WO2014199424A1

WO2014199424A1 - Image processing system, server, and image processing terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2014199424A1
Application number: PCT/JP2013/065917
Authority: WO
Inventors: 佐々木　昭; 溝添　博樹; 佐々本　学; 恭一中熊
Original assignee: 日立マクセル株式会社
Priority date: 2013-06-10
Filing date: 2013-06-10
Publication date: 2014-12-18

Abstract

In a system for conducting a card game over a network, the conventional art has problems, namely, that the following have not been considered: efficient processing if new cards are added; and decreasing recording regions provided by a game device. Accordingly, in order to solve such problems, for example, provided is an image processing system in which a first terminal (1), a second terminal (2), and a server (10) are connected by a network (3), wherein the image processing system is configured as follows: image data is transmitted from the first terminal (1) to the server (10); on the basis of the image data received from the first terminal (1) and a prescribed rule, the server performs calculations; and the server (10) transmits the calculation results to the second terminal (2), and the second terminal (2) outputs the display data created on the basis of the calculation results transmitted from the server (10).

Description

Image processing system, server, and image processing terminal

The technical field relates to an image processing system, a server, and an image processing terminal using a network.

Patent Document 1 states that “in a battle game using a predetermined number of desired character cards from among possessed character cards, the battle game can be played more equally, regardless of the number of character cards possessed. And providing a game system and a game execution management method that encourage motivation to play this game ”(see Patent Document 1 [0005]). As a means for solving the problem,“ an image of a game character appearing in a battle game is provided. A display for displaying, and an operation member for receiving an instruction for a virtual battle action to be performed by the game character in the battle game, and an ability value that defines the ability of the game character and the battle action is associated with each other. Each character card is associated with each character card using a predetermined number of individual character cards. A game device that causes a battle game to be executed between a plurality of game devices using the respective ability values by transmitting and receiving force values and instructions from the operation member via a network, and a game on the plurality of game devices A game system comprising: a server device that collects information about the situation and reflects the result data obtained from the collected information in the battle game, wherein the server device is a type of character card being used in the battle game Acquisition means for acquiring the usage information for each game, and conversion for narrowing the difference in ability value corresponding to the type of the character card between the types of the character card according to the number of acquisitions of the usage information Conversion value calculation means for calculating a value corresponding to the type of character card as the result data, and conversion according to the type of character card Is transmitted to each game device in association with each character card, and the game device reads at least a type of each character card used in a battle game, and reads each character card. The ability value calculation means for converting the associated ability value into a new ability value using the converted value corresponding to the character card in use, and the battle action according to the instruction from the operation member are converted. And a control means for causing the game character to execute using the ability value ”.

JP 2008-119257 A

However, Patent Document 1 does not consider efficient processing when a new card is added and reduction of the recording area provided by the game device.

In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted.
The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above-described problems. For example, in an image processing system in which a first terminal, a second terminal, and a server are connected via a network, the first terminal The image data is transmitted to the server, the server performs calculation based on the image data received from the first terminal and a predetermined rule, the server transmits the calculation result to the second terminal, and the second terminal Display data created based on the transmitted calculation result is output.

According to the above means, even when a new card is added, data can be updated more easily, and the manufacturing cost of the terminal (game device) can be reduced.

1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image processing system. It is a block block diagram which shows one specific example of the game device in FIG. It is a figure which shows one specific example of the program read from the memory | storage part in FIG. 2, and expand | deployed to memory. It is a figure which shows one specific example of the program expand | deployed by the memory of the server. It is a figure which shows one specific example of the playmat used for a game, and the card | curd arrange | positioned on it. It is a figure which shows an example of the game screen which a game device outputs and displays on a monitor. It is a flowchart which shows a specific example of the process of the game device and server in the image processing system which performs the card identification process on the server side. It is a flowchart which shows a specific example of the process of a game device and a server in the case of extracting a card | curd area by the game device side. 10 is a flowchart showing a specific example of processing for transmitting a still image to a server only when there is a change in the arrangement of cards on a play mat in a game device. It is a figure which shows an example of the game device connection information hold | maintained at the memory of a server. It is a flowchart which shows one specific example of a series of procedures which perform load distribution processing in the server. It is a block block diagram which shows one specific example of the server in FIG.

In a trading card game where you can collect lots of cards and exchange cards with others, new cards are released every few months. In order to make it possible to use cards added one after another in a game system including a game device and a server, it is necessary to update data stored in the game device and the server each time. For this reason, as the number of game devices increases and as new cards are released, the effort required to update data increases. In addition, in order to store a large amount of card data, a large-capacity recording area is required for each of the game device and the server, which increases manufacturing costs.

