JP2007128160A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read the figures and character colors of the dates of a calendar in an information processor, and to register the schedule of holidays or events associated with the character colors as a schedule. <P>SOLUTION: A calendar in which dates per month are expressed is photographed by a camera 11, and the acquired calendar image information is stored in a color image region 21 of a memory 20. A calendar recognizing part 15 reads the calendar image information, and recognizes the figures of lines and dates, and refers to the arrangement pattern of figures whose error recognition rate is low stored in an arrangement pattern region 22, and recognizes the character colors of columns at the both ends, and retrieves the candidates of years expressed by the calendar from a year classification region 23. A schedule management part 16 recognizes the dates expressed in the specific character colors in the calendar image when 1 of the candidate years is selected by the operation of an operation part 12, and associates the schedule with the dates by the operation of the operation part 12 to register it as a schedule. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having a character recognition function including a character color.

  Information processing apparatuses such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and personal computers (PCs) are also used as tools for schedule management (apparatus or software used for this purpose is called a scheduler). ing. In business applications, software that can register and manage schedules in common among members belonging to a group is also known (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  However, when sharing the above schedule for private use, the main member notifies the other members of the event and its scheduled date by e-mail etc. A method of registering and managing this is common.

  In the retail industry, a so-called special sale is often carried out on a specific day. As a notification means for such a purpose, an e-mail is sent to a customer registered in advance. Although posting to a web page is also possible, e-mail is more straightforward in terms of familiarization to familiar customers. Customers interested in this can register and manage the information individually as a schedule.

  By the way, the notification means as described above is based on the premise that the sender knows the electronic mail address of the receiver. From the viewpoint of personal information protection, members (or registered customers) participating in the group are exposed to the risk of information leakage, and individuals who dislike information leakage cannot enter the group or register customers. There is a problem that it is inconvenient.

  In the above-mentioned special sale example, notices on paper media (so-called flyers) targeted at unspecified customers are also frequently used, and a promotional flyer that describes a calendar in which the numbers corresponding to special sale dates are displayed in prominent colors. It is often done to distribute. In this case, the information represented on the calendar is converted into character information through the receiver's vision and operation and registered in the scheduler.

  When trying to streamline the process of registering information such as events expressed on paper media as described above in the scheduler, the visual role is first replaced by the camera provided in many recent information processing devices. It is possible. It is also conceivable to automate the conversion to character information using character recognition technology (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

  According to Non-Patent Document 2 described above, in character recognition for printed characters, image data including characters is read into the information processing apparatus, and a character portion, a line within the character data, and a line therein Cutout is performed in the order of each character. Each extracted character is first normalized to a certain size, classified by feature extraction, and then the presence or absence of matching with a candidate character is determined for each classification. Various kinds of language information are used to improve the recognition accuracy.

  Such character recognition technology has been widely put into practical use, and is commercially available as PC software, and is also used in some models of mobile phones (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 3).

  A technique that uses a camera and a character recognition technique provided in an information processing apparatus in combination with a scheduler is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2). The technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is such that an information processing apparatus reads a character string and its type with a camera built in, and cooperates with application software corresponding to the type of information represented by the character string.

  The technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above is a method in which a character string and its type are read by a camera built in the information processing apparatus, and registered information corresponding to the content and type of information represented by the character string (for example, date and time). The registered schedule corresponding to the information) is searched and displayed.

  In order to automatically process information expressed by color-coded calendar date numbers like the above-described advertising flyer, it is necessary to recognize the character color in addition to character recognition. Color recognition in image processing is performed by expressing the color of each pixel as a value in the color space and determining the presence or absence of matching based on the color difference from the candidate color (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 4). The recognition of the character color is similarly performed by recognizing the color of the pixels constituting the character.

