Communication apparatus for associating multimedia files with electronic mail

• US 6,137,489 A
• Filed: 11/19/1997
• Issued: 10/24/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Kii, Takahiro, Iwayama, Naomi, Ohishi, Kazuhiro, Okuyama, Kyoko
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao H.
• Application Number:
  US08/974,247
• Time in Patent Office: 1,070 Days
• Field of Search: 345/339, 345/347, 345/357, 345/961, 345/329, 345/326
• US Class Current: 715/733
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A communication apparatus which enables a user to have a more concrete image of a communication partner and to experience the fun of communication through a personal computer, wherein upon receipt of an article, a material representing a person who sent the article or a sending place is reproduced by means of a still picture, animation or sound corresponding to the person who sent the article, to the sending place or to the geographical relationship between the sending place and receiving place.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a first memory for storing attribute information of a sender of an article;

first means for obtaining particular attribute information stored in said first memory identified as that of the sender of a received article by extracting sub-information specifying the sender from the received article;

a second memory for storing materials about the sender, a receiver, and environments thereof, including at least one of still pictures, animations and sounds;

a third memory for storing rules for selecting materials corresponding to the attribute information;

second means for selecting the particular material from said second memory to compose the particular material for reproduction in accordance with the particular attribute information obtained by said first means by referring to a rule stored in said third memory corresponding to the particular attribute information; and

third means for reproducing the particular material composed by said second means as representing the received article sent from the sender.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information is personal information of a person who sent the article.

3. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the personal information is a name of the person who sent the article.

4. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the personal information is the gender of the person who sent the article.

5. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the personal information is a belonging organization of the person who sent the article.

6. The communication apparatus of claim 2, wherein the personal information is an address of the person who sent the article.

7. The communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the attribute information is environmental information of a place from which the article has been sent.

8. The communication apparatus of claim 7, wherein the environmental information is meteorological information of the place from which the article has been sent.

9. The communication apparatus of claim 7, wherein the environmental information is geographical information of the place from which the article has been sent.

10. The communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein the geographical information is information of a geographical feature of the place from which the article has been sent.

11. The communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein the geographical information is a city name of the place from which the article has been sent.

12. The communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein the geographical information is information of a structure existing at or around the place from which the article has been sent.

13. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a first memory for storing attribute information of a sender of an article;

a second memory for storing attribute information of an addressee of the article;

first means for obtaining sender attribute information stored in said first memory identified as that of the sender of a received article by extracting sub-information specifying the sender from the received article, and obtaining addressee attribute information from said second memory;

a third memory for storing materials about the sender, the addressee, and environments thereof, including at least one of still pictures, animations and sounds;

a fourth memory for storing rules for selecting materials, whereby a particular material corresponding to the sender and addressee attribute information may be selected;

second means for selecting the particular material from said third memory to compose the particular material for reproduction in accordance with the sender and addressee attribute information obtained by said first means by referring to a rule stored in said fourth memory corresponding to the sender and addressee attribute information; and

third means for reproducing the particular material composed by said second means, upon receipt of the received article from the sender, as representing the received article sent from the sender.

14. The communication apparatus according to claim 13,

further comprising:

means for obtaining geographical information of a geographical relationship between a sending place and a receiving place by analyzing the geographical information of the sending place and the receiving place,

wherein said fourth memory stores therein the rules for selecting materials corresponding to the geographical information of the geographical relationship, and

wherein said second means includes means for composing the particular material to be reproduced by selecting the particular material from said third memory corresponding to the geographical information of the geographical relationship by following the rules corresponding to the geographical information of the geographical relationship.

15. The communication apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the geographical information of the geographical relationship is a distance between the sending place and the receiving place.

16. The communication apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the geographical information of the geographical relationship is information concerning geographical features of land existing between the sending place and the receiving place.

17. The communication apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the geographical information of the geographical relationship is information concerning a structure existing between the sending place and receiving place.

18. The communication apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the geographical information of the geographical relationship is a city name existing between the sending place and the receiving place.

19. A method for transmitting an article between a sender and a receiver, comprising:

storing attribute information of the sender of the article, material information for the sender and the receiver, and rules for selecting the material information, the material information including at least one of still pictures, animations and sounds;

selecting at least one item of the material information based on sender attribute information corresponding to a sender identification extracted from the article after receipt by the receiver; and

producing a representation of the article based the at least one item of the material information.

20. At least one computer program, embodied on a computer-readable medium, for transmitting an article between a sender and a receiver, comprising:

storing attribute information of the sender of the article, material information for the sender and the receiver, and rules for selecting the material information, the material information including at least one of still pictures, animations and sounds;

selecting at least one item of the material information based on sender attribute information corresponding to a sender identification extracted from the article after receipt by the receiver; and

producing a representation of the article based the at least one item of the material information.