JP2011118764A - Safety confirmation system and safety confirmation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technique for confirming safety of a user without requiring a direct reply from the user. <P>SOLUTION: The safety confirmation system includes: a program distribution server; a reproduction terminal; a time-zone registration part for registering a time zone where the reproduction terminal receives information from the program distribution server to perform reproduction operation; and a reproduction operation confirmation part confirming whether the reproduction terminal receives the information from the program distribution server to perform the reproduction operation in the time zone registered in the time zone registration part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a safety confirmation technique.

  It is said that the number of singles is increasing. In other words, the number of single-dwellers has increased greatly in all ages, old age, middle age, and youth. And the number of cases where even the death is not noticed is increasing. In such a case, it is pointed out that there were often cases where it was saved if an anomaly was detected a little earlier. And if an older parent lives alone in the distance, the relatives only worry.

Against this background, several techniques have been proposed that can confirm the safety of elderly parents even when they are far away.
For example, a safety confirmation method using a network system, in which a central device of a CATV network system collects data of a terminal control device of each customer to confirm the safety of the customer. A safety confirmation method using a system has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-69982).

  In addition, a television receiver of a user who can view a digital broadcast program from a broadcasting station, and a notification of the usage status of the television receiver from the television receiver via the communication network, the television receiver A usage status collection computer subsystem that collects usage status data of the John receiver, and monitors the safety of the user based on the usage status data supplied from the usage status collection subsystem via a communication network A resident safety confirmation system is proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-228812), which is characterized by comprising a rescue computer subsystem.

  An interactive safety confirmation system including at least a broadcast distribution center device that distributes broadcast video from a broadcast station and a broadcast reception server device that displays the broadcast video distributed from the broadcast distribution center device on a television receiver. The broadcast distribution center device has means for outputting an inquiry to the broadcast receiving server device about how well it is registered from another device through a route different from the route for distributing the broadcast video. The broadcast receiving server device receives an inquiry from the broadcast distribution center device about how well the broadcast is received and when the broadcast video is displayed on the television receiver, Means for indicating that there is an inquiry about how well, and displaying a display graphic composed of at least one of characters and graphics superimposed on the broadcast video, and When the external signal corresponding to the displayed figure is input, at least the message sent from the broadcast distribution center device and the image and the WEB image acquired via the Internet network are used to inquire about how you are doing. Means for displaying a screen on the same screen of the television receiver, and when the answer to the inquiry of how well is bad, the failure answer is notified to a pre-registered registration device. An interactive safety confirmation system is proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-340021).

  In addition, the first television receiver and the second television receiver capable of making a call with an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone function, and the first and second television receivers via a communication line. A first communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the information processing apparatus via the communication line, and a plurality of channels. An input unit that receives an instruction to select any one of the channels, a selection unit that selects any one of the channels based on the instruction, and a radio signal that controls the operation of the first television receiver. A remote control terminal, wherein the remote control terminal transmits an instruction to select the channel to the input means, and the first communication means includes: In response to the instruction being transmitted by the remote control terminal, information specifying the channel selected by the selection means is transmitted to the information processing apparatus, and the second television receiving apparatus is connected via the communication line. Second communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the information processing apparatus, wherein the second communication means transmits the viewing history of the first television receiver to the information processing apparatus. A third communication means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the first and second television receivers via the communication circuit; Viewing history storage means for storing information specifying the channel transmitted from the first communication means together with time information as a viewing history of the first television receiver; and the viewing history storage Permission information storage means for storing information as to whether or not to permit transmission of the viewing history of the first television receiver stored in the stage to the second television receiver; and the second When the request signal is received from the television receiver, the third communication means is provided on the condition that the storage means stores information permitting transmission to the second television receiver. Information transmitting means for transmitting the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage means to the second television receiver, extraction means for extracting a viewing pattern from the viewing history, and the first communication Determining means for determining whether or not the information specifying the channel transmitted from the means conforms to the viewing pattern extracted by the extracting means; and the determining means includes the first communication unit. When it is determined that the information specifying the channel transmitted from the stage does not follow the viewing pattern extracted by the extraction unit, or when the information predicted from the viewing pattern is not received from the first communication unit A notification means for notifying the second television receiver, and an information request signal for requesting the third communication means to transmit information identifying the channel selected by the selection means. Information request signal transmitting means for transmitting the information request signal to the television receiving apparatus, and the first communication means selects the information processing apparatus selected by the selecting means in response to receiving the information request signal. When the second television receiving apparatus receives the viewing history transmitted from the information transmitting means, the second television receiving apparatus transmits the information specifying the channel. The information processing apparatus further includes display means for displaying a history and operation means for accepting an operation from the outside, and the second communication means causes the information processing apparatus to execute the operation in response to an operation performed on the operation means. A viewing information transmission system that transmits a history request signal has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-182462).

JP 2003-69982 A JP 2005-228812 A JP 2006-340021 A JP 2008-182462 A

  In Patent Document 1, when a consumer uses a TV receiver or a computer device, it is necessary to turn on the home terminal, and thus the central device side receives the on / off state of the home terminal, By counting the frequency of on / off with the home terminal control device, it is possible to confirm the safety of the customer. For example, if there is no on / off for several days, the customer judges that the absence / trouble occurred, It is disclosed that confirmation of the safety of consumers corresponding to the manager can be promoted. However, in this proposal, for example, on / off detection must always be performed. It is very wasteful to always perform this on / off detection. In other words, it is useless to detect on / off even when it is known that it will be off.

  Although Patent Document 2 proposes a resident safety confirmation system including a utilization status collection computer subsystem that collects utilization status data of a television receiver, the utilization status data and safety confirmation of the television receiver are proposed. And are not effectively utilized. For this reason, the safety confirmation system is very complicated.

  The technology of Patent Document 3 is an interactive safety confirmation system. Therefore, it is not possible to confirm safety when dialogue is not possible. For example, if an inquiry message “How are you?” Is not noticed, an answer cannot be made. In such a case, there is a possibility that it may lead to a false alarm of “dangerous state”.

  The technique of Patent Document 4 is also very complicated.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a technique that can easily and accurately confirm safety.

The inventor has paid attention to the fact that reproduction by a television receiver (reproduction terminal) is addictive. In particular, elderly people living alone who are very demanding to confirm safety are more likely to watch specific TV programs. And since it is viewed by one person, the usage situation of the playback terminal is almost decided. For example, on Mondays, it is highly customary to watch specific programs such as drama program A in the XX to XX time zone, news program B in the △ to △ Δ time zone, and so on. That is, the probability that the television receiver is switched on in a specific time zone is high. Therefore, if it is checked whether or not the television receiver (playback terminal) is switched on in such a switched-on time period, the safety confirmation can be performed easily and the accuracy of the safety confirmation is high. I noticed.
The present invention has been achieved based on such revelation.

That is, the above problem is
A program distribution server;
A playback device,
A time zone registration unit for performing registration of a time zone in which the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation;
A playback operation confirmation unit that confirms whether or not the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation in a time zone registered in the time zone registration unit. It is solved by the feature safety confirmation system.

Also, a method for confirming the safety of a user of the playback terminal using a system in which the playback terminal that receives information from the program distribution server performs a playback operation,
A time zone registration step in which the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and registers a time zone during which a playback operation is performed;
A reproduction operation confirmation step in which the reproduction operation confirmation unit confirms whether or not the reproduction terminal receives the information from the program distribution server and performs the reproduction operation in the time period registered in the time period registration step. It is solved by the safety confirmation method characterized by comprising.

  Playback by a playback terminal (television receiver) is addictive, especially for elderly people who are very demanding to confirm safety, because they have a high habituation to watch a specific TV program. Since the operation of the playback terminal is confirmed in the band, safety confirmation can be performed very easily. And the accuracy of the safety confirmation obtained in this way is high.

Block diagram of the safety confirmation system of the present invention Flow chart of the safety confirmation method of the present invention Flow chart of the safety confirmation method of the present invention

