JP2005106905A - Audio output system and server device - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
To provide a voice output system capable of reducing the processing load of a terminal device and reducing the amount of communication data, and a server device used in the system.
[Solution]
The conversion server 2 receives information such as e-mails and websites via the mail server 1 and the communication network 4 such as the Internet, and the text data included in the received information is encoded and / or digitized. The data is converted into data, and the sound generation data is transmitted together with the information to the mobile phone device 3 connected via the communication network 5 including the base station and the like. The cellular phone device 3 converts the received pronunciation data into an audio signal and outputs it as an audio signal, and outputs the content of the received e-mail, website, etc. as an audio message.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice output system and a server device that output characters, sentences, and the like by voice in a terminal device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are the following voice output systems that convert sentences such as e-mails into voice and output them from a speaker such as a terminal device.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes a mobile phone that decodes characters of an e-mail received from a mail server, synthesizes speech corresponding to the characters, and reproduces and outputs the synthesized speech. .

  Next, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a service in which a received voice mail is subjected to voice synthesis processing by a built-in voice synthesizer, and a synthesized voice corresponding to a message described therein is generated and transmitted to a telephone. The provider server is described.

  Further, for example, in Patent Document 3, the text displayed on the screen is focused, the data about the focused text is acquired, the acquired text is output to the speech synthesis server, and the voice is also recorded. A mobile terminal communication system having a mobile terminal that outputs voice from a speaker based on voice waveform data created by a synthesis server is described.

  However, for example, in a voice output system that converts characters to voice on the terminal device side and outputs them, such as the mobile phone described in Patent Document 1, the conversion processing places a burden on the terminal device, and is particularly portable. There has been a situation in which the processing capacity of portable wireless devices such as telephones is increased.

In addition, in a voice output system that performs voice data conversion processing on the server device side and transmits the voice data to the terminal device, such as the systems described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, the capacity of the voice data There was a situation that became big.
JP 2003-150507 A JP 09-258664 A JP 2002-158803 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and provides an audio output system capable of reducing the processing load of a terminal device and reducing the amount of communication data, and a server device used in the system. For the purpose.

The server device of the present invention is a server device used in an audio output system for outputting text data as audio in a terminal device,
Obtaining means for obtaining the text data;
A pronunciation data creation unit that analyzes the text data to create symbolized and / or digitized pronunciation data;
A transmission unit for transmitting the pronunciation data to the terminal device;
Is provided.

  With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the terminal device and reduce the amount of communication data between the server device and the terminal device.

  Further, in the server device of the present invention, the pronunciation data creation unit includes a storage unit that stores pronunciation dictionary data including at least one type of characters, syllables, and phrases, and pronunciation data associated therewith, Referring to the pronunciation dictionary data, recognizes at least one of characters, syllables, and phrases from the text data, and specifies pronunciation corresponding to at least one of the recognized characters, syllables, and phrases Thus, the pronunciation data is created.

  With this configuration, more accurate pronunciation can be reproduced.

  In the server device of the present invention, the pronunciation dictionary data includes at least one type of characters, syllables, and phrases including kanji, hiragana, and katakana, and pronunciation data associated with the type.

  With this configuration, it is possible to cope with voice output of complicated sentences such as kanji-kana mixed sentences.

  In the server device of the present invention, the pronunciation data includes symbols and / or numerical values representing pronunciation, strength, and pitch.

  With this configuration, it is possible to reproduce more accurate pronunciation, and the degree of understanding of the content output by the terminal device user can be improved.

Further, in the server device of the present invention, the acquisition unit receives the distributed electronic mail, acquires the text data of the electronic mail,
The transmission unit transmits the electronic mail together with the pronunciation data to the terminal device.

  With this configuration, the user of the terminal device can confirm the contents by voice together with the received e-mail character data.

In the server device of the present invention, the acquisition unit receives the information on the website specified by the terminal device to acquire the content of the website, and acquires the text data from the content of the website. And
The transmitting unit transmits the content of the website together with the pronunciation data to the terminal device.

  With this configuration, the user of the terminal device can confirm the content of desired website information by voice.

