JP4796140B2 - Command specifying device, content processing device, content processing system, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a command designating device for designating a processing command (command for instructing processing) such as editing processing executed by a content processing device for content such as an image, video, audio, and text, and processing designated by the command Content processing device that executes content on content, content generation / acquisition device that generates or acquires content, content processing system that specifies processing on content and performs the specified processing on content, and operates these devices Related to the program

  In recent years, with the spread of content generation / acquisition devices (devices that generate or acquire content) such as digital still cameras (hereinafter simply referred to as “digital cameras”), anyone can easily access high-quality, large-capacity content (still images). Data, etc.) can be generated or acquired. For example, a digital camera can capture still image data of millions of pixels. However, while content generation / acquisition devices are easy to generate and acquire content, it is very cumbersome and time-consuming to store an increasing number of contents and organize them so that they can be quickly retrieved.

  In general, users store content such as captured still image data in mass storage media, send it to friends who traveled together, post comments on the Internet as a diary, travel Process for a variety of uses, such as creating and printing albums. When a user generates content using a content generation device such as a digital camera on the go, the user usually stores the content once in the content generation device such as a digital camera, and after returning home, a large capacity such as a personal computer The content is read by a content processing apparatus capable of storing and having content processing capabilities such as image editing processing, and content processing such as image editing and album creation is performed. Therefore, if there is no content processing device such as a personal computer on the spot where the content is generated, the user can, for example, process an image taken during the trip, send an image taken during the trip to a friend, Among them, there was a problem that content processing such as creating a travel note with a comment attached to an image could not be performed until returning home.

  In order to deal with such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133620 has an image editing function in a digital camera, and further allows the digital camera to perform complicated operations by accepting an operation command (edit command) from an external device such as a mobile phone. An image editing system or the like that can easily use an editing function of a digital camera without providing a simple input means is disclosed. In the image editing system, in a digital camera having excellent portability, the user can perform editing processing immediately after shooting.

Further, Patent Document 2 described later is a digital information equipment system in which a portable terminal and a digital camera are connected, and an image in a digital camera having no character or voice input means is applied to a portable phone or the like. There has been disclosed a digital information equipment system that can add attribute information such as a text memo (comment memo) and a voice memo from a terminal. Also in the digital information equipment system, as in Patent Document 1, the user can add attribute information such as a memo immediately after shooting.
Japanese Patent Publication “JP 2003-198917 A” (release date: July 11, 2003) Japanese Published Patent Publication "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-51869" (Publication Date: February 21, 2003)

  However, in the systems of Patent Documents 1 and 2, an external device such as a mobile phone or a mobile terminal sends an instruction in a form specifying which image (processing to edit or attribute information addition processing) is to be executed on is not.

  For this reason, it is possible to command only one image in a specific state (for example, a displayed state) when a processing command is input, and a desired image is in a specific state (for example, a displayed state). Only at times can it be instructed to process the desired image.

  More specifically, in the image editing system of Patent Document 1, the user captures an image with a digital camera (Embodiment 1) or selects an image on a memory of a mobile phone (Embodiment 2). ) Image editing processing can be commanded only for one image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor of the digital camera. For this reason, when the desired image is not displayed, such as before the desired image is input to the digital camera or after the display of the desired image is finished, the user orders image editing processing for the desired image. Can not.

  Further, in the digital information equipment system of Patent Document 2, the addition of attribute information can be instructed only for one image in the digital camera designated before the input of attribute information (for example, input of a voice message). For this reason, the user cannot command to add attribute information to the desired image except when the desired image is input to the digital camera and is in the designated state.

  As described above, the systems disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 have a problem that the timing of processing target images and instructions is limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a command designation device capable of designating a processing command for any one or a plurality of contents by a content processing device without any restriction on timing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content processing apparatus capable of executing processing for one or a plurality of contents by command designation from a command designation apparatus without restriction of command designation timing, and a content processing system using these apparatuses.

  In the systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, editing processing or attribute information addition processing for an image is performed using an editing function or attribute information addition function of a digital camera that captures an image. That is, in the systems of Patent Documents 1 and 2, an image processing means is provided in a digital camera that generates an image. For this reason, particularly when this image processing means realizes a large-capacity / high-quality image editing process, the number of elements mounted on the digital camera increases, which may lead to an increase in the cost of the digital camera and an increase in volume and weight. . The increase in volume and weight of a digital camera is a major drawback in a digital camera that requires portability. In addition, the image processing means provided in the existing digital camera minimizes the elements to be mounted so as not to impair the portability. The editing process cannot be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and another object of the present invention is to enable a command for processing a content by an external content processing device to be specified from a command specifying device, and a content processing function Content generation / acquisition apparatus that does not need to be provided inside, and a content processing system using the same.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the command designating device of the present invention is a command designating device for designating a command of processing executed by an external content processing device for content, and content identification information for identifying the content Content identification information acquisition means for acquiring at least, a command specifying means for specifying a command for the content identified by the content identification information, a command specified by the command specifying means, and a content to be executed by the command The content processing apparatus or the command output means for outputting to a recording medium readable by the content processing apparatus in association with content identification information is provided.

  The command designating device designates a command of processing to be executed on the content by the content processing device outside the command designating device. Therefore, even if the user cannot directly operate the content processing device, the command designating device By specifying a command in step S1, it is possible to cause the content processing apparatus to execute processing for the content. Accordingly, the content of the user can be obtained without being restricted by a place restriction that the user must be in a place where the content processing apparatus can be directly operated or a time restriction that the user must be able to directly operate the content processing apparatus. A command designation operation for processing can be performed (if the content processing apparatus has high performance, a command designation operation for high-performance content processing can be performed).

  In the command specifying device having the above-described configuration, the content identification information acquisition unit acquires content identification information for identifying content, and the command output unit executes a command specified by the command specification unit and execution of the command. In association with content identification information of a target content, the content processing apparatus or a recording medium readable by the content processing apparatus (a recording medium for recording commands and content identification information) is output. It is said.

  Therefore, by causing the content processing apparatus to receive the output of the command output means, or causing the content processing apparatus to read the information on the recording medium, the command specified by the command specifying means, the execution target of the command, and It is possible to provide the content processing apparatus with the content identification information associated with the content. As a result, the content processing apparatus can execute processing for any one or a plurality of contents. Therefore, the command designating device with the above configuration can be any content that can be processed by the content processing device, for example, content that is external to the content processing device and can be input to the content processing device. It is possible to cause the content processing apparatus to execute processing for the content. In addition, the command specifying device having the above configuration can cause the content processing device to execute processing for a plurality of contents that can be processed by the content processing device.

  Furthermore, according to the above configuration, regardless of the state of the content desired to be processed (content to be executed), for example, it is outside the content processing apparatus and is waiting for input to the content processing apparatus. Even if it exists, the command with respect to the content can be designated. Accordingly, the user is not subject to time constraints, for example, at a timing desired by the user, for example, before the content to be executed is input to the content processing apparatus, or for a long time after the content is generated or acquired. Even at the point in time, a command for processing on the content to be executed can be specified. Further, when the user designates commands for a plurality of contents, the user can designate the commands for a plurality of contents simultaneously or continuously.

  In the above configuration, when the command output means outputs the command and the content identification information to a recording medium that can be read by the content processing device, information from the recording medium to the content processing device can be obtained even if communication with the content processing device is not possible. Can be read by the content processing apparatus.

  As a method for outputting the command and the content identification information in association with each other, a method of outputting a data set (command information) in which the command and the content identification information are associated can be simply realized. For example, a method of outputting information at different timings, for example, a method of outputting a command in which at least one of information for associating information and content identification information is output at different timings may be used.

  The output of the command and the content identification information from the command output means to the content processing device or a recording medium readable by the content processing device may be performed via a relay device such as a server. In that case, the information may be temporarily stored in the relay device.

  As a method for the command output means to provide output information (command and content identification information) to the content processing apparatus, (1) wireless communication via a wireless communication network, wireless such as one-to-one short-range wireless communication, etc. A method of transmitting output information to the content processing device by communication; (2) the command specifying device transmits the output information to the relay device by wireless communication, and the relay device sends the output information to the content processing device by wired communication and / or wireless device. A method of transmitting, (3) a method of transmitting output information to the content processing device by wired communication such as wired communication via a wired communication network, one-to-one wired communication by cable connection, and (4) command output means performs content processing. After writing the output information to the recording medium readable by the apparatus, the user Attached to the content processing apparatus is removed from the command designation unit, the content processing apparatus is how to read output data from the recording medium, and the like. Of these methods (1) to (4), the command to the content processing apparatus can be specified in real time, and the user does not need to perform operations such as removal and attachment of the recording medium. The methods (1) to (3) are preferable, and the method (1) or (2) is more preferable because the user can designate a command anywhere where wireless communication is possible. In addition, since the user can specify commands in a wide area, among the methods (1) to (3), a method using a wide area communication network such as the Internet or a public network is preferable.

  Note that another preferred configuration of the command specifying device according to the present invention is preferably a configuration that acquires content or identification information indicating the content, and specifies a command based on the acquired content information.

  One of preferable configurations of the command specifying device having the above-described configuration further includes a first communication unit that receives the content identification information from the outside, and the content identification information acquisition unit receives at least the first communication unit from the first communication unit. It is the structure which acquires content identification information.

  According to the above configuration, the content identification information acquisition means is external to the command specifying device (a device capable of generating and outputting content identification information from the content, or a device storing the content identification information output from the device. The content identification information is received via the first communication means. Therefore, the command specifying device does not need a means for generating content identification information. Therefore, the cost, volume, weight, etc. of the command specifying device can be suppressed.

  Another preferred configuration of the command designating device according to the present invention further relates to a first communication means for receiving content or content-related information from the outside, and a content or content received by the first communication means. First content identification information generating means for generating the content identification information from information, and the content identification information acquiring means is configured to acquire the content identification information from the first content identification information generating means.

  According to the above configuration, since the content identification information is generated by the command specifying device, even when content is acquired from various content providers (content generation / acquisition devices, etc.), It is possible to generate content identification information that is unique throughout, avoiding generation. In addition, when content identification information is generated by various content providers, in order to generate content identification information that is unique as a whole, the content identification information is generated so that the content identification information does not overlap between content providers. Although it is necessary, such a configuration is not necessary in the above configuration. Therefore, content identification information that is unique as a whole can be easily generated.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the first content identification information generating unit in the command specifying device generates the content identification information from the content received from the outside via the first communication unit or the information related to the content, The content identification information acquisition means is made to acquire. Therefore, it is not necessary for an external device such as an external content generation / acquisition device that provides information to the command specifying device to include means for generating content identification information used in the command specifying device. Therefore, the cost, volume, weight, etc. of the external device can be suppressed.

  In the above configuration, the first content identification information generating means receives content from the external content generation / acquisition device via the first communication means, and generates the content identification information from the received content. In some cases, a content generation / acquisition device having special means for content identification information is not required as an external content generation / acquisition device. Therefore, various known content generation / acquisition devices such as digital cameras currently sold can be used as external content generation / acquisition devices.

  Note that information related to the content includes information obtained by performing processing such as reduction on the content, attribute information included in the content (for example, the title of the content, shooting date / time information of the image content, etc.), and identifying the content Identification information that is different from the content identification information.

  Further, it is preferable that the first content identification information generating means receives and generates content or information related to the content one by one from the outside.

