Abstract:
An image linking tuition device comprises an educational data control unit displaying an image scanned from a scanning device, and linking the image to an educational material and storing the educational material linked to the image therein, and searching and outputting the educational material linked to the image; a web service unit converting the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and providing a web distribution service; and the database storing the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and the web document generated from the web service.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES 
       [0001]    This non-provisional application claims priority under Paris Convention and 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 10-2007-0050836 filed with Korean Intellectual Property Office on May 25, 2007. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a tuition device that is capable of performing education using an image, more specifically to an image linkage tuition device for education that is capable of scanning an image, linking the scanned image to educational content, storing the educationanl content linked to the image, and outputting the educational content linked to the image when the image is read. 
         [0003]    Recently, IT technologies have been introduced to various tuitional methods to permit huge number of diverse materials to be freely utilized during an actual class. 
         [0004]    A typical example of such tuitional methods includes an on-line lecture provided over the Internet, a learning method using a device such as a slide, and other educational schemes using multimedia data. 
         [0005]    However, conventional on-line tuitional methods have shortcomings that content is previously created by the huge amount of capital and the materials are impossible to edit, which makes it difficult for tutors to create some materials suitable for tuitional conditions. 
         [0006]    Tuitional methods using a slide require tutors to previously collect materials such as images and other educational content, and process and edit the materials using a document creation software program such as Powerpoint™. Therefore, tutors needed to learn to how to use the document creation software program, and those unskilled to edit documents felt huge difficulty in generating materials for tuition. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention has been designed to overcome the above problems, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide an image linkage tuition device for education that is capable of scanning an image by an image scanning device, linking the scanned image to content data, storing the image linked to the content data, and outputting the content data linked to the image when the image is read. The image linkage tuition device of the present invention may permit tutors to easily create educational materials and convert the created educational materials into documents for web to be readily distributed over the Internet. 
         [0008]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image linking tuition device including an educational data control unit displaying an image scanned from a scanning device, and linking the image to an educational material and storing the educational material linked to the image therein, and searching and outputting the educational material linked to the image; a web service unit converting the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and providing a web distribution service; and the database storing the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and the web document generated from the web service. 
         [0009]    According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image linking tuition device including an educational data control unit displaying an image scanned from a scanning device, and linking the image to an educational material and storing the educational material linked to the image therein, and searching and outputting the educational material linked to the image; a web service unit converting the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and providing a web distribution service; and the database storing the educational material generated from the educational data control unit and the web document generated from the web service, wherein the educational data contrnol unit, the web service unit, and the database may be embodied as a recordable medium storing executable codes that are executed by and installed in the computer. 
         [0010]    The educational data control unit may include an interface module enabling the educational data to be edited and outputted on a display of a computer, the interface module providing an interface screen; an image link module linking the image to the educational data and storing the educational data linked to the image; and an image searching module searching the educational data linked to the image from a database and outputting the educational data through the interface module; 
         [0011]    The interface screenmay include a tool window  1 , a content link window  2 , an image recognition window  3 , a link image window  4 , and a text input window  5   
         [0012]    The image link module may extract an image region to be linked from the scanned image without respect to the direction by calibrating the upper, lower, left, and right directions of the image. 
         [0013]    The educational data control unit may further include an electronic board module that implements an electronic board function through the interface module. 
         [0014]    The web service unit may include a web data generation module converting the educational data into a web document and storing the converted web document in the database; and a web service module distributing the web document over the Internet. 
         [0015]    The web service unit may include a WAP document conversion function for a WAP service. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    The implementation of this document will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like numerals refer to like elements. 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image linkage tuition device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a constructional view of illustrating a system including an image linkage tuition device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an exemplary interface screen displayed on the computer screen included in the system shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an educational data editing mode of the interface screen shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a view illustrating an educational data tuition mode of the interface screen shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0000]    
         
           
                 
               
                 
                 
               
             
                 
                     
                 
                 
                   &lt;DESCRIPTION OF KEY ELEMENTS OF DRAWINGS&gt; 
                 
                 
                     
                 
               
               
                 
                     
                 
               
            
             
                 
                   100: image linkage tuition device 
                   100′: computer 
                 
                 
                   110: input unit 
                   120: control unit 
                 
                 
                   130: educational data control unit 
                   131: interface module 
                 
                 
                   131′: interface screen 
                    1: tool window 
                 
                 
                    2: content link window 
                    3: image recognition window 
                 
                 
                    4: link image window 
                    5: text recognition window 
                 
                 
                    6: Editing/tuition mode icon 
                    7: pop-up window 
                 
                 
                   132: image link module 
                   133: image searching module 
                 
                 
                   134: electronic board module 
                   140: display unit 
                 
                 
                   150: image recognition unit 
                   160: web service unit 
                 
                 
                   161: web data generation module 
                   162: web service module 
                 
                 
                   170: database 
                   180: communication unit 
                 
                 
                   200: scanning device 
                   200′: imaging device 
                 
                 
                     
                 
               
            
           
         
       
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to accompanying drawings. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an image linkage tuition device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , the image linkage tuition device  100  includes an input unit  110 , a control unit  120 , a display unit  140 , an image recognition unit  150 , a communication unit  180 , an educational data controller  130 , a web service unit  160 , and a database  170 . The input unit  110  receives a control command from a user. The control unit  120  controls the image linkage tuition device  100  according to the control command  110  transmitted from the input unit  110 . The display unit  140  outputs an image signal. The image recognition unit  150  is connected to a scanning device  200  to convert an image scanned from the scanning device  200  into an image data format that can be controlled by the computer. The communication unit  180  accesses the Internet and communicates with external input devices. The educational data control unit  130  displays the image scanned from the scanning device  200 , links the image to an educational material and stores the educational material linked to the image, and searches and outputs the educational material linked to the image. The web service unit  160  converts the educational material  130  generated from the educational data control unit  130  into a web document and distributes the web document over the Internet. The database  170  stores the educational material and web document generated from the educational data control unit  130  and the web service unit  160 , respectively. 
         [0025]    In the above configuration, the educational data control unit  130  generates, edits, and outputs the educational material. The educational data control unit  130  also displays an interface screen for performing an educational procedure and performs a web service on the generated educational material. The educational data control unit  130  includes an interface module  13   1 , an image link module  132 , an image searching module  133 , and an electronic board module  134 . The interface module  131  displays an interface screen on the display of the computer to edit and output the educational data. The image link module  132  links the image to the educational data and stores the educational data linked to the image. The image searching module  133  searches the educational data linked to the image from the database  170  and outputs the searched educational data through the interface module  131 . The electronic board module  134  implements an electronic board on an interface screen output by the interface module  131 . 
         [0026]    The image link module  132  extracts an image region to be linked from the scanned image without respect to the direction by calibrating the upper, lower, left, and right directions of the image. 
         [0027]    The web service unit  160  converts the educational material generated from the educational data control unit  130  into a web document and stores the converted web documents in the database  170  as well as performs a web service. The web service unit  160  includes a web data generating module  161  and a web service module  162 . The web data generation module  161  converts the educational data into a web document and stores the converted web document in the database  170 . The web service module  162  distributes the web document over the Internet. The web service unit  160  may further include a WAP document conversion function for a WAP service. 
         [0028]    The image linkage tuition device  100  of the present invention may be configured to be mounted and operated in the computer. 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a constructional view of illustrating a system including an image linkage tuition device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a computer  100 ′ includes input unit  110 , the control unit  120 , the display unit  140 , the image recognition unit  150 , the communication unit  180 , and a storage (not shown). The educational data control unit  130 , the web service unit  160 , and the database  170  are mounted in the computer  100 ′. The scanning device  200 ′ is located outside the computer  100 ′ to scan an image. The scanning device  200 ′ is connected to the computer  100 ′ 
         [0031]    The educational data control unit  130 , the web service unit  160 , and the database  170  may be embodied as a recordable medium storing executable codes that are executed by and installed in the computer. 
         [0032]    In the image link tuition device described in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a user may scan an image so that the image is displayed on an interface screen provided by the device, link the image to educational content to generating an educational material, output the educational material for education, and convert the generated educational material into a web document for a web service. 
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an exemplary interface screen displayed on the computer screen included in the system shown in  FIG. 2 . The interface screen provided by the interface module  130  will be detailed with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the interface screen  131 ′ provided by the interface module  131  includes a tool window  1 , a content link window  2 , an image recognition window  3 , a link image window  4 , and a text input window  5 . 
         [0035]    The tool window  1  permits a user to select a tuition mode, an editing mode, and a real imager mode, and use various functions, such as storing, magnifying image, moving, and setup. More specifically, the tool window  1  includes icons representing “help/scroll lock” (recognition stop), “end playing sound automatically/replay sound”, “control and set up real imager mode”, “invert camera image /tuition mode”, “main link image rotation and resizing”, “editing mode skin setup and indicating the number of linked contents”, “storing editing mode project generation modification and activating working window”, and “conversion between editing mode/tuition mode/real imager mode”. The real imager mode enables a real image to be displayed on the link image window  4 . 
         [0036]    The content link window  2  enables an image to be linked to content corresponding to the image. The content link window  2  contains icons representing a sound, a picture, a document file such as an office file, a motion image, “Open folder” for searching for data, and a link homepage for accessing the home page. The content link window  2  further contains an Editing/Tuition icon for editing educational material and converting tuition modes located at the right and lower side of the window. A user may establish a link between an image and content corresponding to the image using the icons contained in the content link window  2 . 
         [0037]    The image recognition window  3  may output an image of a real object scanned from the scanning device such as camera and scanner, and enables a tutor to magnify or reduce the image, or select a part of the image by a region definition function. The image link module  132  extracts the part of the image selected by the tutor from the image displayed on the image recognition window  3 . The extracted part of the image is adapted to recognize an image region corresponding to the educational content out of parts contained in the corresponding image without respect to top-to-down inversion or left-to-right inversion. Related image recognition technologies are well known to the public, and therefore, the detailed description will be omitted. 
         [0038]    The link image window  4  displays the educational material corresponding to the image recognized by the image recognition window  3 . The tutor may reinstall an image representing the educational content on the link image window  4 . That is, a link activation image may be reinstalled. When the real imager mode is selected, the link image window  4  displays a real image generated by the scanning device  200 . 
         [0039]    The text input window  5  enables the tutor to enter some characters. 
         [0040]    A user may edit image-embedded educational content (educational material) using the configurations shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and the interface screen  131 ′ shown in  FIG. 3 . The user may also perform tuition with the edited educational material and through a real image input. 
         [0041]      FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an educational data editing mode of the interface screen shown in  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 5  is a view illustrating an educational data tuition mode of the interface screen shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0042]    A tutor selects an editing mode by clicking Editing/tuition mode icon  6  to create an educational material, scans an image of the object to be studied using the scanning device, for example, camera shown in  FIG. 5 , and displays the scanned image on the image recognition window  3 . Then, when the tutor clicks a specific icon on the link selection window  2 , a pop-up window  7  pops up on the window to enable the tutor to select content to be linked to the image displayed on the image recognition window and store the selected content in the database  170 . This procedure may enable the tutor to easily create an educational material. 
         [0043]    The tutor selects the tuition mode to start tuition, and scans an image of the object to be studied using the scanning device, for example, camera shown in  FIG. 5 , and displays the scanned image on the image recognition window  3 . Later, when the tutor selects the tuition mode, the educational material pops up on the link image window  4 , which is linked to the part of the image out of the image displayed on the image recognition window  3 . When the tutor selects the content to be studied from the educational material, the corresponding content is displayed on the link image window  4 , so that the tutor may perform tuition using the displayed content. 
         [0044]    The image linkage tuition device of the present invention described above has the following functions and features. 
         [0045]    Two steps are required to perform a general tuition course: searching and executing the educational material stored in the computer. However, the present invention may provide an educational environment without any need of searching and executing of the educational material. Therefore users may focus only on the tuition course. 
         [0046]    The related functions may include an image scanning function, a database generation function, a real imager function, and an electronic board function. 
         [0047]    The image scanning function scans an image of an object and stores the scanned image in the database. The database generation function links the scanned image to multimedia data corresponding to the scanned image, so that the multimedia data may be reproduced when the object is recognized by the device. The real imager function provides a real imager function using the image captured by the camera. The electronic board function enables a user to make a note or description on the image provided by the computer using a diversity of pens. 
         [0048]    The present invention enables a broader range of applications since there is no certain limitations to objects to be recognized. The present invention enables a tutor to create his own educational material (educational content) by himself in contrast to the conventional educational devices. 
         [0049]    The present invention may also provide a real-time searching function. For example, the present invention may analyze an image captured by the camera, and then immediately search and display the educational material, such as containing multimedia, linked to the image from the database. 
         [0050]    In addition, the present invention may have features such as magnifying the image of the object, and improving recognition speed and recognition reliability. 
         [0051]    Magnifying the image of the object may overcome the shortcoming of such a method as to recognize the object using RFIDs or barcodes, which is restrictive to objects to be recognized. For this purpose, the present invention employs an object recognition technology using a camera, which is basically based on human information recognition system. In particular, most of objects that can be identified by human eyes may be recognized by the present invention, since the present invention is based not on the letter recognition but on the image recognition. 
         [0052]    The recognition speed improving technologies, for example, iris recognition technology or footprint recognition technology, conventionally required high-precision analyzing processes, and therefore, these technologies were difficult to apply in general fields in terms of processing time and costs. The image recognition teaching solution according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention might considerably improve the recognition speed by abandoning high-precision recognition, and may provide a solution optimized for the field of education. 
         [0053]    In connection with the improvement in recognition reliability, the conventional footprint and iris recognition technologies are used only in the very restrictive environments, which makes it difficult for such technologies to apply to educational equipment that is used by a diversity of users in various environments. Accordingly, the present invention considerably improved the recognition reliability by using an algorithm for minimizing lowering in recognition rate caused by changes in objects and environment, such as rotation, deformation, distance, illumination, color, etc. 
         [0054]    The present invention may automatically convert the generated educational material into the web document, which may enable tuition to be performed over the Internet. 
         [0055]    The present invention facilitates the combination of images and contents for education so that a user may easily create educational materials using multimedia data. 
         [0056]    The present invention may select an educational material to be studied by scanning an image of an object, so that visual tuition may be easily performed using multimedia data. 
         [0057]    The present invention may enable a user to easily convert a generated educational material into a web document, so that educational content for the Internet may be easily created. 
         [0058]    The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the foregoing embodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures.