaining necessary information by referring to a database or advertisement information database and printing.

The printing means 107 is a printing system whose main constituent element is a printer which prints image information edited and produced according to a print medium such as a postcard or a letter.

In the image information database 108, the image transmitted by the user is stored in the management area corresponding to an appropriate geographical position with reference to the position information included in the transmitted information.

In the address information database 109, the address of the recipient of the printed matter, which is acquired by the user's answer to the questionnaire, is registered for each user.

The advertisement information database 110 is a database created corresponding to a geographical position for managing the image information database, and the advertisement information is stored in association with the same geographical position. The advertisement information includes not only text information but also an additional image added to the image captured by the user.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless portable browser terminal with a camera. Image capturing means composed of a CCD camera, image processing means for processing the captured image, position acquisition for acquiring the current position of the wireless portable browser terminal with a camera. Means, a site access means for accessing a site on the network, an address information storage means, and a user interface means. Here, the position acquisition means may be a system using GPS or a method such as acquisition by comparing base stations of wireless mobile browser terminals, but an optimum method may be adopted according to the purpose.

FIG. 3 shows a flow for registering, printing and editing an image picked up by a wireless mobile browser terminal with a camera in the print editing management site. First, in step 301, the user captures an image using a wireless mobile browser terminal with a camera. Next, in step 302, the print editing management site is accessed, and in step 303, user authentication is performed as necessary. If the user authentication is proper, step 304 inputs the admission image to the site. Instead of image input at this time, a method of attaching an image to a mail and transmitting it to the print editing management site may be used.

Further, in step 305, a destination address input process is performed. At this time, the destination input process may be selected from the address information storage means equipped in the site or the wireless mobile browser terminal. Alternatively, the destination address information may be directly input. Then, the attribute input process of the other party is performed as necessary.

Then, in step 306, the optimum advertisement may be selected according to the address of the destination, the attribute of the destination, or both. Then, in step 307, print items (image, advertisement, destination address, etc.) may be edited on the postcard, and printed in step 308.

The optimum advertisement is selected according to the destination address and the attribute. An example of the regional advertisement database is shown in FIG. 4 and the attribute-based advertisement database is shown in FIG. The optimum advertisement selection process may be performed with reference to this database. Next, it is conceivable that some people will print images that violate public order and morals. If this is mailed as it is, problems will occur, so it is necessary to eliminate it, but I will explain the method at that time. The processing flow is shown in FIG.

First, in step 601, an image is read, and then in step 602, image analysis and image recognition are performed. Then, in step 603, pattern matching is performed from the problem image pattern database prepared in advance, and in step 604, it is determined whether there is a problem image. If no problem image exists, step 607.
Move to and edit and print as it is. If there is a problem image, it is determined in step 605 whether the problem part is the whole or a part. If the problem portion is a part, the problem portion may be subjected to image processing such as mosaic in step 606 and edited and printed in step 607.

Next, a case where a background or object image is added to an image picked up by a wireless portable browser terminal with a camera will be described. At this time, the images that can be added vary depending on the position, but are registered in the position-specific additional image database. The flow at that time is shown in FIG. First, in step 701, an image is captured by the wireless mobile browser terminal with a camera of the user, and in step 702, the position is simultaneously acquired by the position acquisition means of the wireless mobile browser terminal. Next, in step 703, the site is accessed, user authentication is performed in step 704, and if there is no problem, the image captured in step 705 is input, and in step 706, an additional image is called by position information. Then, in step 707, a required additional image is selected, the additional image selected in step 708 is added, and image combination is performed. In step 709, printing on a predetermined print medium is performed.

FIG. 8 is a selection screen for adding an additional image, which can be selected from the pull-down menu from no additional image, background image addition, and object image addition. FIG. 9 schematically shows background image addition image composition. (A) is a self-image taken by the user, (b) is a background (forest), which is selected by the user from the background images, and (c) is a composite of the images of (a) and (b). is there. Similarly, FIG. 10 also schematically shows the object image additional image. (A) is a self-portrait captured by the user, (b) is an object (animal) selected by the user from the object images, and (c) is a composite of the images of (a) and (b). is there.

