KR20040001583A - System and Method for Providing a Picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A service system and a method for providing video are provided to express an individual character of each user by providing composite video data by combining the video data with image data according to the user's taste. CONSTITUTION: A user managing element(402) stores and manages personal information, identification information, video related information of a user who wants to connect to a contents providing system to use video related contents. A video data processor(404) stores video data of the user inputted through a personal computer with a digital camera in a database, and edits the video data according to control of the user. An image data processor(406) provides various images to the user and stores image data selected by the user in the database, and edits the selected image according to a request of the user. A data composite element(408) composes the video data with the image data.

Description

System and Method for Providing a Picture}

The present invention relates to a system for providing an image using a digital camera, and more particularly, to an image providing service system and a method that can use content while viewing a state of a counterpart between users connected to a communication network.

With the dissemination of personal computers and the activation of the Internet, an industry that provides various contents to users using the Internet is developing day by day. Among various contents provided through the Internet, the chat service has been in the spotlight as a representative content service to date from PC communication generation using a telephone line.

Chat is a service that a large number of users accessing a communication network send and receive messages. In accordance with the high speed network and the large capacity of personal computers, video devices such as digital cameras are attached to personal computers. The video chat service that can send and receive messages while watching is widely used. Unlike the past chat service, which simply exchanges messages, the video chat service can observe the facial expressions of the other party in the conversation, thereby adding interest to the chat.

However, such a video chat is performed in a state where the digital camera is placed in front of the user, thereby exposing his or her background space not to be disclosed to others. In addition, when a plurality of users are connected to one chat room to use a video chat service, it is difficult to find a feature in an image of a user that is displayed, which makes it difficult to identify each of the plurality of users at a glance.

In order to compensate for this disadvantage, there is a method of changing the color of video data by controlling the options of the video device in hardware such as setting the video device to the black and white mode. However, this method is limited only to the change of the overall color and can not express the individuality of each user, and there is a problem that the image quality is deformed and output according to the type of the video equipment, most users modify the video data input to the video equipment It is common to use it as it is without.

Recently, not only video chat, but also e-commerce, internet meetings, and internet dating services have been developed and provided with a number of services that can use contents while watching the faces of participants using video equipment. Even in such a service, the input image information is displayed on the counterpart's computer as it is, and thus, there is a disadvantage in that a plurality of user images are displayed in a similar form because individual personalities cannot be expressed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a system and method for providing an image providing service which can express a user's image individually by synthesizing image information with user information input to an imaging device. have.

In addition, the present invention provides a system and method for providing an image providing service that can prevent the degradation of the image quality and color of the image information when the image information is modified by synthesizing the user's image information displayed on the computer without changing the hardware of the video equipment There are technical challenges.

1 is an exemplary diagram of a communication network to which an image providing service system according to the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the image providing service system shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart for explaining an image providing service method according to the present invention;

4 is a block diagram illustrating an image providing service method according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10-1 to 10-n: personal computer 20: content providing system

30: Internet 40: image providing service system

110-1 to 110-n: Digital camera 402: User management means

404: video data processing means 406: image data processing means

408: means for synthesizing data 410: database

412: user database 414: video data database

416: image data database 418: composite data database

100: monitor 102, 104, 106: participant display window

108: chat window

The present invention for achieving the above-described technical problem is a system for providing image data to a user using image-related content in connection with a content providing system for providing a service on the Internet, by using the content to access the content providing system User management means for storing and managing personal information, identification information, and image related information about a user who wants to use image related content among users in a database; Video data processing means for storing video data of a user input through a personal computer with a digital camera attached thereto and editing the video data under the control of the user; Image data processing means for providing various images to the user, storing image data selected by the user as the user selects a desired image, and editing the selected image according to the user's request; And data synthesizing means for synthesizing the video data and the image data.

Here, video-related content includes content used in video chat, video e-commerce, video meetings, video dating, and the like. In addition, the video data processing means has a function of deleting and surface-processing the video data according to a user's control, and the image data processing means includes a function of adjusting, combining, and changing the color of the selected image data.