A technique for extracting characters from a color document image using character color recognition is known (see, for example, Patent Document 3). The technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 performs fuzzy clustering of color information by mapping an image expressed in an RGB color system to a uniform color space (CIE 1976 system), and threshold values are determined according to the number of elements for each cluster. By extracting a character by selecting a binary image suitable for character extraction from the binary image obtained by changing the character, only the character color portion is extracted from the color document image having a complex and diverse background. is there.
JP 2000-339401 A (2nd, 5th, 8th pages, FIG. 7) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-52015 (pages 2, 6, 7 and 7) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-42055 (second to fourth pages, FIG. 1) http: // www. Microsoft. com / japan / office / editions / prodinfo / technologies / collaboration. mspx Akama, “Introduction to Image Information Processing”, Hidekazu System, Tokyo, October 2002 (pp. 149-152) http: // www. nttdocomo. co. jp / new / contents / 02 / whatnew1120. html Miyake, “Analysis and Evaluation of Digital Color Images”, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, February 2000 (pages 53-60)

  In order to register information represented by the character color of the calendar in the scheduler, a function that enables registration in the scheduler based on the recognition result of the character color is required. The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 described above does not involve character color recognition, and is related to the use of a registered schedule. There was a problem that it was not applicable.

  The conventional technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 described above is intended to refine character color recognition in order to extract a character color part under an adverse condition that a background image is complicated. It does not meet the purpose of recognizing colors and using them for registration in the scheduler.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus that efficiently registers information represented by a character color of a calendar image in a scheduler.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention provides color image information including a calendar photo arranged with date numbers as a two-dimensional matrix and rows corresponding to weeks and columns corresponding to days of the week. A storage unit that can store the color image information from the storage unit, and searches for correspondence between the date of the month and the day of the week represented by the calendar based on at least a specific date number or a specific color; A calendar recognizing means, a second calendar recognizing means for recognizing a plurality of dates associated with a predetermined color from the color image information stored in the storage means, and the predetermined color selected. And a schedule registration means for registering a plurality of dates associated with the predetermined color collectively as a schedule. That.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the registration to the scheduler of the information which a character color represents can be made efficient.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 1 is, for example, a mobile phone, but may be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), or other devices.

  The information processing apparatus 1 includes a camera 11, an operation unit 12, and a display unit 13. The camera 11 is a digital camera that can take color photographs. The operation unit 12 is a keyboard or an operation panel including operation keys, for example, and may include a pointing device such as a mouse. The display unit 13 is, for example, a display constituted by a liquid crystal device, but any type of device may be used.

  The information processing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 14, a calendar recognition unit 15, and a schedule management unit 16. The control unit 14 includes an arithmetic processing device such as a microprocessor or a digital signal processor, and can monitor and control each component of the information processing apparatus 1.

  The calendar recognizing unit 15 is composed of the same or different arithmetic processing device as the control unit 14, and extracts year and month information from image information (hereinafter referred to as calendar image information) of a color photograph of a calendar taken by the camera 11. can do. The schedule management unit 16 includes an arithmetic processing device that is the same as or different from the control unit 14 or the calendar recognition unit 15, and can manage the registration of a schedule based on the calendar year and character color information.

  It is assumed that the calendar to be imaged is a two-dimensional matrix of dates for one month, with rows corresponding to weeks and columns corresponding to days of the week. Further, it is assumed that a specific day of the week is represented by a specific character color. In the following description, it is assumed that the character color of the number representing the date of Sunday is red and the column corresponding to Sunday is the most common calendar that is the leftmost or rightmost column. However, the present invention can also be applied to a calendar in which other days of the week are represented in other character colors, or a calendar in which the column corresponding to Sunday is neither the left end nor the right end.

  It is assumed that the calendar represents the date on which a specific event is carried out with a predetermined character color. For example, a calendar which is described in a flyer for advertising at a supermarket and in which a special sale date for clothing is indicated by a blue character color and a special sale date for a food item is indicated by a green character color. The character color associated with these specific days of the week or events will be referred to as a specific character color.

  The information processing apparatus 1 includes a memory 20. Calendar image information can be stored in the color image area 21 of the memory 20. The arrangement pattern area 22 can store information on patterns in which the calendar is classified by the arrangement of numbers. In the year / month classification area 23, the year / month can be classified and stored according to the correspondence between the last date and day of the week or the first day and day of the week.

  The pattern information stored in the arrangement pattern area 22 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a classification of arrangement patterns in a calendar of numbers having a low probability of being recognized erroneously (misrecognition rate) when they are read for character recognition processing. The target calendar is a two-dimensional matrix of date numbers for one month, with rows corresponding to weeks and columns corresponding to days of the week. Depending on the type of calendar, there is a case where Sunday is placed on the left end and a case where it is placed on the right end, and it is not specified which day of the week corresponds to which day.

  In character recognition, the probability of erroneously recognizing a number (misrecognition rate) varies depending on the number, and the misrecognition rate is lower than the numbers 0, 2, 4, and 7 and other numbers (the probability of correct recognition is high). )It is known. Further, it is known that the number “1” is the most difficult to cut out as a precondition for recognition. If the date having the low number of false recognition rate in the first place is listed in order from the beginning of the month, it is common to all months, 2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24. And 27 days. Since these are used as recognition marks, they are called mark dates. For example, two days are represented as a mark date (2).

  In the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. 2, days of the week are represented by symbols (a) to (g). There are cases where (A) is Sunday and (G) is equivalent to Saturday, and (I) is Monday and (G) is equivalent to Sunday. If the date number is blank or the date other than the above mark date is hatched, the date is not entered and the mark date location is a white background with a low misrecognition rate. Represents.

  For example, in the case of the uppermost pattern A, the first day is the first day of the first week (A). Mark days (2), (4), and (7) belong to the first week. Mark days (10), (12), and (14) belong to the second week. Mark days (17) and (20) belong to the third week. Mark days (22), (24), and (27) belong to the fourth week.

  Hereinafter, patterns B to G classified according to whether the first day is the day of the week (b) to (g) of the first week are represented in the same manner as pattern A.

  The year / month classification stored in the year / month classification area 23 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram in which each year and month is classified by a date corresponding to Sunday and a last date and is represented in a table format. Each row in the table of FIG. 3 represents the last date (any one of the 28th to 31st days), and each column represents the date of the first Sunday (any one of the 1st to 7th days). The items determined by the row and column represent the corresponding year and month (in Fig. 3, the year and month in the range from January 2004 to December 2008 are the three digits of the last 1 digit of the year and 2 digits of the month. For example, the number “402” means February 2004. The range of the year and month is an example and can be arbitrarily determined.

  In FIG. 3, for example, there are two dates, April 2007 and June 2008, where the first Sunday is 1st and the last date is 30th. In addition, there are five dates including January 2004 where the first Sunday is the 4th and the last date is the 31st. The year and month in which the first Sunday is the 6th and the last date is the 28th is February 2005.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the first day of the week in a tabular format. Each row in the table of FIG. 4 corresponds to each month from January to December, and each column corresponds to each year from 2004 to 2008. The item determined by the row and column represents the day of the first day of the year. For example, January 1, 2004 is Thursday, and August 1, 2005 is Monday. The range of years is an example and can be arbitrarily determined.

  The format of FIG. 4 that classifies the year and month according to the correspondence between the date and the day of the week can be variously modified. The format of FIG. 3 is equivalent to the format of FIG. 4 further classified according to the last date, and can be modified in various ways.

  In addition to the above, the memory 20 can store a reference pattern for numbers and a candidate pattern for a specific character color necessary for character recognition of numbers. A representative color may be determined in advance as a candidate pattern for the specific character color, or may be selected by an operation on the operation unit 12. The memory 20 can store the registered schedule. The memory 20 can store data required for processing by the control unit 14, the calendar recognition unit 15 or the schedule management unit 16, or data resulting from the processing.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an external appearance of the information processing apparatus 1 as a foldable mobile phone in a state where the housing is opened. The information processing apparatus 1 is configured by connecting an upper housing 31 and a lower housing 32 so that they can be opened and closed by a connecting portion 33. In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, the camera 11 and the display unit 13 are attached to the upper housing 31. The operation unit 12 includes a plurality of operation keys surrounded by a broken line and is attached to the lower housing 32. Other configurations shown in FIG. 1 are built in the upper casing 31, the lower casing 32, or the connecting portion 33, and are not shown in FIG.

  Of the operation keys belonging to the operation unit 12, 34 is a cross key, which is used when the cursor on the screen displayed on the display unit 13 is moved up, down, left and right. 35 is a center key, 36 is a soft key left, and 37 is a soft key right. These keys 35, 36, or 37 are used for an operation of selecting 1 from 3 or less options in the lower pictographic row displayed on the display unit 13. Reference numeral 38 is a clear key, and 39 is an application key. These keys 38 or 39 are used for an application start operation or the like.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 (hereinafter referred to as calendar processing) will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the calendar process. Before starting the process, the camera 11 captures a calendar representing one month.

