CN112272826A

CN112272826A - Electronic device and search service selection method

Info

Publication number: CN112272826A
Application number: CN202080002707.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山下丈次
Original assignee: Hisense Visual Technology Co Ltd; Toshiba Visual Solutions Corp
Current assignee: Hisense Visual Technology Co Ltd; Toshiba Visual Solutions Corp
Priority date: 2019-07-05
Filing date: 2020-06-28
Publication date: 2021-01-26
Also published as: JP7227093B2; JP2021012545A; WO2021004309A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic device and a search service selection method that enable separate use of a plurality of search services implemented by voice by operation of one button of an external terminal. An electronic device according to an embodiment includes a storage unit, a sound acquisition unit, a sound analysis unit, and a selection unit. The storage unit stores conditions for selecting one of search services provided by one or more computers. The receiving unit receives a signal output from an external terminal in accordance with an operation of a button. The sound acquisition unit acquires a sound collected by an external terminal or a sound collected by a sound collection unit included in the electronic device. The voice analysis unit analyzes the voice. The selection unit selects a search service that matches the conditions of the storage unit from among the voice search services provided by one or more computers, based on the operating state of the electronic device at the time of signal reception and the result of voice analysis.

Description

Electronic device and search service selection method

This application claims priority to the filing of japanese patent application No. 2019-126414 entitled "electronic device, program and search service selection method" by the japanese patent office on 5/7/2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present application relate to an electronic device and a search service selection method.

Background

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for a service for performing operations of devices and information/content retrieval by voice (a voice interactive content retrieval service by AI). This search service has been rapidly spread because of convenience such as enabling operations and information search only by making a call to a device without holding a remote control device (hereinafter referred to as a "remote controller").

Since the target of the operation of the search service is not only the device to be called but also all devices in the home, it is expected that companies and device manufacturers that provide such a search service will increase in the future.

When it is assumed that a search service realized by voice is used by a device such as a television apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "television") in a room, there is a conceivable scheme in which a result after a voice operation is displayed on a screen and a content displayed on the screen is specified by the voice operation (for example, a desired program is specified from a program list).

In the case of implementing such a combination of vui (voice User interface) and gui (graphical User interface), it is preferable to use a remote controller as a device for inputting sound from a User Experience (UX).

Prior art documents

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2006-319797

Disclosure of Invention

At present, although one search service is often used for each device, it is expected that a plurality of search services will be used for one device in the future.

In this case, the search service can be used separately with the utterance of the user (uttering the service name by sound) as a trigger.

On the other hand, when a remote controller of a television is used as a microphone device, it is conceivable to provide a dedicated button for each search service and separately use the search service by operating the button.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a search service selection method that can separately use a plurality of search services realized by voice by operating one button of a remote controller.

An electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electronic device connected to an external terminal and one or more computers through a wire or wirelessly, wherein the external terminal has a button for operating a voice recognition function and outputs a signal in accordance with an operation of the button, and the one or more computers provide a search service for content realized by voice over a network, and the electronic device includes a storage unit, a voice acquisition unit, a voice analysis unit, and a selection unit. The storage unit stores conditions for selecting one of search services provided by one or more computers. The receiving unit receives a signal output from an external terminal in accordance with an operation of a button. The sound acquisition unit acquires a sound collected by an external terminal or a sound collected by a sound collection unit included in the electronic device. The voice analysis unit analyzes the voice. The selection unit selects a search service that matches the conditions of the storage unit from among the voice search services provided by one or more computers, based on the operating state of the electronic device at the time of signal reception and the result of voice analysis.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a recording/reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment;

fig. 2 is a diagram showing a voice recognition service setting menu screen;

fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the recording/reproducing apparatus.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … recording/playing device, 14 … image display unit, 15 … speaker, 16 … operation unit, 18 … IR receiving unit, 19 … BT communication unit, 20 … remote control device (remote control), 21 … button, 21a … setting button, 21b … voice button, 22 … signal processing unit, 23 … IR transmitting unit, 24 … microphone, 25 … sound processing unit, 26 … BT communication unit, 50 … antenna, 51 … tuner, 52 … OFDM demodulator, 53 … signal processing unit, 58 … graphic processing unit, 59 … sound processing unit, 61 … OSD signal generating unit, 62 … image processing unit, 64 … input sound processing unit, 65 … control module, 68 … flash memory, 69 … setting unit, 70 … input sound analyzing unit, 71 … service selecting unit, 72 … control unit, 73 … communication interface (communication I/F), 65/76 … bi interface (USB interface), bi 58 microphone 58/58 microphone, and 81 …, A 96 … voice function setting menu screen, a 97 … selection box, a 98 … setting end button, a 100 … recording/playing device body, 101, 102 … Hard Disk Drives (HDD), 200 to 202 … servers, and an NTW … network.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a recording/reproducing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of an electronic device. In the present embodiment, the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 including the image display unit 14 is described, but the image display unit 14 is not necessarily configured. In the case where the electronic device is, for example, a digital video recorder or a main body of a computer, the electronic device does not include the image display unit 14, and outputs display information to an external image display unit (display) via various cables or the like.

