WO2002016000A1

WO2002016000A1 - Electronic toy, user registration method therefor, information terminal, and toy service server

Info

Publication number: WO2002016000A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/007202
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tomihisa Kamada; Kozo Sukema; Hideya Nishikawa
Original assignee: Access Co.,Ltd.; Tomy Company, Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-08-23
Filing date: 2001-08-23
Publication date: 2002-02-28
Also published as: JPWO2002016000A1; AU2001280115A1

Abstract

An electronic toy (110) holds initial mail information (112) such as data on user registration and the toy ID (111). When the electronic toy (110) is connected to a portable telephone (100) for the first time, the portable telephone (100) creates, on the basis of the information, a user registration electronic mail which includes the toy ID, the sender of which is the user of the electronic toy (110), and which is addressed to the toy service site and sends the electronic mail to the toy service site. Upon receiving the electronic mail, the toy service site (130) registers the user with reference to the electronic mail. Thereafter the toy service site (130) periodically sends electronic mails to the electronic toy (110) through the portable telephone (100). A motion is added to the group of motions that electronic toy (110) can make or one of the motions that the electronic toy (110) can make is altered according to the content of the electronic mail. Thus, the electronic toy can fetch control data such as speech data or motion data readily from outside. This function can be added to the electronic toy with a requisite minimum increase of the cost. The user who has purchased the electronic toy can be registered without any troublesome information input by the user.

Description

Specification

Electronic toy, user registration method, information terminal device, and toy service server

The present invention relates to an electronic toy that operates by electronic control, and in particular, an electronic toy that can receive information related to the operation of the toy via a communication medium such as the Internet, and is used by connecting to the electronic toy. The present invention relates to an information terminal device and a toy service server that provides a toy service. Background art

A toy that performs a specific voice output or performs an action in response to a specific voice input is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-142432, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-1079941, It is disclosed in each of the official gazettes of Kaihei 1 1 1 3 1 9 3 3 0. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-32784 discloses a toy that performs a predetermined operation by detecting the input of a predetermined sound on condition that a person approaches. Also, there is known a toy that generates a predetermined sound in response to an external force such as pressing a specific portion.

However, among the above-mentioned conventional toys, if the data that is the source of the generated sound or movement is fixed, once they experience the sound or movement, the reaction will be predicted after that, and the user will get bored. There was a problem. Some of the utterance data are variable, but they require complicated operations by the user, such as inputting the crying data with a microphone. In addition, the input person had a disadvantage that the utterance content was already known, and thus lacked interest. In particular, when a human voice is uttered rather than an animal squeal, the meaning is more important than the timbre, and it is preferable that the voice data and the like be sequentially updated for the user.

By the way, to various electronic devices, etc., the user fills in the necessary items and returns it so that the user can know what kind of user purchased the product and provide future services and information. In many cases, the registration power that is expected to be high. Since the entry and posting of registration power requires complicated work for the user, the current recovery rate is not always as high as expected. Such a question On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-179905 discloses that an electronic device having a communication function such as a personal computer automatically runs a user registration program at the first startup. It discloses a technique for registering users. To be more specific, the input fields for information such as name, address, telephone number, etc. are set in the device, and the user inputs the information, and the user registration information is transmitted to the host computer via the nearest access point. .

Although the technology described by the citizens can save the trouble of posting a registration card, it still has the complication of forcing the user to input his / her own information.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and its object is to make it possible to easily take in control data such as utterance data and operation data from the outside, and to minimize the increase in the cost of toys for that purpose. It is to provide an electronic toy that can be minimized.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a user registration method capable of registering a user who has purchased an electronic toy without requiring a complicated user's information input operation. Disclosure of the invention

An electronic toy according to the present invention is an electronic toy that can be connected to an information terminal device having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and includes a built-in memory in which at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information are recorded; A transfer means for transferring the initial mail information and the equipment identification code to the information terminal device when first connected to the information terminal; and a control means for controlling the memory and the transfer means It is characterized by having.

In addition, the information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function includes a connection means to which an electronic toy that initially stores at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information is connected. When the electronic toy is connected, the initial mail information and the tool identification information are read out via the connection means, and the electronic mail is directed to a toy service site having the user of the information terminal device as a mail transmission source. Means for creating e-mail with recorded toy identification information and means for sending unsent e-mail And characterized in that:

The e-mail address of the toy service site can be included in the initial e-mail information in the toy. Alternatively, prior to using the toy service on the network, the e-mail address can be taken into the information terminal device from outside such as a network and used.

By storing initial e-mail information and equipment identification information in the electronic toy and creating a user registration e-mail using the user's information terminal device, the user can enter any user information. Registration of electronic toys can be performed very easily and easily without being forced to do so. This registration allows the toy service provider to obtain at least an e-mail address as the contact information of the user, so that it can provide continuous services and send various notifications by e-mail. Becomes

In particular, the electronic toy receives an e-mail received by the information terminal, a means for storing the e-mail, an information output means for directly or indirectly outputting information recognizable by the five senses, and the storage And a control means for controlling the information output means independently of the information terminal device in accordance with the contents of the decoded electronic mail. Content and functions can be added or changed. Therefore, it is possible to constantly keep track of new output contents and functions and keep the user from getting bored. Note that “independently of the information terminal device” means in a state separated from the information terminal device.

Further, by further providing means for creating reply mail information for the mail addressed to the user, bidirectional data can be exchanged with a toy service site, and a wide variety of toy services can be performed.

Another electronic toy according to the present invention is an electronic toy that can be connected to an information terminal device having a data communication function, and includes means for receiving electronic data for the electronic toy via the information terminal. Means for storing data, information output means for directly or indirectly outputting information recognizable by the five senses, decoding the electronic data, and independently of the terminal device, Control means for controlling the information output means. The electronic data is, for example, in a markup language Described file: Data in any format, such as image file, audio file, etc. Thus, the control information of the toy can be obtained not only by e-mail but also by downloading electronic data on the Web, for example. The access information of a website providing a file described in the above-mentioned markup language may be stored in advance.

A toy service server according to the present invention is a toy service server that provides a service for an electronic toy via a network, and includes at least identification information of the electronic toy transmitted from a coast information terminal device to which the electronic toy is connected. E-mail receiving means for receiving the e-mail, user registration means for performing user registration of the e-toy based on the received e-mail, and control of the e-toy with respect to a source of the e-mail And e-mail transmission means for transmitting an e-mail including control data. The e-mail transmitting means can transmit the e-mail periodically or based on a request from a transmission source of the e-mail.

The toy service server preferably includes means for providing a web page that provides information related to the electronic toy, and a response message received from the electronic toy according to presence / absence and / or number of receptions. Web page means for updating the contents of the page of the electronic toy. This allows the user of the toy to check the coast information about the user's toy on the web page.

According to another aspect, the toy service server according to the present invention includes at least identification information of the electronic toy and user information of the electronic toy transmitted from the information terminal device connected to the electronic toy. User registration means for accepting registration of a mountain, and means for providing a page for providing electronic data including control data for controlling the electronic toy to a source of the electronic mail. I do.

Further, the electronic toy user registration method according to the present invention is characterized in that an electronic toy initially storing at least initial mail information and toy identification information including data for user registration is first provided in an information terminal device having an electronic mail transmission / reception function. Transferring the initial e-mail information and the equipment identification information from the electronic toy to the information terminal device when the user is connected to the electronic toy; Creating an e-mail addressed to the toy service site as the transmission source, the e-mail recording the toy identification information; receiving the e-mail at the destination address site; A step of storing the electronic toy and the user of the portable information terminal in association with each other based on the content of the electronic toy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a mechanism of an electronic toy, a user registration thereof, and transmission / reception of information related to toy operation via a network such as the Internet according to the first embodiment of the present invention. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing ^ II examples of the electronic toy and the mobile phone in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic hardware configuration example of the electronic toy and the mobile phone in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a user management table held by the toy service site of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a use form of the electronic toy according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a website according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific content example of the user registration mail according to the embodiment of the present invention.

8 Oh a diagram showing a concrete example of contents of diet menu Le in the embodiment of the present invention ₀

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific content example of a reply mail to a meal mail in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of the contents of a reset mail, which is a type of reply mail, according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a user registration process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing example when receiving a mail of a mobile phone and transmitting a mail through a network access according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing example when receiving a mail from the toy service site in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the electronic toy when the electronic toy is connected to the mobile phone again (for the second time and thereafter) in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a meal mail request mail according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the electronic toy and the mobile phone regarding a meal mail request in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a user management table to which an item “meal mail request count” is added in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a processing example of a web update in the toy service site according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for schematically illustrating a mechanism for exchanging information related to the operation of the electronic toy and the toy via the network in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the mobile phone and the electronic toy according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a page screen for selecting food for toys according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen that follows the screen of FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of an electronic toy including a display device such as an LCD. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

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

First, referring to FIG. 1, an outline of the electronic toy according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a user registration thereof, and a mechanism for exchanging information related to the operation of the toy via a network such as the Internet will be described. In the present embodiment, a description will be given using a mobile phone as a kind of information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function. However, any other information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function can be used. Sending email Reception is performed using the main communication path (mobile phone communication network, mobile phone bucket network, etc.) of the mobile phone 100, which is an information terminal device. Communication between the electronic toy 110 and the mobile phone 100 will be described later. Sub communication path is used.

In FIG. 1, the electronic toy 110 has a built-in electronic board configured to be detachably connected to a mobile phone 100 having an e-mail transmission / reception function, and transmits data to and from the mobile phone 100. Send and receive. In the present embodiment, the electronic toy 110

It has the form of a (pet) or popular character, and performs voice, music output, light output, etc. The output contents and functions are added sequentially according to the content of the received e-mail. , Can be changed. It is also possible to perform a mechanical operation. Furthermore, it is possible to employ an information output means in a form of residence that can be directly or indirectly recognized by the five senses. In addition to the output form that can be recognized by the human senses, an external device (for example, a game machine or a digital television device) is indirectly connected via infrared communication or short-range wireless communication (Bluetooth). It can also generate recognizable output.

The electronic toy 110 stores a toy ID (toy identification information) 111 indicating a unique identifier such as a type of the toy and a serial number, and initially stores the user. Information for creating an e-mail for registration (initial mail information or registered e-mail information) 1 1 2 is stored. In this example, the initial mail information 112 includes “subject” indicating user registration data and “send address” of the mail. In addition, it may have any “mail body data”. The initial mail information 1 1 2 is transferred to the mobile phone 1 0 1 together with the toy ID 1 1 1 when purchasing the electronic toy 1 1 0 and connecting to the mobile phone 1 0 1 for the first time, either manually or automatically. . Thereafter, at least the subject is deleted in the electronic toy 110 or its transfer is invalidated. This is to distinguish between the first connection of the electronic toy 110 to the mobile phone 100 and the second and subsequent connections. In the present embodiment, the entire initial mail information 112 is deleted. The destination address of the mail may be stored in a nonvolatile manner in the mobile phone 100 by downloading from a network or the like, instead of in the toy 110.

Based on this initial e-mail information 112, the mobile phone 100 Generate mail 104 and store it in outgoing mailbox 102. The outgoing mail status 102 stores the mail to be sent and is deleted after sending or another area

(For example, a sent mailbox (not shown)). In the present embodiment, at least various mails generated based on the mail information of the toy are deleted from the mobile phone 100 after transmission.

Figure 7 shows a specific example of the contents of a user registration email. As shown in the figure, the user registration e-mail 104 in this example includes, as header information, a subject (Subject), a date (Date), a transmission source address (From), and a transmission destination address (To). The mail body information includes body data, toy ID and toy name. Information given from the electronic toy 110 is used for the subject, the destination address, the mail text data, and the toy ID. In this example, the subject is a reserved character string "registr-mail" indicating that this mail is a user registration mail. In the present embodiment, the date and the sender address are assigned by the mobile phone 100. The sender address is the e-mail address assigned to the mobile phone 100. In the case of a mobile phone, it is usually "phone number @ (provider domain name)" In some cases it can be changed to a column. The toy name is an arbitrary name (nickname) that can be given to the toy by the user from the mobile phone when creating the user registration e-mail for the toy. The input of the toy name is optional and does not force the user to input. If the user omits the input, the toy name in the user registration electronic mail 104 will be empty. Entering such a nickname is part of how to play the toy, and it is considered that there is no particular burden on the user.

Returning to Fig. 1, the mail stored in the outgoing mailbox 102 is sent to the toy service site (toy service server) via the relay server (gateway) 105 in response to a mail transmission instruction from the user. It is sent to 130. The toy service site 130 is generally operated directly or indirectly by the manufacturer or distributor of the toy. At the toy service site 130 receiving the user registration electronic mail 104, the user is registered as the owner of the electronic toy. The e-mail for user registration 104 in the present embodiment does not include information such as the address and name of the user, but when the e-mail for user registration 104 is created on the mobile phone 100. You may be prompted for input. However, even without these inputs, the user registration e-mail 104 can be sent, and the contact information of the user is secured. Thereafter, the toy service site 130 will provide users with continuous services related to the electronic toy 110 via the e-mail website. Examples of the contents will be described later.

FIG. 2 shows an external appearance example of the electronic toy 110 and the mobile phone 100. Here, the electronic toy 110 is in the form of a cat, and the male connector (connection means) 20 exposed at one end can be directly inserted and connected (detachable) to the female connector (connection means) 45 of the mobile phone. It's swelling. The connection form is not limited to this, and any of priority connection such as a cable and wireless connection such as infrared rays and radio waves may be used. The electronic toy 110 includes an electronic board on which a hardware configuration described later is mounted. In this example, a デバイス ^ device 18 such as an LED is embedded in the cat's eye, and a sensor unit 17 and a speaker unit 19 such as a microphone are also provided. The electronic toy 110 shown in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and its shape, built-in input / output device, and the like can be variously added or changed ⁵ ′. Also, a mechanical operation part may be included.

The mobile phone 100 shown in FIG. 2 has an antenna 40, a speaker 43, a display unit 36, a key group (operation unit) 37, a microphone 42, and a connector 45. It is similar to existing mobile phones. Internally, the existing e-mail transmission / reception function can be used basically, but a software (computer program) is added at the time of product shipment or afterwards in order to realize the specific function related to the electronic toy of the present invention. Is also good. Later, it can be added by downloading from the network.

FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show schematic hardware configuration examples of the electronic toy 110 and the mobile phone 100, respectively.

The electronic toy 110 provides a CPU 10 that controls the entire toy, a ROM 110 that stores a control program for the CPU 10 and fixed data, and a temporary storage and work area for the CPU 10. It has a RAM I 2, a flash memory (non-volatile storage device) 13 for storing data such as received mail data and mobile phone identification information described below in a nonvolatile manner, and a serial input / output device (SI 0) 14. Initial mail information 1 1 Is stored in the flash memory 13. The toy ID 111 is stored in the ROM 11 or the flash memory 13. The S 1014 can be connected to an external device via the connector 20. The toy 110 also has a sound source LSI 15 that outputs an analog audio signal according to audio data such as voice and music. A speaker 19 is connected to the sound source LSI 15. The toy 110 further has an RTC (Real Time Clock) 16, a sensor; I7, a display device 18, and a switch 19 such as a push button for obtaining date and time information. Here, the sensor 17 is a microphone that detects sound, but may be an element that detects various other physical quantities such as light and pressure. The display device 18 is a light emitting diode (LED) in this example, but may be a liquid crystal display or the like. Switches 19 are reset switches and other switches for user operation.

On the other hand, the mobile phone 100 also has a CPU 30, a ROM 31, a RAM 32, a flash memory 33, an RTC 34, an SI 044, and a connector 45, although there may be differences in performance. The mobile phone 100 further includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) 36, various keys including a numeric keypad 37, a communication control unit 38 for controlling wireless communication of voice data, an RF unit 39, an antenna 40, and a voice It has an audio processing unit 41 for performing input / output control, a microphone 42 and a speaker 43 connected thereto. In the present embodiment, communication via RF unit 39 and antenna 40 is the main communication path of portable telephone 100, and communication via SI 035 and connector 45 is the sub communication path. A battery as an operating power supply for the toy 110 and the mobile phone 100 is not shown.

Although not specifically shown, the relay server 105 in FIG. 1 is a data processing device having a function of relaying access from the mobile phone 100 to the network 120, a mail server function, and the like. Similarly, the toy service site 130 is a data processing device that configures a web server function, a mail server function, an e-mail creation function, a data processing function for a toy service, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the user management table 400 held by the toy service site 130. This table 400 has a configuration in which one record is created for each toy ID. One record is composed of a user ID, a toy ID, a toy name, a friend ID, and a return ID. Includes the following items: cumulative number of response emails received, number of unanswered emails received, growth, and health status. If the input of the toy name is omitted, a default name (for example, the name of the toy or the like) is used. The friend ID indicates a toy ID of a toy considered to be a friend with the toy by a specific operation described later. It is possible not only toys but also users to be friends. In that case, the user ID is used as the friend ID. The cumulative number of reply e-mails received is essentially the cumulative number of meal e-mails (described later) received by the toy, and is used as data on which to determine growth. The number of unsuccessful response emails is the number of unsuccessful emails sent to the toy service site if no response message indicating that the email was received is received. And their numbers are cumulative. Specifically, the variable value is incremented when a meal mail is sent (or stored in the send mailbox), and decremented when a reply mail is received. The number of non-response mails received is used as the basis for determining the virtual health level of the toy. Instead of the number of unsuccessful reply messages, the last received reply mail date of the toy can be used.

Note that the user ID and the toy ID in the user management table 400 play a role of user registration, and the other items are specific to the way of playing toys in the present embodiment, and have various modifications. sell. If other information such as the address and name of the user is provided, a storage area for storing the information may be provided. The storage area may be in the user management table 400 or may be another area. In the case of another area, the user ID is superimposed and held, or mutual association is performed such as providing a pointer item pointing to the area in the table 400.

Hereinafter, a specific operation example of each unit in the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 5 shows a usage form of the electronic toy of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the electronic toy 110 in the present embodiment receives an e-mail from a toy service site via a mobile phone 100, and outputs contents and functions according to the e-mail. Be updated. As described above, the output form of the present embodiment is sound and light. For example, control data for controlling an external device in addition to control data such as voice data and light emission pattern data are given as text data of the mail. The event that triggers the light output or the light output is, for example, reception of an e-mail, a predetermined sense result of the sensor 17 (for example, a voice recognition result, etc.), depression of a switch 19, arrival of a predetermined time, and the like. . The control data may be stored in the toy and used continuously, or may be one-shot (output once and become invalid). As a method of controlling the output, it is possible to perform a predetermined output according to the accumulation result of the meal mail (for example, the number of received meal mails, a combination of specific meal mails, etc.), without depending on the control data. is there. Note that “updating output contents and functions” includes not only changing the output itself, but also changing the input conditions for the output.

As shown in Fig. 5 (a), a typical use of the electronic toy 110 is to connect the electronic toy 110 to the mobile phone 100 that has registered the user sequentially, and toy service The e-mail 51 is received from the client and the response e-mail 52 is returned to the toy service site via the mobile phone 100. An e-mail 51 from a toy service site is sent periodically (for example, once a day) after user registration for the toy. In the present embodiment, this is called a meal mail (meal-mail).

FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of a meal mail 51 generated on the toy service site. In this example, the subject of the header specifies the toy ID of the toy to which the meal mail is to be given. In the destination address (To), (the user of) the registered mobile phone of the toy is specified. The date is the sending date of this e-mail, and the sender address is the e-mail address of the toy service site (toyservice @ ....). The body of the mail contains the identifier of this meal mail (meal-mailD) and control data (Data). The control data is not essential if it is embedded in the electronic toy in advance so as to perform unique control according to the meal email ID. By receiving such a meal email, the simulated object such as an animal of an electronic toy or a camel can acquire new words and actions. In addition, the toy service site manages the response status of reply e-mails for each electronic toy, determines the growth and health of the simulated object according to the results, and displays the results on the web as shown in Figure 6. Publish to the user on the site. This allows the user to recognize the current state of his / her electronic toy.

Fig. 9 shows a configuration example of a reply message 52 from the toy side to the meal message. The date and sender of the reply e-mail are assigned by the mobile phone, as in the case of the user registration e-mail. The subject, subject address (To), reply mail ID (Reply-mail ID), and data (Data) are generated by the toy. The source address of the meal email (ie, the address of the toy service site) is used as the destination address. In this example, the subject is set with the toy ID of the toy that sent this reply email (the toy that ate the meal email). The reply e-mail ID indicates which reply is for which meal e-mail to which toy. The toy site can recognize that the meal email was eaten by the specified toy by checking the match between the subject's toy ID and the toy ID in the reply email ID. If both toy IDs do not match, it is determined that the toy was eaten by a “friend”. “Data” can be added when there is data to be notified from the toy to the toy service site.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the configuration of a reset mail 52, which is a kind of reply mail. The header part of this is the same as the reply mail in Fig. 9, but in the mail body part, the reply mail ID indicates that this is a reset mail. As a result, the data of the toy ID (for example, the cumulative number of received reply mails in the table 400 in FIG. 4 / the number of non-received reply mails) is initially set. The reset mail may be generated by a toy when the health level reaches the worst state, or may be generated by the user such as pressing a reset switch.

Returning to Fig. 5 (b), the user of the mobile phone 100 can use the same mobile phone 100 for not only one toy 110 but also another toy 110. You. In that case, the e-mails 51, 51, from the toy service site are distinguished by the toy ID, and the corresponding toy takes in the e-mail addressed to itself. However, as shown in Fig. 5 (c), after the electronic toys 110A and 110B are registered with the mobile phones 100A and 10OB of different users, the electronic toys are unregistered. By connecting to the registered mobile phone, it will be possible to receive meal e-mails for other electronic toys. The content of the meal email may be valid only for unique toys, but such data will be considered invalid data! A user (for example, taro) of one mobile phone (for example, 10 OA) is connected to a toy 111B (for example, toy ID = rab00012345) of another user (for example, hanako), and the toy 110B is a toy 111. Food destined for 0 A (for example, toy ID = cat00123456) After eating (receiving) the email, the toy 110B returns the response email from the mobile phone 10OA to the toy service site, and the record of the toy 11OA (No. 1 in FIG. 4) shows that Another user's ID (eg, hanako) is registered as a “friend ID”. In this embodiment, in order to be displayed as “friend” on the web page of FIG. 6, it is sufficient that the other user's toy eats the meal mail for one user's toy. In addition, it is not sufficient that the other user's toy eats the meal email for one user's toy and the friend ID is registered in the record of the one user's toy. It may be necessary for one user's toy to eat the meal e-mail and for the friend ID to be registered in the other user's toy record. The determination can be made in the processing of Fig. 18 described later.If the toy eats a meal mail addressed to another user's toy and there are a plurality of meal mails, which meal mail to eat is determined. Select user It may be allowed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the process of user registration at the first connection between the electronic toy 110 and the mobile phone 100, which functions when the electronic toy 110 is connected for the first time.

When the user connects the electronic toy 110 to the mobile phone 100 and performs a predetermined operation (key operation or menu operation, etc.) on the mobile phone, this processing is started. As a modified example, this processing may be started by automatically detecting that the electronic toy is connected to the mobile phone.

First, the electronic toy transfers its initial email information 112 and the equipment ID 111 to the mobile phone 100 (S11), and then the connected mobile phone 100 Identification information

A query is made (for example, a telephone number or an e-mail address) (S12), and the identification information received from the mobile phone 100 is stored in the flash memory 13 (S13). After that, the initial mail information 1 1 2 in the electronic toy is deleted (or invalidated) (S 14). The electronic toy may be removed from the mobile phone 100 after the initial mail information 112, etc. has been transferred to the mobile phone 100.

On the other hand, the mobile phone 100 receives the initial mail information and the toy ID (S21). Also, in response to an inquiry from the electronic toy 110, the identification information of the mobile phone 100 is responded to the electronic toy (S22). Furthermore, the above received initial mail information Based on 1 1 2 and toy ID 1 1 1 1, complete e-mail for user registration 104 for the destination address (S 2 3) and enter it in outgoing mail box 102 (S 2 4) . As described later, the user registration mail stored in the outgoing mail box 102 is sent to the respective destinations along with other outgoing mails (if any) at the time of the user's next network access according to the user's instruction. Sent to In addition, the toy 110 creates a mail template based on the initial mail information and the equipment ID, transfers it to the mobile phone 100, and the mobile phone 100 adds the source address. The user registration mail 104 may be completed by using (the transmission date is automatically added to the actual transmission date). Alternatively, the mail template itself may be created in advance and stored in the toy.

FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) are flowcharts showing an example of processing when a mobile phone 100 transmits an e-mail by accessing the e-mail on the Internet.

In the mobile phone 100, when a mail addressed to the user is transmitted from the mail server, it is automatically received and stored in the reception mailbox (S31). The user is notified on the display that the e-mail has been received. If the terminal needs to access the mail server from the user side to receive the mail addressed to the user, the terminal accesses the mail server, and if a new received mail is found in the user's mailbox, the Receive incoming mail.

In addition, when the mobile phone 100 accesses the network, it is checked whether or not there is a mail to the toy service site in the outgoing mail box 102 (S35). If it exists, it connects to the network 120 according to the user's instruction (S36) and sends the mail (S37). As a matter of course, mail is also sent when the user sends an e-mail sending instruction before accessing the Internet.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing a processing example at the time of receiving an e-mail in the toy service site 130.

The data processing device of the toy service site 130 checks the received e-mail and determines what kind of e-mail it is (S41). As described above, in this embodiment, the mail type can be determined based on the subject in the mail header. If the email is for user registration (S42, Yes), the user management table 4 At 0, a new record for the new toy ID is created (S43). Further, the user ID is registered in this record in association with the toy ID (S44). Data and numerical values of table items that are not determined at this point are set to predetermined initial values. If the email is of a type other than the received email address for user registration, other processing is involved and will be described later.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of the electronic toy 110 when the electronic toy 110 is connected to the mobile phone 100 again (for the second time or later).

When the electronic toy is connected to the mobile phone for the second time or later, the electronic toy checks whether there is a meal mail in the reception mailbox in the mobile phone (S61). This can be determined by confirming that the source of the mail is the tool service site. If the mail sent from the toy service site includes regular mail (for example, announcements) other than meal mail, it is necessary to check the meal mail ID. If there is meal mail power ^s , it is checked whether it is addressed to the toy (S62). If it is addressed to the toy, the meal email is taken into the toy (S64). If the mobile toy is not addressed to the toy, it is checked whether or not this mobile phone 100 is the mobile phone that has registered the connected toy (hereinafter, also referred to as a registered mobile phone) (S63). This can be determined by obtaining the identification information of the mobile phone connected as described above and comparing it with the stored identification information. As described in Fig. 5 (b), there are cases where a plurality of toys are registered on the same mobile phone. In this embodiment, when these toys are considered as siblings, the siblings arrive at the same registered mobile phone. Do not eat meal emails addressed to each of your siblings. On the other hand, if the mobile phone 100 to which the toy is connected is not a registered mobile phone, the user is allowed to eat the meal email for friendship (S64). In step S63, if the connected mobile phone 100 is a registered mobile phone, step S64 is bypassed. The mail received by the toy is deleted from the received mailbox in the mobile phone.

After that, the electronic toy decrypts the mail content according to the content of the received mail, and performs internal settings according to the mail content (S65). As a result, as described above, the operation content of the toy is updated. Next, reply mail information as described in FIG. 9 is created (S666) to indicate that the mail has been received, and this is used as a mobile phone. (S67), and then delete the reply mail information from the electronic toy (S6

8). Upon receiving the reply mail information from the electronic toy, the mobile phone completes the mail to the toy service site based on the reply mail information, and stores this mail in the transmission mailbox.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 13, if the received mail is not a user registration mail in step S42, it is checked whether it is a reply mail to the meal mail (S45). Otherwise, for example, if it is a reset mail, the mail processing corresponding to the reply mail type is performed (S52).

If the received e-mail is a reply e-mail to the meal e-mail in step S45, it is determined whether the e-mail is from the electronic toy of the user (S46). This can be recognized by the fact that the toy ID in the subject matches the toy ID in the reply mail ID in the reply mail of the meal mail as described above. If they match, the number of reply mails not received and the cumulative number of reply mails received in the user management table 400 are updated (increased) (S47). Then, a next mail (for example, a meal mail) addressed to the toy is created (S48) and stored in the mailbox of the user (S4).

9) o The processing of steps S48 and S4: 9 may be performed at the time of periodic processing, not at the time of receiving e-mail at the toy service site.

In step S46, if the reply mail is not from the user's electronic toy, it is checked whether the toy ID is not registered as a friend ID (S50), and if not, the record of the toy ID is determined. Add friend ID to (S51). After that, this processing ends.

In the above description, the e-mail sent from the toy to the toy service site is only a response e-mail and a reset e-mail, but another type of e-mail may be sent. For example, FIG. 15 shows an example of a meal mail request mail 53. The meal mail request mail 53 is for requesting the toy service site to send a new meal mail to the own toy. This request can be made by a predetermined operation on the user's toy (for example, pressing a dedicated button). FIG. 16 shows a processing example of the electronic toy 110 and the mobile phone 100 for this meal mail request. The electronic toy 110 is a user's meal mail request instruction as described above. Upon receipt (S91, Yes), meal mail request mail information is created (S92). Thereafter, when the electronic toy 110 is connected to the mobile phone 100 (or when a predetermined user operation is performed on the electronic toy side or the mobile phone side) (S93, S101), The toy 110 transmits the meal mail request mail information to the mobile phone 100 (S94). The mobile phone 100 receives this (S102), completes a meal mail request mail addressed to the toy service site (S103), and stores it in the transmission mailbox (S104).

The toy service site that has received the meal mail request mail (Fig. 15) sends the meal mail to be sent according to the timing (date and time, season, etc.) of the reception and the number of times the meal mail request mail has been received from the toy. The type or content of the file can be changed. It is also possible to reflect the number of times a meal email request email has been received on the growth and health status of the toy. FIG. 17 shows an example of the configuration of the user management table 400a to which an item of “number of meal mail requests” is added to manage the number of receptions of meal mail request mails.

When the user is requested to make a meal mail in this way, as described above, it is not always necessary to periodically transmit the meal mail not depending on the user's intention, but both may be used in combination.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a web update process in the toy service site 130. At the toy service site 130, as shown in FIG. 6, a page is created for each electronic toy (or for a user), and the page is made public at least to the user. This web update is performed on a regular basis.

First, the record number n of the user management table 400 (FIG. 4) is reset (S81). The following processing is repeated for all records (S82 to S87). First, the user management table 400 is referred to for the n-th record, and a predetermined process is executed according to the reference result (S82). The predetermined processing includes, for example, determination of the degree of growth based on the cumulative number of reply mails received, determination of the health condition based on the number of unsuccessful reply mails, determination of friends by checking the friend ID, and the like. Since the specific algorithm is not particularly important in the present invention, it will not be described here in detail. Next, the existence of a web document for the toy on the web server of the toy service site 130 is checked (S83). If this does not exist, For example, the web document is newly created using the template (S85). If the Web document already exists, the Web document is updated with the changed point (S84). Thereafter, if there is an unprocessed record (S86), the record number n is incremented (S87), and the process returns to step S82. When all records have been processed, this processing ends.

In the above-described embodiment, the web function of the toy service site merely discloses a web page corresponding to the electronic toy, and the control data of the electronic toy is received via e-mail. However, through a web page, for example, a document file written in one of various markup languages such as http (hyper text transfer protocol) and ri TML (hyper text markup language) can be used on a toy service website. It is also possible to receive from the server. This document file may also contain image data. Therefore, a picture corresponding to the type of meal can be displayed as image data, and data (such as control data) corresponding to the type of meal can be stored as text data in a markup language document or in an http header.

With reference to FIG. 19, a description will be given of an electronic toy according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and a mechanism for transmitting and receiving information relating to toy operation via a network. The configurations of the toy and the mobile phone are the same as those shown in FIG. 3 for the first embodiment. As shown in this figure, in this embodiment, access information (eg, URL: Uniform Resource Locator, IP address, etc.) for accessing the toy service site 115 is held in the electronic toy in advance. are doing. There are several possible ways to use the access coastline 115 in the electronic toy 110. For example, first, when the toy is first connected to the mobile phone 100, it is copied or moved to the URL storage unit 106 in the mobile phone 100, and thereafter, the URL storage unit 106 is copied. Access to the toy service site based on the URL stored in. Second, every time the electronic toy 110 is connected to the mobile phone 100, a predetermined program in the mobile phone 100 is started upon the connection, and the toy service based on the access information 115 is accessed. This is to confirm with the user whether access to the service site is right or wrong.

Figure 20 shows the mobile phone 10 when the toy control data is obtained from a web page. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation example of 0 and the electronic toy 110.

In FIG. 20, the mobile phone 100 accesses the toy service site (S111) by any of the methods described above, and receives the markup language file that constitutes the toy meal page. This is displayed by the web browsing function of (S 1 1 2). Figure 21 shows a page screen 37 for selecting food (food) for toys. This page screen 37 may be the first screen after accessing the toy service site, or may be a screen shifted from another screen. When the user selects a desired food from the toy meal page and instructs OK, for example, a picture of the selected food is displayed as shown in a screen 38 in FIG. When the user gives an instruction of 0K to the food, the mobile phone receives the markup language document associated with the picture and sends it to the RAM I2 or the flash memory 13 (S1). 13 ) . After that, when the electronic toy is connected to the mobile phone (or when the electronic toy or mobile phone side is connected and a predetermined operation is performed) (S114), the mobile phone The food data is transmitted to the electronic toy from (S115). The electronic toy that has received the food data (S122) decodes the data (S122) and updates the operation contents of the electronic toy based on the control data described by the food data. (S125).

In the process of Fig. 20, there is no step to let the toy service server know that the electronic toy has eaten (received) the food data, but by using any means that enables such a fortune-telling. Is also good. Also, the present embodiment may be combined with the notification by e-mail as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 23 shows a case where the electronic toy 110 is additionally provided with a display device 21 such as an LCD and operation buttons 22a-22d. As described above, when the electronic toy has the display device 21, it is possible to draw a picture or a character based on the food data in step S124 in FIG. 20 or the like. In addition, based on the data part of the meal email and food data, the toy service site sends information indicating the degree of growth, health status, and any other information to the electronic toy, and displays this data on the display. You can also. When using e-mail, a dedicated notification e-mail may be prepared as the e-mail type for sending such data. Although only the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, the configuration, operation, and how to play the electronic toy described above are merely examples, and various additions, deletions, changes, and the like can be made. An example of how to play an electronic toy is described as raising animals, but the present invention receives electronic data via an information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function and a web browsing function, and based on the received data. The present invention can be applied to any electronic toy whose operation or function can be changed or extended. Further, the electronic toy of the present invention may include various electronic devices such as a game machine and a digital camera in addition to the above. Receiving the data for controlling the electronic toy may be performed by receiving electronic data according to another protocol (for example, ftp) without using the mail or the web.

According to the present invention, since the operation output contents and functions of the electronic toy can be added or changed via the network, the addition or change can be performed without forcing the user to perform a complicated operation. In addition, by continuously receiving e-mails and electronic data, the operation output contents and functions of the electronic toy can be constantly added and changed, so that the user can be provided with an electronic toy that does not get tired. By using e-mail, toy users can exchange e-mails with toy service sites and enjoy a sense of dialogue. In addition, the toy service site can grasp the presence / absence and the number of meal emails received by the toy based on the response mail from the toy, and thus can grasp the current state of the toy relatively easily and reliably. . Furthermore, by using an information terminal with an Internet access function, such a function is not necessary for the electronic toy itself, and a display device such as an LCD is not essential. Therefore, the configuration of the electronic toy can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. (However, the present invention does not exclude providing a display device in a toy.) Industrial applicability

This effort can be used for the design, development, and manufacture of an electronic toy that operates by electronic control, an information terminal device connected to the electronic toy, and a toy service server that provides toy services. .

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. An electronic toy that can be connected to an information terminal device having an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and a built-in memory that records at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information;

Transfer means for transferring the initial mail information identification information to the information terminal device when the information terminal device is first connected to the information terminal device;

Control means for controlling the memory and the transfer means;

An electronic toy comprising:

2. The electronic toy according to claim 1, wherein the initial mail information also includes a destination address of an electronic mail.

3. The control means deletes at least the user registration data or invalidates a transfer function thereof after the transfer of the initial mail information and the toy identification information. Electronic toy according to 1 or 2.

4. An electronic toy connectable to an information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function, comprising: means for receiving an e-mail received by the information terminal device;

Means for storing the electronic mail;

Information output means for directly or indirectly outputting information recognizable by the five senses; decoding the stored e-mail; and controlling the information output means independently of the information terminal device according to the decoded contents. Control means for performing

An electronic toy comprising:

5. The electronic toy according to claim 4, wherein a destination address of an e-mail transmitted from the electronic toy is stored in advance.

6. A means for creating reply mail information for the mail addressed to the user is further provided. The electronic toy according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that:

7. The electronic toy according to claim 4, further comprising means for requesting an external toy service site to send an e-mail to the user.

8. The identification information of the electronic toy is added to the received e-mail to the electronic toy, and the received e-mail with the identification information of the other electronic toy stored in the information terminal device is inside. 5. The electronic toy according to claim 4, wherein the electronic toy is not taken in.

9. The identification information of the information terminal device is stored at the time of the first connection to the information terminal device, and thereafter, when the identification information of the connected information terminal device is different from the stored identification information, the identification information of the other electronic toy is stored. 5. The electronic toy according to claim 4, wherein the received e-mail to which the identification information has been applied is incorporated into the received e-mail.

10. The electronic toy according to claim 9, further comprising means for creating reply mail information in which identification information of the own electronic toy is added to a mail addressed to another electronic toy.

1 1. A toy service servicer that provides services for electronic toys via a network,

E-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail including at least identification information of the electronic toy transmitted from the information terminal device to which the electronic toy is connected;

User registration means for performing user registration of the electronic toy based on the received e-mail;

E-mail transmission means for transmitting an e-mail including control data for controlling the electronic toy to a source of the e-mail,

A toy service server comprising:

1 2. The electronic mail transmitting means transmits the electronic mail periodically. 11. The toy service server according to claim 11, characterized in that:

13. The toy service server according to claim 11, wherein said e-mail transmitting means transmits said e-mail based on a request from a transmission source of said e-mail.

14. A means for providing a web page providing information related to the electronic toy;

Web page means for updating the content of the web page of the electronic toy according to whether or not a response message has been received from the electronic toy and / or the number of the response messages received;

11. The toy service server according to claim 11, comprising:

15. The reply mail includes the identification information of the electronic toy (first electronic toy) attached to the original mail to which this mail responds, and the electronic toy (first The electronic page of the first electronic toy, wherein the identification information of the two electronic toys is different, and wherein the identification information of the two electronic toys is different. 15. The toy service server according to claim 14, wherein? Is a friend of said first electronic toy.

16. An electronic toy that can be connected to an information terminal device with a data communication function, means for receiving electronic data for the electronic toy via the information terminal device, and means for storing the electronic data;

Information output means for directly or indirectly outputting information recognizable by the five senses, control for decoding the electronic data, and controlling the information output means in accordance with the decoded content independently of the information terminal; Means,

An electronic toy comprising:

17. The electronic toy according to claim 16, wherein the electronic data is a file described in a markup language.

18. The electronic toy according to claim 16, wherein access information of a website providing a file described in the markup language is stored in advance.

1 9. A toy service server that provides services for electronic toys via a network,

A user registration means for receiving registration of at least identification information of the electronic toy and user information of the electronic toy transmitted from the information terminal device to which the electronic toy is connected;

Means for providing a web page for providing electronic data including control data for controlling the electronic toy to a source of the electronic mail;

A toy service server comprising:

20. An information terminal device having an e-mail transmission / reception function,

A connection means to which an electronic toy initially storing at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information is connected;

At the time of connection of the electronic toy, the initial mail information and the toy identification information are read out via the connection means, and the electronic mail is sent to a toy service site where the user of the information terminal device is a mail source. Means for creating an electronic mail recording the toy identification information by

Means for sending unsent emails;

An information terminal device comprising:

2 1. When an electronic toy initially storing at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information is first connected to an information terminal with an electronic mail transmission / reception function, Transferring the initial mail information from the electronic toy to the information terminal device;

In the information terminal device, an electronic mail to which the user of the information terminal device is transmitted as an e-mail addressed to a toy service site and which records the toy identification information. Steps to compose an email,

Receiving the electronic mail at the destination address site; and storing the electronic toy and the user of the portable information terminal device in association with each other based on the content of the received mail. A user registration method for an electronic toy, comprising:

2 2. A computer program that runs on an information terminal equipped with an e-mail transmission / reception function that has an e-mail transmission / reception function.

A function of reading out, when an electronic toy initially storing at least initial mail information including user registration data and toy identification information is connected to the information terminal device,

An information terminal comprising: a function of creating an electronic mail that records the toy identification information as an electronic mail addressed to a toy service site having the user of the emotional terminal device as a mail transmission source. A computer program that runs on a device.