JP6070612B2 - Server, control method thereof, control program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a server, a server control method, a control program for controlling the server, and a storage medium recording the control program for controlling the server.

  Many recent photo sticker creation apparatuses have a function of transmitting a photographed image to a management server. The user can utilize this function in various ways. For example, as described in Patent Document 1, a user can operate his / her own mobile terminal to download an image stored in the management server and display it on the screen of the mobile terminal.

  In recent years, SNS (Social Networking Service) has been developed. Accordingly, an apparatus that manages information posted by a user in SNS in various forms has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a community management platform that refers to a database on a network that holds user identification data and a user profile in association with each other, and manages the connection between the user identification data using the user identification data A device has been proposed.

JP 2010-009250 A (published January 14, 2010) JP 2011-60165 A (published March 24, 2011) JP 2010-9250 gazette (released on January 14, 2010)

  Usually, in SNS, many images are posted from many users. For this reason, it is required to quickly browse an image desired by the user from the large number of images.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a server or the like that can quickly browse an image desired by a user.

  In order to solve the above problems, a server according to the present invention is a server that connects to a terminal device of a user and a photo sticker creation device via a communication network and provides data that can be displayed on the terminal device. From the related information, a storage unit that stores image specifying information that can specify an image photographed and generated by the photo sticker generating device, related information that associates a keyword, and a keyword that matches or is similar to a predetermined keyword Search means for searching, and creation means for creating the data including the image specifying information associated with the keyword searched by the search means.

  In order to solve the above problems, a control method according to the present invention is a server that connects to a user terminal device and a photo sticker creation device via a communication network and provides data that can be displayed on the terminal device. The server includes a storage unit that stores image identification information that can identify an image photographed and created by the photo sticker creation device, and related information that associates a keyword with the storage unit. A search step for searching for a keyword matching or similar to the keyword from the related information, and a creation step for generating the data including the image specifying information associated with the keyword searched in the search step are included.

  According to the configuration and method described above, data that can be displayed on the terminal device and includes image specifying information associated with a keyword that matches or is similar to a predetermined keyword is created. Therefore, when the terminal device or the photo sticker creation device transmits a search term designated by the user to the server, the terminal device or the photo sticker creation device can quickly receive the data related to a predetermined keyword that matches or is similar to the search term from the server. The image specified by the image specifying information contained in the data can be displayed. As a result, the user can quickly browse an image associated with a predetermined keyword that matches or is similar to the designated search term. That is, it is possible to quickly browse an image desired by the user.

  The image specifying information may be the image itself, image identification information for identifying the image, or address information indicating the storage location of the image.

  In addition, as keywords, for example, the place name where the image was created, the name of the famous building, the name of the school (university name, high school name, etc.), the name of the club activity of the school, the name of the event (graduation, entrance, etc.) Words indicating season / date (Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter / December, etc.), names of events such as concerts / lives / movies, words indicating hobbies (shopping violin, tennis, etc.), words indicating nature (Mountains, rivers, etc.). Moreover, it is good also considering person information, such as a person's name (Achan), as a keyword.

  Whether or not the keywords are similar is determined by whether or not the concepts of the keywords are close. For example, regarding the combination of “Winter” and “Christmas” which is an event in winter, and the combination of “Shibuya” and “Hachiko” installed in Shibuya, the words of each combination are judged to be similar Good. That is, it may be determined that words that are related in terms of time, space, or concept are similar. The search means may acquire these similar relationships from a storage unit provided in the server or a storage device connected to the server via a network.

  In the server according to the present invention, the search means acquires a keyword associated in the storage unit with respect to the image specifying information of the image specified in the terminal device or the photo sticker creating device, and A keyword matching or similar to the keyword may be searched from the related information. In this case, the server may transmit the data related to a keyword that matches or is similar to the keyword associated with the received image specifying information to the terminal device or the photo sticker creation device.

  According to said structure, the user can browse the image relevant to the designated image rapidly only by designating the desired image, without being conscious of a keyword.

  The server according to the present invention may further include keyword providing means for providing a plurality of the predetermined keywords to the terminal device or the photo sticker creating device.

  According to said structure, the said terminal device or the said photograph sticker production apparatus can transmit the keyword which the user selected among the said predetermined keywords provided from the said server to the said server. The user only has to select one of the predetermined keywords on the terminal device or the photo sticker creation device, and convenience is improved.

  In the server according to the present invention, the storage unit further stores user attribute information that associates user identification information that can identify a user and profile information of the user. The profile information including a keyword that matches or similar to the keyword is searched from the user attribute information, and the creation means further includes the user specifying information associated with the profile information searched by the search means May be created.

  According to said structure, it is the data which can be displayed with a terminal device, Comprising: The data containing the user specific information linked | related with the profile information containing the keyword which is the same or similar to a predetermined keyword are produced. Accordingly, when the terminal device or the photo sticker creating device transmits the user identification information to the server, the terminal device or the photo sticker creation device can quickly receive the data related to the keyword included in the profile information associated with the user identification information from the server. The user specifying information included in the data can be displayed. Thereby, the user can browse quickly the user specific information linked | related with the profile information with the same or similar keyword as own profile information. That is, the user can quickly grasp other users whose part of their profile information is the same or similar. As a result, users with the same or similar part of the profile information can be introduced quickly to each other.

  The user identification information may be the user's name or the user's address.

  In the server according to the present invention, the user attribute information is further associated with the user specifying information and a terminal device used by the user, and information corresponding to the predetermined keyword is stored in the predetermined user information. Information providing means for providing to the terminal device associated with the user specifying information included in the data related to the keyword may be further provided.

  According to the above configuration, information corresponding to the predetermined keyword is provided to a user whose part of the profile information is the same as or similar to the predetermined keyword, so that the service capability of the server is improved.

  In the server according to the present invention, the related information further includes the image specifying information and the feature information of the subject image included in the image that can be specified by the image specifying information, and the storage unit includes: Further, the feature information of the user's subject image and the user attribute information that associates the terminal device used by the user are stored, and similar to the user's subject image using the feature information of the user's subject image. The information processing apparatus may further include specifying means for specifying a subject image and similar information providing means for providing image specifying information of an image including the subject image specified by the specifying means to the terminal device used by the user.

  According to said structure, the user can grasp | ascertain the image containing the subject image similar to an own subject image. As a result, the user requests the server or the terminal device of the user who created the image to exchange the grasped image from the communication network, or interacts with the user who created the grasped image. Can be.

  The image specifying information may be the image itself, image identification information for identifying the image, or address information indicating the storage location of the image.

  The server according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, a server control program for realizing the server by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit included in the server, and A computer-readable recording medium on which it is recorded also falls within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention has an effect that an image desired by a user can be browsed quickly.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the management server which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the picked-up image management system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the external appearance of the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the external appearance of the photograph sticker production apparatus concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention from other angles. It is a figure explaining the movement of the user in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the imaging | photography part with which the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the background part with which the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the edit part with which the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the aft customer service part with which the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the detailed structural example of the control part with which the photograph sticker production apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the portable terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen transition figure which shows an example of the web page displayed on the display part of a portable terminal at the time of the member registration process in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the flow of a series of processes from photography to image preservation | save in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen transition diagram which shows an example of the web page displayed on the display part of a portable terminal at the time of the image preservation | save process to the management server in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the flow of a series of processes regarding the image preservation | save to the portable terminal in the picked-up image management system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen transition diagram which shows an example of the web page displayed on the display part of a portable terminal at the time of the image preservation | save process to the portable terminal in 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of processing for setting a keyword for an image stored in an image database of a management server in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a sequence diagram showing an example of a flow of processing for searching for an image stored in an image database of a management server in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the management server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows an example of the web page displayed in a series of processes which concern on the setting of a profile, and provision of the information corresponding to a profile. In 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of a series of processes concerning the setting of a profile, and provision of the information corresponding to a profile. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the management server which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. In 3rd Embodiment of this invention, it is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of a series of processes which concern on provision of the image | photographed object similar to a user.

Embodiment 1
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Descriptions of configurations other than those described in the following specific embodiments may be omitted as necessary, but are the same as those configurations when described in other embodiments. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those shown in each embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof is omitted as appropriate. Further, the shape of the configuration described in each drawing and the dimensions such as length, size, and width do not reflect the actual shape and dimensions, but are changed as appropriate for clarity and simplification of the drawings. doing.

(Captured image management system 10)
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the captured image management system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the photographed image management system 10 includes a photo sticker creation device 1, a mobile terminal 6 (terminal device), and a management server 4 (server).

  An outline of the captured image management system 10 will be described below. The captured image management system 10 provides a user with services for realizing user photography, image editing, image printing as a photo sticker, and image storage on an image providing site. Photo shooting, image editing, and photo sticker printing services are provided by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 installed in a store such as a game center. The image storage service is provided by the management server 4 that manages the image providing site. The user can store his / her captured image in the image providing site by operating the mobile terminal 6 possessed by the user.

  In order to store images on the image providing site, prior member registration is required. The user registers himself / herself as a free member in the image providing site. Free members do not need to pay membership fees, but image providers are limited in the number of images they can store. In this embodiment, the free member can store only one image in the image providing site for each game.

  The user can change his / her member attribute from a free member to a paid member. Paid members can save an unlimited number of images on an image providing site instead of having to pay a certain membership fee continuously. In the present embodiment, all the captured images generated by a single photo shoot can be stored in the image providing site.

  The flow from photography to image storage in the photographed image management system 10 will be briefly described below. One or more users pay the price to the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 and play a game relating to photography and image editing. The user takes a picture of himself as a subject during the game. The user selects several images to be edited from the images generated by shooting and edits them as desired. Further, the user inputs his / her e-mail address to the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 in order to save the image in the image providing site later.

