WO2002080540A1

WO2002080540A1 - Personal digital assistant capable of storing position-dependent information

Info

Publication number: WO2002080540A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/002672
Authority: WO
Inventors: Akihiko Sugikawa
Original assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
Priority date: 2001-03-29
Filing date: 2001-03-29
Publication date: 2002-10-10
Also published as: JPWO2002080540A1

Abstract

A personal digital assistant comprises a nearby communication apparatus (16), a memory (17) for storing position-dependent information acquired from a base station (11) through the nearby communication device, and a storage for recording photographed picture information associated with the position-dependent information in response to a photographing command from a user (24).

Description

Specification

Portable information processing device for recording position-dependent information

Technical field

The present invention relates to a portable information processing device that records position-dependent information.

Background art

The spread of electronic cameras has made it easier to create high quality digital image data. In addition, the miniaturization of the imaging unit has made it possible to add a shooting function to mobile phones and the like.

For electronic devices intended for the general public to become widespread, a common recording format for electronic cameras of each company is required. For this reason, the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association has established the Digital Still Camera Image File Format Standard Version 2.1, which has been adopted by many electronic camera manufacturers. This standard is called Exif (Exchangeable image file format) and is applied to audio data recording as well as image data. The image data is recorded as a file on a recording medium such as smart media or compact flash, and transferred to another device such as a computer using an adapter or a USB cable.

The image file contains information related to the image itself, such as image size, compression method, storage method, shooting conditions, latitude and longitude position information obtained from GPS, and comments added by the user. A special tag is specified so that it can be recorded. By using such tag information, it became possible for users to search for images on a computer and learn additional information related to photographs.c Several methods have been devised for adding comments to captured image information.For example, a method of adding arbitrary text by combining pen input and character recognition, or using voice recognition Thus, a method has been devised in which a keyword is assigned and a method of recording together with voice data, and later performing voice recognition and assigning a keyword.

In addition, since it is difficult for a user to convert a specific facility name or place name into latitude and longitude information, when transferring data from an electronic camera to a computer, it is necessary to use the latitude and longitude information. A service on the Web could be to add a tag to image data by converting it to a place name or facility name. By adding a tag, a user can search by a place name or a facility name, or know the location of a photo or a facility name being viewed. Alternatively, it is also possible to search for a desired photo by transmitting the place name or facility name to the Web server at the time of search and converting it to latitude and longitude information.

On the other hand, by adding audio input means to an electronic camera, audio for a certain period is recorded at the same time as shooting, and it is associated with shooting data, enabling multimedia playback that increases the sense of reality. Electronic cameras have been proposed for the purpose of increasing the entertaining property, for example, by synthesizing and recording the frame information built in the electronic camera in advance. .

However, it is possible to obtain the name of the building with the information of low latitude, but it has not been possible to convert it to detailed information such as the building zone and tenant name. Also, it is difficult to give all the detailed information of the photographed object as a comment. In addition, when inputting a comment by voice, it is necessary to perform recognition and other operations when searching for it. If a loud place is targeted, there is a possibility that it will be misrecognized. In addition, it is necessary to prepare frames and the like in advance, and it is very difficult for a user to prepare in advance a frame suitable for a shooting location.

