JP2003345815A - Server and system for url search, and server and system for image processing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a URL search system which makes it easy to acquire a URL (user requirement language) regarding a photographed image on a mobile terminal device side. <P>SOLUTION: A picture is taken by the CCD camera 21 of the mobile telephone set 20 and received as a URL search object image and an analyzing means analyzes an object included in the URL search object image by using a URL database 13, specifies a URL according to the analysis result from the URL database, and sends the URL information back to the mobile telephone set. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a URL search server and a URL search system using an image database, and an image processing server and an image processing system that provide an image processing service.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image search system using an image database, for example, an image search system 70 shown in FIG. 15 is known. 15, an image search system 70 includes an image search server 71 such as a digital camera with a communication function, and a portable data terminal device 72.

A portable data terminal device 72 can transmit a search target image photographed using a camera to an image search server 71 via a mobile communication network 6 and the Internet 5.

[0004] Upon receiving the search target image, the image search server 71 analyzes the search target image using the image analysis means, extracts an object from the image, and compares it with the data image in the image database. .

At the time of retrieval using an image database, it is possible to perform extraction of a characteristic portion of a retrieval target, enlargement / reduction / rotation, color comparison, shape comparison, and the like. Traditionally, for example,
When the object included in the image is an elongated red triangle, the image search server can extract an image closest to the object (for example, Tokyo Tower) from the images included in the image database.
At the time of this search, a more accurate search can be performed using a position detection system such as a GPS or the location information of a base station accessed by the mobile phone.

[0006] In this way, the above-described image search system can specify the "elongated red triangle" as, for example, "Tokyo Tower". In addition, in the search results, along with the images, the location is "xx-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan", the name is "Tokyo Tower", and the telephone number is "03-yyyy-zzzz".
And the like may be added.

[0007]

By the way, the user has
To obtain more detailed information on the searched image, the user operates a web browser mounted on the data terminal device 72 to access the URL search server and search for “Tokyo Tower”. Then, it is possible to access a desired web server by specifying the URL listed by this search.

[0008] However, the portable telephone is a desktop,
Since the performance of the CPU and the like is lower than that of a computer such as a laptop, there is a problem that it takes time to access the web server. Moreover, the portable data terminal device 72
Since the display is small and the input devices such as a keyboard and numeric keys are simplified, it is not easy to process image data in the portable data terminal device 72.

An object of the present invention is to provide a URL search server and a URL search system capable of performing a search using an image database of an object included in a search target and transmitting the search result as a URL list to a portable terminal device. It is in.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing server and an image processing system capable of providing a data terminal device with substantially the same function as a portable data terminal device that has processed image data. To provide.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a URL search server comprising: image information receiving means for receiving, as a URL search target image, image information on an image taken by a camera from a portable terminal device with a camera; Image analysis means for analyzing objects contained in the image;
A URL database constructed in association with the data image, URL specifying means for specifying a URL based on an analysis result from the URL database by the image analyzing means, and a URL for sending the URL information to the portable terminal device
L information transfer means.

The portable terminal device according to the present invention is a portable terminal device having both a camera function and a communication function, and is typically a portable telephone with a camera or a digital camera with a communication function.

In the portable terminal device of the present invention, the image information receiving means can receive the image information to which character information is added from the camera-equipped portable terminal device, and the search target analyzing means narrows down the search target images. Can be performed with reference to the character information. The character information can be, for example, position information (such as a place name, city, town, or village name) if the image to be searched is an image of a building or a historic site, or the product name if the image to be searched is an article. This is a name that indicates the high-level concept of a product.

[0014] In the URL search server of the present invention, the image information receiving means receives the image information as an image file attached to an electronic mail, and when the image file includes character information, transmits the character information to a predetermined portion of the electronic mail. It can be received as information written in the field.

In the URL search server of the present invention, the URL
The L database can be composed of a field consisting of a code given to the data image on the database, a name of the data image, a field consisting of a code representing characteristics of the data image, and a URL field. .

