JP2008028688A - Image distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and rapidly supply an image at a photographing timing and at a spot to be photographed, which are desired by a user. <P>SOLUTION: A server receives photographing date information which indicates a photographing date and is transmitted from a personal computer PC (step S3), determines whether or not the received date are the date in the future from this day (step S4), and detects image data by each spot in a map finally selected by the user from an image memory when the date is not the one in the future. The PC receives number information by each spot, and displays the number of storage with the use of a balloon in the neighborhood of each corresponding spot on the map (step P13). When the spot with the balloon given thereto is clicked in the PC, the determination of the step S8 becomes YES. Consequently, the server reads the whole image data of the clicked spot on the photographing date indicated by the photographing date information from the image memory, and transmits them to the PC (step S9). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image distribution system for constructing a system for requesting and obtaining an image such as a landscape photograph at a desired point on a map.

Conventionally, various methods for recording and organizing images such as landscape photographs on a computer based on the shooting position and shooting date and time have been proposed. Various systems have also been proposed for recording and organizing image data in association with map data, and for sharing image data among a plurality of users via a network (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP20002-128314 JP20004-118865

  However, in a conventional system, although image data can be shared by a plurality of users, it is not satisfactory for obtaining image data desired by each user quickly and easily. In particular, a landscape photograph has not only different image contents depending on the shooting target point, but also various changes in landscape depending on the seasons. Therefore, if an image with greatly different image contents depending on the shooting target point and the shooting time point can be easily and quickly supplied according to the user's request, an image providing service with high satisfaction is established for the user. be able to.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and provides an image distribution system that can easily and quickly supply an image at a shooting timing point that is desired to be acquired by a user. The purpose is to do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is an image distribution system including a server and a terminal device connected via a network, and the server responds to a request from the terminal device. A first transmission means for transmitting the map data of the selected area, an image data storage means for storing each point on the map in the map data as a shooting target point at each shooting timing, and a transmission from the terminal device. The first receiving means for receiving the photographing timing information to be performed, and the photographing timing indicated by the received photographing timing information, are stored in the image data storage means for each point in the map data of the transmitted area. Detection means for detecting the number of cases of image data, and number information indicating the number of cases for each point at the photographing timing detected by the detection means. Second transmitting means for transmitting, second receiving means for receiving the spot information transmitted from the terminal device, the shooting target spot indicated by the spot information received by the second receiving means, and the first Image data corresponding to the photographing timing indicated by the photographing timing information received by the receiving means, and a third transmitting means for reading out and transmitting the image data from the image data storage means, the terminal device comprising: a display means; and the server First receiving means for receiving map data transmitted by the first transmitting means, and first display control for causing the display means to display a map based on the map data received by the first receiving means. Means, first transmission means for transmitting the photographing timing information indicating the photographing timing, and the photographing transmitted from the server in response to the transmission of the photographing timing information. Based on the received number information for each point in the imming, the number of stored image data is displayed at the corresponding point on the map displayed on the display means based on the received number information for each point. According to the designation operation for any point on the map in a state where the map and the number of stored cases are displayed on the display means by the second display control means and the first and second display control means. And receiving the image data corresponding to the shooting timing and the shooting target point transmitted from the second transmission unit for transmitting the point information having the point as the shooting target point and the third transmission unit of the server. Receiving means.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 2, the server obtains the position information of a plurality of users for each user, the shooting target point indicated by the received point information, the shooting timing indicated by the shooting timing information, A determination unit that determines whether or not image data corresponding to the image data is stored in the image data storage unit, and when the determination unit determines that the image data is not stored, the acquisition unit acquires the image data. Based on the position information of each user, detection means for detecting a user having an address closest to the shooting target point, and image data including a previous shooting target point and a shooting timing in the user terminal device detected by the detection means A transmission unit that transmits a transmission request, and an image corresponding to the previous shooting target point and the shooting timing from the user terminal device in response to the transmission request. When data is transmitted, further comprising a storage control means for storing the image data in the image data storage means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the server includes user information storage means for storing address information of a plurality of users for each user as the acquisition means, and the detection means is closest to the shooting target point. The user of the address is searched from the user information storage means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the determining means further determines whether or not the shooting timing indicated by the shooting timing information received by the receiving means is in the future. When the photographing timing arrives, the transmission request is transmitted to the user terminal device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to construct | assemble the system which can supply easily and rapidly the image of the imaging target point which a user desires to acquire, and the image of an imaging timing.

