KR20180059285A - Medeia play device and server for providing virtual reality video - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a server for providing a virtual reality image by interworking with a first media playback device and a plurality of second media playback devices, which comprises a receiving unit for receiving a request for playback of the virtual reality image from the first media playback device; an initialization requesting unit for requesting the first and second media playback devices for playback initialization; a playback information transmitting unit for receiving virtual reality image information, position information, and view angle size information from the first media playback device when the playback initialization is completed in the first and second media playback devices, and transmitting the same to the second media playback devices; and a playback requesting unit for requesting the first and second media playback devices for playback of the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information. The virtual reality image is reproduced by the first and second media playback devices interworking with each other in accordance with the position information and the view angle size information.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a media playback apparatus and a video providing server for providing a virtual reality image,

The present invention relates to a media playback apparatus image providing server for providing a virtual reality image.

A video wall collects a plurality of video screens to form a single large screen. The video wall is configured to output a general video signal on a large screen including a plurality of video screens through a media player or the like. Video walls are mainly used in exhibition spaces such as shops.

In connection with the technique for video wall, Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-0005442 discloses a display device having a video wall function and a method thereof.

In recent years, a media player has been able to output a 360 ° virtual reality video signal through a video wall. However, the 360 ° virtual reality image is disadvantageous in that there is a hidden part which is generated by projecting an image shot by a plurality of cameras on a sphere. In addition, the 360 ° virtual reality image output through the video wall is a fixed image and has a disadvantage that hidden portions can not be viewed.

There is provided a media playback apparatus and a video providing server that enable a plurality of terminals to output a virtual reality image without a high-end terminal. A media playback apparatus and a media playback apparatus for moving and outputting a fixed virtual reality image position by a user's need or selection when a plurality of display apparatuses output a 360 ° virtual reality image through a video wall, Providing server. It is to be understood, however, that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described technical problems, and other technical problems may exist.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reproducing a virtual reality image, the apparatus comprising: a receiver for receiving a request for reproducing the virtual reality image from the first media player; Position information and angle-of-view information from the first media playback apparatus when the playback initialization is completed in the first and second media playback apparatuses, and transmits the virtual reality image information, the position information, 2 media reproduction apparatus and a reproduction requesting unit for requesting reproduction of the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information to the first and second media reproduction apparatuses, The first and second media playback apparatuses are reproduced in association with the position information and the view angle size information It can provide to the image providing server.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a playback apparatus for a virtual reality system, comprising: a transmitting unit for transmitting a virtual reality video playback request to an image providing server; an initialization request receiving unit for requesting playback initialization from the video providing server; An information transmitting unit for transmitting virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information related to the virtual reality information to the image providing server when the playback initialization is completed in the apparatus, And a reproduction request receiver for requesting reproduction of the corresponding virtual reality image, wherein the virtual reality image is reproduced by the master media reproduction apparatus and the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses in cooperation with the position information and the angle- Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > .

In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including an initialization request receiving unit receiving an initialization request from a video providing server, An information receiving unit for receiving virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information from the image providing server when the playback initialization is completed in the slave media player, and an information receiving unit for receiving the virtual reality image information from the image providing server, Wherein the virtual reality image is reproduced in synchronization with the position information and the angle-of-view size information by the master media player and the slave media player, Media Playback It can provide value.

The above-described task solution is merely exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In addition to the exemplary embodiments described above, there may be additional embodiments described in the drawings and the detailed description of the invention.

According to any one of the above-mentioned objects of the present invention, there can be provided a media playback apparatus and a video providing server that can output a virtual reality video using a plurality of terminals without a high-end terminal. A media playback apparatus and a video playback apparatus for moving a fixed virtual reality image position by a user's need or selection when a 360 ° virtual reality image is output from a plurality of display devices through a video wall Server can be provided.

1 is a configuration diagram of a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram of a video providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a video providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram of a master media player according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a master media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a configuration diagram of a slave media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a slave media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a virtual reality image in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing a key event in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of correcting reproduction position information of a virtual reality image in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "including" an element, it is to be understood that the element may include other elements as well as other elements, And does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In this specification, the term " part " includes a unit realized by hardware, a unit realized by software, and a unit realized by using both. Further, one unit may be implemented using two or more hardware, or two or more units may be implemented by one hardware.