Disclosure of the invention

A first aspect of the present invention is a portable information processing device that communicates with a position-dependent information providing device that provides position-dependent information related to position information by short-range communication, comprising: a short-range wireless communication device having a short-range communication function; A position-dependent information acquisition device that acquires position-dependent information from the position-dependent information providing device via the wireless communication device, a photographing device that performs photographing in response to a photographing instruction from a user, and photographing by the user. There is provided a portable information processing device including an information recording device that records the position-dependent information captured in response to an instruction in association with image information captured by the capturing device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a portable information processing device that communicates with a server that provides position-dependent information related to position information through short-range communication, an imaging device that captures an arbitrary subject, An encoding device for compressing and encoding an image signal to be received, and position-dependent information transmitted from the communication station in response to the start of imaging by the imaging device, and compressing the compressed image information from the encoding device to the position. An information recording device that records in association with the dependent information; a decoding device that reads and decodes the recorded image information; and an output device that visually outputs decoded image information from the decoding device. A portable information processing device comprising:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 shows the location of base stations.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an electronic camera and a base station used as a portable information processing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electronic camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows the configuration of the base station.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the electronic camera shown in Fig. 3.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an electronic camera used as a portable information processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an electronic camera used as a portable information processing device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic camera shown in FIG.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an electronic camera used as a portable information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a plurality of Bluetooth base stations 11 are fixedly arranged in, for example, an amusement park, a theme park, an exposition hall, and the like. The radio zone of each Bluetooth base station 11 is about 10 to 20 m. Figure 2 shows the electronic camera 1 2 is used in the facilities mentioned above. The electronic camera 12 is provided with a liquid crystal monitor 13 and a shutter 14, and a recording medium (smart media) 15 is provided detachably. Further, a proximity communication device (Bluetooth communication device) 16 having a short communication distance of, for example, 10 m or 2 Om is built in the electronic camera 12.

FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration of the electronic camera 12 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. According to this, the proximity communication device 16 for communicating with the Bluetooth base station 11 is connected to the memory 17 for storing transmission / reception information. This memory 17 is connected to an LCD monitor 13 that can display transmission / reception information via an image decoding unit (image expansion unit) 26 that decodes (expands) the compressed and coded image signal. .

The memory 17 is further connected to the control unit 19. The control unit 19 receives time information from the clock 20 and captures an image of the subject. The imaging unit 21 also converts the image signals into digital signals. The AD converter 22 converts the image signals into digital signals. The image encoding unit (image compression unit) 23 and the recording / reproduction unit 24 having a function of recording the compression-encoded image signal on a recording medium, for example, a smart media, and reproducing the recorded image signal. Connected.

The control unit 19 is further connected to a short-range communication device 16 and an imaging direction detector 25 for detecting an imaging direction of the camera.

The Bluetooth base station 11 is composed of a Bluetooth transmitter / receiver 31 and a base station database 32 as shown in FIG. Location-dependent information in the data base ₃ 2 and the multimeter di Adeta Is stored. The location-dependent information includes information on the installation location of each base station 11 and its surroundings, such as the name of a building such as a restaurant, the name of a game facility such as a ferris wheel, the name of an attraction facility, and the like. Includes information such as keywords indicating the vent (castles, parades) and the date and time. Multimedia data is a complex of text, graphics or image information. The Bluetooth base station 11 has a function as a server that transmits location-dependent information and multimedia data in response to a request.

Next, the operation of the electronic camera 12 of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When a user presses the shutter 14 of the electronic camera 11 to take a picture with the electronic camera 11 in front of the castle of the Amizumento Park shown in Fig. 2 (step S1). Then, the shutter information is sent to the control unit 19. Upon receiving the shutter information, the control unit 19 sends a photographing signal to the photographing unit 21 (step S2). The shooting is started in response to the shooting instruction (step S3). When the control unit 19 sends a position-dependent information request to the proximity communication device 16, the proximity communication device 16 transmits an information request signal (step S4).

When the base station 11 closest to the shooting location receives the information request signal, this base station 11 sends location-dependent information from the database 32, for example, keywords indicating the location, date and time, and the event (eg, in front of a castle or palace). In the electronic camera 11 which fetches information such as the data from the database 32 and transmits it, it is confirmed whether or not the information has been received (step S5). When the position-dependent information is received by the proximity communicator 16 of the electronic camera 11, the received position-dependent information is stored in the memory. Stored in 17 (step 6). If the information is not received, it is confirmed whether or not the previous information can be used (step S7). If the previous information cannot be used, an information request is made again. If the previous information can be used, the process proceeds to step S11 described later.