  In the command designating apparatus including the first communication unit and the first content identification information generation unit, the first communication unit receives content or information related to the content transmitted from an external device, and It is preferable that the content identification information generated by the content identification information generation means is transmitted to the external device that is the transmission source of the content or information related to the content.

  According to the above configuration, the content or information related to the content transmitted from the external device is received by the first communication means, and the content is received by the first content identification information generating means from the received content or information related to the content. Identification information is generated, and the generated content identification information is returned to the external device (for example, a content generation / acquisition device such as a digital camera) that is a transmission source of the content or information about the content by the first communication unit. To do. As a result, the external device can provide the content processing apparatus with the content identification information together with the content. As a result, the content processing device searches for the content identification information provided together with the content from the external device, and matches the content identification information output together with the command from the command specifying device. Can be identified more reliably.

  Another preferable configuration of the command designating device according to the present invention includes a first communication unit that communicates with an external device, and the content identification information that is identified from the external device via the first communication unit. Conversion content acquisition means for acquiring converted content obtained by converting the content to be processed.

  According to the above configuration, the content identification information acquisition unit acquires the converted content from the external device via the first communication unit. Therefore, the content identification information acquisition unit can at least roughly grasp the content by the converted content. Thereby, for example, the contents of the converted content can be presented to the user so that the user can easily perform the mand instruction device. Further, when the converted content is content that has been subjected to processing for reducing the amount of information, for example, reduced image content (thumbnail) obtained by reducing the image content, compressed content obtained by compressing the content, etc. The amount of information received by the communication means can be reduced. By reducing the amount of information received by the first communication means, it is possible to reduce communication time and power consumption.

  By the way, in the image editing system described in Patent Document 1 and the digital information device system described in Patent Document 2, in addition to the above-described problems, if the digital camera and the portable terminal are not in a communicable state, image editing instructions and attribute information There is a problem in that it is not possible to give instructions for adding the. In any of these systems, the mobile terminal must continue to communicate with the digital camera while the user is instructing image editing or adding attribute information. Therefore, in any system, there is a problem that an extra battery of a valuable portable terminal is consumed.

  Another preferred configuration of the command designating device according to the present invention further includes a command for storing the command designated by the command designating means and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command in association with each other. It is a structure provided with a memory | storage means.

  According to the above configuration, the apparatus further includes command storage means for storing the command specified by the command specifying means and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command in association with each other. Even if it is not connected to the content processing apparatus when the is designated, the command and the content identification information can be associated with each other and provided to the content processing apparatus when connected to the content processing apparatus. Therefore, the command specifying device having the above configuration can be specified by the user in a state where the command specifying device is not connected to the content processing device (offline).

  In the command designating device comprising the command storage means, the command output means can communicate with a content processing apparatus, the command output means has established communication with the content processing apparatus, and If the command and the content identification information are stored in association with each other in the command storage unit, it is preferable that the command and the content identification information are read from the command storage unit and transmitted to the content processing apparatus.

  According to the above configuration, even when the command is specified by the command specifying unit (and the content identification information is acquired by the content identification information acquiring unit) when communication is not established, the specified command is executed. It can be stored in the command storage means in association with the content identification information of the target content, and then transmitted to the content processing apparatus when communication is established. Therefore, in the above configuration, the user can specify a command even when communication is not established, and can quickly specify a command for the content processing apparatus.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the command output means does not need to communicate with the content processing apparatus throughout the user's command designation, and the command and content identification information stored in the command storage means are processed by the content processing device. It is only necessary to be able to communicate with the content processing apparatus for the period of transmission to the apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to suppress power consumption for the communication operation of the command specifying device. In particular, when the command specifying device is a portable terminal driven by a battery having a limited power, it is a great advantage that the consumption of valuable battery power is suppressed.

  The command designating device according to the present invention further comprises wide area wireless communication means for performing wide area wireless communication with the content processing apparatus, and the command output means transmits the command and content identification information via the wide area wireless communication means. And output to the content processing apparatus.

  According to the above configuration, the command output means outputs the command and the content identification information to the content processing device via the wide area wireless communication means, so that command designation can be made anywhere where wide area wireless communication can be used. Is possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the content processing device of the present invention is a content processing device that executes a process designated by a command designated by an external command designation device on the content, the command designation device, or Command acquisition means for acquiring and associating and storing the command and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command from the recording medium written by the command specifying device; and content acquisition means for acquiring and storing at least the content Content processing means for executing the processing instructed by the command on the content, and the content processing means stores the command and content identification information of the content to be executed by the command in the command acquisition means. And the command If the content identified by the content identification information stored in the acquisition means is stored in the content acquisition means, the content specified by the content identification information is specified by the command stored in the command acquisition means It is characterized by being executed against.

  The content processing apparatus is a situation in which a user cannot directly operate the content processing apparatus because the process instructed by the command specified by the command specifying apparatus outside the content processing apparatus is executed on the content. However, it is possible to cause the content processing apparatus to execute processing on the content by designating the command with the command designating device. Accordingly, the content of the user can be obtained without being restricted by a place restriction that the user must be in a place where the content processing apparatus can be directly operated or a time restriction that the user must be able to directly operate the content processing apparatus. A command designation operation for processing can be performed.

  In the content processing apparatus having the above configuration, the command acquisition unit acquires and stores the command and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command, the content acquisition unit acquires the content, The content processing means executes the process specified by the acquired command for the acquired content identified by the acquired content identification information.

  Therefore, the command specifying device can cause the content processing device to execute processing for any content that can be processed by the content processing device. In addition, the command specifying device having the above configuration can cause the content processing device to execute processing for a plurality of contents that can be processed by the content processing device. Furthermore, the command specifying device can specify a command for the content regardless of the state of the content to be executed. Therefore, the user can specify a command for the content to be executed at any timing desired by the user without being restricted by time. Further, when the user designates commands for a plurality of contents, the user can designate the commands for a plurality of contents simultaneously or continuously.

  Furthermore, in the content processing apparatus having the above configuration, the command acquisition unit stores a command and content identification information, the content acquisition unit stores content, and the content processing unit stores the command and content identification in the command acquisition unit. If the information is stored and the content identified by the content identification information is stored in the content acquisition means, the processing for the content is executed. Therefore, the content processing unit acquires both the command and content identification information from the command acquisition unit and the content from the content acquisition unit, whichever is acquired first and which is acquired later. The process for the content can be executed after Therefore, the user can freely select the timing at which the content processing apparatus acquires the command and the content identification information and the timing at which the content processing apparatus acquires the content. For example, after the user sends a command and content identification information from the command specifying device to the content processing device, the content can be sent from the content generation / acquisition device outside the content processing device to the content processing device.

  In the above configuration, when the command acquisition unit acquires the command and the content identification information from the recording medium written by the command specifying device, the command specifying device can execute the command and the content even if communication with the command specifying device is not possible. By reading the information from the recording medium in which the identification information is written in association with each other, it is possible to execute the processing for the content.

  One of the preferable configurations of the content processing apparatus according to the present invention is a second communication means for receiving the command and the content identification information from the command specifying apparatus, and a third communication means for receiving the content from the outside. The command acquisition means acquires the command and content identification information from the second communication means, and the content acquisition means acquires content from the third communication means.

  According to the above configuration, the device (such as a content generation / acquisition device) that transmits content is external to the content processing device, and thus the device may not have a content processing function such as an editing function. As a result, it is possible to reduce the elements to be mounted on the device that transmits content, and to reduce the cost, volume, and weight of the content generation / acquisition device. Further, by separating the content processing apparatus from the content generation / acquisition apparatus, it is possible to increase the processing capability of the content processing apparatus by providing many elements in the content processing apparatus without increasing the elements of the content generation / acquisition apparatus. it can.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the command acquisition unit and the content acquisition unit exchange the command, the content identification information, and the content with a medium exchange (information to be provided is written to the recording medium by the information providing source device). After that, the user removes the recording medium from the information providing apparatus and attaches it to the information providing destination apparatus, and the information providing destination apparatus reads information from the recording medium. Obtained from an external device by communication means. Thereby, the content processing means can perform content processing immediately when both the transmission of the command and the content identification information from the command specifying device and the transmission of the content from the outside are performed. Therefore, content processing can be performed each time in response to a user command designation or content transmission from the outside. Further, in order to obtain the command and content identification information and the content, work such as media exchange work is not necessary.

  In the above configuration, the communication means (second communication means) that receives the command and the content identification information from the command specifying device is different from the communication means (third communication means) that receives the content from the outside. As each of these communication means, it is possible to select a communication means suitable for each of a command and content identification information having a generally small capacity and a content having a generally large capacity. In addition, when the content receiving destination is different from the command and content identification information receiving destination (command specifying device), a communication unit suitable for the receiving destination device can be selected as each of the two communication units.

  The third communication unit may receive content from the command specifying device.

  In another preferred configuration of the content processing apparatus according to the present invention, the content acquisition unit is a content generated by the first content identification information generation unit in the command designating device according to the rule from the content or information about the content. Further, content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition unit is stored in the content acquisition unit according to the same rule as that of the first content identification information generation unit. Second content identification information generating means for generating the content or the information related to the content is provided, wherein the content processing means stores the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command stored in the command acquisition means And the second Generated by the Ceiling identification information generating means, if the content identification information for content acquired by the content acquisition unit match, a configuration for executing processing with respect to content.

  According to the above configuration, the second content identification information generating unit determines the content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition unit according to the same rule as the rule of the first content identification information generating unit. Content identification information of the content to be executed by the command, which is generated from the content or the information related to the content stored in the content acquisition unit, and stored in the command acquisition unit, and the second content identification information If the content identification information of the content acquired by the content acquisition unit generated by the generation unit matches, the process for the content is executed. Thereby, when both the content to be executed and the processing command for the content to be executed are prepared, it is possible to reliably execute the processing for the content. In addition, since it is not necessary to generate content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition means by an external device such as a content generation / acquisition device, the configuration of the external device can be simplified.

  In another preferred configuration of the content processing apparatus according to the present invention, second content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition unit is generated from the content stored in the content acquisition unit. Content identification information generating means and content identification information output means for outputting at least the content identification information to the command designation device or a recording medium readable by the command designation device.

  According to the above configuration, the content identification information of the content acquired by the content processing device can be obtained by causing the command designation device to receive the output of the content identification information output means or by causing the command designation device to read the recording medium information. Can be provided to command specification devices. In this way, the command designation device uses the provided content identification information to associate the command designated by the user with the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command and provide the content processing device with the association. it can. Accordingly, it is not necessary to provide content identification information from a device external to the content processing device to the command designating device, or to generate content identification information by the command designating device, and to perform content processing by command designation from the command designating device. Can be executed. As a result, the content processing system can be configured with only the content processing device and the command specifying device, and the configuration of the command specifying device can be simplified.

  The content generation / acquisition device of the present invention is a content generation / acquisition device for generating or acquiring content in order to solve the above-described problem, and includes a content generation / acquisition means for generating or acquiring content, and the content A command execution output means for outputting at least content to be processed to an external content processing device that executes processing on the content processing medium or a content recording medium that can be read by the content processing device; and processing by the content processing device. Command designation that designates a command to be instructed using command designation information, and that outputs at least the command designation information to a command designation device external to the content processing apparatus or a command designation recording medium readable by the command designation device And output means To have.

  According to the above configuration, the command execution output unit outputs at least content to be processed to a content processing device or a content recording medium readable by the content processing device. Therefore, the content can be provided to the content processing apparatus by causing the content processing apparatus to receive the content or causing the content processing apparatus to read the content from the content recording medium. Further, according to the above configuration, a command designating device external to the content processing device that designates a command for instructing processing by the content processing device using command designating information, or a command designating command readable by the command designating device. At least the command designation information is output to a recording medium. Therefore, the command specifying information can be provided to the command specifying device by causing the command specifying device to receive the command specifying information or causing the command specifying device to read the command specifying information from the command specifying recording medium.

  Accordingly, it is possible to provide command specifying information used for specifying a command for processing content and content to be actually processed to a command specifying device and a content processing device, which are different devices. Accordingly, it is possible to cause a command designation device outside the content processing apparatus to designate a command using the command designation information, and to cause the content processing apparatus to execute a designation command process for the content. Therefore, even when the user cannot directly operate the content processing apparatus, it is possible to cause the content processing apparatus to execute processing on the content by specifying the command with the command specifying apparatus. Accordingly, the content of the user can be obtained without being restricted by a place restriction that the user must be in a place where the content processing apparatus can be directly operated or a time restriction that the user must be able to directly operate the content processing apparatus. A command designation operation for processing can also be performed when the user is at a place away from the content processing apparatus.

  Furthermore, according to the above configuration, the content processing apparatus outside the content generation / acquisition apparatus can be executed with respect to the content. Therefore, the apparatus does not have to have a content processing function such as an editing function. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the elements to be mounted on the content generation / acquisition device, and to reduce the cost, volume, and weight of the content generation / acquisition device. Reduction of the volume / weight of the content generation / acquisition device is a great advantage when the content generation / acquisition device is a digital camera that requires portability. Further, by separating the content processing apparatus from the content generation / acquisition apparatus, it is possible to increase the processing capability of the content processing apparatus by providing many elements in the content processing apparatus without increasing the elements of the content generation / acquisition apparatus. it can. Therefore, content processing such as editing processing of a large-capacity, high-quality image can be performed without increasing the elements of the content generation / acquisition apparatus.

  In the above configuration, the command specifying device may be provided inside the content generation / acquisition device.

  In the above configuration, examples of the command specifying information include content, format converted content obtained by converting the content, content identification information, command information, and the like.

  One of the preferable configurations of the content generation / acquisition apparatus according to the present invention is the third content identification information for generating content identification information for identifying the content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition means. The command specifying output means outputs the content identification information generated by the third content identification information generating means to the command specifying device or the command specifying recording medium as the command specifying information. It is the structure to do.

  According to the above configuration, the third content identification information generation unit generates content identification information for identifying the content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition unit, and the command execution output unit includes: The generated content identification information can be provided to the command specifying device. Accordingly, the command specifying device can provide the content processing device with the command specified by the user and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command, using the provided content identification information. Therefore, it is possible to execute content processing by command designation from the command designation device without having to generate content identification information by the command designation device. As a result, the configuration of the command specifying device can be simplified.

  Another preferable configuration of the content generation / acquisition apparatus according to the present invention is to provide third content for generating content identification information for identifying content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition means. The information processing apparatus includes an identification information generation unit, and the command execution output unit outputs the content identification information generated by the third content identification information generation unit to the content processing apparatus or the content recording medium.

  According to the above configuration, the third content identification information generation unit generates content identification information for identifying the content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition unit, and the command execution output unit includes: The generated content identification information can be provided to the content processing apparatus. Accordingly, the content processing apparatus can execute processing on the content after identifying the content by the content identification information. Therefore, the content processing apparatus can execute processing for any one or a plurality of contents.

  Further, in the above configuration, when the command specifying output unit further outputs the content identification information generated by the third content identification information generating unit to the command specifying device or the command specifying recording medium, Content identification information can be provided to both the content processing device and the command designating device. Thus, by specifying the content identification information to be executed by the command from the command specifying device, it is possible to reliably cause the content processing device to process one or more contents.

  Another preferable configuration of the content generation / acquisition device according to the present invention further includes content conversion means for converting the content to be executed by the command into a format that can be handled by the command specification device, and the command specification output means. Is configured to output the content format-converted by the content conversion means to the command specifying device or the command specifying recording medium as the command specifying information.

  According to the above configuration, the content conversion means converts the content to be executed by the command into a format that can be handled by the command specifying device, and the command specifying output means specifies the content converted by the content conversion means as a command. Information can be provided to the command specification device. As a result, the command specifying device can provide the user with some information related to the content by presenting the format-converted content to the user, thereby facilitating the user's command specifying operation. Further, if the command specifying device has a content processing function, the processing is executed on the content whose format has been converted, and the execution result is presented to the user, so that the outline of the actual content processing result is presented to the user. Notification can be made. Also, in the above configuration, when format conversion that reduces the amount of content information, for example, compression processing of various content, reduction processing or degradation processing of image content, etc., the content itself is provided to the command specifying device. Compared with the case where it does, the load concerning processing, such as a content acquisition process and a presentation process (format conversion) in a command designation | designated apparatus, is reduced.

  In the content generation / acquisition apparatus including the content conversion unit, the content conversion unit can perform reduction conversion (reduction processing) of the content, and the command specifying output unit can reduce the content converted by the content conversion unit. Is preferably output as the command specifying information to the command specifying device or the command specifying recording medium.

  According to the above configuration, compared to the case where the content itself is provided to the command specifying device, the load on processing such as content acquisition processing and presentation processing in the command specifying device is reduced.

  In order to solve the above problems, a content processing system according to the present invention includes the command specifying device, the content processing device, and the content generation / acquisition device, and the command output means includes the command and the content The identification information is associated and transmitted to the command acquisition means, the command execution output means transmits the content to the content acquisition means, and the command designation output means is the command designation output Information is transmitted to the command designating device.

  According to the above configuration, since the command designation device, content processing device, and content generation / acquisition device are combined, the effects of the command designation device, content processing device, and content generation / acquisition device described above can be obtained.

  That is, first, the user is not subject to the place restriction that the user must be in a place where the content processing apparatus can be directly operated or the time restriction that the user must be able to directly operate the content processing apparatus. However, it is possible to cause the content processing device to execute content processing by operating the command specifying device. Furthermore, a command for processing one or more contents by the content processing apparatus can be specified from the command specifying apparatus without timing restrictions. Further, the command specifying device and the content generation / acquisition device do not need to have a content processing function, and therefore the command specification device and the content generation / acquisition device do not need to have a high-performance processing function.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the command output means transmits a command and content identification information to the command acquisition means, and the command execution output means transmits content to the content acquisition means. And the command designating output means transmits the command designating information to the command designating device. Thereby, the content processing means performs content processing as soon as both the transmission of the command and the content identification information from the command specifying device and the transmission of the content from the content generation / acquisition device are performed. Can do. Therefore, content processing can be performed in real time in response to user command designation or content transmission from the outside. In addition, it is possible to specify a command as soon as the content is generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition apparatus. Further, for exchanging information regarding the command, content identification information, content, and command designation information, work such as media exchange work is unnecessary.

  Further, in the content processing system, the content generation / acquisition device further generates third content identification information for identifying content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition means. And the command specifying output means outputs the content identification information generated by the third content identification information generating means to the command specifying device as the command specifying information. The designation device further includes a first communication unit that receives the content identification information from the content generation / acquisition device, and the content identification information acquisition unit acquires the content identification information from the first communication unit. Configuration (configuration corresponding to the first embodiment) If, the following effects can be obtained.

  That is, according to the above configuration, the third content identification information generation unit generates content identification information for identifying the content from the content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition unit, and the command execution output unit However, the generated content identification information can be provided to the command specifying device. Accordingly, the command specifying device can provide the content processing device with the command specified by the user and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command, using the provided content identification information. Therefore, it is possible to execute content processing by command designation from the command designation device without having to generate content identification information by the command designation device. As a result, the configuration of the command specifying device can be simplified.

  In the content processing system, a first communication unit that receives content from an external content generation / acquisition device that generates / acquires content, and the content identification information from the content received by the first communication unit. A first content identification information generating means for generating, wherein the content identification information acquiring means acquires the content identification information from the first content identification information generating means (corresponding to the second embodiment) In the case of (configuration), the following effects are further obtained.

  That is, according to the above configuration, even if the content generation / acquisition apparatus does not include the content identification information generation unit, the content that is to be processed by generating the content identification information by the command specifying apparatus if the content generation unit includes the content output unit. Can be specified and command processing can be performed. Furthermore, according to the above configuration, since content identification information is generated by the command specifying device, duplicate content identification is possible even when content is acquired from various content providers (content generation / acquisition devices, etc.). By avoiding the generation of information, content identification information that is unique as a whole can be easily generated.

  In the content processing system configured as described above, the content processing apparatus preferably has a large-capacity storage unit and high processing capability.

  The content processing system according to the present invention includes the command designating device and the content processing device, wherein the command output means includes a command designated by the command designating means and content of the content to be executed by the command. The identification information is transmitted in association with the command acquisition means.

  According to the above configuration, since the command specifying device and the content processing device are combined, the effects of the command specifying device and the content processing device described above can be obtained.

  That is, first, the user is not subject to the place restriction that the user must be in a place where the content processing apparatus can be directly operated or the time restriction that the user must be able to directly operate the content processing apparatus. However, it is possible to cause the content processing device to execute content processing by operating the command specifying device. Furthermore, a command for processing one or more contents by the content processing apparatus can be specified from the command specifying apparatus without timing restrictions.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the command output means transmits a command and content identification information to the command acquisition means. As a result, the content processing means can perform content processing as soon as the command and content identification information are transmitted from the command specifying device. Therefore, content processing can be performed in real time in response to a user command designation. Further, for exchanging information related to the command and the content identification information, work such as media exchange work is unnecessary.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood from the following description. The advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the content processing system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the command designation | designated apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the content processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the content generation / acquisition apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the computer system which implement | achieves each apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the content production | generation procedure in the content production | generation / acquisition apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the command designation | designated in the command designation | designated apparatus based on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the more detailed process sequence of command generation process S65 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the command designation | designated process in the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the command data which the command designation | designated apparatus based on this invention outputs by command output process S67. It is a flowchart which shows the content processing procedure of the content processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the content processing system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the command designation | designated apparatus based on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the content processing system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the hard-disk recorder as a content processing apparatus concerning the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the procedure of the command output information output process of the hard disk recorder as a content processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the content processing procedure of the hard disk recorder as a content processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the mobile telephone 140 as a command designation | designated apparatus based on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Command designation | designated apparatus 10A Command designation | designated apparatus 11 Content processing apparatus 12 Content production | generation / acquisition apparatus 12A Content production | generation / acquisition apparatus 21 Short distance communication part (1st communication means)
22 Information acquisition part for command specification
(Content identification information acquisition means, converted content acquisition means)
23 Command designation processing unit (command designation means, command storage means)
25 Command output section (command output means)
26 Wide Area Communication Department (Wide area wireless communication means)
26A wide area communication section (first communication means)
27 Content identification information generation unit (first content identification information generation means)
31 wide area communication part (second communication means)
32 Command information acquisition unit (command acquisition means)
33 Command information storage unit (command acquisition means)
34 Short-range communication unit (third communication means)
35 connector (third communication means)
36 Content information acquisition unit (content acquisition means)
37 Content information storage unit (content acquisition means)
38 Content confirmation unit (content processing means)
39 Command execution unit (content processing means)
41 Content generation / acquisition unit (content generation / acquisition means)
42 content identification information generation unit (third content identification information generation means)
44 Content output section (command execution output means)
45 Command designation information output section (command designation output means)
46 Content Conversion Unit (Content Conversion Unit)
130 Hard Disk Recorder (Content Processing Device)
131 Broadcast receiver (third communication means)
132 content identification information generation unit (second content identification information generation means)
133 Command specifying information output unit (content identification information output means)
140 Mobile phone (command specification device)

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, parts having the same function are given the same numbers. Therefore, the description of the same number will not be repeated unless there is a change or a difference.

