Patent Publication Number: US-2003222874-A1

Title: Animated character messaging system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to an animated character messaging system, and more particularly, to an animated character messaging system capable of transmitting effectively message, which a user wants to transmit to the other party, by communicating message containing letters and sound mutually with animated characters.  
       [0003] 2. Background of the Related Art  
       [0004] In general, chatting and information exchange using communication or an Internet are carried out on a communication emulator or a web browser. The chatting and information exchange based on the communication emulator or the web browser are, initially, carried out in such a manner that a virtual space, i.e., a chatting room, is made and lots of persons enter the room to communicate with others or exchange information. However, recently, developed is a technique for e-mail and chatting, which allows the users to chat with each other or among them in the form of a POP-mail that is put on a client PC. Furthermore, a messenger program, which supports real-time communication and chatting between two or more persons based on the technique, has been developed.  
       [0005] The messenger program demands the user, who wants to use it, to register as a member and to download a connection program to the user&#39;s computer. After that, the messenger program checks member information whenever the user connects to a messenger server, and shows several menus, such as an instant message menu, a friends menu, a chatting menu, an announcement menu, a help menu, and so on. If the user selects one of the menus, a program of the selected menu is operated.  
       [0006] However, because such messenger program is used for the purpose of transmission and reception of letters, infants and children who cannot read and write the letters well are restricted in using the messenger program. Therefore, a new messenger program having a new function that anybody can use it easily and with interests is needed. Especially, it is necessary to develop a new messenger program that the infants and children, who will be the leaders in future Internet world, can use it with interest in using the Internet.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an animated character messaging system that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
       [0008] An object of the present invention is to provide an animated character messaging system capable of transmitting effectively message, which a user wants to transmit to the other party, by communicating message containing letters and sound mutually with animated characters.  
       [0009] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
       [0010] To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, an animated character messaging system includes an editing system for editing a message to be transmitted to the other party, generating an animated character by adding an animation effect to a specific character and generating an animated character message by combining the message to be transmitted with the animated character; a message storing part for storing an animated character massage to be transmitted and a received animated character massage; a communication interface allowing the terminals to communicate with each other through the Internet network; and a messenger system for selecting the animated character message generated by the editing system to then be stored in the message storing part, transmitting the selected animated character message through the communication interface, receiving the animated character message through the communication interface to the be stored in the message storing part and reproducing the message and the animated character from the received animated character message.  
       [0011] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings;  
     [0013]FIG. 1 a  illustrates a block diagram of a general configuration of an animated character messaging system according to the present invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 1 b  illustrates a block diagram of a detailed configuration of a messenger system in FIG. 1 b;    
     [0015]FIG. 1 c  illustrates a block diagram of a detailed configuration of an editing system in FIG. 1 a;    
     [0016]FIG. 2 a  illustrates a schematic diagram showing a message transmission process in the animated character messaging system according to the present invention;  
     [0017]FIG. 2 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a basic message selection process;  
     [0018]FIG. 2 c  illustrates a character message preview process;  
     [0019]FIG. 3 a  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting a character message to a server in the animated character messaging system according to the present invention;  
     [0020]FIG. 3 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting the character message to the other party in a P2P mode;  
     [0021]FIG. 3 c  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting the character message to the other party in the form of e-mail;  
     [0022]FIG. 4 illustrates a view showing a state that the message is displayed on a terminal when being received to the terminal;  
     [0023]FIG. 5 a  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the character message is received from the server in the animated character messaging system according to the present invention;  
     [0024]FIG. 5 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the character message is received from the other party in the P2P mode; and  
     [0025]FIG. 5 c  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the character message is received from the other party in the form of e-mail. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0026] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
     [0027]FIG. 1 a  illustrates a block diagram of a general configuration of an animated character messaging system according to the present invention. The animated character messaging system includes an editing system  111  for generating an animated character message by editing a massage to be transmitted and animated characters, respectively to then be combined with each other, a messenger system  113  for transmitting and receiving the animated character messages mutually and reproducing the received animated character massage, a message storing part  115  for storing an animated character massage to be transmitted and a received animated character massage, and a communication interface  117  allowing the messenger system  113  to transmit and receive the animated character messages through an Internet network.  