In this specification, some of the operations or functions described as being performed by the terminal or the device may be performed in the server connected to the terminal or the device instead. Similarly, some of the operations or functions described as being performed by the server may also be performed on a terminal or device connected to the server.

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

1 is a configuration diagram of a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the virtual reality image providing system 1 may include an image providing server 110, a first media player 120, and a plurality of second media players 130. The image providing server 110, the first media player 120, and the plurality of second media players 130 illustrate components that can be controlled by the virtual reality image providing system 1 .

Each component of the virtual reality image providing system 1 of FIG. 1 is generally connected via a network. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the image providing server 110 may be connected to the first media player 120 and the plurality of second media players 130 at the same time or at intervals.

The network refers to a connection structure in which information can be exchanged between each node such as terminals and servers. An example of such a network is 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, , A LAN (Local Area Network), a Wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a PAN (Personal Area Network), and the like.

Upon receiving the request for reproducing the virtual reality image from the first media player 120, the image providing server 110 requests the first media player 120 and the plurality of second media players 130 to initialize the playback .

When the initialization of the playback is completed in the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, the image providing server 110 receives virtual reality image information, position information And the angle-of-view information to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. The angle-of-view information may be determined based on virtual camera position information for viewing an object to which the virtual reality image is applied.

The image providing server 110 may request the first media player 120 and the plurality of second media players 130 to play the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information. The virtual reality image may be reproduced by the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 in synchronization with the position information and the view angle information.

When the virtual reality image is reproduced in the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, the image providing server 110 generates a plurality of It is possible to control the second media playback apparatus 130 of FIG. For example, the image providing server 110 may receive a key event from the first media player 120 during reproduction of the virtual reality image, and may transmit the received key event to the plurality of second media players 130 have. The key event may be, for example, moving left / right / up / down, zoom-in or zoom-out, and the like. When the image providing server 110 receives, for example, a zoom-in or zoom-out as a key event, the screen size information of the display device for displaying the virtual reality image is compared with the angle-of-view information, The position information can be changed by applying the differences of the screen sizes to the position information of the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. [

The image providing server 110 can receive the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image being reproduced by the respective media reproduction apparatuses from the first media reproduction apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses 130. [ At this time, if the image providing server 110 fails to receive the reproduction position information from at least one of the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, Playback position information of the second media playback apparatus 120 to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. If the video providing server 110 fails to receive the playback position information from the one or more media playback apparatuses of the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 by more than a predetermined number of times, An error in reproduction of the real image can be generated.

 The image providing server 110 may compare the reproduction position information received from the first media reproduction apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media reproduction apparatus 130 to correct the reproduction position information. For example, when the reproduction position information received from any one of the media playback apparatuses is delayed as compared with the playback position information received from the plurality of media playback apparatuses, the image providing server 110 Can transmit the reproduction position information of the other plurality of media reproduction apparatuses to any one of the media reproduction apparatuses. For example, the image providing server 110 may transmit the playback position information of the media playback apparatus having the fastest playback position information to the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130.

The first media playback apparatus 120 may receive a playback initialization request from the image providing server 110 when the first media playback apparatus 120 transmits a playback request for the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110. [

When the initialization of the reproduction is completed in the first media player 120 and the second media player 130, the first media player 120 may transmit virtual reality video information, position information, and angle of view Size information to the image providing server 110.

The first media player 120 may be requested to reproduce a virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [

When a key event is generated by a user input during reproduction of a virtual reality image, the first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the generated key event to the image providing server 110. [ The key event may be transmitted from the image providing server 110 to the plurality of second media players 130 to control the operation of the plurality of second media players 130. [

The first media playback apparatus 120 may provide playback position information of the virtual reality image being reproduced to the image providing server 110. [

The first media playback apparatus 120 may receive the corrected playback position information from the image providing server 110. [ For example, it is possible to receive the corrected playback position information based on the playback position information received from the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, respectively, by the image providing server 110 have. For example, if the image providing server 110 fails to receive the playback position information from at least one of the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, It is possible to receive the reproduction position information in which the reproduction position information of the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses 130 is corrected on the basis of the reproduction position information of the reproduction apparatus 120. [

When the image providing server 110 receives a request to reproduce a virtual reality image from the first media player 120, the plurality of second media players 130 receive a playback initialization request from the image providing server 110 .

