JP3729803B2 - E-mail delivery method using online karaoke system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an e-mail delivery method using a communication karaoke system, and more particularly to a method for realizing a service in which an e-mail addressed to oneself is delivered to a karaoke performance terminal used as a customer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A communication karaoke system in which a large number of karaoke performance terminals and a karaoke host device operated by a karaoke company are connected via a communication line distributes karaoke data stored in the host device to each karaoke performance terminal. The karaoke data is processed to output accompaniment music and lyric images of the karaoke music to a speaker and a display. In addition, the host device collects and processes operation logs such as the usage status of performance music generated and recorded at each terminal, thereby enabling various data services such as ranking announcements of popular karaoke music.
[0003]
Here, when the karaoke host device is replaced with a host computer having a mail server function and the karaoke performance terminal is replaced with a personal computer for sending and receiving e-mails, the same configuration is adopted except for the usage form. Understand. Therefore, it is conceivable to exchange electronic mail between karaoke performance terminals using a communication karaoke system.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, simply trying to replace the online karaoke system with an e-mail system causes various problems.
First, the user interface of the karaoke performance terminal is premised on the use of karaoke, and there is no dedicated character input means in the conventional e-mail mainly composed of text. Therefore, it is necessary to newly equip character input means such as a keyboard. Even if a keyboard is provided, it is necessary to perform troublesome operations such as inputting characters while using karaoke. For this reason, the user spends a lot of time creating an e-mail and cannot fully enjoy karaoke, which makes the place white.
[0005]
Further, each time a karaoke user inquires of the karaoke host device whether or not an e-mail addressed to himself / herself has arrived, a communication cost is incurred. Moreover, this communication cost is required even if the e-mail has not arrived. This communication cost is completely useless even if anyone bears it.
[0006]
Therefore, the present invention uses a communication karaoke system for an e-mail system, and a service in which an e-mail addressed to itself is delivered to a karaoke performance terminal used as a customer, and communication costs for sending and receiving e-mail are minimized. An object of the present invention is to provide a method that can be easily realized while limiting to the limit.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The electronic mail delivery method according to the present invention is an electronic mail delivery method in a communication karaoke system in which a karaoke host device and a number of karaoke performance terminals perform data communication in a timely manner via a communication line. The karaoke host device collects and manages e-mails sent to karaoke users, and creates an unread mail recipient list consisting of a set of customer IDs and distributes it to each karaoke performance terminal. The karaoke performance terminal memorizes the received unread mail recipient list, matches the unread mail recipient list when acquiring the customer ID while using karaoke, and if the customer ID is included in the list For example, an e-mail addressed to the customer is obtained from the karaoke host device and output to the customer.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
=== Online Karaoke System ===
FIG. 1 shows an outline of a communication karaoke system in an embodiment of the present invention. In the communication karaoke system 1, a karaoke host device 10 and a large number of karaoke performance terminals 100 are connected via a telephone line 50 as in the conventional case.
[0009]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the karaoke host device 10 and the karaoke performance terminal 100 in the present embodiment. In the karaoke host device 10, the host control unit 11, which is a computer main body including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, is connected to the telephone line 50 via the modem 13, and karaoke data including accompaniment music and lyrics images of karaoke music is received. Appropriate karaoke data is extracted from the karaoke database 12 accumulated for a large number of songs and distributed to each karaoke performance terminal 100. Also, various information such as operation logs uploaded from each karaoke performance terminal 100 is processed, and the result is downloaded to each karaoke performance terminal 100 as an information service.
[0010]
On the other hand, in the karaoke performance terminal 100, a central control unit 101 having a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM therein performs data transfer and transmission of control signals to peripheral components via the data bus 170 and the control bus 180. . The central control unit 101 stores the distributed karaoke data in the hard disk device 102, and retrieves appropriate karaoke data from the hard disk device 102 in accordance with request information input by a user interface such as the remote control transmitter 112 or the operation panel 111. Accompaniment music generation data such as MIDI data is sequentially transferred to the synthesizer 120 to generate accompaniment music. The accompaniment music is mixed with the singing voice input from the microphone 123 by the mixing amplifier 121 and output to the speaker 122. Also, the lyrics rendering data in the karaoke data is transferred to the video RAM 130. Here, the lyrics image is expanded into a bitmap. Then, the video CD changer 132 is controlled to drive the video CD on which an appropriate mood video is recorded. The encoded video data in the MPEG1 format output from the video CD changer 132 is decoded by the MPEG decoder 140 and output as a mood video signal. The display control unit 131 performs a process of superimposing a lyric image on the video signal and outputs it to the display 133.
[0011]
In the communication karaoke system according to the present embodiment, the karaoke host device 10 and the karaoke performance terminal 100 described above perform the same operations as in the past, such as the distribution of karaoke data and the generation of karaoke music, using the same components as in the past. An e-mail function for delivering an e-mail created at the performance terminal 100 to a predetermined recipient via the karaoke host device 10 is also provided. Next, the electronic mail function in the present embodiment will be described.
[0012]
=== Outline of E-mail Function ===
In order to achieve the electronic mail function, the karaoke host apparatus 10 includes a mail box 14. This mail box 14 is set for each customer ID for identifying many karaoke users. In addition, the customer management database 15 stores personal data of customers such as names using customer IDs as keys. Then, the personal data is used as auxiliary incidental data in the electronic mail function as necessary. The mail box 14, the customer management database 15, or the karaoke database 12 may be distinguished by different storage devices, different storage areas in one storage device, or may be distinguished by an identification code, a file attribute, or the like. Alternatively, every time an e-mail addressed to a new recipient is uploaded, an e-mail may be managed using the customer ID as a key, such as generating a mailbox for the recipient.
[0013]
In this embodiment, the e-mail distributed through the network of the communication karaoke system is not mainly text, but is made by adding the sender and recipient customer IDs to the voice information and the image information.
[0014]
In order to create this e-mail, the karaoke performance terminal 100 includes a CCD camera 160 and an MPEG encoder 150 in addition to the above-described components. Furthermore, the karaoke performance terminal 100 can be operated by a personal remote control 112 owned by the user. The personal remote control 112 can store a customer ID and send a remote control signal including this ID.
[0015]
The karaoke performance terminal acquires the customer ID from the remote control signal sent out by the personal remote control 112 and uses it as the ID of the sender of the e-mail to be sent or the recipient of the e-mail to be delivered. The specific operation of the e-mail function in this embodiment will be described below.
[0016]
=== Operation of E-mail Function ===
(1) Creation of E-mail In the present embodiment, creation of an e-mail is performed by making a reservation for creating an e-mail in the same manner as making a performance reservation for karaoke music. That is, an e-mail creation number is assigned in the same way as a request number for karaoke music, and when a karaoke user creates an e-mail, the user uses his / her personal remote control 112 to enter the number into a karaoke performance terminal. To enter. When the central control unit 101 receives the remote control code including this number via the operation control unit 110, the central control unit 101 processes it as an e-mail creation reservation in the same manner as a performance reservation for karaoke music. In addition, the customer ID in the remote control code is acquired as an e-mail sender.
[0017]
The central control unit 101 accesses the karaoke host device 10 until the order of e-mail creation reservations arrives, and performs a process of downloading a name corresponding to the sender ID from the customer management database 15. When the order of the creation reservation comes, the name of the name obtained as “Create Mail” is displayed on the display 133 via the video RAM 130 instead of the karaoke music piece and the original singer. Then, the customer ID input by the user through an appropriate user interface such as the numeric keypad of the remote control transmitter 112 when the e-mail is created is acquired as a recipient. Further, the CCD camera 160 and the MPEG encoder 150 are operated. The user inputs an instruction to start creating an e-mail, and inputs a message by video and audio using the CCD camera 160 and the microphone 123. The MPEG encoder 150 inputs video captured by the CCD camera 160 and audio from the microphone 123, encodes it into video / audio (AV) data according to the MPEG1 standard, and sequentially transfers it to the central control unit 101. When the user instructs the end of the creation of the e-mail, the central control unit 101 converts the captured AV data into a file, and attaches the sender ID and recipient ID acquired earlier to this file to create an e-mail. Then, the electronic mail is uploaded to the karaoke host device 10 in a timely manner.
[0018]
(2) Management of e-mail and creation of unread e-mail recipient list In the karaoke host apparatus 10, the host control unit 11 stores the uploaded e-mail in the mailbox 14 corresponding to the recipient. When an e-mail delivery request is sent from a certain karaoke performance terminal 100, the e-mail in the mailbox 14 corresponding to the recipient designated by this request is taken out and downloaded to the karaoke performance terminal 100. At this time, the name corresponding to the sender ID is taken out of the customer management database 15 and attached. Delete downloaded emails from your mailbox. Of course, the electronic mail may be stored in a mailbox for a predetermined period after downloading.
[0019]
In addition, for e-mails that have not been downloaded, an unread e-mail recipient list is created by listing recipient IDs of the e-mails and distributed to each karaoke performance terminal 100 in a timely manner.
[0020]
(3) Receiving E-mail When the karaoke performance terminal 100 receives the above-mentioned unread mail recipient list, it stores it in the hard disk device 102 and updates the list stored so far. When a karaoke user receives an e-mail addressed to himself / herself, a number similar to the request number of the karaoke song is assigned for receiving the e-mail. When the central control unit 101 recognizes the input of the reception reservation number, the central control unit 101 searches the stored unread mail recipient list for the ID of the customer who made the reception reservation. If there is a corresponding ID in the list, a delivery request for the e-mail addressed to the recipient is sent to the karaoke host device 10 until the order of receiving the reserved e-mails is reached. The e-mail downloaded from the karaoke host device 10 is stored in the hard disk device 102.
[0021]
When the reception reservation order comes, the central control unit 101 expands the name of the sender of the e-mail in the video RAM 130 and transfers the AV data file in the e-mail to the MPEG decoder 140. The MPEG decoder 140 decodes the AV data and reproduces the voice and video of the message. The audio is output to the speaker 122, and the video is output to the display 133 with the sender name superimposed on the display control unit 131.
[0022]
On the other hand, if there is no corresponding customer ID in the unread mail recipient list, that fact is displayed on the display 133 and the e-mail reception reservation is canceled.
[0023]
The unread mail recipient list may not be referred to in accordance with the input of the e-mail reception number, and the performance reservation for karaoke music may be input from the personal remote control 112. As a result of referring to the unread mail recipient list according to this performance reservation, if the corresponding customer ID is searched, an email reception reservation is automatically made in an appropriate order such as next to the performance reservation, or a new mail is received. It may be displayed to prompt the user to input a reservation.
[0024]
=== Others ===
If the e-mail is stored in the mailbox for a predetermined period after downloading, the karaoke host device adds the storage deadline to the unread e-mail recipient list for the e-mail once downloaded, or the e-mail recipient ID A list of stored mail recipients corresponding to the storage deadline is created and distributed to each karaoke performance terminal, and the karaoke performance terminal uses the above-described request number for re-reading the email allocated in the request number format. The karaoke host device may be requested to re-download the e-mail within the storage period upon receipt of the input. At this time, if an unread electronic mail is in the corresponding mailbox, the electronic mail may also be downloaded.
[0025]
In the above embodiment, video and audio are recorded in the AV data file, but only audio or video may be used. Of course, AV data is not limited to MPEG1 data, and may be described in MPEG2 or other file formats. It is also possible to encode video and audio as separate files by describing appropriate synchronization information. Of course, the video is not limited to moving images, and may be appropriate still image data such as JPEG format.
[0026]
Further, in addition to the sender and recipient IDs, text data such as the date and time of the message input, the location (the name of the store / branch where the karaoke performance terminal is located), or a greeting may be attached to the AV data file. Characters can be selected and selected from a predetermined character string, or input using appropriate character input means (for example, the kana key assigned to the operation panel or numeric keypad of the remote control transmitter, the character palette and cursor displayed on the display, etc.). That's fine.
[0027]
In addition, a video printer can be connected to the video output of the MPEG decoder to print out the video in the e-mail, or a floppy disk drive can be installed at the karaoke performance terminal so that the downloaded e-mail data can be brought home. It may be.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
According to the e-mail delivery method using the communication karaoke system according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a service in which an e-mail addressed to oneself is delivered to a karaoke performance terminal used as a customer. In particular, according to the method of the present invention, since the unread mail recipient list is distributed to each karaoke performance terminal in advance, unnecessary access to the karaoke host device is eliminated, and a specific receipt is made only with a minimum communication cost. You can download e-mails for people. Therefore, users who regularly go to karaoke stores to send and receive e-mails can also be expected, and more customers can be expected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication karaoke system in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a karaoke host device and a karaoke performance terminal in the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication karaoke system 10 Karaoke host apparatus 11 Host control part 14 Mail box 50 Telephone line 100 Karaoke performance terminal 101 Central control part 102 Hard disk apparatus 140 MPEG decoder 150 MPEG encoder 160 CCD camera

Claims (1)

An electronic mail delivery method in a communication karaoke system in which a karaoke host device and a number of karaoke performance terminals perform data communication in a timely manner via a communication line,
In the karaoke host device, while collecting and managing e-mails sent to karaoke users, create an unread e-mail recipient list consisting of customer ID set and distribute it to each karaoke performance terminal,
In the karaoke performance terminal, if the received unread mail recipient list is stored, and the customer ID used in karaoke is acquired, it is checked against the unread mail recipient list, and the customer ID is included in the list. For example, an e-mail delivery method for obtaining e-mail addressed to the customer from the karaoke host device and outputting it to the customer.

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