The structure of the recording/reproducing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1. As shown in fig. 1, the recording/reproducing device 1 includes a recording/reproducing device main body 100, and the recording/reproducing device main body 100 is connected to one or more Service servers (such as Service servers 200, 201, and 202) as computers that provide a content search Service by voice over a network via a network NTW.

The recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100 is connected to a remote control device 20 (hereinafter referred to as "remote control 20") as an external terminal by wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and infrared communication.

The remote controller 20 includes a plurality of buttons 21 for operating the functions of the recording and reproducing apparatus main body 100, a signal processing unit 22, an IR transmitting unit 23 as a first transmitting unit, a microphone 24, a sound processing unit 25, a Bluetooth communication unit 26 (hereinafter referred to as "BT communication unit 26") as a second transmitting unit, and the like. As one of the plurality of buttons 21, a setting button 21a as a button for calling up a setting function and a voice button 21b as a button for activating a voice function are provided.

The signal processing unit 22 generates a signal corresponding to the pressing of the plurality of buttons 21. The IR transmitting unit 23 outputs a signal generated by the signal processing unit 22 in response to the operation of the voice button 21b through infrared communication.

The microphone 24 is a first sound collecting unit that is activated by the operation of the button 21b and collects sound (first sound) emitted by the user. The sound processing unit 25 transmits the digitized sound through Bluetooth communication.

The audio processing unit 25 digitizes the analog audio collected by the microphone 24 and transmits the digitized analog audio to the BT communication unit 26. The BT communication unit 26 transmits the digitized voice by Bluetooth communication. That is, the BT communication unit 26 and the audio processing unit 25 transmit the audio collected by the microphone 24.

The recording/playing apparatus main body 100 includes an antenna 50 for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasting, a tuner 51, an OFDM demodulator 52, a signal processing unit 53, a graphic processing unit 58(graphic), an audio processing unit 59, an OSD signal generating unit 61, an image display unit 14, a speaker 15, an operation unit 16, various terminals (an image output terminal, an audio output terminal, and the like) not shown, various interfaces (an IR receiving unit 18, a BT communication unit 19, a communication interface 73 (hereinafter referred to as "communication I/F73") connected to a LAN or an external network NTW), a main body microphone 81, a control module 65, a hard disk drive 101 (hereinafter referred to as "HDD 101"), and the like. The HDD101 provided inside the apparatus is also referred to as a built-in HDD or the like.

The antenna 50 supplies the received terrestrial digital television broadcast signal to a tuner 51 for terrestrial digital broadcasting. The tuner 51 selects a broadcast signal of a designated channel from the supplied broadcast signals and supplies the selected signal to an ofdm (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) demodulator 52.

The OFDM demodulator 52 demodulates the broadcast signal of the input channel into a digital video signal and audio signal, and outputs the digital video signal and audio signal to the signal processing unit 53.

The signal processing unit 53 performs predetermined digital signal processing on the digital video signal and audio signal input from the OFDM demodulator 52, and outputs the digital video signal and audio signal to the graphics processing unit 58 and the audio processing unit 59.

The graphics processing unit 58 superimposes the OSD signal generated by the OSD (on screen display) signal generating unit 61 on the digital image signal supplied from the signal processing unit 53 and outputs the superimposed OSD signal to the image processing unit 62. The graphic processing section 58 can selectively output the output image signal of the signal processing section 53 and the output OSD signal of the OSD signal generating section 61, or output both of these outputs in combination.

The image processing unit 62 performs processing such as brightness, luminance, and saturation on the digital image signal input from the graphic processing unit 58, and supplies the image signal to the image display unit 14 and an image output terminal (not shown). The image processing unit 62 functions as an output unit that outputs an image of the content to the screen.

The image display unit 14 is, for example, a display, and displays an image generated based on the image signal on a display panel. When an external device is connected to the image output terminal, an image signal supplied to the image output terminal is output to the external device.