In addition, the present invention is an image providing service method for providing image data to a user using image-related content in connection with a content providing system that provides a service on the Internet, comprising: (a) a user accessing the content providing system Checking whether video data is input from the user's personal computer as one of related contents is to be used; (b) confirming whether to select image data when the video data of the user is input; (c) confirming whether or not to synthesize the video data and the image data when the user selects a desired image by using the image data; (d) transmitting the image data selected by the user to the content providing system when the user who selects the image data wants to use only the image data without synthesizing the data; And (e) synthesizing the video data of the user and the image data selected by the user when the user wants to synthesize the video data and the image data, and transmitting the synthesized data to the content providing system.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, video data refers to data corresponding to a user's actual input through an image device, and image data refers to graphic data such as a background screen that can be combined with video data, and synthetic data refers to video data. And data that combine image data.

1 is an exemplary diagram of a communication network to which an image providing service system according to the present invention is applied.

As shown, the personal computer (10-1 ~ 10-n) may be attached to the video equipment, such as digital cameras (110-1 ~ 110-n), the user can provide a content providing system ( 20) to use a variety of services provided by the content provider. The service provided to the user in the content providing system 20 includes all the possible services that can be provided through the Internet, including services such as video chatting, video e-commerce, video meetings, video dating, etc. Includes services.

The image providing service system 40 is a system for generating and providing desired image data in accordance with a user's request for accessing the content providing system 20 and using image related contents in connection with the content providing system 20. The image providing service system 40 may be operated by an operator of the content providing system 20 or by an operator independent of the content providing system 20.

The user connects to the content providing system 20 via the Internet 30 using the personal computers 10-1 to 10-n with the digital cameras 110-1 to 110-n attached thereto. A user who accesses the content providing system 20 selects a desired service from various services such as chat, e-commerce, meeting, and dating service, and selects how to process his / her appearance to be shown to the other party through video equipment. do. If the user wants to display the video data inputted by the digital cameras 110-1 to 110-n as it is, the image providing service system 40 does not perform additional processing on the input video data. To send. On the other hand, if the user wants to express a separate image to the video data input to the digital camera (110-1 ~ 110-n), the image providing service system 40 provides a variety of image information to the user and the image selected by the user The data and the video data are synthesized and transmitted to the content providing system 20. In this case, the separate image may be provided by the image providing service system 40, but may be selected from images stored in the user's personal computers 10-1 to 10-n or separate storage means.

The composition of the video data and the image data causes the user who is connected to the image providing service system 40 to download an application related to data synthesis to his or her personal computer 10-1 to 10-n, and then the personal computer 10 -1 to 10-n) may be a synthetic process. In such a case, the load on the image providing service system 40 can be reduced, thereby improving the data processing speed.

In this way, when the composite data is expressed by synthesizing the video data and the image data, the appearance may be remarkably displayed compared to a user who uses the video data as it is.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the image providing service system shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in Fig. 2, the image providing service system 40 of the present invention includes a user management means 402, a video data processing means 404, an image data processing means 406, a data synthesizing means 408, and a database. 410. Here, the database 410 includes a user DB 412, video data DB 414, image data DB 416 and composite data DB 418, each of which may consist of one table, each It can also be configured as a table.

The user managing means 402 stores in the user DB 412 the personal information, identification information, image related information, etc. of the user who accesses the content providing system 20 and wants to use the image related content among the users who use the content. Manage the role.

The video data processing means 404 stores the video data of the user input to the image providing service system 40 through the digital cameras 110-1 to 110-n in the video data DB 414, and controls the user. Edit the video data accordingly. The image data processing means 406 provides the user with various images stored in the image data DB 416 in the image providing service system 40 so as to select a desired image by the user, and the image data selected by the user for each image data. Stored in the DB (412), and serves to edit the selected image according to the user's request. Image data stored in the image data DB 416 includes an image that can be superimposed with video data such as a background, hairstyle, glasses frame, and clothing, and an avatar having various shapes so that a user can be displayed using only image data without video data. Included.