Although the image to be added is a background image or an object image of an animal or the like here, the additional image of the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a frame image or the like.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to easily register an image with position information captured by a wireless portable browser terminal with a camera on a position image management site, and further when the user goes to the corresponding position. It is possible to easily print the image registered in to a postcard and send it by mail or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] System overview

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless mobile browser terminal with a camera.

[Figure 3] Image information printing flow

[Figure 4] Example of advertisement database by region

[Fig. 5] Example of advertisement database by attribute

FIG. 6 Problem image discrimination processing

FIG. 7 is an additional image addition processing flow.

FIG. 8 is an additional image addition processing flow.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of background image addition

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of adding an object image.

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 1/00 107 H04N 1/00 107Z 1/387 1/387 (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Tarumi Kita Town, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture Address 2078 1 Largu Jade Algae 602 F term (reference) 5C062 AA06 AA37 AB11 AB17 AB21 AB22 AB41 AB42 AC02 AC04 AC22 AC24 AC29 AC58 AE03 AE15 AF02 AF13 BB02 BB03 5C076 AA02 AA14 AA16 5A024 AA14 AA11 AA07 AA11 AA07 AA11 AA06 AA07 AA11 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA06 AA06 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA07 AA11 AA06 AA06 AA11 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA04 AA11 AA11 AA06 AA11 AA of 6A of 6 NN21

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A system for managing digital images through a wireless communication line, 1) an image database placed at a site connectable from a wireless mobile terminal and managed by a geographical position, and 2) a wireless mobile device having an image capturing means. A service that edits and prints the digital image to be managed, including as a component a sending unit that sends the image captured by the terminal to the site, and 3) an edit printing unit that edits and prints the sent image on a print medium. An image information management printing system characterized by: 2. The image information management printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print medium is a postcard or a letter. 3. The other party address acquisition means, wherein the edit printing means comprises a destination address input means that can be input by a user or a destination selection means that selects a destination address from an address book in which the user is registered in advance. 3. The image information management printing system according to claim 2, further comprising means and a function of editing and printing the acquired destination address on the letter or postcard. 4. The image information management printing system according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the edit printing means edits the advertisement information at the same time as the image. 5. A questionnaire means comprising question content display means for displaying a question to the user on the site, a question answer obtaining means for obtaining an answer to the question from the user, and a questionnaire means for the other party from the questionnaire means. The image information management printing system according to claim 4, further comprising a destination attribute acquisition unit that acquires an attribute. 6. The image information management printing system according to claim 5, wherein the advertisement is selected as an optimum advertisement according to the destination attribute, the destination address, or both. 7. The transmission means comprises access means for accessing the site, registration permission / inhibition determination means for determining whether or not a user who has accessed the site can register an image, and user image input means for the user to input an image. The image information management printing system according to claim 1, wherein the image information management printing system is provided. 8. The image information management printing system according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting means is an image-attached electronic mail. 9. The wireless mobile terminal has position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the wireless mobile terminal, and at least one selected from a frame image, a background image and an object image according to the acquired terminal position. Two additional images are selected, 10. According to at least one condition selected from position information, time, and user attribute related to the image,
The image information management printing system according to claim 1, wherein an additional image is selectively added to the captured image and edited and printed. 11. The image information distribution management printing system according to claim 10, wherein the additional image is at least one image selected from a frame image, a background image, and an object image. 12. The additional image according to claim 10, wherein the additional image includes advertisement information of a product or a service.
Image information distribution management printing system described in the section. 13. The image information management printing system according to claim 1, further comprising image processing means for performing image processing on the registered image. 14. The image processing means performs at least one image processing selected from color correction, contrast correction, resolution correction, edge correction, trimming, ghost image synthesis, and character addition correction. The image information management printing system described in the item. 15. An image discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the transmitted image violates public order and morals, and an image which is rejected by the discriminating means is prohibited from being printed or an image is displayed on an inappropriate portion. The image information management printing system according to claim 1, wherein the image information management printing system is processed. 16. The image information management print according to claim 1, wherein the site further comprises point management means for setting points for each user and adding to the points each time the user edits and prints an image. system.