KR101537331B1 - Apparatus and method for making digital collage - Google Patents

Abstract

A digital collage generating apparatus and method are provided. The digital collage generating apparatus includes a transmitter and receiver for receiving contents from a plurality of slave devices and a generator for generating a digital collage in which the received contents are combined in a predetermined form.

Description

[0001] Apparatus and method for making digital collage [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating a digital collage, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for generating a digital collage by combining contents produced by a plurality of users.

In recent years, mobile devices such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and PCS (Personal Communication Systems) with cameras have become popular, and an environment where users can freely take images, videos, and the like anytime and anywhere is provided.

In addition, users can connect to various web sites through predetermined software in the mobile device to perform mutual communication. For example, users connect to Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook, etc. through MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software) software to communicate with each other in a community environment.

Users can upload their photos, videos, etc. to their personal homepage and share them with other users.

However, there is a need for a content creation method that reflects the personality and emotion of a large number of users and can increase intimacy between users.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for generating a digital collage to produce a unique digital collage by combining contents produced by a plurality of users.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a digital collage generating apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a transmitter and receiver for receiving contents from a plurality of slave devices, and a generator for generating a digital collage in which the received contents are combined in a predetermined form .

According to the digital collage generating apparatus and method of the present invention as described above, one or more of the following effects can be obtained.

First, there is an advantage that a digital collage can be made more unique by combining contents created by a plurality of users, rather than creating digital contents by oneself.

Second, it has the advantage of expressing its sensitivity, experience, etc. in digital collage.

Third, there is an advantage that a short story can be produced according to the role of the user in the mobile device, and can be generated as a digital collage.

Fourth, a plurality of users collaborate to produce one story content, which can help to form a bond between users.

1 is a block diagram of a digital collage generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a screen for selecting a member to participate in the production of a digital collage from a list of host devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a process of creating contents constituting a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a combined form of contents constituting a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates a process of transmitting a digital collage according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
6 illustrates a screen in which a digital collage and a creation date are synchronized according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows a list of members that have produced a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart of a digital collage generating method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows a story template according to another embodiment of the present invention.
10 to 12 illustrate a process of fabricating a digital collage according to another embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a flowchart of a digital collage generating method using a story template according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

1 is a block diagram of a digital collage generating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The digital collage generating apparatus 100 includes a transmitting and receiving unit 110, a sink unit 120, a storage unit 130, a generating unit 140, and an output unit 150. The sink unit 120 may include a control unit 125 and the generating unit 140 may include a configuration unit 143 and an effect unit 145. [ The digital collage generating apparatus 100 may be implemented as a mobile apparatus and a communication apparatus to which a display apparatus is attached, and the components of the digital collage generating apparatus 100 may be mounted in a host apparatus that is a user's mobile apparatus, Some components may be mounted within the slave devices of the members.

The transceiver 110 receives contents from a plurality of members selected from the user's host device. The host device may be a user's mobile device, and the user selects members to create content from a list stored within the mobile device. Then, the user transmits a message to the selected members through the transmission / reception unit 110 to request the contents to be produced. The mobile devices (slave devices) of the members receive the request message from the host device, and the members transmit the contents to the host device by producing the contents. Therefore, the host device receives the contents from the members through the transmission / reception unit 110. [ Then, the host device can transmit the completed digital collage composed of a plurality of contents to the predetermined device through the transceiver 110. At this time, the combination may include the meaning of merge or arrangement.

If a member who has received the request message refuses to participate in the production of the digital collage, a reject message for the request message is automatically transmitted from the slave device of the member to the host device, Can be confirmed. Also, even if the member who receives the request message agrees, the agreement message for the request message is automatically transmitted from the slave device of the member to the host device so that the user can confirm the agreement message.

In another embodiment, the transmission / reception unit 110 can receive a story template, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 9, from a service provider (sevice provider). A story template contains a plurality of objects, which may be background images, characters, etc., necessary to construct a digital collage. The story template can be divided into sections according to the types of objects. The transmission / reception unit 110 transmits the received story template to the members (slave devices), and the members select a predetermined object in the story template according to their roles, and produce contents. At this time, if the order of transmission, that is, the content production order, is set by the user, the story template may be transmitted to each member according to the order. For a specific description, reference is made to Figs. 9 to 12 below.

