JP2005039702A - Information terminal, data transmission method, and data transmission program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily confirm where photographed image data are photographed or toward what direction it is photographed. <P>SOLUTION: A cellular telephone 10 automatically transmits its own positional information (photographing place) acquired by a GPS function and direction information indicating a photographic direction acquired by a direction acquisition function to a map information provision service server 5 and acquires a URL for acquiring map data on which its own positional information and direction are marked in the case of taking a picture by a photographic function. The cellular telephone 10 stores the acquired URL by associating it with the photographed image data. The cellular telephone 10 acquires and displays the map data on which its own positional information and direction are marked according to the URL associated with the image data in the case of displaying the photographed image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal, a data transmission method, and a data transmission program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a camera-equipped mobile phone or a system that combines a digital camera and a mobile phone, there is a known technique for storing location information (latitude / longitude) of a shooting location in association with image data by GPS or the like when shooting. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In the related art, using a digital camera having a photographing means and a mobile phone having a position detecting means, a position taken by the digital camera but captured by the digital camera and detected by the position detecting means of the mobile phone Information is associated and sent to the database for storage.

JP 2002-366565 A

  By the way, in the prior art, as described above, the captured image data and the positional information indicating the shooting location are stored in association with each other. However, the position information alone does not make it easy to know where the image was taken. Even if map data is acquired in accordance with the position information and the shooting location is marked and displayed on the map data, it is not known which direction the shooting location is taken from that shooting location. Eventually, there was a problem that information about the subject itself could not be obtained, and it was difficult to know what or where the image was taken.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an information terminal, a data transmission method, and a data transmission program that can easily confirm where the captured image data was captured and in what direction the captured image data was captured. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention shows a photographing means, a positional information acquisition means for obtaining positional information indicating a position at the time of photographing by the photographing means, and a photographing direction of the photographing means. Azimuth information acquisition means for acquiring azimuth information, first transmission means for transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and the azimuth information acquired by the azimuth information acquisition means to an external map information database, and In response to the position information and the direction information transmitted by the first transmission means, the map data clearly indicating the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database, and the address indicating the storage location of this map data Information acquisition means for acquiring information, image data captured by the imaging means, and address information acquired by the information acquisition means are combined with other information terminals. Characterized by comprising a second transmission means for wireless transmission to the.

  Further, as a preferred aspect, for example, as in claim 2, in the information terminal according to claim 1, display means for displaying map data in which the photographing position and the photographing direction acquired by the information acquisition means are clearly shown. Furthermore, you may make it comprise.

  In order to achieve the above object, a data transmission method according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a shooting step, a position information acquisition step for acquiring position information indicating a position shot in the shooting step, and the shooting step. Map information on the network including the azimuth information acquisition step for acquiring the azimuth information indicating the shooting direction photographed in the step, the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step, and the azimuth information acquired in the azimuth information acquisition step. In response to the first transmission step transmitted to the providing server and the position information and the direction information transmitted in the first transmission step, the photographing position and the photographing direction transmitted from the map information database are clearly indicated. Information acquisition step for acquiring the map data and address information indicating the storage location of the map data, and the image capturing means Characterized in that comprising a second transmission step for wirelessly transmitting the acquired address information in the information acquisition step with the image data to another information terminal.

  Moreover, as a preferable aspect, for example, as described in claim 4, in the data transmission method according to claim 3, map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are clearly displayed on the display unit. You may make it further include the display step to display.

  In order to achieve the above object, a data transmission program according to a fifth aspect of the present invention provides a position information acquisition step for acquiring position information indicating a position imaged by an imaging unit, and an imaging imaged by the imaging unit A direction information acquisition step of acquiring direction information indicating a direction, the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step, and the direction information acquired in the direction information acquisition step are transmitted to the map information providing server on the network. Map data specifying the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database in response to the first transmission step and the position information and azimuth information transmitted in the first transmission step; An information acquisition step of acquiring address information indicating the storage location of the map data, image data captured by the imaging means, and the information acquisition step Characterized in that to execute the acquired address information in-up to another information terminal and a second transmission step of wirelessly transmitted to the computer.