[First Embodiment]
The content processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention exemplified below includes a device (content generation / acquisition device) for generating or acquiring content such as a digital camera, and a command for processing executed on the content. A command designating device such as a designated cellular phone and a content processing device for executing processing designated by the designated command on the content are provided.

  In this content processing system, first, the command designation device acquires content identification information (content identifier) for identifying content from the content generation / acquisition device, and then the command for the content identified by the acquired content identification information. The content identification information and the command specified for the content identified by the content identification information are associated with each other and output to the content processing apparatus. The content processing device receives the content identification information output from the command specifying device and the command specified for the content identified by the content identification information, and the content identification information is received from the content generation / acquisition device. When the content to be identified is received, a command designated for the content identified by the content identification information is executed.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of the content processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The content processing system includes a content generation / acquisition device 12, a command designation device 10, and a content processing device 11.

  The content generation / acquisition device 12 generates content by an imaging function or the like, or acquires the content by a reception function or the like, outputs command designation information including at least content identification information to the command designation device 10, and at least The content is output to the content processing apparatus 11.

  The command designation device 10 obtains command designation information including at least content identification information from the content generation / acquisition device 12, and edits the content specified by the content identification information by an input means such as a numeric keypad or a microphone from the user. The specification of the processing command is received, and the content identification information and the specified command are output to the content processing apparatus 11.

  The content processing device 11 can acquire and store content from the content generation / acquisition device 12, and can acquire and store content identification information and a specified command from the command specifying device 10. The content processing device 11 acquires and stores the content identification information and the specified command from the command specifying device 10, and the content specified by the content identification information acquired from the command specifying device 10 is the content generation / acquisition device 12. If the command is acquired and stored, the processing of the command acquired from the command specifying device 10 is executed for the content.

  Specifically, the content generation / acquisition device 12 includes a digital camera capable of generating still image (and moving image) image content, a digital movie camera capable of generating moving image (and still image) image content, and a moving image from a broadcasting station. It is a portable broadcast receiver that acquires broadcast content such as content. In the present embodiment, the content generation / acquisition device 12 is a digital camera, and the command designation information including at least content identification information of image content that is a moving image (video) or a still image generated by the imaging process is short. Distance wireless communication or media exchange (after providing the information to be provided to the recording medium by the information providing source device, the user removes the recording medium from the information providing source device and attaches it to the information providing destination device to provide information. The information is output to the command specifying device 10 by a method in which the previous device reads information from the recording medium. In addition, the content generation / acquisition device 12 associates the image content with the content identification information of the image content, and outputs the content to the content processing device 11 through short-range wireless communication or media exchange.

  Specifically, the command specifying device 10 is a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a portable PC (Personal Computer), or the like. In the present embodiment, command specifying device 10 is a mobile phone. The command designation device 10 obtains command designation information including at least content identification information from the content generation / acquisition device 12 by short-range wireless communication or media exchange. Further, the command designating device 10 acquires the command content for the image content specified by the content identification information by the operation of the operation input unit such as a numeric keypad by the user. Further, the designated command (information indicating the contents thereof) and the content identification information of the image content to be commanded are output to the content processing device 11 by, for example, communication via a wide area network or media exchange.

  Specifically, the content processing apparatus 11 is a hard disk recorder, a stationary PC, an STB (Set Top Box) or the like having a large capacity storage unit and high processing capability. In the present embodiment, the content processing device 11 is a hard disk recorder, and is a content generation / acquisition device 12 (or a recording medium in which image content and content identification information are written by the content generation / acquisition device 12 (in the case of media exchange). )), The image content and the content identification information of the image content are acquired, and the command specifying device 10 (or the content generation / acquisition device 12 stores the command and the content identification information (in the case of media exchange). ) To instruct the processing for the image content and the content identification information of the image content that is the execution target of the command (the execution target of the processing instructed by the command). Furthermore, the content processing apparatus 11 executes the processing instructed by the command on the image content corresponding to the command based on the acquired content identification information of the image content.

  Next, functional configurations of the command specifying device 10, the content generation / acquisition device 12, and the content processing device 11 will be described. In the following description, a case where information exchange between devices is performed by communication will be described, and a description will be omitted when information exchange between devices is performed by media exchange.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the command specifying device 10 according to the present embodiment. As described above, the command specifying device 10 according to the present embodiment is a mobile phone, and includes a normal configuration of a general mobile phone such as a call function, a mail function, and an Internet connection function. Since the normal configuration of a general mobile phone is publicly known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted, and a functional configuration related to the present invention will be described.

  The command specifying device 10 includes a short-range communication unit (first communication unit) 21, a command specifying information acquisition unit (content identification information acquisition unit, converted content acquisition unit) 22, and a command specification processing unit (command specification unit, command storage). Means) 23, UI part 24, command output part (command output means) 25, and wide area communication part (wide area wireless communication means) 26.

  The short-range communication unit 21 is a first communication unit that performs short-distance communication using infrared rays or the like, here, communication using IrDA (Infrared Data Assosiation) with an external device such as the content generation / acquisition device 12. The command specifying device 10 acquires command specifying information including a reduced image of the image content and content identification information of the image content from the content generation / acquisition device 12 via the short-range communication unit 21.

  The command specification information acquisition unit 22 acquires command specification information from the content generation / acquisition device 12 via the short-range communication unit 21 and sends the command specification information to the command specification processing unit 23. In the present embodiment, the command designation information is acquired from the content generation / acquisition device 12 and obtained by performing a reduction process on the image content (image content is captured by the content generation / acquisition device 12). Image content) and content identification information of the image content. In the present embodiment, the reduced image and the content identification information are output in association with each other by the content generation / acquisition device 12.

  Note that the command designation information only needs to include at least content identification information. Therefore, the command designation information is replaced with other information, for example, a degraded image of the image content (content processing such as compression processing for reducing the amount of information with respect to the image content (degradation processing). ), Information indicating the outline of the image content, such as a partial image of the image content (content processing for reducing the amount of information is performed on the image content). Or the like); content description information such as character information or audio information describing the content of the image content with a smaller amount of information than the image content; image content; Furthermore, the command specifying information may be only content identification information. However, the information (including the reduced image) indicating the outline of the image content, the content, so that the presentation output unit 23f, which will be described later, can output the information indicating the content of the image content and indicate the content of the image content to the user. It is preferable to include information indicating the content of the image content such as explanation information and image content. The information indicating the content of the image content is less in amount of information than the image content, such as information indicating the outline of the image content or content description information, in that the amount of information to be received by the short-range communication unit 21 can be reduced. Information is preferred. In addition, as the information having a smaller amount of information than the image content, the user can easily understand the content of the image content, and the result of processing the command on the information is close to the processing result in the content processing apparatus (for example, Since the command designating device 10 can output the reduced image after the command processing for the reduced image), information indicating an outline of the image content is more preferable. As the information indicating the outline of the image content, a reduced image of the image content is most preferable because the presentation unit 24a described later can present more images to the user at a time.

  The command designation processing unit 23 stores command designation information including the reduced image and content identification information acquired by the command designation information acquisition unit 22. When the command specification from the user for the image content captured by the content generation / acquisition device 12 is received by the operation input unit 24b of the UI unit 24 described later, the command specification processing unit 23 identifies the content included in the command specification information. Based on the information, the command output specified by the user and the identification information of the image content (preset image content or image content specified by the user) to be executed by the command are passed to the command output unit 25. . Here, in the case where the image content specified by the user is an execution target, the command specification processing unit 23 performs both an operation of the UI unit 24 to be described later by both the specification of the image content to be executed by the user and the specification of the command. When accepted by the input unit 24b, the command content designated by the user and the identification information of the image content to be executed by the command designated by the user are passed to the command output unit 25.

  The UI unit 24 provides an interface with the user. In the command specifying process, the UI unit 24 includes a reduced image of image content that can be specified as an execution target, a list of commands that can be specified, a reduced image after processing the command for the reduced image, and the like included in the command specifying information. From a presentation output unit 23f, which will be described later, and presenting it to the user through output means such as a liquid crystal display or a speaker, and command designation processing from the user (and image content to be executed if necessary) And an operation input unit 24b for receiving (specifying processing). The presentation unit 24a presents a plurality of reduced images (or one image at a time) of the image content that can be specified as the execution target included in the command specification information to the user. The image content can be easily specified.

  The command output unit 25 associates the command specified by the command specification processing unit 23 with the content identification information of the image content to be executed by the command and outputs the command to the content processing apparatus 11 via the wide area communication unit 26. The command designation processing unit 23 preferably has a function (command storage means) for storing the command and the content identification information in association with each other. If the communication with the content processing apparatus 11 is established and the command designation processing unit 23 stores the command and the content identification information in association with each other, the command output unit 25 stores the command designation processing unit 23. The command and the content identification information are read out from and transmitted to the content processing apparatus 11.

  The wide area communication unit 26 is a second communication unit that communicates with an external device such as the content processing apparatus 11 via a wide area network. Wide area communication unit 26 in the present embodiment includes an Internet connection function of a mobile phone.

  The command designation processing unit 23 interacts with the user by the UI unit 24 to perform command designation processing for the image content, and a position information acquisition unit 23b that obtains current geographical position information of the command designation device 10. The position history storage unit 23c that stores the history of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 23b, and processes the position information stored in the position history storage unit 23c, such as associating the imaging location of the image content in the command specifying process. A data storage unit 23e for storing data such as command specifying information acquired from the position information processing unit 23d, command specifying information acquiring unit 22, codes for specifying the effect used in the editing command, material data for presentation, and the like Prompt editing operation or present the image being edited An output unit for presentation 23f for outputting an image to the presentation unit 24a of the UI unit 24, an attached data input unit 23g for receiving attached data attached to the image content from an input unit (not shown) and inputting the attached data to the command designating unit 23a, etc. Is included. The attached data input unit 23g uses, for example, audio data such as explanatory sound collected by a microphone (input unit) (not shown) of the command designation device 10 that is a mobile phone as command data attached to the video content as the command designation unit 23a. To enter. In the present embodiment, the position information acquisition unit 23b is realized by a GPS (Global Positioning System) that is currently widely used.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the content processing apparatus 11 in the present embodiment. As described above, the content processing apparatus 11 in this embodiment is a hard disk recorder, and is a typical hard disk recorder such as a broadcast receiving function, a recording / playback function, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) writing / reading function. It has the composition of. Since the general configuration of a general hard disk recorder is known, its detailed description is omitted, and the functional configuration related to the present invention will be described.

  The content processing apparatus 11 includes a wide area communication unit (second communication unit) 31, a command information acquisition unit (command acquisition unit) 32, a command information storage unit (command acquisition unit) 33, a short-range communication unit (third communication unit). ) 34, connector (third communication unit) 35, content information acquisition unit (content acquisition unit) 36, content information storage unit (content acquisition unit) 37, content confirmation unit (content processing unit) 38, and command execution unit ( Content processing means) 39.

