The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 10, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 18, 2004
Hideaki Matsuo, Yokohama, JP;
Takahiro Makino, Yokohama, JP;
Fumihiko Yamada, Yokohama, JP;
Makoto Nishimura, Machida, JP;
Tetsu Hada, Yokohama, JP;
Hideaki Matsuo, Yokohama, JP;
Takahiro Makino, Yokohama, JP;
Fumihiko Yamada, Yokohama, JP;
Makoto Nishimura, Machida, JP;
Tetsu Hada, Yokohama, JP;
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides a videophone terminal by which the emotions and impressions of a user can be transmitted to and easily understood by a co-communicant. When a user performs a predetermined operation or when an audio processor identifies a predetermined keyword in the speech of the user, a picture of a virtual character is modified, or a completely different picture is displayed. To modify the picture of the virtual character, the size of each part of the face or the whole face is changed, or a pattern expressing an emotion is added thereto. And when a pending mode is released, the virtual character is recovered and displayed on the screen while a melody is played. At the end of a video conversation, in accordance with the user's selection, a picture indicating that the virtual character disappears from the screen is displayed before disconnecting the line.