JP2010128754A - Information processing apparatus, display control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To preferentially arrange valid content across a plurality of categories in a compact picture in the form of a list. <P>SOLUTION: This information processing apparatus is provided with a display control part for displaying a list picture on which the list of the thumb nails of a plurality of contents is displayable and a storage part for storing meta data showing the attributes of each content. The display control part determines the number of displays of content of every category based on the upper limit number of displays on the list picture and the display rate of every category of the content, and displays the thumb nails of the content selected according to the number of displays of the content and the meta data stored in the storage part on the list picture. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a display control method, and a program.

  In recent years, the storage capacity of information processing apparatuses such as PCs (Personal Computers) used by general users has increased dramatically. As a result, a large amount of content in various categories such as photographs, videos, and music has been managed by users. It is coming. Content management is performed using, for example, a simple content management function incorporated in advance in the operating system of the PC, or a dedicated content management application additionally installed in the PC.

  For example, the application described in Non-Patent Document 1 below classifies software according to content categories, and provides a user with a screen interface that can easily select software for playing and editing content. ing.

"Sony Product Information | VAIO | Software | VAIO Navi", [online], [Search October 14, 2008], Internet <URL: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Solution/ VAIOnavi / ＞

  However, in a conventional content management application, for example, contents in all categories are simply sorted and displayed by date, file name, or category, or only contents included in a predetermined category are selectively displayed. The display format was common. Therefore, for example, it is difficult to select useful contents from a large amount of contents over a plurality of categories and to have an overview on one screen.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to preferentially arrange and list useful contents in a plurality of categories in a compact screen. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved information processing apparatus, display control method, and program.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, a display control unit that displays a list screen that can display a list of thumbnails of a plurality of contents, and metadata that represents attributes of each content can be stored. A storage unit, wherein the display control unit determines a content display number for each category based on a display upper limit number on the list screen and a display ratio for each category of content, and the content display number and the storage An information processing apparatus is provided that displays a thumbnail of content selected according to the metadata stored in a section on the list screen.

  The display control unit may determine the display ratio according to the number of contents by category.

  The display control unit may determine the display ratio according to the number of applications associated with each category.

  Further, the metadata includes a shooting date and time of a photo content whose category is a photo, and the display control unit preferentially selects a new photo content with a shooting date and time as a photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen. May be.

  The display control unit may preferentially select a photo content having a shooting date close to the shooting date regardless of the number of years.

  In addition, the metadata includes data indicating presence / absence of blur for a photo content whose category is a photo, and the display control unit prioritizes the photo content without blur as the photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen. May be selected.

  The metadata includes data representing a face area detection result for a photo content whose category is a photograph, and the display control unit detects a face area as a photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen. The selected photo content may be preferentially selected.

  Further, the metadata includes data indicating presence / absence of a thumbnail for video content whose category is video, and the display control unit prioritizes video content having a thumbnail as video content for displaying the thumbnail on the list screen. May be selected.

  Further, the metadata includes data indicating the presence or absence of a jacket photo for music content whose category is music, and the display control unit is configured to display music thumbnails on the list screen as music content having a jacket photo. May be preferentially selected.

  The display control unit may arrange thumbnails of contents belonging to the same category adjacent to each other on the list screen.

  The display control unit may place thumbnails of contents having similar values of any of the data items included in the metadata adjacent to each other on the list screen.

  The display control unit may change the content for displaying thumbnails on the list screen at regular time intervals.

  The information processing apparatus may further include a content analysis unit that analyzes content data and outputs the metadata of each content.

  The information processing apparatus may further include a thumbnail processing unit that generates a thumbnail of the content selected by the display control unit from content data.

