Picture book

Abstract

To provide a picture book with a storytelling function via voice.SOLUTION: The present invention provides a picture book with two or more pages containing illustrations and / or photographs, where the picture book is provided with a storytelling unit that narrates the content of the picture book to the reader by outputting voice information corresponding to each of the two or more pages. The storytelling unit is provided with: a voice information recording unit that records voice information corresponding to each of the two or more pages and a voice information output unit that outputs the voice information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a picture book, and more particularly to a picture book that outputs audio information to read a story aloud. [Background technology]

[0002] A known example of a picture book that can be read by infants, young children, and other children, or that can be read aloud to children, is the picture book of Patent Document 1. The picture book of Patent Document 1 has a pop-up structure on the inner surface of a double-folded backing, and the pop-up structure stands up three-dimensionally when the tab is pinched and pulled. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-183124 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Picture books are usually written on paper with pictures and a story, but by incorporating various conventional techniques, children's interest is heightened.

[0005] On the other hand, picture book stories are usually written as text on each page of the book, but for young children who cannot yet read text, it can be difficult to read picture books by themselves. In such cases, parents, guardians, or other caregivers read picture books to young children, but there is a problem that they cannot read picture books when they are at work or doing housework.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a picture book that outputs audio information to read a story aloud. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The picture book of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, comprises two or more pages on which pictures and / or photographs are printed, and a reading unit that reads the contents of the picture book to a reader of the picture book by outputting audio information corresponding to each of the two or more pages, wherein the reading unit: The audio information recording unit records the audio information, and the audio information output unit outputs the audio information corresponding to each of the two or more pages.

[0008] In the picture book of the present invention, the reading aloud unit may be provided with a page selection unit that selects the page corresponding to the audio information, and the audio information output unit may output the audio information corresponding to the page selected by the page selection unit.

[0009] In the picture book of the present invention, the reading aloud unit may be equipped with a page detection unit that detects the open page of the picture book, and the audio information output unit may output the audio information corresponding to the page detected by the page detection unit.

[0010] The picture book of the present invention may further include a story selection unit that selects any one of two or more stories, and the audio information output unit may output audio corresponding to the opened page of the selected story.

[0011] In the picture book according to the present invention, a part or all of the audio information may be the voice of a parent or guardian of a reader of the picture book.

[0012] In the picture book according to the present invention, a part or all of the audio information may be the voice of a reader of the picture book. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the configuration of the present invention, the storytelling unit of the picture book includes an audio information output unit that outputs audio information corresponding to each page of the picture book. With this configuration, the picture book of the present invention can output audio information to read a story aloud. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a configuration of a picture book according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the appearance of a picture book according to an example of the embodiment, in which (a) is a perspective view of the picture book in an open state, and (b) is a plan view of the picture book in a closed state. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the reading section in the example of the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a page configuration according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of voice information of pages 1 to 6 in the example of the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of audio information on pages 7 to 12 in the example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing the configuration of a picture book 1 in an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of the picture book 1 in an example of this embodiment, with Fig. 2(a) being a perspective view of the picture book 1 in an open state, and Fig. 2(b) being a plan view of the picture book 1 in a closed state. In this example of the present embodiment, the picture book 1 includes a cover 21, an inside leaf 22, pages 23, a back cover 24, a spine 25, and a reading section 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

[0016] In one example of this embodiment, the picture book 1 is a left-hand opening booklet formed by a cover 21, inside covers 22, pages 23, a back cover 24, and a spine 25. In this example of this embodiment, the open pages 23 are bound together by the cover 21, the back cover 24, and the spine 25, which are pieces of paper with their surfaces covered with fabric. In addition, the back sides of the cover 21 and the back cover 24 are adhered to the pages 23 by the inside covers 22.