The sink unit 120 sinks the content and the member making the content into the storage unit 130 to be described later. The sink 120 may sink the information of the members participating in the digital collage with the digital collage or may sink the digital collage generated by the generator 140 and the digital collage, (130). ≪ / RTI > At this time, the digital collage may be stored as an image, video, or application file in a combined form of the received content. In addition, the sink unit 120 may include a controller 125 for determining whether the received content is the content transmitted from the slave device that has received the request message.

That is, the control unit 125 determines whether the received content is the content transmitted from the selected member, and selects only the content for the digital collage to be stored in the storage unit 130, which will be described later.

The storage unit 130 stores the content and the digital collage generated through the generation unit 140 to be described later. In addition, for the production of a digital collage, a member selected in the host device, contents created by the member, a digital collage, and synch information of members participating in the production of the digital collage may be stored. At this time, the synchronized information may be stored by time or by date, and history information of digital collages composed of members and contents and contents produced by the members may be managed. That is, the user can select a predetermined member from the list of members stored in the storage unit 130, and can confirm the digital collage participating in the selected member and the produced contents. In addition, the user can select a predetermined digital collage in the digital collage stored in the storage unit 130, and confirm information about the participant in the selected digital collage. The storage unit 130 may be a flash memory, a memory chip, a hard disk, or the like. The storage unit 130 may store the story template received from the service provider in another embodiment.

The generating unit 140 generates a digital collage in which the contents are merged into a predetermined form. The digital collage is a combination of contents received from a plurality of slave devices, for example, a mosaic shape in which image pieces are combined. Since the digital collage is a combination of contents produced by the respective members, the individuality of each member can be expressed. In addition, intimacy can be created between members participating in digital collage production. A digital collage can be created as a collaborative work among a plurality of members on a single topic. For example, contents are produced on the subject of a birthday of one member of a family member, and the created contents are combined and created as a digital collage . The generating unit 140 may include a configuration unit 143 for combining the received contents into a predetermined form and an effect unit 145 for applying a predetermined effect to the combined contents.

The configuration unit 143 combines the received contents into a predetermined form. At this time, the user can set a form to be combined in advance in the menu. In addition, the received contents can be combined into a thumbnail form by default and output to the screen. The form of the combined contents can be output to the screen through the output unit 150, which will be described later.

The effect unit 145 applies a predetermined effect to the received contents. In addition, the effect unit 145 can apply a predetermined effect to the generated digital collage. The received contents may be various kinds of images, text, video, and the like. For example, the effect unit 145 may apply effects such as transforming characters of a received content or a digital collage into a flame shape, or converting a color image to black and white. In addition, the effect unit 145 may apply various filtering effects such as sketch, shapen, render, noise, invert, posterize, etc. to the received content or the generated digital collage .

Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the creator 140 may generate the content by combining the selected objects in the story template in the slave device. The content completed in the first mobile device (first slave device) is transmitted to the next second mobile device (second slave device), and the second mobile device adds the predetermined object selected from the story template to the received content and combines them do. With this principle, a final content in which a plurality of objects are combined is generated and transmitted to the host device to be generated as a digital collage. At this time, the contents production order among the mobile devices may be the order set by the user (host device), and the story template may be transmitted to each mobile device according to the order.

The output unit 150 outputs the digital collage to the screen. In addition, the output unit 150 may output the members participating in the production of the digital collage on the screen. In addition, the output unit 150 can output information on the members and the contents produced by the members in a list form on the screen. The output unit 150 may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode OLED, Organic Light-Emitting Diode) or a plasma display panel (PDP).

Each component shown in FIG. 1 may be composed of a kind of 'module'. The term 'module' refers to a hardware component such as software or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and the module performs certain roles. However, a module is not limited to software or hardware. A module may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, a module may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, and processes, functions, attributes, procedures, Microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The functionality provided by the components and modules may be combined into a smaller number of components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules.

