JP2005084866A - Information processor, server device and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor taking images, and automatically accessing URLs or URIs, etc. for the image when the URLs, URIs, etc. exist. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor includes: an imaging part 102 for taking images; a location information acquisition part 103 for determining whether the images taken by the imaging part 102 contain location information showing the location of information and for acquiring the location information if it is contained; an information acquisition part 104 for acquiring the information based on the location information; and an information output part 105 for outputting the information that the information acquisition part 104 acquired. This solves the problem of conventional information processors requiring direct imaging and reading of bar codes etc. using a reader on printed matter on which bar codes showing URLs or the like are printed, for the purpose of accessing the URLs. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that captures information such as a Web page specified by a URL or the like when the image is captured and a URL or the like is included from the captured image.

  Conventionally, a user has photographed a hanging advertisement or the like having location information (http: // www. ???) on a website with a mobile phone with a camera. Then, the user reads “http: // www. ???” from the photographed advertisement image, activates the web browser of the camera-equipped mobile terminal, and presses the button or the like, "http: // www. ???" was entered to access the Web site.

Further, there are the following techniques as conventional techniques. The barcode corresponding to the URL is read by the reading device, and the URL corresponding to the barcode is transmitted to the information processing device. When receiving the URL, the information processing apparatus activates the viewer, gives the URL to the viewer, and accesses the corresponding home page (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-204389 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  As in the past, when “http: // www. ???” is input by pressing a button or the like, there is a problem that the input is troublesome or an input error occurs. The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the direct input of “http: // www. ???” so that an input mistake or the like does not occur.

  In addition, a conventional information processing apparatus (see Patent Document 1) reads a barcode from a printed matter on which a barcode or the like indicating a URL or the like has been printed in advance using a reading device, and sets the URL indicated by the read barcode. It was to be accessed, and it was necessary to read a barcode or the like directly with a reader. In other words, the conventional information processing apparatus is required to have a barcode indicating a URL, and there is a problem that a Web site cannot be accessed if the barcode does not exist. In addition, the barcode is a printed matter, and there is a problem that it must be printed separately. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to automatically access a URL, URI, etc., when a URL, URI, etc. is taken. Therefore, even if there is no barcode indicating the URL, if the URL exists, the Web site specified by the URL can be accessed. Also, the trouble of printing the barcode is eliminated.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention determines whether or not an image capturing unit that captures an image, and whether or not the image captured by the image capturing unit includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of information, and includes presence location information A location information acquisition unit that acquires the location information, an information acquisition unit that acquires information based on the location information, and an information output unit that outputs information acquired by the information acquisition unit. It is said.

  With this configuration, an image can be taken, and if a URL or the like exists in the image, the URL or the like is automatically recognized and a Web site specified by the URL can be automatically accessed. Therefore, there is no trouble of directly inputting a URL or the like, and no input mistake occurs. Further, it is sufficient that a URL or the like is printed on the printed matter, and it does not take time to separately print a barcode indicating the URL.

  Another information processing apparatus according to the present invention uses an image capturing unit that captures an image, a character recognition unit that recognizes characters captured by the image capturing unit, and one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition unit as search keywords. And a search engine starting unit for operating a predetermined search engine, and a search result output unit for acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine.

  With this configuration, it is possible to automatically recognize a character string from a photographed image and search using the character string as a key. Moreover, even if one or more character strings are recognized from the image, one or more character strings can be sequentially searched. Therefore, it is possible to easily acquire information such as a home page related to the shooting target.

  Another information processing apparatus according to the present invention uses a photographing unit for photographing an image, an image recognition unit for recognizing an image photographed by the photographing unit and converting the image into a character string, and a predetermined search using the character string as a search keyword. A search engine starting unit for operating the engine and a search result output unit for acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine are provided.

  With this configuration, for example, a photograph, an illustration, or the like can be taken, converted into a character string indicated by the photograph, the illustration, or the like, and searched using the character string as a key. Therefore, it is possible to easily acquire information such as a home page related to the shooting target.