In the embodiment described below, the recording area for storing the database necessary for identifying the card in the game apparatus becomes unnecessary, so that the manufacturing cost of the game apparatus can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to perform the data update operation when a new card is released on the game device, it is possible to reduce the labor required for data update.

Next, an outline of the embodiment will be described. The plurality of game devices and the server are connected to the network. When playing a game, each game device photographs a card with a camera and transmits the image data to another game device (for example, a game device of an opponent). At the same time, the image data of the card photographed by the game device is transmitted to the server. The image data may be either still image data or moving image data. For example, the image data transmitted to the opponent game device may be moving image data, and the image data transmitted to the server may be still image data.

The server identifies the card image included in the received image data, and reads the card information stored in the server database based on the identified card image. The server calculates and updates the game situation according to the read card information and game rules. The update result of the card information and the game situation is transmitted to each game device. The game device displays the received card information and game status on the screen.

As described above, the game user can play the card game over the network and solve the above-mentioned problems.

Hereinafter, details of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image processing system. The image processing system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of game devices and servers. 1 and 2 are game devices, 3 is the Internet, a network such as Local Area Network (LAN), 4 is a camera, 5 is a monitor, 6 is a microphone, 7 is a speaker, 8 is a remote control, 10 is a server, and 11 and 12 are cards It is a play mat for placing game cards. In FIG. 1, a game apparatus 1 is connected to a camera 4, a monitor 5, a microphone 6, and a speaker 7, and can input and output video and audio. The game apparatus 2 has the same apparatus and configuration as the game apparatus 1.

The game device 1 can play a card game via the network 3 and the game device 2 via the network. The camera 4 is connected to the game apparatus 1 and outputs the captured video signal to the game apparatus 1. The monitor 5 is connected to the game apparatus 1 and receives and displays the video signal output from the game apparatus 1. The microphone 6 is connected to the game apparatus 1 and outputs the collected sound to the game apparatus 1 as an audio signal.

The speaker 7 is connected to the game apparatus 1 and receives an audio signal output from the game apparatus 1 and outputs sound. The remote controller 8 transmits a remote control signal to the game apparatus 1 and gives an operation instruction to the game apparatus 1 from the user. The server 10 is connected to the game apparatus 1 and the game apparatus 2, receives video signals from the

game apparatuses

1 and 2, performs card analysis, and outputs the analysis result to the

game apparatuses

1 and 2. The play mat 11 is a tool used for a card game and is made of a material such as paper or cloth, on which a card used for the game is arranged. In FIG. 1, there are only two game devices, but two or more game devices may be connected.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a specific example of the internal configuration of the game apparatus 1 in the image processing system shown in FIG. 101 is a control unit, 102 is a memory, 103-1 is a video encoder, 103-2 is an audio encoder, 104-1 is a video decoder, 104-2 is an audio decoder, 118 is a multiplexing unit, 119 is a demultiplexing unit, 105 is A stream processing unit 106 is a storage unit, 107-1 is a video processing unit that outputs video to the monitor 5, 107-2 is a video processing unit that receives video from the camera 4, and 108-1 outputs audio to the speaker 7. An audio processing unit 108-2 is an audio processing unit to which audio is input from the

microphone

6, 109 is a remote control processing unit, 110 is a network connection unit, 112 is a video input terminal, 113 is a video output terminal, and 114 is an audio input terminal 115 is an audio output terminal, 116 is a remote control input terminal, and 117 is a network connection terminal.

As described later, the control unit 101 develops a program stored in the storage unit 106 in the memory 102 and executes the developed program to realize functions corresponding to various programs. Further, the program is controlled in accordance with operation information input from the remote control processing unit 109.

The video signal from the video processing unit 107 is input to the encoder 103-1, and the audio signal from the audio processing unit 108 is input to the encoder 103-2. The data is output to a multiplexing unit 118 and a stream processing unit 105, which will be described later.

The decoder 104-1 and the decoder 104-2 are respectively input with compressed and encoded video data and audio data output from a separation unit 119 or a stream processing unit 105, which will be described later. And decompression and expansion into audio signals, respectively.

The multiplexing unit 118 multiplexes the compression-encoded video data and the compression-encoded audio data, which are defined as Elementary Stream (ES) in the MPEG-2 system, input from the encoder 103, and transports Stream Packetized video / audio data called (TS) is output. The separation unit 119 separates the video / audio data output from the stream processing unit 105 and outputs video data and audio data.