  The wide area communication unit 31 is a first communication unit that provides an Internet connection. The command information acquisition unit 32 acquires command information from the command specifying device 10 via the wide area communication unit 26 and temporarily stores it in the command information storage unit 33. The command information includes the command content designated by the user for the image content captured by the content generation / acquisition device 12 and the content identification information of the image content to be executed by the command.

  The short-range communication unit 34 is a second communication unit that performs short-range communication with an external device such as the content generation / acquisition device 12 using infrared rays. The connector 35 is a USB connector that can acquire information from an external device such as the content generation / acquisition device 12 through a wired connection by USB (Universal Serial Bus).

  The content information acquisition unit 36 acquires content information from the content generation / acquisition device 12 via the short-range communication unit 34 or the connector 35 and temporarily stores it in the content information storage unit 37. The content information includes image content and content identification information of the image content.

  The content confirmation unit 38 confirms whether or not the same content identification information exists in the command information storage unit 33 and the content information storage unit 37, and when the same content identification information exists, the content identification information is used as the command. Is sent to the command execution unit 39 together with a command associated with the content identification information.

  The command execution unit 39 identifies the image content in the content information storage unit 37 to be executed by the command by the content identification information received from the content confirmation unit 38, and for the identified image content (content data). The process indicated by the specified command is executed.

  In the present embodiment, the command execution unit 39 processes image content such as image content processing (position information, memo (comment), map information, information specific to the command specifying device 10 (owner information, etc.), and the like. Processing for adding additional information to image content; image editing processing; processing for securing image content; etc.), other content that can include image content, for example, slide show, digital album, document that can include image content Integration processing that incorporates image content into files, email processing such as mail creation processing including image content and email transmission processing including image content, and image content storage spaces on the web such as blogs and online albums Upload image content Over de processing, FAX transmission processing, transmission processing in the videophone, the printing process of the image content, it is possible to perform the process of presenting an image content to the user (display process).

  The command execution unit 39 includes a content storage unit 39a that stores image content, a data processing unit 39b that performs processing on the image content when the designated command (command content) is processing on the image content, and a command A mail processing unit 39c that performs a mail process such as a mail transmission process when the content is a mail process such as a mail transmission process, and a print process (such as printout) of an image content when the command content is a print process. A print processing unit 39d to perform, a presentation processing unit 39e to perform a presentation process when the command content is a presentation process such as output (display processing) of image content to the screen, and a command content to be an upload process Upload image content to the image content storage space on the web When the command unit is a fax transmission process, the processing unit (not shown), the fax processing unit (not shown) for faxing the image content, and the command content is a transmission process to a videophone, A video phone processing unit (not shown) that transmits image content to a video phone, and a communication unit 39f that communicates with other devices when the command content includes control of an external device, mail transmission processing, upload processing, etc. Including. In addition, the data processing unit 39b performs integration processing on the image content when the designated command is integration processing on other content. Furthermore, when the designated command is a deletion process for deleting the image content, the data processing unit 39b performs the deletion process on the image content.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 according to the present embodiment.

  As described above, the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 according to the present embodiment is a digital camera, and generally includes an imaging function such as an optical focus adjustment function and an exposure adjustment function, and an image processing function such as image compression and deletion. It is assumed that a typical configuration of a typical digital camera is provided. Since the general configuration of a general digital camera is well known, its detailed description is omitted, and only the functional configuration related to the present invention will be described.

  The content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 includes a content generation / acquisition unit (content generation / acquisition unit) 41, a content identification information generation unit (third content identification information generation unit) 42, a content storage unit 43, and a content output unit (command execution unit). Output means) 44, a command designation information output section (command designation output means) 45, a short-range communication section 48, and a connector 49.

  The content generation / acquisition unit 41 has an image capturing function of a digital camera and generates image content. That is, the content generation / acquisition unit 41 is a content generation unit that generates image content by imaging.

  The content identification information generation unit 42 generates content identification information that uniquely identifies the image content in the system as the image content is generated by the content generation / acquisition unit 41, and associates the content with the image content. Here, content identification information is generated by combining a device identifier (such as a product serial number) that uniquely identifies the content generation / acquisition device 12 and the date / time when the image content is generated. Of course, as a method for generating content identification information, a numerical value of a counter that counts up one image content at a time is used as the content identification information (that is, a sequential number in the order of imaging is given to the content identification information of each image content). ) And other well-known methods such as a method using a random number as content identification information.

  The content storage unit 43 stores the image content generated by the content generation / acquisition unit 41 and the content identification information generated for the image content by the content identification information generation unit 42 in association with each other.

  The content output unit 44 outputs image content and content identification information of the image content in association with each other to an external device such as the content processing device 11. The output of the image content and the content identification information in the content output unit 44 is performed every time the image content and the content identification information are generated, for example.

  The command designation information output unit 45 associates the reduced image of the image content stored in the content storage unit 43 with the content identification information of the image content and associates it with an external device such as the command designation device 10 via the short-range communication unit 48. Output to the device as command specification information. The command designation information output unit 45 also outputs information necessary for command designation for a part or all of the image stored in the content storage unit 43. The command designation information output unit 45 outputs the command designation information each time a reduced image and content identification information are generated, for example.

  The command designating information output unit 45 further performs a reduction process as content conversion on the image content stored in the content storage unit 43, and generates a reduced image, a content conversion unit (content conversion unit) 46, It includes command restriction information for restricting commands that can be designated for the image content, and command designation auxiliary information generation unit 47 for generating command designation auxiliary information such as imaging date and time information. Generation of reduced image content or the like in the content conversion unit 46 is performed every time image content is generated, for example. The content conversion unit 46 may perform other content conversion, for example, format conversion, rotation processing, degradation processing, and the like instead of the reduction processing.

  The short-range communication unit 48 provides a data transfer function for external devices such as the command specifying device 10 and the content processing device 11 by infrared communication. Here, it is assumed that the short-range communication unit 48 uses infrared communication using IrDA (Infrared Data Assosiation). The connector 49 provides a data transfer function for the content processing apparatus 11 via USB, and is a USB connector that can be connected to the connector 35 of the content processing apparatus 11 with a USB cable.

  When the command specifying information output unit 45 outputs image content that has undergone content conversion such as format conversion or reduction processing as command specifying information and displays it on the presentation unit 24a of the command specifying device 10, the output information is The display capability and processing capability of the command specifying device 10 are acquired by the short-range communication unit 48, and the image content that has been subjected to content conversion such as format conversion or reduction processing according to the acquired display capability or processing capability is output. This is more preferable.

  The command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12 according to the present embodiment are the functions of the command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12, respectively. A program to be implemented in hardware, computer hardware (computer) for executing the program, data stored in a computer hardware-readable recording medium executed by the computer hardware, program and data Is realized by a recording medium for storing.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the internal configuration of a computer system (computer and recording medium) that implements the functions of the command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12. These computer systems have an input device 1001 that detects signals from various sensors, an output device 1002 that outputs signals to the outside, a wired connection circuit 1003 that provides a wired connection function, and a wireless connection function. A wireless connection circuit 1004 to be provided, a CPU (computer) 1005, a memory 1007 such as a RAM (random access memory) for storing a program being executed and temporary data, and a flash ROM (read only) for storing various programs and data non-volatile memory (computer-readable recording medium) 1006.

  Each program for causing each CPU 1005 to realize the functions of the command designating device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 1006, and the nonvolatile memory 1006 is executed at the time of execution. Are loaded into the memory 1006 and executed by the CPU 1005. Since the operation of computer systems is well known, detailed description will not be repeated here.

  The program does not have to realize all the functions of the command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12, but the command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content. Any device capable of realizing the characteristic function of the generation / acquisition device 12 may be used. Therefore, for example, the program for the command designation device 10 may be any program that can at least realize the functions of the command designation information acquisition unit 22, the command designation processing unit 23, and the command output unit 25. The program for the content processing apparatus 11 may be any program that can at least realize the functions of the command information acquisition unit 32, the content information acquisition unit 36, the content confirmation unit 38, and the command execution unit 39. The program for the content generation / acquisition device 12 may be any program that can at least realize the functions of the content identification information generation unit 42 and the command designation information output unit 45.

  Further, the configuration of the computer hardware is not limited to the example of FIG. 5, and various changes can be made. The recording medium for storing the program is not limited to the flash ROM as long as it is a computer-readable recording medium, and is not limited to a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, or a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk or the like. Disk systems including magnetic disks and optical disks such as CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R, card systems such as IC cards (including memory cards) / optical cards, or semiconductors such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM It may be a memory system. Further, the wired connection circuit 1003 and the wireless connection circuit 1004 can be omitted. In the recording medium, the program only needs to be recorded in a computer-readable format, and can be recorded in various formats such as an execution format program, an intermediate code program, and a source program.

  Alternatively, the wired connection circuit 1003 or the wireless connection circuit 1004 of the computer system may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied to the CPU 1005 and the memory 1007 via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Further, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  Next, the processing procedure of each device in the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 6 shows a content generation procedure in the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12.

  First, when imaging processing is started in the content generation / acquisition device 12 by a user operation (Yes in S51), the content generation / acquisition unit 41 performs imaging processing to generate image content (S52). The image captured here is, for example, a high resolution image of SXGA (Super eXtended Graphics Array). Next, the content identification information generation unit 42 generates content identification information uniquely indicating the captured image (S53), and temporarily stores the generated content identification information and the image content in the content storage unit 43.

  Next, the command designation information output unit 45 performs a reduction process of the image content by the content conversion unit 46 to create a reduced image as command designation information, and the command designation auxiliary information generation unit 47 Auxiliary information for command designation such as command restriction information relating to restriction of commands that can be designated for image content and imaging date and time information presented to the user by the command designation device 10 during the designation process as information relating to the image content is generated (S54). ). Subsequently, the command designation information output unit 45 associates the reduced image and the command designation auxiliary information with the content identification information of the image content, and sends the command designation information to the command designation device 10 via the short-range communication unit 48. (S55).

  Next, the content output unit 44 associates the image content with the content identification information of the image content and outputs the image content to the content processing apparatus 11 via the short-range communication unit 48 (S56).

  In addition, when outputting the reduced image suitable for the display capability and processing capability of the command specifying device 10, the command specifying information output unit 45 obtains the processing capability and display capability of the command specifying device 10 in advance before S 54. Obtained from the short-range communication unit 48. Specifically, the processing capability of the acquired command specifying device 10 is, for example, the encoding rate (bit rate) of moving image content (and other image content including other time axes) that can be processed by the command specifying device 10 or the like. It is. The display capability of the command designation device 10 acquired is the image size that can be displayed by the presentation unit 24a, the resolution of the presentation unit 24a, the depth (color depth) that can be displayed by the presentation unit 24a, and the like.

  Although not shown in the figure, if the output fails due to a communication error or a processing error on the receiving side in S55 and S56, the data is saved in a transmission queue and re-sending is attempted periodically or during user operation or charging. Such queue management is well known and will not be described in detail. Note that the content generation / acquisition device 12 outputs to the command designation device 10 and the content processing device 11 in the output processing of S55 and S56, respectively. Devices related to each other are registered by identifiers and the like, and output to corresponding devices during communication. Such device identification methods and grouping methods are well known and will not be described in detail.

  Also, here, after the command designation information output to the command designation device 10 (S55) is completed, the command processing information (image content and content identification information of the image content) is output to the content processing device 11 (S56). However, the order of these processes may be reversed, and if each communication means is different, both output processes may be performed in parallel. In this flow, the command designation information output and the command processing information output are performed each time the image content is generated or acquired. However, when the user instruction is given or the communication link with the output destination device is set. Once established, the image content generated or acquired up to that point may be collectively performed. The command designation information output and the command processing information output may be performed according to an instruction from the command designation device 10.