  Another server device of the present invention includes an image receiving unit that receives an image from a terminal, and determines whether or not the image includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of the information, and includes the presence location information. A location information acquisition unit that acquires the location information, an information acquisition unit that acquires information based on the location information, and an information transmission unit that transmits information acquired by the information acquisition unit to the terminal. It is characterized by that. The terminal of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures an image, an image transmission unit that transmits an image to the server device, an information reception unit that receives information from the server device, and an information output unit that outputs information. It is characterized by that.

  Another server device of the present invention uses an image receiving unit that receives an image from a terminal, a character recognition unit that recognizes characters as an image, and one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition unit as search keywords. A search engine starting unit that operates a predetermined search engine, and a search result transmission unit that acquires a search result of the search engine and transmits the result to the terminal are provided.

  Another server device of the present invention includes an image receiving unit that receives an image from a terminal, an image recognition unit that recognizes an image and converts the image into a character string, and a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword. A search engine starting unit for operating the search engine, and a search result transmitting unit for acquiring a search result of the search engine and transmitting the result to the terminal.

  Another terminal of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures an image, an image transmission unit that transmits an image to a server device, a search result reception unit that receives a search result from the server device, and a search that outputs the search result. A result output unit is provided.

  According to the information processing apparatus or the like according to the present invention, if a URL, URI, or the like exists in the captured image, the URL, URI, etc. can be automatically accessed. Therefore, there is no trouble of directly inputting a URL or the like, and there is no input mistake. In addition, according to another information processing apparatus of the present invention, a character string or the like can be recognized from a photographed image, and automatic search can be performed using the character string as a key. Therefore, there is no trouble of inputting a search keyword.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in this embodiment, components using the same reference numerals and steps in the flowcharts perform the same function, and thus description of what has been described once may be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 includes a shooting instruction receiving unit 101, a shooting unit 102, an existing location information acquisition unit 103, an information acquisition unit 104, and an information output unit 105.

  The information processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU, a main memory, a hardware resource such as a recording medium (for example, ROM, EPROM), and peripheral devices (for example, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display) Etc.) (not shown). The same applies to other embodiments below.

  The shooting instruction receiving unit 101 receives an instruction for the shooting unit 102 to take an image. The imaging instruction accepting unit 101 can be realized by means for giving an input instruction by a person such as a switch, a button, or a touch panel. When the shooting instruction receiving unit 101 is, for example, a button, pressing the button means that a shooting start instruction has been received. Note that the photographing instruction receiving unit 101 may or may not be present. In the case where there is no photographing instruction receiving unit 101, the photographing unit 102 may be one that performs photographing, for example, after a certain time. Further, a sensor may be incorporated in the photographing unit 102, and when a printed matter or the like is detected by the sensor, the printed matter or the like may be automatically photographed.

  The imaging unit 102 captures an image of a printed material, for example, in accordance with the imaging start instruction received by the imaging instruction reception unit 101. The photographing unit 102 can be realized by, for example, a CCD camera, a CMOS camera, or the like.

  The location information acquisition unit 103 determines whether or not the image captured by the imaging unit 102 includes the location information that is information indicating the location of the information. get. “Information” is content on a Web site, such as Web page information. “Present location information” is, for example, a URL, a URI, or the like. The location information acquisition unit 103 includes, for example, an OCR (Optical Character Reader) that recognizes characters, character strings, and the like from an image, and determines whether the image includes location information. For example, when “http: //” exists in the image, it is determined that the image includes the location information. The location information acquisition unit 103 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure for “determining” and “obtaining” is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The information acquisition unit 104 acquires information based on the location information. “Acquire” means that when the location information is the URL “http: // www....”, For example, a web browser or the like is started, and the location specified by the URL is connected using the HTTP protocol. This means that information on the Web page at the location specified by the URL is acquired. The browser may be a browser other than the web browser. The information acquisition unit 104 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure for “acquiring” is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

The information output unit 105 outputs the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 104. “Output” is to display “acquired information” on, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like included in the information processing apparatus 100. For example, when the Web browser is activated, the information output unit 105 displays “acquired information” on the Web browser. The information output unit 105 may output “acquired information” to another display device. In such a case, the information output unit 105 can be realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software.
Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S201) The shooting instruction receiving unit 101 determines whether an instruction to start shooting has been received. When receiving the instruction, the imaging instruction receiving unit 101 goes to step S202, and otherwise returns to step S201.
(Step S202) The photographing unit 102 photographs an image.

