JP4674356B2 - Digital picture book system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital picture book system in which digital picture books such as folk tales and fairy tales around the world can be viewed on a user terminal, and in particular, multilingual picture books in languages of respective countries and regions (hereinafter referred to as countries). It is a digital picture book system that can be used anywhere in the world by being displayed.

Conventionally, there have been many digital picture books that transmit pictures, characters, and sounds through a line such as the Web and reproduce the contents of the picture book on the user terminal.
As an example of a digital picture book operated in a conventional Web system by text search, for example, there is a “digital picture book system using a portable communication terminal” disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  In the case of this digital picture book system, when a user terminal logs in to a server and enters a text search, for example, when “genre: Japanese folktale, title: Momotaro” is entered, the candidate item is displayed in text and OK. Momotaro's image data, text data, and voice data are downloaded, and Momotaro's picture screen, text image and BGM, etc. are displayed on the playback screen of the user terminal. It is characterized in that it approximates the read-out speech of a registered relative.

  However, in these conventional digital picture books, the picture book content is “Japanese folktale Momotaro”, etc., for example, only in a single language such as Japanese, and other languages such as Europe, Oceania, America, Africa, etc. It is difficult to cope with the recent internationalized environment.

  Also in image processing, still images based on still image software such as JPEG are mainly used, and when displaying moving images, software such as GIF, MPEG, and AVI is required, and a common format having a format that can be collectively processed is required. Since there is no platform, each user terminal must be equipped with a viewer or player such as JPEG, GIF, MPEG, AVI, etc., and the operation is cumbersome and it is difficult to say that it is for children because it is forced to spend unexpectedly. End up.

  Furthermore, the user terminal in the conventional digital picture book system is a stand-alone device. For example, even when watching a picture book that uses the same digital picture book system in each home, the conversation about the contents is exchanged with other homes in real time. Difficult to do.

On the other hand, there are two prominent trends in recent IT technology trends.
One is an intimate relationship that is closer to the real world, such as SNS (Social Networking Site), which discloses the real name, real image, etc. to each other from the conventional unspecified number of anonymous Internet access forms. This is the direction of closed group formation.

Another is the direction of image recognition with images that are close to the real feeling in the real world instead of characters, whereas conventional Web access was text search by character input represented by address and URL. A virtual space “Second Life” from (Linden_Lab) is a typical example.
In the “second life” world, people interact with each other by manipulating avatars, which are dolls based on 3D moving images that personify themselves.

In contrast to traditional text data chats, where people could not see each other's faces and it took a long time to exchange sentences, in Second Life, many avatars gathered and interacted with each other. You can talk in real time while watching the video, and instantly recognize the other person's personality.
Therefore, this avatar is a typical image recognition interface for recognizing a partner as an image as an anthropomorphic interface for individual users.

  When displaying moving images, applying vector data video software represented by “FLASH” of Macromedia (currently Adobe_Systems) has a small amount of data load and has a format that can be batch processed with good operability. A common platform can be provided.

The feature of the present invention is to make use of these two remarkable IT technology trends to enable seamless distribution and to solve various problems of the above-mentioned conventional digital picture book system.
JP-A-2005-249880

  The object of the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems is to be able to select and read folk tales and fairy tales from around the world by selecting from multiple languages, and to use various common images, movies and animations on a common platform. Is to provide a digital picture book system that can be easily read at low cost.

  The purpose of the present invention to solve the above problems is to exchange a conversation about the contents in real time with another user who is reading a similar digital picture book while the user is reading one digital picture book. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital picture book system.

  In order to achieve the above object, a digital picture book system according to the invention described in claim 1 includes a center server that distributes digital picture book contents composed of movie images, characters, and sounds to a plurality of user terminals via communication lines. In the digital picture book system, the user terminal includes a video player created by vector data type video software, and performs reading access to the digital picture book to the center server, and SNS (Social Networking The image data and voice data related to the digital picture book being read are exchanged in real time by communication between user terminals via the site), and the center server collects folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world including Japan, Use vector data video software to create a movie Digital picture book content creation unit that creates a tall picture book, and the picture book content that is converted into a multilingual digital picture book and converted into a digital picture book corresponding to a plurality of languages (hereinafter referred to as languages) and stored A multilingual conversion unit, and a language that displays a list of applicable countries / regions (hereinafter referred to as countries) of languages in which the digital picture book is stored in response to a request from the user terminal, and allows a user to select a desired language A selection processing unit; a picture book selection processing unit for displaying a list of titles of digital picture books written in a language selected by the user and allowing the user to select a desired digital picture book; and a language of a country desired and selected by the user A digital picture book content distribution unit for transmitting on-demand a digital picture book including characters and sounds by the network, and the digital The FCS management unit that monitors and supports real-time exchange of image and audio data related to the picture book, and the homepage (portal site) of this digital picture book system, and the SNS formed by the user And an SNS management unit that monitors and supports the activity.