The audio output system of the present invention is
The server device;
A communication terminal device connected via a communication network from the server device;
With
The communication terminal device
A terminal communication unit that receives the pronunciation data transmitted from the communication unit of the server device;
A voice conversion unit that converts the sound data received by the terminal communication unit into a voice signal;
An audio output unit for outputting the audio signal converted by the audio conversion unit;
Have

  With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the terminal device and reduce the amount of communication data between the server device and the terminal device.

  Moreover, the audio | voice output system of this invention WHEREIN: The said terminal device is further provided with the display part which displays the said text data, when the said text data is received from the said transmission part of the said server apparatus.

  With this configuration, the user of the terminal device can confirm the contents by voice together with the received character data.

In the voice output system of the present invention, the terminal device stores voice information corresponding to the pronunciation data, and software capable of executing a step of converting the voice generation data and the voice information in association with each other. Further comprising a terminal storage unit,
The voice conversion unit operates according to the software, and reads the voice information stored in the terminal storage unit based on the sound generation data to generate the voice signal.

  With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the processing load on the terminal device and reduce the amount of communication data between the server device and the terminal device.

  In the audio output system of the present invention, the software stored in the terminal storage unit can be updated based on update data received via the terminal communication unit.

  With this configuration, even if a problem occurs in the audio output, it can be dealt with by updating the software.

  In the audio output system of the present invention, the terminal device is a portable radio device.

  With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the processing load of the portable wireless device and reduce the storage capacity required for audio output, thereby preventing the device from becoming large and impairing portability. In addition, an increase in communication speed for voice output can be prevented.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while reducing the burden of the process of a terminal device, the audio | voice output system which can reduce communication data amount, and the server apparatus used for the system can be provided.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an audio output system for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a case where a mobile phone device is used as an example of a terminal device that performs audio output will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the audio output system of this embodiment includes a mail server 1, a conversion server 2, and a mobile phone device 3.

  The mail server 1 receives an electronic mail via a communication network 4 such as the Internet, and transfers the electronic mail to the conversion server 2 connected via a communication line. When the conversion server 2 receives the e-mail, the conversion server 2 converts the character or sentence of the e-mail into pronunciation data in text format that is symbolized and / or digitized, and is connected via a communication network 5 including a base station and the like. The phonetic data is transmitted to the mobile phone device 3 together with the electronic mail. The mobile phone device 3 converts the received pronunciation data into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal, and outputs the contents of the email as voice.

  Further, the mobile phone device 3 designates a website and makes a pronunciation data request to the conversion server 2. The conversion server 2 accesses the designated website, acquires the character data, converts it into pronunciation data, and transmits the pronunciation data to the mobile phone device 3. The cellular phone device 3 converts the received pronunciation data into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal, and outputs the contents of the designated website as a voice.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conversion server for explaining the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the conversion server 2 of the present embodiment includes a first transmission / reception unit 21, a server storage unit 22, a pronunciation data conversion unit 23, a second transmission / reception unit 24, and a server control unit 25.

  The first transmission / reception unit 21 is connected to the mail server 1 and the communication network 4, and receives an e-mail from the mail server 1, acquires a website via the communication network 4, and the like. The storage unit 22 stores a dictionary file 220 that records symbols and / or numerical values representing pronunciation, syllables, accents, heights, and the like associated with characters, words, phrases, sentences, and the like. The dictionary file 220 can be updated by rewriting the contents. The dictionary file 220 can be more accurately converted into pronunciation data as its recording capacity increases, but it is difficult to store the dictionary file 220 in a portable wireless device such as the cellular phone device 3. In the present embodiment, by providing the dictionary file 220 in the conversion server 2, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity for voice output required for the mobile phone device 3.

  The pronunciation data stored in the dictionary file 220 is mostly composed of characters indicating character (character string) and syllable in the case of Japanese. The For example, “Autumn Herb” is “[A] ↓ Kino Na [Na] Kussa”, “Senri Ichigo” is “Se Nizai Yi [Chigu]”, and the syllables are katakana and accents. By enclosing a certain syllable in square brackets “[]”, the high and low are expressed by arrows “↑” and “↓”, and the break is expressed by middle black “•”. For other languages, an expression method corresponding to the pronunciation system of each language may be used.

  The pronunciation data conversion unit 23 acquires text data included in the information of the electronic mail received from the mail server 1 or the accessed website. Then, the text data is analyzed with reference to the dictionary file 220 stored in the storage unit 22 and the received text data of the e-mail or website is converted into text-formatted pronunciation data.

  The second transmission / reception unit 24 transmits the e-mail and the contents of the designated website to the mobile phone device 3 together with the pronunciation data output by the pronunciation data conversion unit 23. In addition, an instruction for specifying a website such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) from the mobile phone device 3 is received.

  The server control unit 25 controls operations of the first transmission / reception unit 21, the storage unit 22, the pronunciation data conversion unit 23, and the second transmission / reception unit 24. When the first transmission unit 21 receives the e-mail, the server control unit 25 reads the dictionary file from the storage unit 22 and instructs the pronunciation data conversion unit 23 to convert the received pronunciation data to the second transmission / reception unit. 24 is instructed to transmit the pronunciation data and the received electronic mail.

  Further, when the second transmission / reception unit 24 receives the website designation instruction from the mobile phone device 3, the server control unit 25 instructs the first transmission / reception unit 21 to access the designated website. When the first transmission / reception unit 21 acquires the contents of the website, the dictionary data is read from the storage unit 22 and the pronunciation data conversion instruction of the website contents received by the pronunciation data conversion unit 23 is given. Instructing the transmission of the pronunciation data and the contents of the received website.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile phone device for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the description of the function as a normal cellular phone device is omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, the cellular phone device 3 of the present embodiment includes a terminal transmission / reception unit 31, a terminal storage unit 32, a voice conversion unit 33, a voice output unit 34, a display unit 35, and an operation unit 36. The terminal control unit 37 is provided.

  The terminal transmission / reception unit 31 performs data communication with the conversion server 2 such as reception of sound generation data via the communication network 5. The terminal storage unit 32 includes a pronunciation file 320 that stores voice information associated with the pronunciation indicated by the pronunciation data, and a reading application program (hereinafter referred to as software) for converting a voice signal corresponding to the received pronunciation data. Reading application) 321 is stored.

  The pronunciation file 320 and the reading application 321 may be stored in the terminal storage unit 32 in advance, or may be downloaded from a service server (not shown) via the terminal transmission / reception unit 31 and stored in the terminal storage unit 32. Therefore, even a mobile phone device that does not include the pronunciation file 320 and the reading application 321 in advance can be applied to the audio output system of the present embodiment as long as the program can be downloaded. Further, the pronunciation file 320 and the reading application 321 can be updated by acquiring update data in response to a user instruction at the time of activation or every arbitrary period. Therefore, even when a problem in voice output due to voice conversion on the terminal side occurs, it can be dealt with by updating the pronunciation file 320 or the reading application 321.

  The pronunciation file 320 is stored in units of syllables, for example, since characters and syllables often correspond in the case of Japanese as described above. Since there are about 114 types of Japanese syllables, the pronunciation file 320 stores a total of 456 types of audio information, with two types of accents (strong and weak) and two types of pitches (high and low) for each syllable.

  The voice conversion unit 33 is operated by the reading application 321 and synthesizes the received sound data with the sound information stored in the sound file 320 and converts it into a sound signal for sound output. The audio output unit reproduces and outputs the audio signal generated by the audio conversion unit 33.

  The display unit 35 displays the received e-mail and website. The operation unit 36 includes a numeric keypad, a direction instruction key, and the like, designates a desired website, and transmits the designation information to the conversion server 2 via the terminal transmission / reception unit 31. The designation information of the website may be transmitted to the conversion server 2 by inputting information such as URL in the operation unit 36, or when the content of the website is displayed on the display unit 35, It is also possible to make a voice output request and transmit the displayed website information to the conversion server 2.

  The control unit 38 controls operations of the terminal transmission / reception unit 31, the terminal storage unit 32, the voice conversion unit 33, the voice output unit 34, the display unit 35, and the operation unit 36.