The stream processing unit 105 generates a network packet that is a packet of a network protocol to be transmitted to another game device 2 from the input video / audio data, and outputs a video / audio stream that is a continuous network packet. Also, the video / audio stream received from the other game apparatus 2 is changed to video / audio data of TS in a format that can be processed by the separation unit 119. The video / audio stream is obtained by adding header data such as time information generated by the stream processing unit 105 and video / audio format information to the video / audio data.

The storage unit 106 stores a program executed by the control unit 101. The video processing units 107-1 and 107-2 control the video input terminal 112 and the video output terminal 113, respectively, and output the video signal input from the video input terminal 112 to the encoder 103-1, or the decoder 104-1. The video signal input from is output to the video output terminal 113. The video processing unit 107-2 can also process a plurality of video signals from the video input terminal 112.

The audio processing units 108-1 and 108-2 control the audio input terminal 114 and the audio output terminal 115, respectively, and output the audio signal input from the audio input terminal 114 to the encoder 103-2 or the decoder 104-2. The audio signal input from is output to the audio output terminal 115.

The remote control processing unit 109 outputs a remote control signal input from the remote control input terminal 116 to the control unit 101 as operation information. The network connection unit 110 transmits / receives video / audio streams, still image data, and game information used for the game to / from other game devices and servers connected via the network connection terminal 117 and the network 3.

The video input terminal 112 is connected to the camera 4 and outputs the video signal input from the camera 4 to the video processing unit 107-2. The video input / output terminal 112 can be connected to a plurality of cameras and can simultaneously output a plurality of video signals to the video processing unit 107-2.

The video output terminal 113 is connected to the monitor 5 and outputs the video signal input from the video processing unit 107-1 to the monitor 5. The audio input terminal 114 is connected to the microphone 6 and outputs an audio signal input from the microphone 6 to the audio processing unit 108-2. The audio output terminal 115 is connected to the speaker 7 and outputs the audio signal input from the audio processing unit 108-1 to the speaker 7.

FIG. 12 is a block configuration diagram showing a specific example of the internal configuration of the server 10 in the image processing system shown in FIG. Reference numeral 1301 denotes a control unit, 1302 denotes a memory, 1303 denotes a storage unit, 1304 denotes a network connection unit, and 1305 denotes a network connection terminal.

The control unit 1301 realizes functions corresponding to various programs by expanding a program stored in the storage unit 1303 in the memory 1302 and executing the expanded program as will be described later. The storage unit 1303 associates a program executed by the control unit 1301, image data of all cards used in the card game, and card information (for example, card name, attack power, defense power, special ability, etc.) of the card. Stores database and card game rules.

The network connection unit 1304 transmits / receives video / audio streams, still image data, and game information used for the game to / from the game apparatus connected via the network connection terminal 1305 and the network 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a program read from the storage unit 106 of the game apparatus 1 in FIG. 2 and developed in the memory 102, where 301 is a photographing unit, 302 is a still image generating unit, and 303. Is a moving image generation unit, 304 is a transmission processing unit, 305 is a reception processing unit, 306 is a moving image reproduction unit, 307 is a screen display unit, 308 is a difference detection unit, and 311 is a card area detection unit. Hereinafter, processing in this program will be described.

First, the photographing unit 301 obtains a video signal of the play mat 11 photographed by the camera 4 and obtains an audio signal such as a user's voice collected by the microphone 6. The still image generation unit 302 generates still image data from the video signal acquired by the imaging unit 301. In addition, the moving image generation unit 303 generates a video / audio stream from the video signal and the audio signal acquired by the imaging unit 301. Then, the transmission processing unit 304 transmits the video / audio stream created by the moving image generation unit 303 to another game device 2 or transmits the still image data generated by the still image generation unit 302 to the server 10.

The reception processing unit 305 receives a video / audio stream from another device (for example, the game device 2) or receives game information from the server 10. The video playback unit 306 plays back the video / audio stream received by the reception processing unit 305. The screen display unit 307 performs screen display in which the video reproduced by the video reproduction unit 306 and the game information are combined.

The difference detection unit 308 detects a difference between video frames of the video signal acquired by the imaging unit 301. The difference is detected by taking the difference between the previous video frame on the time axis and the current video frame. By detecting the difference, it can be determined whether there is a movement of the card in the video. The determination result of the presence / absence of card movement is used to determine whether or not to perform processing in another program (for example, the transmission processing unit 304 or the card area detection unit 311).