     [0028] The above-mentioned components  111 ,  113 ,  115  and  117  can be operated in terminals, such as computers, cellular phones, PDAs, electronic notes, etc., using the Internet network, and other terminals capable of transmitting and receiving the messages mutually using the Internet network. Meanwhile, of course, an e-mail program and a P2P program are installed in the terminals for transmitting and receiving the animated character messages in various ways.  
     [0029] An animated character together with a message which a user wants to transmit are included in the information to be transmitted to the other party, according to the present invention and hereinafter the information to be transmitted to the other party is called “an animated character message.” The animated character message is compressed to then be transmitted in a transmitting side and the transmitted animated character message is decompressed to then be reproduced in a receiving side, similar to the transmission and reception of information via a communication network.  
     [0030] The messenger system  113  of FIG. 1 a  is explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 1 b.  In the messenger system  113 , a control part  141  controls transmission and reception of the animated character message, execution of the received animated character message and storing of the transmitted and the received messages by controlling the messenger system  113 . A message transmission part  155  and message reception part  157  transmits and receives the animated character message respectively through the communication interface  117 . The message transmission part  155  transmits the animated character message stored in the message storing part  115  and the message reception part  157  stored the received animated character message in the message storing part  115 . The communication interface  117  uses communication protocols related with an Internet, such as TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP, FTP, etc., and other protocols capable of allowing transmission and reception of the message through the Internet network can be used. Meanwhile, the message transmission part  155  and the message reception part  157  are connected with the Internet network through the communication interface  117  using three methods: first, a method for transmitting and receiving the animated character message through a specified server, second, a method for transmitting and receiving the animated character message in the P2P mode, and third, a method for transmitting and receiving the animated character message using the e-mail.  
     [0031] Furthermore, the messenger system  113  further includes a messenger setting part  143  and a message executing part  145 . The messenger setting part  143  is to set the operating environment of the messenger system  113 , and has various functions, that is, a function for automatically actuating the messenger system  113  when a terminal is turned on, a function for interrupting transmission of messages from specific persons, a function for setting the operating environment of the TTS reproducing engine  149  and the sound reproducing engine  151  to execute when the animated character message is received, a function for reducing or amplifying sound of a sound message, a function for setting a mail server in case of the message received in the form of e-mail, a function for setting a period for checking e-mail from the mail server, and a TTS (Text-to-Speech) reproducing and setting function. Besides the above functions, the messenger setting part  143  can has other functions convenient in using the messenger system  113 .  
     [0032] The message executing part  145  is to reproduce the received animated character message and preferably includes a TTS reproducing engine  149 , a sound reproducing engine  151 , and a message motion reproducing engine  153 . The TTS reproducing engine  149  is to reproduce letters of the animated character message containing the letters in a TTS mode, the sound reproducing engine  151  is to reproduce sound of the animated character message containing sound, and the message motion reproducing engine  153  is to reproduce motion of an animated character.  
     [0033] Meanwhile, the editing system  111  of FIG. 1 a  is explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 1 c.  The editing system  111  includes a control part  171 , an editing system setting part  173 , a motion editing part  175  and a character editing part  177 .  
     [0034] The control part  171  overall controls the editing system  111  and allows the character editing part  177  and the motion editing part  175  to perform the message editing, the character editing and the character motion editing etc. according to conditions set by the editing system setting part  173 .  
     [0035] The editing system setting part  173  performs various functions for setting the operating environment of the editing system  111 , that is, a function for automatically storing the character message periodically which is being edited, a function for copying/inserting an object, a drawing tool function related in making characters and so on.  
     [0036] The character editing part  177  has a function for selecting/editing characters to be transmitted.  
     [0037] The motion editing part  175  edits a message to be transmitted, generates an animated character by adding an animation effect to the character which the user selects/edits using the character editing part  177 , and generates an animated character message by combining the message to be transmitted with the animated character. The motion editing part  175  includes a TTS letter editing engine  181 , a sound editing engine  183  and a message motion editing engine  185 . The TTS letter editing engine  181  has a function for inputting/editing a desired letter message and allowing the other party receiving the letter message to convert the received letter message in the TTS mode so as to hear the message in sound when the user inputs a desired letter message. The sound editing engine  183  has a function for directly recording/editing a desired sound message such as a user&#39;s voice or music and the message motion editing engine  185  has a function for generating an animated character by adding an animation effect to the character which the user selects/edits using the character editing part  177  and generating an animated character message by combing a letter or sound message with the animated character.  
     [0038]FIG. 2 a  illustrates a flow chart showing a message transmission process in the messenger system  113  of the animated character messaging system according to the present invention. An animated character message  219  is transmitted through a terminal  211  for message transmission, a terminal  223  for message reception, and an Internet network  221  connecting the terminal  211  for message transmission and the terminal  223  for message reception. The terminal  211  for message transmission selects a message and an animated character to be transmitted (steps  215  and  217 ) and transmits the animated character message  219  through the Internet network  221 . The terminal  223  for message reception executes the animated character message  227 , which the messenger system  113  receives, on a screen (step  229 ).  
     [0039]FIG. 2 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a basic animated character message selection process. In this case, a default animated character message set in the messenger system  113  is designated. When the user starts to select the basic message (step  241 ), the messenger system  113  displays a current animated character message list of the terminal (step  243 ), and when the user selects a desired message (step  245 ), the basic message set previously is changed into a new basic message (steps  247  and  249 ). The basic animated character message means a message that a user wants to use as a default message and the user may modify only the letter or sound message maintaining the basic animated character as it is, if necessary.  
     [0040]FIG. 2 c  illustrates an animated character message preview process. When the user selects a “preview” menu (step  271 ), the animated character message list is displayed (step  273 ), and at this time, when the user selects an animated character message that the user wants to see first (step  275 ), a scene that the selected animated character message is executed is shown (step  277 ).  
     [0041] Meanwhile, in the animated character messaging system according to the present invention, to transmit the animated character message to the other party, there are three methods: first, a method for transmitting through the server, second, a method for transmitting in the P2P mode, and third, a method for transmitting using the e-mail. Referring to FIGS. 3 a  to  3   c,  the transmission methods will be described as follows.  
     [0042]FIG. 3 a  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting the animated character message to the server in the messenger system  113  of the animated character messaging system according to the present invention. When the user selects a “transmit to server” menu (step  311 ), the messenger system  113  tries to connect to the server (steps  313  and  315 ), and if the server connection is failed, a “server connection failure” message is displayed (step  317 ). Meanwhile, if the messenger system  113  is connected to the server, in the case that the user selects a message category and a message upload from the message list in turn (steps  319  and  321 ), the server displays the animated character message list of the user&#39;s terminal (step  323 ). When the user selects a message, which the user wants to download, in the animated character message list (step  325 ), the selected animated character message is uploaded (step  327 ) to the server. After whether or not the animated character message is uploaded is determined (step  329 ), an “upload failure” message is displayed (step  331 ) if the upload is failed, but an “upload success” message is displayed (step  333 ) if the upload is succeeded.  
     [0043]FIG. 3 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting the animated character message to the other party in the P2P mode. When the user selects a “transmit in P2P mode” menu (step  341 ), the user&#39;s messenger system  113  checks whether or not it can be directly connected to the other party&#39;s messenger system (step  343 ). If it is possible, the messenger system  113  tries to directly connect to the other party&#39;s terminal (step  345 ). If it is failed, the “connection failure” message is displayed (step  347 ), but if it is succeeded, the “connection success” message is displayed (step  349 ), and then the animated character message is transmitted (step  351 ). After the messenger system  113  determines whether or not the animated message is transmitted (step  353 ), if it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  355 ), but if it is succeeded, a “transmission success” message is displayed (step  357 ). Meanwhile, in the step  343 , if the messenger system  113  cannot be connected directly, it tries to connect through the server (step  359 ). If it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  363 ), but if it is succeeded, a “transmission success” message is displayed (step  361 ), and then the animated character message is transmitted (step  365 ). After the messenger system  113  determines whether or not the animated character message is transmitted (step  367 ), if it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  368 ), but if it is succeeded, a “transmission success” message is displayed (step  369 ).  