The audio processing unit 59 converts the input digital audio signal into an analog audio signal that can be reproduced by the speaker 15, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 15, thereby outputting audio. The analog audio signal is output to the outside via an audio output terminal (not shown) such as a headphone terminal.

The operation unit 16 is a member such as a button or a switch provided in the recording and reproducing apparatus main body 100, and can perform an operation substantially equivalent to the remote controller 70 with respect to each function of the recording and reproducing apparatus main body 100.

Specifically, the operation unit 16 inputs a control command to the control module 65, the control command corresponding to a direct operation performed by the user, for example, EPG (electronic program guide) display for viewing a program and making a recording reservation for the program, selection of a channel (television station) of a television broadcast (program) from the EPG (electronic program guide), recording start (REC) of the program, list display of programs for playing a recorded program (past program guide), selection of a recorded program from the past program guide (vertical and horizontal direction instructions), PLAY start (PLAY), and the like.

The main body microphone 81 is a second sound collecting unit that collects sound (second sound) around the recording/playing apparatus main body 100 (the front periphery of the display panel). The input sound processing unit 64 digitizes the analog sound collected by the main microphone 81 and outputs the digitized analog sound to the control module 65. The main microphone 81 and the input sound processing unit 64 function as a sound acquisition unit that acquires sound (second sound) around the recording/playback apparatus main body 100.

Normally, while the recording and playing apparatus main body 100 is operating, the main body microphone 81 always collects sound in an active state, and switches to an inactive state when the voice button 21b of the remote controller 20 is pressed, and the microphone 24 of the remote controller 20 is activated, but the main body microphone 81 may be maintained in a state (active state) capable of collecting sound when the voice button 21b of the remote controller 20 is pressed, and sound collected from a microphone on which the pressure (sound pressure) of the collected sound is stronger or a microphone on which the sound is clearly collected (good quality) may be used.

The IR receiving unit 18 inputs, to the control module 65, a command corresponding to an instruction (operation input) from the remote controller 20, such as selection (channel selection) of a channel (television station), start of Recording (REC), Playback (PLAY) of a recorded program, PAUSE (PAUSE), trick PLAY, or menu display, through infrared communication.

The BT communication unit 19 performs Bluetooth communication (short-range wireless communication) with the remote controller 20. The BT communication section 19 receives the sound signal transmitted from the remote controller 20 and inputs it to the control module 65. Further, wireless communication may be performed with a short-range wireless communication device conforming to WiFi specifications or the like by providing a WiFi (wireless fidelity) communication unit or the like. Further, a near Field communication (nfc) standard or the like may be provided to communicate with an external device of the same standard.

The USB I/F76 communicates data and signals with external connection devices (input devices and storage devices) conforming to the USB standard. Examples of the input device include a keyboard and a mouse. As shown in this example, the storage device is an HDD102 or the like connected to a USB terminal. The HDD101 and the HDD102 can use various storage areas according to settings.

The HDD101 may be set to record a program designated by a user individually from an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) by reservation or by manual recording, and the HDD102 may be set to record a program based on a Time shift function (also referred to as a "full recording function" or a "loop recording function") in which a program of a specific channel (broadcast platform, distribution platform) and a predetermined Time period designated by a user in advance is recorded for a certain period. In addition, a reverse setting to the above setting is also possible.

In this example, the example in which the HDD101 is provided inside the device and the HDD102 is connected outside the device has been described, but a plurality of externally connected HDDs 102 may be connected.

The communication I/F73 is controlled by the control module 65 to perform access to the external network NTW and communication with various service servers (

servers

200, 201, 202, etc. that provide a search service for content realized by voice recognition) on the external network NTW. Specifically, the communication I/F73 is controlled by the control module 65 to perform a search request (transmission input information) for acquiring information, reception of a search result (acquisition information), and the like.

Server 200 manages program information such as viewing of a television program, reservation of recording, and history storage of recorded content, and performs a search service for a program based on sound (voice) of an AI helper function and a content search service (hereinafter referred to as "a service" or "first search service") related to the program.

The server 201 is a computer that provides a search service (hereinafter, referred to as "B service" or "second search service") for content on the internet by voice (voice) using an AI helper function, and can search for a wide range of content such as traffic information, weather information, internet programs, and dictionaries.

The server 202 is a computer that provides a content search service (referred to as "C service" or "third search service" or the like) realized by utterance (voice) based on an AI assistant function different from that of the server 201, and is set to be excellent in searching for content such as network communication sales, home appliance operation, and the like. The service of the service server described above corresponds to not only a search in speech but also a search in character data obtained by converting speech into characters. Here, the digital audio signal and the character data thereof are both referred to as audio data.