  The present invention is a system capable of confirming the safety of an elderly person living alone, for example. This system has a program distribution server. In addition, a playback terminal capable of playing back content sent from the program distribution server is provided. The playback terminal also has a time zone registration unit for registering a time zone during which a playback operation is performed upon receipt of information from the program distribution server. Also, a playback operation confirmation unit is provided for confirming whether or not the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation during the time zone registered in the time zone registration unit. The registration (writing) to the time zone registration unit may be performed (written) by an object person or a related person using an input means such as a keyboard. However, if the registered worker is the target person, there will be few mistakes, but in the case of another person, the target person may not be able to accurately convey his / her preferences without mistakes. In particular, if the target person who needs to confirm safety is an elderly person living alone, it is expected that there will be many mistakes in telling other people (related parties) the program that the elderly person is always watching. Therefore, it is preferable that the registration to the time zone registration unit is performed as follows rather than the method in which the target person or the related person inputs using the input means. That is, the presence / absence of the reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal is not limited to a certain period (for example, 4 weeks or more, 8 weeks or less. Of course, it is not limited to about 4 to 8 weeks. If, on the other hand, it is too long, it takes too much time to grasp the habit.) Based on the information detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit and the information detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit A reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit for determining a time zone having regularity of a reproduction pattern in a reproduction terminal, and a time zone registration unit for a time zone having regularity of the reproduction pattern calculated by the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit It is preferable to have a writing unit to be registered. If configured in this way, the program that the target person is habitually watching is automatically determined from the playback operation of the playback terminal, and the time zone of the habitually watching program is automatically set to the time. Since it is written in the belt registration unit, the time zone of the program that is regularly viewed is accurately registered, and the safety confirmation accuracy is improved. Now, the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit calculates the regularity of the reproduction pattern in the reproduction terminal based on the information detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit. At this time, there is usually a slight fluctuation in time when switching from off to on or from on to off. For example, even if a drama program from 8 am to 8:30 am is always viewed on Monday, the playback terminal is always switched on at 8 am and the switch off is at 8:30 am. Sometimes the switch-on is at 7:55 am or 8: 1 am. Also, the switch-off sometimes occurs at 8:28 am or 8:35 am. Therefore, in such a case, when registering the time zone having the regularity of the reproduction pattern determined by the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit in the time zone registration unit, the earliest time to the latest time, In this case, a process is performed in which it is assumed that it is a time zone in which 7:55 am to 8:35 am is customarily viewed. By configuring in this way, the playback operation confirmation unit has information on switching on / off of the playback terminal, and prevents false alarms that occur when the playback terminal is always switched on. I can do it. Therefore, from this point of view, the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit performs a common time from the reproduction time period of the reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal for each day of the week for a certain period detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit. It is preferable to have a function of selecting a time zone and determining a time zone obtained by adding the longest front and back width time connected to the common time zone to the common time zone as a time zone having regularity of the reproduction pattern.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a method for confirming the safety of an elderly person living alone, for example. This safety confirmation method is a method for confirming the safety of a user of the playback terminal using a system in which the playback terminal that has received information from the program distribution server performs a playback operation. This method includes a time zone registration step of registering a time zone during which the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation. Also, a reproduction operation confirmation step in which the reproduction operation confirmation unit confirms whether the reproduction terminal receives information from the program distribution server and the reproduction operation is performed during the time period registered in the time period registration step. Have By the way, as described above, the time zone registration step may be manually input by the person (person who is the subject of the safety confirmation) or a related person. That is, it is conceivable to register in the registration unit using an input means such as a keyboard. However, this work may be misregistered. Therefore, preferably, the playback operation presence / absence detecting unit detects whether or not the playback operation of the playback terminal is performed over a certain period of time, and the playback pattern based on the information detected in the playback operation presence / absence detection step. The regularity indexing unit further comprises a playback pattern regularity indexing step for determining a time zone having the regularity of the playback pattern in the playback terminal, wherein the time zone registration step is the playback pattern regularity indexing step. If the writing unit is configured to register the time zone having the regularity of the determined reproduction pattern in the time zone registering unit, the time zone of the program that is customarily seen can be accurately registered. Become so. As can be understood from the above description, the reproduction pattern regularity determining step is common among the reproduction time zones of the reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal for each day of the week for a certain period detected in the reproduction operation presence / absence detection step. It is a step of selecting a time zone, adding the longest back-and-forth width time connected to the common time zone to the common time zone, and determining the added time zone as a time zone having regularity of a reproduction pattern. preferable.

  This will be described in more detail below.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a safety confirmation system according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a playback terminal. Reference numeral 2 denotes a remote control device having various functions such as switch on / off of the playback terminal 1, program channel selection, volume adjustment, and playback screen illuminance adjustment on the playback terminal.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes a program distribution server. The program distribution server 3 and the playback terminal 1 are connected via an optical cable or the Internet. Therefore, when the program sent from the program distribution server 3 is reproduced by the reproduction terminal 1, the user (owner) of the reproduction terminal 1 can view the program. Since the reproduction terminal 1 and the program distribution server 3 are bidirectional, the information indicating whether or not the program is reproduced on the reproduction terminal 1 can be detected on the program distribution server 3 side. Has been.