In the URL search server of the present invention, the image analysis means decodes the meaning of the object included in the image from the URL search target image,
At least one of means for decoding a name of an object included in the URL search target image may be provided. Further, when the URL search target image includes a plurality of objects, the image analysis means can analyze each object.

In the URL search server of the present invention,
It is also possible to receive information on which object to analyze among the objects included in the URL search target image. Further, when a plurality of URLs are specified, the URL specifying unit determines the number of the specified URLs. It can be limited to a small number (narrow down).

A URL search system according to the present invention is a URL search system in which any one of the above URL search servers is connected to the Internet, wherein a portable terminal device can access the URL server via the Internet. And

The image processing server of the present invention comprises: image information receiving means for receiving, as a processing target image, image information on an image taken by the camera from a portable terminal device with a camera, together with processing content instruction information; An image processing means for processing based on the processing content instruction information, and a processed image transfer means for returning an image processed by the image processing means to the portable portable terminal device.

The image processing system according to the present invention is characterized in that the image processing server is connected to the Internet, and the portable terminal device can access the processing server via the Internet.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS.
An embodiment of a search server and a URL search system will be described. In FIG. 1, a URL search system 1 includes a URL
It comprises a search server 10 and a plurality of mobile phones 20.

The URL search server 10 is connected to the Internet 5 via a gateway (GW) 3. The mobile phone 20 is connected to the base station 7,
The base station 7 is connected to the Internet 5 via a mobile communication network 6 and a gateway (GW) 4. Although only one mobile phone 20 is shown in FIG. 1, many mobile phones 20 are connected to the mobile communication network 6 in an actual system.

The portable telephone 20 is equipped with a CCD camera 21 so that a photographed image can be attached to an electronic mail and transmitted to an appropriate mail address via the Internet 5.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing the configuration of the URL search server 10. The URL search server 10
Control unit 11, communication unit 12, URL database 13
It is comprised including.

The control unit 11 includes a CPU 11a, a ROM 1
1b and a RAM 11c. And ROM
11b stores a communication program P11, an image analysis program P12, an image search program P13, and a URL specifying program P14.

The communication program P11 drives the communication unit 12, and in cooperation with the communication unit 12, also functions as an image information receiving unit, a URL information transfer unit, and an object limitation information receiving unit in the present invention. In addition, various types of information can be exchanged with the portable telephone 20.

The image analysis program P12 can analyze an object included in a URL search target image related to image information. The image analysis program P12 includes a module for extracting an outline (including outline extraction for each color) in an image to specify an object. Further, the image analysis program P12 includes means (program) for decoding the meaning of the object itself included in the URL search target image from the URL search target image, and means (program) for decoding the name of the object included in the URL search target image. At least one of them is provided. When the URL search target image includes a plurality of objects, the image analysis program P12 can execute the image analysis for each object.

The image search program P13 is, for example,
The object (1) specified by the image analysis program P12
Or two or more), processing such as enlargement / reduction / rotation, color comparison, shape comparison, etc. is performed, and the URL database 1
3 can be compared with the stored image. Note that the mobile phone 20 can add character information to an image sent to the URL search server 10. When character information is added to an image, the image search program P13 can perform a search (for example, a narrow search) with reference to the character information.

When an image is specified by a search, the URL specifying program P14 lists the URL of the record to which the image belongs. In this case, when the number of URLs is large, the URL specifying program P14 can limit the number.

The URL database 13 includes a large number of data images and records shown in FIG. Each record includes a field of a data image name, a field including a code representing a characteristic of the data image, and a URL field.