  Further, the metadata includes data related to a position of a face area for a photo content whose category is a photo, and the thumbnail processing unit includes a face area in the thumbnail according to the data related to the position of the face area. In addition, the thumbnail of each photo content may be generated.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, the step of determining the content display number for each category based on the display upper limit number on the list screen and the display ratio for each category of content; Selecting a plurality of contents to be displayed on the list screen in accordance with the number of content displays and metadata representing attributes of each content, and displaying thumbnails of the selected plurality of contents on the list screen A display control method is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a computer that controls an information processing apparatus including a storage unit capable of storing metadata representing content attributes is displayed as a list of thumbnails of a plurality of contents. A display control unit that displays a list screen that can be displayed, wherein the content display number for each category is determined based on a display upper limit number on the list screen and a display ratio for each category of content, and the content display number There is provided a program for causing a thumbnail of a content selected according to the metadata stored in the storage unit to function as a display control unit that displays the thumbnail on the list screen.

  As described above, according to the information processing apparatus, the display control method, and the program according to the present invention, it is possible to preferentially arrange and list useful contents in a plurality of categories in a compact screen.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

The “best mode for carrying out the invention” will be described in the following order.
1. 1. Configuration of information processing measure according to one embodiment 2. Flow of display control processing according to one embodiment Summary

<1. Configuration of Information Processing Measure According to One Embodiment>
First, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  An information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes, for example, a storage device that can store data of various categories of content such as photographs, music, or video, and a display device that displays a content list screen or the like to the user. It is realized as a computer equipped with. The storage device and the display device may be configured integrally with the information processing apparatus 100, or may be configured separately from the information processing apparatus 100 and connected to the information processing apparatus 100 when used.

  The information processing apparatus 100 may be a general-purpose computer such as a PC or a workstation. Instead, the information processing apparatus 100 may be, for example, a home appliance such as a video / music player or a television receiver, or a portable device such as a mobile phone terminal or a digital camera.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a logical configuration of an information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 100 includes a content storage unit 110, a metadata storage unit 120, a content analysis unit 130, a display control unit 140, a thumbnail processing unit 150, and a display unit 160.

[Content storage unit]
The content storage unit 110 is configured by a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a semiconductor memory, for example, and stores content data of various categories such as photographs, music, and videos. The content data stored in the content storage unit 110 is registered in the metadata storage unit 120 described later in file units or folder units including a plurality of files. Thereby, for example, the metadata of each content can be held in the metadata storage unit 120, or the content data can be analyzed by the content analysis unit 130 described later to generate metadata.

[Metadata storage unit]
The metadata storage unit 120 is configured by a storage device such as an HDD or a semiconductor memory, for example, like the content storage unit 110. The metadata storage unit 120 is realized as, for example, a database capable of storing metadata representing the attributes of each content stored in the content storage unit 110. Instead, the metadata storage unit 120 may manage the metadata by a simpler data file, for example. Note that the content storage unit 110 and the metadata storage unit 120 may be mounted on the physically same storage device.

  Hereinafter, the contents of metadata that can be stored in the metadata storage unit 120 for each of photo content, video content, and music content will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of metadata of a photo content stored in the metadata storage unit 120. Referring to FIG. 2, the metadata of the photo content includes seven data items: content identifier, category, storage location, shooting date / time, presence / absence of blur, number of faces, and face area.

  The “content identifier” is an identifier for uniquely identifying each content. In this embodiment, each content is given a content identifier that can uniquely identify each content regardless of its category. In the example of FIG. 2, it can be seen that metadata of five photo contents “PICT01” to “PICT05” are stored in the metadata storage unit 120.

  “Category” represents the type of each content. All of the five content categories shown in FIG. 2 are “photos”. The content category is automatically recognized, for example, from the extension of the content data file.

  “Storage location” typically represents a file path for obtaining content data of each content with reference to the content storage unit 110. Individual metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120 can be associated with the content data stored in the content storage unit 110 via the “storage location” data.

  “Shooting date and time” represents the date and time when each photographic content was shot by the user. In the example of FIG. 2, “PICT01” to “PICT03” are photographed on October 13, 2008, “PICT04” is photographed on October 12, 2007, and “PICT05” is photographed on May 18, 2007.

  “Bokeh presence / absence” indicates whether or not the image data of each photo content includes a blur caused by a focus shift or camera shake. In the example of FIG. 2, “PICT02” includes blur, and “PICT01” and “PICT03” to “PICT05” do not include blur. Whether or not blur is included in the image data of each photo content is determined by analyzing the image data by the content analysis unit 130 described later, for example.

  “Number of faces” represents the number of faces of a person in each photo content. In the example of FIG. 2, the “number of faces” is classified into three stages of “none”, “small”, and “large” (for example, “one” or “small” if one or two people are shown), 3 If there are more than a few people, say “many”). The number of faces of a person shown in each photo content is determined by analyzing image data by the content analysis unit 130 described later, for example.

  The “face area” is data representing the position of a rectangular area including the face of a person shown in each photo content. The rectangular area in the image data is, for example, 4 (X (horizontal coordinates of the upper left corner), Y (vertical coordinates of the upper left edge), W (width of the rectangular area), and H (height of the rectangular area). Can be identified by specifying one value. That is, in the “face area”, for example, a rectangular area data set made up of (X, Y, W, H) is held by the number of faces. The position of the face area shown in each photo content is determined by analyzing the image data by the content analysis unit 130 described later, for example.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of video content metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120. Referring to FIG. 3, the metadata of the video content includes “photographing date / time” and “thumbnail presence / absence” in addition to “content identifier”, “category”, and “storage location” described with reference to FIG. 2. Contains one data item.

  “Shooting date and time” represents the date and time when each video content was shot by the user, similarly to the “shooting date and time” of the photo content. In the example of FIG. 3, the video content “VIDEO01” was shot on October 13, 2008, “VIDEO02” was shot on October 12, 2007, and “VIDEO03” was shot on May 18, 2007.

  “Thumbnail presence / absence” indicates whether or not a thumbnail representing the video content is included in the content data of each video content. Note that the thumbnail means a sample image that allows the user to easily view the contents of the image data and video data. In the example of FIG. 3, “VIDEO01” and “VIDEO03” include thumbnails, but “VIDEO02” does not include thumbnails. Whether or not each video content includes a thumbnail is determined by analyzing video data by a content analysis unit 130 described later.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of music content metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120. Referring to FIG. 4, the metadata of the music content includes “creation date” and “jacket photo presence / absence” in addition to “content identifier”, “category”, and “storage location” described with reference to FIG. Two data items are included.

  “Creation date” represents the date and time when the data file of each music content was created by the user. In the example of FIG. 4, the music content “AUDIO01” was shot on October 13, 2008, “AUDIO02” was shot on June 29, 2008, and “AUDIO03” was shot on May 18, 2008.

  “Jacket photo presence / absence” indicates whether image data of a jacket photo of a music product is associated with content data of each music content. In the example of FIG. 4, “AUDIO01” and “AUDIO03” include a jacket photo, but “AUDIO02” does not include a jacket photo. Whether or not a jacket photo is associated with each music content is determined by analyzing music data by the content analysis unit 130 described later.

  2 to 4, the metadata of the photo content, the video content, and the music content is described as being held in separate tables or files. However, in the metadata storage unit 120, the metadata of content that covers a plurality of categories may be held in a common table or file. In such cases, the category of each record may be identified by a “category” item.

[Content Analysis Department]
Returning to FIG. 1, the description of the logical configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 will be continued.

  The content analysis unit 130 outputs the metadata of each content obtained by analyzing the content data stored in the content storage unit 110 to the metadata storage unit 120.

  For example, the content analysis unit 130 can determine whether or not blur is included in the image data of the photographic content using a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-19874. In addition, the content analysis unit 130 can determine the number of human faces and the position of the face area shown in the photo content by using the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-5384.

  In addition, for example, the content analysis unit 130 determines whether or not a thumbnail is included in the content data of the video content by searching a container in a file format such as AVI (Audio Video Interleave) or MP4. it can.

  Further, for example, the content analysis unit 130 can determine whether the image data of the jacket photo is associated with the content data of the music content by analyzing the music data stored in the content storage unit 110. .

  Such content data analysis by the content analysis unit 130 is automatically executed in the background, for example, triggered by the user registering the storage location of the content data in the database. As a result, content metadata belonging to various categories described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 is stored in the metadata storage unit 120.