The control module 65 includes a rom (read only memory)66 in which a control program for managing the operation of the apparatus is stored, a ram (random access memory)67 for providing a work area for processing signals and data, a flash memory 68 for storing recording reservation information, various setting information, control information, and the like, a setting unit 69, an input sound analyzing unit 70, a service selecting unit 71, a control unit 72, and the like, and the control module 65 performs unified control of all functions (a broadcast receiving function, a program recording and playing function, a setting function, a voice function, a communication function with a network, and the like) and operations of the recording and playing apparatus main body 100 including the above-described signal processing and the like. The speech function is a speech recognition function including a syntax analysis function of the input speech analysis unit 70.

Thus, the recording/playing apparatus main body 100 receives the terrestrial digital broadcast by the broadcast receiving function, and plays the program (image data including audio) recorded on the HDD101 or the HDD102 by the recording function by the playing function, thereby enabling the user to view the program. Further, the recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100 is connected to a home network, and can reproduce a program stored (recorded) in another recorder or a home server connected to the home network.

The flash memory 68 stores a recording schedule table for performing scheduled recording by the scheduled recording function, a recording schedule table of individual programs, recording information, which is attribute information of recorded programs, setting information of audio functions, and the like. The setting information may be set in advance, or may be set from a setting menu screen displayed by the setting unit 69 in response to a selection operation by the user (see fig. 2). The setting information is one of selection conditions for selecting any one of search services provided by one or more service servers (server 200, server 201, server 202, and the like).

That is, the flash memory 68 can be said to be a storage unit that stores a condition for selecting any one of search services provided by one or more service servers (the server 200, the server 201, the server 202, and the like).

The input sound analysis unit 70 is a sound analysis unit that analyzes the sound (first sound) received from the remote controller 20 by the BT communication unit 26 or the sound (second sound) collected by the main microphone 81. The analysis of the sound refers to the following character recognition processing: a voice (voice uttered by a user) is converted into a character, and the converted voice data is parsed using a predetermined parsing dictionary to extract a word, an interesting character, or a character string (keyword).

The service selection unit 71 functions as a selection unit that: a search service that matches the setting information (conditions) of the flash memory 68 is selected from the plurality of search services based on the operation state of the recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100 and the result of the syntactic analysis (word or the like) of the sound when a signal is received in response to the operation of the voice button 21b of the remote controller 20.

For example, the service selection unit 71 selects a search service registered as a service to be used at the time of signal reception in the setting information. The service selection unit 71 selects a search service associated with the content being output by the recording/playback apparatus main body 100 in the setting information.

When a plurality of search services are registered as selection candidates in the setting information, the service selection unit 71 calls one of the plurality of search services as a selection candidate, sequentially switches the search service as a selection candidate by operating a button (e.g., the voice button 21 b) other than the determination operation of the remote controller 20, and selects a search service by a determination operation based on the pressing of a determination button (not shown) or the like.

When a certain time has elapsed without any operation while the selection candidates are displayed, the search service that has been selected as the selection candidate is selected as the target of use.

The service selection unit 71 refers to the use history of the search service stored every time the search service is used, and selects the search service used last time set by the setting information.

The service selection unit 71 selects a search service to be initially used, which is set in the setting information, when a signal generated by operating the voice button 21b is first received after the recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100 is started.

When the setting information is set to "selection by the user", the service selection unit 71 displays all the registered search services as a list of selection candidates, and selects a search service selected by the operation of the remote controller 20.

The service selection unit 71 selects a voice search service using the voice from the remote controller 20 and the device that has collected the voice immediately before, out of the recording and playback apparatus main body 100, based on the operation history of the device stored in advance each time the remote controller 20 is operated and the recording and playback apparatus main body 100 is recorded.

When the search service is registered in the setting information in association with at least one of the time-series information of the working day, the day of rest, the date, the day of the week, and the time period, the service selection unit 71 selects the voice search service that matches when the signal generated by the operation of the voice button 21b is received.

When a voice search service is registered in association with a keyword in the setting information, the service selection unit 71 selects a search service associated with the keyword, the keyword being matched with a character or a character string extracted from the collected voice.

When the voice search service is registered in the setting information in association with the type of the content, the service selection unit 71 selects the voice search service associated with the type of the content being output by the electronic device at the time of signal reception.

The control unit 72 calls the control program held in the ROM66 to the work area provided in the RAM67, and executes processing corresponding to the input signal and the control signal based on the called control program.

The control unit 72 controls, for example, a recording/reproducing function and a voice function, and acquires various information (attribute information) related to the content (program).