  Furthermore, according to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, the image data corresponding to an imaging | photography object point and imaging | photography timing can be rationally accumulate | stored on the server side.

  In addition, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible for the user to reserve the acquisition of an image photographed at a future designated photographing timing, and to obtain this when the designated photographing timing arrives. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A server 2 that provides various mobile phone applications such as game applications and a personal computer 3 used by the user are connected to the Internet 1, and the mobile phone 5 owned by the user is connected via the base station 4. Are wirelessly connected.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server 2. As illustrated, the server 2 includes a CPU 201 that performs overall control, a ROM 202 that stores a boot program, a RAM 203 that is a temporary storage area, and a CD-ROM drive 205 that drives a CD-ROM 204 via a bus 206. Are connected to each other. Further, a server-side program shown in a flowchart to be described later is stored, a hard disk 207 for storing various information, a keyboard / mouse interface 208, a video interface 210 connected to a display 209, and the Internet 1 for connection A communication interface 211 is connected to the bus 206. A keyboard 212 and a mouse 213 used for inputting commands and characters are connected to the keyboard / mouse interface 208.

  The hard disk 207 stores map data, address information and mail address information of a plurality of users, and the like. The map data includes map display data for displaying a map and position data for each point indicating each point on the displayed map by latitude and longitude.

  Further, the hard disk 207 stores the image memory 7 shown in FIG. The image memory 7 stores image data DP for each shooting day, which is image data for each shooting date of shooting the spot, for each year corresponding to the shooting target spot such as “Mt. Fuji”. Is remembered. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the image data DP for each shooting date is composed of a plurality of image data P1, P2, P3,... Stored corresponding to the shooting date for each year. The memory 7 stores image data P1, P2, P3... For each shooting target point and for each shooting date.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the personal computer 3. As shown in the figure, the personal computer 3 includes a control unit 302, an HDD (Hard Disk) 303, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 304, a sound processing unit 305, a graphic processing unit 306, a DVD / DVD, which are connected to each other via a bus 301. A CD-ROM drive 307, a communication interface 308, and an interface unit 309 are provided.

  The control unit 302 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like, and a program stored in the RAM 304 based on a boot program stored in the ROM and a basic program such as an OS (Operating System). Are sequentially executed to perform various processes and the like, and control the operation of each unit in the main body of the personal computer 3. The HDD 303 stores programs and data captured from the outside via the communication interface 308 and the Internet 1.

  The RAM 304 is used as a main memory, and stores programs and data transferred from the DVD / CD-ROM 310. The RAM 304 is also used as a work area during program execution. The sound processing unit 305 performs processing for reproducing sound data in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 302 and outputs the sound data as an audio signal.

  The graphic processing unit 306 generates various image data in accordance with instructions from the control unit 302, and the graphic processing unit 306 adds a predetermined synchronization signal to the generated image data and outputs it as a video signal to the display device 311. To do. The DVD / CD-ROM drive 307 drives a DVD / CD-ROM 310 set in the personal computer 3 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 302, and loads programs and data stored in the DVD / CD-ROM 310 through the bus 301. To the RAM 304. The communication interface 308 is connected to the external Internet 1 via a communication line, and performs processing for exchanging programs and data with the external Internet 1 in accordance with instructions from the control unit 302.

  A keyboard 312 and a mouse 313 are connected to the interface unit 309. The interface unit 309 controls data exchange between the keyboard 312 and mouse 313 and the control unit 302 or RAM 304. The HDD 303 stores various programs and programs and various data for operating the personal computer 3 as a terminal device in the application distribution system, which are shown in flowcharts described later. The DVD / CD-ROM 310 is driven by a DVD / CD-ROM drive 307 and reads stored programs and data. Programs and data read from the DVD / CD-ROM 310 are transferred from the DVD / CD-ROM drive 307 to the RAM 304 via the bus 301. The display device 311 includes a display screen including a liquid crystal panel that displays an image corresponding to the video signal from the graphic processing unit 306.

