Comic playback system, comic playback method, comic playback computer software program, and comic data used therein

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, etc., for providing scrolling comics with enhanced entertainment by utilizing the scrolling function of mobile terminals, etc. The present invention provides a comic playback system that uses, as comic data, comic data containing the following data: comic data including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to develop a story along a specified scrolling direction; sound data including dialogue / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic data; and sound data playback position data storing the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic data. The comic playback system includes a comic image data display device and a sound data playback device. In the comic image data display device, a computer displays a specified portion of the comic data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the displayed portion of the comic data on the display screen through a scrolling operation performed by a user. In the sound data playback device, the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a specified playback reference position on the display screen during the movement of the displayed portion of the comic data by the scroll control device, and then plays the sound data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a comic playing system, a comic playing method, a comic playing computer software program and comic data used by the same for viewing comics on a mobile terminal. Background Art

[0002] In the past, comics were generally provided in the form of double-page pages in the form of books. However, in recent years, with the popularization of smartphones, so-called "scroll comics" that are not provided in the form of books have been invented and are becoming increasingly popular.

[0003] Since scrolling comics are read by users by scrolling the pages of a smartphone or tablet with their fingers, there is no concept of turning pages like in a book. Therefore, comics that span multiple pages in book format are provided as a single page image. Summary of the Invention

[0004] However, current scrolling comics simply scroll images and do not fully utilize the capabilities of smartphones or tablets.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system and the like capable of providing scrolling comics with higher entertainment value by utilizing the functions of a mobile terminal.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, and according to a first main aspect of the present invention, the following structure is provided.

[0007] (1) A comics playback system, characterized by:

[0008] The comic playback system uses comic data including the following data as comic data:

[0009] Comic data, including backgrounds, characters, and speech bubbles prepared to allow the story to progress along a specified scrolling direction;

[0010] Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic data; and

[0011] sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic data,

[0012] The above comic playback system has:

[0013] a comic image data display device in which a computer displays a specified portion of the comic data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the portion of the comic data displayed on the display screen in response to a scrolling operation performed by a user; and

[0014] A sound data playback device, wherein the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen during movement of the displayed portion of the comic data by the scroll control device, and plays the sound data.

[0015] (2) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0016] The comic playback system further includes a scrolling direction detection device, wherein the computer detects whether the scrolling direction of the user's scrolling operation is a forward scrolling direction or a reverse scrolling direction.

[0017] The sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of each sound data when scrolling forward and scrolling backward.

[0018] (3) The comic book playback system described in (2) above is characterized in that:

[0019] The playback start position in the forward scrolling direction and the playback start position in the reverse scrolling direction may be set to be different.

[0020] (4) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0021] For specific sound data, the sound data playback position data may set a playback stop position in addition to setting a playback start position.

[0022] (5) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0023] For each sound data, the sound data playback position data stores whether the sound data can be played simultaneously or not.

[0024] When it is determined that the playback start position of specific sound data reaches the specified playback reference position, if the sound data cannot be played simultaneously and other sound data being played cannot be played simultaneously, the above-mentioned sound data playback device stops playing other sound data being played and plays the sound data.

[0025] (6) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0026] When the scrolling speed due to the user's scrolling operation reaches or exceeds a threshold, the audio data playback device stops playing the audio data.

[0027] (7) The comic book playback system described in (6) above is characterized in that:

[0028] The comic playback system further comprises a control interface display device, in which a computer provides a setting interface for setting a threshold value of the scrolling speed.

[0029] (8) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0030] The above-mentioned sound data further includes text data of the sound data.

[0031] The comic playback system further includes a language processing device, in which the computer displays on the display screen of the device according to the user's language.

[0032] (9) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0033] The above-mentioned sound data further includes text data of the sound data.

[0034] The comic playback system further includes a language processing device, in which a computer displays on the display screen of the device according to the user's language.

[0035] (10) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0036] The comic playback system further includes a language processing device. In the language processing device, a computer performs automatic translation based on the audio data and displays the automatically translated text on a screen.

[0037] (11) The comic book playback system described in (10) above is characterized in that:

[0038] The language processing device further generates audio data in the language based on the automatically translated text.