  When the camera 11 is operated by the operation unit 12 and a photograph of the calendar is taken, the obtained calendar image information is stored in the color image area 21 of the memory 20 by the control unit 14. When a calendar of two months or more is taken in one photograph, the range for one month is cut out by operating the operation unit 12 while viewing the image displayed on the display unit 13. (Trimming) can be performed.

  The start of the process (“START”) corresponds to the operation of starting the calendar process in the operation unit 12 (“YES” in step “S1”). The operation is performed, for example, by pressing a key belonging to the operation unit 12 according to a menu or guidance displayed on the display unit 13. The control unit 14 stands by without proceeding while the operation is not performed (“NO” in step “S1”).

  After the start of the calendar process, the calendar recognition unit 15 reads the previously stored calendar image information from the color image area 21. The calendar recognizing unit 15 recognizes a row corresponding to the week from the read calendar image information, for example, by the character recognition technique described above with reference to Non-Patent Document 1 (step “S2”).

  Next, the calendar recognizing unit 15 recognizes the date numbers belonging to each row by comparing them with a reference pattern of numbers stored in the memory 20 (step “S3”). As described above, the numbers 0, 2, 4, and 7 (referred to as the first group) have a low misrecognition rate, and the numbers 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 (referred to as the second group). Has a higher recognition error rate than the numbers belonging to the first group. The number “1” may not be recognized. The number of the last date (any day between 28 and 31) may or may not be recognized correctly.

  Therefore, assuming that the numbers belonging to the first group are recognized correctly, the numbers belonging to the second group are recognized but not distinguished and are set to “X”, and the number “1” is not recognized, the calendar It is possible to recognize the pattern of the numeric string in each row using the characteristics of the numeric string.

(1) X is “3” when recognized in the order of 2, X, 4 in one line.
(2) When X, 4 and X are recognized in the order of one line, the first X is “3” and the subsequent X is “5”.
(3) When X, 7 and X are recognized in the order of one line, the first X is “6” and the subsequent X is “8”.
(4) Assume that X is “9” when X, 0, 2 are recognized in order in one line, and “11” exists between 0 (actually 10) and 2 (actually 12).

  When the calendar recognizing unit 15 performs the above processes (1) to (4) for each row and finds a pattern that matches any of the patterns A to G stored in the arrangement pattern area 22 (step “S4”). "YES"), the pattern of the calendar image information can be recognized. For example, when the first row is recognized in the order of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the first row by the above (1) to (3), the stored contents of the arrangement pattern area 22 shown in FIG. Then, it is recognized that the calendar image information belongs to the pattern G.

  When the process of (1) to (4) above is executed for each row, the pattern of the calendar image information (the first column in the calendar two-dimensional matrix) cannot be recognized (“NO” in step “S4”), the calendar recognition unit 15 pays attention to the positional relationship between the marked dates and executes the next process (step “S5”).

(5) When 2, 4, and 7 are recognized in one line and 22, 24, and 27 are recognized in two lines, they are recognized as belonging to the pattern A.
(6) When 7, 0, 2 is recognized in one line and 4, 7, 20 are recognized in the next line, it is recognized that it belongs to the pattern B.

(7) When 7, 0, 2 is recognized in one line and 20, 22, 24 are recognized in one line, it is recognized that it belongs to the pattern C.
(8) When 2 and 4 are recognized in one line and 2, 4, and 7 are recognized in one line, it is recognized that they belong to the pattern D.

(9) When 4, 7, 0 is recognized in one line and 2, 4, 7 are recognized in the next line, it is recognized that it belongs to the pattern E.
(10) When 2 is recognized in one line, 4 and 7 are recognized in the next line, and 0, 2, and 4 are recognized in the next line, it is recognized that it belongs to the pattern F.
(11) When 2, 4, and 7 are recognized in one line and 7, 20, and 22 are recognized in one line, they are recognized as belonging to the pattern G.

  When the calendar recognizing unit 15 finds a pattern that matches one of the patterns A to G stored in the arrangement pattern area 22 by any one of the processes (5) to (11) described above (“in step S6”). YES "), the pattern of the calendar image information can be recognized.

  The calendar recognition unit 15 recognizes whether or not the number of the date belonging to the next day of the week (A) column is red. For example, if the calendar image information is recognized as belonging to the pattern A in FIG. 2 in step “S4” or “S6”, the calendar recognition unit 15 determines that the day of the week of the mark date (22) is (I) and the mark date (7). And the day of the mark date (14) is (g).

  Therefore, the calendar recognition unit 15 compares the character color of the mark date (22) with the red candidate color pattern stored in the memory 20 by using the color recognition technology described with reference to Non-Patent Document 4, for example. If the difference is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, it is recognized that the day of the week (b) is Sunday ("YES" in step "S7"). In this case, it can be seen that the calendar image information represents a calendar of a month whose first day is Sunday.

  If the difference in the comparison exceeds the threshold value, the day of the week (b) cannot be recognized as Sunday ("NO" in step "S7"). Therefore, the calendar recognizing unit 15 compares the character color of the mark date (7) or the mark date (14) with the red candidate color pattern in the same manner as described above. G) is Sunday ("YES" in step "S8"). In this case, it can be seen that the calendar image information represents a calendar of a month whose first day is Monday.

  The calendar recognizing unit 15 recognizes the correspondence between the date of the month and the day of the week by recognizing which day of the week (I) or (G) is Sunday (step "S9"). If the last date number was correctly recognized in step “S3” first (“YES” in step “S10”), the calendar recognition unit 15 matches the correspondence between the recognized date and the day of the week and the last date. The year / month to be searched is retrieved from the data stored in the year / month classification area 23 in the format of FIG. 3 (step “S11”).

  If the number of the last date has not been correctly recognized in step “S3” (“NO” in step “S10”), the calendar recognition unit 15 displays the date that matches the correspondence between the recognized date and the day of the week. The data is searched from the data stored in the year / month classification area 23 in the format 4 (step “S12”). The calendar recognizing unit 15 displays on the display unit 13 that the number including the number of the last date has not been correctly recognized (for example, a message that “it was not recognized after 28th”) (step “S13”). ).

  The calendar recognizing unit 15 displays the year / month candidates obtained as a result of the search on the display unit 13 (step “S14”), and 1 of them can be selected by an operation on the operation unit 12. For example, if a candidate for year and month whose first day is Sunday and the last date is 30 days is searched from the table of FIG. 3, April 2007 and June 2008 are applicable. Further, when searching for candidates for the year and month in which the first day is Sunday, in addition to the above-mentioned April 2007 and June 2008, February 2004, August 2004, 2005 5 A total of 8 months, such as months, are applicable.

  In step “S11” or “S12”, it is not always necessary to search the entire range of the data stored in the year / month classification area 23. For example, the search may be performed only in the most recent year, and then, when an instruction is given through the operation unit 12 to widen the search range, the search range may be expanded and the search may be performed again.

  The calendar recognizing unit 15 waits without proceeding with the process until an operation of selecting one of the year / month candidates displayed on the display unit 13 is performed (“NO” in step “S15”). When one of the year / month candidates is selected (“YES” in step “S15”), the process proceeds to processing by the schedule management unit 16.

  The schedule management unit 16 compares the numeric character color of the date recognized by the calendar recognition unit 15 with the candidate pattern of the specific character color stored in the memory 20 in step “S3”. When one or more specific character colors are recognized (“YES” in step “S16”), the recognized character colors are displayed on the display unit 13 (step “S17”).

  The schedule management unit 16 makes it possible to select one specific character color from among the displayed ones by operating the operation unit 12. The schedule management unit 16 waits without proceeding with the process until a selection operation is performed (“NO” in step “S18”). When the character color 1 is selected (“YES” in step “S18”), the schedule management unit 16 enables an input operation to set or select a holiday or event corresponding to the date represented by the character color. A message to that effect is displayed on the display unit 13 (step "S19").

  The schedule management unit 16 waits without proceeding with processing until an input operation for setting or selecting a holiday or an event is performed (“NO” in step “S20”). When an input operation for setting or selecting a holiday or an event is performed (“YES” in step “S20”), the schedule management unit 16 recognizes the date indicated by the specific character color recognized and selected as described above. A holiday or event is associated and registered as a schedule, stored in the memory 20, and the registered content is displayed on the display unit 13 (step "S21").

  If two or more specific character colors are displayed in step “S17”, the processes of steps “S18” to “S21” are repeated to register each event as a schedule in association with each other. can do.

