KR20120106233A

KR20120106233A - Contents provision method with virtual bookshelf

Info

Publication number: KR20120106233A
Application number: KR1020110024213A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 권오성
Original assignee: 주식회사 엔씨소프트
Priority date: 2011-03-18
Filing date: 2011-03-18
Publication date: 2012-09-26

Abstract

PURPOSE: A content providing method using a virtual bookshelf is provided to easily use contents without constraints of time and space by building a database with the contents collected from a content provider. CONSTITUTION: A client selects one of virtual bookshelves(S110). The number of contents corresponding to the virtual bookshelf is set in an account of the client(S120). A content list is provided to the client(S130). If the contents are selected by the client, the contents are provided to the client(S140). Billing to the client is performed according to the number of the selected contents(S150). [Reference numerals] (AA) Start; (BB) End; (S110) Enabling a client connected through a network to select one of bookshelves.; (S120) Setting a simultaneous content possession number corresponding to the selected bookshelf in a client account as the client selects the bookshelf.; (S130) Providing a content list to the client.; (S140) Providing contents selected by the client to the client and deducting the same from the simultaneous content possession number when the client selects the contents.; (S150) Charging the client according to the simultaneous content possession number.; (S160) Providing a content list to the client when the client wants to exchange one of the contents.; (S170) Providing the contents selected by the client to the client, preventing the exchanged contents from being included in the bookshelves, and deducting the contents from an exchangeable number of times of the contents when the client selects the contents.

Description

How to provide content using a virtual bookshelf {CONTENTS PROVISION METHOD WITH VIRTUAL BOOKSHELF}

The present invention relates to a method of providing and charging content in a server-client structure.

Looking at the form of the distribution of works that are made offline in the past, some books were distributed in the entire collection unit.

In particular, children's fairy tales, parishes, study papers, etc. are mainly such that consumers often buy a full collection because they do not know what children like or want.

In these collections, there are books that a child sees numerous times, but there are books that have never been seen and displayed for display. In addition, children's favorite books that grow differently from day to day will continue to be different, and children's books filled with bookshelves will soon become difficult to manage.

On the other hand, in order to overcome the uneconomic and irrationality caused by purchasing books on a collection basis, a service of renting books has appeared. Sign up for a membership and borrow some of the books you already have available.

However, such membership rental stores are not widely available due to spatial and geographical limitations, and other members have to wait while one member borrows the books, causing inconvenience in using popular books. .

Meanwhile, with the spread of e-book readers and smartphones, various types of content other than sound sources have been actively distributed online, and many books have been produced and distributed in the form of e-books.

Electronic contents, such as e-books, can be freely viewed by paying for the user's rights to use the contents without purchasing them in full units or per volume, as in the case of conventional offline contents. This is possible.

In addition, it has the advantage that it does not have spatial and geographic limitations like offline membership rental shops.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop a billing system and a content providing method that can take advantage of the inherent advantages of the electronic content.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, unlike the existing offline content, instead of purchasing in full collection or purchase per book, billing to charge for the right to use e-books The aim is to provide a system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a content distribution and billing system that allows users to easily use the content without limitation of time and space by building a database by collecting content from the content provider.

In order to achieve the above object, an aspect of the content providing method using the virtual bookcase according to the present invention is to allow a client connected through a network to select any one of the virtual bookshelves having a limited number of simultaneous contents. Step 110;

Setting the number of contents which can simultaneously hold the content corresponding to the selected virtual bookshelf in the client's account as the client selects the virtual bookshelf;

Providing a content list to the client (130);

Step 140, if the content is selected by the client and the content of the client can be simultaneously retained, providing the selected content to the client, and subtracting from the number of concurrently retained content;

In step 160, providing a list of contents to the client in response to requesting exchange of any one of the contents provided by the client; And

A step 170 of providing the selected content to the client as the content is selected by the client, wherein the requested content is no longer held in the virtual bookshelf, and subtracted from the exchangeable frequency of the content; It is characterized by including.

On the other hand, another aspect of the content providing method using a virtual bookcase according to the present invention in order to achieve the above object is selected virtual bookshelf as the user selects any one of the virtual bookshelf having a limited number of simultaneous content Step 210 of displaying a GUI of the screen;

Step 220, accessing a server connected through a network and displaying a list of a plurality of contents on a screen;

When the user can select any one of a plurality of contents list, if the number of contents of the virtual bookshelf that can be simultaneously retained is displayed, an icon of the selected content is displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf, and is subtracted from the number of contents that can be simultaneously held. A 230 step;

Step 240, when the user selects a playback function by selecting an icon of the content displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf, displaying and playing the content;

Step 260, when the user selects an exchange function for the content displayed on the virtual bookcase, requesting the server to exchange the content, and receiving a content list from the server to display on the screen; And

And displaying the icon of the selected content on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf as the user selects one of the contents list, and removing the icon of the requested content for exchange from the GUI of the virtual bookshelf. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, by selecting the desired content directly from the user's point of view, it is possible to reduce the financial and spatial burden caused by the purchase of the collection, and to change the e-book not to be seen other than the e-book that the child enjoys. There is an effect that can increase the utilization of the content.

In particular, while charging by the virtual bookshelf unit, it is effective to allow the user to select a reasonable rate suitable for the lifestyle by charging according to the frequency of exchanging the content by section and the contents exchange.

In addition, the content provider has the effect of contributing to the increase in sales because it is still possible to sell in volume without selling for each individual content.

1 is a network diagram illustrating a structure in which a client and a server are connected through a network.
2 is a screen exemplary view illustrating how a virtual bookcase and contents are displayed on a client screen;
3 is a reference diagram illustrating the concept of a virtual bookcase divided by section,
4 is a flowchart illustrating one aspect of a content providing method using a virtual bookcase according to the present invention in time series.
5 is a flowchart illustrating another aspect of a method for providing content using a virtual bookcase according to the present invention in time series.

Hereinafter, with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the present invention. In order to clarify the present invention, contents which are not related to the configuration of the present invention will be omitted, and the same reference numerals are used for the same components.

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "comprising" another element in the description of the invention or in the claims, it is not interpreted as being limited to only that element, Elements may be further included.

Also, in the description of the invention or the claims, the components named as "means", "parts", "modules", "blocks" refer to units that process at least one function or operation, Each of which may be implemented by software or hardware, or a combination thereof.

According to the network diagram shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of clients 1 are connected to the server 2 via a wired or wireless network.

The content providing method using the virtual bookcase according to the present invention may be implemented on such a server-client structure.

The server 2 provides a variety of contents to a plurality of clients (1), the content of which is provided in units of bookcases, unlike the conventional books and children's books are sold in the entire collection.

That is, the user can access the server 2 using the client 1 and then fill the bookshelf with the desired contents among the plurality of contents provided by the server 2 as shown in FIG. 2. By prepaying the total number of contents that can be provided in the bookshelf, it is possible to maintain the same sales as when selling the entire collection.

On the other hand, the user may not like some of the contents, or may read enough to exchange the contents enjoyed by the other depending on the fee conditions.

By this process, instead of purchasing the contents in a collection unit that contains random contents that are not desired, the user can configure and purchase a bookshelf with desired ones, and can also exchange them if necessary.

At this time, the client 1 is provided with a network adapter for connecting to the server 2 via a wired or wireless network, and the type is not limited if the content can be displayed and played on the screen.

Preferably, a tablet or a smart phone may be assumed, but may also be hardware such as a laptop or a netbook.

On the other hand, the wired and wireless network is a system for connecting the client 1 and the server (2) at a local or remote location covers a conventional Internet network or a mobile communication network.

Meanwhile, referring to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, a content providing method using a virtual bookshelf according to the present invention will be described from the perspective of the server 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, a virtual bookshelf to be purchased is selected as the client 1 accesses through a network (S110). At this time, the number of virtual bookcases can be held at the same time each content is set, the user pays a fee according to the size of the virtual bookcase (that is, the number of contents can be held at the same time) to fill the bookshelf.

To select the virtual bookshelf, the server 2 may provide the client 1 with a graphical user interface (GUI) in which a graphic image of a bookshelf as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed.

The user selects and purchases a virtual bookshelf of a desired size among the virtual bookshelves displayed as described above. As the virtual bookshelf is selected, the server 2 charges according to the size of the selected virtual bookshelf (S150). The billing may be made on the condition of providing ownership of the contents provided in the virtual bookshelf, but may be made in return for the subscription every certain period.

Meanwhile, as the virtual bookshelf is purchased (including the case of paying for the subscription), the server 2 creates an account of the client 1 and sets the number of contents that can be simultaneously held in the account of the client 1. (S120).

Thereafter, a content list is provided to the client 1 (S130).

The list of provided contents is displayed on the screen of the client 1, and the user selects the contents to be provided in the bookshelf while viewing the list.

When the content is selected by the user and receives the identification information of the selected content from the client 1, the server 2 provides the selected content to the client 1 (S140). In this case, the provision of the content corresponds to the purchase of the content. Preferably, the content may be provided by a download method. However, the content may be provided by a streaming method depending on the form or size of the content. In this case, the server 2 may store that the account of the client 1 has access authority by streaming method for the corresponding contents.

Such content is continuously provided as long as the virtual bookshelf purchased by the client 1 is empty. This is because billing is performed at the bookshelf level rather than billing for individual contents.

Therefore, whenever the content is selected by the user and filled in the bookshelf, the server 2 subtracts the number of provided contents from the number of simultaneous holdings of the client 1 account.

The provided content is held in the virtual bookshelf of the client 1. The expression held in the virtual bookshelf means that the content is provided to the client 1 in exchange for purchasing the virtual bookshelf from the point of view of the server 2, and from the viewpoint of the client 1, FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the content is visually displayed on the virtual bookshelf.

In other words, the virtual bookshelf has a meaning as a sales unit of content from the point of view of the server 2, but from the point of view of the user who uses the client 1, a virtual bookshelf has a similar experience such as actually buying a bookshelf and then filling in a book. It is to play a role.

Through this process, the user can access the server 2 using the client 1, purchase the virtual bookshelf, and select the contents provided by the server 2 to fill the purchased virtual bookshelf.

However, if you feel tired of reading the purchased content sufficiently or if it is determined to be incompatible with you, the frequency of enjoying the content will be lowered. In this case, another content may be purchased again with the corresponding content, but the user convenience may be maximized by allowing the exchange of other content.

To this end, the virtual bookshelf purchased by the user in step S110 may preferably have a limit on the number of simultaneous exchanges of the contents as well as the number of simultaneous holdings of the contents.

As described above, the virtual bookshelf capable of exchanging contents is charged at a relatively high rate compared to the virtual bookshelf where contents cannot be exchanged.

Therefore, in this case, in step S150, the user can be charged in proportion to the number of exchangeable times as well as the number of simultaneous holding of the contents of the virtual bookshelf purchased by the user.

On the other hand, if there is a limit on the number of exchanges available in the virtual bookshelf purchased by the user as described above, the user can freely select and exchange the provided content with other content within the limit.

When the user selects one of the contents previously provided to the client 1 and selects the exchange function, the client 1 requests the server 2 to exchange the corresponding content, and thus the server 2 The content list is provided to the client 1 (S160).

The provided content list is displayed on the screen of the client 1, and the user can select one of them. The identification information of the content selected by the user is transmitted to the server 2 by the client 1, and the server 2 receiving the content provides the selected content to the client 1.

At this time, the content requested to be exchanged is no longer held in the virtual bookshelf of the client 1. That is, the content requested to be exchanged in the client 1 account is recorded and updated as no longer provided, and, if provided by the download method, is deleted from the client 1. If it is provided by the streaming method it may be possible to release the access to the content requested exchange.

Meanwhile, as the content is exchanged as described above, the server 2 subtracts the number of exchanges of the content from the exchangeable number of virtual bookshelves in the client 1 account (S170).

3 illustrates a modification of the content providing method using the virtual bookcase according to the present invention as described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the virtual bookshelf is charged per section. It can be seen that the virtual bookcase shown in FIG. 3 is divided into two sections, section 1 and section 2.

At this time, each section is different in the number and the number of exchanges can be held at the same time, the server 2 charges for each section.

Therefore, the virtual bookshelf purchased by the user in step S110 is composed of two or more sections, at least one of which has a limit on the number of times of exchange of content. If two or more sections have a limit on the number of exchanges, it is desirable to allow the number of exchanges of these sections to be different.

On the other hand, in step S150 is charged in proportion to the number of contents can be held simultaneously and the number of exchanges of the virtual bookcase, but is charged for each section. Section-specific billing does not necessarily mean that each section has a separate billing procedure, but does include the case of billing by summing charges differently for each section.

There may be various virtual bookshelves consisting of a combination of multiple sections and if the charges for each of these virtual bookshelves are determined by the combination of the charges of the sections they contain, this should also be understood as section-specific billing.

Referring to the virtual bookshelf shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen that section 1 is relatively small in size (that is, the number of simultaneous holds is small), and section 2 is relatively large in size. Section 1 charges an expensive fee for its size but has a relatively high exchange rate, while Section 2 charges a low fee for its size but cannot exchange content (or has a very limited number of exchanges). If so, the user would have the content to change frequently in section 1 and the content in permanent possession in section 2.

Therefore, when the user selects any one content and exchanges the content in step S170, the server 2 subtracts the number of times of content exchange from the number of exchanges of the corresponding section.

Meanwhile, referring to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, a method of providing content using a virtual bookcase according to the present invention will be described from the perspective of the client 1.