FIG. 2 shows a screen for selecting a member to participate in the production of a digital collage from a list of host devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

For example, a user wants to create a digital album for his / her family's mother as a birthday present and send it to the mother's mobile device. At this time, the members of the family are four members, and are called member-A, member-B, member-C, and member-D, respectively. The user requests each member to create content for digital album production. At this time, the contents may be various digital data including characters, photographs, video, and the like. The user first selects the members of the family from the list stored in his or her mobile device (host device) in order to request each member to make the content. In this case, the list may be a general global address book or a group list grouped into a predetermined group. In the case of a group list, for example, when a group-A is selected, the members grouped in the group can be collectively selected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the group list 200 may be composed of a character group 202, a video group 204, and an image group 206. The user can select a desired group and select a member included in the group to participate in the production of the digital collage. At this time, the character group 202 may include a list of members that have been created and sent to the host device among the members who have participated in the production of the digital collage with respect to a specific topic. In the case of the video group 204, May include a list of the members who have participated in the production of the digital collage for a specific subject and have transmitted the video to the host device. Thus, the user can conveniently select members to create specific content in the group.

First, the user selects the video group 204 and selects member-A, member-B, member-C, and member-D in the member list 220 (S201, S211). At this time, the information 208 of the selected members in the user's host device is arranged in the form of letters and images in a predetermined axis direction of the screen, and the members selected by the user can be confirmed.

Then, a message is created for each member in order to request the creation of the contents to configure the digital collage (S221). For example, a request message 210 for making a content production request for mother's birthday is created. When the user creates a request message 210 and transmits the request message 210 to the selected members, each member receives a request message 210 from his / her mobile device (slave device).

On the other hand, the members that are frequently communicated with the user for the production of contents can be automatically provided with a list and provided to the user. At this time, an image representative of each member may be composed of a list. The image representing the member (for example, member-A) may be the most recently produced content of member-A or the photo data of member-A.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process of creating contents constituting a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the members receiving the request message 210 can create content (text, video, photo, etc.) from their mobile devices. At this time, the members receiving the request message 210 may permit (212) or deny (214) whether to create the contents to configure the digital collage. When the member who receives the request message 210 rejects the request message 210, the denial message for the request message 210 is automatically transmitted to the host device so that the user can confirm the denial message. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user agrees to produce content for composing a digital collage. Of course, even if a member receiving the request message 210 agrees, the agreement message for the request message 210 is automatically transmitted to the host device so that the user can confirm the agreement message.

For example, member-A and member-C take pictures of a family to produce photographic contents (not shown), member-B shoots a cake to produce video contents 216 (S311) D creates (not shown) a text content composed of a message " Congratulations on birthday ".

Then, each member clicks the save button 218 by clicking on the save button 218, and then transmits the created content to the host device by clicking the send button 220 (S321).

FIG. 4 shows a combined form of contents constituting a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the user receives contents transmitted from the mobile device by the respective members (S401). At this time, a reception message 402 indicating that the contents are received from the selected members may be displayed on the screen. The received contents may be combined with the information 400 of the members making the contents in a predetermined form, (Step S411). In addition, the contents selected from the host device and the contents received from the members can be stored in a predetermined storage location in sync with each other.

The received contents may be arranged in a predetermined form on the screen in combination for generating a digital collage. In other words, the combined contents reflect the individuality and emotion of the members who produced each content, and are produced in accordance with the theme of celebrating the birthday of the mother.

In addition, the user can select and apply a predetermined effect to the combined contents. For example, various filtering effects such as sketch 404 and posterize may be applied to the combined content, or a roll-out 406 effect may be applied such that the album is turned over one by one as an album (S421, S431) .

At this time, when 16 contents are received from four members, four contents per screen may be arranged in combination. When the user clicks a predetermined button, the four contents arranged on the screen are formed into files, so that a total of four digital collages can be generated. In addition, a total of 16 received contents may be combined into one content to be generated as one image file.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process of transmitting a digital collage according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the user can transmit a digital collage to the mother (S501). As described above, the form of the digital collage may be in the form of a combination of the received contents, such as an image, a video, or an application file. As described above, the user can specify the combination form of the received contents through a predetermined menu. In addition, the user can preset the arrangement type, effects, and the like of the contents to be output on the screen.