  When the pattern of the calendar image information cannot be recognized in step “S6” (“NO” in step “S6”), the calendar recognition unit 15 displays on the display unit 13 that the calendar process has failed. When the specific character color is not recognized in step “S16” (“NO” in step “S16”), the schedule management unit 16 displays on the display unit 13 that the registration of the holiday or event cannot be associated with the date (step S16). “S22”).

  Further, when the day of the week (G) is different from red in step “S8” and the Sunday column cannot be specified (“NO” in step “S8”), the calendar recognition unit 15 indicates that the calendar process has failed. (Step "S22"). However, in consideration of the possibility that the day of the week other than the day of the week (A) and (G) is a Sunday, it is possible to select the column of the day of the week to be Sunday by an operation on the operation unit 12. Good. In this case, after the selection operation is performed, the process proceeds to step “S9”.

  After the calendar recognizing unit 15 recognizes the correspondence between the date and the day of the week in step “S9”, the candidate year and month may be searched regardless of the last date. In that case, it is not necessary to store the data in the format shown in FIG. 3 in the year / month classification area 23, and steps “S10”, “S11”, and “S13” are omitted, and steps “S9” to “S12” are performed. The processing flow up to step “S14” is executed.

  The operation of the information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13 from the viewpoint of the display on the display unit 13 and the flow of operations on the operation unit 12. The information processing apparatus 1 is assumed to be a mobile phone having the appearance shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 13 before the calendar process is started.

  The uppermost row of the screen of FIG. 7 (hereinafter referred to as the upper pict row) shows the electric field strength level at that time received by the antenna (not shown in FIG. 5) of the information processing apparatus 1. An antenna picture 51, a battery picture 52 indicating the current battery level of the information processing apparatus 1, and a time display 53 for displaying the current time are displayed. The date and time are displayed slightly above the center of the screen shown in FIG. When the application key 39 is pressed in a state where this screen is displayed on the display unit 13, a transition is made to the screen display shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 13 when the calendar process is started. In the screen of FIG. 8, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. The functions assigned to the soft key left 36, the center key 35, and the soft key right 37 at that time are briefly displayed in the lowermost row (hereinafter referred to as a lower pict row). In the case of the screen of FIG. 8, a “return” function is provided for the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, a “start” function is provided for the middle lower pictogram 55 corresponding to the center key 35, and a soft key right 37 is provided. A “menu” function is assigned to each corresponding lower right pictograph 56. When the soft key left 36 or the clear key 38 is pressed while the screen is displayed on the display unit 13, the screen display returns to the screen shown in FIG.

  When the screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display unit 13, the center key 35 is pressed (corresponding to “YES” in step “S 1” in FIG. 6), thereby transitioning to the screen display shown in FIG. 9. To do. FIG. 9 shows the display unit 13 until the candidate year and month are displayed on the display unit 13 after the calendar processing is started (corresponding to steps “S2” to “S11” or “S13” in FIG. 6). It is an example of the screen displayed on. In the screen of FIG. 9, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed.

  In FIG. 9, the “end” function is assigned to the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, and the “menu” function is assigned to the lower right pictogram 56 corresponding to the soft key right 37. No function is assigned to the middle / lower pict 55 corresponding to the center key 35. A message indicating that the calendar image is being read is displayed near the center of the screen of FIG.

  When the reading of the calendar image and the search for the candidate year and month are completed, the screen display shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is an example of a screen for displaying the year / month candidates obtained as a result of the search on the display unit 13 (corresponding to step “S14” in FIG. 6). On the screen of FIG. 10, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. The “End” function is provided for the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, the “Select” function is provided for the middle lower pictogram 55 corresponding to the center key 35, and the “right” pictogram 56 corresponding to the soft key right 37 is designated “ Each “menu” function is assigned.

  The cursor can be moved up and down by pressing the cross key 34 downward or upward on the screen of FIG. The candidate on which the cursor is placed is displayed separately from other candidates by changing the background color, for example.

  At the bottom of the year / month candidates, an option “search more” is displayed. If the year / month is not found in the displayed year / month candidates, it is possible to search again by expanding the range of the year / month to be searched as described above. When the center key 35 is pressed with the cursor placed on this option, the search is expanded and the search is executed again.