The control unit 72 controls the respective units of the apparatus (the setting unit 69, the input sound analyzing unit 70, the service selecting unit 71, and the like) based on the operation information (control input) from the operation unit 16 and the operation information (control input) from the remote controller 20 received by the IR receiving unit 18.

The control unit 72 writes various setting information, management information relating to other video recorders and television apparatuses connected to the home server in the home network, and the like into the flash memory 68.

The control unit 72 controls the recording/playing function based on, for example, an operation instruction (control input) by the user or recording reservation information for performing reservation recording, and records (records) the output video signal, audio signal, and the like in a predetermined HDD (one of the HDD101 and the HDD 102).

The control unit 72 functions as a control unit that: the computer (any one of the servers 200, 201, and 202) that provides the search service selected by the service selection unit 71 is caused to perform content search using the acquired sound (first sound or second sound), and receives the search result.

The control module 65 performs a search request (transmission input information) for acquiring content, reception of a search result (acquisition of content), and the like.

Specifically, the control unit 72 makes a search request to a service server (any of the servers 200, 201, and 202) providing the search service selected by the service selection unit 71 via the communication I/F73 so that the requested server searches for the content using at least a part of the acquired sound, and the control unit 72 outputs a search result for the search request received from the server to the image display unit 14.

The control unit 72 transmits information to and receives information from service servers (such as the servers 200, 201, and 202) connected to the external network NTW via the communication I/F73. Further, the control unit 72 transmits information to the USB-compliant device via the USB I/F76.

Further, the control unit 72 displays the content (program) of the channel received and selected by the tuner 51. The control unit 72 refers to the recording schedule information included in the recording schedule list stored in the flash memory 68, and controls the recording operation of the content (program) obtained based on the signal received by the tuner 51. The recording operation also includes recording by manual operation, and the like. The storage location for recording the content (program) during the recording operation is, for example, an HDD101 provided inside the device, an HDD102 connected via a USB I/F76, or the like.

Here, various settings of the voice function are described with reference to fig. 2.

When the setting button 21a of the remote controller 20 or a setting button (not shown) of the operation unit 16 of the apparatus main body is pressed, the setting unit 69 displays a menu screen (not shown) of various setting items that can be set in the apparatus on the screen of the image display unit 14, and when a selection operation is performed from among the menu screens of setting of the voice function, a setting menu screen 96 of the voice function is displayed as shown in fig. 2. On the setting menu screen 96 for the voice function, selection boxes 97a to 97j for a plurality of setting items and a button 98 for setting completion are displayed, which are described below. By pressing the setting end button 98, the setting information relating to the voice function of the flash memory 68 is updated.

1. Assigning retrieval services to voice buttons

2. Voice button operation during voice function activation

3. Setting at the time of voice button operation: "Using last used search service"

4. Search service used immediately before priority

5. Switching retrieval service every time voice button operation is performed

6. Using search services corresponding to the operating state of a device

7. Setting search service according to time, date and week

8. Using retrieval services based on a user's action history

9. Using search services contained in input sound

10. Using search service corresponding to program being watched

Note that, all of the items 2 to 10 need not be loaded on the setting menu screen 96, and may be stored in advance as the automatic selection information, and the search service may be automatically selected based on the automatic selection information when the voice function is operated.

When the item selection box 97a of item 1 is selected, a list screen (not shown) of available search services is displayed, and one search service is selected from the list screen, whereby the selected search service is assigned to the voice button 21 b. A check box for setting "valid" or "invalid" of the item is provided on the list screen, and when the check box for "valid" is selected, the setting of the item becomes valid.

Subsequently, when the voice button 21b is pressed, the search service set therein can be automatically selected and used, and after the button operation, the words (sounds) spoken by the user toward the microphone 24 are collected by the microphone 24 and used for the search service by the apparatus main body.

When the selection box 97b of the item of 2 is selected, a screen (not shown) provided with a check box for selecting whether to enable or disable switching of the search service is displayed, and when the check box "enabled" on the screen is selected, the item becomes enabled.

Thereafter, by pressing the voice button 21b again while the voice function is activated by pressing the voice button 21b, the search service set to be used in advance can be switched to another service. The period during which the voice function is activated is a period until the voice application is activated and the sound collection from the microphone 24 or the main microphone 81 is completed.

When the selection box 97c of item No. 3 is selected, the operation setting at the time of the voice button operation can be performed, and for example, the operation desired by the user when the voice button 21b is pressed can be set by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu and selecting "use the search service used last" or the like by the operation of the pull-down menu.