When transmitting the digital collage, a predetermined message 502 may be attached (S511). It is needless to say that voice, music, image, icon, video and the like can be additionally attached in addition to the message 502. It is also possible to attach the information of the members participating in the production of the digital collage together.

6 illustrates a screen in which a digital collage and a creation date are synchronized according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6, the digital collage is synchronized (602) with the date on which the digital collage was created. Thereafter, a digital collage synchronized with the date selected by the user may be provided to the user have. That is, when the digital collage is generated on the 10th day, when the user selects 10 days on the date output screen of the calendar form, the digital collage synchronized with the date is output to the screen and provided to the user. Thus, the history of the digital collage generated thereby can be managed.

FIG. 7 shows a list of members that have produced a digital collage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the members making the digital collage may be arranged in the form of a list 702. When the user selects a predetermined member 704 from the arranged list 702, the digital collage or the created content 706 participating in the selected member 704 may be displayed on the screen. That is, the members, the contents, and the digital collage are synchronized with each other through predetermined information (for example, a contact name or a name of a member), and the digital collage interrelationship Can be managed.

If there is a large amount of content produced by the selected member, the contents may be arranged in a list format according to the order in which the contents are produced. The history of the produced content can be managed, and the history of the digital collage participating in the selected members can be managed on the same principle. Also, when the user places the pointer at a predetermined position of the digital collage, the information of the member making the part of the digital collage where the pointer is located may be output to the screen. This allows the user to know the information of the member who created each part of the digital collage.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a digital collage according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, a plurality of members to participate in the production of a digital collage are selected in the user's host device (S801).

Then, the slave device of the selected members requests creation of contents (S811). The members who receive the request message produce their contents with their slave devices. The content may include text, images, video, and the like. The members can make various contents using slave devices such as a camcorder, a PDA, a PCS, and the like. Then, the produced contents are retransmitted to the host device.

In the next step, the host device receives and combines contents produced by the members (S821). The combined contents can be arranged in a predetermined form and output to a screen.

Then, the combined contents are stored to generate a digital collage (S831). The digital collage can be stored as a file such as image, music, or video. Further, the digital collage may be stored as an application file to which a predetermined effect is applied. For example, a digital collage created (produced) by an application file can be a form in which content produced by members is rolled out one by one like an album, or simultaneously a music or voice message is output.

FIG. 9 shows a story template according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, the host device (user) may request the slave devices (members) to make a digital collage, and may combine the contents received from the slave devices to generate a digital collage.

At this time, in addition to the above-described method, the user can share the role of the members in the production of the digital collage, and provide the story template 900 according to the roles shared by the members.

9, the story template 900 includes a background image 902, a character 904, music 906, a script 908 (e.g., A dialog box or a text box), and a photographic image 910, and can be divided into sections according to the type of each object. A story template 900 that bundles the various sections can be sent to each member. In addition, only necessary sections may be transmitted to the members depending on the role of the members. In addition, the member may receive the story template 900 from the user (host device), or the member may directly receive the story template 900 from the service provider.

For example, a user may create a character for a member-A, a role for producing a background image of the character to the member-B, a role for creating a dialog box for the character to the member C, And assigning roles to be produced. At this time, the user can recognize, through a predetermined message, whether or not he or she will participate in the production of the digital collage. Then, the user can deliver a message including the role of each member to the members who are allowed to participate in the production of the digital collage. Hereinafter, a process of creating a digital collage using a story template 900 will be described for the members who are allowed to participate in the production of a digital collage.

10, the user specifies a simple configuration type 1002 among the configuration types of contents and transmits the story template 900 to member-A (S1001). At this time, the user can transmit to the member-A a message 1004 indicating that his or her role is to produce a character. The configuration type of the content may be selected when the content is received from the members, and then the contents are combined into a predetermined form for the generation of the digital collage.

Member-A selects the character section 904 from the story template 900 received from the user based on the simple configuration type 1002 received from the user and selects the character section 904 of the character 1012 included in the character section 904 The desired character 1014 is selected (S1011).

In the next step, the character selected as the simple configuration type 1002 is placed (S1021), and the member-A transmits the character created (or selected) by itself to the member-B (S1031). At this time, the story template 900 is sent to the member-B together.