  FIG. 7 shows a command designation processing procedure in the command designation device 10.

  First, when content information is received from the content generation / acquisition device 12 by the short-range communication unit 21 (S61), the command designation information acquisition unit 22 acquires and acquires command designation information from the short-range communication unit 21. The command designation information is sent to the command designation processing unit 23 (S62). The command designation processing unit 23 records the command designation information received from the command designation information acquisition unit 22 in the data storage unit 23e (S63). Note that the received information includes one or more pieces of command designation information related to image content to be subjected to command processing, and each of the one piece of command designation information or the plurality of command designation information includes the image information. It includes a reduced image of content and content identification information for identifying the image content.

  Next, when command designation processing is performed on the content information in the operation input unit 24b of the UI unit 24 (Yes in S64), the command designation processing unit 23 is an image identified by the content identification information included in the content information. Command designation processing for content is performed (S65). Details of this command designation processing will be described later.

  When command designation is performed by the command designation processing unit 23, the command designation processing unit 23 causes the content processing apparatus 11 to specify the designated command, the content identification information of the image content targeted by the command, and, if necessary, the content processing apparatus 11. Attached data necessary for the content processing (command execution) is sent to the command output unit 25. The command output unit 25 associates the command specified by the command specification processing unit 23 with the content identification information (and attached data if necessary) of the image content targeted by the command, and performs content processing via the wide area communication unit 26. It outputs to the apparatus 11 (S66). If the output fails, the command output unit 25 performs a queue management process in the same manner as the output process described above. When the output to the content processing apparatus 11 is completed, the command designation processing unit 23 deletes unnecessary command designation information in the data storage unit 23e (S68).

  In this flow, the command output unit 25 performs the command output process S66 every time the command generation process S65 ends. However, when the user command output instruction is generated separately from the user command instruction, etc. At that time, the command output processing S66 may be collectively performed on the command information (command and content identification information) stored in the command output unit 25. The command output unit 25 may output command information related to all command-designated content information recorded in the data storage unit 23e of the command designation processing unit 23, or is recorded in the data storage unit 23e. Of the command information related to the content information designated by the command, only the command information related to the specific content information designated by the user may be output. Further, when the content processing apparatus 11 is detected in the short-range communication unit 21, the command output unit 25 may connect by the short-range communication unit 21 and perform the command output process S <b> 66.

  FIG. 8 shows a more detailed processing procedure of the command generation processing S65 by the command designation processing unit 23. 9A to 9D show examples of screens displayed on the presentation unit 24a of the UI unit 24 in the command generation process S65 described with reference to FIG.

  First, the presentation output unit 23f presents a list of command designation information stored in the data storage unit 23e to the presentation unit 24a (S71). FIG. 9A shows a list example when a reduced image of image content and content identification information are displayed as command designation information for the image content to be processed. Here, in the command specifying information acquisition S61, the short-range communication unit 21 receives a reduced image (thumbnail image) together with the content identification information so that the display can be confirmed on the command specifying device 10 (mobile phone). . Here, it is assumed that the image shooting date is used as the content identification information.

  An operation in which the user selects a desired image content as an object for command designation (for example, in the screen of FIG. 9A, the cursor (thick frame in FIG. 9A) is moved to the right and left as desired to change the desired image content. When the operation input unit 24b of the UI unit 24 detects an operation of pressing the “OK” button after moving the image content to the reduced image position (Yes in S72), the command specifying unit 23a is selected. The content identification information of the command designation information is stored in the data storage unit 23e as the content identification information of the image content to be executed, and the presentation output unit 23f is a command list of processes that can be executed on the selected content. Is presented to the presentation unit 24a (S73). FIG. 9B is an example of a command list presented at this time. Here, a list of commands that can be specified for each type of image content is displayed. The command list information presented here may be held in advance by the command designation unit 23a, or the short-range communication unit 21 may obtain the command designation information from the content generation / acquisition device 12 in S61. . Further, in S61, the short-range communication unit 21 prohibits designation of a part of commands for the image content, and command restriction information (command designation prohibition information) that restricts a part of the specifiable commands as command designation information. You may get it. Further, the command list information may be received from the content processing apparatus 11 by the command specifying unit 23a before S73.

  Next, an operation in which the user selects a command from the command list (for example, in the screen of FIG. 9B, the cursor (black circle in FIG. 9B) is moved up and down as needed to correspond to the desired command. When the operation input unit 24b of the UI unit 24 detects an operation of pressing the “OK” button after moving to the position of the radio button (Yes in S74), the command specifying unit 23a is attached to the command execution. If data is necessary, ancillary data generation / acquisition processing is performed (S75). For example, when “put in slide show” is selected in FIG. 9B, it is necessary to specify at least how and in what order the images to be processed are displayed. In this case, the command designating unit 23a designates the display order of the selected images as shown in FIG. 9C and how the selected images are displayed as shown in FIG. 9D. The screen is output to the presentation unit 24a, and the instruction obtained from the operation input unit 24b is generated / acquired as attached data.

  Next, the command specifying unit 23a records the selected command and the command attached data in the data storage unit 23e in association with the content identification information of the image content to be executed stored in the data storage unit 23e in S73. (S76). When the command input end instruction by the user is detected by the operation input unit 24b, the command specification processing unit 23 ends the command specification processing and returns to the caller of a series of routines (S71) (Yes in S77). When the operation input unit 24b instructs the user to continue to perform command specification processing, the command specification processing unit 23 returns to S71 for presenting a content information list.

  FIG. 10A shows an example of a screen display when “Add position information” is selected as a command in S74. In this case, in step S75, the position information processing unit 23d of the command designation processing unit 23 extracts position data close to the imaging time of the selected image from the position history storage unit 23c in order to attach position information to the image content. FIG. 10B shows an example of a screen on which the user selects in what format the extracted position data is associated with the image content. In this example, “map” is selected. Accordingly, map data in the vicinity of shooting is recorded in association with the image content (reference information (such as storage position) to the map data in the vicinity of shooting is added to the image content). Thereby, it is possible to easily create a travel book or the like. As for the map data, the map data stored in the data storage unit 23e of the command specifying device 10 may be used, or the map data may be updated using a mobile phone network communication unit (not shown) of the command specifying device 10. You may download the map data. Further, when the command specifying device 10 outputs the “add location information” command to the content processing device 11, the command specifying device 10 outputs it to the content processing device 11 as a command “acquire and store a map of XX points”. The content processing apparatus 11 may cause the content processing device 11 to download map data, which is a communication process with a heavy load.

  FIG. 11A shows a screen display when “Send to someone” is selected as a command in S74. In this case, the command designating unit 23a reads the destination candidate data from the data storage unit 23e in S75, and outputs it to the presentation unit 24a. FIG. 11B is a display example of the presentation unit 24a in this case. Here, when “Blog up” is selected, the command designating unit 23a displays a selection screen for a blog service to be transmitted on the presentation unit 24a. FIG. 11C shows an example of a screen for selecting a blog service to be transmitted.

  FIG. 12 is an example of the content identification information of the image content subject to command execution, the command associated therewith, and the associated data output to the content processing apparatus 11 in S67. Here, the command is expressed in Japanese. However, the command may be appropriately expressed in a short byte code, an alphabetic character, or the like associated with the command.

  FIG. 13 shows a content processing procedure of the content processing apparatus 11 in the present embodiment.

  In the content processing apparatus 11, first, the command information acquisition unit 32 and the content information acquisition unit 36 wait for data reception from the wide-area communication unit 31 or the short-range communication unit 34 (S81). When the wide area communication unit 31 or the short distance communication unit 34 receives data (Yes in S81), the command information acquisition unit 32 determines whether the received data is command information (S82). When the received data is command information (Yes in S82), the command information acquisition unit 32 stores the command information in the command information storage unit 33 (S83). If the received data is not command information (No in S82), the content information acquisition unit 36 determines whether the received data is content information (S84). If the received data is not content information (No in S84), the process returns to S81 to wait for further data reception. If the received data is content information (Yes in S84), the content information acquisition unit 36 Then, the content information is stored in the content information storage unit 37 (S85).

  When the command information storage (S83) or the content information storage (S85) is completed, the content confirmation unit 38 then identifies the content included in the command information based on the stored command information or the content identification information included in the content information. It is confirmed whether or not the content information corresponding to the information or the command information corresponding to the content identification information included in the content information is already stored in the command information storage unit 33 or the content information storage unit 37 (S86). When a pair of content information and command information having the same content identification information can be confirmed (Yes in S86), the command execution unit 39 performs content processing indicated by the command in the command information, and an image corresponding to the command information. The content is executed and stored in the content storage unit 39a (S87). Subsequently, the command execution unit 39 deletes command information that is no longer necessary (S88).

  Now, since the content processing apparatus 11 is configured as described above, for example, if command processing data as shown in FIG. 12 is acquired, it is identified by content identification information “DCM28CLPJ 2005/1/1 12:00”. For the image to be processed, the data processing unit 39b of the command execution unit 39 performs processing for adding the image content to the “second” of the “slide show 1” in a “fade-in” display. In addition, the command execution unit 39 associates “map.svg” with the image identified by the content identification information “DCM28CLPJ 2005/1/1 12:25” and stores it in the content storage unit 39a. Further, the command execution unit 39 uploads the image content identified by the content identification information “DCM28CLPJ 2005/1/8 23:00” from the communication unit 39f to the blog service “Photo Blog Square”. Also execute the command.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user designates an image processing command in advance by the command designation device 10 for a high-quality image captured by the content generation / acquisition device 12 while traveling or on the go. In the content processing apparatus 11, by executing the command specified by the command specifying apparatus 10, the command specifying apparatus 10 can perform high-performance image processing in the content processing apparatus 11 without being restricted by place or time. . In particular, since the command specifying device 10 according to the present embodiment is a mobile phone, it is possible to specify a number of images taken during a trip with the command specifying device 10 using a waiting time on the way home. . In other words, because you can use the free time when you are moving and so on, you can edit it, so you can create a travel slideshow with fresh memory, reserve sending to the accompanying person, create an album, reserve printing. Can be.

  Further, when the command specifying device 10 is configured to acquire content identification information of image content, compressed content information (or reduced image content) and the like from the content generation / acquisition device 12 and specify the command, the storage capacity or Even in a cellular phone having poor resources such as processing capability, it is possible to specify a command while checking the contents easily. Further, the command specifying device 10 may be provided with a content processing function for executing processing of a specified command on compressed image content so that the effect of the specified command can be confirmed on the compressed image content. In this case, the command designating device 10 only needs to execute the command processing on the compressed image content such as the deteriorated image content, so that it is not necessary to mount a high-performance image processing function. Therefore, the command specifying device 10 can execute a command even in a terminal having relatively poor resources such as a portable terminal. In addition, before the user performs processing with actual image content, the effect of the command can be confirmed in advance.

  Further, since only the command and the content identification information are transmitted from the wide area communication unit 26 of the command specifying device 10 to the content processing apparatus 11 and the large-capacity image content is not transmitted, the content is transmitted from the wide area communication unit 26 of the command specifying device 10. Transfer time and transfer cost for transferring information to the processing device 11 can be reduced. In the present embodiment, the command and the content identification information of the image content to be commanded are output from the command specifying device 10 to the content processing device 11 by the wide-area communication unit 26. The command and the content identification information may be output from the device 10 to the content processing device 11 by wired connection using the short-range communication unit 21 or a cradle. In this way, the power consumption of the command specifying device 10 can be reduced, and the communication cost can be further reduced when the communication by the wide area communication unit 26 is pay-per-use.

