JP2741566B2 - Voice-based e-book - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic book which outputs only sound.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there has been proposed an electronic book which records a book on a digital recording medium and outputs an image to a liquid crystal screen or the like as a substitute for reading.

[0003]

The reference and reading of image information in an electronic book require visual acuity, but the visual acuity of the elderly and examinees is often lower than usual.
Prolonged use of the eyes is limited. And this is
Others are no exception. In contrast, some e-books have output digital audio.
However, this type of digital audio is binary data obtained by A / D conversion of analog audio and then compression processing.
Very memory intensive. For this reason, for example, when a book is read aloud and the read voice is stored on a CD or the like by the above-described method, it is practically impossible to store all of the read voice.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a recording medium storing character information of a book that uniquely corresponds to a digital audio signal and an audio code corresponding to intonation required for reading, and a digital audio as described above. On a storage medium for reproduction stored in advance for each basic unit, the character information is uniquely associated, a digital voice sequence is generated, and then converted to analog voice and output in combination with voice conversion means for smaller recording. It is possible to output as much of a book as it can withstand reading as a medium, and an audio electronic book that is small, simple, and highly portable has been realized. In addition, a digital audio signal uniquely corresponding to the character information may be stored on the recording medium in addition to the character information and the audio code. At this time, at least the digital audio signal is not stored on the storage medium for reproduction. The reproduction storage medium reads the digital audio signal from the recording medium and stores it every time the recording medium is reproduced.

[0005] Character information in a format uniquely corresponding to a digital audio signal is, for example, a character code, a one-byte character, or a two-byte character obtained by converting a book into Japanese basic unit characters such as katakana, hiragana, and romaji. The characters are replaced with system characters, JIS style codes, and the like, and are represented by binarized data or data represented by address values of a storage medium for reproduction for storing digital audio signals, but are not limited thereto.
Generally, an audio signal is an example of basic unit characters such as hiragana and katakana, and the types thereof are not many. Accordingly, the number of addresses of the reproduction storage medium for storing the digital audio can be reduced, and even if the correspondence between the character information and the digital audio signal is searched, the collation time is negligible. In addition, the voice code stored in the recording medium together with the character information means that if only the digital voice signal is concatenated and converted and output as analog voice, a so-called stick reading state occurs. This is set to apply intonation and the like where necessary. Examples of the code include a code for driving a driver for performing amplitude adjustment and the like on the digital audio, a parameter for performing software processing on the digital audio, and the like, but are not particularly limited. The code may be a signal for driving a separately provided sound effect or background sound output driver, or a signal obtained by converting analog music into a digital signal by PCM or the like. The character information and the audio code may be provided with an identification code on the same track on the recording medium, stored in a time-division manner, or stored in synchronization with different tracks. Note that, at the time of reproduction, it is only necessary to add a minimum amount of audio code that can be read by analog voice to be read, so that it is not necessary to always secure a recording place on a recording medium.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. This embodiment is divided into a recording medium and a reproducing unit. (1) is an optical disk, which is an example of a recording medium. Optical disk (1) is compact disc, CD
-ROM and the like. The size of the optical disk (1) is adjusted according to the size and number of books. Other recording media include a magnetic disk and a magnetic tape. A binary hiragana code is stored on the optical disc (1). Also, the intonation codes are stored on the same or different tracks. The following is a description of the playback unit. (11), (2), and (3) constitute a reproducing means. Specifically, (11) shows a driver, (2) shows a reading means, and (3) shows a decoding means, respectively. is there. The driver (11) for rotating the optical disk or the like is composed of a motor, a governor, a manipulator and the like. In some cases, the manipulator positions the reading means (2) described later. The reading means (2) is means for reading a hiragana intonation code from the optical disc (1), and includes a laser irradiation unit, a detection unit, and the like. The decoding means (3) performs an error correction process on the hiragana code read by the reading means (2), and then separates and outputs the hiragana code and the intonation code. (4) is a digital voice storage means, which stores binarized digital data after compressing a voice waveform of 50 sounds and one or a combination of semi-voiced voices, voiced voices, long voices, short voices, etc. ing.
(5) is additional voice storage means, which stores binary information such as tone, intonation, accent, etc. necessary for reading, or a command for controlling a driver created for the purpose of adding such necessary information. doing. (6) is a reading means A, which accesses the digital voice storage means (4) based on the input code signal, and reads out and outputs digital voice corresponding to the code signal.
(7) reading means B, which accesses the additional voice storage means (5) based on the input intonation code and reads out and outputs intonation information corresponding to the voice code signal. (8) is an analog voice conversion means for connecting the input digital voice,
Further, it is a section for performing an arithmetic processing or the like on the digital audio based on the input additional audio information and then outputting an analog audio signal in time series by D / A conversion. (9) is an audio output means, which amplifies the input analog audio and outputs the amplified analog audio to a speaker or an earphone. Here, the speaker and the earphone are omitted. The digital audio storage unit (4) and the additional audio storage unit (5) are one or more storage media such as a ROM or a RAM, a decoding unit (3), a reading unit A (6), and a reading unit B (7). ) And analog voice conversion means (8)
Can be replaced with a one-chip signal processor such as one or more microcomputers and gate arrays.