When the reproduction initialization is completed in the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may acquire virtual reality image information, Information and angle-of-view size information.

The plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may be requested to play a virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [

The second media playback apparatus 130 receives the key event generated from the first media playback apparatus 120 from the image providing server 110 and transmits the key event generated by the second media playback apparatus 130 to the second media playback apparatus 130 based on the received key event. Can be controlled.

According to the present invention described above, the first media playback apparatus functions as a master media playback apparatus, and the second media playback apparatus can function as a slave media playback apparatus.

2 is a configuration diagram of a video providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, the image providing server 110 includes a receiving unit 210, an initialization request unit 220, a playback information transfer unit 230, a playback request unit 240, a controller 250, a controller 260, And an error generating unit 270.

The receiving unit 210 may receive a request for reproducing a virtual reality image from the first media player 120. [

The receiving unit 210 may receive the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image being reproduced by the respective media reproduction apparatuses from the first media reproduction apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses 130. [

The initialization request unit 220 may request the initialization of playback by the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of media playback apparatuses 130. [

When the reproduction initialization is completed in the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, the playback information transfer unit 230 receives virtual reality video information, Information and angle-of-view size information. At this time, the reproduction information transmitting unit 230 may transmit the virtual reality image information, the position information, and the angle-of-view information received from the first media playback apparatus 120 to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. The virtual reality image information may be a URL of a virtual reality image, and the position information may be an angle based on x, y, and z coordinate information of the first media player 120. The angle-of-view information is determined based on the position information of the virtual camera which views the object to which the virtual reality image is applied. The image size information includes the x and y values, which are default values, For example, 1280x720) and the radius of an object (e.g., a sphere, etc.) to which the virtual reality image is applied.

The playback request unit 240 may request the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 to play back the virtual reality video corresponding to the virtual reality video information. The virtual reality image may be configured such that the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 are reproduced in accordance with the position information and the view angle information.

The controller 250 controls the first media player 120 and the plurality of second media players 130 to reproduce the virtual reality video by using the input received from the first media player 120, 2 media playback apparatus 130 can be controlled. For example, when the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 do not reproduce the virtual reality images, the controller 250 may control the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of 2 media playback apparatus 130 can be independently controlled.

When the controller 250 receives a key event from the first media player 120 during playback of the virtual reality video, the controller 250 may transmit the received key event to the plurality of second media players 130. [ For example, when receiving the left / right movement key event, the controller 250 can control the angle-of-view information by moving only the x value as a reference when the virtual reality image is initially reproduced. In another example, when the controller 250 receives a zoom-in or zoom-out as a key event, the controller 250 may compute the difference in screen size by comparing the screen size information of the display device displaying the virtual reality image with the angle-of-view information. At this time, the control unit 250 can change the position information by applying the difference of the calculated screen sizes to the position information of the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. [ Specifically, when receiving the zoom-in or zoom-out as a key event, the control unit 250 compares the screen size information of the display device with the angle-of-view information, calculates the width and height of the screen size difference, The position information can be changed by adding it to the x values of the media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. [

The correction unit 260 compares the respective pieces of reproduction position information received by the reception unit 210 and compares the pieces of reproduction position information received by the reception unit 210 with the reproduction position information received from the reception unit 210, The position information can be corrected.

For example, when the comparison result shows that the reproduction position information received from any one of the media reproduction apparatuses has a delay relative to the reproduction position information received from the plurality of different media reproduction apparatuses, The playback position information of the playback apparatus may be transmitted to any one of the media playback apparatuses or the playback position information of the media playback apparatus having the fastest playback position information may be transmitted to the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130).

For example, if the receiving unit 210 fails to receive the reproduction position information from one or more media playback apparatuses of the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, To the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130, playback position information of the first media playback apparatus 120. [

If the receiving unit 210 fails to receive the reproducing position information from the one or more media reproducing apparatuses of the first media reproducing apparatus 120 and the plurality of the media reproducing apparatuses 130 by a predetermined number of times or more, An error for reproduction of the virtual reality image can be generated.