[Display control unit: Determination of the number of displayed contents]
The display control unit 140 displays a list screen on which a list of thumbnails of each content can be displayed via the display unit 160 in order for the user to overview the contents of various categories of content stored in the content storage unit 110. To display. Here, the screen size of the list screen displayed on the screen of the display device is limited. That is, by simply arranging thumbnails of all contents stored in the content storage unit 110 in order of date or file name, content useful for the user and content that is not so are mixed in a large amount of content. It is difficult to grasp the contents of Therefore, the display control unit 140 determines the number of content displays for each category based on, for example, the display upper limit number corresponding to the screen size of the list screen displayed to the user and the display ratio for each content category. Then, the display control unit 140 selects a content whose thumbnails are to be displayed on the list screen according to the content display number and the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen example of a list screen 142 </ b> A displayed to the user via the display unit 160 by the display control unit 140.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the list screen 142A includes a thumbnail display area 144A and a text information display area 146. Among these, the thumbnail display area 144A can display a total of 40 thumbnails of 5 vertical x 8 horizontal. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the thumbnail reduction on the list screen 142A is 40.

On the other hand, the display ratio for each category may be an arbitrary value set in advance in the display control unit 140 as a default value or designated by the user. For example, the photographic content display ratio R _P = 75%, the video content display ratio R _V = 17%, and the music content display ratio R _A = 8%. Further, it may be divided into a display ratio _{R PO} for display ratio _{R PN} and old photographs for new pictures according to the display ratio _{R P} pictures content shooting date (e.g. _{R PN = 50%, R PO} = 25 %Such).

The display control unit 140 may determine the display ratio for each category according to the number of contents for each category. For example, the number of records in the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120 photographs obtained by counting by category, video and music number each content each C _P, and C _V and C _A. Then, the display ratios R _P , R _V and R _A for each category are given by the following formulas (1) to (3), respectively.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the number of content displays by category determined based on the display ratio calculated according to equations (1) to (3).

Referring to FIG. 6, as an example of the count result of the number of metadata records, the number of contents by category is given as C _P = 48 and C _V = C _A = 8. Accordingly, the display ratio by category is calculated as R _P = 48 / (48 + 8 + 8) = 75% and R _V = R _A = 8 / (48 + 8 + 8) = 12.5%. Then, by multiplying the thumbnail display reduction 40 by each display ratio, the number of content displays is determined to be 30 for photo content and 5 for both video content and music content. In the list screen 142A shown in FIG. 5, thumbnails of 30 photo contents, 5 video contents, and 5 music contents are displayed according to the number of contents displayed. (For example, thumbnail Th1 represents a thumbnail of video content, thumbnail Th2 represents a thumbnail of photo content, and thumbnail Th3 represents a thumbnail of music content.)

  The display control unit 140 may determine the display ratio for each category according to the number of applications associated with each category. For example, a photo browsing application, a photo processing application, or a slide show creation application is associated with the photo content. The video content is associated with a video playback application, a video editing application, or the like. The music content is associated with a music playback application, a music disc creation application, a music sharing application, or the like. By determining the display ratio for each category according to the number of applications associated with such a category, for example, the list screen 142A shown in FIG. 5 may be handled as a home screen for guiding the user to various applications. It becomes possible.

For example, it is assumed that the number of applications associated with each category of photograph, video and music is AP _P , AP _V and AP _A. Then, the display ratios R _P , R _V and R _A for each category are given by the following equations (4) to (6), respectively.

Further, by combining the expressions (1) to (3) and the expressions (4) to (6), that is, the number of contents and the number of applications are combined using a predetermined weight w, the following expressions (7) to (7) As in Expression (9), the display ratios R _P , R _V and R _A for each category may be determined.

  In this case, the smaller the weight w, the greater the contribution to the display ratio of the number of contents by category, and the larger the weight w, the greater the contribution to the display ratio of the number of applications associated with each category. By introducing such a weight w, for example, a user who manages contents using the list screen 142A shown in FIG. 5 can select which of the contents number or the number of applications is preferred to display the thumbnail list. It is possible to make it.

[Display control unit: Select content]
Next, the display control unit 140 selects content to display thumbnails on the list screen according to the content display number determined by any of the above-described methods and the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120. .

  The selection criteria for the photo content by the display control unit 140 are, for example, the following (1a) to (1e).

(1a) Preferentially select new photo content with the shooting date and time For example, preferentially select photo content with the shooting date and time within the past year from the day (hereinafter referred to as today) when the list screen is displayed.

(1b) Preferentially select the photo content that is close to the shooting date regardless of the number of years. Select photo content preferentially. Thereby, for example, when today is some kind of anniversary, photos taken on the same anniversary of each year are preferentially displayed in a list.

(1c) Preferentially select photo content without blur For example, preferentially select photo content that has been determined by the content analysis unit 130 to have no blur. As a result, for example, photos that are considered to be unusable due to the occurrence of blurring and difficulty in seeing the subject are excluded from the list.

(1d) Select preferentially the photo content in which the face area is detected For example, select the photo content in which the face area is detected by the content analysis unit 130 in preference to the content in which the face area is not detected. Further, the photo content may be selected so that the display number of the photo content in which the face area is detected is equal to the display number of the photo content in which the face area is not detected.

(1e) When the number of content displays is less than the selected number, the photo content excluded under each condition is selected. When the number of photo contents selected according to the selection criteria (1a) to (1d) is less than the number of content displays. For example, the photograph content is selected by extending the range of days in the selection criteria (1b) for several days before and after (for example, extending from 3 days before and 15 days before and after). Alternatively, blurred photo content or photo content without a face may be selected and supplemented.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of photo content selected based on such selection criteria (1a) to (1e).

  FIG. 7 shows 13 photo contents represented by reference numerals C1 to C13. The horizontal axis in FIG. 7 represents the date (independent of the number of years) when each photo content was taken. In addition, the vertical axis in FIG. 7 represents the number of years that each photographic content has been taken (within the past year from today, 1 to 2 years ago, 2 to 3 years ago,...).

  Here, as an example, it is assumed that the number of photo contents displayed is six. In this case, for example, first, two corresponding to one third of the number of displayed contents are assigned to photographic contents photographed several days before and after the same date one year or more before today according to the selection criterion (1b). In the example of FIG. 7, the photo contents C7, C10, C11, and C13 inside the dotted line frame 1b satisfy such a criterion. Then, among these four photo contents, according to the selection criterion (1d), the photo contents C7 and C10 showing the face are selected as the contents to be displayed on the list screen.

  Next, according to the above selection criterion (1a), 4 pieces corresponding to 2/3 of the number of content displays are assigned to photographic contents taken within the past year from today. In the example of FIG. 7, the photo contents C1 to C5 inside the dotted line frame 1a satisfy such a criterion. Among these, since the photo content C2 includes blur, the photo content C2 is excluded from the selection targets according to the selection criterion (1c). Then, four of the photo contents C1, C3 to C5 remain and are selected as contents to be displayed on the list screen.

  Note that the content selection criteria are not limited to this example. That is, the selection criteria may be combined in any order, and selection criteria other than the selection criteria (for example, excluding a photo with a dark image as a whole) may be added.

  Further, the selection criteria of the video content by the display control unit 140 are, for example, the following (2a) and (2b).

(2a) Preferentially select video content with a new shooting date and time For example, select video content with a shooting date and time within the past year from today.

(2b) Preferentially selecting video content having thumbnails For example, the video content determined to have thumbnails by the content analysis unit 130 is preferentially selected.

  Further, the selection criteria of music content by the display control unit 140 are, for example, the following (3a) and (3b).

(3a) A music content with a new creation date and time is preferentially selected. For example, music content with a creation date and time within the past year from today is preferentially selected.

(3b) Preferentially select music content having a jacket photo For example, the music content determined by the content analysis unit 130 as having a jacket photo is preferentially selected.

  When the content of each category of photograph, video, and music is selected according to such selection criteria (1a) to (3b), the number of content stored in the content storage unit 110 is insufficient, and the number of content display by category is small. It may be unsatisfied. In that case, for example, the display control unit 140 redistributes the content display number by category according to the display ratio described above for the shortage of the content number, and additionally selects the content with the distributed content display number. May be. Instead, the display control unit 140 may leave blank thumbnails for the shortage of content on the list screen.