The card area detection unit 311 detects a card area included in the video. The extracted card area information is used by the still image generation unit 302 and the moving image generation unit 303 to generate a video stream or still image data of only the card area.

Note that, instead of the screen display unit 307, a configuration may be provided that includes a video output unit that outputs data of a display screen in which the video reproduced by the video reproduction unit 306 and game information are combined to a device having a display device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a program developed in the memory 1302 of the server 10, where 401 is a reception processing unit, 402 is a card identification unit, 403 is a database unit, 405 is a game situation management unit, and 407. Is a transmission processing unit, 408 is a difference detection unit, and 411 is a card area detection unit.

The reception processing unit 401 receives a video / audio stream and still image data transmitted from an external device (for example, the game device 1 or the game device 2). The card identifying unit 402 identifies the type of the card from the video of the card included in the video / audio stream or still image data received by the reception processing unit 401, and from the database stored in the storage unit 1303 of the server 10. Get card information. The card identification unit 402 handles image data only in the card area. When the received image data includes other than the card area, the card area is extracted by a card area detection unit 411 described later, and then the card identification unit 402 performs an identification process.

The database unit 403 manages a database stored in the storage unit 1303 of the server 10. The database stores image data of all cards used in the game and card information such as the card name, attack power, and defense power of the card in association with each other. The game situation management unit 405 calculates and manages the progress of the game according to the card information and game rules managed by the database unit 403. The calculation and management of the progress status is, for example, content that increases or decreases the player's physical strength or counts the number of cards used from the attack power, defense power, or special ability included in the card information.

The transmission processing unit 407 transmits the card information managed by the database unit 403 and the game progress calculated and managed by the game status management unit 405 to other devices (for example, the game device 1 and the game device 2). To do.

The difference detection unit 408 detects a difference between video frames and a difference between still image data in the received video / audio stream. The difference is detected by taking the difference between the previous video frame on the time axis and the current video frame and the difference between the still image data. By detecting the difference, it can be determined whether or not the card in the video has moved. The determination result of the presence / absence of card movement is used to determine whether or not to perform processing in another program (for example, card identification unit 402, game situation management unit 405, transmission processing unit 407, card area detection unit 411).

The card area detection unit 411 extracts a card area included in the video. The extracted card area information is used when the card identifying unit 402 identifies the card.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the play mat 11 and cards arranged thereon, and reference numerals 502 to 508 denote cards.

Although not shown in the figure, cards 502 to 508 are printed with various patterns and characters and symbols such as attack power and defense power indicating the ability of the card.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of the game screen generated by the game apparatus 2 displayed on the monitor 5. In the game screen of FIG. 6, in addition to the video of the play mat 11 photographed by the camera 4 connected to the game apparatus 1 and the card arranged thereon, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) generated by the game apparatus 2 is overlaid. It is configured together. In the upper part of the screen, “my own physical strength” and “the physical strength of the opponent” indicating the game status are displayed, and in the lower part of each card, the names of cards such as “dragon” and “slime” are displayed.

Next, a method for executing a game via a network in the image processing system will be described. In the present embodiment, an example in which the game apparatus 1 and the game apparatus 2 use the server 10 to execute a game will be described. When the user performs a game start operation using the remote controller 8 of the game apparatus 1, the game apparatus 1 connects to the server 10 and the game apparatus 2 that is an opponent of the game.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a series of processing procedures in the

game apparatuses

1 and 2 and the server 10. S1001 and S1002 indicate loop ends, and indicate that the process between the loop ends S1001 and S1002 is repeatedly executed while the game continues.

First, the photographing unit 301 of the game apparatus 1 inputs the video of the card on the play mat 11 photographed by the camera 4 and the voice such as the user's voice collected by the microphone 6 to the game apparatus 1 (S1003). . Next, a video / audio stream that is a video is generated from the video signal and the audio signal input in S1003 by the video generation unit 303 of the game apparatus 1, and the video / audio stream generated by the transmission processing unit 304 of the game apparatus 1 is generated. Is transmitted to the game apparatus 2 (S1004).

Next, the game apparatus 2 receives the video / audio stream transmitted from the game apparatus 1 by the reception processing unit 305 of the game apparatus 2 (S1005). Then, the video / audio stream received by the moving image playback unit 306 of the game apparatus 2 is played back, and the video is output to the monitor 5 (S1006).

At the same time as or before and after S1004, still image data is generated from the video signal input in S1003 by the still image generation unit 302 of the game apparatus 1, and is generated by the transmission processing unit 304 of the game apparatus 1. Is transmitted to the server 10 (S1007). Here, generation of still image data by the still image generation unit 302 may be performed periodically. Specifically, for example, the server 10 may have a frequency that is necessary for managing the progress of the game, and may be set at a smaller interval than the frequency at which the user changes the card arrangement.