  After the game is over, the user gets a photo sticker. On the other hand, the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 associates the generated user's email address with the generated image and transmits the image to the management server 4. The management server 4 transmits a mail for guiding the received image to be stored in the image providing site to the received mail address. The user receives this mail at his / her mobile terminal 6. The e-mail describes a procedure for storing an image on an image providing site. The user performs an operation for saving the image on the portable terminal 6 according to the procedure. As a result, the image is stored in the image storage area dedicated to the user at the image providing site.

  After the image is stored in the image providing site, the user can log in to the image providing site using the portable terminal 6 or other desired device and download the image.

(Configuration of photo sticker creation device)
The configuration and function of each device constituting the captured image management system 10 will be described in detail below. First, details of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the appearance of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 mainly includes a photographing unit 11, an editing unit 12, and a subsequent customer service unit 13. The photo sticker creating apparatus 1 is installed in a state in which the photographing unit 11 and the editing unit 12 are in contact with each other, and the editing unit 12 and the subsequent customer service unit 13 are in contact with each other.

(Shooting unit 11)
The photographing unit 11 includes a photographing unit 21 and a background unit 22. The photographing unit 21 and the background unit 22 are installed with a predetermined distance apart. Shooting control is performed in a shooting space that is a space formed between the shooting unit 21 and the background unit 22.

  The photographing unit 21 is a device that allows a user to perform photographing control. The photographing unit 21 enters the photographing space and is located in front of the user who is performing the photographing control. A front panel 41 of the photographing unit 21 that constitutes a surface in which the photographing space is desired in front is provided with a touch panel monitor used by the user during photographing control. Assuming that the left side is the left side and the right side is the right side as viewed from the user in the imaging space, the left side of the imaging unit 21 is configured by the side panel 42A, and the right side is configured by the side panel 42B.

  The background portion 22 is attached to the left end of the rear panel 51 and the rear panel 51, which are plate-like members positioned on the rear side of the user who is performing the shooting control facing the front, and has a narrower width than the side panel 42A. And a side panel 52B (FIG. 4) which is a plate-like member attached to the right end of the rear panel 51 and having a narrower width than the side panel 42B.

  The side panel 42A constituting the left side surface of the photographing unit 21 and the side panel 52A of the background unit 22 are provided on substantially the same plane, and their upper portions are connected by a connecting part 23A that is a plate-like member. Further, the side panel 42B constituting the right side surface of the photographing unit 21 and the side panel 52B of the background portion 22 are provided on substantially the same plane, and their upper portions are connected by a connecting portion 23B which is a plate-like member.

  An opening formed by being surrounded by the side panel 42 </ b> A of the photographing unit 21, the connecting part 23 </ b> A, and the side panel 52 </ b> A of the background part 22 becomes an entrance G <b> 1 of the photographing space. An opening formed by being surrounded by the side panel 42B of the imaging unit 21, the connecting unit 23B, and the side panel 52B of the background unit 22 is also an entrance G2 of the imaging space.

  The background curtain unit 25 is provided above the background portion 22 so as to be supported by the back panel 51, the side panel 52A, and the side panel 52B. The background curtain unit 25 stores a plurality of roll-up type background curtains having different colors or patterns and used for the background. The background curtain unit 25 operates in conjunction with shooting by a camera or the like provided in the shooting unit 21. At the time of shooting, for example, the curtain of the color selected by the user is lowered and the other curtains are wound up.

  As the background curtain stored in the background curtain unit 25, an elevating curtain that uses a plurality of curtains as a single curtain for curtains may be prepared. In addition, a blackboard curtain is pasted on the rear panel 51 that is the back of the shooting space, and a plurality of background images for synthesis are prepared. In editing control described later, a user-desired background image is used as a curtain portion. It may be possible to synthesize.

  An opening surrounded by the front panel 41 of the photographing unit 21, the connecting part 23A, the connecting part 23B, and the background curtain unit 25 is formed above the photographing space, and the ceiling strobe unit 24 covers the part of the opening. Provided. One end of the ceiling strobe unit 24 is fixed to the connecting portion 23A, and the other end is fixed to the connecting portion 23B. The ceiling strobe unit 24 has a built-in strobe that emits light toward the photographing space in accordance with photographing. A fluorescent lamp is provided inside the strobe constituting the ceiling strobe unit 24, and also functions as illumination of the photographing space.

(Editor 12)
The editing unit 12 is a device that allows a user to perform editing control, which is processing for editing an image obtained by shooting control. The editing unit 12 is provided so as to be connected to the photographing unit 11 so that one side surface thereof is in contact with the back surface of the front panel 41 of the photographing unit 21. The editing unit 12 is provided with a configuration such as a tablet built-in monitor used by the user during editing control.

  If the configuration of the editing unit 12 shown in FIG. 3 is a front side configuration, the configuration used for editing control is provided on the front side and the back side of the editing unit 12 so that two sets of users can edit simultaneously. Provided.

  The front side of the editing unit 12 is a surface perpendicular to the floor surface, and is composed of a surface 71 that is substantially parallel to the side panel 42A, and a slope 72 formed above the surface 71 for editing control. The configuration used is provided on the slope 72. On the left side of the slope 72, a support portion 73A that has a columnar shape and supports one end of the lighting device 74 is provided. A support portion 75 that supports the curtain rail 26 is provided on the upper surface of the support portion 73A. A support portion 73 </ b> B (FIG. 4) that supports the other end of the lighting device 74 is also provided on the right side of the slope 72.

  A curtain rail 26 is attached above the editing unit 12. The curtain rail 26 is configured by combining three rails 26A to 26C so that the shape when viewed from above is a U-shape. One end of the rails 26A and 26B provided in parallel is fixed to the connecting portion 23A and the connecting portion 23B, respectively, and both ends of the remaining one rail 26C are joined to the other end.

  A curtain is attached to the curtain rail 26 so that the inside of the space in front of the editing unit 12 and the space in front of the back cannot be seen from the outside. The space in front of the editing unit 12 and the space in front of the back of the editing unit 12 surrounded by the curtain attached to the curtain rail 26 are editing spaces in which the user performs editing control.

(Subsequent customer service department 13)
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the external appearance of the photo sticker creating apparatus as seen from another angle. The subsequent customer service unit 13 is a device that performs the subsequent customer service and allows the user to perform an operation on the subsequent customer service. Subsequent customer service includes processing for transmitting images (including edited images) to the management server 4, processing for causing a user to play a mini game, processing for answering a questionnaire, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the post-service customer unit 13 has a plate-shaped housing having a predetermined thickness, and is connected to the editing unit 12 so that the back surface thereof is in contact with the left side surface of the editing unit 12. Provided. On the front side of the post-service customer section 13, there are provided a tablet built-in monitor used by the user at the time of operation for the post-service customer, and a discharge port for discharging sticker paper on which an image (including an edited image) is printed. The space in front of the post-service section 13 is a post-service area where a user waiting for printing on the sticker paper to perform an operation on the post-service.

(User movement)
The flow of the photo sticker creation game and the accompanying user movement will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the user.

  The user of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 takes a picture formed between the photographing part 21 and the background part 22 from the entrance / exit G1 as indicated by the white arrow # 1 or from the entrance / exit G2 as indicated by the white arrow # 2. The camera enters the space A1 and performs shooting control using a camera and a touch panel monitor provided in the shooting unit 21.

  It should be noted that, in the shooting of the user's image, not all shooting is to capture an image printed on sticker paper, but for transmission to the mobile terminal 6 (or so that it can be viewed on the mobile terminal 6, In some cases, the image is taken only for transmission to the management server 4. This is because the user's preference may be different between the image to be printed and the image transmitted to the mobile terminal 6, and the user wants to take an image in consideration of transmission to the mobile terminal 6 at the time of the user's shooting. It is in response to the user's intention.

  The user who has finished the shooting control uses the doorway G1 to move out of the shooting space A1 as indicated by the white arrow # 3 and moves to the editing space A2-1 or opens the doorway G2 as indicated by the white arrow # 4. Use to move out of the shooting space A1 and move to the editing space A2-2.

  The editing space A2-1 is an editing space on the front side of the editing unit 12, and the editing space A2-2 is an editing space on the back side of the editing unit 12. Which of the editing space A2-1 and the editing space A2-2 is moved is guided by the screen display of the touch panel monitor of the photographing unit 21 or the like. For example, the empty space of the two editing spaces is guided as the destination. The user who has moved to the editing space A2-1 or the editing space A2-2 starts editing control. The user of the editing space A2-1 and the user of the editing space A2-2 can perform editing control at the same time.

  After the editing control is finished, printing of an image selected from images (including edited images) is started. During printing of the image, the user who has finished the editing control moves from the editing space A2-1 to the subsequent customer service space A3 as indicated by the white arrow # 5 when the editing control is performed in the editing space A2-1. The customer receives the subsequent customer service and performs an operation on the subsequent customer service. In addition, when editing control is performed in the editing space A2-2, the user who has finished editing control moves from the editing space A2-2 to the post-service area A3 as indicated by the white arrow # 6. In the space A3, a subsequent customer service is received and an operation is performed on the customer service.

  When the printing of the image is finished, the user receives the sticker paper from the outlet provided in the post-service section 13 and finishes a series of photo sticker creation games.

(Configuration of each member)
Next, the configuration of each member provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 will be described.

(Photographing unit 21)
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the photographing unit 21 provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. The photographing unit 21 is configured by attaching a front panel 41, a side panel 42A, and a side panel 42B to a base unit 43 having a box shape.

  The front panel 41 is positioned in front of the user who performs shooting control in the shooting space A1, and the side panel 42A and the side panel 42B are positioned on the left and right sides of the user who performs shooting control in the shooting space A1, respectively. The connecting portion 23A is fixed above the side panel 42A, and the connecting portion 23B is fixed above the side panel 42B.

  An imaging / display unit 81 is provided in the approximate center of the front panel 41. The photographing / display unit 81 includes a camera 91, a front strobe 92, and a touch panel monitor 93.

  The camera 91 is configured by an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and photographs a user in the photographing space A1. The moving image captured by the camera 91 is displayed on the touch panel monitor 93 in real time. An image captured by the camera 91 at a predetermined timing such as when a user gives an instruction to shoot is saved as an image (still image).

  The touch panel monitor 93 provided on the lower side of the camera 91 includes a monitor such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a touch panel stacked thereon. The touch panel monitor 93 has a function as a live view monitor that displays a moving image captured by the camera 91 and a function that displays various GUI (Graphical User Interface) images and accepts a user's selection operation through the touch panel. Yes. On the touch panel monitor 93, a moving image after an image such as a background is appropriately displayed is displayed.

  On the front panel 41, an upper strobe 82 is installed on the upper side with respect to the position of the photographing / display unit 81. A left strobe 83 is installed on the left side and a right strobe 84 is installed on the right side. A lower strobe 85 is provided at a position below the photographing / display unit 81 such that a part of the upper surface of the base portion 43 protrudes.

  The upper strobe 82 irradiates the user from the upper front. The left strobe 83 irradiates the user from the left front, and the right strobe 84 irradiates the user from the right front. The lower strobe 85 irradiates the user from the lower front.

  The base unit 43 is also provided with a foot strobe 86 that irradiates the user's foot. The upper strobe 82, left strobe 83, right strobe 84, lower strobe 85, and foot strobe 86 are provided with fluorescent lamps. Used as illumination in the space A1. As will be described later, by adjusting the light emission amount of each fluorescent lamp, or by adjusting the number of fluorescent lamps to emit light, the brightness in the shooting space A1 becomes the content of the shooting control performed by the user. It is adjusted accordingly.

  On the right side of the foot strobe 86, a coin insertion / return opening 87 through which a user inserts money is provided.

  Spaces 43A and 43B formed on the left and right sides of the upper surface of the base portion 43 with the lower strobe 85 interposed therebetween are used as a luggage storage place for a user who performs shooting control to place baggage and the like. For example, near the ceiling of the front panel 41, a speaker for outputting sound such as guidance sound for shooting control, BGM (Back Ground Music), and sound effects is also provided.

(Background part 22)
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the background unit 22 provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. As described above, the background curtain unit 25 is provided above the back panel 51. Near the center of the background curtain unit 25, a rear center strobe 101 that irradiates a user who is performing shooting control in the shooting space A1 from the rear center.

  A rear left strobe 102 that irradiates a user who is performing shooting control in the shooting space A1 from the left rear is provided above the rear panel 51 and on the doorway G1 side. Further, a rear right strobe 103 that irradiates the user who is performing the photographing control in the photographing space A1 from the right rear is provided above the rear panel 51 and on the entrance / exit G2 side.

(Editor 12)
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the editing unit 12 provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. As shown in the figure, in the editing unit 12, a tablet built-in monitor 131 is provided in the approximate center of the slope 72. A touch pen 132A is provided on the left side of the tablet built-in monitor 131, and a touch pen 132B is provided on the right side.

  The tablet built-in monitor 131 is configured by superimposing a tablet capable of inputting an operation using the touch pens 132A and 132B on a monitor such as an LCD. On the tablet built-in monitor 131, for example, an editing screen, which is a screen used for editing an image selected as an image to be edited, is displayed. When two people perform editing work simultaneously, the touch pen 132A is used by one user, and the touch pen 132B is used by the other user.

  It should be noted that the image editing performed in the editing unit 12 is not necessarily an editing on an image to be printed, but an image that is assumed to be transmitted only to the mobile terminal 6 by the user (that is, an image that is not printed). May be an edit to This is because there is a difference in user preference between an image to be printed and an image transmitted to the mobile terminal 6 and used on the web. For example, an image used for a blog or the like is printed. This is to respond to the user's intention to edit differently from the editing of the image.

(Subsequent customer service department 13)
On the left side of the editing unit 12, a post-service unit 13 is provided. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the post-service unit 13 provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1.

  A monitor 161 with a built-in tablet is provided at the upper center of the post-service section 13. A touch pen 162A is provided on the left side of the tablet built-in monitor 161, and a touch pen 162B is provided on the right side. Similarly to the tablet built-in monitor 131, the tablet built-in monitor 161 is configured by superimposing a tablet capable of performing an operation input using the touch pen 162A or 162B on a monitor such as an LCD. On the tablet built-in monitor 161, a screen used in a post-service process such as a mini game is displayed.

  A non-contact type IC reader / writer 163 is provided under the tablet built-in monitor 161, and a sticker paper discharge port 164 is provided under the non-contact type IC reader / writer 163. A speaker 165 is provided below the sticker paper discharge port 164.

  The non-contact type IC reader / writer 163 communicates with a non-contact type IC that is in close proximity, reads data from the non-contact type IC, and writes data to the non-contact type IC.

  In the sticker paper discharge port 164, sticker paper on which an image created by the editing space A2-1 user performing editing control is printed, or created by the editing space A2-2 user performing editing control. The sticker paper on which the image is printed is discharged. A printer is provided inside the editing unit 12, and printing of images is performed by the printer.

  The speaker 165 outputs sound such as guidance voice, BGM, and sound effects at the time of subsequent customer service.

(Internal structure of photo sticker making apparatus 1)
Next, the internal configuration of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. The same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structure as the structure mentioned above. The overlapping description will be omitted as appropriate.

  The control unit 201 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and executes a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 206 or a storage unit 202 to control the overall operation of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. A storage unit 202, a communication unit 203, a drive 204, a ROM 206, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 207 are connected to the control unit 201. The control unit 201 is also connected with the components of the photographing unit 21, the editing unit 12, the post-service unit 13, and the printing unit 211.

  The storage unit 202 includes a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk or a flash memory, and stores various setting information supplied from the control unit 201. Information stored in the storage unit 202 is appropriately read out by the control unit 201.

  A communication unit 203 is an interface of a network such as the Internet, and communicates with an external device according to control by the control unit 201.

  A removable medium 205 made of an optical disk or a semiconductor memory is appropriately attached to the drive 204. The computer program and data read from the removable medium 205 by the drive 204 are supplied to the control unit 201 and stored in the storage unit 202 or installed.

  The ROM 206 stores programs and data executed by the control unit 201. The RAM 207 temporarily stores data and programs processed by the control unit 201.

  The imaging unit 21 performs processing related to the user's imaging control in the imaging space A1. The imaging unit 21 includes a coin processing unit 221, a background control unit 222, an illumination control unit 223, a camera 91, a touch panel monitor 93, and a speaker 224.

  The coin processing unit 221 detects the insertion of coins into the coin insertion / return port 87. When the coin processing unit 221 detects that a predetermined amount of coins such as 300 yen has been inserted, the coin processing unit 221 outputs an activation signal indicating that to the control unit 201.

  The background control unit 222 raises and lowers the background curtain stored in the background curtain unit 25 according to the background control signal supplied from the control unit 201. The background curtain may be manually selected by the user.

  The illumination control unit 223 controls the light emission of each strobe in the imaging space A1 according to the illumination control signal supplied from the control unit 201. As described above, in the photographing space A1, in addition to the strobe of the ceiling strobe unit 24, an upper strobe 82, a left strobe 83, a right strobe 84, a lower strobe 85, a foot strobe 86, and a background portion provided in the photographing unit 21 are provided. 22 is provided with a back center strobe 101, a back left strobe 102, and a back right strobe 103. A fluorescent lamp is also provided inside each strobe.

  In addition, the illumination control unit 223 adjusts the light emission amount of the fluorescent lamp provided in each strobe, or adjusts the number of fluorescent lamps to emit light, thereby performing the shooting control stage performed by the user. Accordingly, the brightness in the shooting space A1 is adjusted.

  The camera 91 shoots according to the control by the control unit 201 and outputs an image (image) obtained by the shooting to the control unit 201.

  The editing unit 12A performs processing related to user editing control in the editing space A2-1. The editing unit 12A includes a tablet built-in monitor 131, touch pens 132A and 132B, and a speaker 231 provided on the front side of the editing unit 12. The editing unit 12B has the same configuration as the editing unit 12A, and performs processing related to user editing control in the editing space A2-2.

  The tablet built-in monitor 131 displays an editing screen according to control by the control unit 201 and detects a user operation on the editing screen. A signal representing the content of the user's operation is supplied to the control unit 201, and the image to be edited is edited.

  The subsequent customer service section 13 performs processing related to the subsequent customer service in the subsequent customer service space A3. The subsequent customer service unit 13 includes a tablet built-in monitor 161, touch pens 162A and 162B, a non-contact type IC reader / writer 163, and a speaker 165.

  The printing unit 211 includes a printer 241 and a sticker unit 242 that are configured to perform printing control. The printer 241 prints the image or the edited image obtained by the editing control by the user on the sticker paper stored in the sticker paper unit 242 attached to the printer 241 and discharges it to the sticker paper discharge port 164. . The subsequent customer service unit 13 and the printing unit 211 that are surrounded by a one-dot chain line are configured to perform processing related to the subsequent customer service for the user in the subsequent customer service space A3.

  In addition, the printing unit 211 acquires the image transmitted to the management server 4 outside the margin (such as the edge of the sticker paper) in addition to printing the photographed image (or the edited image) on the sticker paper in the process related to the print control. URL (Uniform Resource Locater) and a seal ID (image acquisition ID) may be printed. The sticker ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying one or a plurality of images (including a photographed image and an edited image) generated during one game in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. This is an identifier for acquiring the generated image. The user accesses a URL for acquiring an image and inputs a sticker ID, whereby a web page (image acquisition page) for acquiring an image generated during one game in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 is displayed. It can be displayed on the portable terminal 6.

  This is because, for example, when receiving an e-mail address input from the user at the post-service department 13 or the like, a correct address cannot be received due to a time-out or error input, and information such as a URL for acquiring an image is transmitted to the user. This is to allow the user to acquire an image by accessing the URL printed on the sticker paper and inputting the sticker ID when the user cannot do so.

  Note that the printing unit 211 may print, for example, a predetermined mail address or a QR code (registered trademark) as the information for acquiring an image instead of the URL. When a predetermined mail address is printed, the user receives a mail describing a URL for acquiring an image from the management server 4 by sending a blank mail to the predetermined mail address. Can do. In addition, when the QR code is printed on the sticker paper, the user can directly access the image acquisition page by accessing the web page indicated by the QR code using the mobile terminal 6.

(Configuration of control unit)
FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration example of the control unit 201 provided in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. As shown in this figure, the control unit 201 includes a communication control unit 311, a shooting control unit 312, an editing control unit 313, a print control unit 314, and a post-service customer control unit 315.

  The communication control unit 311 controls communication with an external device by the communication unit 203.

  The shooting control unit 312 relates to a process related to a charge inserted when starting the photo sticker creation game by the shooting unit 21 and a user shooting control in the photo sticker creation game such as shooting a user group according to the user shooting control. Control processing. The shooting control unit 312 can also generate date / time information related to the date / time when the image was shot.

  The editing control unit 313 controls processing related to user editing control in the photo sticker creation game, such as graffiti editing of images by the editing unit 12A and the editing unit 12B.

  The print control unit 314 controls processing related to user print control in the photo sticker creation game, such as sticker sheet printing by the printing unit 211.

  The post-service customer control unit 315 controls processing related to the post-service in the photo sticker creation game, such as processing to serve a user group that has finished the editing work by the post-service unit 13.

(Management server 4)
Next, details of the management server 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the management server 4 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the management server 4 mainly includes a control unit 401, a storage unit 402, and a communication unit 403. The control unit 401 performs overall control of each member provided in the management server 4. The storage unit 402 stores various data used in the management server 4. The communication unit 403 communicates with other devices constituting the captured image management system 10.

(Details of control unit 401)
As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 401 includes a communication control unit 411, a mail creation unit 412, a web page creation unit 413 (creation unit, keyword providing unit), an image management unit 414, a search unit 415 (search unit), a keyword A setting management unit 416 and a keyword list management unit 417 are provided.

(Communication control unit 411)
The communication control unit 411 controls communication by the communication unit 403.

(Mail creation unit 412)
The mail creating unit 412 creates a mail to be sent to the mail address of the user who played with the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. In the present embodiment, the mail creation unit 412 creates a mail that guides the storage of an image that is transmitted to the mail address input from the communication control unit 411 using the data stored in the mail database 421. And output to the communication control unit 411.

(Web page creation unit 413)
The web page creation unit 413 creates a web page displayed on the mobile terminal 6. In the present embodiment, the web page creation unit 413 uses the data stored in the web page database 423 and the data output from the search unit 415 to generate a web page corresponding to the access request received from the mobile terminal 6. Create and output to the communication control unit 411. Although details will be described later, the web page creation unit 413 creates a web page corresponding to the user's membership type.

  In the following description, “page” refers to data that the management server 4 transmits to a communication terminal such as the mobile terminal 6 for display, such as a web page. The page usually includes text data and image data, and may further include audio data and moving image data.

(Search unit 415)
The search unit 415 receives a word (hereinafter referred to as a search word) for searching for an image input by the user on the mobile terminal 6 via the web page creation unit 413. The search unit 415 that has received the search word searches the keyword setting database 425 for a keyword that matches or is similar to the search word. Subsequently, the search unit 415 acquires an image associated with the searched keyword from the image database 424 and outputs the image to the web page creation unit 413. The search unit 415 determines whether or not the search word and the keyword are similar based not only on whether or not the characters constituting the word are similar but also on whether or not the concept of the word is related. Further, the search unit 415 may determine that something that indicates a part of a broader concept is similar in terms of time and space. Examples of combinations of words that are judged to be similar are “tennis club” and “gardenball club”, “Urasenke” and “tea ceremony”. Also, for example, if the search term is a person's name, the keyword is similar to the person's name ("Achan", "Aichan", etc.), the organization to which the person belongs, and the word that indicates the event held by that person The management server 4 may be configured such that the search unit 415 determines as follows. In this embodiment, the search unit 415 refers to the keyword similarity stored in the storage unit 402 and determines whether the keywords are similar. In addition, the search unit 415 may be configured to acquire a keyword similarity relationship from another storage device connected to the communication unit 403.

(Image management unit 414)
The image management unit 414 manages images provided to the user through the image providing site. In the present embodiment, the image management unit 414 stores, in the image database 424, an image designated by the user among images created by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1.

(Keyword setting management unit 416)
The keyword setting management unit 416 stores information indicating that the image stored in the image database 424 and the keyword specified by the user are associated with each other in the keyword setting database 425. For example, the keyword setting management unit 416 stores, in the keyword setting database 425, a combination of identification information such as a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) stored in the image database 424 and a keyword designated by the user. The flow of processing for the user to specify a keyword for an image stored in the image database 424 will be described later.

(Keyword list manager 417)
The keyword list management unit 417 stores keywords that can be associated with images stored in the image database 424 in the keyword list database 426. The keyword list management unit 417 may be configured to store the keywords input via the input unit (not shown) of the management server 4 in the keyword list database 426. According to this configuration, a keyword that can be associated with an image stored in the image database 424 can be input by a user who can access the input unit of the management server 4, for example, an administrator of the management server 4. The input unit of the management server 4 may be realized by hardware such as a keyboard, or may be realized by software such as a management screen in which accessible users are restricted.

(Details of storage unit 402)
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the storage unit 402 includes a mail database 421, a member database 422, a web page database 423, an image database 424, a keyword setting database 425, and a keyword list database 426.

(Mail database 421)
The mail database 421 stores various data for creating a mail to be transmitted to the user.

(Member database 422)
The member database 422 stores various types of information related to users who are members of the image providing site. In the present embodiment, the member database 422 stores information (user specifying information) for specifying a user who uses the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 for each user. Examples of the user specifying information include a user's member ID, e-mail address, nickname, date of birth, address, member attribute, membership date, and terminal ID of a mobile terminal held by the user. Moreover, as a member attribute, a pay member, a free member, etc. can be mentioned, for example.

(Web page database 423)
The web page database 423 stores various data for creating a web page of an image providing site displayed on the mobile terminal 6.

(Image database 424)
The image database 424 stores images instructed by the user to be stored in the image providing site among the images of the user created by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. In the image database 424, images are stored separately for each user registered as a member in the member database 422.

  Although not shown, the storage unit 402 also has a temporary storage database that temporarily stores data such as images received from the photo sticker creating apparatus 1.

(Keyword setting database 425)
The keyword setting database 425 stores information (related information) indicating that an image stored in the image database 424 is associated with a keyword specified by the user.

(Keyword list database 426)
The keyword list database 426 stores keywords that can be associated with images stored in the image database 424. Further, the keyword list database 426 stores information indicating the similarity relationship between keywords.

(Details of communication unit 403)
In this embodiment, the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 and the mobile terminal 6 are communication partners of the communication unit 403. The communication unit 403 receives data from another device or transmits data to another device under the control of the communication control unit 411.

(Mobile terminal 6)
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the mobile terminal 6 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the mobile terminal 6 mainly includes a control unit 601, a storage unit 602, a communication unit 603, an input unit 604, and a display unit 605. The control unit 601 performs overall control of each member provided in the mobile terminal 6. The storage unit 602 stores various data used in the mobile terminal 6. The mobile terminal 6 communicates with other devices constituting the captured image management system 10. The input unit 604 is a device for a user to input information to the mobile terminal 6 such as a touch panel. The display unit 605 is a device for displaying information, such as a liquid crystal display device.

(Details of control unit 601)
As illustrated in FIG. 12, the control unit 601 includes a communication control unit 611, an input control unit 612, and a display control unit 613.

  The communication control unit 611 controls communication by the communication unit 603. The input control unit 612 controls information input in the input unit 604. The display control unit 613 controls information display on the display unit 605. For example, when the display control unit 613 outputs the web page input from the communication control unit 611 to the display unit 605, the web page can be displayed on the display unit 605.

(Member registration process)
In the photographed image management system 10, a user who has registered as a member on the image providing site can save the photographed image on the image providing site. The user registers himself / herself as a free member in the image providing site according to a predetermined procedure. The procedure will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a screen transition diagram illustrating an example of a web page displayed on the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 6 during the member registration process.

  The user accesses the image providing site using the portable terminal 6 in order to register as a member in the image providing site. As a result, the top page 1001 of the image providing site as shown in FIG. 13A is displayed on the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 6. The top page 1001 includes at least a link image 1002 for proceeding with the member login process and a link image 1003 for proceeding with the free member registration process.

  The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a link image 1003 for proceeding with free member registration. As a result, the portable terminal 6 communicates with the management server 4, and as a result, the web page 1011 for free member registration as shown in FIG. 13B is displayed on the display unit 605.

  The web page 1011 includes an input form 1012 for inputting information (user specifying information) for specifying a user who is registered as a free member, and a link image 1013 for transmitting the input user specifying information to the management server 4. Including at least. The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to input various personal information such as the user's member ID, password, and email address to the input form 1012 as user identification information. The user selects the link image 1013 after completing the input of the user specifying information. As a result, the mobile terminal 6 transmits the user specifying information to the management server 4 and requests the management server 4 to register the user for free membership.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the user specifying information transmitted from the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403. The communication control unit 411 outputs the received user identification information to the mail creation unit 412 and instructs the mail creation unit 412 to create a member registration email. In response to this instruction, the mail creation unit 412 creates a member registration mail 1021 as shown in FIG. The member registration mail 1021 is a mail addressed to the mail address included in the received user identification information, and includes a URL 1022 to a web page indicating completion of free member registration. The mail creation unit 412 outputs the created member registration mail 1021 to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the input member registration mail 1021 to the user's mail address via the communication unit 403.

  The portable terminal 6 receives the transmitted member registration mail 1021 and displays it on the display unit 605. The user confirms the displayed member registration mail 1021 and selects the URL 1022. Thereby, the mobile terminal 6 requests the management server 4 for a web page specified by the URL 1022.

  In response to this request, the management server 4 completes free member registration. Specifically, the management server 4 creates an account area for a user (a storage area for storing member-specific data) in the member database 422, and stores the user specifying information in the account area. At this time, information indicating that the user is a free member is added to the account area. Finally, the management server 4 creates a web page indicating that the free member registration is completed and transmits it to the mobile terminal 6.

  The user can register himself / herself as a paying member in the image providing site by logging in to the image providing site by entering a member ID and password after registering a free member and following a predetermined procedure. After this registration is completed, information indicating that the user is a paid member is added to the user's account area.

(Service flow)
Next, details of the flow of services provided by the captured image management system 10 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of a series of processes from photography to image storage in the photographed image management system 10.

(photography)
As shown in FIG. 14, the user starts playing the game in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 (step S1). Specifically, the user stands in front of the front panel 41 of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 and inserts coins having a fee required for playing the game into the coin insertion / return slot 87. The imaging control unit 312 determines whether or not a predetermined amount of coins has been inserted based on a signal supplied from the coin processing unit 221.

  If it is determined that the camera has been inserted, the shooting control unit 312 controls the shooting unit 21 to display the moving image of the subject captured by the camera 91 on the touch panel monitor 93 and display it in the shooting space A1 according to the shooting control by the user. The user is photographed as a subject (step S2). This photographing control is performed a plurality of times within the photographing processing time.

  In addition, as a process in the imaging control, a predetermined number of times may be taken as an image for transmission to the mobile terminal 6 instead of an image for printing on a sticker sheet. In this case, as an image suitable for an image to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 6, an image obtained by chroma-combining the image for synthesis and an image subjected to image processing such as filtering processing using a color filter are created at the time of shooting. Sometimes.

  After the photographing is finished, the photographing control unit 312 guides the user in the photographing space A1 to move to the editing space A2-1 or the editing space A2-2. This guidance is performed by displaying a guidance screen on the touch panel monitor 93 of the photographing unit 21 or by outputting voice guidance from the speaker 224.

(edit a picture)
After the end of the guidance, the editing control unit 313 controls the editing unit 12 corresponding to the editing space of the editing space A2-1 and the editing space A2-2 that is the destination of the user who has finished the shooting control. Thus, the editing unit 12 is caused to edit the image (step S3). Specifically, the editing control unit 313 causes the user to select a synthesis image to be synthesized with the image selected or acquired as the editing target image, and synthesizes the selected synthesis image with the image. The composite image is edited according to the editing operation by the user. In addition, as editing for an image for transmission to the mobile terminal 6, for example, processing such as processing for trimming an image to a predetermined size, filtering processing using a color filter, and collage synthesis processing for finishing a plurality of images as one image Can also be done.

  After the editing, the editing control unit 313 guides the user who has finished editing control in the editing space A2-1 or the editing space A2-2 to move to the post-service space A3. This guidance is performed by displaying a guidance screen on the tablet built-in monitor 131 or by outputting guidance voice from the speaker 231.

(Photo sticker printing)
After the guidance is completed, the print control unit 314 outputs the image selected by the user to the printer 241 and prints it on the sticker sheet (step S4). When printing is completed, the customer service control unit 315 displays that the printing has been completed on the tablet built-in monitor 161 so that the printer 241 can acquire images from the management server 4 and the photo sticker creation apparatus 1 in the same procedure. The sticker ID created in the photo sticker creation device 1 and image acquisition information (URL of the image acquisition site, e-mail address for acquisition, etc.) are printed out of the box, and a predetermined image is printed in the center. The sealed sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge port 164.

(Subsequent customer service)
During printing, the subsequent customer service control unit 315 controls the subsequent customer service unit 13 to control processing related to the subsequent customer service for the user who is waiting for completion of printing (step S5). Specifically, the post-service customer control unit 315 controls processing for transmitting images (including edited images) to the management server 4 in the photo sticker creation game as processing related to the post-service by the post-service customer unit 13. . At that time, the post-service control unit 315 causes the tablet built-in monitor 161 to display a mail address input screen for inputting the mail address of the user who played the game and a screen for selecting an image to be transmitted. The user uses the touch pen 162 </ b> A or the touch pen 162 </ b> B to input the currently used mail address and select an image to be transmitted to the management server 4.

(Image transmission)
The communication control unit 311 transmits the input mail address and the selected image or the image determined by the control unit 201 as a transmission target to the management server 4 through the communication unit 203 (step S6). An identifier (image ID) for uniquely identifying the image is associated with the image transmitted at this time. The communication unit 403 of the management server 4 receives the mail address, image, and image ID transmitted from the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 (step S7), and outputs them to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 stores the received image in a temporary storage database (not shown) of the storage unit 402. The stored data such as an image is continuously stored in the temporary storage database until a predetermined time limit elapses, and is automatically deleted from the temporary storage database when the time limit elapses.

  Note that the communication control unit 311 may transmit all images to the management server 4 in consideration of not only a predetermined number of images selected by the user but also a future paying member. As a result, the user can acquire all images taken in the state of the free member when the user becomes a paying member on the site after shooting in the state of the free member.

(Compose and send a guide email)
The communication control unit 411 outputs the received email address and image ID to the email creation unit 412. The mail creating unit 412 creates a guide mail that is transmitted to the mail address received from the communication control unit 411 and guides the user to save the image. The procedure is as follows. The mail creation unit 412 outputs the image ID to the web page creation unit 413 and requests the web page creation unit 413 to generate a URL 1102 indicating a web page for storing the image specified by the image ID. The web page creation unit 413 generates the requested URL 1102 and outputs it to the mail creation unit 412.

  The mail creation unit 412 acquires data for creating a guide mail from the mail database 421. Then, the guide mail 1101 shown in FIG. 15A is created using the data, the URL 1102 and the user's mail address. A URL 1102 is described in the text of the guide mail 1101. The mail creation unit 412 outputs the created guide mail 1101 to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the guide mail 1101 to the user's mail address via the communication unit 403 (step S8).

  Note that the mail creation unit 412 may transmit a guide mail including a URL indicating a web page that only allows the user to input a seal ID instead of a web page that collects the image ID and the image related to the image ID. Good. In this case, the management server 4 receives an input of a seal ID printed outside the margin of the sticker paper from the mobile terminal 6 on the web page indicated by the URL included in the guidance mail, and is transmitted to the management server 4. You may make it display the image which is.

(Request and send web page for saving images)
The communication unit 603 of the portable terminal 6 receives the transmitted guide mail 1101 (step S9) and outputs it to the communication control unit 611. The communication control unit 611 outputs the input guide mail 1101 to the display control unit 613. The display control unit 613 outputs the input guide mail 1101 to the display unit 605. The user confirms the guide mail 1101 displayed on the display unit 605, and selects the URL 1102 using the input unit 604 in order to save the image on the image providing site (step S10).

  The input control unit 612 receives a selection input from the input unit 604 and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the URL 1102 has been selected. In response to this, the communication control unit 611 requests the management server 4 for a web page corresponding to the selected URL 1102. The specific procedure is as follows. The communication control unit 611 acquires the user member ID stored in the storage unit 602, and transmits a predetermined request for providing a web page including the member ID to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S11) and outputs it to the web page creation unit 413. The web page creation unit 413 determines the member type of the user by referring to the member database 422 for the member ID included in the request (step S12). In the present embodiment, the web page creation unit 413 determines whether the user is a free member or a paid member, and creates a web page according to the determination result. If the web page creation unit 413 determines that the user is a free member, the web page creation unit 413 creates a web page 1103 for the free member to store images as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is a paying member, a web page 1107 for the paying member to save the image is created as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 15B, the web page 1103 includes one thumbnail image 1104, a link image 1105 that prompts the user to register a paying member, and a link image 1106 for storing one image on the image providing site. Is included. If the user is a free member, the number of images that can be stored is one, and the thumbnail image 1104 is a thumbnail of the one image. Note that the single image is an image selected by the user in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of images, the thumbnail image 1104 is any one of the plurality of images.

  As shown in FIG. 15C, the web page 1107 includes one thumbnail image 1104 and a link image 1108 for storing all the images.

  In this example, since the user is a free member, the web page creation unit 413 creates a web page 1103 for a free member. The web page creation unit 413 outputs the created web page 1103 to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the input web page 1103 to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S13).