  Although the personal computer 3 is shown as an example of the terminal device, the terminal device may be connected to the Internet, can execute an application, and can output a screen display or the like. Therefore, the terminal device is not limited to a personal computer, and may be a PDA, a game machine, a home appliance such as a car navigation or a video deck, or other devices.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile phone 5. The wireless transmission / reception unit 501 receives a wireless signal via the antenna 502 and outputs the wireless signal to the subsequent wireless signal processing unit 503. On the other hand, the wireless transmission / reception unit 501 modulates various data input from the wireless signal processing unit 503 into a wireless signal. Output. The wireless signal processing unit 503 demodulates various data received by the wireless transmission / reception unit 501, and outputs the data to the audio signal processing unit 504 if it is audio data, and stores it in the RAM 505 if it is other data (mail data or the like). Output. On the other hand, at the time of transmission, processing necessary for wireless communication such as modulation of voice data and data for transmission is performed. The control unit 506 controls various operations and overall operations.

  The image memory 507 is a memory for storing an image file and the like that are captured and compressed and encoded by the imaging unit 511 having an imaging lens and the like together with a file name. The ROM 508 is composed of a rewritable flash ROM, and stores various programs such as a program shown in a flowchart described later. The driver 509 drives the display unit 510, and the display unit 510 includes a display screen made up of a liquid crystal panel or the like. The RAM 505 stores various data necessary for the wireless communication terminal, stores data necessary for the operation of the control unit 506, and stores and stores a terminal application. The audio signal processing unit 504 encodes the audio signal input from the microphone 512 or decodes it based on the audio data output from the wireless signal processing unit 503 to drive the speaker 513 to output the corresponding audio. Output. The key input unit 514 includes various keys that are generally arranged on a mobile phone, and sends operation information of these various keys to the control unit 506.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment according to the above configuration will be described based on a flowchart. 7 and 8 are a series of flowcharts showing the operations of the personal computer 3 and the server 2. The personal computer 3 is connected to the Internet 1 (step P1) and then connected to the server 2 (step P2) based on the user's key operation and the like. Then, in response to this connection, the server 2 transmits initial image data (step S1), and the personal computer 3 receives the initial screen data and displays the initial screen on the display 209 based on this data (step P3).

  This initial screen includes a map 8 of a predetermined area, a map scroll key 9 composed of arrows in four directions, a year display unit 10, a year up button 11 and a down button 12, a month / day display unit 13, a send button 14, and a slide button. 15 includes a month / day setting gauge 16 or the like. The month / day setting gauge 16 can be arbitrarily designated from January 1 to December 31 by moving the slide button 15 in the left-right direction.

  Then, in this initial screen, it is determined whether or not any arrow of the map scroll key 9 has been clicked (step P4). If clicked, the server 2 is requested for map data including an area in the scroll direction corresponding to the direction (step P5). The server 2 receives this request and transmits map data including an area in the scroll direction according to the request (step S3), and the personal computer 3 receives the map data and displays the map 8 displayed on the display 209. Update. Therefore, by operating the map scroll key 9, the user can select the map 8 of a desired area including the shooting target point (place name) from which image data is to be acquired and display it on the display 209.

  When the map 8 of the desired area is displayed on the display 209, first, the user clicks the year up button 11 or the down button 12 to designate the year of shooting in the image data of the shooting target point. . Thereby, judgment of step P104 progresses to step P8 from step P7, and the display year of the year display part 10 is updated according to up or down (step P8). Next, it is determined whether or not the slide button 15 has been moved (step P9). If the slide button 15 has been moved, the date displayed on the date display unit 13 is updated according to the moved position (step P10). ).

  Therefore, the process of the above steps P4 to P10 allows the user to display a map of an arbitrary area on the display 209, and the year display unit 10 and the month / day display unit 13 to display any year including the future. The month and date can be displayed and designated as the shooting date. When the user determines an arbitrary date as the shooting date in this way, the user clicks the transmission button 14. As a result, the determination in step P11 is YES, and shooting date information indicating the date determined as the shooting date is transmitted to the server 2 (step P12).

  Then, the server 2 receives the shooting date information indicating the shooting date (FIG. 8, step S3). Then, it is determined whether or not the received date is the future ahead of today (step S4). If it is the future, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. If the received date is not the future but the past including today, the number of image data corresponding to the date is stored by the user through the processing in steps P4 to P6 described above. The image data of each point in the map that is finally selected is detected from the image memory 7.

  That is, the map 8 shown in FIG. 11 is a map finally selected by the user. As shown in FIG. 11, when March 3, 2006 is transmitted as the shooting date, On the third day of the month, the number of stored image data to be photographed at points “Mt. Fuji”, “Ten Mt.”, “Mt. Subsequently, the number information that is the number of image data stored for each point on the map 8 on this shooting date is transmitted (step S6). Therefore, for example, in the image memory 7, image data having March 3, 2006 as the shooting date, “Mt. Fuji” as the shooting target point, “3” and “10 pieces” as the shooting target point are stored. Assuming that “2” and “1” are stored as image data with “Aitakayama” as the shooting target point, “Mt. Fuji” = 3, “10 pieces” = 2, “Aizaka” = 1 Information on the number of cases is transmitted from the server 2.

  The personal computer 3 receives the number information for each point, and displays the stored number as a balloon in the vicinity of the corresponding point on the map 8 (step P13). Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 12, by the processing in step P <b> 13, “3 cases” near “Mt. Fuji”, “2 cases” near “Mt. A balloon 17 indicating the number of pieces of image data stored in “1” is displayed in the vicinity of.

  Next, it is determined whether or not any point is clicked on the map (step P15), and if clicked, point information such as a point name indicating the point is transmitted (step S7). The server 2 receives this spot information, and the image data of the spot indicated by the spot information received in the step S7, which is the date indicated by the date information received in the step S3, is stored in the image memory 7. It is determined whether or not there is (step S8).

  That is, as shown in FIG. 12, regarding the point where the image data of the shooting date (March 3, 2006 in this example) exists, “3 cases” and “10 pieces” are located in the vicinity of “Mt. Fuji”. A balloon 17 is displayed in the vicinity of “2 cases” and “1 case” in the vicinity of “Aitakayama”. However, if the user wants an image of a shooting point other than this, for example, “Lake Kawaguchi” (March 3, 2006), click “Lake Kawaguchi” on the map 8. However, since no balloon 17 is displayed for “Lake Kawaguchi”, the image data of “Lake Kawaguchi” on the shooting date (March 3, 2006) is not stored in the image memory 7 at this time. Therefore, in this case, the determination in step S8 is NO, and the process proceeds to the flow shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the point where the balloon 17 is added is clicked, the image data of the point indicated by the point information on the shooting date (March 3, 2006) is displayed in the balloon 17. The number of cases is stored in the image memory 7. Therefore, in this case, the determination in step S8 is YES. Accordingly, the server 2 reads out all image data of the spot indicated by the shooting date information, which is the shooting date indicated by the spot information, from the image memory 7 and transmits it to the personal computer 3 (step S9).

  The personal computer 3 receives the image data transmitted from the server 2 and stores it in the RAM 304 (step S16). Thereby, the user of the personal computer 3 can obtain an image taken at a desired point and taken on the shooting date.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S8 that there is no image data, that is, if the user requests image data of a shooting date or a shooting target point that is not stored in the image memory 7, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. Then, the user address information stored in the hard disk 207 is searched for the user closest to the shooting target point (or a plurality of users in the closest order) (step S10). A transmission request for image data including the shooting target point and shooting date is transmitted to the searched user by e-mail or the like (step S11).

  If the retrieved user is a person who owns the mobile phone 5, this transmission request is received by the mobile phone 5 (step M1). When the image memory 507 of the user of the mobile phone 5 has image data of the shooting target point and shooting date, the mobile phone 5 is operated together with the shooting target point and shooting date by the user's operation. The image data is transmitted from the server 2 to the server 2 (step M2).

  The server 2 determines whether or not image data that will be transmitted from the user of the mobile phone 5 has been received (step S12), and if received, stores it in the image memory 7 (step S13). Therefore, when the user of the personal computer 3 who has clicked on “Lake Kawaguchi” without image data displays the map 8 including “Lake Kawaguchi” again at a later date, a balloon including the number of records is displayed near “Lake Kawaguchi”. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the possibility that the image data on the shooting date can be obtained at the desired shooting target point.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that it is the future, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. And it waits until the designated photographing date comes (step S14). When the designated shooting date is reached, the user address information stored in the hard disk 207 is searched for the user closest to the shooting target point (or a plurality of users in the closest order) (step S15). A transmission request for image data including the shooting target point and shooting date is sent to the searched user by e-mail or the like (step S16).

  If the retrieved user is the person who owns the mobile phone 5, this transmission request is received by the mobile phone 5 (step M3). Then, the user of the mobile phone 5 captures the shooting target spot by the imaging unit 511, and transmits the image data from the mobile phone 5 to the server 2 together with the shooting target spot and the shooting date (step M4).