Next, the server 10 receives the still image data transmitted from the game apparatus 1 by the reception processing unit 401 of the server 10 (S1008). Then, the card area in the still image data received in S1008 is extracted by the card identification unit 402 of the server 10 (S1009). At this time, the card position information indicating where the extracted card is arranged on the play mat is acquired. The card position information is used when it is important in the game rules where the card is placed. The card area to be extracted may be the entire card or a partial area of the card necessary for card identification.

The matching card is identified from the database using the card image obtained by the card identifying unit 402 of the server 10 (S1010), and the corresponding card information is acquired from the database (S1011). The card information includes information used for the game (for example, information such as card name, attack power, defense power, etc.).

Then, the game situation management unit 405 makes a determination according to the rules of the game from the card position and card information obtained by identifying the still image data, such as the physical strength on the game device 1 side and the physical strength on the game device 2 side. The game situation data is updated and held (S1012).

Then, the transmission processing unit 407 transmits card position information, card information, game situation data, and the like obtained by identifying still image data to the game apparatus 2 (S1013).

Next, when the reception processing unit 305 of the game apparatus 2 receives card position information, card information, game situation data, or the like, the game apparatus 2 is based on the received card position information or card information. Thus, the display illustrated in FIG. 6 is output from the game apparatus 2. Further, based on the received game situation data, the text information of “your physical strength” and “the physical strength of the opponent” displayed at the top of the display screen illustrated in FIG. 6 is updated (S1015).

Thus, even if the quality of the video in the video / audio stream transmitted from the game apparatus 1 is low and difficult to see, the game apparatus 2 can easily determine the type of the card and easily grasp the progress of the game.

Also, by including multiple languages in the card information, the following becomes possible. For example, when playing a game between a Japanese user and an American user, a card printed in Japanese and English is used at each hand, and the other party's card displayed on the screen has its own reading. Display card information in easy-to-use languages. That is, when an American user uses an English card, it is possible to perform processing such as displaying Japanese card information superimposed on a card displayed on a Japanese user's monitor.

Although omitted in FIG. 7 for the sake of brevity, game device 1 and game device 2 perform the processing of game device 2 and the processing of game device 1 in FIG. 7 in parallel, respectively. That is, the game apparatus 2 also transmits a video / audio stream to the game apparatus 1 using an image obtained by photographing the card on the play mat 12, and transmits still image data to the server 10. Further, the game apparatus 1 receives the video / audio stream transmitted from the game apparatus 2, reproduces and displays it, receives game information from the server 10, and superimposes the card information and the card information on the play mat. The image illustrated in FIG. 6 is displayed.

As described above, by analyzing the card on the server side, it is not necessary to have a database storing a large amount of card data on the game device side, so the capacity of the storage unit 106 can be reduced, and the game device Manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, when a new card is released, it is not necessary to update the database in the game device, so that the cost for updating the database can be suppressed.

In the first embodiment, the game apparatus 1 and the game apparatus 2 do not need the database and card identification capability, but transmit still image data for card identification to the server 10, which increases the network load. In the second embodiment, a method for reducing the amount of data transmitted from the game apparatus 1 to the server 10 will be described.

In the first embodiment, the still image data of the area including the entire play mat photographed by the game apparatus 1 is transmitted to the server 10, but in the second embodiment, the still image data of the card area arranged on the play mat is transmitted. . The card area to be extracted may be the entire card or a partial area of the card necessary for card identification.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a series of processing procedures of the

game apparatuses

1 and 2 and the server 10 in the second embodiment.

Since the processing from S1003 to S1004 in the game apparatus 1 and the processing between S1005 to S1006 in the game apparatus 2 are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.

The card area detection unit 308 of the game apparatus 1 extracts a card area included in the received still image data (S1100). The transmission processing unit 304 transmits the extracted still image data of the card area to the server 10 (S1101).

Then, the still image data in the card area transmitted from the game apparatus 1 is received by the reception processing unit 401 of the server 10 (S1102). In the first embodiment, the card area extraction processing is performed by the server device in S1009. However, in the second embodiment, the processing is performed on the game device side, so that the processing on the server side is unnecessary. If information regarding the card position is required, information regarding the card position may be transmitted from the game device 1 together with the still image data in the card area or before and after transmitting the still image data in the card area. .

Since the subsequent processing is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

By the above method, the amount of data transmitted from the game device to the server can be reduced, and the load on the network to be used can be reduced.

