Image analysis – Image compression or coding – Interframe coding
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-26
2004-10-05
Patel, Jayanti K. (Department: 2625)
Image analysis
Image compression or coding
Interframe coding
C348S014100, C348S700000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06801663
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of producing and displaying communication data including an actually photographed picture of a user, and more particularly, to a communication data producing and displaying technique which allow an actually photographed picture to be attached with data without encountering a problem with the data size and without making a user nervous.
The present invention also relates to a conversation supporting system/method implemented and provided on a computer network such as the Internet, for supporting a virtual conversation such as a chat in which a plurality of users are allowed to participate, and more particularly, to a conversation supporting system/method for supporting a remote conversation in which actually-photographed pictures of respective users are provided without encountering a problem of a high load imposed upon the network or without imposing a psychological pressure upon the users.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, dramatically great advances have been achieved in information processing, information communication, and computing technologies, and computer systems are now used everywhere. The need for a more advanced networking technique for connecting computers to each other is becoming increasingly strong. When computers are connected to each other via a network, users of computers can share computer resources and can distribute, exchange, and share information among users in a very efficient manner. Furthermore, cooperative jobs are possible among computers connected to each other via a network.
A wide variety of networking techniques are used to connect computers to each other. They include a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet and Bluetooth installed in a local area, a WAN (Wide Area Network) which connects LANs via a dedicated line or the like, and the Internet which has grown to a world-wide network system after a great number of networks have been connected from one to another.
At present, a huge number of servers are distributed on the Internet, and various information resources such as HTML documents are available via the Internet with or without cost. By specifying an identifier called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), clients can access any of these information resources open to the public according to the TCP/IP protocol.
There is a tendency toward the use of a network such as the Internet not only to simply distribute information but also to realize real-time remote communication. Specific examples of applications to such remote communication include a BBS (Bulletin Board System) and a chat system.
The BBS is a system in which computerized bulletin information is collected and stored on servers on a network and is provided to users via the network. The BBS has the advantage that information can be managed by servers in a unified fashion and information can be transmitted at real time among users at various remote locations in a wide area.
The chat is an on-line talk performed in real time on a network by users to input characters via keyboards. In general, a plurality of users logging in a chat can talk on a real-time basis, and the contents of talks of the respective users are displayed on monitor screens of all participants. The chat allows users at various remote locations to enjoy real-time talks or discussions in a virtual world build on the Internet. An attractive advantage of the chat system is that any user can participate in a chat simply by logging in the virtual world provided by the chat system and they are not necessarily needed to be acquaintances to each other in the real world. In the chat, in contrast to the e-mail and the BBS in which interactions are performed in an asynchronous fashion, talks are performed in a synchronous fashion such that a string of characters input by a user logging in the chat is immediately transmitted to the other users. The chat is exciting in that user can immediately receive a response from another user and can input a next sentence depending upon the received response. In the chat, unlike e-mails in which rather long sentences are transmitted, sentences transmitted are usually short.
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an example of a known server-client system for realizing a real-time conference or chat on the Internet. The IRC protocol used in IRC is defined in the RFC (Request For Comments) 1459 standard.
It is also known in the art to realize real-time communication by transmitting audio and video data (moving picture, for example) produced via a video camera over a network. In such a two-way communication system, one-to-one connections are usually employed as in a television conference system or a video conference system. However, in some two-way communication systems, as in “CU-See Me” developed at Cornell University, USA, communication is performed among a plurality of users in the form of a chat using a plurality of media such as a video and audio media.
In communication, if video pictures are used in addition to words, expressions of faces of respective users are transmitted, and enhanced feelings of presence can be obtained. However, transmission of video data via a network has the following problems.
(1) Video data generally has a large size, and thus video data needs wide bandwidth in transmission via a network.
(2) A picture of a user is always taken by a camera during communication, and thus a high psychological pressure is imposed upon the user. This limits the situation in which the system is used.
(3) Because a picture and a voice are transmitted on a real-time basis, it is difficult to see (or listen to) data received at some previous time while grasping the current status.
In a chat system called “Microsoft Chat” available from Microsoft Corporation, USA, a cartoon character for providing additional information in addition to text information is assigned to each user, wherein each cartoon character can have different face expressions. Cartoon characters assigned to respective users are displayed in an array of frames on a browser screen, and a text input by a user is displayed in a speech balloon of a corresponding cartoon character. In this chat system, unlike the system in which video data is transmitted, the problem of use of a wide bandwidth in transmission over a network does not occur. However, cartoon characters are less expressive than video pictures. Besides, cartoon characters cannot be easily accepted in applications, such as a conference, for use in companies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique of producing and displaying communication data including an actually-photographed picture of a user.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a technique of producing and displaying communication data, capable of attaching an actually-photographed picture without having a problem in terms of the data size and without imposing a psychological pressure upon the user.
It is still another aspect of the present invention to provide a conversation supporting system/method implemented and provided on a computer network such as the Internet, for supporting a virtual conversation such as a chat in which a plurality of users are allowed to participate.
It is still another aspect of the present invention to provide a conversation supporting system/method for supporting a remote conversation in which actually photographed pictures of respective users are provided without encountering a problem of a high load imposed upon the network or without imposing a psychological pressure upon the users.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, to achieve the above objects, there is provided a communication data producing apparatus/method for producing communication data including an actually-photographed picture, the communication data producing apparatus/method comprising: a sentence inputting unit/step for inputting, by a user, a sentence or a statement; an imaging unit/step for taking a picture of the user a plu
Ayatsuka Yuji
Matsushita Nobuyuki
Rekimoto Junichi
Maioli Jay H.
Patel Jayanti K.
Sony Corporation
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for producing communication data,... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for producing communication data,..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for producing communication data,... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3286658