  The server 2 determines whether or not image data that will be transmitted from the user of the mobile phone 5 has been received (step S17), and if received, stores it in the image memory 7 (step S18). Further, the server 2 notifies the personal computer 3 designating the future by mail or the like that the current image data that was the future at the time of the previous acquisition was stored in the image memory 7 (step S19). . Therefore, if the user who has received this notification performs the same operation as described above on the personal computer 3, the present image data that is the future at the past time can be obtained.

  In this embodiment, the shooting date is used as the shooting timing. However, the shooting year or shooting month may be used as the shooting timing. In the present embodiment, the shooting target point is specified by the place name, but may be specified by the latitude and longitude. In the present embodiment, the user address information stored in the hard disk 207 is used to search for the user closest to the shooting target point. However, the location information of the mobile phone 5 based on transmission / reception with the base station 4 is used. Based on the above, the user closest to the shooting target point may be searched.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image delivery system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a server. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of an image memory. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of image data DP for every imaging | photography date. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a personal computer. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a mobile telephone. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart following FIG. It is a flowchart following step S8 of FIG. It is a flowchart following step S4 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the display which a personal computer has. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the display which a personal computer has.

Explanation of symbols

1 Internet 2 Server 3 Personal Computer 5 Mobile Phone 6 Display Screen 7 Image Memory 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 CD-ROM
209 Display 302 Control unit 308 Communication interface 309 Interface unit 311 Display device 501 Wireless transmission / reception unit 502 Antenna 503 Wireless signal processing unit 505 RAM
506 Control unit 507 Image memory 508 ROM
509 Driver 510 Display unit 511 Imaging unit 514 Key input unit

Claims (4)

An image distribution system composed of a server and a terminal device connected via a network,
The server
First transmission means for transmitting map data of an area in response to a request from the terminal device;
Image data storage means for storing image data for each shooting timing at each point on the map in the map data;
First receiving means for receiving photographing timing information transmitted from the terminal device;
Detection means for detecting the number of image data stored in the image data storage means for each point in the map data of the transmitted area, which is the imaging timing indicated by the received imaging timing information;
Second transmission means for transmitting number information indicating the number of cases for each point at the photographing timing detected by the detection means;
Second receiving means for receiving point information transmitted from the terminal device;
Image data corresponding to the shooting target point indicated by the spot information received by the second receiving means and the shooting timing indicated by the shooting timing information received by the first receiving means is read from the image data storage means. A third transmission means for transmitting,
The terminal device
Display means;
First receiving means for receiving map data transmitted by the first transmitting means in the server;
First display control means for displaying a map on the display means based on the map data received by the first receiving means;
First transmission means for transmitting the photographing timing information indicating photographing timing;
Second receiving means for receiving the number-of-points information for each point at the shooting timing transmitted from the server in response to the transmission of the shooting timing information;
Second display control means for displaying the stored number of image data at a corresponding point on the map displayed on the display means based on the received number information for each point;
In a state where the map and the number of stored cases are displayed on the display unit by the first and second display control units, the point is determined as a shooting target point according to a designation operation for any point on the map. Second transmitting means for transmitting the point information,
An image distribution system comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive image data corresponding to the shooting timing and the shooting target point transmitted from the third transmission unit of the server. The server
Acquisition means for acquiring position information of a plurality of users for each user;
Determination means for determining whether or not image data corresponding to the shooting target point indicated by the received point information and the shooting timing indicated by the shooting timing information is stored in the image data storage means;
When it is determined by the determination means that the image data is not stored, based on the position information of each user acquired by the acquisition means, detection means for detecting a user at an address closest to the shooting target point;
A transmission unit that transmits a transmission request for image data including the previous shooting target point and the shooting timing to the user terminal device detected by the detection unit;
A storage control unit for storing the image data in the image data storage unit when image data corresponding to the previous shooting target point and the shooting timing is transmitted from the user terminal device in response to the transmission request; The image distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising: The server
As the acquisition means, provided with user information storage means for storing the address information of a plurality of users for each user,
The image distribution system according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit searches the user information storage unit for a user having an address closest to the shooting target point. The determining means further determines whether or not the shooting timing indicated by the shooting timing information received by the receiving means is in the future,
4. The image delivery system according to claim 2, wherein in the future, the transmission unit transmits the transmission request to the terminal device of the user when the photographing timing comes.

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