(Step S203) The location information acquisition unit 103 determines whether the location information is present in the image captured in step S202. The presence location information acquisition unit 103 goes to step S204 when it is determined that the presence location information exists, and returns to step S201 otherwise.
(Step S204) The location information acquisition unit 103 acquires location information.

  (Step S205) The information acquisition unit 104 activates a Web browser. Next, the information acquisition unit 104 transmits an access request to the location specified by the presence location information acquired in step S204.

  (Step S <b> 206) The information acquisition unit 104 determines whether information on a location specified by the presence location information has been acquired. If so, go to step S208, otherwise go to step S207.

(Step S207) The information acquisition unit 104 determines whether or not a certain period has elapsed. If the certain period has elapsed, the process goes to step S210, and if not, the process returns to step S206. Here, the “certain period” is an arbitrary period. When access is not accepted, the information acquisition unit 104 may acquire error information.
(Step S208) The information output unit 105 outputs the information acquired in step S207.

  (Step S209) The information output unit 105 determines whether an instruction to end the operation has been received. If the instruction is accepted, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S201. The “instruction to end the operation” is, for example, an instruction by pressing an end button or the like included in the information processing apparatus 100, an interrupt process, and the like.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the concept of the information processing apparatus. In FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus is a mobile communication terminal 100. The mobile communication terminal 100 is connected to a web server or the like via the Internet. The information processing apparatus may be a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a notebook computer, or the like.

  Hereinafter, a case where information on a place specified by the existing place information is acquired will be described. In FIG. 3, an image of a hanging advertisement is shown on the display 105 of the mobile communication terminal 100. When the button of the shooting instruction receiving unit 101 is pressed, the image of the hanging advertisement is shot. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a CCD camera of the photographing unit 102. In the photographed image, presence location information “http://www.xyz.co.jp” exists. “Http://www.xyz.co.jp” is recognized by the OCR of the location information acquisition unit 103.

  When the location information acquisition unit 103 recognizes and acquires “http://www.xyz.co.jp”, the information acquisition unit 104 automatically starts a Web browser, and “http: // www. An access request is made to “xyz.co.jp”. FIG. 5 is a display example of the display during the access request. When the access request is accepted, information on the Web page at the location specified by “http://www.xyz.co.jp” is acquired. The acquired information is output to the Web browser by the information output unit 105. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of acquired information.

  In the present embodiment, the location information acquisition unit 103 acquires one location information “http://www.xyz.co.jp”, and the information acquisition unit 104 automatically updates the Web browser. , And makes an access request to “http://www.xyz.co.jp”. However, the location information acquisition unit 104 acquires one or more location information, and the information acquisition unit 104 May automatically make sequential access requests to the obtained one or more location information. In addition, the information acquisition unit 104 may request access only to the location information selected from the obtained one or more location information. In such a case, the mobile communication terminal 100 may include a selection instruction receiving unit that selects the location information to be accessed from one or more location information. The selection instruction receiving unit can be realized by a selection instruction button or the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when an image including a URL is taken, the URL or the like is automatically recognized, a location specified by the URL is automatically accessed, and a Web page can be acquired and output.

  Furthermore, the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 described in the present embodiment may be realized by software, the software may be placed on, for example, a server, and the software may be distributed by software download. Further, the software may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This is the same in all other embodiments. The program when the operation in the present embodiment is realized by software is as follows. If the computer includes an acquisition step of acquiring an image, and whether the image acquired in the acquisition step includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of the information, This is a program for executing a presence location information acquisition step for acquiring information, an information acquisition step for acquiring information based on the presence location information, and an information output step for outputting information acquired in the information acquisition step. Note that “acquiring an image” means, for example, acquiring an image taken with a CCD camera or the like.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus 200 in the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 200 includes a shooting instruction receiving unit 101, a shooting unit 102, a character recognition unit 201, a search engine activation unit 202, and a search result output unit 203.

  The character recognition unit 201 performs character recognition on the image captured by the image capturing unit 102. The character recognition unit 201 can be realized by OCR or the like, for example. Note that “OCR” is an existing technology and will not be described in detail. Further, the character recognition unit 201 determines a character string to be searched from a character string recognized by OCR. The “character string” includes one character. The character string to be searched may be one that searches all recognized character strings. Alternatively, only a character string included in character string data held in advance as data may be searched.

  The search engine activation unit 202 operates a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition unit 201 as a search keyword. The predetermined search engine is, for example, Yahoo! (Registered trademark), Google (registered trademark), Lycos (registered trademark), and the like. “Using one or more character strings as search keywords” means that one character string is searched sequentially using the search keyword, and one or more character strings are used as search keywords, for example, AND search, OR search, etc. It means to do.

The search result output unit 203 outputs a search result of the search engine operated by the search engine activation unit 202 to a display or the like. The search result output unit 203 can be realized by a display device driver or the like. “Output of search result” may be output to another display device. In such a case, the search result output unit 203 can be realized by, for example, a network card and its driver software. The network card includes a wireless network card.
Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 200 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S801) The shooting instruction receiving unit 101 determines whether an instruction to start shooting has been received. When receiving the instruction, the imaging instruction receiving unit 101 goes to step S802, and otherwise returns to step S801.
(Step S802) The image capturing unit 102 captures an image upon receiving an instruction in step S801.

(Step S803) The character recognition unit 201 recognizes a character string from the image captured in step S802. When one or more character strings are recognized, the character recognition unit 201 sequentially stores the recognized character strings in a memory or the like.
(Step S804) The search engine activation unit 202 automatically operates a predetermined search engine when the character string is recognized in step S803.

  (Step S805) The search engine activation unit 202 performs a search using the character string recognized in step S803 as a keyword by the search engine operated in step S804. When there are one or more character strings, the search engine activation unit 202 may sequentially acquire and search the accumulated character strings. In addition, any one or more character strings may be arbitrarily selected, and the selected character string may be searched for as a keyword.

  (Step S806) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not the search result searched by the search engine in step S805 has been acquired. If the search result has been acquired, go to step S808; otherwise, go to step S807.

(Step S807) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not a certain period has elapsed. If the certain period has elapsed, the process goes to step S809; otherwise, the process returns to step S806. Here, the “certain period” is an arbitrary period. If the search result is not acquired, the search result output unit 203 may output search result error information.
(Step S808) The search result output unit 203 outputs the search result acquired in step S806.

  (Step S809) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not an instruction to end the operation has been received. If the instruction is accepted, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S801. The “instruction to end the operation” is, for example, an instruction by pressing a button or the like included in the information processing apparatus 200, an interrupt process, and the like. Alternatively, the processing may be terminated when the character string recognized in step S803 does not exist.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the concept of the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus is a mobile communication terminal 200. The mobile communication terminal 200 is connected to a web server or the like via the Internet.

  Below, the case where a search engine is started is demonstrated. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display of the mobile communication terminal 200. In FIG. 10, a photographed image is displayed on the display. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a character string recognized from a captured image. FIG. 11 shows that the character string “movie” has been recognized. When the character string is recognized, the search engine activation unit 202 automatically activates a predetermined search engine and searches for “movie” as a keyword. In the case of canceling the search, it means that if the button corresponding to “x” at the lower right of the display screen is pressed, the search is stopped. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an output example of search results. In FIG. 12, the search result for the keyword “movie” is displayed on the display.

  Next, another case where a character string is recognized will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of character strings recognized other than “movie”. In FIG. 13, the character strings are “Kansai gourmet”, “Summer fortune-telling”, and the like. The search engine activation unit 202 searches using the next character string “Kansai gourmet” as a keyword. A display example of the search result is shown in FIG. next. The search engine activation unit 202 sequentially searches for character strings.

In this embodiment, the search engine activation unit 202 sequentially searches for one or more character strings. However, the search engine activation unit 202 uses a character string selected from one or more character strings as a keyword. You can search for something. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a selection display screen when one or more character strings are selected. In FIG. 15, by checking a check box of a character string to be searched, the checked character string is searched.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to automatically recognize a character string from an image, automatically search using the character string as a keyword, and output the search result.

  The program when the operation in the present embodiment is realized by software is as follows. A predetermined search engine is operated on a computer using an acquisition step for acquiring an image, a character recognition step for character recognition of the image acquired in the acquisition step, and one or more character strings recognized in the character recognition step as search keywords. This is a program for executing a search engine start step to be executed and a search result output step for acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the information processing apparatus 300 in the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 300 includes a shooting instruction receiving unit 101, a shooting unit 102, an image recognition unit 301, a search engine activation unit 202, and a search result output unit 203.

