JP2885157B2 - Audio output control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sound for outputting audio information in an electronic book which outputs such information using a recording medium on which image information and audio information composed of characters, figures, natural images and the like are recorded. The present invention relates to an output control device, and more particularly to an audio output control device with improved operability when turning a page.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Books are read by many people in order to make the most of the time spent in transportation such as trains, and relatively small books such as books are especially useful when traveling or commuting. Loved reading. Such a conventional book is printed on paper and bound.

In recent years, with the miniaturization of storage media and various electronic components, portable information display devices have appeared. Such information includes not only conventional image information such as characters and pictures, but also image information (hereinafter referred to as "natural images") such as photographs, animations, and animations, sounds of humans and animals, sounds of musical instruments, and the like. Some of them also deal with audio information such as special effects. In such an information display device, these image information and audio information are electronically, magnetically or optically stored in a storage medium, and when used, read out from the storage medium and displayed on a liquid crystal display. Books having a book function are called electronic books or electronic books.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-314732 discloses such an electronic book. This publication has a button for turning pages before and after displaying the contents of an electronic book. When this button is pressed, the data of the text, voice, or tone data of the designated page is read out from the storage medium at once, and is reproduced by various output devices such as a liquid crystal display or a voice output. Will be. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 5-137846 and 3-119587 also disclose similar techniques.

[0005]

Consider a case in which recorded data of a game of Go is reproduced with such an electronic book. In this e-book, it is assumed that the hand struck with the picture of the go board is assigned to one page for each move and recorded, and each time the page break button for switching the page is pressed, the go board is displayed in order to give a sense of realism of the game. A sound effect of putting a go stone shall be generated. In order to realize this, conventionally, a process of generating a sound effect in conjunction with pressing a page break button has been performed. However, if a page such as a sentence for explaining the game is embedded before and after the page of the go board in the storage medium, the sound of putting the go stone even when the page of the sentence is called by a page break. The problem that occurred occurred.

When the page is specified in the reverse direction, the stone is put on the stone because the page break operation is performed even though the stone is removed from the display screen as a result. As a result, there arises a problem that the development of the screen display and the content of the output audio do not match semantically.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound output control device capable of reproducing sound semantically consistent with the contents of a book when performing a page break of an electronic book.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an audio output control capable of saving the storage capacity of the storage means when reproducing a sound that is semantically identical to the contents of a book when performing a page break of an electronic book. It is to provide a device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing (a) image information for each page and a plurality of audio information to be selected when displaying image information on a specific page. (B) page designating means for designating a page on which image information is to be displayed; (c) reading means for reading out image information designated by the page designating means from a recording medium; and (d) an arbitrary number for each page. A voice information output table indicating whether to output voice information corresponding to a page of image information and which of voice information stored in a recording medium is to be output,
(E) When a page for which image information is to be reproduced is designated by the page designating means, the presence / absence of output of all sounds associated with the page indicated in the audio information output table and any sound should be output. Corresponding to the page
An audio output determining means for determining the order to reach the number of audio information, (to) output all the audio output determination means
Each time the audio information is determined, the specified page
The audio output control device is provided with audio output means for sequentially outputting audio and (g) image information display means for visually displaying image information of a designated page.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, characters,
When the display of image information consisting of figures, natural images, etc. is specified on a page, audio information output indicating whether audio information is output on the page and which of the audio information stored in the recording medium should be output The voice output determining means determines whether voice information exists on the page and which voice information is to be output, using the table. Audio output
Is determined, for example, an electronic book of Go games
When the page of the commentary is specified by the family register,
Sound effects can be prevented. Ma
In addition, the audio information output table associates an arbitrary number of audio information with one page, and when a page for which image information is to be reproduced is specified, the audio output determination means corresponds to the page.
Until it reaches the number of voice information, and sequentially determines the output of all associated audio, output the audio output means
Each time the audio information to be input is determined,
Since the output of the voice in the order with respect to over-di, to the desired page
On the other hand, it is also possible to output a plurality of sounds in order.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, (a) the page
When displaying image information on a specific page with image information
That stores one or more voice information to be selected
Specify the recording medium and (b) the page to display the image information
Page designation means, and (c) the page designation means.
Reading means for reading out image information designated by a user from a recording medium
And (d)Recording media corresponding to the image information page
Control which of the audio information stored in the body should be output
A voice information output table in which control information to be registered is registered;
(E) When a page is specified by the page specification means
Based on the control information in the audio information output tableAudio information
Information output and which audio should be output
Audio output discriminating means and (f) audio output discriminating means.
Voice output means for outputting the voice determined by the
Image information that visually displays the image information of the specified page
The audio output control device is provided with a display means.Ie
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image is output to the audio information output table.
The image information is stored in the recording medium corresponding to the page
To control which of the audio information
The control information is registered, and any of the audio information
To determine whether to output the audio
doing.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, (a) the page
When displaying image information on a specific page with image information
That stores one or more voice information to be selected
Specify the recording medium and (b) the page to display the image information
Page designation means, and (c) the page designation means.
Reading means for reading out image information designated by a user from a recording medium
And (d) output of audio information corresponding to the image information page
Presence / absence or when the page moves forward or backward
Or when the page moves one page at a time
Or when moving multiple pages at once
Which of the stored audio information should be output or the audio
Audio output table indicating whether or not the audio should be output
And (e) the page is specified by the page specification means
When the audio information is
Sound to determine whether to output and which sound to output
The voice output determining means and (f) the voice output determining means.
A sound output means for outputting the separated sound;
Image information display that visually displays the image information of the page
Means are provided in the audio output control device. That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when the display of image information including characters, graphics, natural images, and the like is specified on a page, the presence or absence of output of audio information on the page, the page moves in the forward direction, or When moving in the opposite direction, when moving one page at a time, or when moving a plurality of pages at a time, audio information indicating which of the audio information recorded on the recording medium should be output or should not be output. Using the output table, the audio output discriminating means determines whether or not the audio information of the page exists, and outputs the audio information in accordance with the situation such as the moving direction of the page or whether the page moves one page at a time. Determine the presence or absence. As a result, for example, when a picture of a go board is displayed in an opposite direction in an electronic book of a game of Go, a sound effect of putting a go stone on the go board can be prevented from being generated. ,