For example, the name of the data image is a name such as "Tokyo Tower" or "Barcode", and the code representing the characteristic of the data image is composed of, for example, a number of bits. , One-dimensional shape such as arc shape, L shape, U shape, (b) square shape, triangle shape, circular shape,
2D shapes such as semicircle, trapezoid, parallelogram, etc.
(C) Bits for classifying large groups such as other shapes, the next 5 bits are bits representing colors such as red, blue, and yellow, the next 3 bits are bits representing background features, and the next 3 bits Has a code such as a bit indicating the size. Also, when the image is a barcode, the image includes a numeric string represented by the barcode.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the portable telephone 20. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the mobile phone 20 includes the above-described CCD camera 21, image processing unit 22, control unit 23, communication unit 24, user interface 25,
An image storage memory 26 is provided.

The CCD camera 21 can pass the photographed image as digital image information to the image processing section 22. The image processing section 22 converts the digital image information into an image file of a predetermined format such as JPEG and stores the image. Can be stored in the storage memory 26.

The control unit 23 attaches the image file stored in the image storage memory 26 to the e-mail,
The communication unit 24 transmits the image file to the Internet 5
Can be transferred to the control unit 11 of the URL search server 10 via

Hereinafter, the operation of the URL search system 1 will be described. FIG. 4 shows the processing of the portable telephone 20 (step S10).
FIG. 5 shows the processing (steps S201 to S204) of the URL search server 10 respectively.

The user of the portable telephone 20 takes a picture using the CCD camera 21 and uses the user interface 2
It is assumed that a “URL search execution key” (not shown) prepared in 5 is pressed. Note that a clipping function may be incorporated in the image processing unit 22 so that a user can clip a desired object from a captured image.

When the control unit 23 detects that the URL search execution key has been pressed (S101), the CCD camera 21
, The image being captured is converted into an image file of a predetermined format, which is temporarily stored in the image storage memory 26, and an e-mail creation program is started to create an e-mail (S102). The image file is attached to the mail and passed to the communication unit 24.

The communication unit 24 converts the received image file into
The URL is transferred to the URL search server 10 via the base station 7, the gateway (GW) 4, the Internet 5, and the gateway (GW) 3 (S103).

The "URL search execution key" may be a key provided independently, or assigned to a general-purpose key (for example, either a transmission key or a numeric keypad) by setting a function key, for example. You may do so.
The image to be subjected to the URL search is the CCD camera 21
, Or may be an image in the image storage memory 26 taken in the past.

In the present embodiment, in addition to time information at the time of shooting, base station information (base station 7)
(A unique code given to).
Normally, the base station 7 and the mobile phone 20 exchange signals at regular intervals regardless of the presence or absence of a call.
The mobile phone 20 may acquire the unique code of the nearest base station 7 and transmit this together with the e-mail attached to the image file. Further, when an e-mail is transmitted via the base station 7, the base station 7 may add a unique code of the base station.

The URL search server 10 is a portable telephone 2
When an e-mail is received from 0 (that is, when an e-mail attached to the image file is received via the communication unit 12), the image file is extracted from the received e-mail (S
201), the image analysis program P12 is started, and an object is specified from the image file (S202). The specification of the object is performed, for example, by extracting the outline of the image file (including the outline extraction for each color).

When the object is recognized as, for example, a bar code having a rectangular shape and a large number of lines, the image analysis program P12 passes this information to the image search program P13. When the object is, for example, an elongated triangle and red, the image analysis program P12 passes this information to the image search program P13.

The image search program P13 is, for example,
If the received information is a barcode, the data of the URL field of the record corresponding to the barcode is listed.

If the received information is, for example, "a slender triangle, red", the image search program P13 performs processes such as enlargement / reduction / rotation, color comparison, shape comparison, etc. The data is compared with the images stored in the database 13 and the data of the URL field of the corresponding record is listed up (S203).

The control section 11 transfers the URL list to the portable telephone 20 (S204). The mobile phone 20 is
Upon receiving the URL list (S104 in FIG. 3),
RL can be accessed.