The image recognition unit 301 recognizes the image captured by the imaging unit 102 and converts it into a character string. The method of “recognizing an image” is not particularly limited. For example, when the image recognition unit 301 compares image data stored in advance with a recognized image and determines that they match or are similar, the image recognition unit 301 converts the image data into a character string indicating the image data. The image recognition unit 301 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. Processing procedures for “recognition” and “conversion” are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).
Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 300 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Step S1701) The shooting instruction receiving unit 101 determines whether an instruction to start shooting has been received. When receiving the instruction, the imaging instruction receiving unit 101 goes to step S1702, and otherwise returns to step S1701.
(Step S1702) The image capturing unit 102 captures an image upon receiving an instruction in step S1701.
(Step S1703) The image recognition unit 301 recognizes the image captured in step S1702.
(Step S1704) The image recognition unit 301 converts the image recognized in step S1703 into a character string.
(Step S1705) The search engine starting unit 202 automatically operates a predetermined search engine.

  (Step S1706) The search engine starting unit 202 is a search engine operated in step S1705 and performs a search using the character string converted in step S1704 as a keyword.

  (Step S1707) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not the search result searched by the search engine in step S1706 has been acquired. If the search result is acquired, the process goes to step S1709; otherwise, the process goes to step S1708.

(Step S1708) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not a certain period has elapsed. If the predetermined period has elapsed, the process goes to step S1710, and if not, the process returns to step S1707. Here, the “certain period” is an arbitrary period. If the search result is not acquired, the search result output unit 203 may output search result error information.
(Step S1709) The search result output unit 203 outputs the search result acquired in step S1707.

  (Step S1710) The search result output unit 203 determines whether or not an instruction to end the operation has been received. If the instruction is accepted, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S1701. The “instruction to end the operation” is, for example, an instruction by pressing an end button or the like included in the information processing apparatus 300, an interrupt process, and the like.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the information processing apparatus 300 in the present embodiment will be described. The conceptual diagram of the information processing apparatus 300 is the same as that in FIG. The case where an image is recognized will be described below. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of image data stored in advance and a character string indicating the image data. In FIG. 18, the image is “mountain image data”, and the character string indicating it is “mountain”. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a captured image. In FIG. 19, a captured “mountain” image is displayed on the display. The image recognition unit 301 collates the captured “mountain” image with image data stored in advance. Next, when the image recognition unit 301 determines that the photographed “mountain” image and the prestored image data match or are similar to each other as a result of the collation, Get the indicated string.

Next, a case where the search engine is activated will be described. When the image recognition unit 301 recognizes an image as a character string, the search engine activation unit 202 automatically operates a predetermined search engine. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a state in which “mountains” converted into character strings are being searched. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a display example of search results.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, for example, a photograph, an illustration, or the like can be taken, converted into a character string indicated by the photograph, an illustration, or the like, and the character string can be searched using the key.

  The program when the operation in the present embodiment is realized by software is as follows. An acquisition step for acquiring an image on the computer, an image recognition step for recognizing the image acquired in the acquisition step and converting it to a character string, and starting a search engine that operates a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword It is a program for executing a search result output step for acquiring and outputting a search result of a step and a search engine.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing the configuration of server device 400 and terminal 410 in the present embodiment. The server device 400 includes an image receiving unit 401, an image recognition unit 301, a search engine activation unit 202, and a search result transmission unit 402. The terminal 410 includes a photographing instruction receiving unit 101, a photographing unit 102, an image transmitting unit 411, a search result receiving unit 412, and a search result output unit 413. Server device 400 and terminal 410 are connected via the Internet, wireless communication, or the like.

  Note that the server device 400 and the terminal 410 are a CPU, a main memory, a hardware resource such as a recording medium (for example, ROM, EPROM, etc.) and a peripheral device (for example, an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, etc.) And an output device such as a display) (not shown).

  The image receiving unit 401 receives an image from the terminal 410. The image receiving unit 401 can be realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software. The network card includes a case where it has a wireless communication function. The same applies hereinafter.

  The search result transmission unit 402 acquires the search result obtained when the search engine activation unit 302 is activated, and transmits the search result to the terminal 410. The search result transmission unit 402 can be realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software.

  The image transmission unit 411 transmits the image captured by the imaging unit 102 to the server device 400. The image transmission unit 411 can be realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software.

  The search result receiving unit 412 receives a search result from the server device 400. The search result receiving unit 412 can be realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software.

  The search result output unit 413 receives the search result receiving unit 412 and outputs the search result. “Output” means displaying on the display of the terminal 410. In such a case, the search result output unit 413 is realized by driver software for the display. Further, “output” may be to transmit a search result to a terminal other than the terminal 410. In such a case, the search result output unit 413 is realized by including, for example, a network card and its driver software. Further, “output” may be to print a search result. In such a case, the search result output unit 413 is realized by including, for example, a printer and its driver software.

  Hereinafter, operations of terminal 410 and server apparatus 400 in the present embodiment will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. 23 and 24, respectively. Hereinafter, the operation of the terminal 410 will be described with reference to FIG.

(Step S2301) The shooting instruction receiving unit 101 determines whether an instruction to start shooting has been received. When receiving the instruction, the imaging instruction reception unit 101 goes to step S2302, and otherwise returns to step S2301.
(Step S2302) The photographing unit 102 photographs an image.
(Step S2303) The image transmission unit 411 transmits the image captured in step S2302 to the server apparatus 400.

  (Step S2304) The search result receiving unit 412 determines whether or not a search result has been received from the server device 400. When the search result is received, the search result receiving unit 412 goes to step S2306, and otherwise goes to step S2305.

(Step S2305) The search result receiving unit 412 determines whether or not a certain period has elapsed. If the predetermined period has elapsed, the process goes to step S2307, and if not, the process returns to step S2304. Here, the “certain period” is an arbitrary period. If the search result is not acquired, the search result output unit 413 may output search result error information.
(Step S2306) The search result output unit 413 outputs the search result received in step S2304.

(Step S2307) The search result output unit 413 determines whether an instruction to end the operation has been received. If the instruction is accepted, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S2301. The “instruction to end the operation” is, for example, an instruction by pressing an end button or the like that the terminal 410 has, an interrupt process, and the like.
Next, the operation of the server device 400 will be described with reference to FIG.

(Step S2401) The image receiving unit 401 determines whether an image is received from the terminal 410. If the image receiving unit 401 receives an image, the image receiving unit 401 goes to step S2402, and otherwise returns to step S2401.
(Step S2402) The image recognition unit 301 recognizes the image received in step S2401.
(Step S2403) The image recognition unit 301 converts the image recognized in step S2402 into a character string.

  (Step S2404) The search engine activation unit 202 automatically operates a predetermined search engine by converting the image recognized in step S2403 into a character string.

  (Step S2405) The search engine activation unit 202 performs a search using the character string converted in step S2403 as a keyword by the search engine operated in step S2404.

  (Step S2406) The search result transmission unit 402 determines whether or not the search result searched by the search engine in step S2405 has been acquired. If the search result has been acquired, go to step S2408; otherwise, go to step S2407.

(Step S2407) The search result transmitting unit 402 determines whether or not a certain period has elapsed. If the certain period has elapsed, the process goes to step S2401, and if not, the process returns to step S2406. Here, the “certain period” is an arbitrary period. If the search result is not acquired, the search result transmission unit 402 may output search result error information.
(Step S2408) The search result transmission unit 402 transmits the search result acquired in step S2406 to the terminal 410. The process returns to step S2401.

  Specific operations of server apparatus 400 and terminal 410 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 25 is a conceptual diagram of the server device 400 and the terminal 410. The server device 400 is connected to Web servers 420, 430, etc. via the Internet. In the present embodiment, the terminal is a mobile communication terminal 410.

  The imaging unit 102 of the mobile communication terminal 410 captures an image when the imaging instruction receiving unit 101 receives an imaging start instruction. The image transmission unit 411 automatically transmits the captured image to the server device 400. Note that the image transmission unit 411 may not transmit the captured image automatically, but may receive an instruction to start transmission such as pressing a transmission button and transmit the image.