In the third embodiment, a method for reducing the amount of data transmitted from the game device to the server by a method different from the second embodiment will be described.

When the game status is updated, the user of the game device that is playing the game changes the card layout, such as when a new card is inserted or the position of a card that is already on the playmat is changed. This is the case. In the method of periodically transmitting still image data, in order to correctly determine the progress of the game, it is necessary not to miss the timing when the card arrangement is changed. For this reason, it is necessary to transmit the still image data to the server 10 at a frequency more than the frequency at which the card layout is changed.

On the other hand, if the transmission timing of the still image data is not periodically but the timing when the card arrangement is changed, the amount of transmission data to the server can be reduced.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a series of procedures for performing image information transmission processing when the card arrangement is changed in the game apparatus 1. The procedure of FIG. 9 replaces the procedures of S1003 and S1007 in FIG.

In FIG. 9, first, an image from the camera 4 is acquired by the photographing unit 301 of the game apparatus 1 (S701). Next, the difference detection unit 308 detects the motion of the acquired video (S702). The method for detecting the motion of the acquired video is, for example, that the difference between the video frame acquired from the camera 4 and the previously acquired frame is extracted every frame, and there is a motion when there is a difference of a certain amount or more. Judged as a state.

The state where there is a movement is, for example, a situation where the user holds a card and places it on the play mat. The difference detection unit 308 determines whether or not there is no movement for a certain period of time because it is not necessary to send the video in the middle of the card placement to the server 10, and there is no movement and it is only necessary to transmit the card when the card placement is completed. Determination is made (S703). The certain time here is a short time of about 1 second, for example. If it is determined that there is a motion, the process returns to S702 (N in S703). The fixed time can be set as appropriate. If it is about 1 second, even if the user stops a little while placing the card, it may be determined that the card placement has been completed, so 5 seconds or 10 seconds can be set as appropriate. That's fine.

If it is determined that there is no movement for a certain time (Y in S703), the difference detection unit 308 extracts the difference between the still image data transmitted to the server last time and the still image data of the current video frame (S704). Note that if there is no “still image data transmitted to the previous server” that is the target of the difference (when the processing of S704 is executed for the first time immediately after starting the game), for example, “the still image transmitted to the previous server is performed”. Instead of “image data”, blank data whose entire surface is black may be used, the entire still image data may be transmitted, or still images in the card areas of all cards may be transmitted. The reason why the still image data transmitted to the server last time is used as the difference extraction target is that the card arrangement itself may not be changed even if there is a movement from S702 to S703. For example, the user may have tried to change the arrangement of the card, but has withdrawn his hand without touching the card.

It is determined whether there is a difference of a certain amount or more as a result of extracting the difference (S705). Here, the certain amount is, for example, the area of the card. If it is determined that there is no more than a certain amount of difference, the process returns to S702 (N in S705). Note that determining that there is a certain amount of difference or more is also referred to as detecting the difference.

If there is a difference exceeding a certain amount (Y in S705), the stored “still image transmitted to the previous server” is updated with the current still image data (S706). Finally, the current still image data is transmitted to the server 10 (S707).

Other processes of the

game apparatuses

1 and 2 and the server 10 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

As described above, the transmission data amount can be reduced and the network load can be reduced by transmitting the still image data when the card arrangement is changed.

The third embodiment can be combined with the processing of the second embodiment. For example, if the processing in FIG. 9 is performed instead of S1003, S1100, and S1101 in FIG. 8 and the still image in the card area obtained by performing the processing in S1100 and S1101 is transmitted in S707, a further network is obtained. The load can be reduced.

In the methods of

Embodiments

2 and 3, since it is necessary to perform video analysis processing on the game device side, although the load on the network can be reduced, the processing load on the game device increases. On the other hand, if the environment is such that the load on the network does not become a problem, the processing content of the game device performed in the second and third embodiments is performed by the server 10, whereby the processing load on the game device can be reduced. However, in this case, the processing load on the server 10 increases.

Thus, it can be said that the processing load of the game device and the processing load of the server are in a trade-off relationship, and it can be said that which method should be taken depends on the operating environment of the image processing system. For example, when using a smartphone as the hardware of the game device, the performance varies depending on the model, and when the processes of Examples 2 and 3 are performed on a low-performance model, the process becomes slow and the game is smoothly played. There is a possibility that the progress of the game may be hindered.

Considering the optimization of the entire image processing system, if the server processing performance is sufficient, the processing of the game device is reduced. If the server processing performance is not sufficient, the processing is performed in order from the game device having higher performance. It can be said that it is desirable to control load distribution such as increasing the load. A method for performing such load balancing control will be described below.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of the game device connection information held in the memory of the server 10. In FIG. 10A, 1201 is the normal maximum connection number, 1202 is the threshold connection number, 1203 is the current connection number, 1204 is the connected device list, 1205 is the load distribution execution number, and 1206 is the load distribution required number. FIG. 10B is a table showing a specific example of the connection device list 1204.

The normal connection number 1201 is the maximum number of game devices that can be connected in the processing performance of the server 10 when the system is operated in the form of the first embodiment, and is set by the operator of the server 10.

The threshold connection number 1202 is obtained by multiplying the normal maximum connection number by a coefficient in the server 10 and is set by the operator of the server 10. The coefficient here is, for example, 0.9 when the load distribution control is started when a game device exceeding 90% of the normal maximum connection number is connected.

The current connection number 1203 is the number of game devices currently connected to the server 10.

The connected device list 1204 is a table including game device identification information, processing performance information, and a load distribution state. The identification information is information for specifying the game device, and is an IP (Internet Protocol) address here. The processing performance information indicates a performance index of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that is the control unit 101 of the game apparatus. The load distribution state is a flag indicating whether or not load distribution processing is performed in the game device. The load distribution process is, for example, the card area extraction process (S1100) in the second embodiment and the card arrangement change detection process (S702 to S706) in the third embodiment.

The load distribution execution count 1205 is the number of currently distributed game devices that are performing load distribution processing.

The required load distribution number 1206 is the number of game devices that need to perform a new load distribution process among currently connected game devices. This number is obtained by subtracting the threshold connection number 1202 and the load distribution execution number 1205 from the current connection number 1203. This value is the same as the total value of the load distribution state in the connected device list being YES.

When the game apparatus is connected to the server 10, the game apparatus transmits identification information and processing performance information to the server 10. Upon receiving the game device identification information and the processing performance information, the server 10 increases the value of the current connection number 1203 by one, records the received information in the connection device list 1204, and sets the load distribution state to NO. In the connection device list 1204, information on all game devices currently connected to the server 10 is recorded.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a series of procedures for performing load distribution processing in the server 10.

The server 10 determines whether the required load distribution number and the load distribution execution number are different (S801). If the values are the same (N in S801), the process returns to S801 again. If the values are different (Y in S801), the process proceeds to S802.

Next, it is determined whether the required number of load distributions is larger than the number of load distribution executions (S802). If the required load distribution number is larger than the load distribution execution number (Y in S802), a game apparatus having a load distribution state of NO and the highest value of processing performance information is searched from the connected apparatus list 1204 and selected (S803). . A load distribution request message is transmitted to the selected game device, the load distribution state of the game device in the connected device list 1204 is set to YES, and the value of the load distribution execution number 1205 is incremented by 1 (S804). After step S804, the process returns to step S801.

If the required load distribution number is smaller than the load distribution execution number (N in S802), the game apparatus having the load distribution state YES and the lowest processing performance information value is searched from the connected device list 1204 and selected (S805). . A load distribution stop message is transmitted to the selected game device, the load distribution state of the corresponding game device in the connected device list 1204 is set to NO, and the value of the load distribution execution count 1205 is decreased by 1 (S806). After step S806, the process returns to step S801.

Upon receiving the load distribution request message, the game device performs card area extraction processing (S1100) and / or card arrangement change detection processing (S702 to S706), which are load distribution processing thereafter. When a load balancing stop message is received, the load balancing processing that has been performed so far is not performed.

When the server 10 receives the still image data from the game device (S1008), based on the number of pixels of the received still image data, whether the data is the data including the entire play mat or only the card region. Is determined. If the still image data is data of an area including the entire playmat, card area extraction processing (S1009) is performed. If the still image data is data of only the card area, the card identification process (S1010) is executed immediately without performing the card area extraction process (S1009).
The other processes are the same as those in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7, 8, and 9, and will not be described.

As described above, when there is no margin in the processing performance of the server 10, the processing load can be distributed by increasing the processing load in order from the game device having the higher performance. As a result, even when game devices having different performances are used in the entire image processing system, it is possible to play a game with as little delay as possible due to processing load.

1, 2 Game device 3 Network 4 Camera 5 Monitor 6 Microphone 7 Speaker 8 Remote control 10

Server

11, 12 Play mat 101 Control unit 102 Memory 103-1, 103-2 Encoder 104-1, 104-2 Decoder 105 Stream processing unit 106 Storage units 107-1 and 107-2 Video processing units 108-1 and 108-2 Audio processing unit 109 Remote control processing unit 110 Network connection unit 112 Video input terminal 113 Video output terminal 114 Audio input terminal 115 Audio output terminal 116 Remote control input terminal 117 Network connection terminal 118 Multiplexer 119 Separator 301 Imager 302 Still image generator 303 Movie generator 304 Transmission processor 305 Reception processor 306 Movie playback unit 307 Screen display unit 308 Difference detector 311 Card area detector 401 Reception Processing unit 402 Card identification unit 403 Database unit 405 Game situation management unit 407 Transmission processing unit 408 Difference detection unit 411 Card area detection unit 502 to 508 Card 1201 Normal maximum connection number 1202 Threshold connection number 1203 Current connection number 1204 Connection device list 1205 Load Number of distributed executions 1206 Number of required load distributions 1301 Control unit 1302 Memory 1303 Storage unit 1304 Network connection unit 1305 Network connection terminal

Claims

An image processing system in which a first terminal, a second terminal, and a server are connected via a network,
Sending image data from the first terminal to the server;
The server performs calculation based on the image data received from the first terminal and a predetermined rule,
Sending the result of the calculation performed by the server to the second terminal;
An image processing system, wherein the second terminal outputs display data created based on a calculation result transmitted from the server.
The image processing system according to claim 1,
The image data transmitted from the first terminal to the server includes information on a card used for a card game,
The predetermined rule is a rule of the card game,
An image processing system, wherein the server performs calculation according to the rules of the card game using card information included in image data received from the first terminal.
The image processing system according to claim 2,
The server extracts an area of a card used for a card game from image data received from the first terminal, and acquires information on a card used for the card game based on the extraction result system.
The image processing system according to claim 2,
The image processing system, wherein the first terminal extracts an area of a card used for a card game from the acquired image, and transmits image data of the extracted card area to the server.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The image processing system, wherein the first terminal transmits image data to the server when a difference between an acquired image and a held image is detected.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
When the processing load on the server is within a predetermined amount, the server extracts a card area used for the card game from the image data received from the first terminal, and is used for the card game based on the extraction result. Get card information,
When the processing load on the server is greater than a predetermined amount, the server transmits a predetermined message to the first terminal, and the first terminal that has received the predetermined message makes a card game from the acquired image. An image processing system for extracting a card area to be used and transmitting image data of the extracted card area to the server.
A server connected to the first terminal and the second terminal via a network,
A receiving unit for receiving image data from the first terminal;
An information processing unit that performs calculation based on image data received by the receiving unit and a predetermined rule;
A transmission unit configured to transmit a calculation result of the information processing unit to the second terminal.
The server of claim 7, wherein
The image data transmitted from the first terminal to the server includes information on a card used for a card game,
The predetermined rule is a rule of the card game,
The server, wherein the information processing unit performs calculation according to rules of the card game using card information included in image data received by the receiving unit.
9. The server of claim 8, wherein
A card identifying unit for extracting a card area used in a card game from the image data received by the receiving unit;
The server, wherein the information processing unit acquires information on a card used in a card game based on a card area extracted by the card identification unit.
An image processing terminal connected to a server via a network,
An image generation unit for generating image data;
A card area detection unit for detecting an area of a card used in a card game from the image data generated by the image generation unit;
An image processing terminal comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit image data of a card area detected by the card area detection unit to the server via a network.
An image processing terminal connected to a server via a network,
An image generation unit for generating image data;
A transmission unit that transmits the image data generated by the image generation unit to the server via a network;
A difference detection unit that detects a difference between the image generated by the image generation unit and the held image;
The transmission unit transmits image data to the server when a difference is detected by the difference detection unit.
An image processing terminal connected to a server via a network,
An image generation unit for generating image data;
A card area detection unit for detecting an area of a card used in a card game from the image data generated by the image generation unit;
A transmission unit that transmits the image data generated by the image generation unit via the network or the image data of the card area detected by the card area detection unit to the server;
The transmission unit switches between transmission of image data generated by the image generation unit and transmission of image data of a card area detected by the card area detection unit based on a predetermined message from the server. An image processing terminal characterized by.
The image processing terminal according to any one of claims 10 to 12,
A receiving unit for receiving image data from a second image processing terminal different from the image processing terminal connected via the network;
An image output unit that outputs the image data received by the receiving unit;
The image processing terminal, wherein the transmission unit transmits data of an image generated by the image generation unit to the second image processing terminal.