Here, the editing of the video data may be a process of selecting only a portion desired by the user and deleting the rest, surface treatment, and the like. In addition, the editing of the image data may be a process of adjusting an image provided by the image providing service system 40 to a size of a face of a person, a process of selecting and combining partially provided image data, a process of selecting a color, and the like. Can be.

The data synthesizing means 408 serves to synthesize video data and image data. That is, as the user using the content attempts to display his or her own video data and image data on the other party's computer screen, the digital camera 110-1 to the user's personal computers 10-1 to 10-n are displayed. 110-n) combines the video data input and edited by the video data processing means 404 and stored by the user with data selected and edited and stored by the image data processing means 408 by the user, and the combined data is synthesized. Stored in the DB (418). Here, the combination of the video data and the image data is possible only by the simple superposition of the image information.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the synthesis of video data and image data is performed by a user who is connected to the image providing service system 40 using an application program related to data synthesis to his personal computer 10-1 to 10-n. After the download, the synthesis process can be performed on the personal computers 10-1 to 10-n. In such a case, the load on the image providing service system 40 can be reduced, thereby improving the data processing speed.

Although not shown, the image providing service system 40 further includes a communication network interface to transmit the processed video data, image data, and data synthesis data to the content providing system 20. In addition, the video data of the user is transmitted to the image providing service system 40 through the content providing system 20.

3 is a flowchart for explaining an image providing service method according to the present invention.

In order to provide the image-related content provided by the content providing system 20 to the user, the content providing system 20 must be associated with the image providing service system 40, and the user accesses the content providing system 20 to provide the image-related content. If the content is to be used, the image providing service system 40 must be immediately activated to provide image information corresponding to the user's request. The image providing service can be used at the same time when the content is provided, but can also be used to change its appearance while using the content. The process of providing an image to the user will be described in detail below.

As the user connected to the content providing system 20 wants to use any one of video related contents that can be used while face to face, such as video chat, video e-commerce, video meeting, and video dating, the content providing system 20 Provides the corresponding content (S101). At this time, since the content provided to the user is image-related content, the image providing service system 40 immediately activates to check whether the user's video data is being input (S102), and when the video data is input, separate image data. Select whether to use or use only video data (S103).

If the user does not select separate image data, the image providing service system 40 notifies the content providing system so that the video data of the user is displayed on the computer monitor of the other party using the corresponding content as it is (S104). ). Meanwhile, when the user selects a desired image by using separate image data, the image providing service system determines whether to combine video data and image data or to use only image data (105).

If the user who selects the image data in step S105 of checking whether the data is synthesized is to use only the image data without synthesizing the data, the image data selected by the user is transmitted to the content providing system 20 (S106). Is displayed on the computer monitor of the other party using the content. On the other hand, if the user wants to synthesize data, the data synthesizing means 408 of the image providing service system 40 synthesizes the user's video data and the user's selected image data (S107) and stores them in the synthesized data DB 418. It transmits to the content providing system 20 (S108). Here, the image data synthesized with the video data can be provided by the image providing service system 40 or read by the user's personal computers 10-1 to 10-n or the personal computers 10-1 to 10-n. It is possible to select from images stored in a separate storage means.

In the step S107 of synthesizing the video data and the image data, the user can select a desired portion of the video data, edit the video data, and generate the composite data by superimposing the selected image data on the edited video data. . In addition, the synthesis of the video data and the image data is performed by the image providing service system 40, or after downloading the application related to the data synthesis to the user's personal computers 10-1 to 10-n, the personal computer 10 In the range of -1 to 10-n).

In addition, in the step S102 of checking whether the video data of the user who wants to use the content is input, when the user's video data is not input, it is checked whether the user selects the image data (S109). When the user selects the image data, the selected image data is transmitted to the content providing system 20 (S106). If the user does not select the image data, the content providing system 20 is notified that the user does not use the image data. .

In another embodiment of the present invention, the video processing means 404 may edit the video data according to the user's request to use only the video data, and the image processing means 406 may be used for the user who wants to use only the image data. The image can be edited as required. Editing of the video data may be deletion of a specific part, surface treatment, and the like, and editing of image data may be size adjustment, image combination, color selection, and the like.

4 is a block diagram illustrating an image providing service method according to the present invention, and illustrates a case where a chat service is used among image related contents.

In the case of a video chat service, participant display windows 102, 104, and 106 displaying video information of users participating in chat rooms (laneman, blue, wind, and other users 1 to 4) are displayed on the top of the monitor 100. Dialog 108 appears at the bottom. Each user participating in the chat room may use only video data, only image data, or use composite data of video data and image data, and may not use image data in some cases.

When a large number of users participating in a chat room of a video chat service display themselves using only video data, the chat proceeds inconsistently because there is no characteristic to distinguish the users displayed in each participant display window at a glance, but video data and image data If you edit and synthesize them to your taste, you have the advantage of displaying a distinction from other participants. In addition, you can change your appearance according to the theme or atmosphere of the chat room, so you can use the service in a more interesting atmosphere.

The image providing service system described above can be used while using online contents on the Internet. However, the image providing service system can be produced in a form of a CD, a ROM-BIOS, or the like and used to generate a user's own character. In this case, the provision and processing of video data, image data, and data synthesis are all performed in the personal computers 10-1 to 10-n.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be understood as illustrative in all respects and not as restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

As described above, the present invention provides the image data synthesized by combining the image data according to the user's taste with the video data input through the video equipment to the user using the image-related content, thereby expressing the individual appearance of each user You can.

In addition, the user's appearance can be flexibly changed according to the theme or atmosphere of the service, and the service can be used in a more interesting atmosphere.

Claims (14)

A system for providing image data to a user using image-related content in association with a content providing system that provides a service on the Internet, User management means for storing and managing personal information, identification information, and image related information about a user who wants to use image related content among users who use the content by accessing the content providing system; Video data processing means for storing video data of a user input through a personal computer with a digital camera attached thereto and editing the video data under the control of the user; Image data processing means for providing various images to the user, storing image data selected by the user as the user selects a desired image, and editing the selected image according to the user's request; And Data synthesizing means for synthesizing the video data and the image data; Image providing service system having a. According to claim 1, The video-related content includes content used in video chat, video e-commerce, video meetings, and video dating. According to claim 1, And the video data processing means deletes and surface-processes the video data according to a user's control. According to claim 1, And the image data processing means adjusts, combines, and changes the color of the selected image data. According to claim 1, And said data synthesizing means superimposes said video data and image data. An image providing service method for providing image data to a user using image related contents in association with a content providing system that provides a service on the Internet, (a) confirming whether video data is input from the user's personal computer as a user accessing the content providing system wants to use any one of image related contents; (b) confirming whether to select image data when the video data of the user is input; (c) confirming whether or not to synthesize the video data and the image data when the user selects a desired image by using the image data; (d) transmitting the image data selected by the user to the content providing system when the user who selects the image data wants to use only the image data without synthesizing the data; And (e) synthesizing the video data of the user and the image data selected by the user when the user wants to synthesize the video data and the image data, and transmitting the synthesized data to the content providing system; Image providing service method comprising a. The method of claim 6, And the video related content includes content used in video chat, video e-commerce, video meeting, and video dating. The method of claim 6, The synthesizing of the video data and the image data in the step (e) may include a video data editing process for allowing the user to select a desired portion of the video data; And Combining the image data selected by the user with the edited video data; Image providing service method comprising a. The method of claim 6, After step (a), confirming whether to select image data from the user when the video data of the user is not input; Transmitting the selected image data to a content providing system when the user selects the image data; And And informing the content providing system that the user does not use the image data when the user does not select the image data. The method of claim 6, And after step (b), if the user does not select image data, informing the content providing system that the user will use only video data. The method of claim 10, And editing the video data according to the user's request if the user wants to use only the video data. The method of claim 11, wherein The editing of the video data includes the deletion of a specific part and the surface treatment. The method of claim 6, And editing the image data according to the user's request if the user wants to use only the image data in the step (d). The method of claim 13, Editing of the image data includes resizing, image combination, and color selection.