3 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a video providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for providing the virtual reality image performed by the image providing server 110 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is the same as the method for providing the virtual reality image in the virtual reality image providing system 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. Lt; / RTI > Therefore, the present invention is also applied to a method of providing a virtual reality image performed by the image providing server 110 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS.

In step S310, the image providing server 110 may receive a request for reproducing a virtual reality image from the first media player 120. [

In step S320, the image providing server 110 may request the first media player 120 and the second media player 130 to initialize the playback.

In step S330, when the reproduction initialization is completed in the first media player 120 and the second media player 130, the image providing server 110 acquires virtual reality image information from the first media player 120, Information and angle-of-view size information.

In step S340, the image providing server 110 may transmit the received virtual reality image information, position information, and angle-of-view information to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130. [

In step S350, the image providing server 110 may request the first media player 120 and the second media player 130 to play back the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information.

In the above description, steps S310 to S350 may be further divided into further steps or combined into fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

4 is a block diagram of a master media player according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4, the master media playback apparatus 120 includes a transmitter 410, an initialization request receiver 420, an information transmitter 430, a playback request receiver 440, a controller 450, and a corrector 460 ). Here, the master media player 120 may be the first media player 120 in FIG. 1, and the slave media player 130 may be the second media player 130 in FIG.

The transmitting unit 410 may transmit a request for reproducing the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110.

The initialization request receiving unit 420 may be requested to initialize the playback from the image providing server 110. [

When the reproduction initialization is completed in the master media reproduction apparatus 120 and the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses 130, the information transmission unit 430 transmits virtual reality image information, position information, and angle-of- To the providing server 110. The virtual reality image information may be a URL of a virtual reality image, and the position information may be an angle based on x, y, and z coordinate information of the master media player 120. The angle-of-view information is determined based on the position information of the virtual camera which views the object to which the virtual reality image is applied. The image size information includes the x and y values, which are default values, For example, 1280x720) and the radius of an object (e.g., a sphere, etc.) to which the virtual reality image is applied.

The reproduction request receiving unit 440 may receive a request for reproduction of a virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [ The virtual reality image may be reproduced by the master media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of slave media playback apparatuses 130 in cooperation with the position information and the view angle information.

When a key event is generated by a user input during playback of the virtual reality image, the controller 450 can transmit the generated key event to the image providing server 110. The key event may be transmitted from the image providing server 110 to the plurality of slave media playback apparatuses 130 to control the plurality of slave media playback apparatuses 130.

The correction unit 460 may provide the image providing server 110 with the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image being reproduced.

The correction unit 460 can receive the corrected playback position information from the image providing server 110. [ For example, the correcting unit 460 corrects the reproduction position information corrected based on the reproduction position information received from the master media reproduction apparatus 120 and the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses 130 by the image providing server 110, Lt; / RTI >

In this case, when the image providing server 110 fails to receive the playback position information from at least one of the plurality of slave media playback apparatuses 130, the correcting unit 460 corrects the playback position information by the image providing server 110 It is possible to receive the reproduction position information in which the reproduction position information of the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses 130 is corrected on the basis of the reproduction position information of the master media reproduction apparatus 130. [

5 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a master media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for providing a virtual reality image performed by the master media playback apparatus 120 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the method for providing a virtual reality image in the virtual reality image providing system 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. And thermally processed. Accordingly, the present invention is also applied to a method of providing a virtual reality image performed by the master media playback apparatus 120 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS.

In step S510, the master media playback apparatus 120 may transmit a playback request of the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110. [

In step S520, the master media playback apparatus 120 may be requested to initialize playback from the image providing server 110. [

In step S530, when the reproduction initialization is completed in the master media player 120 and the plurality of slave media players 130, the master media player 120 transmits the virtual reality image information related to the virtual reality information, the position information, Size information to the image providing server 110.

In step S540, the master media playback apparatus 120 may be requested to play back the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [

In the above description, steps S510 to S540 may be further divided into additional steps, or combined in fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

6 is a configuration diagram of a slave media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6, the slave media playback apparatus 130 may include an initialization request receiving unit 610, an information receiving unit 620, a control request receiving unit 630, and a controller 640. Here, the master media player 120 may be the first media player 120 in FIG. 1, and the slave media player 130 may be the second media player 130 in FIG.

The initialization request receiving unit 610 may receive a playback initialization request from the image providing server 110 when the image providing server 110 receives a playback request of the virtual reality image from the master media playback apparatus 120. [

The information receiving unit 620 receives virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information from the image providing server 110 when the playback initialization is completed in the master media player 120 and the slave media player 130 .

The reproduction request receiving unit 630 may receive a request for reproduction of the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [ The virtual reality image may be reproduced by the master media player 120 and the slave media player 130 in synchronization with position information and angle of view information.

The control unit 640 receives the key event generated from the master media player 120 from the image providing server 110 and controls the operation of the slave media player 130 based on the received key event.

7 is a flowchart of a method of providing a virtual reality image in a slave media playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for providing a virtual reality image performed by the slave media playback apparatus 130 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is similar to that of the virtual reality image providing system 1 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 And thermally processed. Accordingly, the present invention is also applied to a method of providing a virtual reality image performed by the slave media playback apparatus 130 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 even if omitted below.

In step S710, when the image providing server 110 receives a request to reproduce a virtual reality image from the master media playback apparatus 120, the slave media playback apparatus 130 receives a request for playback initialization from the image providing server 110 have.

In step S720, when the reproduction initialization is completed in the master media player 120 and the slave media player 130, the slave media player 130 receives virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view from the image providing server 110 Size information can be received.

In step S730, the slave media playback apparatus 130 may be requested to play the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server 110. [

In the above description, steps S710 to S730 may be further divided into further steps or combined into fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing a virtual reality image in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the virtual reality image providing system 1 may include an image providing server 110, a first media player 120, and a plurality of second media players 130.

The first media player 120 may request the image providing server 110 to reproduce the virtual reality image (S810).

The image providing server 110 may request the first media player 120 to initialize the playback (S820). Also, the image providing server 110 may request the plurality of second media players 130 to initialize the playback (S830).

When the first media player 120 transmits virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information related to the virtual reality information to the image providing server 110 in step S840, the image providing server 110 transmits the virtual reality information, The associated virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information may be transmitted to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 (S850).

When the first media playback apparatus 120 is ready for playback, the first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the playback ready status to the image providing server 110 (S860). In addition, when the second media player 130 is ready for playback, the second media player 130 may transmit to the image providing server 110 that it is ready to play (S870).

The image providing server 110 may request the first media playback apparatus 120 to play the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information at step S880. Also, the image providing server 110 may request the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 to play back the virtual reality images corresponding to the virtual reality image information (S890).

In the above description, steps S810 to S890 may be further divided into further steps or combined into fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of processing a key event in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the virtual reality image providing system 1 may include an image providing server 110, a first media player 120, and a plurality of second media players 130.

When the first media playback apparatus 120 receives a key down event through the remote controller in step S910, the first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the key down event to the image providing server 110 in step S920.

The image providing server 110 may deliver the received key down event to a plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 (S930).

If the first media playback apparatus 120 receives a key up event through the remote controller in operation 940, the first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the input key up event to the image providing server 110 in operation S950.

The image providing server 110 may transmit the received key-up event to a plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 (S960). The plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may control the operation according to the received key event.

In the above description, steps S910 to S960 may be further divided into further steps or combined into fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of correcting reproduction position information of a virtual reality image in a virtual reality image providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. Referring to FIG. 10, the virtual reality image providing system 1 may include an image providing server 110, a first media player 120, and a plurality of second media players 130.

The first media playback apparatus 120 may provide playback position information of the virtual reality image being played back to the image providing server 110 (S1001). The plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may provide playback position information of a virtual reality image being played back to the image providing server 110 (S1002).

The image providing server 110 compares the received pieces of reproduction position information (S1003), and when the reproduction position information received from any one of the media reproduction apparatuses is delayed compared with the reproduction position information received from the plurality of different media reproduction apparatuses (S1004).

If it is determined that a delay has occurred in the reproduction position information received from the first media playback apparatus 120 as a result of the comparison, the image providing server 110 transmits the delayed first media playback apparatus 110 a plurality of second media media The playback position information of the playback apparatus 130 may be transmitted or the playback position information of the media playback apparatus whose playback position information is the earliest may be transmitted (S1005).

As a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the delay is generated in the reproduction position information received from any one of the second media reproduction apparatuses 130, the image providing server 110 determines which of the delayed It is possible to transmit the reproduction position information of the first media reproduction apparatus 120 or the other second media reproduction apparatus to one second media reproduction apparatus or to transmit the reproduction position information of the media reproduction apparatus having the fastest reproduction position information ( S1006).

The first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the playback position information of the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110 (S1007). At this time, when the reproduction position information of the first media reproduction apparatus 120 is corrected, the first media reproduction apparatus 120 can transmit the corrected reproduction position information to the image providing server 110.

The plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may transmit the playback position information of the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110 (S1008). At this time, when the reproduction position information of any one of the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses 130 is corrected, any one of the second media reproduction apparatuses transmits the corrected reproduction position information to the image providing server 110).

The image providing server 110 may determine whether or not the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image is not received in the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 in step S1009. The image providing server 110 may transmit the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image of the first media player 120 to the second media player which has not received the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image at step S1010.

The first media playback apparatus 120 may transmit the playback position information of the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110 (S1011).

The plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 may transmit the playback position information of the virtual reality image to the image providing server 110 (S1012).

The image providing server 110 can determine whether the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image is not received or not for the first media playback apparatus 120 and the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 for a predetermined number of times or more ). The image providing server 110 may generate an error when the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image is not received a predetermined number of times or more (S1014).

The image providing server 110 may transmit an error occurrence notification to the first media player 120 (S1015). In addition, the image providing server 110 may transmit an error occurrence notification to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses 130 (S1016).

In the above description, steps S1001 through S1016 may be further divided into additional steps or combined into fewer steps, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, some of the steps may be omitted as necessary, and the order between the steps may be switched.

A method of providing a virtual reality image in the image providing server and the first and second media playback apparatuses described with reference to Figs. 1 to 10 includes a computer program stored in a medium executed by the computer or a command executable by the computer But may also be embodied in the form of a recording medium. In addition, the method of providing a virtual reality image in the image providing server and the first and second media playback apparatuses illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 10 may be implemented in the form of a computer program stored in a media executed by a computer .

Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. The computer-readable medium may also include computer storage media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

110:
120: first media playback device
130: a plurality of second media playback apparatuses
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220: initialization request unit
230: reproduction information transmitting unit
240: reproduction request unit
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260:
270: Error generating unit
410:
420: initialization request receiver
430: Information transmission unit
440: Playback request receiver
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460:
610: initialization request receiver
620:
630: Playback request receiver
640:

Claims (18)