(Save image)
The portable terminal 6 receives the web page 1103 through the communication unit 603 (step S14). The web page 1103 is output to the display control unit 613 via the communication control unit 611. The display control unit 613 outputs the input web page 1103 to the display unit 605. The user confirms the web page 1103 displayed on the display unit 605. When the user is a free member, even if there are a plurality of images, only one of them can be stored in the image providing site. When the user wants to save one image, the user selects the link image 1106 through the input unit 604. Note that the image to be stored is not limited to the image selected as the image to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 6 in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1, and is designated as an image to be stored in the mobile terminal 6 accessing the image providing site, for example. It may be an image.

  The input control unit 612 receives a selection input from the input unit 604 and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the link image 1106 has been selected. In response to this, the communication control unit 611 transmits an image storage instruction to the management server 4 (step S15).

  The communication control unit 411 receives the transmitted storage instruction through the communication unit 403 (step S16). As a result, the communication control unit 411 instructs the image management unit 414 to store the image. In response to this instruction, the image management unit 414 stores the user image stored in the temporary storage database in the image database 424 in association with the user member ID (step S17). At that time, if there is only one image, the image is saved. On the other hand, if there are a plurality of images, one of them (for example, an image corresponding to the thumbnail image 1104) is stored. Thereby, a series of processes shown in FIG. 14 is completed.

  Note that a user who is a free member selects the link image 1105 when he wants to save all images. In this case, a series of processing for paying member registration is performed in the captured image management system 10. When registration is completed, all images are stored in the image database 424 in association with the member ID of the user.

  In addition, the saving process when the user is a paying member is essentially the same as the saving process when the user is a free member. However, the user selects the link image 1108 included in the web page 1107. As a result, the management server 4 stores all images in the user image storage area in the image database 424. Note that the selection of an image to be saved by the user (one image for a free member and all images for a paid member) may be accepted by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. In this case, the image management unit 414 may store the image selected in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 in the image database 424.

(Image saving to portable terminal 6)
Hereinafter, a flow of processing when an image stored in the image providing site is stored in the user's portable terminal 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of a series of processes related to image storage in the mobile terminal 6 in the captured image management system 10. 17A to 17C are screen transition diagrams illustrating an example of a web page displayed on the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 6 during the image saving process to the mobile terminal 6.

  The user accesses the image providing site in order to log in to the image providing site. As a result, the top page 1001 of the image providing site as shown in FIG. 17A is displayed on the display unit 605 of the mobile terminal 6. The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a link image 1002 for proceeding with member login processing to the image providing site. The input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the link image 1002 has been selected. As a result, the communication control unit 611 reads the user's member ID and password from the storage unit 602, transmits them to the management server 4 via the communication unit 603, and requests the management server 4 to log in to the image providing site (step S21). . Note that when the link image 1002 is selected, the communication control unit 611 may acquire a web page for inputting the user's member ID and password. In this case, the management server 4 may accept input of the member ID and password on the web page.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives this request through the communication unit 403 (step S22). Next, the communication control unit 411 outputs the received member ID and password to the web page creation unit 413 and instructs the web page creation unit 413 to create the member top page 1031.

  The web page creation unit 413 determines whether or not the user is registered as a member on the image providing site by checking the input member ID and password against the member database 422. If it is determined that it is registered, data for generating the member top page 1031 is acquired from the web page database 423. The web page creation unit 413 generates a member top page 1031 as shown in FIG. 17B using the data and outputs the member top page 1031 to the communication control unit 411. The member top page 1031 is stored in a link image 1032 for displaying a list of user images stored in the image providing site, a link image 1033 for displaying a keyword setting screen for the image, and an image database. A link image 1034 for displaying an image search screen is included. The communication control unit 411 transmits the member top page 1031 to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S23).

  The communication control unit 611 of the mobile terminal 6 receives the member top page 1031 through the communication unit 603. The communication control unit 611 outputs the received member top page 1031 to the display control unit 613. The display control unit 613 outputs the member top page 1031 to the display unit 605. As a result, the member top page 1031 is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S24).

  When the user selects a link image 1032 for displaying a list of user images by operating the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 (step S25), the input control unit 612 accepts this selection operation. The communication control unit 611 is notified that the link image 1032 has been selected. As a result, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page including a list of user images stored in the image providing site to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S26). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the web page creation unit 413 to generate an image list page 1041 including a list of user images stored in the image database 424.

  The web page creation unit 413 acquires data for generating the image list page 1041 from the web page database 423. The web page creation unit 413 uses the data and refers to all the images of the user stored in the image database 424 to generate an image list page 1041 as shown in FIG. 411. The image list page 1041 includes a plurality of thumbnail images 1042 that individually represent all the images of the user stored in the image database 424. The communication control unit 411 transmits the image list page 1041 to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S27).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 receives the image list page 1041 through the communication unit 603. The communication control unit 611 outputs the received image list page 1041 to the display control unit 613. The display control unit 613 outputs the image list page 1041 to the display unit 605. As a result, the image list page 1041 is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S28).

  The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a thumbnail image 1042 corresponding to an image to be stored in the mobile terminal 6 among the displayed thumbnail images 1042 (step S29). The input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the thumbnail image 1042 has been selected. As a result, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing an image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 1042 to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S30). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the image management unit 414 to output the image of the user requested to be provided from the portable terminal 6 to the communication control unit 411.

  The image management unit 414 acquires the instructed image from the image database 424 and outputs the acquired image to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the input image to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S31).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 receives the transmitted image through the communication unit 603 and stores it in the storage unit 602 (step S32). Thus, the image storage process on the mobile terminal 6 is completed.

  In the above description, the configuration in which the mobile terminal 6 acquires an image by logging in to the image providing site has been described as an example. However, in the present embodiment, an image can also be acquired using a seal ID. . For example, the mobile terminal 6 accesses the web page indicated by the URL printed on the sticker paper (or the URL included in the guide mail), and accepts an input operation of the sticker ID by the user, thereby obtaining the image acquisition page. To access.

  At this time, if the user is a paying member, the image acquisition page displays a list of all the images specified by the seal ID and generated during one game so that the user can select. If the user is a free member, only one image out of all images specified by the seal ID may be displayed in a list so that the user can select it. Further, the image acquisition page may display only one image selected in advance in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 when the user is a free member. Note that it is preferable that only a list of edited images is displayed on the image acquisition page. For example, when there are captured images for which no edited image is generated, the edited image and the captured image for which the edited image is not generated are displayed. Images may be displayed as a list, or all edited images and captured images may be displayed as a list, and there is no particular limitation.

  The portable terminal 6 acquires an image selected by the user from the management server 4 among the images displayed as a list on the image acquisition page, and stores the acquired image in the storage unit 602. When the user is a paying member, the mobile terminal 6 manages all the images displayed in the list without accepting the user's selection operation for the images displayed in the list on the image acquisition page. And may be stored in the storage unit 602.

(Keyword setting for images)
Hereinafter, a flow of processing when an image stored in the image providing site is stored in the user's portable terminal 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of processing for setting a keyword for an image stored in the image database 424. FIG. 17D is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page for setting a keyword for an image stored in the image database 24. In addition, about the same process as the above-mentioned process, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  After the member top page 1031 is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S24), the user selects the link image 1033 for displaying the keyword setting screen for the image by operating the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6. In the case (step S25A), the input control unit 612 receives this selection operation, and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the link image 1033 has been selected. Accordingly, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page for setting a keyword to the user image stored in the image providing site to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S26A). Next, the communication control unit 411 causes the web page creation unit 413 to create an image list page 1041 including a list of user images stored in the image database 424 by the above-described processing. The communication control unit 411 transmits the image list page 1041 to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S27A).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 receives the image list page 1041 through the communication unit 603. The communication control unit 611 outputs the received image list page 1041 to the display control unit 613. The display control unit 613 outputs the image list page 1041 to the display unit 605. As a result, the image list page 1041 is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S28A).

  The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a thumbnail image 1042 corresponding to an image for which a keyword is to be set for the mobile terminal 6 from among the displayed thumbnail images 1042 (step S29A). The input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the thumbnail image 1042 has been selected. Accordingly, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page for performing keyword setting to the image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 1042 to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S30A). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the web page creation unit 413 to output to the communication control unit 411 a keyword setting screen for an image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 1042 requested to be provided from the mobile terminal 6. To do.

  The web page creation unit 413 acquires usable keywords from the keyword list database 426, and creates a list of usable keywords (step S31A). The web page creation unit 413 generates a keyword setting page 1051 including a list of created keywords and outputs it to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the keyword setting page to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S32A).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 receives the transmitted keyword setting page 1051 through the communication unit 603. The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 displays the received keyword setting page 1051 on the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613 (step S33A).

  The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a keyword to be set as an image corresponding to the thumbnail image 1042 from the keywords displayed in the keyword selection area 1052 (step S29A). The input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 of the selected keyword. As a result, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for setting the selected keyword to an image corresponding to the thumbnail image 1042 to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S35B). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the keyword setting management unit 416 to set the selected keyword to an image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 1042 obtained from the mobile terminal 6.

  Upon receiving the instruction, the keyword setting management unit 416 stores information indicating that the image corresponding to the selected thumbnail image 1042 is associated with the setting of the selected keyword in the keyword setting database 425 (step S36A). ). Thus, the keyword setting for the image is completed.

  Based on the above, the mobile terminal 6 can transmit the keyword selected by the user among the keywords provided from the management server 4 to the management server 4. The user only has to select one of the keywords provided from the management server 4 on the portable terminal 6, and convenience is improved.