  It should be noted that after the command information is stored in S83, there is a state in which the content information targeted for the command information stored in S83 is not received (Yes in S84 and no content information is stored in S85). If it continues for a long time (for example, several days to one month, etc.), the user may be notified that the execution target image has not been acquired. The command may be discarded when the period continues. Furthermore, the command execution (content processing) in S87 may be executed when both the command and the image content to be executed can be acquired, or when a user batch execution instruction regarding command execution is received. The commands may be collectively executed for all pairs of the command acquired so far and the image content to be executed. If both the command and the execution target image content can be acquired, the acquired command and the execution target image content are associated with each other and recorded in the command information storage unit 33 and the content information storage unit 37 of the command execution unit 39. When the user uses the image content in the content processing apparatus 11, a command may be executed on the image content. In addition, as described above, the communication used for output from the command specifying device 10 to the content processing device 11 is infrared communication. Of course, other than this, Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IEEE 802.11 (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers 802.11) is used. ) Or other wireless communication, wired connection, media exchange, or the like.

  In the present embodiment, the content generation / acquisition unit 41 is an imaging unit that generates image content by imaging based on a user operation or the like. However, the content generation / acquisition unit 41, in addition to this, for example, a recording unit that generates audio data as content by recording only audio, or content (image, audio, document, etc.) is acquired (received) from other devices. ). The command specifying information output unit 45 may output an image in SVGT (Scalable Vector Graphics Tiny) format that can be viewed on a mobile phone as command specifying information together with content identification information instead of a reduced image. Good.

  As an output method (or output timing) in which the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 outputs content information to the content processing apparatus 11, for example, the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 is configured to use a public wireless LAN service every time shooting is performed or while out. A method of transmitting content information to the content processing device 11 when entering an area (such as a hot spot (registered trademark)); the content processing device 11 is cable-connected to a cradle for charging the content generation / acquisition device 12, and content generation When the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 is installed in the cradle, the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 transmits content information to the content processing apparatus 11 through the cable; Connect to processing unit 11 Ntsu information may be transmitted to.

  In the present embodiment, the UI unit 24 of the command specifying device 10 allows the user to select a command on the command selection screen illustrated in FIG. 9B after the user selects an image on the image selection screen illustrated in FIG. Had come to choose. However, the UI unit 24 of the command specifying device 10 is configured to display a selection screen that presents the user with a list of combinations of images to be edited and commands, and to allow the user to select at least one of these combinations. Also good. With this configuration, the user can specify a command with fewer operations. However, since the configuration of the above embodiment can simplify the selection screen, particularly when the amount of information that the UI unit 24 can present to the user at a time is small (such as when the display screen of the UI unit 24 is small). Is preferred.

  In the present embodiment, the UI unit 24 of the command specifying device 10 displays a list of images obtained by reducing selectable images and a list of names of selectable commands. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and the UI unit 24 of the command specifying device 10 displays a list of explanatory texts of selectable images instead of a list of reduced images of selectable images. Alternatively, instead of a list of selectable command names, a list of icons indicating selectable commands may be displayed. Further, instead of displaying a list of image and command names, a list of image and command names may be output as audio. In the UI unit 24 according to the present embodiment, the selection image and selection command specified by the user are performed by operation of the operation input unit, but are performed by voice input to the voice input unit. Also good.

  Note that the images that are the target of the command specifying information that is output at the time of transmission include the previously generated image, the image specified by the user, the image generated after the previous output, and all the images stored in the content storage unit 43. , Etc.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, short-range communication and wide-area communication are used for information communication among the command specifying device 10, the content processing device 11, and the content generation / acquisition device 12, respectively. Combination with short-range communication or wide-area communication is free. For example, in the above description, an example is shown in which separate communication means are used for the transfer of content information and the transfer of command information. However, infrared communication or a connector may be used for either transfer. In the case where cost is required for communication over a wide area network, infrared communication may be used for both content information transfer and command information transfer. When a wide area network is used for both the transfer of content information and the transfer of command information, the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 is provided with a wide area communication unit, or the content is transferred by relaying a command designation apparatus. You may transfer to the processing apparatus 11. In this case, if the wide-area communication unit uses Internet relay such as a public wireless LAN service (such as Hotspot (registered trademark) service), both power and cost can be kept low.

[Second Embodiment]
In the content processing system according to the first embodiment, after the user returns home, the image content is transferred from the content generation / acquisition device 12 to the content processing device 11 by short-range communication. Further, the content identification information is generated in the content generation / acquisition device 12.

  In the present embodiment, a content processing system will be described in which a user transfers image content from the content generation / acquisition device 12A to the content processing device 11 and generates content identification information in the command specifying device 10A when the user is away from home.

  FIG. 14 shows a schematic configuration and an outline of operation of the content processing system according to the present embodiment. In the content processing system according to the present embodiment, in the content processing system according to the first embodiment, the command specifying device 10 is replaced with a command specifying device 10A, and the content generation / acquisition device 12 is replaced with the content generation / acquisition device 12A. It is a replacement.

  In this content processing system, first, a temporary ID (temporary identifier) and a compressed image of an image content imaged by the content generation / acquisition device 12A are designated as content information by short-range communication from the content generation / acquisition device 12A. Transferred to apparatus 10A. The command specifying device 10A has a function of generating unique content identification information from temporary IDs for user image content acquired in various devices. When the command specifying device 10A acquires new content information (temporary ID and compressed image), the command specifying device 10A generates content identification information for the image content from the temporary ID and returns it to the content generation / acquisition device 12A by short-range communication.

  When a command is specified by user operation for the acquired content information, the command specifying device 10A transfers the specified command and command information including the content identification information to the content processing device 11 through the wide area communication network. .

  The content generation / acquisition apparatus 12A enters a service area (hotspot (registered trademark), etc.) of a wireless Internet connection service such as a public wireless LAN service, and wirelessly such as a relay station of a public wireless LAN service. When the relay station 100 that performs the Internet connection service at is detected, the content identification information and the image content set by the command specifying device 10A are transferred to the content processing device 11 via the relay station 100. When the command information and the image content are prepared, the content processing apparatus 11 executes the process in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  As described above, in the content processing system according to the present embodiment, since the addition of content identification information is aggregated in the command specifying device 10A, content identification that is unique for the various content generation / acquisition devices 12A as a whole. There is no need to provide a function for generating information. In addition, the image content is transferred to the content processing device 11 by a connection service such as a public wireless LAN service (such as a hotspot (registered trademark) service), so that the content processing of the image content can be performed at the time of going out without waiting for returning home. The command can be transferred to the apparatus 11 at high speed and with low power, and the timing for executing the command is also accelerated.

  Hereinafter, only the differences from the first embodiment will be described for each component according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 15 is a functional configuration diagram of the content generation / acquisition device 12A according to the present embodiment. The content generation / acquisition device 12A replaces the content generation / acquisition device 12 shown in FIG. 4 by replacing the content identification information generation unit 42 with a temporary content identification information generation unit 42-1, and sets the command specification information output unit 45 as a command specification. The content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 has the same configuration as that of the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 except that it is replaced with the information output unit 45A and the content identification information acquisition unit 42-2 is added.

  The content temporary identification information generation unit 42-1 is a temporary identifier for identifying each image content in the content generation / acquisition device 12 (information different from the content identification information; for example, the device of the content generation / acquisition device 12A) For each image content generated or acquired by the content generation / acquisition unit 41, and an identifier or identification information such as a serial number in the imaging order that is unique only in the content generation / acquisition device 12. The generated temporary identifier is associated.

  The content identification information acquisition unit 42-2 acquires the content identification information from the command specifying device 10A when the command specifying information is output to the command specifying device 10A, and the corresponding image content stored in the content storage unit 43. Is associated with the acquired content identification information.

  The command designation information output unit 45A generates command designation information including the device identifier of the content generation / acquisition device 12A.

  The content generation / acquisition processing procedure is substantially the same as the content generation / acquisition processing procedure shown in FIG. 6, but the temporary content identification information generating unit 42-1 generates a temporary identifier in S53, and the command in S54 In the designation information creation, the command designation information output unit 45A is different in that the command designation information is generated including the device identifier of the content generation / acquisition device 12A.

  FIG. 16 is a functional configuration diagram of the command specifying device 10A according to the present embodiment. The command specifying device 10A has the same configuration as the command specifying device 10 except that a content identification information generating unit (first content identification information generating means) 27 is added to the command specifying device 10 shown in FIG. Yes.

  When the content identification information generation unit 27 receives content information from the content generation / acquisition device 12A by the short-range communication unit 21, the content identification information generation unit 27 generates content identification information of the image content from information such as a compressed image included in the content information. The content identification information generation unit 27 notifies the generated content identification information to the command specifying information acquisition unit 22 and also transmits the content identification information given to the image content included in the content information via the short-range communication unit 21. It transmits to the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12A. Note that the content identification information generation unit 27 may generate content identification information in consideration of the device identifier of the content generation / acquisition device 12A or a temporary identifier assigned by the content generation / acquisition device 12A.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the content generation / acquisition device 12A does not generate unique content identification information, the command designation device 10A and the content processing device 11 specify the command target image. It becomes possible.

  A configuration in which the content identification information generation unit 27 in the command specifying device 10A generates content identification information from information included in or attached to the image content (device identifier, imaging date / time, etc.) according to a predetermined rule, for example, “device identifier and When the content identification information is generated according to the rule that “the content identification information is a combination of the imaging date and time”, the content processing system according to the present embodiment can be modified as follows. That is, a content identification information generation unit that generates content identification information according to the same rules as the content identification information generation unit 27 in the command specifying device 10A is provided in the content processing device 11, and this content identification information generation unit is a content information acquisition unit 36. The content identification information may be generated from the information included in or attached to the processing target image content acquired in step S <b> 3 and stored in the content information storage unit 37. In this case, the processing load of the content generation / acquisition device 12 can be further reduced, for example, by using a commercially available digital camera as it is.

  In both the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the content generation / acquisition device 12 or 12A is configured to send a deteriorated image or a reduced image to the command specifying device 10 or 10A. However, the content generation / acquisition device 12 or 12A may directly send the image content to the command specification device 10 or 10A, and the command specification device 10 may generate a deteriorated image or a reduced image from the image content. In this case, the processing of the content generation / acquisition device 12 can be reduced.

  In both the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the content generation / acquisition device 12 or 12A transmits image content to the content processing device 11 together with content identification information. However, when the image content can be identified solely by the content identification information, such as when the image content itself includes information corresponding to the content identification information, the content generation / acquisition device 12 or 12A displays only the image content. You may transmit to the content processing apparatus 11.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 and the content processing apparatus 11 in the first embodiment are replaced with a hard disk having both the functions of the content generation / acquisition apparatus 12 and the functions of the content processing apparatus 11. A content processing system will be described in which a command designation device according to the present invention performs command designation for content such as video that is replaced by the recorder 130 and acquired by the hard disk recorder 130. Further, as the command designating device in the present embodiment, the command designating device 10 in the first embodiment may be used as it is, but the case where the mobile phone 140 is used will be described as an example.