A server for providing a virtual reality image in cooperation with a first media playback apparatus and a plurality of second media playback apparatuses,
A receiving unit for receiving a request for reproducing the virtual reality image from the first media player;
An initialization request unit for requesting initialization of playback by the first and second media players;
Position information and angle-of-view information from the first media playback apparatus and transmits the virtual reality image information, the position information, and the view angle-size information to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses when the playback initialization is completed in the first and second media playback apparatuses The reproduction information transmitting unit and /
And a reproduction requesting unit for requesting the first and second media players to reproduce the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information,
Wherein the virtual reality image is reproduced by the first and second media playback apparatuses in association with the position information and the view angle size information.
The method according to claim 1,
And a control unit configured to control the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses by an input received from the first media reproduction apparatus when the first and second media reproduction apparatuses reproduce the virtual reality image,
Further comprising:
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein when the virtual reality image is not reproduced by the first and second media reproduction apparatuses, the control unit causes each of the plurality of media reproduction apparatuses to be independently controlled.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the control unit receives a key event from the first media playback apparatus during playback of the virtual reality image and transmits the received key event to the plurality of second media playback apparatuses.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the receiving unit receives the reproduction position information of the virtual reality image being reproduced by each of the media reproduction apparatuses from the first and second media reproduction apparatuses.
6. The method of claim 5,
And a controller for comparing the received reproduction position information with the received reproduction position information to correct reproduction position information of at least one of the first and second media reproduction apparatuses,
Further comprising:
The method according to claim 6,
When a delay is generated as compared with the reproduction position information received from a plurality of media reproduction apparatuses having different reproduction position information received from any one of the media reproduction apparatuses,
Wherein the correcting unit transmits the reproduction position information of the other plurality of media reproduction apparatuses to any one of the media reproduction apparatuses.
The method according to claim 6,
When a delay is generated as compared with the reproduction position information received from a plurality of media reproduction apparatuses having different reproduction position information received from any one of the media reproduction apparatuses,
Wherein the correcting unit transmits playback position information of the media playback apparatus having the fastest playback position information to the first and second media playback apparatuses.
The method according to claim 6,
When the receiving unit fails to receive the reproduction position information from at least one of the first and second media reproduction apparatuses,
Wherein the correcting unit transmits the reproduction position information of the first media reproduction apparatus to the plurality of second media reproduction apparatuses.
10. The method of claim 9,
An error generation unit for generating an error for reproduction of the virtual reality image when the receiving unit fails to receive the reproduction position information from the one or more media playback apparatuses of the first and second media playback apparatuses by more than a predetermined number of times,
Further comprising:
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the control unit compares the screen size information of the display device for displaying the virtual reality image with the view angle size information to calculate a difference in screen size when the zoom event or the zoom out is received as the key event,
And changes the position information by applying the difference of the calculated screen sizes to the position information of the first and second media playback apparatuses.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the angle-of-view information is determined based on position information of a virtual camera that views the object to which the virtual reality image is applied.
A master media playback apparatus for providing a virtual reality image in cooperation with a plurality of slave media playback apparatuses,
A transmitting unit for transmitting a request for reproducing a virtual reality image to a video providing server;
An initialization request receiving unit for receiving a playback initialization request from the image providing server;
When the reproduction initialization is completed in the master media player and the plurality of slave media players, the information transmission unit transmits virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information related to the virtual reality information to the image providing server, And
And a reproduction request receiving unit for receiving a request for reproduction of the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server,
Wherein the virtual reality image is reproduced by the master media reproduction apparatus and the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses in association with each other in accordance with the position information and the angle-of-view information.
14. The method of claim 13,
When a key event is generated by the user's input during the reproduction of the virtual reality image, the controller transmits the generated key event to the image providing server
Further comprising:
Wherein the key event is configured to be transmitted from the image providing server to the plurality of slave media playback devices and to control operations of the plurality of slave media devices.
14. The method of claim 13,
Further comprising a correction unit for providing playback position information of the virtual reality image being played back to the image providing server,
Wherein the correction section receives the reproduction position information corrected by the image providing server based on the reproduction position information received from the master media reproduction apparatus and the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses respectively.
16. The method of claim 15,
When the image providing server fails to receive the playback position information from at least one of the plurality of slave media playback devices,
Wherein the correcting unit receives the reproduction position information in which the reproduction position information of the plurality of slave media reproduction apparatuses is corrected based on the reproduction position information of the master media reproduction apparatus by the image providing server.
A slave media playback apparatus for providing a virtual reality image in cooperation with a master media playback apparatus,
An initialization request receiving unit for receiving a playback initialization request from the image providing server when the image providing server receives a playback request for a virtual reality image from the master media playback apparatus;
An information receiving unit for receiving virtual reality image information, position information, and angle of view information from the image providing server when the playback initialization is completed in the master media player and the slave media player,
And a reproduction request receiving unit for receiving a request for reproduction of the virtual reality image corresponding to the virtual reality image information from the image providing server,
Wherein the virtual reality image is reproduced by the master media playback device and the slave media playback device in association with the position information and the view angle size information.
18. The method of claim 17,
A control unit for receiving the key event generated in the master media playback apparatus from the image providing server and controlling the operation of the slave media playback apparatus based on the received key event,
The slave media playback apparatus further comprising:

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