  4 is a time zone extraction server. The time zone extraction server 4 is connected to the playback terminal 1 directly or via the program distribution server 3. And the time slot | zone extraction server 4 is comprised so that the reproduction | regeneration state (status of reproduction | regeneration operation | movement) of the reproduction | regeneration terminal 1 can be detected. That is, the time zone extraction server 4 includes a control unit 41, a storage unit 42, an output unit, an input unit, and a communication unit. The control unit 41 performs the playback operation of the playback terminal 1 over a certain period (a period in which statistical processing of what the playback trend of the playback terminal 1 from Monday to Sunday is possible, for example, a period of about 4 to 8 weeks). A reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit 41a for detecting the presence / absence (switch on / off information). The regularity of the reproduction pattern in the reproduction terminal 1 based on the information (switch on / off information) detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit 41a, that is, Monday from 8:00 am to 9:00 am, 0:15 pm Minutes to 1 pm, 5 pm to 6 pm, 7 pm to 8 pm, Tuesdays from 8 am to 9 am, 1 pm to 2 pm, 5 pm to 6 pm, 8 pm From time to 9:00 pm, it has a reproduction pattern regularity indexing part 41b for determining the time zone of the TV program that is customarily viewed such as. Note that there are some differences in the time when the playback terminal 1 is switched on and off depending on the day. For example, even when watching a drama between 8 am and 9 am, it was switched on at 7:55 am on a certain Monday, but it was 8:01 am on the following Monday. As you can see, there is usually some deviation. Therefore, when determining the time zone of a TV program that is routinely viewed, the longest time zone existing before and after the common time zone is not the time zone having regularity, but the time zone having regularity. Make sure that it is a belt. Alternatively, a predetermined time, for example, a time zone in which about 5 minutes are added before and after, is regarded as a time zone having regularity. In addition, a time zone having regularity of the reproduction pattern calculated by the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit 41b (viewing time is from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on Monday, from 0:15 pm to 1:00 pm, afternoon From 5am to 6pm, from 7pm to 8pm, on Tuesdays from 8am to 9am, from 1pm to 2pm, from 5pm to 6pm, from 8pm to 9pm, ... ..) Is written in the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 42. Therefore, based on the information sent from the playback terminal 1, the time zone extraction server 4 is time zone 1 on Monday, time zone 2 on Tuesday, time zone 3 on Wednesday, time zone 4 on Thursday. In the time zone 5 on Friday, the time zone 6 on Saturday, and the time zone 7 on Sunday, it is extracted that the program is not missed using the playback terminal 1, and the time zone information is stored in the storage unit 42. It is to be written. Of course, the reproduction operation presence / absence detecting unit 41a and the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit 41b may be operated only for an initial fixed period. If a change is recognized in the time zone after a period of time during which statistical processing of the playback trend of the playback terminal 1 is possible (for example, a period of about 4 to 8 weeks), the change is written. It is preferable to keep it.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a state monitoring server. The state monitoring server 5 is connected to the playback terminal 1 directly or via the program distribution server 3. The state monitoring server 5 also includes a control unit 51, a storage unit 52, an output unit, an input unit, and a communication unit. The state monitoring server 5 is configured to be able to detect the reproduction state (reproduction operation status) of the reproduction terminal 1. That is, the state monitoring server 5 that has received the time zone registered in the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 42 of the time zone extraction server 4 from the time zone extraction server 4 stores the time zone information in the storage unit (time zone Registration section) 52. Then, the control unit 51 of the state monitoring server 5 compares the time zone read from the storage unit 52 with the time set by the timer, for example, the current time every 10 minutes. When the current time is included in the registration time zone, the control unit 51 requests the program distribution server 3 for on / off information of the switch of the playback terminal 1. In response to this request, the program distribution server 3 sends switch on / off information of the playback terminal 1 to the state monitoring server 5. The state monitoring server 5 that has received the switch on / off information of the playback terminal 1 is configured to write the switch on / off information in the storage unit (safety confirmation registration unit) 52 in association with the identification information of the playback terminal. Yes.

  Next, the operation of the safety confirmation system configured as described above will be briefly described with reference to FIGS.

  First, when the safety confirmation system is set, first, the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit 41a of the time zone extraction server 4 has a reproduction operation presence / absence (switch) of the reproduction terminal 1 over a period of about 4 to 8 weeks, for example. On / off information) is detected (St. 1).

  At this stage, all the on / off states of the playback terminal 1 are detected. For example, both the case where it is switched on customarily and the case where it is switched on suddenly are included. However, since such switch on / off information is detected over a period of about 4 to 8 weeks, it is possible to detect the time when the switch is turned on at any time for each day of the week. Become.

