JP2013105424A - Information terminal, information providing system, and information requesting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To request a server to provide information.SOLUTION: A camera 200 comprises: biological feature detection means which detects biological features of a user; data transmission means which transmits the biological feature data detected by the biological feature detection means and personal information for identifying the user to a server 100, and requests the server 100 to provide information; data reception means which receives information transmitted from the server 100 in response to the information provision request; and information output means which outputs information received by the data reception means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal, an information providing system, and an information requesting method.

  The following image processing methods are known. This image processing method extracts a fingerprint from an optically read image (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-110520 A

  However, in the conventional image processing method, a method for improving the security level when the user is authenticated using the read fingerprint has not been studied.

An information terminal according to the present invention transmits biometric feature detection means for detecting a biometric feature of a user, biometric feature data detected by the biometric feature detection means, and personal information for identifying the user to a server. A data transmission unit that requests the server to provide information; a data reception unit that receives information transmitted from the server in response to a request for information provision; and an information output unit that outputs information received by the data reception unit It is characterized by that.
An information providing system according to the present invention includes the information terminal and the information providing apparatus. The information providing apparatus receives data requesting information provision from the information terminal, and biometric feature data received by the receiving means. And the personal information, the collation means for collating whether the user who requested the information provision matches the user registered in advance, and the collation means And providing information providing means.
An information request method according to the present invention detects a user's biometric features, sends the detected biometric feature data and personal information for identifying the user to the server, requests the server to provide information, It receives information transmitted from a server in response to a request for information provision, and outputs the received information.

  According to the present invention, the security level can be improved by transmitting biometric feature data and personal information when requesting information provision.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of an information provision system. It is a 1st flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process in an information provision system. It is a 2nd flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process in an information provision system. It is a figure which illustrates the pattern of a finger, the information requested | required from the user side, and the confidentiality of the information.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an information providing system according to the present embodiment. The information providing system 10 includes a computer functioning as an information providing apparatus, for example, a server 100 and a camera 200 as an information terminal.

  The server 100 includes an operation member 101, a connection IF (interface) 102, a control device 103, an HDD (hard disk drive) 104, and a monitor 105.

  The operation member 101 includes various devices operated by the user, such as a keyboard and a mouse. The connection IF 102 is an interface for connecting the server 100 and the camera 200. In the present embodiment, the server 100 transmits / receives data to / from the camera 200 via the connection IF 102. As the connection IF 102, a USB interface for connecting the server 100 and the camera 200 by wire, a wireless LAN module for wireless connection, or the like is used.

  The control device 103 includes a CPU, a memory, and other peripheral circuits, and controls the entire server 100. The memory constituting the control device 103 is a volatile memory such as SDRAM, for example. This memory includes a work memory for the CPU to expand the program when the program is executed, and a buffer memory for temporarily recording data.

  The HDD 104 is a recording device for recording various data fetched via the connection IF 102, data of various programs executed by the control device 103, and the like. The program data recorded in the HDD 104 is provided by being recorded on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and the user installs the program data in the HDD 104 using the storage medium. The control device 103 can execute the program. The monitor 105 is a liquid crystal monitor, for example, and displays various display data output from the control device 103.

  The camera 200 includes an operation member 201, a lens 202, an image sensor 203, a control device 204, a memory card slot 205, a monitor 206, and a connection IF 207. The operation member 201 includes various input members operated by the user, such as a power button, a release button, a zoom button, a cross key, an enter button, a play button, and a delete button.

  The lens 202 may be configured to be detachable from the camera 200 via a mount unit (not shown), or may be integrated with the camera 200. The lens 202 is composed of a plurality of optical lenses, but is represented by a single lens in FIG. The image sensor 203 is composed of, for example, an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS. The image sensor 203 photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by a light beam that has passed through the lens 202 to generate an analog image signal, and outputs the generated analog image signal to the control device 204. .

  The control device 204 includes a CPU, a memory, and other peripheral circuits, and controls the camera 200. Note that the memory constituting the control device 204 includes SDRAM and flash memory. The SDRAM is a volatile memory, and is used as a work memory for the CPU to develop a program when the program is executed or as a buffer memory for temporarily recording data. The flash memory is a non-volatile memory in which data of a program executed by the control device 204, various parameters read during program execution, and the like are recorded.

  The control device 204 converts the analog image signal input from the image sensor 203 into a digital image signal, and after performing various image processing, generates main image data in a predetermined image format, for example, JPEG format. Further, the control device 204 generates display image data, for example, thumbnail image data, based on the generated main image data. The control device 204 generates an image file including the main image data and the thumbnail image data, and further added with header information, and outputs the image file to the memory card slot 205.

  The memory card slot 205 is a slot for inserting a memory card as a storage medium, and writes and records the image file output from the control device 204 on the memory card. The memory card slot 205 reads an image file stored in the memory card based on an instruction from the control device 204.

  The monitor 206 is a liquid crystal monitor (rear monitor) mounted on the back side of the camera 200, and the monitor 206 displays an image stored in a memory card, a setting menu for setting the camera 200, and the like. . Further, when the user sets the mode of the camera 200 to the live view mode, the control device 204 outputs image data for display of images acquired in time series from the image sensor 203 to the monitor 206. As a result, a through image is displayed on the monitor 206.

  The connection IF 207 is an interface for connecting the server 100 and the camera 200. In the present embodiment, the server 100 transmits / receives data to / from the server 100 via the connection IF 207. Note that as the connection IF 207, a USB interface for connecting the server 100 and the camera 200 in a wired manner, a wireless LAN module for wireless connection, or the like is used.

  In the information providing system 10 according to the present embodiment, a system user can operate the camera 200 to request the server 100 to provide information. When there is an information provision request from the camera 200, the server 100 provides information to the camera 200 in response to the request. Thus, the user can acquire necessary information from the server 100 by operating the camera 200. When the server 100 according to the present embodiment receives an information provision request from the camera 200, the server 100 determines whether or not the user is a registered user, and provides information only when the user is a registered user. Do. Thereby, personal information can be protected.

  Here, the operation of the information providing system 10 will be described using a hospital patient information providing system as an example. Specifically, the user can operate the camera 200 to inquire about the status of an inpatient of an acquaintance such as a family member or friend, and the server 100 responds to the inquiry to determine the status of a specific inpatient. I will provide a. In this case, a person who wishes to use the patient information providing system needs to perform user registration in advance, for example, personal information such as name, address, telephone number, and mail address, and fingerprint information for biometric authentication. That is, it is necessary to register image data obtained by photographing a fingerprint. In the present embodiment, an example of performing user authentication by photographing and detecting a user's fingerprint with the camera 200 and transmitting the fingerprint data to the server 100 to perform fingerprint authentication on the server 100 side. Will be described.

  Hereinafter, the process of the patient information provision system in this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart shown in FIG. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, the information terminal operated by the user requesting information provision (hereinafter referred to as the “requester” in the explanation of this flowchart), that is, the process executed by the camera 200 is shown on the left side, and the information providing apparatus on the right side That is, the process executed by the server 100 installed in the hospital is shown. The process shown in FIG. 2 is started when the mode of the camera 200 is set to the fingerprint detection mode for photographing and detecting the client's fingerprint.

  In step S10, the control device 204 of the camera 200 captures the client's fingerprint. For example, the client performs shooting by holding one of the fingers registered in the server 100 in advance, for example, the index finger of the left hand in front of the lens 202. The control device 204 captures the client's finger held in front of the lens 202 by macro photographing and records it in the buffer memory. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S20, and the control device 204 performs image processing on the image data obtained by photographing. Specifically, the unevenness of the fingerprint in the image is clarified by performing processing such as contrast correction and contour enhancement on the image data. Then, it progresses to step S30.

  In step S <b> 30, the control device 204 creates an attached file to be attached to the request mail transmitted to request the server 100 to provide information. Specifically, the control device 204 includes, as information necessary for user authentication in the server 100, personal information of the requester, such as name, address, telephone number, mail address, biometric feature of the requester, That is, an attached file including the fingerprint image data that has been subjected to image processing in step S20 is created. The created attached file is recorded in the buffer memory. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S40.

  In step S40, the control device 204 determines whether or not a request mail transmission destination is set. The requester can register in advance the transmission destination mail address of the request mail on the camera 200 side. If the transmission destination mail address has already been registered, a positive determination is made in step S40. When an affirmative determination is made in step S40, the process proceeds to step S50, and the control device 204 sets a transmission destination mail address registered in advance as the transmission destination of the request mail, and proceeds to step S80. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S40, the process proceeds to step S60.

  In step S60, the control device 204 displays a map screen on the monitor 206 so that the requester can designate a hospital to request information provision on the map screen. Then, it progresses to step S70 and it is judged whether one of the hospitals displayed on the map screen was designated by the requester. If an affirmative determination is made in step S70, the mail address of the designated hospital is acquired from the map data, and the process proceeds to step S50 described above. In step S50, the control device 204 sets the acquired mail address of the hospital as the transmission destination of the request mail, and proceeds to step S80.

  In step S80, the control device 204 reads the attached file created in step S30 from the buffer memory, and transmits a request mail attached with the attached file to the transmission destination set in step S50. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S90, and the control device 204 deletes the fingerprint information, that is, the image data obtained by photographing the client's fingerprint from the buffer memory. As a result, the fingerprint information can be deleted from the buffer memory each time a request mail is transmitted, thereby improving the security level.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S100, and the control device 204 waits to execute the above-described processing of steps 10 to S90 again when a request mail re-transmission is requested from the server 100 side as will be described later.

  Next, processing on the server 100 side that has received the request mail will be described. In step S110, the control device 103 of the server 100 receives the request mail transmitted from the camera 200, and proceeds to step S120. In step S120, the control device 103 uses the information in the attached file attached to the e-mail to check whether or not the information provision requester is a person who is registered in advance as a user. Specifically, the control device 103 refers to the database of registered users recorded in the HDD 104, and the registration in which personal information such as name, address, telephone number, and mail address included in the attached file is identical. If there is a matching registrant, it is verified whether the fingerprint information of the registrant matches the fingerprint information included in the attached file.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S130, and the control device 103 determines whether there is a usage registrant that matches the requester in the usage registrant database as a result of the collation in step S120. If it is determined that there is no registered user, the fact is notified to the camera 200 and the request mail is requested to be retransmitted. The control device 204 of the camera 200 receives this retransmission request in step S100 described above. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a registered user, the process proceeds to step S140.

  In step S140, the control device 103 counts up a counter for counting the number of requests from the same client. This counter is recorded in the usage registrant database in association with each user. For example, the control device 103 refers to the value of the counter, and when the counter value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the information provision request is made for a purpose different from the original purpose of inquiring the situation of the inpatient. The information provision to the requester may be stopped, or a notification that there are too many information provision requests may be transmitted to the camera 200.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S150, and the control apparatus 103 sets a transfer disable flag in the information providing mail in order to prevent personal information from being leaked due to the mail being transferred on the camera 200 side, and then proceeds to step S160. . In step S160, the control device 103 transmits an information providing mail describing the status of the inpatient to the mail address registered in the use registrant database. In step S <b> 210, the control device 204 of the camera 200 receives the information providing mail from the server 100. The control device 204 displays the contents of the received information providing mail on the monitor 206, so that the requester can acquire inpatient information. Thereafter, the process ends.

  In the patient information providing system in the present embodiment, when the patient's condition deteriorates, the current status of the patient can be transmitted from the hospital to the use registrant. Processing in this case will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 also shows processing executed by the camera 200 on the left side and processing executed by the server 100 on the right side, as in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 3 is started when information indicating that the patient's condition has deteriorated is inputted by the person in charge of the hospital on the server 100 side.

  In step S310, the control device 103 of the server 100 refers to the use registrant database and searches and specifies the information providing destination mail address of the patient whose condition has deteriorated. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S320, and the control device 103 transmits an email reporting that the patient's condition has deteriorated to the identified email address.

  In step S410, the control device 204 of the camera 200 receives the report mail transmitted from the server 100. Thereby, the system user, that is, the patient's family, friends, and the like can know that the condition of the inpatient has deteriorated. When the system user wants to know the detailed situation of the inpatient, the system user can inquire the hospital of the inpatient situation along the flow shown in FIG.

According to the present embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The control device 204 of the camera 200 detects the user's fingerprint, transmits the detected fingerprint data and personal information for specifying the user to the server 100, and requests the server 100 to provide information. I tried to do it. Then, the information transmitted from the server 100 is received and output to the monitor 206. In this way, by transmitting the user's fingerprint data and personal information to the server 100, it is possible to request provision of information with an improved security level.

(2) The control device 204 deletes the fingerprint information from the buffer memory after transmitting the request mail to the server 100. As a result, the fingerprint information can be deleted from the buffer memory every time a request mail is transmitted, thereby further improving the security level.

-Modification-
In addition, the information provision system of embodiment mentioned above can also be deform | transformed as follows.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the control device 204 of the camera 200 includes the fingerprint data in the attached file of the request mail and transmits it to the server 100, and the server 100 checks the fingerprint data to register the user. An example has been described in which it is determined whether or not the user matches the already-used user. However, the control device 103 of the server 100 may authenticate the user using biometric features other than fingerprints. For example, the control device 103 may authenticate the user using the voice print data of the user. Alternatively, the control device 103 may perform user authentication by combining fingerprint data verification and voiceprint data verification.

(2) As a biometric feature, in addition to the fingerprint and the voiceprint, an iris pattern or a retina pattern may be used, and a palm shape or a vein pattern may be used. If iris data and retina data are acquired from both eyes, a plurality of data can be obtained from the same user. If the palm shape and vein pattern are obtained from both hands, a plurality of data can be obtained from the same user.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the user registers the fingerprint data of the index finger of the left hand in the server 100 in advance has been described. However, the user may register the fingerprint data of other fingers in the server 100. Further, the number of fingers for registering fingerprint data in the server 100 is not limited to one, and the same user may register fingerprint data of a plurality of fingers. For example, fingerprint data of a plurality of fingers is registered in the server 100, and the control device 103 of the server 100 collates with the fingerprint data included in the attached file using the fingerprint data of any one of the fingers. By doing so, even when the user has injured the index finger and photographed another finger, the control device 103 can collate using the fingerprint data of the other finger. In addition, when the fingerprint data of a plurality of fingers of the same user is registered in the server 100 and the user photographs a plurality of fingers, the control device 103 is included in the attached file using the fingerprint data of the plurality of fingers. The security level can be further improved by collating with fingerprint data of a plurality of fingers.

(4) You may collate as follows using the information of a plurality of fingers of the same user. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the finger pattern, the information requested from the user side, and the confidentiality of the information. In the server 100 of the modification (4), the finger pattern and the information to be provided are registered in association with each other. The finger pattern means “one finger”, “two fingers”, “three fingers”, “four fingers”, and “five fingers” in order from the top of FIG.

  The control device 103 according to the modified example (4) refers to the database of registered users and checks whether the fingerprint data of the registered person matches the fingerprint data included in the attached file transmitted from the camera 200. . At this time, the fingerprint data of the finger corresponding to the finger pattern indicated by the fingerprint information included in the attached file is used. For example, in the case of “two fingers”, the control device 103 refers to the fingerprint data of the index finger and the middle finger, and collates whether or not the fingerprint data of each finger matches. As a result of the collation, when it is determined that there is a usage registrant that matches the usage registrant database, the control device 103 has information corresponding to the mail address registered in the usage registrant database with the corresponding information “B”. Send the offer email.

  When the finger pattern indicated by the fingerprint information included in the attached file is “one finger”, the control device 103 performs collation using the fingerprint data of the index finger. The provided information in this case is “A”. In addition, when the finger pattern indicated by the fingerprint information included in the attached file is “three fingers”, the control device 103 performs collation using the fingerprint data of the index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger, respectively. The provided information in this case is “C”.

  Similarly, when the finger pattern is “four fingers”, the control device 103 performs collation using fingerprint data of the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger, respectively. The provided information in this case is “D”. When the finger pattern is “five fingers”, collation is performed using fingerprint data of all fingers. The provided information in this case is “E”. If the control device 103 determines that there is a use registrant as a result of the collation, the information providing mail describing the information corresponding to the finger pattern is sent to the mail address registered in the use registrant database. Send.

  According to the modification (4), a higher security level can be set as the number of fingers used for collation (that is, the number of fingerprint data) increases. The most confidential information “E” is associated with “five fingers”, the least confidential information “A” is associated with “one finger”, and the other information “D”, “C”, “ Since “B” corresponds to “4 fingers”, “3 fingers”, and “2 fingers” in order from the one with the highest confidentiality, the matching condition can be made different according to the level of confidentiality.

  It should be noted that even if “two fingers” are used, the number of fingers and the number of fingers combined are identified, such as when the index finger and the middle finger are combined, and when the index finger and the little finger are combined. It may be configured. The same applies to “three fingers” and “four fingers”.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the request from the camera 200 to the server 100 and the provision of information from the server 100 to the camera 200 are performed by e-mail has been described. However, the request from the camera 200 to the server 100 and the provision of information from the server 100 to the camera 200 may be performed by a data communication method other than mail.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the control device 103 of the server 100 matches the personal information such as name, address, telephone number, and mail address included in the attached file with reference to the database of the use registrant. An example in which fingerprint information is collated to authenticate a user after searching for a registered user has been described. However, the personal information collation performed by the control device 103 may use at least one of the name, address, telephone number, and mail address instead of all of them. Or you may make it collate personal information using information other than these personal information. For example, the control device 103 of the server 100 is configured so that the user's face photo is registered in advance in the user registrant's database and the user's face photo data is included in the attached file sent from the camera 200 to the server 100. You may make it collate personal information by collating a face photograph. Further, the control device 103 of the server 100 is configured so that the terminal ID of the camera 200 is registered in advance in the database of the use registrant and the data of the terminal ID of the camera 200 is included in the attached file sent from the camera 200 to the server 100. You may make it collate personal information by collating terminal ID.

(7) Alternatively, the location information of the user's home is registered in advance in the user registrant's database, and the location information obtained by photographing the fingerprint information is included in the attached file sent from the camera 200 to the server 100. The control device 103 may collate the personal information by collating the position information. In this case, the camera 200 needs to be equipped with a GPS module in order to specify a shooting point. In addition, the control device 103 of the server 100 determines that the user matches the registered user only when the shooting point of the fingerprint information is within a predetermined range from the user's home. It may be determined that the user does not match the registered user.

(8) In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the information providing system 10 is applied to a patient information providing system in a hospital has been described. However, the information providing system 10 has other systems such as a system for inquiring about the situation of a child whose parent attends a kindergarten or an elementary school to a kindergarten or an elementary school, a system for inquiring about the status of a pet deposited by an owner, The present invention can also be applied to an information providing system.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations in the above-described embodiments as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which combined the above-mentioned embodiment and a some modification.

10 Information Providing System, 100 Server, 101 Operation Member, 102 Connection IF, 103 Control Device, 104 HDD, 105 Monitor, 200 Camera, 201 Operation Member, 202 Lens, 203 Image Sensor, 204 Control Device, 205 Memory Card Slot, 206 Monitor, 207 connection IF

Claims (10)

Biometric feature detection means for detecting a biometric feature of the user;
Data transmitting means for transmitting the biometric feature data detected by the biometric feature detecting means and personal information for specifying a user to a server, and requesting the server to provide information;
Data receiving means for receiving information transmitted from the server in response to the information provision request;
An information terminal comprising: information output means for outputting information received by the data receiving means. The information terminal according to claim 1,
The information terminal characterized in that the biological feature detection means detects a plurality of the biological features from the same user. The information terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
The information terminal characterized in that the biometric feature detection means detects the fingerprint of the user as the biometric feature. The information terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
The biometric feature detection means detects a user's voiceprint as the biometric feature,
The data transmission means transmits at least one of the fingerprint data and the voiceprint data to the server as the biometric feature data. In the information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An information terminal, further comprising: a deletion unit that deletes the biometric feature data from the memory after information is transmitted by the data transmission unit. An information providing system comprising the information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and an information providing apparatus,
The information providing apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving data requesting the provision of information from the information terminal;
Using the biometric feature data and the personal information included in the data received by the receiving means, collating means for collating whether or not the user who requested information provision matches a user registered in advance;
An information providing system comprising: an information providing unit that provides information to the information terminal when it is determined by the collating unit to match. The information providing system according to claim 6,
The collating means uses a plurality of the biometric feature data and the personal information of the same user included in the data received by the receiving means, and the user who has requested information provision matches the user registered in advance. An information providing system characterized by collating whether or not to do. In the information provision system of Claim 7,
The information providing system provides the information terminal with information corresponding to the number of the biometric feature data used by the collation unit for the collation. The information providing system according to claim 8,
The information providing system provides the information terminal with information having higher sensitivity as the number of the biometric feature data used by the collating unit for the collation increases. Detect the user's biometric features,
Sending the detected biometric feature data and personal information for identifying the user to the server, requesting the server to provide information,
Receiving information transmitted from the server in response to the information provision request;
An information request method characterized by outputting received information.

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