After step S6, it is checked whether or not the shooting has been completed (step S8). If the shooting has been completed, the image signal obtained by the imaging unit 21 is input to the AD converter 22 and digitally converted. It is converted to an image signal (step S9). The digital image signal from the A / D converter 22 is compression-encoded by the compression-encoding section 23 (step S10). At this time, the imaging direction of the camera is detected by the imaging direction detector 25 (step S11). The imaging direction detector 25 detects the imaging direction of the camera using a magnet built into the camera.

In the capturing of the position-dependent information in step S12, the control unit 19 selects and reads out the position-dependent information corresponding to the photographing direction, that is, the information indicating “jojo” from the memory 17. And sends it to the recording / playback unit 24. In reading the position-dependent information, the user may select from several pieces of information displayed on the LCD monitor 13. For example, a selection button can be provided on the camera 12, and the information displayed on the LCD monitor 13 can be selected by operating the selection button.

The recording / reproducing unit 24 records the transmitted position-dependent information on the recording medium in association with the compression-encoded image information (step 13). In this case, the information is associated with the time when the location-dependent information was received. This is performed in consideration of the shooting time.

If information has been received from a plurality of base stations before the shooting time, it is possible to record a plurality of information on a recording medium. Also, the liquid crystal monitor 1 3 recorded in _c smart menu di A that can also view the received information to the captured image information and the position-dependent information is reproduced Ri by the recording and reproducing unit 2 4, The image is decoded by the image decoding unit 26 and sent to the liquid crystal monitor 13. As a result, the recorded captured image information can be reproduced and displayed on the LCD monitor 13 together with the position-dependent information.

By recording the position-dependent information on the recording medium in association with the image information as described above, the user can retrieve the desired image information at a later date using a keyword related to the shooting location and time. And obtain information related to the shooting location.

Next, an electronic camera used as a portable information processing device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The electronic camera of this embodiment can reproduce information with a more realistic sensation by capturing and recording music information in addition to image information. The acquired image and the captured image are combined and displayed.

In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the database 32 of the base station 11 stores multimedia data such as frame image information and music information. Then, an audio processing unit 27 and a speaker 18 are added to the electronic camera 11 in FIG. That is, the audio processing unit 27 stores the memory 17 And its output is connected to speaker 18. The audio processing unit 27 is composed of MIDI (Musical Instrumental Digital Interface) and MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-II).

In the operation of the electronic camera 12 of this embodiment, steps S1 to S3 shown in FIG. 7 are the same as those of the first embodiment of FIG. In step S14 after the above, the position-dependent information and the music information are requested from the base station 11. In response to this request, the base station 11 transmits position-dependent information and music information characterizing the shooting location. When the electronic camera 12 receives the transmitted position-dependent information and the music information, the information is stored in the memory 17 (S6).

After the shooting is completed, music information is acquired through the steps of AD conversion (S9), compression processing (S10), shooting direction detection (S11), and position-dependent information acquisition (S12). (S15). Thereafter, the position-dependent information and the music information are recorded on the recording medium by the recording / reproducing unit 24 in association with the compression-encoded image information (S16).

When music information is captured in the above operation, the music information read from the memory 17 is processed by the audio processing section 27, and the audio signal can be output as music from the speaker 18 So, you can listen to this music and decide the selection of music information and record.

According to the second embodiment, by recording the position-dependent information on the recording medium in association with the image information, the user can use the information at a later date. It is possible to search for desired image information using keywords related to the shooting location and time, and not only to obtain information related to the shooting location, but also to obtain information other than image information. Since music information can be imported and recorded, music information can be reproduced using MIDI or MP3 to reproduce realistic information.

In addition, a virtual image is obtained by synthesizing captured image with various image information stored in the database of the base station 11 as multimedia data, for example, image information such as a background image and a virtual image. Can be generated.

FIG. 8 shows an electronic camera used as a portable information processing device according to the third embodiment. In this embodiment, a remote communication device 28 is added to the electronic camera 11 in FIG. By transmitting the position-dependent information remotely using the remote communication device 28, it is possible to provide a receiving terminal, for example, a portable terminal, with a photographed image and a photographing place.

That is, according to the third embodiment, it is determined whether recording or transmission is performed after the music information is fetched (S15) (S17). In the case of transmission, the position-dependent information is input to the remote communication device 28 together with the image information (and music information), and when the target terminal address is input, the position-dependent information is input to the remote communication device 2 together with the image information. Sent by 8. When this transmission signal is received by the mobile terminal, the display location of the mobile terminal can display the shooting location together with the shot image. This allows the user of the portable terminal to immediately know the location of the photographer, family, or friend. The electronic camera of the present invention can be used for restaurants and various recreational facilities in addition to the Amusement Park, and location-dependent information can be set according to the place of use. , Address, phone number, business hours, regular holidays, etc. can be included.

In the above embodiment, the base station 12 sends the position-dependent information in response to the information request signal from the electronic camera 11, but the base station 12 periodically sends the position-dependent information. Alternatively, the electronic camera 11 may take in the position-dependent information in response to the shutter operation.

Information from the base station can be free or charged, but if it is charged, you can set a code for permitting information to be acquired by paying a fee, so that the information can be imported when shooting.

As described above, according to the present invention, image information captured by an electronic camera is recorded on a recording medium in association with position-dependent information such as date, time, time, and position information. Later, when the image is played back, the user can obtain information such as the shooting location, date and time, and time, thereby improving the recording value of the image.

Industrial applicability

The electronic camera according to the present invention records a photographed image and information of the photographing place in association with each other, so that the relationship between the photographed image and the photographing place (or date and time, facility name, etc.) can be obtained without relying on memory. It is suitable for accurate grasp.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. In a portable information processing device that communicates with a location-dependent information providing device that provides location-dependent information related to location information via short-range communication,

A short-range wireless communication device having a short-range communication function;

A position-dependent information acquisition device that acquires position-dependent information from the position-dependent information providing device via the wireless communication device;

A photographing device that performs photographing in response to a photographing instruction from a user, and the position-dependent information acquired in response to the photographing instruction from the user and image information photographed by the photographing device are associated with each other. An information recording device for recording;

Mobile information processing device composed of

2. The portable information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a device for detecting a photographing direction; and a device for selecting position-dependent information according to the detected photographing direction.

3. A device that determines whether the position-dependent information can be obtained from the position-dependent information providing device, and, if the position-dependent information cannot be obtained, determines whether the previously obtained position-dependent information can be used. 3. The portable information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a device for setting the position-dependent information acquired last time, and an image recording device for recording the position-dependent information acquired last time in association with the photographed image information when the device is determined to be usable.

4. The position-dependent information acquiring device has a device that acquires multimedia data from the position-dependent information providing device when it can communicate with the position-dependent information providing device, and the information recording device The portable information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a device that manages the acquired multimedia data in association with captured image information.

5. The portable information processing device according to claim 4, further comprising a device for reproducing photographed image information together with the multimedia data.

6. The portable information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the information recording device records music information included in the multimedia data in association with the photographed image information and the position-dependent information.

7. The portable information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a long-distance communication device that transmits the photographed image information and the position-dependent information over a long distance.

8. The portable information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information recording apparatus records the information on a removable recording medium.

9. In a portable information processing device that communicates with a server that provides location-dependent information related to location

An imaging device for imaging an arbitrary subject;

An encoding device that compresses and encodes an image signal obtained from the imaging device;

An information recording device that fetches position-dependent information transmitted from the communication station in response to the start of imaging by the imaging device, and records compressed image information from the encoding device in association with the position-dependent information; ,

A decoding device for reading and decoding the recorded image information; and an output device for visually outputting the decoded image information from the decoding device. Mobile information processing device composed of

10. The portable information processing device according to claim 9, wherein the information recording device records multimedia data including music information together with position-dependent information from the server in association with compressed image information.

11. The portable information processing device according to claim 9 or 10, further comprising an audio reproduction device that converts the music information into an audio signal and reproduces music.

12. The portable information processing device according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising a communication device that transmits the position-dependent information and the image information over a long distance.