(Image search)
Hereinafter, a flow of processing when searching for an image stored in the image providing site from the user's portable terminal 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 19. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of processing for searching for an image stored in the image database 424. FIG. 17E is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page displayed in a series of processes for searching for an image stored in the image database 24.

  After the member top page 1031 is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S24), the user operates the input unit 604 of the portable terminal 6 to display a search screen for images stored in the image database. When the image 1034 is selected (step S25B), the input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the link image 1034 has been selected. Thereby, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page for searching for an image stored in the image providing site to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S26B). Next, the communication control unit 411 causes the web page creation unit 413 to create an image search page 1061 for inputting a search term. The communication control unit 411 transmits the image search page 1061 created in the web page creation unit 413 to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S27B).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 displays the image search page 1061 received through the communication unit 603 on the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613 (step S28B).

The user can operate the input unit 604 of the portable terminal 6 to input a search word into search word input area 106 2. The input control unit 612 receives this input operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the thumbnail image 1042 has been selected. Accordingly, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page including an image corresponding to the input search term to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603 (step S29B).

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S30B). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the web page creation unit 413 to output a web page including an image corresponding to the search word to the communication control unit 411.

  The web page creation unit 413 instructs the search unit 415 to output image data corresponding to the search term. The search unit 415 searches the keyword setting database 425 for a keyword that matches or is similar to the search word. Subsequently, the search unit 415 acquires an image associated with the searched keyword from the image database 424 and outputs the image to the web page creation unit 413. The web page creation unit 413 generates a search result page (not shown) including the image acquired from the search unit 415. The communication control unit 411 transmits the search result page to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S31B).

  The communication control unit 611 of the mobile terminal 6 displays the search result page received through the communication unit 603 on the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613 (step S32B).

  In the present embodiment, for a predetermined keyword, the search unit 415 acquires an image associated with the keyword from the image database 424, and the web page creation unit 413 includes the search result including the image acquired from the search unit 415. Pages are generated in advance. Accordingly, the user can quickly browse an image associated with a predetermined keyword that matches or is similar to the input search word. That is, it is possible to quickly browse an image desired by the user.

[Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the keyword is set to the image and the image search is performed based on the input of the user to the mobile terminal 6 is described. However, the user to the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 instead of the mobile terminal 6 The captured image management system 10 may be configured to perform based on the input. Further, the photographed image management system 10 may be configured so that keywords can be set for images when the photograph sticker creating apparatus 1 creates an image.

  Further, instead of the processing shown in steps S27A to S31A, the mobile terminal 6 transmits the image specifying information of the image specified by the user to the management server 4, and the management server 4 is associated with the received image specifying information. The captured image management system may be configured such that data related to keywords that match or are similar to the keywords is transmitted to the mobile terminal 6.

  According to said structure, the user can browse the image relevant to the selected image rapidly only by selecting one of the desired images, without being conscious of a keyword.

  The predetermined keyword may relate to an event (for example, a musician's concert, a fashion show, a theater, a special event, a museum special exhibition, etc.). For example, in the management server 4, the web page creation unit 413 creates an event introduction page (not shown) that introduces a certain event, and transmits it to the mobile terminal 6. The event introduction page includes the contents of the event and a button such as “tag image”, and when the user of the mobile terminal 6 selects the button, the web page creation unit 413 displays the page shown in FIG. An image list page 1041 as shown in c) is created and transmitted to the mobile terminal 6.

When the user selects an image from the image list page 1041, the keyword setting management unit 416 automatically associates a keyword corresponding to the event with the selected image, and saves information indicating the association in the keyword setting database 425. To do. At this time, a link image indicating a link to a page related to the event may be displayed on the image search page 1061 displayed by searching with the content of the event. In addition, for any information such as trend information and information on hobbies, the same processing as the processing of the event may be performed.
Further, the special event (event) may be performed by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1. For this purpose, the program and various data in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 may be changed to those for the special event and executed. Examples of the program and various data to be changed include a background image for synthesis, an image for synthesis, editing processing for the image, sound such as guidance voice, BGM, and sound effects as described above.
When the special event is performed by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1, a keyword corresponding to the special event (for example, the name of the special event and an image created by the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 are associated with each other. The management server 4 can acquire an image associated with the keyword or search for a user having user profile information that matches or is similar to the keyword.
Moreover, the following is mentioned as an example in case a keyword is set based on the user's input to the photograph sticker production apparatus 1. That is, in the photo sticker creating apparatus 1, when the user performs a selection operation, a keyword corresponding to the selection operation may be set. In addition, when the special event is performed by the photo sticker creation device 1, the special event is started by putting money into the photo sticker creation device 1 and starting the special event (game play). A keyword corresponding to may be set. Alternatively, when the user performs the selection operation on the photo sticker creating apparatus 1 and the program is changed to the program for the special event and various data, the keyword corresponding to the special event is set. Good.

  Further, when the user sets a keyword for an image in the process shown in step S34, the captured image management system 10 may be configured so that another keyword can be set as a keyword similar to the keyword. .

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  First, differences between the management server 4A according to the present embodiment and the management server 4 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the management server 4A according to the present embodiment.

  The management server 4A is different from the management server 4 in that a control unit 401A and a storage unit 402A are provided instead of the control unit 401 and the storage unit 402. Compared to the control unit 401, the control unit 401A includes a web page creation unit 413A (creation unit, information providing unit) and a search unit 415A (search unit) instead of the web page creation unit 413 and the search unit 415, and includes member management. The difference is that a portion 418 is further provided. Also, the storage unit 402A differs from the storage unit 402 in that it includes a member database 422A instead of the member database 422.

(Web page creation unit 413A)
Similarly to the web page creation unit 413, the web page creation unit 413A creates a web page displayed on the mobile terminal 6. The web page creation unit 413A is different from the web page creation unit 413 in the web page to be created. Details will be described later.

(Search unit 415A)
In addition to the processing performed by search unit 415, search unit 415A searches for a user associated with a keyword including a keyword that matches or is similar to a predetermined keyword.

(Member Management Department 418)
The member management unit 418 stores various information related to users who are members of the image providing site in the keyword list database 426. In particular, in this embodiment, the member management unit 418 stores the keyword designated by the user as user profile information 427 (user attribute information) in the member database 422A for each user through the communication control unit 411.

(Member database 422A)
In the member database 422A, user profile information 427 set as a keyword that the user is interested in is stored for each user in addition to the user identification information 428.

(Profile setting and provision of information corresponding to the profile)
Hereinafter, the flow of processing for setting the user's own profile from the user's mobile terminal 6 and providing the mobile terminal 6 with information corresponding to the set profile will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page displayed in a series of processes relating to setting of a profile and provision of information corresponding to the profile. FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of a series of processes related to profile setting and provision of information corresponding to the profile.

  When the user makes a login request through the mobile terminal 6, the member top page 1031A is displayed on the display unit 605 (step S24). The member top page 1031A includes a link image 1035 for displaying a profile setting screen in addition to the configuration of the member top page 1031A.

  When the user selects the link image 1035 for displaying the profile setting screen by operating the input unit 604 of the portable terminal 6 (step S25C), the input control unit 612 receives this selection operation, and the link image The communication control unit 611 is notified that 1035 has been selected. Accordingly, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for providing a web page for setting a profile to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S26C). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the web page creation unit 413A to set a page for setting a profile.

  The web page creation unit 413 acquires usable keywords from the keyword list database 426 and creates a list of usable keywords. The web page creation unit 413 generates a profile setting page 1081 including a list of created keywords and outputs it to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the profile setting page to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S27C).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 displays the profile setting page 1081 received through the communication unit 603 on the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613 (step S28C).

  The user operates the input unit 604 of the mobile terminal 6 to select a keyword to be set as the user's own profile from the keyword list displayed in the keyword selection area 1082 (step S29C). The input control unit 612 receives this selection operation and notifies the communication control unit 611 that the thumbnail image 1042 has been selected. Accordingly, the communication control unit 611 transmits a request for setting the selected keyword as the user's own profile and for providing the member top page to the management server 4 through the communication unit 603.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 receives the transmitted request through the communication unit 403 (step S30C). Next, the communication control unit 411 instructs the member management unit 418 to set the keyword included in the request as the user profile.

  In response to this instruction, the member management unit 418 stores the keyword included in the request in the member database 422A as the user profile information 427 in association with the user who has accepted the login in the process shown in step S22 (step S31C). The communication control unit 411 is notified that the user profile information 427 has been saved.

  Upon receiving this notification, the communication control unit 411 creates a member top page including user specifying information of a user having user profile information 427 that matches or is similar to the registered user profile information 427 (hereinafter referred to as a similar user). The web page creation unit 413A is instructed to do so.

  In response to the instruction, the web page creation unit 413A instructs the search unit 415A to output the user specifying information of the similar user. Receiving the instruction, search unit 415A searches for similar users from member database 422A (step S32C). Subsequently, the search unit 415A acquires similar user identification information from the member database 422A. The search unit 415A outputs the acquired specific user identification information to the web page creation unit 413A.

  The web page creation unit 413A to which the similar user specific information is output creates the member top page 1031B including the similar user specific information. The web page creation unit 413A outputs the created member top page to the communication control unit 411. The communication control unit 411 transmits the member top page 1031B including the output similar user specific information to the mobile terminal 6 (step S33C).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 displays the member top page 1031B received through the communication unit 603 on the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613 (step S28C).