In the above-described embodiment, the image sent to the URL search server 10 is analyzed by the image analysis program P12. Is returned to the user's mobile phone 20 and if the image is a barcode, the URL of the site providing the barcode analysis service is returned to the user's mobile phone 20.
You can send it back to

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the portable telephone 20 attaches the URL search target image to the e-mail and transmits it to the URL search server 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. The user accesses the page provided by the URL search server 10 using the WWW browser or the like by the mobile phone 20 and operates the menu on the page to attach the search target image to an e-mail or transmit it as a binary file. You may make it.

For example, if the user of the portable telephone 20 requests the delivery of a package to a small package delivery company and wants to know the progress of the delivery (whether or not the delivery has been made or in the middle of the delivery), The bar code is read from the CCD camera 21 of the mobile phone 20 and transmitted to the URL search server 10. The URL database 13 of the URL search server 10 stores the U.S.P. of the delivery progress information providing website provided by the parcel delivery company corresponding to the barcode.
The URL is described, and the URL search server 10
The RL can be transmitted to the mobile phone 20. Thereby, the user of the portable telephone 20 can access the delivery progress information providing website.

Then, the above-mentioned portable telephone 20 and UR
FIG. 6 shows an example of a specific processing flow when using the URL search system including the L search server 10 and the like. That is, first, an image is photographed using the mobile phone 20 (S101), and the photographed image is attached and transmitted by mail to the URL search server 10 (S102).

In the URL search server 10 which has received the mail, the processing from S201 to S201 in the flowchart shown in FIG.
The processing up to 204 is executed, and a reply mail describing the corresponding URL is transmitted to the mobile phone 20.

By opening the received reply mail (with URL), the portable telephone 20 can acquire the URL of the Web site related to the photographed image.
A web page can be accessed using RL.

When the accessed Web page is a server that executes a predetermined process such as an order process for a product specified by the photographed image, an initial process (an order reception screen) for performing the process is performed. Display). Since the processing result of the server such as the initial processing is displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone 10, the processing content is confirmed based on the result, and a formal request is made. Then, with the request, the Web server executes the requested processing.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the display screen of the portable telephone 20 when the above-described processing is executed. That is, first, a bar code, a logo mark attached to a product, or the like is photographed (). The photographed image is transmitted as an attached mail (). “Process A” means, for example, a URL search request.

The URL search server 10 opens the attached file of the received mail, executes a predetermined process, creates a reply mail to which the detected URL is added (for example, described in the text), and transmits the reply mail ().

The portable telephone 20 which has received the reply mail
By opening the received mail, for example, a received mail screen as shown in the figure can be obtained. As described above, since the URL is described in the main text, the target Web page can be easily accessed by operating the cursor key or the like to select the described URL and pressing the Web access execution key or the like. it can. That is, the mobile phone 2
Even a portable terminal having a small number of operation buttons, such as 0, can easily input (designate) a URL and can smoothly access a target Web.

Further, by using this system, it is possible to easily perform a search process for an Internet keyword. That is, in the browser of the personal computer, U
When the product name or company name is described in Japanese in the RL description field, there is a mechanism for automatically accessing the homepage (Internet keyword), but this is not available in a mobile phone browser. Then, when the image data (product name, company name, etc.) corresponding to the Internet keyword is attached to the mail and sent, the server responds to the URL corresponding to the keyword.
Is detected and a reply mail is sent, so that it is possible to easily access using the URL attached to the reply mail.

A preferred embodiment of the image processing server and the image processing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 8, the image processing system 2 includes an image processing server 30 and a plurality of camera-equipped mobile phones 40. The image processing server 30 is a gateway (GW) 3
Is connected to the Internet 5 through the Internet.

The portable telephone 40 has a CCD camera 41 mounted thereon. The mobile phone 40 is connected to a base station 7, and the base station 7 is connected to the Internet 5 via a gateway (GW) 4. Although only one mobile phone 40 is shown in FIG. 8, many mobile phones are connected in an actual system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processing server 30. The image processing server 30 includes a control unit 31
, Communication unit 32, image processing unit 33, database 3
4 is included. The database 34
May not be particularly required.

The control unit 31 includes a CPU 31a, a ROM 3
1b and a RAM 31c. A communication program P21 and an image processing program P22 are stored in the ROM 31b.
Is stored. The communication program P21 includes the communication unit 3
2 in cooperation with the communication unit 32 and also functions as an image information receiving unit and a processed image transfer unit in the present invention, and can exchange various kinds of information with the portable telephone 40.

The communication program P21 can receive the processing target image and the processing content instruction information. The processing content instruction is a command for various processing that can be performed by a graphics application for a desktop computer, such as clipping, enlargement / reduction / rotation, color number reduction, format change, and the like. Further, the image processing program P22 processes the received processing target image according to the processing content instruction information while using the data stored in the database 34 as necessary. The stored data includes, for example, a pattern shape when trimming the received processing target image, image data to be combined with the processing target image, and the like.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the portable telephone 40. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, the portable telephone 40
The CCD camera 41 described above, the image processing unit 42,
Control unit 43, communication unit 44, user interface 4
5 and an image storage memory 46.

The CCD camera 41 can transfer the photographed image as digital image information to the image processing section 42. The image processing section 42 converts the digital image information into a file of a predetermined format such as JPEG and stores the image data for image storage. It can be stored in the memory 46.

The control unit 43 attaches the image file stored in the image storage memory 46 to the electronic mail, and
Pass to. The communication unit 44 transmits the received image file to the control unit 3 of the image processing system 2 via the Internet 5.
1 is provided.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image processing system 2 will be described. FIG. 11 shows the processing of the portable telephone 40 (step S30).
1 to S304) and FIG. 12 shows the processing (steps S401 to S403) of the image processing server 30, respectively.

The user of the portable telephone 40 uses the CCD camera 41 to take a picture and
It is assumed that the user designates a processing content instruction using the key 5 and presses a “processing execution key” (not shown) prepared on the user interface 45. At this time, an image range can be specified as needed. Note that a clipping function may be incorporated in the image processing unit 42 so that a user can clip a desired object from a captured image.

When the control unit 43 detects that the processing execution key is pressed (S301), it starts an e-mail creation program to create an e-mail (S302), and an image specified in the created e-mail. The file is attached and passed to the communication unit 44.

The communication unit 44 converts the received image file into
An image processing server 3 via a base station 7, a gateway (GW) 4, the Internet 5, and a gateway (GW) 3.
0 (S303).

The "processing key" may be a key provided independently, or may be assigned to a general-purpose key (for example, either a transmission key or a numeric keypad) by setting a function key, for example. It may be. The image to be processed may be an image being captured by the CCD camera 41 or may be an image in the image storage memory 46 that has been captured in the past.

In this embodiment, in addition to the time information at the time of shooting, base station information (base station 7
(A unique code given to).
Normally, the base station 7 and the mobile phone 40 exchange signals at regular intervals regardless of whether there is a call.
The mobile phone 40 may acquire the unique code of the nearest base station 7 and transmit this together with the e-mail attached to the image file. Further, when an e-mail is transmitted via the base station 7, the base station 7 may add a unique code of the base station.

The image processing server 30 includes a portable telephone 40
When an e-mail is received from the e-mail (that is, when an e-mail attached to an image file is received via the communication unit 44), the image file is extracted from the received e-mail (S
401), the image processing program P22 is started, and processing is performed according to the processing content instruction information specified in the image file (S402).

The communication section 32 of the image processing server 30 transfers the processed image file to the portable telephone 40 (S40).
3) The communication unit 44 of the mobile phone 40 can receive the processed image data (processed image data) (S304 in FIG. 11). With this configuration, for example, the following services can be provided.

Patterns are limited in the image processing attached to the mobile phone. By providing more template screens and processing methods, a received image can be processed, and the processing result can be confirmed on a Web screen, thereby creating a standby screen.

The diary print image and text are described in the mail, and a diary is requested. On the server side, images and sentences are stored. For example, a diary is printed every week and every month, and the diary is sent to a designated destination. Not only printing, but also download service can be provided as a file.

Map Retrieval When the current position is unknown, a map of the position can be displayed on the Web screen by sending and receiving an image of a characteristic building, a building name, a street name, or a station name. In the case of a mobile phone, it is difficult to store map data for the whole country in terms of capacity. However, by receiving this service, even if the mobile phone does not have a GPS system, the current location can be easily determined. You can know.

Print postcard with photo, that is, write an image and text in an e-mail, and make a request for postcard creation. The server prints the image and the text on the postcard and sends the postcard to the designated destination. In other words, the destination of the processed image data may be the user's own mobile phone, but it is also possible to receive the provision of a mail service by printing out.

In the image processing system 2 shown in FIG. 8, an image to be processed can be a moving image. In this case, the mobile phone 40 transmits the moving image data to the image processing server 30 together with the processing content instruction information. In the image processing server 30, for example, when the processing content instruction information is an animation of a moving image, the image processing server 30 animates the moving image data and sends it back to the mobile phone 40.

In the above example, the created processed image is returned as it is.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an individual homepage storing the processed image may be created, and the URL of the individual homepage may be transmitted to the mobile phone 40 by e-mail. The portable telephone 40 that has received the mail accesses the Web at a convenient time based on the acquired URL and acquires the processed image data. Furthermore, a member registration system can be adopted to provide a difference in the contents of processing available to members / non-members.

As an algorithm on the server side for executing such processing, for example, a flowchart shown in FIG. 13 can be executed. That is, first,
It is determined whether or not the acquired image is a processable image (S421). If the image can be processed, it is determined whether or not the source address is a member registered user (ST422, 42).
3). For this determination, for example, a member information database is prepared in the database 34, and the mail address of the member is stored. Then, the mail address of the member registered in the database 34 to which the mail address of the transmission source is registered is registered, and it can be determined from the presence or absence of the corresponding address.

After making such a determination, the contents of the request are confirmed, and the processing corresponding to the contents of the request is executed. In addition,
If the non-member is requesting a service for members,
As indicated by reference numeral 425, a message indicating that the service is for members is returned by e-mail.

Then, in the case of a permitted processing request,
After executing the processing, an individual homepage is created based on the execution result, and the URL is transmitted by e-mail (S426). After that, it waits for a URL access from the mobile phone (S4).
27), if there is access, execute such processing (S428) and send the processing result by mail (ST42).
9). In addition, a display screen or the like when such processing is executed is as follows:
As shown in FIG.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the number of image processing servers 30 is one has been described, but a plurality of image processing servers 30 may be provided. For example, a large number of servers such as a “still image processing server”, a “moving image processing server”, and a “morphing processing server” are prepared in the system, and a mail destination “vvv@www.xxx.yy” is prepared. A format such as “vvv” for a shop name and “www” for a mall name may be used, and a mall server providing these destinations as a database may be prepared in the system. When the user sends, for example, an e-mail with “morphing” as a search key to the mall server, the mall server can send back a list of image processing servers that can be morphed back to the user's mobile phone 40.

In the present embodiment, character information can be added to an image sent from portable telephone 40 to image processing server 30. For example, if the image sent to the image processing server 30 is a face photograph and “hairstyle” is added to the image as character information, the image processing program P22
Thus, the communication unit 31 can send the processed image back to the portable telephone 40. At this time, the function of the URL search server 10 described above may be provided in the image processing server 30, and the URL of the beauty salon may be sent back to the user's mobile phone 40.

In the various embodiments described above, examples using a portable telephone have been described. However, a portable terminal device to which the present invention is applied is one in which a PHS, PDA or other various portable terminals are applied. It is.

[0085]

(1) URL search server and U of the present invention
According to the RL search system, a URL search target image (an image photographed by the mobile terminal device) is obtained, the image is searched by the image database, and the search result is transferred to the mobile terminal device as a URL list. Acquisition of a URL relating to a captured image on the device side is possible with a simple operation.

For example, when the URL search target image is a barcode, the user can easily search for product information or the like at a place where he or she is away. Further, when the URL search target image is a company logo or a trademark, the company information on the company logo or the product information on the trademark can be obtained.

(2) According to the image processing server and the image processing system of the present invention, it is possible to provide the portable terminal device with substantially the same function as the portable terminal device that has processed image data. Thus, the user can substantially easily process the captured image without using a high-performance computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a URL search system according to the present invention.

2A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a URL search server in the system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating records of a URL database provided in the URL search server.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing processing of the mobile phone in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing processing of a URL search server in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing processing of a URL search system in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation screen and the like accompanying processing of a URL search system in the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the image processing system of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing server in the system of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone in the system of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing processing of the mobile phone in the system of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing processing of an image processing server in the system of FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process of the image processing system in the system of FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an operation screen and the like associated with processing of the image processing system in the system of FIG. 8;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a conventional image search system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 URL search system 2 Image processing system 3,4, gateway 5 Internet 6 Mobile communication network 7 base stations 10 URL search server 11 Server control unit 11a CPU 11b ROM 11c RAM 12 Communication part of server 13 URL database provided for the server 20 Mobile phone 21 CCD camera for mobile phone 22 Image processing unit of mobile phone 23 Mobile phone control unit 24 Communication part of mobile phone 25 Mobile Phone User Interface 26 Mobile Phone Image Storage Memory 30 Image processing server 31 Server control unit 31a CPU 31b ROM 31c RAM 32 Communication part of server 33 Image processing unit 40 Mobile phone 41 CCD camera for mobile phone 42 Image processing unit of mobile phone 43 Control Unit of Mobile Phone 44 Communication part of mobile phone 45 Mobile Phone User Interface 46 Mobile phone image storage memory P11 communication program P12 Image analysis program P13 Image search program P14 URL specific program P21 communication program P22 Image processing program

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image information receiving means for receiving, as a URL search target image, image information on an image taken by a camera from a camera-equipped mobile terminal device; A URL database constructed in association with the data image; URL specifying means for specifying a URL based on an analysis result from the URL database by the image analyzing means; and URL information on the specified URL sent back to the portable terminal device. A URL search server comprising URL information transfer means. 2. Character information is added to image information received from the camera-equipped mobile terminal device, and the search target analyzing means narrows down the search target image by referring to the character information. Item 2. The URL search server according to item 1. 3. The image information receiving means receives the image information as an image file attached to an electronic mail, and when the image file includes character information, the character information is written in a predetermined field of the electronic mail. 3. The URL according to claim 1, wherein the URL is received as
Search server. 4. The URL database includes a field consisting of a code given to the data image on the database, a name of the data image, a field consisting of a code representing a characteristic of the data image, and a URL field. The URL search server according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the URL search server comprises: 5. The image analysis means, comprising: means for decoding the meaning of an object included in the URL search target image from the URL search target image, and means for decoding a name of an object included in the URL search target image. The URL search server according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising at least one. 6. The image analysis unit according to claim 1, wherein when the URL search target image includes a plurality of objects, the image analysis unit analyzes each object.
6. The URL search server according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The URL according to claim 1, wherein the URL specifying unit, when specifying a plurality of URLs, limits the number of the specified URLs to a small number. Search server. 8. A URL search system in which the URL search server according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is connected to the Internet, wherein the portable terminal device transmits the URL through the Internet.
A URL search system capable of accessing an L server. 9. An image information receiving means for receiving, as a processing target image, image information relating to an image taken by the camera from a portable terminal device with a camera, together with processing content instruction information; An image processing server comprising: an image processing unit that performs processing based on the image processing unit; and a processed image transfer unit that sends back the image processed by the image processing unit to the portable terminal device. 10. An image processing system in which the image processing server according to claim 9 is connected to the Internet, wherein the portable terminal device can access the processing server via the Internet.