  In addition, according to claim 2, the language selection processing unit displays an image of the list of applicable countries in any of map formats including a world map and a Japan map, and clicks a country desired by the user on the map. And a map interface search processing unit that prompts the user to select a language.

  According to claim 3, the picture book selection processing unit displays a list of titles of the digital picture books in a bookshelf format, and prompts the user to select a picture book by clicking a desired digital picture book on the bookshelf. And a bookcase interface picture book selection processing unit.

  Further, according to claim 4, when the digital picture book data shared between users is updated, the FCS management unit transmits updated data from the server to each user and performs an update procedure, It is characterized by streaming distribution of digital picture book movies on a server.

  In addition, according to claim 5, the SNS management unit further counts the number of clicks and accesses of related banner advertisements in each SNS circle, and the affiliate advertisement system in which commission is paid according to the count number, and the time One or both of a limited system event, a sudden user trigger event, and a stamp service by an event including any one of library, library, and rally are provided.

According to the present invention, since folk tales and fairy tales around the world are multilingualized, it is finally possible to read in any language of the country anywhere in the world.
In addition, since videos created with vector data video software are used, users can select and specify various video picture books at low cost, in real time, and with simple image interface operations that even children can use. You can select and read digital picture books.

  In addition, users can create an SNS under the monitor of this system and exchange related image / audio data in real time while browsing digital picture books, thus further improving the intimacy between users Closed groups can be formed.

  Furthermore, by introducing an affiliate advertising system or various stamp services, it is possible to expand the opportunities and scope of distribution of digital picture books themselves.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode for carrying out a digital picture book system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital picture book system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a center server 1 distributes digital picture books to user terminals 3, 4, and 6 via a network and manages the system. The network 2 is a network such as the Internet, the user terminals 3 and 4 are personal computer terminals, and the user terminal 6 is a portable terminal. The user terminal 6 is connected to the network 2 via the mobile phone provider 5.

The center server 1 includes a communication management unit 7, a digital picture book content creation unit 8, a picture book content multilingual conversion unit 9, a map interface search processing unit 10, a bookshelf interface picture book selection processing unit 11, a picture book content distribution unit 12, and an FCS management unit. 13 and the SNS management unit 14, a picture book database 15 and a registration database 16 are included.
The communication management unit 7 manages the entire communication of the center server via the network 2.

The digital picture book content creation unit 8 creates a picture book in the SWF file format based on “FLASH”.
“FLASH” is the name of the animation software of Macromedia (currently Adobe_Systems) as described above.
Since recent Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) personal computers are equipped with nearly 100% “FLASH” players, it is generally not necessary to install this software on the user terminals 3, 4 and 6 side.
Even when the “FLASH” player is not installed, it is distributed on the Web as a Web browser plug-in and can be easily installed.

Conventionally, there are many GIF animations as animations on the Web. However, since the data format of the GIF is a bitmap format, there is a drawback that an image becomes rough when the data amount is heavy and is enlarged or reduced.
In this regard, since the “FLASH” movie has a vector format, the data format is light, and the image does not deteriorate even if the image is enlarged or reduced. By adding a Web tag or XML tag to the SWF file, the browser display can be displayed. It will be easy.

  In addition, it is possible to freely create keyframes and animations that are smoothly continuous with tween functions, interactive animations that step through frames by clicking, etc., and easy to move animations with action scripts, GIF Since there is an advantage that external files such as JPEG and MPEG can be easily imported as a platform, Web animation has been switched from GIF to “FLASH” movies.

The picture book content multilingual conversion unit 9 translates the text of the picture book into the language of the country / region (hereinafter referred to as country), or converts it into various other multilingual languages.
In that case, for example, a multilingual conversion function such as MUI (translation function, Multi-language_User_Interface) of Windows_Vista (registered trademark) can be used.
Windows (registered trademark) _XP is based on a single language such as English or Japanese, but Windows_Vista has no restrictions, and multilingual conversion by the MUI is possible.

The map interface search processing unit 10 performs image interface processing for searching for a picture book using a map image as an interface instead of the conventional text search.
The bookshelf interface picture book selection processing unit 11 performs a process of selecting a picture book from a bookcase image as an image interface.
The digital picture book content distribution unit 12 distributes the digital picture book selected by the request from the user via the communication management unit 7 to the user terminal 3, 4 or 6 of the user via the network 2.

The FCS management unit 13 monitors and supports data sharing between users by the FCS (FLASH_Communication_Server_MX) function of “FLASH” and communication by real-time connection.
The SNS management unit 14 operates the homepage (portal site) of the digital picture book system, and monitors and supports the SNS activity formed by the user.
The picture book database 15 stores picture book contents created by the digital picture book content creation unit 8 and data related thereto, and the registration database 16 stores registration information of users (picture book subscribers) and member registration information of various closed groups. Is stored.

Next, the operation of the digital picture book system will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the digital picture book content creation unit 8 creates digital picture book content such as Momotaro.
The created digital picture book is stored in the picture book database 15 and then distributed on demand.
As shown in FIG. 2, each digital picture book is composed of an animation image, for example, a bilingual text sentence (upper and lower two stages), and a voice.

  As for the animation image method, it is used in the “FLASH” movie by inserting a key frame (screen switching point) and interpolating the middle automatically, as well as a smooth continuous video method of the tween method, and commentary animation such as news commentary and presentation There is an interactive animation method in which a timeline is set so that the user can read while clicking, but any of them can be easily created as a “FLASH” movie in SWF format. Create picture book images by animation method.

  Next, for the picture body using text data, a text block that occupies a part of the screen as shown in FIG. 2 can be set, and static text, rewritable dynamic text, and questionnaire responses from users can be input. Among the three types of bidirectional text, this embodiment uses dynamic text that can be converted into multiple languages.

  The created digital picture book is configured so that it can be converted into multiple languages by performing the required multilingual conversion in the picture book content multilingual conversion unit 9, performing synchronizable audio, BGM insertion processing, etc., and HTML tags (even in XML processing) Publishing is performed and stored in the picture book database 15 as an SWF file that can be easily displayed by a browser.

Such a digital picture book is distributed on demand from the digital picture book content distribution unit 12 to the user terminals 3, 4, 6, and is reproduced by the FLASH_Player_ 8 or the like on the user terminals 3, 4.
In addition, since the user terminal 6 is equipped with “FLASH_Lite” which is not different from the normal “FLASH” in the recent version, it can be read by the mobile terminal.
In either case, the user selects text / speech language on the screen as shown in FIG. 2, for example, “menu language: Japanese”, adjusts the voice / BGM volume, and multilingual subtitles. Specify the display position (up and down, etc.) of (picture book characters). Language can be switched during reading.

  As a procedure for accessing the digital picture book system by the user, when the user logs in to the center server 1 from the user terminals 3, 4, 6, the center server 1 receives the map interface search processing unit 10 as shown in FIG. The world map data is transferred (or the user terminals 3 and 4 hold the same world map, and an appropriate map is selected and uploaded from there).

  When the user clicks and selects a desired country on the map, the map interface search processing unit 10 illuminates the corresponding country area (red), for example, indicates that it is recognized as Japan, and zooms in the corresponding area.

Next, the bookcase interface picture book selection processing unit 11 displays a bookshelf decorated with a national flag (day flag) of the corresponding country. Japanese books are stored in the bookshelf and their titles are displayed.
The bookshelf interface picture book selection processing unit 11 prompts the user to select a book. As shown in FIG. 5, when the user clicks and selects a book, the book avatar child avatar picks up the selected book, for example, is selected. If the book is “Momotaro”, the book is zoomed to the book that opened Momotaro, and the digital picture book “Momotaro” is displayed on the user terminal by “FLASH”.

The displayed digital picture book can be freely switched to the language to be displayed and to be heard as shown in FIG. 2 during reading.
As described above, in the present invention, picture book search and selection are performed not by text search but by an image interface, so that picture book search and selection can be performed reliably and without error.

Recent “FLASH” has an FCS function.
In contrast to conventional chat, it took time to exchange text, whereas the FCS function speeds up the real-time exchange of audio, video and data between users. By sharing various data in real time among users connected simultaneously, it is possible to exchange live video chat, live TV conference, and live camera video between users.

  The FCS management unit 13 monitors the data exchange between users on the basis of the FCS, and uses the FCS function of “FLASH” to update the data updated for each user when the data of the digital picture book is updated. Transmit and perform the update procedure in real time, and support including streaming delivery from the center server according to the user's request.

A conventional open site, that is, a site that can be accessed anonymously by an unspecified number of people, has a problem that there is a risk of promoting a crime such as dating on the Net.
SNS appeared as a closed grouping site at the opposite end.
In SNS, members' identities are known to each other, and they are gathered together with the same hobbies and common consciousness.