First, when the client 1 connects to the server 2 and receives one or more virtual bookshelf and fee information and displays it on the screen, the user selects and purchases one of them.

As described above, as one virtual bookshelf is selected by the user, the client 1 displays the GUI of the virtual bookshelf on the screen as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if the virtual bookcase is selected, the client 1 displays a list of the content provided from the server 2 on the screen (S220).

As shown in (a) of FIG. 2, the user selects the content to be filled in the virtual bookshelf while viewing the list of contents displayed on the screen, and the client 1 selects the selected content as shown in (b) of FIG. 2. An icon is displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookcase.

On the other hand, the number of contents that can be simultaneously held in the virtual bookcase is preferably equal to the number of icons of the contents that can be displayed on the screen, as shown in FIG.

The user can freely select content within the range of the number of contents of the virtual bookshelf purchased at the same time, and icons of the selected contents are displayed on the screen as shown in FIG.

You will not be able to select more than the number of simultaneous contents you can hold, and you will not be able to display more icons on the screen.

The client 1 preferably subtracts from the number of simultaneous content holdings, that is, the number of icons that can be displayed on the screen whenever the user selects the content (S230).

On the other hand, as the user selects the content as described above, the client 1 receives the content from the server 2, but the content may be provided in a download manner, but instead of storing locally, the client 1 accesses in real time whenever necessary. It is also possible to provide by the streaming method of playing.

When the content is provided from the server 2 by being authorized to download or stream the content as described above, the user can select and view the icon of the content displayed on the virtual bookshelf as shown in FIG. Can be.

That is, when the user selects an icon of content displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf and selects a playback function, the client 1 plays back and displays the file in a proper manner according to the file format and format of the content (S240). The content may be an e-book, but may be a text file, an image, or a multimedia file, and may be displayed using a viewer suitable for each format.

On the other hand, the payment process of the fee may be required for the purchase of the virtual bookshelf, and accordingly, the client 1 may provide the server 2 with the rate information that is set in proportion to the number of contents of the virtual bookshelf or the number of exchanges possible. Received from) can be displayed on the screen, or an interface screen for payment of the fee can be displayed on the screen (S250).

Such payment process may be performed at any stage of the content providing process through the virtual bookcase as described above. For example, it may be performed after the user selects the virtual bookshelf (ie, after step S210), or may be performed after selecting all contents to be included in the virtual bookshelf (ie, after step S230).

On the other hand, the user may wish to exchange the purchased content for other reasons for different reasons, so that the server 2 is provided in the virtual bookcase to exchange the purchased content with other content as described above. .

Therefore, the virtual bookshelf selected and purchased by the user in step S210 may have a limit not only on the number of contents that can be held simultaneously but also on the number of exchangeable contents.

In this case, when the user selects an exchange function for any one of the contents already purchased and displayed in the form of an icon on the virtual bookshelf, the client 1 requests an exchange with the server 2 together with identification information of the selected content. .

The server 2 reads the account information of the client 1 and allows the exchange when the number of times of exchange of contents remains. That is, when the content list is provided to the client 1, the client 1 displays it on the screen (S260).

The user selects one of them. Accordingly, when the client 1 provides the identification information of the content selected by the user to the server 2, the server 2 provides the selected content to the client 1 again. At this time, the content requested to be exchanged is no longer provided.

For example, if the content is provided by a download method, the client 1 deletes the content requested for exchange locally. On the other hand, if the access right was given by the server 2, the server 2 releases the access right for the corresponding content.

On the other hand, for the newly provided content in exchange for the existing content, the client 1 displays the icon of the content on the virtual bookshelf as shown in (b) of FIG. 2 (S270).

On the other hand, according to the modification of the present invention shown in Figure 3, the virtual bookshelf in the step S210 consists of two or more sections, at least one of which has a limit of the number of exchangeable. If more than one section has a limit on the number of exchanges, it is desirable that the number is different.

As such, when the virtual bookcase consists of two or more sections, the user can select a section in which the content selected by the user is to be located. Accordingly, in step S230, the client 1 displays an icon of the content selected by the user in the section selected by the user. do.

On the other hand, when the content is exchanged in step S270, the client 1 displays the icon of the newly exchanged content in the section where the icon of the content requested by the user was displayed.

Meanwhile, the content providing method using the virtual bookcase according to the present invention may be embodied as computer readable code and stored in a computer readable recording medium.

The computer-readable recording medium may include any type of medium in which data readable by a computer system is stored. Examples of the medium include a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a USB memory, a flash memory And the like.