The image receiving unit 401 of the server device 400 receives the transmitted image. The image recognition unit 301 recognizes the received image and converts it into a character string. The “method for recognizing an image and converting it into a character string” is the same as in the third embodiment. The search engine activation unit 202 automatically activates a predetermined search engine when converted to a character string. The search engine performs a search using the converted character string as a keyword. The search result transmission unit 402 acquires the search result and transmits the search result to the terminal 410.
The search result receiving unit 412 of the terminal 410 receives the search result. The search result output unit 413 displays the received search result on the display (see FIG. 21).

  In the present embodiment, server device 400 receives an image from terminal 410, recognizes the image, converts it into a character string, searches for the character string, and transmits the search result to terminal 410. However, the server device 400 recognizes one or more character strings from the received image, operates a predetermined search engine, searches for the one or more character strings, and sends the search result to the terminal 410. You may send. In such a case, the server apparatus 400 can be realized by including a character recognition unit that recognizes an image.

  In the present embodiment, server device 400 receives an image from terminal 410, recognizes the image, converts it into a character string, searches for the character string, and transmits the search result to terminal 410. However, the server device 400 determines whether or not the presence location information is included from the received image, and if the presence location information is included, the server device 400 acquires the presence location information, and based on the presence location information, The information may be acquired and the acquired information may be transmitted to the terminal 410. In such a case, the server apparatus 400 determines whether or not the received image includes the presence location information that is information indicating the location of the information, and if the received image includes the location information, the location where the location information is acquired. The information acquisition unit, an information acquisition unit that acquires information based on the location information, and an information transmission unit that transmits information acquired by the information acquisition unit may be realized.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, an image captured by a mobile communication terminal is transmitted to, for example, an ASP vendor's server device without performing image recognition on the mobile communication terminal. A character string based on the image is searched, and the search result is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal. Therefore, the mobile communication terminal can obtain a search result obtained by searching for a character string based on an image without having an image recognition unit and a search engine activation unit as in the third embodiment.

  The program when the operation of server apparatus 400 in the present embodiment is realized by software is as follows. A reception step for receiving an image on a computer; an image recognition step for recognizing the image and converting it to a character string; a search engine starting step for operating a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword; and a search engine This is a program for executing a search result transmission step of acquiring the search result and transmitting the result.

  A program when the operation for recognizing characters in an image is realized by software is as follows. A reception step for receiving an image on a computer, a character recognition step for recognizing the character of the image, and a search engine starting step for operating a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition step as a search keyword And a search result transmission step for acquiring a search result of a search engine and transmitting the result.

  Further, a program in the case where the operation for acquiring the location information from the image and acquiring the information based on the location information is realized by software is as follows. A receiving step for receiving an image on a computer, a presence for determining whether or not the image includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of information, and acquiring the presence location information when including the location information This is a program for executing a location information acquisition step, an information acquisition step for acquiring information based on presence location information, and an information transmission step for transmitting information acquired in the information acquisition step.

  As described above, the present invention has an effect of recognizing location information from an image and acquiring information specified by the location information, and is useful for, for example, a mobile phone with a camera accessing a Web server. It is.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus 100 in Embodiment 1 of this invention. Flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 in the first embodiment Conceptual diagram of information processing apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an imaging unit in the first embodiment FIG. 6 shows a display example of the display in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 shows a display example of the display in the first embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus 200 in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the information processing apparatus 200 in Embodiment 2. Conceptual diagram of information processing apparatus 200 according to Embodiment 2 FIG. 10 shows a display example of a display in Embodiment 2. The figure which shows the example of a display of the character string in Embodiment 2 The figure which shows the example of a display of the search result in Embodiment 2. The figure which shows the example of a display of the character string in Embodiment 2 The figure which shows the example of a display of the search result in Embodiment 2. The figure which shows the example of a display of the character string in Embodiment 2 The block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus 300 in Embodiment 3 of this invention. Flowchart showing the operation of the information processing apparatus 300 in the third embodiment The figure which shows the example of the image data in Embodiment 3, and a character string FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an image in the third embodiment The figure which shows the example of a display of the character string in Embodiment 3 The figure which shows the example of a display of the search result in Embodiment 3. The block diagram which shows the structure of the server apparatus 400 and the terminal 410 in Embodiment 4 of this invention. Flowchart showing operation of terminal 410 in the fourth embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the server apparatus 400 in Embodiment 4. FIG. Conceptual diagram showing server device 400 and terminal 410 in the fourth embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 200, 300 Information processing apparatus 101 Imaging | photography instruction | indication reception part 102 Imaging | photography part 103 Presence location information acquisition part 104 Information acquisition part 105 Information output part 201 Character recognition part 202 Search engine starting part 203 Search result output part 301 Image recognition part 400 Server Device 401 Image reception unit 402 Search result transmission unit 410 Terminal 411 Image transmission unit 412 Search result reception unit 413 Search result output unit