  FIG. 17 shows a configuration of a content processing system according to the present embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, hard disk recorder 130 receives content from other content generation / acquisition device 12 or broadcasting station 160 and transmits content information to mobile phone 140 for predetermined content such as newly acquired content, for example. . When the user of the mobile phone 140 designates a command for the desired content on the mobile phone 140, the mobile phone 140 associates the content identification information of the content to be processed with the command instructed for the content and transmits it to the hard disk recorder 130. To do. The hard disk recorder 130 executes the command received from the mobile phone 140 on the content to be executed identified by the content identification information received from the mobile phone 140.

  FIG. 18 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the hard disk recorder 130. Compared with the content processing apparatus 11 described with reference to FIG. 4, the hard disk recorder 130 includes a broadcast receiving unit (third communication unit) 131, a content identification information generation unit (second content identification information generation unit) 132, a command designation. Since the same configuration is provided except that the use information output unit (content identification information output means) 133 is added, only these different components will be described.

  The broadcast receiving unit 131 receives program data such as video content as content information from satellite broadcast, terrestrial broadcast, broadcast on the Internet, and the like, and outputs it to the content information acquisition unit 36. The content identification information generation unit 132 generates content identification information that is unique within the apparatus for the content acquired by the content information acquisition unit 36 and associates it with the content. The command specifying information output unit 133 generates command specifying information from the content acquired by the content information acquiring unit 36 in the same manner as the command specifying information output unit 45 shown in FIG. To the mobile phone 140. The content conversion unit 134 and the command information generation unit 135 included in the command designation information output unit 133 have the same functions as the content conversion unit 46 and the command designation auxiliary information generation unit 47 shown in FIG. 4, respectively. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 19 shows a processing procedure for outputting command designation information of the hard disk recorder 130 in the present embodiment.

  First, it waits whether new content has been acquired by the broadcast receiving unit 131 or the short-range communication unit 34 (S161). When new content is acquired by the broadcast receiving unit 131 or the short-range communication unit 34 (Yes in S161), the content identification information generation unit 132 generates content identification information from the acquired content and stores it in the content information storage unit 37. Save (S162). Next, command designation information output unit 133 creates command designation information such as thumbnails from the content information (S163), and command designation including at least the created content identification information from wide area communication unit 31 to mobile phone 140. The business information is output (S164).

  Here, each time new content is acquired, the command designation information is output to the mobile phone 140. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the command designation information is sent according to the type and attribute designated by the user. You may do it. Alternatively, a predetermined content stored in the content information storage unit 37 may be taken out according to an instruction from the mobile phone 140 and command designation information may be sent.

  FIG. 20 shows a content processing procedure of the hard disk recorder 130 in the present embodiment.

  First, the wide area communication unit 31 waits for reception of command information from the mobile phone 140 (S165). When the command information is received in the wide area communication unit 31 (Yes in S165), it is confirmed whether or not the content corresponding to the command is stored in the content information storage unit 37 (S166). When the content corresponding to the command is stored in the content information storage unit 37 (Yes in S166), the data processing unit 39b, the mail processing unit 39c, the print processing unit 39d, the presentation processing unit 39e, etc. The process indicated by the command is executed (S167). About S167 and S168, the process similar to S87 and S88 in FIG. 13 is performed, respectively.

  FIG. 21 is a functional configuration diagram of the mobile phone 140 according to the present embodiment. Only the differences will be described below.

  Compared with the command specifying device 10 according to the first embodiment, the mobile phone 140 does not require the short-range communication unit 21, and the wide-area communication unit 26 is connected to the command specifying information acquisition unit 22. The bidirectional wide area communication unit (first communication means) 26A is changed.

  The procedure of the command specifying process is almost the same as the command specifying process procedure of the command specifying apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 7, except that the reception of the content information in S61 is performed by the wide area communication unit 26A.

  As described above, according to the content processing system of the present embodiment, when the user is in a place where the content processing apparatus (hard disk recorder 130) cannot be directly operated, for example, on a train. Even when going out, a command can be specified by the command specifying device (mobile phone 140) for the content held by the stationary high-performance content processing device (hard disk recorder 130), and the command can be executed. Therefore, the user designates a command with the command designation device (mobile phone 140) and executes the command with respect to the stationary high-performance content processing device (hard disk recorder 130) without being restricted by place or time. be able to.

  As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, it should be considered that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect.

  For example, in the third embodiment, the content processing system of the first embodiment has been described with respect to the content processing system in which the function of the content generation / acquisition device 12 is added to the content processing device 11 to form the hard disk recorder 130. . However, in the content processing system according to the first embodiment, the function of the content generation / acquisition device 12 is added to the command specification device 10 so that the command specification device with content generation / acquisition function such as a mobile phone with a camera is used. It is good. In this case, the user can transfer the content generated or obtained by the command designating device with the content generation / acquisition function to the content processing device by the command designating device with the content generation / acquisition function without being restricted by location or time. A command can be designated and executed for the transferred content.

  In the first to third embodiments, the case where the content to be processed is an image captured by a digital camera or a video received from a broadcasting station has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to other contents such as video (video) shot by a movie camera or a video camera, voice recorded by a voice recorder, text input from a keyboard, digital content (web page, video) acquired from a public network. , Music, etc.), audio received from a broadcasting station, and the like are also applicable to processing.

  In the first to third embodiments, as an example of processing for content, processing processing, integration processing, mail processing, upload processing, FAX transmission processing, videophone transmission processing, printing processing, and presentation processing are performed. Listed. However, processing for content is not limited to these examples, processing for storing content in a recording medium such as a large-capacity storage medium, processing for ordering prints of image content from a print service provider on the web, etc. It may be. In the first to third embodiments, many types of processing can be performed on the content. However, only one type of processing may be performed on the content.

  In addition, the configuration in each embodiment is an example, and it is needless to say that the features may be appropriately combined.

  According to the present invention, as described above, a command specifying device that can specify a processing command for any one or a plurality of contents by the content processing device without restriction of timing, and a process for any one or a plurality of contents. It is possible to provide a content processing device that can be executed by command designation from a command designation device without restriction of command designation timing, and a content processing system using these devices.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described above, it is possible to specify a command for processing on content by an external content processing device from the command specifying device, and content generation / acquisition that does not need to have a content processing function internally. An apparatus and a content processing system using the apparatus can be provided.

  The specific embodiments or examples made in the detailed description section of the invention are merely to clarify the technical contents of the present invention, and are limited to such specific examples and are interpreted in a narrow sense. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with various modifications within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the following claims.

  The present invention relates to a device such as a mobile phone having a command specifying function, a device such as a hard disk recorder having a content processing function, a device such as a digital camera or a hard disk recorder having a function of generating or acquiring content, and a system combining these devices It can be used to manufacture a program for operating these devices.

Claims (16)

A command designating device for designating a command of processing executed by an external content processing device for content,
First communication means for receiving information indicating the content content from an external content generation / acquisition device different from the content processing device ;
Content identification information acquisition means for acquiring at least content identification information for identifying the content;
Command specifying means for presenting information indicating the content of the content to the user, receiving a command specification from the user, and specifying the command for the content identified by the content identification information ;
Command output that is output to the content processing apparatus or a recording medium that can be read by the content processing apparatus in association with the command specified by the command specifying means and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command And a command specifying device. First content identification information generating means for generating the content identification information from information indicating the content of the content received by the first communication means;
The command specifying device according to claim 1, wherein the content identification information acquiring unit acquires the content identification information from the first content identification information generating unit. The first communication means further receives the content identification information from outside,
The command specifying device according to claim 1, wherein the content identification information acquisition unit acquires at least the content identification information from the first communication unit. The first communication means includes
Receiving information indicating the content transmitted from an external device;
The scope of claim 2 , wherein the content identification information generated by the first content identification information generation means is transmitted to the external device that is a transmission source of information indicating the content. The command specification device described.   The conversion content acquisition means for acquiring the converted content obtained by converting the content identified by the content identification information from the external device via the first communication means. Item 4. The command specifying device according to any one of Items 3 to 3.   Further, the present invention further comprises command storage means for storing the command specified by the command specifying means and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command in association with each other. 6. The command specifying device according to any one of items 5. Further, the command output means can communicate with the content processing apparatus,
If the command output means establishes communication with the content processing apparatus and the command storage means stores the command and the content identification information in association with each other, the command output means sends the command to the command storage means. The command specifying device according to claim 6, wherein the content identification information is read out and transmitted to the content processing device. In addition, wide area wireless communication means for performing wide area wireless communication with the content processing device,
The said command output means outputs the said command and content identification information to the said content processing apparatus via the said wide area radio | wireless communication means, The any one of Claims 1-7 characterized by the above-mentioned. Command specification device. The first communication means receives, from the external content generation / acquisition device, information on a command list that can be specified for each type of content by the command specification device. 5. The command specifying device according to any one of items 4 to 4. A content processing device that executes processing directed by a command designated by an external command designation device on content,
Command acquisition means for acquiring a command and content identification information of a content to be executed by the command from a command specifying device or a recording medium written by the command specifying device,
From written recording medium outside of the content generating / acquisition device or the content generation / acquisition device, which has transmitted the information indicating the content of the content to the external command specifying device, content acquisition means for acquiring and storing at least content When,
Content processing means for executing the processing instructed by the command on the content,
In the content processing unit, the command acquisition unit stores the command and content identification information of the content to be executed, and the content identified by the content identification information stored in the command acquisition unit is If stored in the content acquisition unit, the process specified by the command stored in the command acquisition unit is executed for the content identified by the content identification information ,
The content acquisition unit acquires the content identification information generated according to the rule from the information indicating the content by the first content identification information generation unit of the command specifying device,
Further, the content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition unit indicates the content of the content stored in the content acquisition unit according to the same rule as the rule of the first content identification information generation unit. Second content identification information generating means for generating from the information is provided,
The content processing means is acquired by the content acquisition means generated by the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command stored in the command acquisition means and the second content identification information generation means. A content processing apparatus that executes processing for content if content identification information of the content matches . further,
Second communication means for receiving the command and content identification information from the command designating device;
A third communication means for receiving the content from outside,
The command acquisition means acquires the command and content identification information from the second communication means,
The content processing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the content acquisition unit acquires content from the third communication unit. A second content identification information generating unit configured to generate content identification information for identifying the content stored in the content acquisition unit from the content stored in the content acquisition unit;
At least the content identification information, any of the commands specified device, or the range 10 of claims, characterized in that it comprises a content identification information output means for outputting to the readable recording medium on the command specified device or paragraph 11 The content processing apparatus according to claim 1. A command designating device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 ,
A content processing device according to any one of claims 10 to 12,
A content generation / acquisition device for generating or acquiring content,
The command output means transmits the command and content identification information in association with each other to the command acquisition means.
The command execution output means is for transmitting content to the content acquisition means,
The command designating output means transmits the command designating information to the command designating device,
The content generation / acquisition device includes:
Content generation / acquisition means for generating or acquiring content;
Command execution output means for outputting at least content to be processed to an external content processing device that executes processing on the content, or a content recording medium that can be read by the content processing device;
At least the command designation to a command designation device external to the content processing device, or a command designation recording medium readable by the command designation device, which designates a command instructing processing by the content processing device using command designation information A content processing system comprising command specifying output means for outputting information for use. A command designating device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 ,
A content processing device according to claim 10 or 12,
The command output means is for transmitting the command specified by the command specifying means and the content identification information of the content to be executed by the command in association with each other to the command acquisition means Processing system. A program for operating the command specifying device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 or the content processing device according to any one of claims 10 to 12 .
A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the command specifying device or each means of the content processing device.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 15 is recorded.

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