Thereafter, when the voice button 21b is pressed, the search service used last time can be automatically selected and used.

When the selection box 97d of item 4 is selected, it is possible to set a search service that has been used immediately before priority, for example, by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu and selecting "a search service that has been used immediately before priority" by an operation of the pull-down menu.

Thereafter, when the voice button 21b is pressed, the service selection unit 71 selects a search service that has been searched using the sound collected by the device (the microphone 24 or the main body microphone 81 of the remote controller 20) that has been operated immediately before, based on the operation history of the devices (the remote controller 20 and the recording and playing apparatus main body 100) that have been stored in advance.

When the selection box 97e of item 5 is selected, it is possible to perform setting for switching the search service every time the voice button is operated, for example, setting can be performed by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu and selecting "valid" or "invalid" by the operation of the pull-down menu.

When the item of 5 is set to "valid", a search service set by default is called when the voice button 21b is pressed later, and a next search service is called when the voice button 21b is pressed again while the voice function is activated. Then, the search service called when the sound collecting function of the microphone 24 or the main microphone 81 is enabled is determined as the search service to be used.

When the selection box 97f of item 6 is selected, it is possible to set the search service corresponding to the operation state of the device (recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100), for example, by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu, and by operating the pull-down menu, selecting the search service to be used for each item, such as "broadcast program being viewed", "past recorded program being viewed", or "program table being displayed".

When, for example, "a service" is set for an item such as "program table is being displayed", and thereafter, when the voice button 21b is pressed, the "a service" is selected as a search service to be used and the "a service" is called.

When the selection box 97g of item 7 is selected, search services to be used for each period, date, and week can be set, for example, by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu, and selecting a search service to be used for each item such as "period", "date", and week "by an operation of the pull-down menu.

If, for example, "B service" is set for "7 o 'clock-9 o' clock" of an item such as "time slot", then if the time when the voice button 21B is pressed matches the time slot, the "B service" is selected as the search service to be used and called. The item such as "date" can be set, for example, such that "B service" is used for "x month" day "and" C service "is used for" x month × day ". For example, "monday-friday" may be set to use "B service", "saturday" and "sunday" may be set to use "a search service".

Further, the search service to be used may be set according to the day on which the user has made classification setting as desired. For example, a screen of a pull-down menu is displayed, and search services to be used for each item, such as "workday" and "holiday" as one of the categories, are selected and set by operating the pull-down menu, where "workday" is a day classified as a day on which the user is going to work, and "holiday" is a day classified as a day on which an action different from the work is performed (a day on which the user is not going to work). In this example, the categories of days on which the user performs different actions are referred to as "holidays" and "workdays", but other categories may be used.

For example, by selecting, for example, "tuesday" as an item of "holiday" and setting, for example, "a service" as a search service to be used for the holiday as a search service for "tuesday", and selecting "monday" and "wednesday-sunday" as an item of "workday" and setting "B service", when the day on which the voice button 21B is pressed later matches the "workday", the "B service" is selected as a search service to be used and called up. Thus, on the "holiday", the "a service" which is advantageous in searching for the content related to the recorded program is called, and on the "weekday", the "B service" which is advantageous in searching for the content such as the weather forecast is called.

When the item of item 8 is selected in the selection box 97h, the search service can be used according to the action history (habit) of the user.

In this case, the history of use of the search service used in the past is stored in the recording and playing device main body 100 or a server on the network, and the search service is selected based on the time when the voice button 21b is operated and the history of use. For example, a past usage history that the a service was used in the morning on monday and the B service was used in the evening on monday is stored in the flash memory 68, and when the voice button 21B is operated, a retrieval service corresponding to the period in which the retrieval service was used is selected based on the stored past usage history.

When the selection box 97i of item 9 is selected, it is possible to perform setting using a search service included in the input sound, for example, setting can be performed by displaying a screen of a pull-down menu and selecting either "valid" or "invalid" by an operation of the pull-down menu.

When the item of 9 is set to "valid", the sound collection function of the microphone 24 or the main microphone 81 is enabled after the voice button 21b is pressed, and if a character string such as "a service" is included as a keyword in the language uttered by the user, the "a service" is selected and called. If the character string contains the 'B service' and the like, the 'B service' is selected and called out.

When the selection box 97j for the item of 10 is selected, a search service corresponding to the type (genre) of the program being viewed can be performed, and the search service to be used for each item of "art", "song", "animation", or "drama" as the program being viewed can be selected and set. It is not necessary to set the search service for all types, and the search service may be set for a desired type.

For example, when "B service" is set for an item such as "art and art", then if the operating state of the playback apparatus main body 100 is recorded as "art and art" program is being viewed when the voice button 21B is pressed, the "B service" is selected and called.

The operation of the recording and reproducing apparatus will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 3.

In the case of this recording/reproducing apparatus, when the voice button 21b of the remote controller 20 is operated by the user, the signal processing unit 22 generates a signal corresponding to the button 21b in the remote controller 20, and the generated signal is transmitted from the IR transmitting unit 23. In the remote controller 20, the microphone 24 is activated by pressing the button 21b, and sound can be collected.

Here, when the user utters sound toward the microphone 24 of the remote controller 20, the sound of the user is collected by the microphone 24 and subjected to sound processing, and then transmitted from the BT communication section 26.

In the recording and reproducing apparatus main body 100, when the IR signal transmitted from the remote controller 20 is received by the IR receiving unit 18 (yes in step S101 of fig. 3) and input to the control module 65, the control unit 72 determines whether or not the signal is a signal of the voice button 21b (step S102).

If the determination result is that the signal is not the signal of the voice button 21b (no in step S102), the function corresponding to the signal is controlled (step S103).

On the other hand, when the received signal is the signal of the voice button 21b (yes in step S102), next, the control section 72 selects a search service that matches the setting of the setting information of the voice function based on the operation state of the recording and reproducing apparatus main body 100 at the time of signal reception (step S104), and displays a GUI for prompting the execution of a sound emission corresponding to the selected search service (step S105).

Then, the BT communication unit 19 waits for the reception of the sound from the remote controller 20 (step S106), and when the sound collected by the microphone 24 of the remote controller 20 is received by the BT communication unit 19 (yes in step S106) and input to the control module 65, the input sound analysis unit 70 analyzes the input sound (step S107), and delivers the word (keyword) of the analysis result of the input sound to the service selection unit 71.

The service selection unit 71 selects a search service that matches the setting of the setting information of the voice function based on the word (keyword) analyzed by the input sound analysis unit 70 (step S108).

The control unit 72 makes a search request to a service server (any one of the servers 200 to 202) that provides the search service selected by the service selection unit 71 (step S109). The search request includes at least a part of the sound received from the remote controller 20, a word of the analysis result, and the like as necessary.

The service server (any of the servers 200 to 202) that has received the search request searches for the content based on the received voice and word, and transmits the search result (content) to the recording and playing device main body 100.

When the recording/reproducing apparatus main body 100 receives the search result (content) transmitted from the server (step S110), the content is output to the image display unit 14 (step S111) and displayed.

As described above, according to the recording and playing device 1 of this embodiment, the setting unit 69, the input sound analyzing unit 70, and the service selecting unit 71 are provided in the recording and playing device main body 100, the selection condition (setting information) of the search service when the voice button 21b of the remote controller 20 is pressed is stored in the flash memory 68 in advance, the service selecting unit 71 selects the search service matching the setting information of the flash memory 68 based on the operation state of the recording and playing device main body 100 when a signal is output by the pressing of the voice button 21b and the analysis result of the collected sound, and the control unit 72 causes the service server (any one of the servers 200, 201, and 202) providing the selected search service to perform the content search using the sound collected by the microphone 24 of the remote controller 20 (or the main body microphone 81 of the recording and playing device main body 100), and therefore, a plurality of search services using voice can be handled by one voice button 21b, and the number of buttons mounted on the remote controller 20 can be reduced.

That is, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to separately use a plurality of search services realized by voice by operating one voice button 21b of the remote controller 20, and it is also possible to switch the search services.

In the above-described embodiment, the recording/playback apparatus main body 100 is provided with the main body microphone 81, and the remote controller 20 is provided with the microphone 24, but any one of the recording/playback apparatus main body and the remote controller may be provided with a sound collecting unit (microphone). That is, it is sufficient to have a sound acquiring unit for acquiring the sound collected by the microphone 24 of the remote controller 20 or the sound collected by the main body microphone 81 of the recording and playing apparatus main body 100.

The present application also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the method described above.

The embodiments of the present application have been described, but the embodiments are presented as examples and do not intentionally limit the scope of the application. The above-described new embodiment can be implemented in other various forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present application. The above-described embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the application, and are included in the scope equivalent to the application described in the claims.

The respective components of the recording and reproducing apparatus 1 shown in the above embodiment may be realized by a program installed in a memory such as a hard disk device of a computer, or the program may be stored in a computer-readable electronic medium (electronic media) in advance, and the functions of the present application may be realized by the computer by causing the computer to read the program from the electronic medium.