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect , the audio information output table associates an arbitrary number of audio information with one page, and the image information should be reproduced. When a page is designated, the audio output determining means sequentially determines the output of all associated voices, and the voice output means outputs the corresponding voice in order .
Swelling.

[0014] That is, in the invention described in claim 4, so that it is possible to output a plurality of types of audio information in the order for a particular page.

According to the invention described in claim 5 , according to claim 4,
According to the described invention, the voice information is checked sequentially using the counter,
Applicable ones are output by the audio output determination means.

[0016] According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the first to the fifth aspects are provided .
Item 3 is characterized in that attribute data relating to output of audio information is held for each image information of each page.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an electronic book using a voice output control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The electronic book according to the present embodiment has a ROM (Read Only) storing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a program.
The control device 11 mainly includes a memory. This control device 11 is connected to a reading device 12
A storage medium 13 for storing the contents of each book, and a storage device 14 for temporarily storing data relating to the contents of the books
Also, an audio reproducing device 15 for reproducing audio, a display device 16 for displaying images, and an input device 17 for performing various operations are connected.

An outline of the operation of the electronic book will be described. E-book consumers can access text, graphics, images,
A desired recording medium 13 on which electronic book data (hereinafter referred to as book data) composed of audio or the like is recorded is set in the reading device 12. The control device 11 stores the book data read from the recording medium 13 via the reading device 12 into the storage device 14.
To be stored. At this time, the data read from the recording medium 13 may be the entire book data, but may be, for example, one page, and in this case, the capacity of the storage device 14 can be reduced. When book data is stored one page at a time, it is natural that the book data is frequently read from the recording medium 13 for each page break.

On the other hand, if all the book data stored in the recording medium 13 is stored in the storage device 14 at a time, the recording medium 13 and the reading device 12 are not required at the time of reproduction. Therefore, they can be stored at home or at work, and in order to reduce the size and weight of the entire electronic book when it is carried, the storage device 14 must be made somewhat large, and the recording medium 13 and the reading device 12 must be connected to the device. It is also effective to make the structure detachable from the main body.

When the user gives an instruction to turn pages from the input device 17 at the time of reproducing the book data, the image information of the page to be reproduced is transferred from the storage device 14 to the display device 16. If there is audio information on the page, the storage device 1
From 4, the transfer of the audio data to the audio reproducing device 15 is performed.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the book data. The book data 21 stored in the storage device 14 shown in FIG. 1 includes a page attribute information table 22, image information 23 including character and graphic data, and audio information 24 indicating a voice related to the image information 23. It is configured. The image information 23 includes the image information I ₁ of the first page and the second
Page image information I ₂ ,..., Nth page image information I
_{Consists of N.} Audio information 24 is divided into Q as by units of one pronunciation, the first audio information V _1, second audio information V _2, ......, and a voice information V _Q of the Q. This does not always correspond to the page one-to-one like the image information 23.