  When the cursor is placed on the candidate year 1 in the screen of FIG. 10 and the center key 35 is pressed (corresponding to “YES” in step “S15” in FIG. 6), the specific character color is recognized. The result is displayed on the display unit 13 (corresponding to step “S17” in FIG. 6). FIG. 11 is an example of a screen that displays the name of the recognized specific character color on the display unit 13. In the screen of FIG. 11, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. The “End” function is provided for the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, the “Select” function is provided for the middle lower pictogram 55 corresponding to the center key 35, and the “right” pictogram 56 corresponding to the soft key right 37 is designated “ Each “menu” function is assigned.

  In FIG. 11, the cursor can be moved up and down by pressing the cross key 34 downward or upward. The name of the specific character color on which the cursor is placed is displayed separately from the names of other specific character colors, for example, by changing the background color.

  An option “others” is displayed at the bottom of the specific character color column. If no appropriate character is found among the displayed specific character colors, the cursor can be moved to “Others” and the center key 35 can be pressed to display other specific character color options.

  When the cursor is placed on the specific character color 1 displayed on the screen of FIG. 11 and the center key 35 is pressed (corresponding to “YES” in step “S18” in FIG. 6), it is shown in FIG. Transition to the screen display. FIG. 12 is an example of a screen for setting or selecting a schedule (holiday or event) registered in association with the selected specific character color (corresponding to step “S19” in FIG. 6). In the screen of FIG. 12, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. The “End” function is provided for the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, the “Select” function is provided for the middle lower pictogram 55 corresponding to the center key 35, and the “right” pictogram 56 corresponding to the soft key right 37 is designated “ Each is assigned a “new” function.

  In the screen of FIG. 11, schedules that have been registered in the past are displayed as options. The cursor can be moved up and down by pressing the cross key 34 downward or upward. The schedule on which the cursor is placed is displayed separately from other schedules by changing the background color, for example.

  An option “others” is displayed at the bottom of the schedule column. If no suitable item is found in the displayed schedule, the cursor can be moved to “Other” and the center key 35 can be pressed to display other schedule options.

  When the soft key right 37 is pressed on the screen of FIG. 12, the information processing apparatus 1 activates the editor function, a new schedule input screen (not shown) is displayed on the display unit 13, and a new schedule by the operation unit 12 is displayed. Input operation is enabled.

  When the cursor is placed on 1 of the schedule displayed on the screen of FIG. 12 (or a new schedule is input as described above) and the center key 35 is pressed (“YES” in step “S20” in FIG. 6). ”), And the screen display shown in FIG. 13 is made. FIG. 13 is an example of a screen for displaying the registered contents of the schedule on the display unit 13 (corresponding to step “S21” in FIG. 6). In the screen of FIG. 13, the same upper pictorial row as that of the screen of FIG. 7 is displayed. The “End” function is provided for the lower left pictogram 54 corresponding to the soft key left 36, the “OK” function is provided for the middle lower pictogram 55 corresponding to the center key 35, and the “right” pictogram 56 corresponding to the soft key right 37 is “ The “AGAIN” function is assigned to each.

  The registration contents of the schedule are displayed on the screen of FIG. When the soft key right 37 is pressed in a state where this screen is displayed, it is possible to return to the screen display of FIG. 11 to select another specific character color and register another schedule on the screen of FIG. When the center key 35 is pressed on the screen of FIG. 13, the calendar process ends.

  In the above description, the information processing apparatus 1 includes the camera 11 and photographs the calendar before starting the calendar process. The information processing apparatus 1 may include an external storage medium reader not shown in FIG. 1 and read calendar image information from the external storage medium. The information processing apparatus 1 includes communication means not shown in FIG. 1 and may receive calendar image information as a download or an attached file of an e-mail (in those cases, the information processing apparatus 1 does not include the camera 11). May be.)

  The configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 in the above description (including the functional distribution among the control unit 14, the calendar recognition unit 15 and the schedule management unit 16), the process flow, the screen display, the contents of the stored data, the year and month The character color and schedule setting are merely examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. According to the first embodiment of the present invention, a schedule can be registered simply and safely using a paper medium called a calendar.