  In the present embodiment, the web page creation unit 413A creates a member top page 1031B including specific information of similar users in advance. Thereby, the user can browse the user specific information linked | related with the profile information which is the same as or similar to own profile information quickly. That is, the user can quickly grasp other users whose part of their profile information is the same or similar. As a result, users with the same or similar part of the profile information can be introduced quickly to each other.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, the member database 422A stores the user identification information 428 in association with the user contact information indicated by the user identification information 428, for example, the terminal or e-mail address used by the user, and creates data. The unit 413A may configure the server 4A to provide information corresponding to the predetermined keyword to a contact associated with the user specifying information associated with the predetermined keyword in the user profile information 427. More specifically, for example, as the user profile information in the member database 422A, the server 4A is configured so that the data creation unit 413A distributes the news related to the entertainer to the mail address of the user in which the name of the entertainer is set. May be.

  According to the above configuration, information corresponding to the predetermined keyword is provided to a user whose part of the profile information is the same as or similar to the predetermined keyword, so that the service capability of the server is improved.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS.

  First, differences between the management server 4B according to the present embodiment and the management server 4 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the management server 4B according to the present embodiment.

  The management server 4B is different from the management server 4 in that a control unit 401B and a storage unit 402B are provided instead of the control unit 401 and the storage unit 402. Compared with the control unit 401, the control unit 401B replaces the web page creation unit 413 and the search unit 415 with a web page creation unit 413B (creation unit, similar information providing unit), a search unit 415B (search unit, identification unit), And the image management unit 414B is different. Further, the storage unit 402B is different from the storage unit 402 in that an image database 424B is provided instead of the image database 424.

(Web page creation unit 413B)
The web page creation unit 413B creates a web page to be displayed on the mobile terminal 6 in the same manner as the web page creation unit 413. The web page creation unit 413B is different from the web page creation unit 413 in the web page to be created. Details will be described later.

(Search unit 415B)
In addition to the processing performed by the search unit 415, the search unit 415B uses the feature information 430 indicating the feature of the subject in the image stored in the image database 424B and uses the subject image of the predetermined user included in the image database 424B. A process for specifying a similar subject image is performed.

(Image management unit 414B)
In addition to the processing performed by the image management unit 414, the image management unit 414B creates feature information 430 that is information indicating the characteristics of the subject in the image and stores the image ID and the image ID of the image when the image is stored in the image database. Perform the process of saving in association.

(Image database 424B)
In addition to the information stored in the image database 424, the image database 424B stores feature information 430 indicating the characteristics of the subject in the image stored in the image database 424B. In addition, since the technique which extracts the feature information 430 from an image is known, the description is abbreviate | omitted in this application.

(Providing an image of a subject similar to the user)
Next, a process for providing an image in which a subject similar to the user is captured will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of a series of processes related to providing an image in which a subject similar to the user is captured.

  The communication control unit 411 of the management server 4 accepts a login request from the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S22). Next, the communication control unit 411 outputs the received member ID and password to the web page creation unit 413C, and instructs the web page creation unit 413B to create a member top page.

  Similar to the web page creation unit 413, the web page creation unit 413B collates the entered member ID and password with the member database 422 to determine whether or not the user is registered as a member on the image providing site. . If it is determined that it is registered, data for generating the member top page 1031 is acquired from the web page database 423.

  Subsequently, the web page creation unit 413B instructs the search unit 415B to output specific information of an image in which a subject similar to the subject in the image created by the logged-in user is captured. In response to the instruction, the search unit 415B extracts from the image database 424B the specific information of the image stored in association with the input member ID, that is, the image created by the logged-in user (step S23C). Subsequently, the search unit 415B searches the image database 424B for (specifies) specific information of an image similar to the extracted image by comparing the feature information 430 (step S24C). The search unit 415B outputs the specific information of the searched image to the web page creation unit 413B. The web page creation unit 413B creates a top page including specific information of the searched image, and outputs the top page to the communication control unit 411. The web page creation unit 413B may create a top page with words such as “maybe an image showing you” added to the specific information of the searched image. Further, the web page creation unit 413B may add a user ID associated with the searched image to the specific information of the searched image. For example, if the user ID associated with the searched image is “Taro”, the web page creation unit 413B searches for words such as “Maybe Taro uploaded an image of you” or the like. You may attach | subject to the specific information of the made image.

  The communication control unit 411 transmits the member top page created by the web page creation unit 413B to the mobile terminal 6 through the communication unit 403 (step S25C).

  The communication control unit 611 of the portable terminal 6 outputs the top page received through the communication unit 603 to the display unit 605 through the display control unit 613. As a result, the top page including the specific information of the subject image similar to the subject image in the image created by the logged-in user on the display unit 605 is displayed (step S26C). That is, a top page including a subject image similar to the logged-in user is displayed.

  Thereby, the user can grasp an image including a subject image similar to his / her subject image. As a result, the user makes a request to the management server 4 or the portable terminal 6 possessed by the user who created the image so as to delete the grasped image from the communication network, or creates the grasped image. Or request exchanges with the user. As a result, it is possible to protect personal information and improve convenience for the user.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, a configuration has been described in which the top page after login includes a subject image similar to the subject image in the image created by the logged-in user himself, but the subject image in the image created by the user himself The configuration for presenting similar subject images is not limited to this configuration. For example, for each user registered in the member database 422, specific information on the subject image similar to the subject image in the image created by the user is created, and an email including the specific information on the created image is transmitted to each user. The management server 4B may be configured as described above.

[Example of software implementation]
The control blocks (especially the control unit 201, the control unit 401, and the control unit 601) of the photo sticker creating apparatus 1, the management server 4, and the portable terminal 6 are logic circuits (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like. It may be realized by software, or may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  In the latter case, the photo sticker creating apparatus 1, the management server 4, and the portable terminal 6 can read a program instruction that is software for realizing each function, and the program and various data can be read by a computer (or CPU). ROM (Read Only Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program, and the like. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. Further, the program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used as a photographed image management system that stores a photographed image of a user created in a photo sticker creating apparatus in a management server.

1 Photo sticker creation device 4, 4A, 4B Management server (server)
6 Mobile terminals (terminal devices)
11 shooting unit 12 editing unit 13 subsequent customer service unit 21 shooting unit 201 control unit 311 communication control unit 312 shooting control unit 313 editing control unit 314 print control unit 315 subsequent customer service control unit 401 control unit 402 storage unit 403 communication unit 411 communication control unit 412 Mail creating unit 413 Web page creating unit (creating means, keyword providing means)
413A Web page creation unit (creation means, information provision means)
413B Web page creation unit (creating means, similar information providing means)
414 Image management unit 415, 415A Search unit (search means)
415B search unit (search means, specifying means)
601 Control unit 602 Storage unit 603 Communication unit 604 Input unit 605 Display unit 611 Communication control unit 612 Input control unit 613 Display control unit

Claims (9)

A server that connects to a user terminal device and a photo sticker creation device via a communication network and provides data that can be displayed on the terminal device,
A storage unit for storing image identification information capable of specifying an image photographed and created by the photo sticker creation device, and related information associated with a keyword;
Search means for searching for a keyword that matches or is similar to a predetermined keyword from the related information;
Creating means for creating the data including the image specifying information associated with the keyword searched by the search means as the data associated with the predetermined keyword ;
Receiving means for receiving a search term input by the user from the terminal device via the communication network;
A said data said producing means in advance, and the data associated with the predetermined keyword that matches the search term said receiving means has received, associated to the predetermined keywords similar to the search word server and further comprising the above data, and transmitting means for transmitting to the terminal device via the communication network.   2. The server according to claim 1, further comprising keyword providing means for providing a plurality of the predetermined keywords to the terminal device or the photo sticker creating device. The storage unit further stores user attribute information that associates user identification information that can identify a user and profile information of the user,
The search means further searches the user attribute information for profile information including a keyword that matches or is similar to a predetermined keyword, and
The server according to claim 1, wherein the creation unit further creates the data including user specifying information associated with the profile information searched by the search unit. The user attribute information is further associated with the user identification information and a terminal device used by the user,
The server according to claim 3, further comprising information providing means for providing information corresponding to the predetermined keyword to a terminal device associated with the user specifying information included in the data related to the predetermined keyword. . The related information further relates to the image specifying information and feature information of a subject image included in an image that can be specified by the image specifying information.
The storage unit further stores user attribute information in which the feature information of the subject image of the user is associated with the terminal device used by the user,
Specifying means for specifying a subject image similar to the user's subject image using the feature information of the user's subject image;
The server according to claim 1, further comprising: similar information providing means for providing image specifying information of an image including the subject image specified by the specifying means to the terminal device used by the user. . The search means acquires a keyword associated in the storage unit with respect to the image specifying information of the image specified in the terminal device or the photo sticker creating device,
The server according to claim 1, wherein a keyword that matches or is similar to the keyword is searched from the related information. A control method for controlling a server that connects to a user terminal device and a photo sticker creation device via a communication network and provides data that can be displayed on the terminal device,
The server includes a storage unit that stores related information in which image specifying information capable of specifying an image photographed and created by the photo sticker creating device is associated with a keyword,
A search step for searching the related information for a keyword that matches or is similar to the predetermined keyword;
Creating the data including the image specifying information associated with the keyword retrieved in the retrieval step as the data associated with the predetermined keyword, and
Receiving a search term input by the user from the terminal device via the communication network;
A the data created in advance in the creating step, and the data associated with the predetermined keyword that matches the search term that is received in the receiving step, associated with the predetermined keywords similar to the search word control method characterized by was the above data, further including a transmission step of transmitting to the terminal device via the communication network.   The control program for functioning a computer as a server of any one of Claim 1 to 6, Comprising: The control program for functioning a computer as said each means.   A computer-readable storage medium in which the control program according to claim 8 is recorded.

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