The page attribute information table 22 has a first attribute associated with each page of the page attribute information 25 on a one-to-one basis.
To Nth page attribute information B _{1 to} B _N. Each of the page attribute information B _{1 to} B _N is configured with the sound effect information 26, the sound generation condition 27, and the sound identifier 28 as units. Here, the sound effect information 26 indicates whether or not the sound information 24 corresponding to the page exists. The sound generation condition 27 indicates a sound generation condition under which condition the sound information 24 is generated when having the sound information 24. If there is no voice information 24, it becomes invalid. If the sound identifier 28 satisfies the sound generation condition, any of the sound information V ₁ , V
_2, ..., is to identify the kind to pronounce V _Q. If it does not correspond to any type, it becomes invalid.

FIG. 3 shows the overall operation from the reproduction of book data to the end of the electronic book of the present embodiment. The following various controls are performed by the control device 11 shown in FIG.
This is performed by executing a program stored in the ROM arranged in the ROM. First, to reproduce the first page, a page number and a page break condition are initialized (step S101). The page break condition indicates a cause of a page break. For example, a case where the page number is changed to “next page” as the direction in which the page number increases by one, a case where the page number is changed to “previous page” as the direction in which the page number decreases by one, or the page number There are various factors such as “skip reading”, which increases or decreases by more than one at a time.

When the initialization is completed, next, a page break process is performed (step S102). Before the image information 23 corresponding to the page number is displayed on the display device 16 in FIG. 1, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, the corresponding audio information 24 is reproduced by the audio reproduction device 15.

When the screen display and the necessary processing are performed, the reception of the next operation request is detected (step S1).
03). The user's operation request is input from the input device 17, and the control device 11 detects this. The control device 11 determines whether the received operation request is a page break request (step S104). The electronic book input device 17 is provided with switches or buttons for inputting various requests. For example, a power switch to turn on / off the power of the entire device, a forward button to perform a page break in the forward direction, a reverse button to perform the reverse direction, a button to adjust the brightness and contrast of the screen display, and the volume of the sound to be reproduced And the like for adjusting the volume. In step S104, the operation of the forward button or the reverse button is detected from these.

If the operation request is a page break (Y), a page break condition is created (step S105), and the page is increased or decreased by the requested number of pages based on the current page number (step S105). Step S106), Step S
Returning to step 102, page break processing is performed. The page break condition is
It is created by comparing the current page number with the page number of the page break destination, and includes each element such as a page moving amount, a page break direction, and whether or not skip reading is performed. The page movement amount indicates the absolute value of the difference from the current page to the page to which the page is changed. The page break direction indicates a forward direction indicating a direction in which the page number increases or a reverse direction indicating a direction in which the page number decreases. Skip reading / playing refers to proceeding to another page two or more pages away from a certain page, that is, the amount of movement of the page is greater than one. For example, when it is desired to jump from the first page of the contents page to the tenth page at one time, or when reading the contents of the book by skipping, the skip reading reproduction is performed.

The reproduction of the book data is performed by repeating the processing from step S102 to step S106. If it is determined in step S104 that the operation request is not a page break request, it is determined whether the request is a reproduction end request for terminating reproduction (step S107). If it is a reproduction end request (Y),
The reproduction operation ends (END). If there is an invalid request as other requests (N), step S1
Returning to step 03, the detection of the operation request is repeated. Here, the invalid request is, for example, a case where the user makes a page break request to the previous page even though the first page is displayed.

FIG. 4 specifically shows the operation of creating the page break condition shown in step S105 of FIG. The control device 11 shown in FIG. 1 includes a page number P _old before (current) page break and a page number P after page break.
_{The following} processing is performed using _new as input data, and a page break condition is output as output data.

First, a comparison is made between the page number P _old before the page break and the page number P _new after the page break (step S201). Next, if the page number P _old before the page break is smaller than the page number P _new after the page break (step S202; Y), it is determined that the page break direction is “forward”, and the page movement amount is P _new − It is set as P _old (step S203). In other cases (step S202; N), the page break direction is assumed to be “reverse direction”, and the page movement amount is set as P _old −P _new (step S204).