On the other hand, the expression contained in the recording medium encompasses both the case of being recorded on the recording medium in large quantities and distributed in a package form as well as being provided through the network in the form of data packets and stored in the recording medium.

In the above description, the term "server" is used. However, in a distributed computing environment, since a function or a load is generally divided into multiple servers and processed, the "server" does not necessarily refer to a single hardware component and is a server that is functionally divided. Can mean military.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. . Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be determined only by the technical idea of the appended claims, and is not limited to the above embodiments.

1: client 2: server

Claims

Step 110, allowing a client connected through a network to select any one of virtual bookshelves having a limit on the number of simultaneous content holdings;
Setting the number of contents which can simultaneously hold the content corresponding to the selected virtual bookshelf in the client's account as the client selects the virtual bookshelf;
Providing a content list to the client (130);
And a step 140 of providing the selected content to the client when the number of contents that can be simultaneously held by the client remains as the contents are selected by the client, and subtracting the number of contents that can be simultaneously held by the client. Content providing method using a virtual bookcase.

The method of claim 1,
And providing the content by allowing the client to download the content in step 140 or by providing a right to access the content while connected through a network.

The method of claim 1,
And after step 110, charging the client according to the number of contents of the selected virtual bookshelf at the same time. The content providing method using the virtual bookshelf further comprises a.

The method of claim 3, wherein
In step 110, the virtual bookshelf is a content providing method using a virtual bookcase, characterized in that there is a limit to the number of times of exchange of content.

The method of claim 4, wherein
In step 150, the content providing method using the virtual bookshelf, characterized in that the billing in proportion to the number of contents can be held simultaneously and the number of exchanges.

The method of claim 4, wherein
Step 160, after the step 140, providing a list of contents to the client in response to requesting exchange of any one of the contents provided by the client; And
A step 170 of providing the selected content to the client as the content is selected by the client, wherein the requested content is no longer held in the virtual bookshelf, and subtracted from the exchangeable frequency of the content; Content providing method using a virtual bookcase, characterized in that it further comprises.

The method according to claim 6,
In step 110, the virtual bookcase is composed of two or more sections, at least one section has a limit on the number of times of exchange of content,
In step 150, the charges are made for each section according to the number of times the contents of the virtual bookcase can be simultaneously held or exchanged.
In step 170, as the content is selected, the content providing method using the virtual bookcase, which is subtracted from the number of exchanges of the corresponding section.

In step 210, a GUI of the selected virtual bookshelf is displayed on the screen as the user selects any one of the virtual bookshelves having a limit on the number of concurrently held contents;
Step 220, accessing a server connected through a network and displaying a list of a plurality of contents on a screen;
When the user can select any one of a plurality of contents list, if the number of contents of the virtual bookshelf that can be simultaneously retained is displayed, an icon of the selected content is displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf, and is subtracted from the number of contents that can be simultaneously held. A 230 step;
And a step 240 of reproducing and displaying the content as a user selects an icon of the content displayed on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf and selects a playback function.

The method of claim 8,
And displaying a fee set according to the number of contents of the selected virtual bookshelf at the same time or displaying an interface screen for billing. The content providing method using the virtual bookshelf further comprises a.

The method of claim 8,
In step 210, the virtual desk has a limit on the number of exchangeable contents.
Step 260, after the step 240, when the user selects an exchange function for the content displayed on the virtual bookshelf, requesting the server to exchange the content, and receiving a content list from the server to display on the screen; And
And displaying the icon of the selected content on the GUI of the virtual bookshelf as the user selects one of the contents list, and removing the icon of the requested content for exchange from the GUI of the virtual bookshelf. Content providing method using a virtual bookcase, characterized in that.

11. The method of claim 10,
In step 210, the virtual bookcase is composed of two or more sections, at least one section has a limit on the number of exchangeable contents,
In operation 230, the icon of the selected content is displayed in a section selected by the user.
In step 270, the content providing method using the virtual bookcase, characterized in that to display the icon of the selected content in the section in which the icon of the content requested to be displayed.

11. The method of claim 10,
In step 230, the content selected by the user is downloaded and stored from the server,
In step 240, the playback function plays back and displays the selected pre-stored content.
In step 270, the content providing method using a virtual bookcase, characterized in that for deleting the content requested to exchange.

The method of claim 7, wherein
In step 240, the content providing method using the virtual bookcase is connected to a server and receives the content selected by the playback function through a streaming method, and reproduces and displays it on the screen.

A computer-readable recording medium containing a program for executing a content providing method using the virtual bookshelf according to any one of claims 1 to 13 on a computer.