[0017] In one example of this embodiment, the contents of the picture book 1 are composed of two or more pages 23 on which pictures and / or photographs are printed. In one example of this embodiment, the picture book 1 is composed of a paper medium with pages 23 on which pictures and / or photographs are printed on pieces of paper, but the medium of the picture book 1 may be changed as desired, and for example, the picture book may be composed of an electronic medium picture book in which the pages 23 are output to a display device of a personal computer, tablet computer, or other computer.

[0018] In addition, in one example of this embodiment, the page 23 is a unit for viewing the contents of the picture book 1. In one example of this embodiment, the left and right pages constituting a double-page spread when the picture book 1 is open are regarded as the page 23, but the specific configuration of the page 23 may be changed arbitrarily, for example, one page may be regarded as the page 23, or one page may be configured to include two or more pages 23. Furthermore, the picture book 1 may include a well-known configuration of a normal booklet other than the cover 21 to the spine 25. For example, a front cover may be provided between the double-page spread 22 and the page 23. Furthermore, if a front cover is included in the contents of the picture book 1, the front cover may be included as the first and / or last page of the pages 23.

[0019] Moreover, the picture book 1 in this example of the present embodiment has a reading-aloud unit 3 provided near the edge of the fore-edge on the reverse side of the back cover 24. As will be described later, the reading-aloud unit 3 reads the contents of the picture book 1 to the reader by outputting audio information 32 corresponding to each page 23 by an audio information output unit 33. The reading-aloud unit 3 in this example of the present embodiment includes an audio information recording unit 31, an audio information output unit 33, a page selection unit 34, a story selection unit 35, and a power supply unit 36.

[0020] Fig. 3 is a front view showing the appearance of the reading unit 3 in one example of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the reading unit 3 in one example of this embodiment has an audio information output unit 33, a page selection unit 34, and a story selection unit 35 arranged on the front side of a housing 37 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Also housed inside the housing 37 are an audio information recording unit 31, a power supply unit 32, and a circuit for operating the reading unit 3 (the audio information recording unit 31, the power supply unit 32, and the circuit are not shown in Fig. 3).

[0021] The audio information recording unit 31 records audio information 32 corresponding to each of the pages 23. In one example of this embodiment, the audio information 32 recorded in the audio information recording unit 31 corresponds to each of the pages 23 and is linked to a story described below. In one example of this embodiment, the audio information recording unit 31 is a non-volatile memory connected to the circuit described above, but the specific configuration of the audio information recording unit 31 may be any well-known recording device and recording method.

[0022] The audio information output unit 33 outputs audio information 32 corresponding to each of the pages 23. Specifically, the audio information output unit 33 in this example of the present embodiment is a speaker connected to the circuit described above, and is provided on the front side of the housing 37. In this example of the present embodiment, the audio information 32 corresponding to each of the pages 23 is linked to a story described below. The reading unit 3 in this example of the present embodiment outputs, by the audio information output unit 33, audio information 32 corresponding to one page 23, which is linked to the story selected by the story selection unit 35.

[0023] The page selection unit 34 selects the page 23 corresponding to the audio information 32 output by the audio information output unit 33. The picture book 1 in one example of the present embodiment has 12 pages 23 as described later, and the aforementioned circuit is connected to a push button type switch on which each page number of the pages 23 is written, and the page selection unit 34 is constituted by the switch. When a viewer presses one switch of the page selection unit 34, the audio information 32 corresponding to the page 23 indicated by the page number written on the pressed switch and the audio response 32 linked to the story selected by the story selection unit 35 described later is output by the aforementioned audio information output unit 33. Note that the specific configuration of the page selection unit 34 may be selected arbitrarily, and for example, instead of a push button type switch provided for each page 23, a dial type switch that selects the page 23 depending on the position of the knob may be used. Furthermore, the arrangement and appearance of the switches may be changed as desired, but in one example of this embodiment, the switches are connected by a path printed on the front side of the housing 37, and the entire page selection section 34 is configured to have an appearance that resembles the so-called Tree of Sephiroth.

[0024] In one example of this embodiment, the reading unit 3 is equipped with a page selection unit 34, and is configured to output audio information 32 linked to the page 23 selected by the page selection unit 34. However, instead of the page selection unit 34, a page detection unit that detects the opened page 23 of the picture book 1 may be provided, so that when the viewer opens an arbitrary page 23, the page detection unit detects the opened page 23 and outputs audio information 32 linked to the opened page 23.

[0025] The story selection unit 35 selects an arbitrary story from two or more stories. The story selection unit 35 in one example of this embodiment is configured by a slide switch that also serves as a power switch connected to the circuit described above, and the switch is configured to be able to select either power off, the first story, or the second story. As described above, in the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment, audio information 32 corresponding to each of the pages 23 is recorded in the audio information recording unit 31. The audio information 32 corresponding to the page 23 is linked to one of the first story and the second story described below as two or more stories, and when a page 23 is selected by the page selection unit 34 described above in a state in which a story is selected by operating the story selection unit 35, audio information 31 corresponding to the page 23 selected by the page selection unit 34 is linked to the story selected by the story selection unit 35 and is output by the audio information output unit 33.

[0026] The power supply unit 36 ​​supplies power to drive the storytelling unit 3. In one example of this embodiment, the power supply unit 36 ​​is a well-known dry cell or other power source, and supplies power to the aforementioned circuit when the switch constituting the aforementioned story selection unit 35 is slid to a position other than power off.

[0027] The above is the configuration of the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment. Next, an example of the correspondence between the page 23 of the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment and the audio information 32 will be described. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the page 23 of the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4, the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment has a cover 21, endpapers 22, pages 23, and a back cover 24. In one example of this embodiment, the picture book 1 has 12 pages 23, and only pictures are printed on each of the first to twelfth pages 23. Note that, in this example of this embodiment, the pages 23 only print pictures, but photographs may be printed instead of or in addition to pictures. Furthermore, the pages 23 in this example of this embodiment constitute the content of the picture book 1, and information that does not indicate the page number or other content details may be printed on the pages 23 using characters, symbols, etc.

[0029] 5 and 6 are diagrams showing an example of a story configuration in one example of this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of pages 1 to 6, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of pages 7 to 12. As described above, the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment has 12 pages 23, and as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, each of the first to twelfth pages 23 shows a picture and / or photo content 23a as a page constituting the story of the picture book 1. Also, as described above, the picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment has a story selection unit 35, and is configured to be able to select either the first story or the second story. The audio information recording unit 31 records audio information 32a linked to the first story and audio information 32b linked to the second story, and when the reader selects an arbitrary page 23 by the page selection unit 34 of the reading aloud unit 3, the audio information 32a or 32b corresponding to the selected page 23 is output by the audio information output unit 33.

[0030] In one example of this embodiment, in the examples of Figs. 5 and 6, each of pages 23 constituting picture book 1 contains a picture and / or photo of a mother cat and her kitten. The first story is a story from the parent's perspective, and the second story is a story from the kitten's perspective. The structure of the stories may be selected arbitrarily, and for example, the story selection unit 5 may be configured to be able to select between a story from the perspective of a person, animal, or other related party described on page 23, and a story from a third party. The story selection unit 5 may also be configured to be able to select one story from three or more stories.

[0031] In one example of this embodiment, the first story is a story from the parent's perspective as described above, and the audio information recording unit 3 of the picture book 1 is configured to use the voice of the viewer's guardian as part or all of the audio information 31a corresponding to the first story. The audio information 31a may be configured, for example, so that the viewer's guardian is the reader of the first story, or a third party may be the reader of the first story, and part or all of the audio information 32a corresponding to some or all of the pages 23 may include the voice of the viewer's guardian reading lines.

[0032] The guardian may be the parent of the viewer, or may be a relative other than the parent or other close relative. The picture book 1 in one example of this embodiment is configured to read a story selected by the story selection unit 35 by outputting the audio information 31 recorded in the audio information recording unit 3 by the audio information output unit 33, so that the guardian can read the story of the picture book 1 even in a situation where the guardian cannot devote sufficient time to childcare of the viewer. In addition, one example of this embodiment is provided with audio information 32 composed partly or entirely of the guardian's voice, so that the story of the picture book 1 can be read to the viewer by the guardian's voice. Reading aloud by the voice of the guardian, who is the viewer's parent or other close relative, can reassure the viewer even when the guardian is not in the vicinity of the viewer, and can increase the viewer's interest in the picture book 1, so that the story of the picture book 1 can be read to the viewer effectively.

[0033] Furthermore, in one example of this embodiment, the second story is a story from the child's perspective as described above, and the audio information recording unit 31 of the picture book 1 is configured to use the viewer's voice as part or all of the audio information 32b corresponding to the second story. The audio information 32b may be configured, for example, so that the viewer is the reader of the second story, or a third party may be the reader of the second story, and part or all of the audio information 32b corresponding to some or all of the pages 23 may include the voice of the viewer reading lines.

[0034] In one example of this embodiment, as described above, the voice of the viewer's guardian is used for part or all of the voice information 32a corresponding to the first story from the parent's perspective, and the voice of the viewer is used for part or all of the voice information 32b corresponding to the second story from the child's perspective, but the specific configuration of the voice information 32 can be changed as desired. For example, if there are other characters in the first story and / or the second story, the voice of the characters may be read out by a voice of a person other than the viewer or guardian. Also, the voice information 32 may be configured to be part or all of the voice of an actor or other famous person that the viewer likes, or a character from an anime, game, or the like.

[0035] The above is an explanation of an example of the present embodiment. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above. For example, the picture book 1 in the example of the present embodiment is a paper picture book having pages 23 on which pictures and / or photographs are written, but as described above, it may be configured as an electronic picture book in which each page 23 is displayed on a display device of a tablet computer or other computer. In this case, the reading aloud unit 3 may also be configured to have a program that performs the functions of the reading aloud unit 3 recorded in advance in the computer using a memory, storage device, touch panel, mouse, keyboard, or other input / output device of the tablet computer or other computer. In addition, when the picture book 1 is configured as an electronic picture book, it is possible to easily detect which page 23 is being displayed, so that the page detection unit described above may be provided instead of the page selection unit 34. In addition, when the computer is connected to the Internet or other computer network, the information that constitutes the picture book 1 may be configured to be recorded in a remote server or other computer that is connected to the computer network so as to be able to communicate with the computer network. In this case, it may be configured as a so-called server-client type information system in which the tablet computer or other computer is a client terminal.

[0036] Other specific configurations are not limited to those of the present embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Picture books 21 Cover 22 Endpaper 23 pages 24 Back cover 25 Spine 3. Reading Club 31 Audio information recording unit 32 Audio information 33 Audio information output section 34 Page Selection Section 35 Story Selection Section 36 Power supply section

Claims

1. Two or more pages containing pictures and / or photographs; a reading unit that reads the contents of the picture book to a reader of the picture book by outputting audio information corresponding to each of the two or more pages; Equipped with The reading section, a voice information recording unit for recording the voice information; a voice information output unit that outputs the voice information corresponding to each of the two or more pages; A picture book comprising:

2. the reading unit includes a page selection unit that selects the page corresponding to the audio information; the audio information output unit outputs the audio information corresponding to the page selected by the page selection unit.

2. The picture book according to claim 1.

3. the storytelling unit includes a page detection unit that detects the opened page of the picture book, the audio information output unit outputs the audio information corresponding to the page detected by the page detection unit.

2. The picture book according to claim 1.

4. The picture book further comprises a story selection unit for selecting an arbitrary story from two or more stories, The audio information output unit outputs audio corresponding to the opened page in the selected story.

2. The picture book according to claim 1.

5. A part or all of the audio information is the audio of a parent or guardian of a reader of the picture book.

2. The picture book according to claim 1.

6. A part or all of the audio information is the audio of a reader of the picture book.

2. The picture book according to claim 1.

Images