  The SNS management unit 14 operates the homepage of the digital picture book system as a portal site “digital picture book library”, and simultaneously monitors and supports the activities of a plurality of SNS “digital picture book clubs” formed by users of the system. , To promote interaction between digital picture book readers.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the user A and the user B belonging to the same SNS circle “digital picture book club” read images by using the FCS function while reading digital picture books such as “Momotaro” and “Red Riding Hood”.・ Voice information is exchanged in real time, converted into common data, and digital picture book contents and conversations around them are enjoyed.
In this way, you can expect PV (page view) from all over the world by expanding the circle of stories.

  In addition, an affiliate advertisement system is introduced in which the number of clicks / accesses of related banner advertisements in each SNS circle is counted, and commissions are paid according to the number of counts. At that time, it is possible to develop affiliates between PC terminals and mobile terminals.

As described above, this digital picture book system includes a set of SNS “digital picture book clubs” which are closed groups of children who are peers of picture books all over the world and parents who are enthusiastic about guardians.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the SNS management unit 14 further develops a time-limited event, a sudden user trigger event, and a stamp service based on a library live rally (Library_Live-Rally).

In a time-limited event, for example, “this week's feature picture book” and “limited recommended picture book” are prepared, and stamps (or points) are added according to the reading of the corresponding picture book.
In a sudden user trigger event, when a certain picture book is read, a stamp is added when a similar story, a sequel, or a picture book of the same author is read.
When a certain amount of stamps are collected, picture books that you have read so far can be introduced to other SNS users on the portal site, and if there is a user who has read the book, The stamp is added equally.

In Library_Live-Rally, as shown in FIG. 7, a person who collected many stamps helps each other and earns more stamps.
In this way, prizes, privileges, etc. are prepared for the point stamps collected by the user.

It is a block diagram of the digital picture book system which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the digital picture book which concerns on the digital picture book preparation part shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the operation | movement and effect which concern on the SNS management part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow of the process which concerns on the map interface search part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the flow of the process which concerns on the bookshelf interface picture book selection part shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the stamp service which concerns on the SNS management part shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the stamp service which concerns on the SNS management part shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Center server 2 Network 3 4 User terminal (PC)
5 Provider 6 User terminal (mobile terminal)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 7 Communication management part 8 Digital picture book content creation part 9 Picture book content multilingual conversion part 10 Map interface search processing part 11 Bookshelf interface picture book selection processing part 12 Picture book content distribution part 13 FCS management part 14 SNS management part 15 Picture book database 16 Registration database

Claims (5)

A digital picture book system including a center server that distributes digital picture book contents composed of movie images, characters, and sounds to a plurality of user terminals via a communication line,
The user terminal includes a video player created by vector data type video software, accesses the center server to read the digital picture book, and communicates with each other via an SNS (social networking site). Exchange image and audio data related to the digital picture book being read in real time through communication between
The center server is
A digital picture book content creation unit that collects folk tales and fairy tales from around the world including Japan, and creates a digital picture book using the vector data video software.
A picture book content multilingualization conversion unit that multilingualizes the created digital picture book to convert it into a digital picture book corresponding to a plurality of languages (including dialects, hereinafter referred to as languages),
In response to a request from the user terminal, a language selection processing unit that displays a list of applicable countries / regions (hereinafter referred to as countries) of languages in which the digital picture book is stored, and allows a user to select a desired language;
A picture book selection processing unit for displaying a list of titles of digital picture books written in a language selected by the user and allowing the user to select a desired digital picture book;
A digital picture book content distribution unit for transmitting on-demand a digital picture book including characters and voices in a language of a country desired and selected by the user;
An FCS management unit that monitors and supports real-time exchange between users of image and audio data related to the digital picture book;
An SNS management unit that operates a homepage (portal site) of the digital picture book system and monitors and supports the activity of the SNS formed by the user;
A digital picture book system characterized by comprising:   The language selection processing unit displays the image of the corresponding country list in either a map format including a world map or a Japan map, and prompts the user to select a language by clicking a desired country on the map. The digital picture book system according to claim 1, further comprising an interface search processing unit.   The picture book selection processing unit includes a bookcase interface picture book selection processing unit that displays a list of titles of the digital picture book in a bookcase format and prompts the user to select a picture book by clicking on the desired digital picture book on the bookcase. The digital picture book system according to claim 1.   When the digital picture book data shared between users is updated, the FCS management unit transmits the updated data to each user from the server to perform an update procedure, and performs streaming delivery of the digital picture book movie on the server The digital picture book system according to claim 1, wherein:   The SNS management unit further counts the number of clicks and accesses of related banner advertisements in each SNS circle, and an affiliate advertisement system in which commissions are paid according to the number of counts, a time-limited event, a sudden user trigger event The digital picture book system according to claim 1, further comprising one or both of a stamp service by an event including any one of a library, a live rally, and the like.