Next, the operation will be described. The hiragana code and the intonation code read from the optical disk (1) by the reading means (2) are separated by the decoding means (3), the hiragana code is read by the reading means A (6), and the intonation code is read by the reading means B (7). ). The reading means A (6) reads the digital sound from the digital sound storage means (4) based on the hiragana code, and outputs the digital sound to the analog sound converting means (8). The reading means B (7) reads the additional audio signal from the additional audio storage means (5) based on the intonation code,
Output to analog voice conversion means (8). The digital audio signal and the additional audio signal are synchronized, and the analog audio converter (8) incorporates intonation information into the digital audio signal according to the additional audio signal, performs digital-to-analog conversion, and performs analog audio output. It should be noted that the tempo for outputting the analog sound is appropriately adjusted according to the taste of the listener. In the reading means, one or more buffers may be further provided to temporarily accumulate the information read from the optical disc, to perform a conversion process to an analog sound at the accumulating location, and to output the analog sound. Further, the above-described hiragana code and intonation code are shown as examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

The embodiment having the above configuration can be used as a portable type. One example is shown in FIG. (20) is a main body, which is formed of a material that can be reduced in weight such as plastic. Reference numeral (21) denotes a lid, which is an openable / closable part for storing an optical disk therein. (2
Reference numeral 2) denotes an operation unit for performing playback, selection, and pause volume adjustment, and includes a switch button, a rotary knob, and the like. (23) is an earphone jack, into which a plug of the earphone is inserted. Although not shown, earphones for one ear or both ears conventionally used are used. Although (24) is not shown,
This is the part where the speaker is built-in. The entire size is about one size around the optical disk, and is battery driven. Since only audio output is used, battery consumption can be kept low, and miniaturization depends on the size of the optical disk.
Easy to carry. In addition, the size of the optical disk can be further reduced depending on the book, and it is very excellent as a portable type. As an example of use, when used together with a book regardless of the location, when the eyes become tired after reading the book, the user listens to the continuation with an earphone or a speaker. Alternatively, the user is asked to listen alone. In the above-described embodiment, the digital audio stored in the basic unit is stored in advance in the digital audio storage unit (4). Alternatively, the digital audio storage unit (4) (the storage medium for reproduction) stores the digital audio. Is stored, instead, digital audio is recorded on the optical disk (recording medium) (1), and when the operation is started,
At the initial stage, the reading means may read the digital sound recorded on the recording medium and store the read digital sound in the digital sound storage means (4) composed of a RAM or the like. This method is also a preferable method because the user can select a sound suitable for the book. The same method can be adopted for the additional voice storage means. In the case of the additional sound, the reading means does not necessarily require a means such as an additional sound storage means, and the code read from the recording medium is directly input to the analog sound conversion means, and a driver for adding the intonation is provided. It may be driven directly.

[0009]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the character information and the voice code are stored in the recording medium, and the digital voice corresponding to the character information and the voice code at the time of reproduction is read out and connected and outputted. It is possible to output the contents of a book as an audio signal, to assist reading and replacement, and to minimize the amount of stored information. Therefore, it is easy to miniaturize and excellent in portability. It has effects such as becoming.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a specific shape of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical disk 2 Reading means 3 Decoding means 4 Digital sound storage means 5 Additional sound storage means 6 Reading means A 7 Reading means B 8 Analog sound conversion means 9 Sound output means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A reproducing means (2, 3, 11) for reading digital voice and character information from a recording medium (1) on which a basic unitized digital voice and character information in a format uniquely corresponding to the digital voice are recorded. Digital audio storage means (4) for reading digital audio from the reproduction means (2, 3, 11) and temporarily storing the digital audio in the initial stage of reproduction start, and characters read from the reproduction means (2, 3, 11) Reading means (6) for reading digital sound corresponding to information from the digital sound storage means (4), and sound converting means for performing digital-to-analog conversion on the digital sound read from the reading means (6) and outputting analog sound (8). 2. The audio electronic book according to claim 1, further comprising audio output means for outputting analog audio to the earphone.