Claims (14)

A shooting section for shooting images;
A presence location information acquisition unit that determines whether the image captured by the imaging unit includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of information, and acquires the location information when the location information is included; ,
An information acquisition unit for acquiring information based on the presence location information;
An information processing apparatus comprising an information output unit that outputs information acquired by the information acquisition unit. A shooting section for shooting images;
A character recognizing unit for recognizing characters captured by the photographing unit;
A search engine activation unit that operates a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition unit as a search keyword;
An information processing apparatus comprising a search result output unit for acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine. A shooting section for shooting images;
An image recognition unit that recognizes an image captured by the imaging unit and converts the image into a character string;
A search engine starting unit that operates a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword;
An information processing apparatus comprising a search result output unit for acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine. An image receiver for receiving images from the terminal;
It is determined whether the image includes presence location information that is information indicating the presence location of information, and when the image includes presence location information, a location information acquisition unit that acquires the location information,
An information acquisition unit for acquiring information based on the presence location information;
A server apparatus comprising an information transmission unit that transmits information acquired by the information acquisition unit to the terminal. A shooting section for shooting images;
An image transmission unit that transmits the image to the server device according to claim 4;
An information receiving unit for receiving information from the server device;
A terminal comprising an information output unit for outputting the information. An image receiver for receiving images from the terminal;
A character recognition unit for character recognition of the image;
A search engine activation unit that operates a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition unit as a search keyword;
The server apparatus which comprises the search result transmission part which acquires the search result of the said search engine, and transmits the said search result to the said terminal. An image receiver for receiving images from the terminal;
An image recognition unit that recognizes the image and converts it into a character string;
A search engine starting unit that operates a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword;
The server apparatus which comprises the search result transmission part which acquires the search result of the said search engine, and transmits the said search result to the said terminal. A shooting section for shooting images;
An image transmission unit that transmits the image to the server device according to claim 6,
A search result receiving unit for receiving a search result searched based on the image from the server device;
A terminal comprising a search result output unit for outputting the search result. On the computer,
An acquisition step of acquiring an image;
Determining whether or not the image acquired in the acquisition step includes presence location information that is information indicating the location of the information, and when including the location information, presence location information acquisition step of acquiring the location information; ,
An information acquisition step of acquiring information based on the presence location information;
A program for executing an information output step for outputting the information acquired in the information acquisition step. On the computer,
An acquisition step of acquiring an image;
A character recognition step for recognizing characters in the image acquired in the acquisition step;
A search engine starting step of operating a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized in the character recognition step as a search keyword;
A program for executing a search result output step of acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine. On the computer,
An acquisition step of acquiring an image;
An image recognition step of recognizing the image acquired in the acquisition step and converting it into a character string;
A search engine starting step of operating a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword;
A program for executing a search result output step of acquiring and outputting a search result of the search engine. On the computer,
An image receiving step for receiving an image;
It is determined whether or not the image includes presence location information that is information indicating the presence location of information, and if the image includes presence location information, the presence location information acquisition step of acquiring the presence location information;
An information acquisition step of acquiring information based on the presence location information;
A program for executing an information transmission step of transmitting the information acquired in the information acquisition step. On the computer,
An image receiving step for receiving an image;
A character recognition step for recognizing the image;
A search engine starting step of operating a predetermined search engine using one or more character strings recognized by the character recognition step as a search keyword;
A program for executing a search result transmission step of acquiring a search result of the search engine and transmitting the search result. On the computer,
An image receiving step for receiving an image;
An image recognition step of recognizing the image and converting it into a character string;
A search engine starting step of operating a predetermined search engine using the character string as a search keyword;
A program for executing a search result transmission step of acquiring a search result of the search engine and transmitting the search result.

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