1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an arrangement pattern diagram of numbers having a low misrecognition rate on the calendar in the first embodiment. The figure showing the classification | category of the year and month by the date which falls on Sunday in Example 1, and the last date. The figure which represents the day of the first day of each year and month in Example 1 in a table format. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart of calendar processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen before the calendar process is started in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen at the start of calendar processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen during reading of a calendar image according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the candidate of the year searched from the calendar image in Example 1 on a screen. The figure which displays the specific character color recognized from the calendar image in Example 1 on a screen. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an event selection or input screen according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the registration content of the schedule in Example 1 on a screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 11 Camera 12 Operation part 13 Display part 14 Control part 15 Calendar recognition part 16 Schedule management part 20 Memory 21 Color image area 22 Arrangement pattern area 23 Year / month classification area 31 Upper housing | casing 32 Lower housing | casing 33 Connection part 34 Cross key 35 Center key 36 Soft key left 37 Soft key right 38 Clear key 39 Application key 51 Antenna pict 52 Battery pict 53 Time display 54 Lower left pict 55 Middle lower pict 56 Right lower pict

Claims (5)

Storage means capable of storing color image information including calendar photos arranged with date numbers as a two-dimensional matrix with rows corresponding to weeks and columns corresponding to days of the week;
First calendar recognition means for reading out the color image information from the storage means and searching for a correspondence relationship between the date of the month and the day of the week represented by the calendar based on at least a specific date number or a specific color;
Second calendar recognition means for recognizing a plurality of dates associated with a predetermined color from the color image information stored in the storage means;
An information processing apparatus, comprising: a schedule registration unit configured to collectively register a plurality of dates associated with the predetermined color as a schedule when the predetermined color is selected. A date number is a two-dimensional matrix, rows are arranged corresponding to weeks, columns are arranged corresponding to days of the week, and the date of the first day of the week is expressed in a first character color and associated with a predetermined character color. First storage means capable of storing color image information of a calendar photo representing a date;
A second storage means for classifying and storing the year and month according to the correspondence between the date and the day of the week;
Reading the color image information from the first storage means to recognize the numbers of each date and the two-dimensional matrix, and to recognize the character color of at least one column in comparison with the first character color The column of the first day of the week is specified to specify the correspondence between the date of the month and the day of the week represented by the calendar, and the candidate for the year and month that matches the correspondence between the specified date and the day of the week is specified. Calendar recognition means for retrieving from storage means;
Display means for displaying at least the candidates for the searched year and month;
Operation means capable of selecting at least one from the displayed year / month candidates;
The date represented by the selected character color by enabling selection of the predetermined character color by the operation means and comparing the character color of each recognized date with the selected character color An information processing apparatus comprising schedule management means for registering a schedule as a schedule. The date numbers are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix with rows corresponding to weeks and columns corresponding to days of the week, and the date of the first day of the week is represented by a first character color and the date is represented by a predetermined character color. First storage means capable of storing color image information of the picture of the represented calendar;
A second storage means for classifying and storing the year and month according to the correspondence between the date and the day of the week;
When the numbers from 0 to 9 are classified into the two groups according to the level of the false recognition rate, the arrangement pattern of the numbers belonging to the lower group in the two-dimensional matrix is displayed on the first day in which column of the two-dimensional matrix Third storage means for classifying and storing according to whether it is located;
The color image information is read from the first storage means, the numbers of each date and the two-dimensional matrix are recognized, and the recognized two-dimensional matrix is collated with the arrangement pattern stored in the third storage means Then, the classification of the arrangement pattern is specified, and the character color of at least one column is recognized in comparison with the first character color, whereby the column of the first day of the week is specified and the month represented by the calendar is displayed. A calendar recognizing unit that identifies a correspondence relationship between a date and a day of the week, and searches the second storage unit for a year / month candidate that matches the correspondence relationship between the identified date and the day of the week;
Display means for displaying at least the candidates for the searched year and month;
Operation means capable of selecting at least one from the displayed year / month candidates;
The date represented by the selected character color by enabling selection of the predetermined character color by the operation means and comparing the character color of each recognized date with the selected character color An information processing apparatus comprising: a schedule management unit that identifies a schedule and associates the schedule with the schedule and registers the schedule as a schedule.   The second storage means further categorizes and stores the year and month according to the last date, and the calendar recognition means further recognizes the last date and sets the correspondence between the specified date and day of the week and the last date. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a matching year / month candidate is searched from the second storage unit.   4. The information according to claim 3, wherein one column in which the calendar recognizing unit recognizes a character color in contrast to the first character color is one of columns at both ends of the two-dimensional matrix. Processing equipment.

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