[0039] (12) The comic book playback system described in (1) above is characterized in that:

[0040] The comic playback system further automatically generates a playback start position of the sound data corresponding to the dialog box according to the position of the dialog box displayed in the comic.

[0041] Furthermore, according to a second main aspect of the present invention, the following method invention is provided which is executed in the above-mentioned system.

[0042] (13) A method for playing comics using a computer, characterized in that:

[0043] The above-mentioned comic playback method uses comic data containing the following data as comic data:

[0044] Comic data, including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow the story to progress along a specified scrolling direction;

[0045] Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic data; and

[0046] sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic data,

[0047] The above comic playback method has the following features:

[0048] a comic image data display step, in which a computer displays a designated portion of the comic data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the portion of the comic data displayed on the display screen in response to a scrolling operation performed by a user; and

[0049] A sound data playback step, in which the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen during movement of the displayed portion of the comic data by the scroll control device, and then plays the sound data.

[0050] According to a third main aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer software program installed in the above-mentioned system, which has the following structure.

[0051] (25) A computer software program, characterized in that:

[0052] The computer software program is installed in the storage medium of the computer and is used to play the comic data.

[0053] As comic data, the above-mentioned computer software program uses comic data including the following data:

[0054] Comic data, including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow the story to progress along a specified scrolling direction;

[0055] Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic data; and

[0056] sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic data,

[0057] The computer software program performs the following steps:

[0058] a comic image data display step, in which a computer displays a designated portion of the comic data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the portion of the comic data displayed on the display screen in response to a scrolling operation performed by a user; and

[0059] A sound data playback step, in which the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen during movement of the displayed portion of the comic data by the scroll control device, and then plays the sound data.

[0060] According to a fourth main aspect of the present invention, comic data used in the above-mentioned system, method, and computer software program is provided, which has the following structure.

[0061] (37) The comic data used in the inventions described in (1), (13), and (25) above is characterized by having:

[0062] Comic data, including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow the story to progress along a specified scrolling direction;

[0063] Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic data; and

[0064] The sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic data.

[0065] It should be noted that in order to enable those skilled in the art to understand the configuration, operation, and effects of the present invention other than those described above, they are described in the following detailed description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0066] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram showing the overall structure of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0067] Figure 2 This is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a user terminal of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] Figure 3 A conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0069] Figure 4 This is a diagram showing a schematic structure of audio data playback position data in a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0070] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the operation of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0071] Figure 6 The figure is a schematic diagram showing a control interface of a user terminal of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0072] Figure 7 The figure is a schematic diagram showing a control interface of a user terminal of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0073] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing another example of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0074] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram showing another example of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0075] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram showing another example of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0077] (Overall structure)

[0078] exist Figure 1 In the figure, 1 represents a comic publishing server that hosts a comic publishing service, and 2 represents a mobile terminal of a user who receives the comic publishing service (hereinafter referred to as a "user terminal"). The user's terminal 2 is connected to the comic publishing server 1 via the Internet 3.

[0079] A large amount of comic data is stored in the comic publishing server 1. Users can connect their mobile terminals 2 to the comic publishing server 1 to download and play the selected comic data.

[0080] It should be noted that in this embodiment, a dedicated application is used to connect to the user terminal 2. The method for transmitting comic data to the user terminal 2 may be based on HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), or other communication formats.

[0081] Furthermore, the comic distribution server 1 is equipped with various functions necessary for transmitting the comic data to the user terminal 2. These functions include searching for comic data stored in the server 1 in response to a request from the user terminal 2 and returning the result to the user terminal 2, as well as a settlement function for selling comic data. These search and settlement functions, etc., can utilize known services, and therefore detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0082] (User Terminal)

[0083] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the system structure of the above-mentioned user terminal 2.

[0084] In this embodiment, the user terminal 2 is a smart phone, and is composed of a data storage unit 8 and a program storage unit 9 connected to a bus 7 connected to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 4, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 5, and an input / output unit 6.

[0085] (Input and output section)

[0086] Here, the input / output unit 6 includes a display 10 and a speaker 11 (including an external output device such as headphones) as an output interface, a touch panel 12 as an input interface, and a communication interface 13 such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (wireless network communication technology). In this embodiment, the touch panel 12 is provided by a transparent screen and is configured on the display 10 to form a touch screen.

[0087] That is, Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, user terminal 2 displays comic data on a large, vertically-oriented display 10. The user touches and drags a finger on display 10 upward or downward to activate touch panel 12, generating a command to scroll the comic data downward. Furthermore, in this embodiment, audio data corresponding to the comic's dialogue is played through built-in speakers 11 of user terminal 2.

[0088] (Data storage unit)

[0089] In the above-mentioned data storage unit 8 ( Figure 2 ) stores comic data 15 and setting data 16.

[0090] (Comic data)

[0091] The comic data 15 is data downloaded from the server 1 , and is composed of comic image data 18 constituting the comic itself, audio data 19 , and audio data playback position data 20 .

[0092] (Comic image data)

[0093] like Figure 3 As shown, the comic image data 18 is vertically elongated and formed in a strip shape along the scrolling direction. The main components of the comic image data 18 are the background, characters, and dialogue boxes. The dialogue boxes display the characters' dialogues and sound effects such as wind and object sounds.

[0094] It should be noted that, here, comics include not only products generally called comics, but also widely include products including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes.

[0095] (Sound Data)

[0096] The audio data 19 includes dialogues and sound effects displayed in the dialog box, background sounds and theme songs not displayed in the comic image data, and is stored in the data storage unit 8 with a designated file name along with an extension indicating the file format.

[0097] It should be noted that the above-mentioned audio data 19 can be prepared in different languages.

[0098] In addition, the sound data includes lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the above-mentioned comic data, but may include only one of them or all of them.

[0099] (Sound data playback position data)

[0100] The sound data playback position data 20 is data that defines the position in the comic image data 18 at which the sound data 19 is to be played.

[0101] like Figure 4 As shown, the sound data playback position data 20 includes the ID (identifier) ​​of each sound data, the file name of each sound data 19, a flag that cannot be played simultaneously, a flag that cannot be played in a loop, the playback start position when scrolling forward, the playback stop position when scrolling forward, the playback start position when scrolling reversely, the sound end position when scrolling reversely, and the corresponding text of the sound data.

[0102] by Figure 3 As an example, the above-mentioned playback position data 20 will be described.

[0103] (Sign indicating that simultaneous playback is not possible)

[0104] First, audio data includes data that cannot be played simultaneously and data that can be played simultaneously. The distinction between these two types is indicated by the presence (on, off) of the audio non-playable flag. In this example, Line 1 is non-playable data. In this case, it is not allowed to play simultaneously with other non-playable data (e.g., Line 2), and playback is forcibly stopped when the next non-playable data starts.

[0105] On the other hand, in this example, the sound effect 1 is data that can be played simultaneously. In the case of being played simultaneously, even when other sound data that cannot be played simultaneously or sound data that can be played simultaneously is being played, it can be played without being affected.

[0106] (No loop playback sign)

[0107] In addition, when the non-loop play flag becomes zero, the program will be played in a loop as long as it is not stopped. In this example, the sound effect 1 does not have a non-loop play flag, and the lines 1 and 2 have non-loop play flags.

[0108] (Playback start position and playback stop position)

[0109] In addition, each sound data 19 is set with a playback start position when scrolling in the forward direction, a playback stop position when scrolling in the forward direction, a playback start position when scrolling in the reverse direction, and a playback stop position when scrolling in the reverse direction.

[0110] The playback start position during forward scrolling refers to the playback start position when the comic image data 18 is scrolled forward, and the playback start position during forward scrolling refers to the sound stop position when the comic data is scrolled forward.

[0111] The playback start position during reverse scrolling refers to the playback start position when the comic image data 18 is scrolled in reverse. The playback start position during reverse scrolling refers to the playback start position when the comic image data 18 is scrolled in reverse.

[0112] Take Line 1 as an example. Figure 3 As shown, the playback start position for forward scrolling is set to pixel coordinate value M1 with the top end M0 of the comic data as the starting point, and the playback start position for reverse scrolling is set to pixel coordinate value M2 with the top end M0 of the comic data as the starting point. It should be noted that in the case of this line 1, the playback stop position is not set (see Figure 4 ).

[0113] Furthermore, for sound effect 1, which can be played simultaneously, the start position for forward scrolling and the stop position for reverse scrolling are set at pixel coordinate M3, with the top edge M0 of the comic image data as the starting point. The stop position for forward scrolling and the start position for reverse scrolling are set at pixel coordinate M4, with the top edge M0 of the comic data as the starting point. Although this sound effect 1 has a stop position set to stop at a specified position, it does not have a loop-disabled flag, so it continues playing until a stop instruction is received.

[0114] The settings of the above-mentioned marks and playback start position / stop position are freely set by the comic creator according to the world view he wants to express. By appropriately combining these settings, various patterns can be expressed.

[0115] (Sound playback setting data)

[0116] Next, the sound data playback setting data 16 ( Figure 2 ) for explanation.

[0117] The setting data 16 stores a comic data DB (database) 22 , screen reproduction reference position data 23 , and a scroll speed threshold 24 .

[0118] (Comic Data DB)

[0119] The comic data DB 22 is a database for managing comic data 15 downloaded from the user terminal 2. Note that the comic data DB 22 may store not only downloaded comic data but also information on favorite comic data that has not been downloaded yet and other information.

[0120] (Comic playback reference position data)

[0121] The screen playback reference position data 23 is data defining the position on the display 10 where the playback of the sound data 19 starts or stops. Figure 3 As shown, the sound reference position S2 for forward scrolling is set to 30% of the display's vertical dimension from the top, and the sound reference position S3 for reverse scrolling is set to 70% of the display's vertical dimension from the top. These values ​​are default values, and as described below, they can be changed to suit user preferences.

[0122] It should be noted that the method is not limited to the above, and the playback reference position may be set specifically by pixel value, or by elapsed time (e.g., after a certain number of seconds at a specified speed).

[0123] (Scroll speed threshold)

[0124] The scroll speed threshold 24 is a value for stopping the playback of audio data when the scroll speed reaches a certain level or higher, and can be defined, for example, by the number of pixels per second (Px / s) or by a percentage or other ratio.

[0125] As will be described later, the scroll speed threshold can be appropriately set according to the user's preference.

[0126] (Sound data text)

[0127] The audio data text is a text recording the audio played as audio data. The text is preferably stored together with an identifier indicating the language of the audio data.

[0128] (Program storage unit)

[0129] Next, if only the structures related to the gist of the present invention are listed, in the program storage unit 9 ( Figure 2 ), in addition to the operating system (OS) 26 that performs basic operational control of the above-mentioned CPU 4, RAM 5, and input / output units 6 (10 to 13), a control interface display unit 27, a comic image data display unit 28, a scroll position acquisition unit 29, a sound data playback control unit 30, and a language processing unit 36 ​​are also stored.

[0130] The audio data reproduction control unit 30 includes a scroll direction detection unit 31 , a scroll speed detection unit 32 , a reproduction position determination unit 33 , an audio data reproduction unit 34 , and an audio data stop unit 35 .

[0131] (operate)

[0132] The detailed structures of the above-mentioned components 26 to 36 will be described below through the operation of the system.

[0133] (Application Installation)

[0134] First, in this embodiment, the components 26 to 36 are provided as applications that are operated on the mobile terminal 2. When the user installs the application, the components 26 to 36 are installed in the system program storage unit 9, and areas for the data 15 and 16 are reserved in the data storage unit 8.

[0135] Figure 5 1 is a flow chart showing the operation of the system. Symbols S1 to S12 in the figure correspond to steps S1 to S12 described below.

[0136] (Control Interface)

[0137] When the application is started, first, the control interface display unit 27 displays the control interface on the display 10 (step S1 ).

[0138] The above control interface is as follows Figure 6 as well as Figure 7 As shown, a table ( Figure 6 ) and the interface for settings that was migrated from it ( Figure 7 ).

[0139] from Figure 7 The control interface shown can set the above-mentioned screen playback reference position data 23 and scrolling speed threshold 24. It should be noted that, as mentioned above, the method of setting the screen playback reference position data 23 and scrolling speed threshold 24 is not limited to this example, and can be specified by various methods.

[0140] In addition, Figure 7 The control interface shown also allows for language settings. In this example, the original language of the comic data 15 is set to Japanese. However, if audio and text in other languages ​​are available, a pull-down menu will display options for other languages ​​based on the settings of the audio data playback position data 20 in the comic data 15.

[0141] Even for a language that cannot be used here, you can set the language if the "Use automatic translation" button is available.

[0142] It should be noted that the language setting method is not limited to this example, and can be set by other methods.

[0143] Furthermore, the above-mentioned setting may be set to be commonly applied to all comic data, may be set for each comic data, or may be both.

[0144] (Playback of comic image data)

[0145] When desired comic data is selected from the control interface, the comic image data storage unit 28 retrieves the comic image data 18 from the data storage unit 8 and displays it on the display 10 of the terminal 2 (step S2).

[0146] At this time, the upper end of the comic image data 18 is displayed so as to coincide with the upper end of the display 10 (see Figure 3 ).

[0147] Next, when the user drags on the display 10 (touch panel 12) to start scrolling, the scroll position acquisition unit 29 detects this action and acquires the current scroll position (step S3). In this embodiment, the current scroll position is the distance S1 from the upper end of the comic image data 18 to the upper end of the display 10 (see Figure 3 ).

[0148] (Scrolling speed detection)

[0149] Next, the scroll speed detection unit 32 calculates the scroll speed and determines whether it is below the scroll speed threshold 24 (step S4). If the scroll speed is above the scroll speed threshold 24, the playback of all currently playing sound data (only if there is currently playing sound data) is stopped (step S5).

[0150] According to the above control, it is possible to prevent the scrolling speed from being too high, which may cause a large deviation between the playback of the sound data and the image, or to prevent a large amount of sound data from being repeatedly played and stopped in a short period of time.

[0151] It should be noted that, as mentioned above, users can adjust the above thresholds according to their own preferences.

[0152] (Detection of scrolling direction and definition of playback reference position)

[0153] Next, the scroll direction detection unit 31 detects the scroll direction (step S6). In this embodiment, if the user scrolls the comic image data 18 downward, it is detected as a forward direction, and if the user scrolls the comic image data upward, it is detected as a reverse direction.

[0154] Since the scroll direction is expected to be switched frequently, the purpose of the detection is to adjust the sound playback reference position according to the vertical size of the display 10 .

[0155] Specifically, first, in step S7, the playback position determination unit 33 defines a sound emission reference position along the scrolling direction. In this embodiment, as described above, in the case of forward scrolling, the reference position is 30% of the display 10's height (the display height), i.e., the position obtained by adding S2, which is 30% of the display 10's height, to the current scroll position S1. Furthermore, in the case of reverse scrolling, the reference position is not 30% but 70% (S1+S3).

[0156] In this way, in this embodiment, the playback reference position can be switched according to the scroll direction.

[0157] It should be noted that users can use the above control interface ( Figure 7 ) to move the playback reference position up and down.

[0158] (Playback of audio data)

[0159] Next, the playback position determination unit 33 determines whether there is audio data at the playback reference position that coincides with the playback start position.

[0160] For example, in the case of forward scrolling, Figure 3 In the example, the sound effect 1 is the one whose playback start position passes the sound emission reference position first. That is, in step S7, when the state of S1+S2=M3 is detected, the sound effect 1 is determined, and the processing of step S8 and subsequent steps is started for the sound effect 1.

[0161] First, in step S8, determine whether there are other sound data of current broadcasting. Here, if sound effect 1 is the sound that is first broadcasted, then there is not the sound of current broadcasting.

[0162] On the other hand, after the sound effect 1 starts playing, when the start position of the line 1 passes the playing position (S1+S2=M1), since the sound effect 1 is already in the process of playing, there is a sound being played.

[0163] In this case, the process proceeds to step S9, where a determination is made as to whether the currently playing sound data can be played simultaneously based on the non-simultaneous playback flag. As previously mentioned, since sound effect 1 is sound data that can be played simultaneously (no non-simultaneous playback flag is present), step S10 is skipped for sound effect 1, and the process proceeds to steps S11 and S12, where dialogue 1 is spoken while sound effect 1 continues playing (step S12).

[0164] It should be noted that during the playback of line 1, when the playback start position of line 2 passes the above-mentioned reference position (S1+S2=M5), since line 2 is a sound that cannot be played simultaneously, the sound of line 1 is stopped in step S10, and then the sound of line 2 is played in step S12.

[0165] (Playback of audio data stops)

[0166] Then, after step S13, the playback stop position is detected. Specifically, the sound file that passes the end position of the playback reference position is detected. Figure 3 In the example of , this corresponds to the case where the stop position M4 of the sound effect 1 reaches the reference position (S1+S2).

[0167] In this case, since the above-mentioned effect sound 1 is a sound that can be played simultaneously, it will be played without being affected by the playback of lines 1 and lines 2 and will not be stopped. Moreover, since there is no non-loop playback flag, the above-mentioned effect sound 1 will be played repeatedly, passing through the end position and reaching the reference position, and its playback will be stopped (step S14).

[0168] Thereafter, the above process is repeated until the comic playback is completed (step S15).

[0169] (Scroll direction switch)

[0170] It should be noted that there is a case where a comic that was previously scrolled forward is scrolled in the reverse direction. In this case, in the above-mentioned step S6, the above-mentioned scroll direction detection unit 31 detects this action, switches the reference position used to the reverse value (S1+S3 (70% of the display)), and also uses the value of the reverse scroll direction for the playback start position and playback stop position, and executes the steps after step S7.

[0171] If you try to use the same starting position when scrolling in reverse as when scrolling in forward direction, the dialogue or sound effects will be played after the dialogue is displayed, but by using different reference positions, the playback of the sound can be synchronized with the display.

[0172] (Language Processing)

[0173] Finally, language processing will be described based on the language processing unit.

[0174] In this embodiment, when two or more languages ​​are available for comic data, the above-mentioned control interface ( Figure 7 ) and plays the comic image data 18 and audio data 19 in the language selected by the user.

[0175] When the user specifies a language other than the language available in the comic data 15 and "automatic translation" is turned on, the language processing unit 36 ​​performs automatic translation and audio synthesis based on the text stored in the audio data playback position data.

[0176] This automatic translation can be performed using a translation API (application programming interface) provided by an external website, so detailed description is omitted here.

[0177] Furthermore, regarding display in a different language, if comic image data corresponding to the language is available, the comic image data 18 in that language can be used instead of the comic image data in the original language. Alternatively, the text in the language can be displayed as subtitles by overlaying the comic image data in the original language.

[0178] (Other embodiments)

[0179] Figure 8 This conceptual diagram illustrates another example of synchronization between comic image data and audio data. In this example, the theme song is included as data without a "disable concurrent playback" flag. This theme song has no "disable loop playback" flag and no designated stop point. Therefore, once the theme song starts, it continues playing indefinitely until the comic data is closed.

[0180] also, Figure 9 、 Figure 10 This is an example of an automatic scrolling function installed.

[0181] In this example, the comic image data driving unit shown in FIG. 37 is provided in the program storage unit 2 ( Figure 2 ), an automatic scroll start button 38, a low speed button 39, and a high speed button 40 are installed at the lower end of the display 10 of the smartphone.

[0182] When the user presses the automatic scroll start button 38, the comic image data driving unit 37 drives the comic data downward on the display 10 at a normal reader scrolling speed. Furthermore, when the low speed button 39 is pressed, the comic image data is driven at 70% of the normal scrolling speed, and when the high speed button 40 is pressed, the comic image data is driven at 130% of the normal scrolling speed.

[0183] In this example, the comic image data driving unit 37 is configured so that while the comic image data is being driven at various speeds, the user can temporarily stop scrolling or scroll in a desired direction by touching and dragging their finger on the display 10. Furthermore, if the user releases their finger from the display 10, the comic image data driving unit 37 resumes driving the comic image data at the original speed.

[0184] It should be noted that when the user wants to stop the automatic driving of comic data, he can press Figure 10 This is done by pressing the stop button shown in 41.

[0185] According to the above structure, there is no need to continuously move the fingers, and the operation is simple.

[0186] It should be noted that it is preferable to store the normal scrolling speed of the reader operating on the smartphone, and based on this, determine the driving speed of the comic image data by the comic image data driving unit 37. In addition, the comic publishing server 1 ( Figure 1 ) The driving speed is determined by artificial intelligence and provided to each user terminal. In addition, for the above-mentioned low speed and high speed, it is preferred to determine them in the same way.

[0187] As mentioned above, although one embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0188] For example, in the aforementioned embodiment, the structure of the present invention is installed on user terminal 2. However, this is not limiting. Alternatively, the structure of the present invention can be installed on server 1, with user terminal 2 merely viewing the processed results via a browser. Furthermore, in this case, all structures are not necessarily located on either the server or the user terminal; rather, multiple structures can be located on either side and collaborate to implement the structure of the present invention.

[0189] In addition, the user terminal is not limited to a mobile terminal, and may also be a PC (personal computer) or other computers.

[0190] Furthermore, the comic image data may be played back not only by downloading it but also by streaming it from the server.

[0191] In addition, in the above embodiment, the structure corresponds to scrolling the comic in the vertical direction, but the scrolling direction is not limited to the vertical direction, and can also be the horizontal direction. In addition, the structure can also be capable of scrolling in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

[0192] Explanation of symbols

[0193] 1…Comic publishing server

[0194] 2…User terminal

[0195] 3…Internet

[0196] 4…CPU

[0197] 5…RAM

[0198] 6…Input and output section

[0199] 7…Bus

[0200] 8…Data storage unit

[0201] 9…Program storage unit

[0202] 10…Display

[0203] 11…Speakers

[0204] 12…Touch panel

[0205] 13…Communication interface

[0206] 15…Comic data

[0207] 16…Sound data playback setting data

[0208] 18…Comic image data

[0209] 19…Sound data

[0210] 20…Sound data playback position data

[0211] 22…Comic Data DB

[0212] 23…Screen playback reference position data

[0213] 24…Scrolling speed threshold

[0214] 26…Operating System

[0215] 27…Control interface display

[0216] 28…Comic image data display department

[0217] 29…Scroll position acquisition unit

[0218] 30…Sound data playback control unit

[0219] 31…Rolling direction detection unit

[0220] 32…Scrolling speed detection unit

[0221] 33…Playback position determination unit

[0222] 34…Sound data playback unit

[0223] 35…Sound data stop section

[0224] 36…Language Processing Department

[0225] 37…Comic Image Data Drive Department

[0226] 38…Auto scroll start button

[0227] 40…High-speed button

[0228] 41…Stop button.

Claims

1. A comics playback system, characterized by: As comic data, the comic playback system uses comic data including the following data: Comic image data, the comic image data including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow a story to develop along a specified scrolling direction; Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic image data; and sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic image data, The comic playback system has: a comic image data display device in which a computer displays a specified portion of the comic image data on a display screen of a device, and causes the displayed portion of the comic image data on the display screen to continuously move in response to a scrolling operation performed by a user; a scrolling direction detection device, in which a computer detects whether the scrolling direction of the user's scrolling operation is a forward scrolling direction or a reverse scrolling direction; as well as, A sound data playback device, wherein a computer determines whether a playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen based on a scroll direction detection device during movement of a display portion of comic image data by a scroll control device, and plays the sound data. Regarding the playback reference position, different playback reference positions are set when scrolling in the forward direction and when scrolling in the reverse direction.

2. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: Regarding the playback start position, the playback start position in the forward scrolling direction is set to be different from the playback start position in the reverse scrolling direction.

3. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: For specific sound data, the sound data playback position data sets a playback stop position in addition to setting a playback start position.

4. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: For each sound data, the sound data playing position data stores whether the sound data can be played simultaneously or not. When it is determined that the playback start position of specific sound data reaches the specified playback reference position, if the sound data cannot be played simultaneously and other sound data being played cannot be played simultaneously, the sound data playback device stops playing other sound data being played and plays the sound data.

5. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: When the scrolling speed due to the scrolling operation of the user reaches a threshold value or higher, the sound data playing device stops playing the sound data.

6. The comic playback system according to claim 5, wherein: The comic playback system further includes a control interface display device, in which a computer provides a setting interface for setting a threshold value of the scrolling speed.

7. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: The sound data further includes text data of the sound data, The comic playback system further includes a language processing device, in which a computer displays on the display screen of the device according to the user's language.

8. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: The comic playback system further includes a language processing device, in which a computer performs automatic translation based on the voice data and displays the automatically translated text on a screen.

9. The comic playback system according to claim 8, wherein: The language processing device further generates audio data in the language based on the automatically translated text.

10. The comic playback system according to claim 1, wherein: The comic playback system further automatically generates a playback start position of the sound data corresponding to the dialog box according to the position of the dialog box displayed in the comic.

11. A method for playing comics using a computer, characterized in that: The comic playback method uses comic data containing the following data as comic data: Comic image data, the comic image data including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow a story to develop along a specified scrolling direction; Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic image data; and sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic image data, The comic playing method has the following features: a comic image data display step in which a computer displays a designated portion of the comic image data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the portion of the comic image data displayed on the display screen in response to a scroll operation performed by a user; a scrolling direction detection step, in which the computer detects whether the scrolling direction of the user's scrolling operation is a forward scrolling direction or a reverse scrolling direction; as well as, a sound data playback step, wherein the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen based on the detection of the scroll direction by the scroll direction detection device during movement of the displayed portion of the comic image data by the scroll control device, and then plays the sound data; Regarding the playback reference position, different playback reference positions are set when scrolling in the forward direction and when scrolling in the reverse direction.

12. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: Regarding the playback start position, the playback start position in the forward scrolling direction is set to be different from the playback start position in the reverse scrolling direction.

13. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: For specific sound data, the sound data playback position data sets a playback stop position in addition to setting a playback start position.

14. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: For each sound data, the sound data playing position data stores whether the sound data can be played simultaneously or not. In the sound data playback process, when it is determined that the playback start position of specific sound data reaches the specified playback reference position, if the sound data cannot be played simultaneously and other sound data being played cannot be played simultaneously, the playback of other sound data being played is stopped and the sound data is played.

15. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: In the audio data playback step, when the scrolling speed due to the user's scrolling operation reaches or exceeds a threshold value, playback of the audio data is stopped.

16. The comic playing method according to claim 15, wherein: The comic playback method further includes a control interface display step, in which a computer provides a setting interface for setting a threshold value of the scrolling speed.

17. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: The sound data further includes text data of the sound data, The comics playback method further includes a language processing step in which a computer displays the comics on the display screen of the device according to the user's language.

18. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: The comic book playback method further includes a language processing step in which a computer automatically translates the audio data based on the audio data and displays the automatically translated text on a screen.

19. The comic playing method according to claim 18, wherein: In the language processing step, audio data in the language is further generated based on the automatically translated text.

20. The comic playing method according to claim 11, wherein: Furthermore, the playback start position of the sound data corresponding to the dialog box is automatically generated according to the position of the dialog box displayed in the comic.

21. A storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores instructions for playing comic image data. When the computer executes this instruction, comic data including the following data is used as comic data: Comic image data, the comic image data including backgrounds, characters, and dialogue boxes prepared to allow a story to develop along a specified scrolling direction; Sound data, the sound data including lines / hand-drawn onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, titles, sound effects, and music corresponding to the comic image data; and sound data playback position data, wherein the sound data playback position data stores the playback start position of the sound data as a position along the scrolling direction of the comic image data, And, perform the following steps: a comic image data display step in which a computer displays a designated portion of the comic image data on a display screen of a device, and continuously moves the portion of the comic image data displayed on the display screen in response to a scroll operation performed by a user; a scrolling direction detection step, in which the computer detects whether the scrolling direction of the user's scrolling operation is a forward scrolling direction or a reverse scrolling direction; as well as, a sound data playback step, wherein the computer determines whether the playback start position of the sound data reaches a designated playback reference position on the display screen based on the detection of the scroll direction by the scroll direction detection device during movement of the displayed portion of the comic image data by the scroll control device, and then plays the sound data; Regarding the playback reference position, different playback reference positions are set when scrolling in the forward direction and when scrolling in the reverse direction.

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