  In addition, for example, when video content without thumbnails or music content without jacket photos is selected, the display control unit 140 may display a default image defined in advance for each category instead of the thumbnails. For example, the thumbnail Th4 on the list screen 142A shown in FIG. 5 represents a default image for music content.

[Display control unit: Placement of thumbnails]
Next, the display control unit 140 arranges the thumbnails of the content selected by the above-described method on a list screen displayed to the user. For example, the display control unit 140 arranges thumbnails of contents belonging to the same category adjacent to each other on the list screen.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen example of the list screen 142b displayed to the user by the display control unit 140 via the display unit 160.

  Referring to FIG. 8, in the thumbnail display area 144b of the list screen 142b, video content is arranged in the area 4a, music content is arranged in the area 4b, and photo content is arranged in other areas. Thus, by arranging the thumbnails of the contents belonging to the same category adjacent to each other, the user can easily grasp the content category.

  In addition, the display control unit 140 may place thumbnails of contents having similar values of any data item included in the metadata adjacent to each other on the list screen. For example, it is conceivable to place thumbnails of contents with similar shooting dates and creation dates adjacent to each other on the list screen. In this case, it becomes easy for the user to recall the content content and the situation at the time of content creation (or at the time of shooting) using the arrangement on the list screen as a clue.

  Further, the display control unit 140 may change all or part of the content for displaying thumbnails on the list screen at regular time intervals (for example, once every 2 seconds). In that case, it is preferable to execute the above-described content selection process in advance (or in parallel) and prepare a spare content after the display change. By switching the display of thumbnails, the range of contents that can be displayed as thumbnails for the user is expanded, and the user can view the contents of more contents.

[Thumbnail processing section]
Returning to FIG. 1, the description of the logical configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 will be continued.

  For the content selected by the display control unit 140, the thumbnail processing unit 150 acquires a thumbnail to be displayed on the list screen from the content storage unit 110 and outputs the thumbnail to the display control unit 140. In addition, when the thumbnail processing unit 150 cannot acquire a thumbnail directly from the content storage unit 110, the thumbnail processing unit 150 acquires content data from the content storage unit 110, generates a thumbnail from the content data, and outputs the thumbnail to the display control unit 140. To do.

  For example, when a photo content is selected by the display control unit 140, the thumbnail processing unit 150 uses the image data of the photo content as a thumbnail. At that time, if the image data acquired from the content storage unit 110 does not match the size of the thumbnails to be displayed on the list screen, the thumbnail processing unit 150 trims the image data (cuts out the peripheral portion) or enlarges / Reduce to generate thumbnails.

  At this time, if the face area is included in the image data, the thumbnail processing unit 150 may generate a thumbnail of each photo content so that at least one face area is included in the thumbnail.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a thumbnail generation process from photo content by the thumbnail processing unit 150.

  FIG. 9A shows image data (content data of photo content) acquired from the content storage unit 110 by the thumbnail processing unit 150. In the image data of FIG. 9A, two children are shown, and the face area is detected by the content analysis unit 130 and a dotted frame is attached. On the other hand, FIG. 9B shows a thumbnail generated from the image data of FIG. 9A by the thumbnail processing unit 150. Referring to FIG. 9B, the thumbnail processing unit 150 trims or enlarges / reduces the image data so that both the face areas of two children appearing in the image data are included in the thumbnail. Such processing of the image data by the thumbnail processing unit 150 can be performed using, for example, the position data (X, Y, W, H) of the face area included in the metadata of the photo content shown in FIG.

  In addition, when the video content is selected by the display control unit 140, the thumbnail processing unit 150 extracts a thumbnail included in the content data of the video content from the content data and outputs the thumbnail to the display control unit 140.

  In addition, when the music content is selected by the display control unit 140, the thumbnail processing unit 150 acquires jacket photo data associated with the content data of the music content and outputs the jacket photo data to the display control unit 140 as a thumbnail.

[Display section]
The display unit 160 displays a list screen output from the display control unit 140 on a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a liquid crystal display, or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode).

  Up to this point, the configuration of the information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described with reference to FIGS. Next, the flow of processing executed by the information processing apparatus 100 having such a configuration will be described.

<2. Flow of display control processing according to one embodiment>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of display control processing by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  Referring to FIG. 10, the content data is first analyzed by the content analysis unit 130 as pre-processing, and metadata of different content is generated for each category (S202). The metadata generated here is stored in the metadata storage unit 120.

  The subsequent processes from S204 to S210 are started when the user activates or redisplays the content list screen, for example.

  First, the display control unit 140 determines the content display number for each category based on the display upper limit number on the list screen and the display ratio for each content category (S204). The display ratio for each category here is calculated according to, for example, the number of contents for each category and / or the number of applications associated with each category.

  Next, the display control unit 140 selects content to display thumbnails on the list screen according to the number of content displays determined in S204 and the metadata stored in the metadata storage unit 120 (S206). . The selection of content here is executed according to the selection criteria (1a) to (3b) described above, for example.

Next, the arrangement of the thumbnails of the content selected in S206 on the list screen is determined by the display control unit 140 (S208). The flow of the thumbnail arrangement process here will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  Then, the display control unit 140 displays a list screen of content thumbnails over a plurality of categories to the user via the display unit 160 (S210).

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of thumbnail arrangement processing by the display control unit 140.

  Referring to FIG. 11, first, one blank panel (individual area for arranging thumbnails) on the list screen is selected (S302).

  Next, the content selected according to the selection criteria (1a) to (3b) or any other criteria X described above is placed on the selected panel (S304). Here, for example, if the reference X is “the category is a photograph”, the thumbnails of the photo contents are first arranged preferentially adjacent to each other.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the arrangement of thumbnails has been completed for all contents (S306). If the arrangement for all the contents has been completed, the thumbnail arrangement process is completed. On the other hand, if content that has not been arranged remains, the process proceeds to S308.

  In S308, it is determined whether any panel adjacent to the panel in which the thumbnails are arranged in S304 is blank (S308). If none of the adjacent panels is blank, the process proceeds to S312. On the other hand, if any adjacent panel is blank, the process proceeds to S310.

  In S310, one of the blank panels adjacent to the panel in which the thumbnails are arranged in S304 is selected (S310). Then, the process returns to S304, and thumbnails are arranged on the selected panel.

  In S312, it is further determined whether or not the arrangement has been completed for all the panels (S312). If the arrangement of all the panels has been completed, the thumbnail arrangement process is completed. On the other hand, if a panel that has not been placed remains, the process proceeds to S314.

  In S314, one blank panel that is not adjacent to the panel on which the thumbnail is arranged is selected (S314). Then, the process returns to S304, and the selection of blank panels and the placement of thumbnails on the selected panel are repeated until the arrangement for all contents or all panels is completed.

  Up to this point, an example of the flow of display control processing by the information processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has been described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. The series of processing described in this section is typically realized using software. When a series of processes or a part thereof is executed by software, a program constituting the software is executed by using a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware, for example, a general-purpose computer shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 12, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 902 controls the overall operation of the general-purpose computer. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 904 stores programs and data describing a part or all of a series of processes. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 906 temporarily stores programs and data used by the CPU 902 when processing is executed.

  The CPU 902, ROM 904, and RAM 906 are connected to each other via a bus 910. An input / output interface 912 is further connected to the bus 910. The input / output interface 912 is an interface for connecting the CPU 902, the ROM 904, and the RAM 906 to the input device 920, the display device 922, the storage device 924, the communication device 926, and the drive 930.

  The input device 920 receives an instruction and information input from the user via an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. The display device 922 includes, for example, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or an OLED, and displays a list screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The storage device 924 is configured by, for example, an HDD or a semiconductor memory, and stores programs, program data, content data, metadata, and the like. The communication device 926 performs communication processing via a network such as Lan (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The drive 930 is provided in a general-purpose computer as necessary. For example, a removable medium 932 is attached to the drive 930.

<3. Summary>
So far, the information processing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to FIGS. According to the present embodiment, thumbnails of content that is determined to be useful according to metadata among content in a plurality of categories such as photos, videos, and music are preferentially arranged in a compact list screen. Thereby, a user who refers to the list screen can view the content managed by himself / herself on a single screen regardless of the content category.

  Further, the display ratio of the content displayed in the list screen is determined according to the number of contents for each category and the number of applications associated with each category. The arrangement of contents on the list screen is determined according to the content category and the data value of the metadata. According to such a configuration, the list screen displayed by the information processing apparatus 100 is a role of a home screen that serves as an entrance of a multimedia experience for a user who enjoys a multimedia experience, for example, while viewing a photo content while playing music content. Can be fulfilled.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in this specification, an example in which content selection and arrangement are performed according to metadata generated by the content analysis unit has been described. However, when metadata associated with content already exists, The existing metadata may be used.

  Further, for example, the processes described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11 do not necessarily have to be executed in the order described in the flowcharts. Each processing step may include processing executed in parallel or individually independently.

It is a block diagram which shows the logical structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the metadata of photograph content. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the metadata of a video content. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of metadata of a music content. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the content list screen which concerns on one Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the content display number which concerns on one Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the selection criteria of the photo content which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of the content list screen which concerns on one Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the process by the thumbnail process part which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a display process of the content list screen which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the arrangement | positioning process of the thumbnail which concerns on one Embodiment. And FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general-purpose computer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information processing apparatus 110 Content storage part 120 Metadata storage part 130 Content analysis part 140 Display control part 142 List screen 144 Thumbnail display area 150 Thumbnail processing part 160 Display part

Claims (17)

A display control unit for displaying a list screen capable of displaying a list of thumbnails of a plurality of contents;
A storage unit capable of storing metadata representing attributes of each content;
With
The display control unit determines a content display number for each category based on a display upper limit number on the list screen and a display ratio for each category of content, and the content display number and the storage unit store the determination unit A thumbnail of the content selected according to the metadata is displayed on the list screen.
Information processing device.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit determines the display ratio according to the number of contents by category.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit determines the display ratio according to the number of applications associated with each category. The metadata includes the shooting date and time of photo content whose category is a photo,
The display control unit preferentially selects a new photo content with a shooting date and time as a photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit preferentially selects a photo content having a shooting date close to a date on which the list screen is displayed, regardless of the number of years. The metadata includes data indicating presence / absence of blurring of a photo content whose category is a photo,
The display control unit preferentially selects a photo content without blur as a photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The metadata includes data representing a detection result of a face area for a photo content whose category is a photo,
The display control unit preferentially selects a photo content in which a face area is detected as a photo content for displaying a thumbnail on the list screen.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The metadata includes data representing the presence or absence of thumbnails for video content whose category is video,
The display control unit preferentially selects video content having thumbnails as video content for displaying thumbnails on the list screen.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The metadata includes data representing the presence or absence of a jacket photo for music content whose category is music,
The display control unit preferentially selects music content with a jacket photo as music content for displaying thumbnails on the list screen.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit arranges thumbnails of contents belonging to the same category adjacent to each other on the list screen.   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the display control unit arranges thumbnails of contents having similar values of any data item included in the metadata adjacent to each other on the list screen.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit changes content for displaying thumbnails on the list screen at regular time intervals.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a content analysis unit that analyzes content data and outputs the metadata of each content.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a thumbnail processing unit that generates a thumbnail of content selected by the display control unit from content data. The metadata includes data regarding the position of the face area for photo content whose category is a photo,
The thumbnail processing unit generates the thumbnail of each photo content so that the face area is included in the thumbnail according to the data regarding the position of the face area.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 14. Determining the content display number for each category based on the display upper limit number on the list screen and the display ratio for each content category;
Selecting a plurality of contents to be displayed on the list screen according to the number of contents displayed and metadata representing the attribute of each content;
Displaying thumbnails of the selected plurality of contents on the list screen;
A display control method including: A computer that controls an information processing apparatus including a storage unit capable of storing metadata representing content attributes:
A display control unit for displaying a list screen capable of displaying a list of thumbnails of a plurality of contents,
The content display number for each category is determined based on the display upper limit number on the list screen and the display ratio for each content category, and according to the content display number and the metadata stored in the storage unit A display control unit for displaying thumbnails of the selected content on the list screen;
Program to function as

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