The story template 900 can be delivered according to the order of creation of the contents set by the first user from the member A to the member-D. To this end, the above-described components of FIG. 1 may further include a setting unit (not shown) for setting a production order of contents. Therefore, if the host device sends a story template 900 to the member-B after the member-A transmits a predetermined message to the host device after the member-A finishes producing the character, or after the member-A finishes the character production, The story template 900 may be transmitted to the member-B in accordance with the order in which the story template 900 is produced.

11, member-B receives character 1014 and story template 900 from member-A, and uses background image section < RTI ID = 0.0 > (902), and selects a desired background image 1112 from the background images included in the background image section 902 (S1101).

Then, the character 1014 and the background image 1112 received from the member-A are combined by the generator 140 and output (S1111).

Likewise, member-C receives the combined character of background image 1112 from member-B and creates a dialog box according to its role. To do so, a script section 902 of the story template 900 is selected and a desired one of the dialog boxes included in the script section 902 is selected (S1121).

Then, the member C adds a predetermined message 1116 to the selected dialog box 1114 (S1131).

Then, the combined character of the dialog box 1114 to which the message is added is output (S1141).

When the combined character of the dialog box 1114 is transmitted to the member-D, the member-D selects the music section 906 of the story template 900 to add music according to its role, (Step S 1201).

Then, the music 1212 selected by the member-D is applied to the character in which the dialog box 1114 is combined from the member -C (S1211).

In this manner, the finalized content 1214 is transmitted to the host device of the user (S1221).

The user can save the finalized content 1214 in this step S1221 as a digital collage.

Also, the above-described processes (S1001 to S1221) can be repeated to produce another scene (1216).

13 is a flowchart of a digital collage generating method using a story template according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, the transmission / reception unit 110 sequentially transmits the story template to a plurality of slave devices in accordance with the content creation order set by the host device (S1301).

Then, the plurality of slave devices produce the contents using the story template according to the roles shared by the slave devices (S1311). Then, the finished content is generated through the final slave device.

Then, the final slave device transmits the completed content to the host device through the transmission / reception unit 110 (S1321).

In the next step, the generating unit 140 generates a digital collage using the completed contents (S1321). If a plurality of contents are received, the contents may be combined into a predetermined form and generated as a digital collage.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

110: Transmitting / receiving unit 120:
130: storage unit 140:
150:

Claims (12)

A transmitting and receiving unit for receiving contents from a plurality of slave devices selected by a user of the host device;
A controller for determining whether the received contents are contents transmitted by the selected slave device; And
And generating a digital collage by synthesizing the contents in a predetermined form. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a sink unit for sinking the date when the digital collage was created with the digital collage or for sinking the members participating in the production of the contents with the digital collage. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the generating unit includes an effect unit for giving a predetermined effect to the digital collage or the contents. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an output unit for outputting any one of information on the digital collage, the contents, and members participating in the production of the contents to a screen. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the output unit outputs to the screen information of a member who has made a content corresponding to the part when the pointer is located at a predetermined part of the digital collage. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the output unit outputs a digital collage synchronized with a selected date when a predetermined date is selected. A transmitting / receiving unit for receiving content composed of a combination of objects selected from a story template in a slave device selected by a user of the host device;
A controller for determining whether the received contents are contents transmitted by the selected slave device; And
And a generator for generating a digital collage using the content. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the story template includes any one of a background image, a character, a music, a dialog box, and a photographic image. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the generator comprises a component for combining the contents into a predetermined form when the contents have a plurality of contents. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the story template is sequentially transmitted to a plurality of slave devices in the order set in the host device. A digital collage generating method of synthesizing contents in a predetermined form,
Selecting a plurality of slave devices by a user of the host device;
Requesting the selected slave device to produce the contents;
Receiving the contents from the slave device and determining whether the received contents are contents transmitted by the selected slave device;
Synthesizing the received contents based on the determination result; And
And generating the synthesized content as the digital collage. Receiving content composed of a combination of objects selected from a story template in a slave device selected by a user of the host device;
Determining whether the received contents are contents transmitted by the selected slave device; And
And generating a digital collage using the received content based on the determination result.

Images