The electronic medium includes, for example, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, a Removable medium (Removable media), and the like. Further, the functions of the present application may be realized by storing the components in separate computers connected via a network in a distributed manner, and performing communication between the computers that cause the respective components to function.

Claims

1. An electronic device connected to an external terminal and one or more computers via wire or wireless, wherein the external terminal has a button for operating a voice recognition function and outputs a signal in accordance with an operation of the button, and the one or more computers provide a search service for content realized by voice over a network,

the electronic device is provided with:

a storage unit that stores a condition for selecting one of search services provided by one or more computers;

a receiving unit that receives a signal output from the external terminal in accordance with an operation of the button;

a sound acquisition unit that acquires sound collected by the external terminal or sound collected by a sound collection unit included in the electronic device;

a sound analysis unit that analyzes the sound; and

and a selection unit that selects a search service that matches the condition of the storage unit from among the voice search services provided by the one or more computers, based on the operating state of the electronic device and the result of the voice analysis at the time of signal reception.

2. The electronic device of claim 1,

the electronic device further includes a control unit that causes a computer that provides the search service selected by the selection unit to perform a search using the content of the sound collected by the electronic device or the external terminal.

3. The electronic device of claim 1,

the selection unit selects a search service registered as a service to be used in signal reception under the condition.

4. The electronic device of claim 1,

the selection section selects a search service associated with the content being output by the electronic device in the condition.

5. The electronic device of claim 1,

the selection unit calls one of the plurality of search services as a selection candidate when the plurality of search services are registered as the selection candidate in the condition, sequentially switches the search service of the selection candidate by an operation of a button other than the determination operation of the external terminal, and selects the search service by the determination operation.

6. The electronic device of claim 3,

the selection unit refers to a use history of the search service stored every time the search service is used, and selects the search service that was used last time set in the condition.

7. The electronic device of claim 3,

the selection unit selects a search service to be initially used, which is set in the condition, when the electronic device first receives the signal of the button after the electronic device is started.

8. The electronic device of claim 1,

when the condition is set to "selection by the user", the selection unit displays all the registered search services as a list of selection candidates, and selects a search service selected by the operation of the external terminal.

9. An electronic device comprising an electronic device main body connected to an external terminal and one or more computers by wire or wirelessly, wherein the external terminal has a button for operating a voice recognition function, a first transmission unit for outputting a signal in accordance with an operation of the button, a first sound collection unit for collecting a first sound in accordance with the operation of the button, and a second transmission unit for transmitting the collected first sound, and the one or more computers provide a content search service by voice over a network, wherein the electronic device main body is provided with a function of operating the external terminal, and the one or more computers provide a content search service by voice over the network

The electronic device main body includes:

a second sound collecting unit that collects a second sound;

a receiving unit that receives a signal output in accordance with an operation of a button of the external terminal;

a second receiving unit that receives the first sound transmitted from the external terminal;

a sound analyzing unit configured to analyze the first sound received by the second receiving unit or the second sound collected by the second sound collecting unit;

a storage unit that stores a condition for selecting one of voice search services provided by one or more computers; and

and a selection unit that selects a search service that matches the condition of the storage unit from among the voice search services provided by the one or more computers, based on the operating state of the electronic device main body at the time of the signal reception and the voice analysis result.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 or 9,

the selection unit selects a voice search service using a voice from a device that has collected a voice immediately before, out of the external terminal and the electronic device main body, based on a pre-stored operation history of the device.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 or 9,

the selection unit selects a voice search service that matches time setting information of a work day, a holiday, a date, a week, and a time period when the signal is received, when a search service is registered in association with the time setting information in the condition.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 or 9,

the selection unit selects a search service associated with a keyword that matches a character or a character string extracted from the collected voice, when a voice search service is registered in association with the keyword in the condition.

13. The electronic device of claim 1 or 9,

the selection unit selects a sound search service associated with a type of content being output by the electronic device at the time of signal reception when the sound search service is registered in association with the type of content in the condition.

14. A search service selection method implemented by an electronic device connected to an external terminal and one or more computers via wire or wireless, wherein the external terminal has a button for operating a voice recognition function and outputs a signal in accordance with an operation of the button, and the one or more computers provide a search service based on a content implemented by voice over a network,

the retrieval service selection method comprises the following steps:

storing a condition for selecting one of voice search services provided by one or more computers;

receiving a signal output according to an operation of a button of the external terminal and acquiring a sound collected by the external terminal according to a situation;

and selecting a search service matching the condition from among the voice search services provided by the one or more computers, based on the operating state of the electronic device and the result of the voice analysis at the time of signal reception.