  Moreover, as a preferable aspect, for example, as described in claim 6, in the data transmission program according to claim 5, map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are clearly displayed on the display unit. You may make it further include the display step to display.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position information acquisition unit acquires the position information indicating the position at the time of shooting by the shooting unit, and the direction information acquisition unit acquires the direction information indicating the shooting direction of the shooting unit. The position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and the direction information acquired by the direction information acquisition means are transmitted to the external map information database by the first transmission means, and the information acquisition means transmits the first information In response to the position information and azimuth information transmitted by the transmission means, the map data transmitted from the map information database and the address information indicating the storage location of the map data are acquired. Then, the second transmission means uses the image data photographed by the photographing means and the address information obtained by the information obtaining means as other information. Since so as to wirelessly transmitted to the terminal, or not photographed image data has been captured and where, also the advantage that whether what is taken in any direction can be easily confirmed obtained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired by the information acquisition unit are clearly displayed is displayed on the display unit. There is an advantage that it is possible to easily confirm whether the image was taken with or in which direction.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position information acquisition step acquires the position information indicating the position imaged in the imaging step, and the orientation information acquisition step determines the imaging direction imaged in the imaging step. The orientation information shown is acquired, and in the first transmission step, the location information acquired in the location information acquisition step and the orientation information acquired in the orientation information acquisition step are transmitted to the map information providing server on the network. In the information acquisition step, in response to the position information and the direction information transmitted in the first transmission step, map data specifying the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database, and this Address information indicating the storage location of the map data is acquired, and in the second transmission step, the image data captured by the imaging means and the information acquisition step are acquired. Since the address information acquired in the network is wirelessly transmitted to other information terminals, it is easy to determine where the captured image data was captured and in what direction. The advantage that it can be confirmed is obtained.

  According to the invention of claim 4, further, in the display step, the map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are clearly displayed is displayed on the display unit. There is an advantage that it is possible to easily confirm where the captured image data was captured and in which direction the captured image data was captured.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the position information acquisition step for acquiring position information indicating the position imaged by the image capturing unit, and the direction information for acquiring the direction information indicating the image capturing direction imaged by the image capturing unit. An acquisition step; a first transmission step of transmitting the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step and the direction information acquired in the direction information acquisition step to a map information providing server on the network; and In response to the position information and the direction information transmitted in the transmission step, the map data clearly indicating the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database, and address information indicating the storage location of the map data The information acquisition step of acquiring the image data, the image data captured by the imaging means, and the address information acquired in the information acquisition step to another information terminal Since the second transmission step for wireless transmission is executed by the computer, it is easy to confirm where the captured image data was captured and in which direction the captured image data was captured. The advantage that it can be obtained.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 6, the map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are clearly displayed in the display step is displayed on the display unit. There is an advantage that it is possible to easily confirm where the captured image data was captured and in which direction the captured image data was captured.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described as an example applied to a mobile phone with reference to the drawings.

A. Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, mobile phones (information terminals) 10a and 10b each have a GPS function for acquiring their own position information (latitude and longitude) by receiving radio waves from the GPS satellite 4, a photographing function for photographing an image with a camera, An azimuth acquisition function for detecting azimuth information indicating the direction of shooting and a function for sending and receiving e-mails to the mail servers 103 and 203 are provided. In the following description, the mobile phone 10a is described as a transmission side, and the mobile phone 10b is described as a reception side.

  When the mobile phone 10a captures an image with the image capturing function, the mobile phone 10a transmits its own position information (capturing location) acquired from the GPS satellite 4 and direction information indicating the image capturing direction acquired with the direction acquiring function to the radio base station 8a, the communication It is automatically transmitted to the map information providing service system 5 via the Web server 102 of the service provider (including the Internet provider) 1 and the WWW (World wide web) 7, and its own position information and direction are marked. The URL for acquiring the map data obtained is acquired. In addition, the mobile phone 10a stores the acquired URL in association with the captured image data together with the attached data such as the folder name, shooting date / time, shooting location, and photographer, while attaching the image data to the mail. When sending, the URL and attached data are attached to the mail.

  Further, when the mobile phone 10b receives the mail with the attached image data, the mobile phone 10b displays the attached image data according to the URL associated with the image data in accordance with the URL associated with the image data. The map information providing service system 5 is accessed via one Web server 102 (including an Internet provider) and the WWW 7, and as described above, the map data in which its own position information and direction are marked is acquired. Thus, the map data and the image data are displayed in a switchable manner.

  The communication service provider 1 is an exchange required for a mobile phone service provided as a main service (a mobile phone 10 that receives the same service or a service that is connected to the public line network 9 to realize a voice call). In addition to 104, a system (Web server 102, router 105) and a mail system (mail server 103) for connecting to WWW 7 described later are provided. With these configurations, a function for connecting the mobile phones 10a and 10b to the WWW 7 using the wireless base stations 8a and 8b as access points is provided.

  On the other hand, the Internet service provider 2 includes a service management server 201 necessary for an Internet connection service provided as a main service, a system (Web server 202, router 204) for connecting to the WWW 7, and a mail system (mail server 203). With these configurations, the personal computer (xDSL, including a modem for optical fiber communication) 3 is provided with a function for connecting to the WWW 7.

  As a feature of the present embodiment, the cellular phones 10a and 10b transmit / receive / display an email attached with image data captured by the imaging function, but the cellular phone 10a, 10b transmits the email to the personal computer 3. You can also That is, the program in the present embodiment is compatible with generally known mail software.

  The map information providing service system 5 includes a service management server 501, a Web server 502, a gateway server 503, a router 504, and the like, and stores map information of the whole country in the map information database 6, and is a radio base station. 8a, when receiving location information and orientation information from the mobile phone 10a via the communication service provider 1 (Web server 103) and the WWW 7, according to the coordinates indicated by the location information and the orientation indicated by the orientation information, Map information of a predetermined scale marked so that the shooting location and the shooting direction can be easily understood is created, stored in a storage location indicated by a predetermined URL, and the URL is transmitted to the mobile phone 10a. Further, when the map information providing service system 5 accesses a predetermined URL from the mobile phone 10b, the map data stored in the URL is transferred to the mobile phone via the WWW 7, the Web server 103, and the wireless base station 8b. To 10b.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the mobile phones 10a and 10b. The wireless transmission / reception unit 20 controls the transmission / reception timing of the wireless signal by the antenna ATN1 according to control information from the control unit 22 described later, performs transmission / reception of a signal addressed to the own device, and performs modulation / demodulation of the PSK system. Send and receive data. The wireless signal processing unit 21 performs modulation / demodulation processing on the basis of data received by the wireless transmission / reception unit 20 according to CELP encoding / decoding method, and also to WWW7 acquired by mail data, URL connection, or the like. For each data on the connected database (server), necessary processing such as packet release and packetization is performed. The control unit 22 controls various operations and overall operations. The azimuth sensor 17 acquires azimuth data indicating a shooting direction by the imaging unit (the imaging lens 18, the imaging module 181, and the DSP 182).

  The image memory 23 stores an image file, attached data, URL, and the like that are captured by the image capturing unit (the image capturing lens 18, the image capturing module 181, and the DSP 182) and compressed and encoded by the program stored in the image processing program area 2413. It is a memory for. The ROM 24 is composed of a rewritable Flash ROM and stores various programs.

  The driver 25 drives the display unit 13. The driver 26 drives the sub display unit 16. The GPS signal processing unit 27 receives, by the GPS antenna ATN2, radio waves (1.22760G / 1.57542GHz) transmitted from at least about four GPS satellites launched by the US Department of Defense (which may be less than that but the accuracy is reduced). Then, the phase of the radio wave (difference in reception timing) is calculated, and the position information including the latitude / longitude (• altitude) information of the current position corrected by communication with the neighboring radio base stations 8a and 8b is acquired. The ROM 28 stores various programs for controlling the control unit 18. The RAM 29 stores various data necessary as an information terminal, and stores data necessary for the control unit 25 to operate.

  The audio signal processing unit 200 encodes the audio signal input from the microphone 15 and outputs it to the radio signal processing unit 21, or decodes the audio signal from the communication partner input from the radio signal processing unit 21. The speaker 12 is driven to output sound. The imaging module 181 is configured by a CCD or a CMOS, and captures a color image. The DSP 182 encodes the image captured by the imaging module 181. The notification driver 192 is a driver for driving the notification sound speaker 19, the vibrator 191, and the LED 171.

  Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the mobile phones 10a and 10b. The mobile phones 10a and 10b in the present embodiment have a two-fold structure composed of a lid portion and a main body portion. FIG. 3A shows a front view of the mobile phone 10a and 10b in an opened state, and FIG. b) shows a rear view with the cellular phones 10a and 10b opened. The antenna ATN1 is provided on the back surface of the lid, and is extendable. The speaker 12 is provided on the front side of the lid, and performs audio output. The display unit (main display unit) 13 is composed of a color LCD and has a resolution of QVGA class of 240 dots (width) × 320 dots (height). The display unit 13 can display e-mails and captured images (photos).

  The key operation unit 14 is provided on the front surface of the main body, and includes various function keys, a cross key (four-way cursor key), an off-hook key, an on-hook key, a numeric keypad, and the like. The cross key is used to select a desired menu from the menus displayed for each function, and to shift the data input position when inputting data with the numeric keypad. The off-hook key is for starting a call, and the on-hook key is for ending the call. The numeric keypad is used for inputting telephone numbers and characters. The microphone 15 is provided at the lower part of the main body, and performs voice input. The sub display unit 16 is provided on the back surface of the lid. The imaging lens 18 is provided on the back surface of the lid portion 2 and below the sub display portion 16.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the memory area of the RAM 29. The RAM 29 is associated with each image data 291 and stores URL data 292 in which map data in which the shooting location and shooting direction in which the image data was shot is marked is stored. Data 293 is stored.

B. Next, operations of the mobile phone 10a and the map information providing service server 5 according to the above-described embodiment will be described.

B-1. Shooting Operation First, the shooting operation with the mobile phone 10a will be described. Here, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining operations of the mobile phone 10 and the map information providing service system 5 at the time of photographing. In the mobile phone 10a, when a picture is taken by the image pickup unit (the image pickup lens 18, the image pickup module 181, and the DSP 182) in step S10, direction data indicating the shooting direction is acquired from the direction sensor 17 in step S12. Next, position information (latitude, longitude) is acquired from the GPS signal processing unit 27 in step S14. Next, in step S16, its own location information and direction data are transmitted to the map providing service system 5. In step S18, it is determined whether or not a URL is acquired from the map providing service system 5.

  When the map providing service system 5 receives position information and direction data from the mobile phone 10a, the map data is searched from the map information database 6 according to the position information in step S30. Next, in step S32, the shooting position is marked on the map data according to the position information, and in step S34, the shooting direction is marked on the map data according to the azimuth data. In the present embodiment, the shooting position and the shooting direction are clearly indicated by one mark (details will be described later). Next, map data is preserve | saved at predetermined URL by step S36, and this URL is transmitted to the mobile telephone 10a by step S38.

  In the mobile phone 10a, when the URL is acquired from the map providing service system 5, the attached data is acquired (or input from the key input unit 14) in step S20, and in step S22, the captured image data and the map providing service system 5 are acquired. The acquired URL and the attached data are stored in the RAM 29.

B-2. Mail transmission operation Next, a mail transmission operation in the mobile phone 10a will be described. Here, FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the mobile phone 10a when the captured image data is transmitted by attaching it to an e-mail. In the mobile phone 10a, first, in step S50, an email text, a destination (in this case, the mobile phone 10b) and the like are input to create an email. In step S52, image data to be attached to the mail is selected. For the selection of image data, for example, a list of image data stored in the RAM 29 is displayed and selected from the list.

  Next, when the image data is selected, in step S54, the selected image data, the URL stored in association with the image data, and the attached data are attached to the mail. Next, in step S56, it is determined whether or not there is a transmission instruction. If there is a transmission instruction, the mail is transmitted to a mail server (not shown) via the wireless base station 8b and the communication network 7 in step S58. .

B-3. Mail Receiving Operation Next, a mail receiving operation on the mobile phone 10b will be described. Here, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the mobile phone 10b on the mail receiving side. 9 to 11 are schematic views showing display examples of the mobile phone 10b when reproducing the image data attached to the mail.

  When the mobile phone 10b receives a mail in step S70, it is determined in step S72 whether an instruction to open the mail has been received. If there is an opening instruction, the mail text is displayed in step S74. Next, in step S76, it is determined whether image data is attached to the mail. If no image data is attached, a normal mail opening operation is performed.

  On the other hand, if the image data is attached to the mail, the selected image data is displayed on the display unit 13 as shown in FIG. The display unit 13 displays image data and also includes a map data button for instructing display of map data, an attached button for instructing display of attached data, an end button for instructing to end display of image data, and the like. .

  Next, in step S80, the cellular phone 10b determines whether or not the map data button is selected. When the map data button is selected, in step S82, the mail is associated with the currently displayed image data. Map data is acquired according to the URL attached to the URL. Next, in step S84, the map data is displayed on the display unit 13 as shown in FIG. In the map data, as shown in FIG. 10A, a mark indicating the shooting location and shooting direction is displayed together with the coordinates of the shooting location. The mark indicates the shooting location and the shooting direction, as shown in FIG. The user can easily visually recognize where and in what direction the image data (landscape) shown in FIG. Thereafter, the process returns to step S80.

  Next, in the cellular phone 10b, it is determined whether or not the attached data button is selected in step S86 with the image data displayed or the map data displayed. When the attached button is selected, the attached data is displayed on the display unit 13 as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the attached data button is selected when the image data is displayed, and the attached data is displayed over the image data. Although not shown in the drawing, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the attached data button is selected while the map data is being displayed, the attached data is displayed over the map data data. Thereafter, the process returns to step S80.

  Further, in the cellular phone 10b, it is determined whether or not the image data button is selected in step S90 in a state where the image data, the map data, or the attached data is displayed superimposed on them. When the image data button is selected, the process returns to step S78, and the image data is displayed on the display unit 13 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the image data button is not selected, it is determined in step S92 whether or not an end button has been selected. If the end button is not selected, the process returns to step S80 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example of an operation for displaying map data with a mark indicating a shooting location and a shooting direction as an operation when displaying image data attached to the mail on the mail receiving side will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same operation may be performed at the time of reproducing the image data on the photographed mobile phone 10a side.

  In the embodiment described above, the URL that is the storage location of the map data is attached to the mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mobile phone 10a receives the map data and attaches the map data itself to the mail. You may make it transmit.

  Further, the cellular phone 10a transmits image data and corresponding position information and orientation data attached to an e-mail, and the cellular phone 10b transmits the received position information and orientation data to the map information providing service server. The map data in which the shooting location and the shooting direction are clearly specified based on the position information and the direction information may be received and displayed.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication system by embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a mobile phone 10. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a mobile phone 10. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a memory area of a RAM 29. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement with the mobile telephone 10 and the map information provision service server 5 at the time of imaging | photography. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the mobile phone 10 when reproducing captured image data. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of image data. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of map data. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of attached data. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the mobile telephone 10b at the time of reproduction | regeneration of the image data attached to the mail. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display of the mobile telephone 10b at the time of reproduction | regeneration of the image data attached to the mail.

Explanation of symbols

5 Map information service system 6 Map information database 7 Communication network 8 Base station 10 Mobile phone (information terminal)
11 Antenna 12 Speaker 13 Display Unit (Display Unit)
14 Key input unit 15 Microphone 17 Direction sensor (azimuth information acquisition means)
18 Imaging lens (photographing means)
181 Imaging module (imaging means)
182 DSP
19 Notification speaker 20 Wireless transmission / reception unit (first transmission means, second transmission means)
21 wireless signal processing unit 22 control unit (information acquisition means)
23 Image memory 24 FlashROM
25 Driver 26 Driver 27 GPS signal processing unit (position information acquisition means)
28 System ROM
29 RAM
192 Driver 200 Audio signal processor

Claims (6)

Photographing means;
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating a position at the time of photographing by the photographing means;
Orientation information acquisition means for acquiring orientation information indicating the imaging direction of the imaging means;
First transmission means for transmitting the position information acquired by the position information acquisition means and the direction information acquired by the direction information acquisition means to an external map information database;
In response to the position information and the direction information transmitted by the first transmission means, map data specifying the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database and the storage location of the map data are shown. Information acquisition means for acquiring address information;
An information terminal comprising: second transmission means for wirelessly transmitting image data photographed by the photographing means and address information obtained by the information obtaining means to another information terminal. 2. The information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying map data in which a photographing position and a photographing direction acquired by the information acquisition means are specified. Shooting steps,
A position information acquisition step for acquiring position information indicating the position imaged in this imaging step;
An orientation information acquisition step of acquiring orientation information indicating the imaging direction imaged in the imaging step;
A first transmission step of transmitting the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step and the direction information acquired in the direction information acquisition step to a map information providing server on the network;
In response to the position information and direction information transmitted in the first transmission step, map data specifying the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database and the storage location of the map data are displayed. An information acquisition step for acquiring the address information indicated;
A data transmission method comprising: a second transmission step of wirelessly transmitting the image data photographed by the photographing means and the address information obtained in the information obtaining step to another information terminal. 4. The data transmission method according to claim 3, further comprising a display step of causing the display unit to display map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are specified. A position information acquisition step of acquiring position information indicating a position imaged by the imaging unit;
An orientation information acquisition step for acquiring orientation information indicating a shooting direction shot by the shooting unit;
A first transmission step of transmitting the position information acquired in the position information acquisition step and the direction information acquired in the direction information acquisition step to a map information providing server on the network;
In response to the position information and direction information transmitted in the first transmission step, map data specifying the shooting position and shooting direction transmitted from the map information database and the storage location of the map data are displayed. An information acquisition step for acquiring the address information indicated;
A data transmission program that causes a computer to execute a second transmission step of wirelessly transmitting image data captured by the imaging means and the address information acquired in the information acquisition step to another information terminal. 6. The data transmission program according to claim 5, further comprising a display step of causing the display unit to display map data in which the shooting position and the shooting direction acquired in the information acquisition step are specified.

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