  According to such an audio output system of the present embodiment, since the conversion server analyzes text data with a large amount of processing, the amount of processing in the mobile phone device can be reduced. In addition, since the conversion server has a dictionary file with a large capacity, more accurate voice output can be realized without increasing the storage area of the mobile phone device.

  Further, by using text-formatted pronunciation data, the amount of communication data between the conversion server and the mobile phone device can be reduced, and a normal communication protocol such as SMTP or HTTP can be used. There is no need to build a special system for. In this way, voice output including accents and the like can be realized without reading text data, so that visually impaired persons can also send and receive e-mails.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the mobile phone device displays an e-mail or a website and performs voice output has been described. However, the conversion server transmits only the pronunciation data to the mobile phone device and performs only the voice output. May be.

  Moreover, although the case where the voice is output for the received electronic mail or the specified website has been described as an example, the voice output may be executed for an arbitrary character string specified by the user. In addition, when a part with a hyperlink or the like is designated on the screen of the display unit, the information may be transmitted to the conversion server, and the designated part may be output by voice using a mobile phone.

  The voice output system and the server device of the present invention have the effect of reducing the processing load of the terminal device and reducing the amount of communication data, and are useful for a voice output system using a portable wireless device or the like.

The schematic block diagram which shows the audio | voice output system for describing embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the conversion server for describing embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the mobile telephone apparatus for describing embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mail server 2 Conversion server 3 Mobile phone apparatus 4, 5 Communication network 21 1st transmission / reception part 22 Server memory | storage part 23 Pronunciation data conversion part 24 2nd transmission / reception part 25 Server control part 31 Terminal transmission / reception part 32 Terminal storage part 33 Voice conversion part 34 voice output unit 35 display unit 36 operation unit 37 terminal control unit

Claims (11)

A server device used in a voice output system that outputs text data in a terminal device,
Obtaining means for obtaining the text data;
A pronunciation data creation unit that analyzes the text data to create symbolized and / or digitized pronunciation data;
A transmission unit for transmitting the pronunciation data to the terminal device;
A server device comprising: The server device according to claim 1,
The pronunciation data creation unit includes a storage unit that stores pronunciation dictionary data including at least one type of characters, syllables, and phrases and pronunciation data associated with the type, and refers to the pronunciation dictionary data, Recognizing at least one of characters, syllables, and phrases from the text data, and generating the pronunciation data by specifying a pronunciation corresponding to at least one of the recognized characters, syllables, and phrases Server device that is. The server device according to claim 2,
The server device, wherein the pronunciation dictionary data includes at least one type of characters, syllables, and phrases including kanji, hiragana, and katakana, and pronunciation data associated therewith. The server device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The server device is a server device that includes symbols and / or numerical values representing pronunciation, strength, and pitch. The server device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The acquisition unit receives the distributed e-mail, acquires the text data of the e-mail,
The transmission device is a server device that transmits the electronic mail together with the pronunciation data to the terminal device. The server device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The acquisition unit receives the information on the website specified by the terminal device to acquire the content of the website, acquires the text data from the content of the website,
The transmission unit is a server device that transmits the content of the website together with the pronunciation data to the terminal device. A server device according to any one of claims 1 to 6;
A communication terminal device connected via a communication network from the server device;
With
The communication terminal device
A terminal communication unit that receives the pronunciation data transmitted from the communication unit of the server device;
A voice conversion unit that converts the sound data received by the terminal communication unit into a voice signal;
An audio output unit for outputting the audio signal converted by the audio conversion unit;
An audio output system. The voice output system according to claim 7,
The said terminal device is an audio | voice output system further provided with the display part which displays the said text data, when the said text data is received from the said transmission part of the said server apparatus. The voice output system according to claim 7 or 8,
The terminal device further includes a terminal storage unit that stores voice information corresponding to the pronunciation data, and software capable of executing a process of converting the pronunciation data and the voice information in association with each other.
The voice output system, wherein the voice conversion unit operates according to the software and reads the voice information stored in the terminal storage unit based on the sound generation data to generate the voice signal. The voice output system according to any one of claims 7 to 9,
The voice output system in which the software stored in the terminal storage unit can be updated based on update data received via the terminal communication unit. The audio output system according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
The voice output system, wherein the terminal device is a portable radio device.

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