     [0044]FIG. 3 c  illustrates a flow chart showing a process for transmitting the animated character message to the other party in the form of e-mail. When the user selects a “transmit e-mail” menu (step  371 ), the messenger system  113  displays the message list of the user&#39;s terminal (step  373 ). The user selects a desired message from the message list (step  375 ), attaches the selected message to e-mail (step  377 ), and then transmits the message in the form of e-mail (step  379 ). After the messenger system  113  determines whether or not the mail is transmitted (step  381 ), if it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  383 ), but if it is succeeded, a “transmission success” message is displayed (step  385 ).  
     [0045]FIG. 4 illustrates a view showing a state that the animated character message is displayed on the terminal when being received to the terminal. The terminal displays a screen status ( 410 ) before receiving the animated character message and a screen status ( 430 ) after receiving the animated character message. When the animated character message is received, the received animated character message is automatically executed and displayed on the screen. In FIG. 4, ‘A’ is an icon of the messenger system  113  and ‘B’ is an operating status of the animated character message, which the messenger system  113  receives. At this time, while the received animated character message is executed, the character pronounces a letter message or outputs a sound message using a TTS technique.  
     [0046] In the same way as the above, in the animated character messaging system according to the present invention, to receive the animated character message from the other party, there are three methods: first, a method for receiving through the server, second, a method for receiving in the P2P mode, and third, a method for receiving using the e-mail. Referring to FIGS. 5 a  to  5   c,  the reception methods will be described as follows.  
     [0047]FIG. 5 a  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the animated character message is received from the server in the messenger system  113  of the animated character messaging system according to the present invention. When the user selects a “receive to server” menu (step  511 ), the messenger system  113  tries to connect to the server (steps  513  and  515 ), and if the server connection is failed, a “server connection failure” message is displayed (step  517 ). Meanwhile, if the messenger system  113  is connected to the server, in the case that user selects a message category and a message upload from the server in turn (steps  519  and  521 ), the server displays the received animated character message list (step  523 ). When the user selects a message, which the user wants to download, in the animated character message list (step  525 ), the selected animated character message is downloaded from the server (step  527 ). After whether or not the message is downloaded is determined (step  529 ), a “download failure” message is displayed (step  531 ) if the download is failed, but a “download success” message is displayed (step  533 ) if the download is succeeded.  
     [0048]FIG. 5 b  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the animated character message is received from the other party in the P2P mode. When the user selects a “receive in P2P mode” menu (step  541 ), the messenger system  113  checks whether or not the other party&#39;s terminal requested the direct connection (step  543 ). If the other party&#39;s terminal requested the direct connection, the messenger system  113  tries to directly connect to the other party&#39;s terminal (step  545 ). If it is failed, the “connection failure” message is displayed (step  546 ), but if it is succeeded, the animated character message is received (step  547 ). After the messenger system  113  determines whether or not the animated character message is received (step  549 ), if it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  550 ), but if it is succeeded, the animated character message is executed (step  551 ). Meanwhile, in the step  543 , if the messenger system  113  cannot be connected directly, it tries to connect through the server (step  553 ). If it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  554 ), but if it is succeeded, the animated character message is received (step  555 ). After the messenger system  113  determines whether or not the animated character message is transmitted (step  557 ), if it is failed, a “transmission failure” message is displayed (step  558 ), but if it is succeeded, the animated character message is executed (step  559 ).  
     [0049]FIG. 5 c  illustrates a flow chart showing a process that the animated character message is received from the other party in the form of e-mail. The user selects a “received e-mail” menu (step  571 ), and then the messenger system  113 , automatically is connected to the mail server for checking whether or not the e-mail is received (step  573 ). If the mail is received, the user checks whether or not an attached file of the mail is an animated character message file (step  575 ), and executes an “open attached message” in the mail if it is the animated character message file (step  577 ). The messenger system  113  determines whether or not the “open attached message” is succeeded (step  579 ), if it is failed, a “file opening failure” message is displayed (step  581 ), and if it is succeeded, the message is executed (step  583 ).  
     [0050] As described above, according to the animated character messaging system of the present invention, the user can transmit the desired message to the other party effectively by transmitting and receiving messages with animated characters mutually, make more interesting online games or more interesting online communities, and apply it to a presentation or an online education. Additionally, the animated character message can be an online content, and the contents of the animated character messages can be sold on online using the Internet server, thereby making profit.  
     [0051] The forgoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention 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.