Next, it is determined whether the page movement amount is larger than one page (step S205).
If it is larger (Y), skip reading and reproduction is "present" (step S206). On the other hand, if the page movement amount is equal to or less than "1" (N), the skip reading reproduction is "none".
(Step S207). In this way, a page break condition is created.

FIG. 5 specifically shows the operation of the page break processing shown in step S102 of FIG. Before outputting one page of data to be reproduced to the display device 16 of FIG. 1, the control device 11 reads out the page attribute information 22 (FIG. 2) corresponding to the page number of the page break destination from the storage device 14 (step S301). ). Then, based on the page attribute information 25, it is first checked whether or not the sound effect information 26 (FIG. 2) exists (step S30).
2). If the sound effect information 26 does not exist (N), the image information 23 is only displayed, so that the process proceeds to step S303, and the image information 23 is immediately displayed on the display device 16 without generating sound.

On the other hand, when the sound effect information exists (step S302; Y), it is checked whether or not the given page break condition satisfies the sound generation condition (step S304). For example, assuming that the sound generation condition is a condition for sounding when the page break is performed in the forward direction and one page at a time, the page break condition is “the page break direction is the forward direction and the page movement amount is“ 1 ”(skip). (There is no reading / reproducing)). If the condition is not satisfied (N), it is determined that even if the corresponding sound exists, it is not a scene to be reproduced, and the process immediately proceeds to step S303, where only the display of the image information 23 is performed without generating sound. Done.

If the page break condition satisfies the pronunciation condition
In the case (step S304; Y), the corresponding sound is reproduced.
Is determined to be a scene to be played, and the audio information shown in FIG.
V₁, V _Two, ..., V_QIndicated by sound identifier 28
Is sent to the audio reproduction device 15 and reproduced as audio
Is performed (step S305). And applicable
Image information 23 of the page to be displayed is displayed on the screen.
(Step S303).

FIG. 6 shows the contents of a page attribute table showing an example of the relationship between each page and page attribute information in an electronic book of a Go game.

FIG. 7 shows the meaning of the numerical values in the "sound effect information". The numerical value "0" indicates the case where there is no sound effect information, and the numerical value "1" indicates the case where there is.

FIG. 8 shows numerical values in the "occurrence conditions" and their meanings. Forward playback is "1"
The reproduction in the reverse direction is "2", the normal reproduction in units of page movement is "4", and the skip reading reproduction is "8". The values shown in the table of FIG. 6 indicate the sum of these conditions. For example, the numerical value representing normal reproduction in the forward or reverse direction is “1 + 2 + 4” and is “7”.

In this book, the eyes of the go board and the go stones are represented by figures, and each move of the struck hand is represented by the image information I ₁ of the first page, the image information I ₂ of the second page,...
It is recorded for each page like the image information _IN of the page. As a result, the display is performed such that the go stone is put on the go board one by one every time a page break is performed one page at a time in the forward direction. However, sentences describing the game are embedded before and after the page of the predetermined go board.

In this book, every time the player steps forward, a sound effect of putting a go stone on a go board is generated to give a sense of realism to the game. When displaying the page of the commentary, a sound effect indicating that the commentary is displayed is generated regardless of the direction of the page break.

Therefore, in the page attribute information 25 of the page on which the go board is displayed, the sound effect information 26 is “present”, the sound generation condition 27 is “forward page break”, and the sound identifier 28 is “go board”. The value indicating the voice information for putting the go stone is stored in advance. In the commentary page, the sound effect information 26 is similarly set to “present”, and the pronunciation condition 2
7 is “forward or reverse” and the sound identifier 2
For “8”, “value indicating sound effect of commentary display” is stored.

The contents of the _first to Nth page attribute information B _{1 to} B _N may be character information represented by characters such as “present”, “absent” or “forward”. 11 is numerically coded to make it easy to understand. For example, as for the sound effect information 26 and the sound generation condition 27, the meaning indicating the condition is associated with a numerical value as shown in FIGS. For the sound identifier 28, for example, it is effective to assign a memory address in the storage device 14 where the corresponding sound information 24 is stored.

In this book of the present embodiment, the second, fourth and fifth pages are pages of a go board, and the commentary is
Assume that it is assigned to the page. Also, it is assumed that the page of the table of contents having no audio information 24 is the first page. FIG. 6 shows an attribute table of each page in this case. Now, it is assumed that the first page is being displayed, and the page is to be changed one page at a time in the forward direction. The page break condition at this time is “the page break direction is the forward direction” and “the page movement amount is“ 1 ””.
In addition, "there is no skip reading reproduction".

Consider a case where a page break is performed from the first page to the second go board page. Since the sound effect information 26 of the second page is “presence”, the sound generation condition is “forward”, and the page movement amount is “1”, the page is “normal playback”, so the memory matches the page break condition. Address A
_{1 The} sound effect of the audio information 24 shown in FIG. 6 is reproduced (FIG. 5, steps S302, S304, S30).
5).

When a page break is performed from the second page to the commentary on the third page, the sound effect information 26 on the third page is “present” and the sound generation condition is “forward or reverse”.
In, and since page breaks "normal reproduction", to meet the part of the "forward" of the page break condition, reproduction of the sound effect of the audio information 24 shown in the memory address A ₂ in FIG. 6 is performed (FIG. 5 steps S302, S304, S305).

When a page break is performed on a page in which the third to fourth pages of the go board are displayed, the conditions are the same as those for the first to second page breaks. The sound effect is played (Fig. 5
Steps S302, S304, S305).

Next, it is assumed that a page break is performed in the reverse direction one page at a time while the fourth page is displayed. The page break condition at this time is “the page break direction is reverse”, “the page movement amount is“ 1 ””, and “skip-read playback is invalid”. First, when a new page is changed from the fourth page to the third page of the commentary, the sound effect information 26 of the third page is “present”, the pronunciation condition is “reverse direction”, and “ Since it is a page break of "normal playback", it matches the "reverse direction" part of the page break condition,
The audio information 24 of the commentary is reproduced (step S30 in FIG. 5).
2, S304, S305).

When the page is changed from the third page to the page on which the second page of the go board is displayed, the sound effect information 26 of the second page is “present” and the sound generation condition is “forward”.
And the page break is "normal reproduction", so that it does not match the page break condition of "reverse direction". Therefore, no sound is reproduced (steps S302 and S304 in FIG. 5).

When the page is changed from the second page to the page in which the table of contents of the first page is displayed, since the sound effect information 26 of the first page is "none", only the image information 23 is reproduced. (Steps S302 and S30 in FIG. 5)
3).

As described above, in the forward page break, the audio information 24 is reproduced on the page on which the commentary is displayed and on the page on which the go board is displayed. Is reproduced, and the audio information 24 is not reproduced on the page where the go board is displayed.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 9 shows the structure of book data used in an electronic book using the audio output control device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. Further, in this embodiment, although there is a difference between the electronic book shown in FIG. 1 and the program stored in the ROM, the basic configuration of the circuit device is the same, and the reference numerals shown in FIG. I will explain. Note that the first
The program used in the second embodiment and the second embodiment may be stored in a storage medium such as a magnetic disk, and may be used by loading it into the RAM before playing the book data. Of course.

The storage device 14 of the second embodiment (FIG. 1)
The book data 31 stored in the book data 31 includes a page attribute information table 32, image information 23 composed of character and graphic data, and audio information 24 representing audio related to the image information 23. Image information 23 and audio information 24 are the same as in the first embodiment.

The page attribute information table 32 stores the first attribute associated with each page of the page attribute information 33 on a one-to-one basis.
To Nth page attribute information B _{1 to} B _N. Each of the page attribute information B _{1 to} B _N includes sound effect information 34, first to M-th sound generation conditions 35, and first to M-th sound identifiers 36. Here, the sound effect information 34 indicates whether or not the sound information 24 corresponding to the page exists. First to Mth sounding conditions 35
Represents a condition for generating a pronunciation for each of a plurality of pieces of audio information.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the contents of a page attribute table showing the relationship between sound effect information, generation conditions, and sound identifiers on the i-th page as an arbitrary page. In this table, the sound effect information Ni represents the number of pieces of audio information on the corresponding page. In this point, the character differs from the sound effect information 26 of the first embodiment. However, when this value is "0", it indicates that there is no corresponding audio information 24 as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows the contents of the page attribute table of the j-th page. On this page j,
The case where the value of the sound effect information 34 is “0” is shown. In this case, the values of the tone generation condition 35 and the sound identifier 36 are also “0”.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it is checked whether the sound generation condition 35 matches the page break condition by the number Ni indicated by the sound effect information 34.
There are two operation procedures. The user operates the mode selection button of the input device 17 shown in FIG.
Of the page break processing and the second page break processing can be selected. Depending on the book, it is possible to preset one of the page break processes in advance.

The audio information 24 corresponding to the sound generation condition 35 is set to 1
A case where a plurality of pages are set will be described. In the Go game book described in the first embodiment, the sound of putting a go stone on the go board is generated when the go page is turned in the forward direction, and the sound is not generated when the go page is turned in the reverse direction. Alternatively, for example, when a page break is performed in the reverse direction, a sound for removing a go stone from the go board can be generated. That is, different audio information 24 can be assigned to each of the two sound generation conditions of the forward direction and the reverse direction.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of the first page break processing. In the first page break processing, the sound generation condition 35 is examined in order, and if the sound information 24 meeting the page break condition is found, the sound information V ₁ , V _{2 ,.}
Of the page, and the image information 23 of the page is displayed. Therefore, the audio information 24 is reproduced only once per page.

In the first page break processing, the reproduction 1
Before outputting data for a page to the display device 16, the control device 11 reads out the page attribute information 33 corresponding to the page number from the storage device 14 (step S401). Then, the value of a counter for counting the number of occurrence conditions 35 and sound identifiers 36 is initialized to "0" (step S402). Here, the counter can be configured using a working memory in the control device 11.

Thereafter, the number N indicated by the sound effect information 34
The sound generation condition 35 to be determined by comparing i with the value of the counter.
And the presence of the sound identifier 36 (step S40).
3). If the value of the sound effect information 34 is “0” and there is no information to be determined (N), the process proceeds to step S404 without outputting sound, and only the display of image information is performed.

On the other hand, if there is a sound generation condition 35 and a sound identifier 36 to be determined (step S403;
Y), it is checked whether the sound generation condition 35 matches the given page break condition (step S40).
5). The determination regarding the matching of the condition is the same as in the first embodiment. If the condition is not satisfied (N), it is determined that even if the corresponding voice exists, it is not a scene to be reproduced, and the count value of the counter is set to “1” in order to determine the next sound generation condition 35. "(Step S406). Then, the process returns to step S403 again, and the same process is repeated until the maximum incremented count value becomes equal to the value Ni until the sound generation condition 35 is satisfied. If the condition is met at this stage (step S405; Y), it is determined that the scene is to reproduce the corresponding sound, and the sound information 24 indicated by the sound identifier 36 is transmitted to the sound reproducing device 15 to transmit the sound. (Step S
407). Then, the image information 23 corresponding to the page number
Is sent to the display device 16 to be displayed on the screen (step S404).

If the condition does not match even if the incremented count value exceeds the value Ni (step S403; N), the process proceeds to step S404 without generating a sound and the image of the corresponding page is generated. The information 23 is displayed on the screen (step S404).

FIG. 13 shows the flow of the second page break processing. In the second page break processing, the sound generation conditions are sequentially checked up to the number Ni, and when a sound generation condition that matches the page break conditions is found, each time the sound information 24 is read.
To play. Therefore, in this process, a plurality of pieces of audio information 24 can be reproduced on one page.

In the second page break processing, the reproduction 1
Before outputting the data for the page to the display device 16, the control device 11 reads out the page attribute information 33 corresponding to the page number from the storage device 14 (step S501). Then, the value of a counter for counting the number of occurrence conditions 35 and sound identifiers 36 is initialized to "0" (step S502).

Thereafter, the number N indicated by the sound effect information 34
The sound generation condition 35 to be determined by comparing i with the value of the counter.
And the presence of the sound identifier 36 (step S50).
3). If the value of the sound effect information 34 is "0" and there is no information to be determined (N), the process proceeds to step S504 without outputting a sound, and only the image information is displayed.

On the other hand, if there is a sound generation condition 35 and a sound identifier 36 to be determined (step S503;
Y), it is checked whether the sound generation condition 35 matches the given page break condition (step S50).
5). The determination regarding the matching of the condition is the same as in the first embodiment. If the condition is not satisfied (N), it is determined that even if the corresponding voice exists, it is not a scene to be reproduced, and the count value of the counter is set to “1” in order to determine the next sound generation condition 35. "(Step S406). Then, the process returns to step S503 again, and the same processing is repeated until the maximum incremented count value becomes equal to the value Ni until the sound generation condition 35 is satisfied.

If the condition is met at this stage (step S505; Y), it is determined that the scene is to reproduce the corresponding sound, and the sound information 24 indicated by the sound identifier 36 is transmitted to the sound reproducing device 15. To reproduce the sound (step S507). Then, image information 2 corresponding to the page number
3 is placed on the display device 16 and displayed on the screen (step S404). First determined step S50
The same applies when the condition is satisfied in 5. After the image information 23 is displayed on the screen, the process proceeds to step S506 again, where the count value of the counter is counted up by "1". Then, the process returns to step S503, and the same processing as described above is repeated (step S503).
To S506).

That is, in the second page break processing, the processing is repeated until there are no more occurrence conditions to be judged. At this time, the corresponding audio information 24 is reproduced in all cases where the occurrence conditions are satisfied. When the reproduction of all the audio information 24 meeting the conditions is completed, step S504 is performed.
Then, the image information 23 is displayed on the screen, and the process ends (END).

If the condition does not match even if the incremented count value exceeds the value Ni (step S503; N), the flow advances to step S504 without generating sound, and the image of the corresponding page is generated. The display of the information 23 on the screen is similar to the case of the first page break processing (step S504).

Modified example

FIG. 14 shows a data configuration of a recording medium as a modification of the first and second embodiments described above. In this modification, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 or FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In this modification, the recording medium 13 (see FIG. 1)
Inside, image information 42 of each page (I ₁ , I ₂ ,...,.
I _N ) are arranged independently for each page together with the page attribute information 43. Each page attribute information 43 is
Like the page attribute information 33 described with reference to FIG. 9, it is composed of sound effect information 34, first to M-th sound generation conditions 35, and first to M-th sound identifiers 36.

In this modification, unlike the first and second embodiments, it is not necessary to always keep the page attribute information tables 22 (FIG. 2) and 32 (FIG. 9), and the page is reproduced. It may be read from the recording medium 13 and used every time. Therefore, the capacity of the storage device 14 shown in FIG. 1 can be saved.

In each of the embodiments described above, to simplify the description, the page break condition and the tone generation condition are changed to a page break in the forward direction and the reverse direction, and to normal playback in which each page is turned and a plurality of pages to be turned. Although only two types of skip reading and reproduction are shown, various other conditions can be set, and audio can be reproduced under more complicated conditions. For example, conditions such as jumping to a special page such as a table of contents, index, or footnote, and conditions for playing a specific sound after a certain period of time after a page break using a timer or other timekeeping means. possible.

By setting such various conditions, the audio output control device of the present invention can be applied not only to the illustrated Go game but also to an electronic book having various contents.

[0077]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when display of image information including characters, figures, natural images, and the like is designated on a page, output of audio information on the page is specified. The voice output discriminating means uses a voice information output table indicating whether voice information stored in the recording medium is to be output or not, and whether voice information of the page is present and which voice information is output. Since it is decided whether or not to do so, for example, when a page of a commentary sentence is specified in an electronic book of a game of Go, a small sound output control such that a sound effect of putting a go stone on a go board is not generated. It can be carried out. In addition, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the audio output determination means corresponds to the page.
Until the number of audio information is reached, all associated
The sound output is sequentially determined, and the sound output means outputs the sound.
Each time the audio information to be determined is determined, the specified page
Is output in sequence for
It is also possible to output a plurality of voices sequentially.

According to the second aspect of the present invention , a voice
Supports how to send image information pages to the information output table
Output any of the audio information stored on the recording medium.
Registered control information to control whether
It is possible to make the audio output mode different between the
Easily avoids situations where unnatural sounds are output incorrectly
can do.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, characters, figures
Specify the display of image information consisting of shapes, natural images, etc. on the page
The audio information is output on the page,
When the head moves forward or backwards
Or when the page moves one page at a time or
Sound stored on recording media when moving several pages at once
Which information should be output or audio should be output
Using the audio information output table that indicates
The voice output discriminating means determines whether the voice information of the page exists.
Or the page moving direction or the page is not one page
Audio information depending on the situation, such as whether
We decided to determine the presence or absence of force. As a result, for example, Go
If the picture of the go board is displayed in the opposite direction in the electronic book of the game
To avoid the sound effect of putting stones on the board.
Or display the sound of removing go stones
To output more realistic sound.
It will work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an electronic book using a voice output control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of book data in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overall processing flow from reproduction to termination of book data in the electronic book of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart specifically showing an operation of creating a page break condition shown in step S105 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart specifically showing an operation of a page break process shown in step S102 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of a page attribute table in an electronic book played by Go.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the meaning of numerical values in “sound effect information” shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing numerical values and their meanings in “occurrence conditions” shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of book data according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a page attribute table showing a relationship between sound effect information, an occurrence condition, and a sound identifier in an arbitrary page in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing contents of a page attribute table in a page in which the value of sound effect information is “0” in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of a first page break process in the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of a second page break process in the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a data configuration of a recording medium according to a modification of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 control device 12 reading device 13 recording medium 14 storage device 15 audio reproducing device 16 display device 17 input device 21, 31, book data 22, 32 page attribute information table 23, 42 image information 24 audio information 25, 33, 43 page attribute information 26, 34 sound effect information 27, 35 sounding condition 28, 36 sound identifier

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-9-128943 (JP, A) JP-A-9-73461 (JP, A) JP-A-7-182325 (JP, A) JP-A-7-175798 (JP, A) JP-A-7-129620 (JP, A) JP-A-7-93368 (JP, A) JP-A-6-242717 (JP, A) JP-A-5-282371 (JP, A) JP-A-4-321971 (JP, A) JP-A-4-86951 (JP, A) JP-A-4-35180 (JP, A) JP-A-3-74769 (JP, A) JP-A-63-92489 (JP, A) A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G11B 27/00 G06F 17/30

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording medium storing image information for each page and a plurality of audio information to be selected when displaying image information on a specific page, and a page designating means for designating a page to display image information. Reading means for reading image information designated by the page designating means from the recording medium, and associating an arbitrary number of audio information with each page, and outputting or not outputting audio information corresponding to the page of image information And an audio information output table indicating which of the audio information stored in the recording medium is to be output, and an audio information output table when the page to reproduce the image information is designated by the page designation means. I have been whether to output the presence or absence and any of the audio output of all of the voice associated with the page corresponding to the page
Audio output determining means for sequentially determining the number of audio information that has been reached, and the audio information to be output is determined by the audio output determining means.
An audio output control device comprising: audio output means for sequentially outputting audio for a designated page each time the image is displayed; and image information display means for visually displaying image information of the designated page. 2. A recording medium storing image information for each page and one or a plurality of audio information to be selected when displaying image information on a specific page, and a page designation for designating a page on which the image information is to be displayed. Means for reading the image information designated by the page designating means from the recording medium; and means for recording the image information on the recording medium in correspondence with the way of sending the page of the image information.
System to control which of the stored audio information should be output
And the audio information output table having registered the control information, a sound when the page is designated by the page designation means
Voice output determining means for determining whether or not voice information is output and which voice is to be output based on control information in the voice information output table; and voice output means for outputting voice determined by the voice output determining means And an image information display means for visually displaying image information of a designated page. 3. Image information for each page and a specific page
One or more items to select when displaying image information
Recording medium storing audio information and page designating means for designating a page on which image information is to be displayed
And the image information designated by the page designating means
Reading means for reading from the recording medium; and presence / absence of audio information output corresponding to the page of image information,
Page moves forward or backward
When or when the page moves one page at a time or
When moving a plurality of pages at a time,
Which audio information should be output or output audio
A voice information output table indicating whether or not the page should be specified, and a sound when a page is specified by the page specifying means.
Whether to output audio information corresponding to the audio information output table
Audio output judgment to determine which audio should be output
Another means and a sound for outputting the sound determined by the sound output determining means
Voice output means and image information for visually displaying image information of a designated page.
And an information display means . 4. The audio information output table has one page.
An arbitrary number of audio information is associated with the
Said audio output determining means when a page to be generated is specified
Is for all the associated audio outputs
Discrimination, and the sound output means outputs the corresponding sound in order.
The audio output control device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: 5. A page is designated by said page designation means.
The count value is initialized when
Whether the audio information corresponding to the event value should be output.
Count value is incremented by 1 after discrimination by force discrimination means
The counter that is incremented and audio information corresponding to the count value of this counter are output.
Applicable each time the audio output determination means determines that
Voice information output means for outputting voice information, and the count value of the counter is assigned to the page.
When the number of audio information exceeds the
Output image information display means .
The audio output control device according to claim 4 . 6. A sound for each image information of each page.
It is noted that attribute data for output of information is
The audio output control device according to claim 1, wherein: