JPH04258056A - Electronic mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electronic mail systems, and more particularly to electronic mail systems capable of transmitting video information together with text/graphic information.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic mail, which allows asynchronous text communication between computers connected to each other via a wide area network such as a telephone line or a local area network (LAN), has become widespread. Since such text-only e-mails lack expressiveness, e-mails that use graphics, sound, video, etc. are in demand. That is,
Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-I)
In addition to the conventional e-mail system that can send and receive only text information, expectations are high for multimedia asynchronous communication that mainly uses video and sound information as a new information service for the SDN (SDN) era.

A multimedia e-mail system that adds graphics/sound information to conventional text-only e-mail is being considered. This system is
Mainly text, graphics/sound information was embedded in the text as an icon, and the content was displayed/played by selecting the icon with a pointing device such as a mouse.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since such conventional multimedia e-mail systems are mainly text-based, incoming e-mails are displayed with the sender's name, date, etc., and it is difficult to identify who the e-mail came from. There is a problem in that it is difficult to judge at a glance whether or not there is one.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a multimedia e-mail system in which graphics/sound information is added to text-only e-mails, in which it is possible to determine at a glance who the e-mail is from. The purpose is to provide a system.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The e-mail system of the present invention that achieves the above object is a multimedia e-mail system capable of transmitting video information together with text/graphics information. representative still image selecting means for selecting an arbitrary screen of information as a representative still image; graphics information transmitting means for adding the video information or representative still image to text/graphics information and transmitting the same; graphics information reading means for reading out the video information and representative still images from the text/graphics information of the email; first representative still image display means for displaying the read representative still images;
an instruction means that can select and instruct a part of the display screen; a mail content display means that, when a representative still image is selected and instructed by the instruction means, the content of an email corresponding to the instructed still image; and a mail content display means that displays the content of the email. When doing so, the second representative still image display means displays the corresponding representative still images on the same screen, and the representative still image displayed by the second representative still image display means is designated by the instruction means. Accordingly, the present invention is characterized by comprising a video reproducing means for reproducing the corresponding video information.

[0007]

According to the e-mail system of the present invention, an arbitrary screen of video information to be added to an e-mail is selected as a representative still image, and the video information is added to text/graphics information and transmitted. On the other hand, video information and a representative still image are read out from the text/graphics information of the received e-mail, and the representative still image is first displayed on the screen. When a specific representative still image is selected, the content of the corresponding email is displayed, and the corresponding representative still image is displayed on the same screen together with the email content. Then, by selecting the representative still image within the mail content display screen, the corresponding video information is played back.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an e-mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a camera, 2 is a display, 3 is an image input interface, 4 is a display device interface, 5 is a control device, 6 is a communication interface, 7 is a storage device interface, and 8
is a storage device, and 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are data lines. In addition, the image input interface 3 is connected from the control device 5.
, display device interface 4, communication interface 6,
and the dashed lines connected to the storage device interface are control lines. Video information captured by the camera 1 is stored in a storage device 8 by an image input interface 3 and a storage device interface 7. Further, images stored in the storage device 8 and images photographed by the camera 1 are displayed on the display 2 by the storage device interface 7 and the display device interface 4.

Next, the procedures of mail creation processing and mail reception processing of the control device 5 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

When creating a mail containing video information, a mail creation screen as shown in FIG. 4 is first displayed on the display 2, and the mail creator inputs a message as shown in FIG. 4 using a keyboard or the like. This screen has a send button and a video button. When the video button is pressed, an image of the email creator's face etc. is taken by camera 1. When the send button is pressed, video information is sent to the recipient along with the email text. Sent. FIG. 2 explains the operation of the control device 5 at this time.

[0012] In step 201, it is determined whether the video button has been pressed (ON). If the button is not pressed, this routine ends; if the button is pressed, the process advances to step 202 to display a video recording and representative still image selection screen as shown in FIG. On this video recording and representative still image selection screen, there are a record button and a playback button.
y) button, Still button, Cancel button, etc. And step 2
In 03, it is determined whether or not the recording button is turned on, and it is turned on.
If it has not been turned on, the process returns to step 201, and if it has been turned on, the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 204, the camera 1 performs recording for a predetermined period of time, for example 10 seconds, and the recorded video information is stored in the storage device 8 using the image input interface 3 and the storage device interface 7. In step 205, it is determined whether or not the playback button has been turned on in this state. If the playback button has not been pressed, the process returns to step 201, and if it has been pressed, the process proceeds to step 206 to play back the recorded content. Check the recorded content.

Step 207 is performed when the pause button is turned off during playback.
It is determined whether or not it is turned on. If it is not turned on, the process returns to step 201, and if it is turned on, the process goes to step 208, where the video screen at that time is registered in the storage device as a representative still image. Step 209 determines whether the send button has been turned on. If it has not been turned on, the process returns to step 201, but if it has been turned on, the process proceeds to step 210 to send the email with video information added. .

On the other hand, when receiving mail, the received mail is stored in the storage device 8 using the communication interface 6 and the storage interface 7. When reading the received e-mail, the storage device interface 7 reads the video information from the storage device 8 and displays the contents on the display 2 using the display device interface 4. The reception process will be explained using FIG. 3.

[0016] In step 301, it is first determined whether or not a mail has been received. If you are not receiving emails, step 3
Returning to step 01, if the mail is being received, the process advances to step 302, where the mail is input through the communication interface 6, and the received mail is stored in the storage device 8 through the storage device interface.

[0017] Step 303 is to determine whether or not the mail is being read. If there is no mail being read, the process returns to step 301, and if there is a mail being read, the process proceeds to step 304 to add a message to the received mail. Display all representative still images. FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen in which all representative still images attached to emails are displayed, and it can be seen that five emails have arrived in this example.

Step 305 is to determine whether any of the five representative still images shown in FIG. 6 has been selected.
If there is no selection, the process returns to step 301, and if there is a selection, the process proceeds to step 306, where the content of the corresponding email is displayed with a representative still image attached to the email body. For example, if the first received mail 2 in FIG. 6 is selected and the corresponding e-mail text is as shown in FIG. 4, the display screen at this time will be, for example, as shown in FIG. 7.

The following step 307 is for determining whether or not the representative still image displayed in FIG. In step 305, the video information added to the selected email is enlarged and displayed to fill the screen. An example of the screen display at this time is shown in FIG. 8, and this screen is a video playback screen.

[0020] Then, in step 309, it is determined whether or not the display processing has been completed. If the display processing has not been completed, the process returns to step 301, and if it has been completed, this routine is ended. As described above, according to the present invention, in a multimedia e-mail system that can send video information together with text/graphic information, an arbitrary screen of video information can be added to a multimedia e-mail as a representative still image. When sending a list of mails on the receiving side, a representative still image can be used to represent the mails in a list. Therefore, the sender of the e-mail and the contents of the e-mail stored in the storage device 8 can be confirmed at a glance using this representative still image.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
In a multimedia e-mail system in which graphics/sound information is added to text-only e-mails, it is possible to determine at a glance who the e-mail is from.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an e-mail system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of control processing when creating an e-mail by the control device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of control processing when the control device in FIG. 2 receives an e-mail;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail creation screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a video recording and representative still image selection screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a received mail selection screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a received mail content display screen.

8 is a diagram showing a video playback screen when the representative still image of FIG. 7 is selected; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Camera 2 Display 3 Image input interface 4 Display device interface 5 Control device 6 Communication interface 7 Storage device interface 8 Accumulation device

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A multimedia e-mail system capable of transmitting video information together with text/graphics information, wherein an arbitrary screen of video information to be added to an e-mail is selected as a representative still image. a selection means, a graphics information transmission means for adding the video information and the representative still image to text/graphics information and transmitting the same, and reading out the video information and the representative still image from the text/graphics information of the received e-mail. graphics information reading means; first representative still image display means for displaying the read representative still image; instruction means capable of selecting and instructing a part of the display screen; and a representative still image being selected and instructed by the instruction means. and a second representative still image display means for displaying the corresponding representative still image on the same screen when displaying the email content. and,
An e-mail system characterized by comprising: video reproducing means for reproducing corresponding video information by instructing the representative still image displayed by the second representative still image displaying means using the instruction means.