  Therefore, St. 1, the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit 41b of the time zone extraction server 4 determines the regularity of the reproduction pattern in the reproduction terminal 1, that is, Monday, based on the information detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit 41a. 8 am-9am, 015pm-1pm, 5 pm-6pm, 7 pm-8pm, Tuesday 8 am-9am, 1 pm-2pm The customary switch-on time zone is determined, such as during the time, from 5 pm to 6 pm, from 8 pm to 9 pm (St. 2).

  Thereafter, the writing unit 41c of the time zone extraction server 4 reads the St. The custom switch-on time zone information determined in step 2 is written in the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 42 of the time zone extraction server 4 (St. 3).

  Then, the time zone information written in the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 42 is transmitted from the time zone extraction server 4 to the state monitoring server 5. In response to this, the control unit 51 of the state monitoring server 5 writes the time zone information in the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 52 (St. 4). This completes the preprocessing.

  The control unit 51 of the state monitoring server 5 compares the time zone read from the storage unit (time zone registration unit) 52 with the current time, for example, every 10 minutes, and the current time is included in the registration time zone. If it is, the on / off information of the switch of the playback terminal 1 is requested to the program distribution server 3 (St. 5).

  In response to this, the program distribution server 3 transmits the switch on / off information of the playback terminal 1 to the state monitoring server 5 (St. 6).

  The state monitoring server 5 that has received the switch on / off information of the playback terminal 1 writes the switch on / off information of the playback terminal in the storage unit (safety confirmation registration unit) 52 in association with the identification information of the playback terminal 1. (St. 7).

  St. 5, 6 and 7 are repeated.

  Now, the state monitoring server 5 is connected to a personal computer owned by a person concerned (for example, a close relative) of the playback terminal 1. Accordingly, the person concerned with the playback terminal 1 connects to the state monitoring server 5 and reads the safety information (switch on / off information of the playback terminal 1) written in the storage unit (safety confirmation registration unit) 52, thereby You can check your safety. Alternatively, the state monitoring server 5 reads the information written in the storage unit (safety confirmation registration unit) 52 periodically, for example, every 10 minutes, and in the read information, the switch of the playback terminal is read. If there is off-information, if the information is automatically transmitted to a personal computer owned by a person concerned (for example, a close relative) of the playback terminal 1, safety can be automatically confirmed.

  In the above embodiment, the time zone extraction server 4 and the state monitoring server 5 are provided separately, but the time zone extraction server and the state monitoring server may be configured as one server. The program distribution server 3 may be provided with the functions of these servers.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Playback terminal 2 Remote control device 3 Program delivery server 4 Time zone extraction server 41 Control part 41a Reproduction operation presence detection part 41b Reproduction pattern regularity index part 41c Writing part 42 Time zone registration part (storage part)
5 state monitoring server 51 control unit 52 time zone registration unit (storage unit)

Claims (6)

A program distribution server;
A playback device,
A time zone registration unit for performing registration of a time zone in which the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation;
A playback operation confirmation unit that confirms whether or not the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and performs a playback operation in a time zone registered in the time zone registration unit. A feature safety confirmation system. A reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit that detects presence / absence of a reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal over a certain period;
A reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit for determining a time zone having regularity of the reproduction pattern in the reproduction terminal based on the information detected by the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit;
2. The safety confirmation system according to claim 1, further comprising a writing unit for registering a time zone having the regularity of the reproduction pattern determined by the reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit in the time zone registration unit. .   The playback pattern regularity indexing unit selects a common time zone from the playback time zones of the playback operation of the playback terminal for each day of the week for a certain period of time detected by the playback motion presence / absence detector, and this common time zone 3. The safety confirmation system according to claim 2, further comprising a function of determining a time zone obtained by adding the longest back-and-forth width time connected to the common time zone as a time zone having regularity of a reproduction pattern. A method for confirming the safety of a user of a playback terminal using a system in which a playback terminal that receives information from a program distribution server performs a playback operation,
A time zone registration step in which the playback terminal receives information from the program distribution server and registers a time zone during which a playback operation is performed;
A reproduction operation confirmation step in which the reproduction operation confirmation unit confirms whether or not the reproduction terminal receives the information from the program distribution server and performs the reproduction operation in the time period registered in the time period registration step. The safety confirmation method characterized by comprising. A reproduction operation presence / absence detection step in which the reproduction operation presence / absence detection unit detects the presence / absence of the reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal over a certain period;
A reproduction pattern regularity indexing step in which a reproduction pattern regularity indexing unit determines a time zone having regularity of the reproduction pattern in the reproduction terminal based on the information detected in the reproduction operation presence / absence detection step; And
The time zone registration step is a step in which a writing unit registers a time zone having the regularity of the reproduction pattern determined in the reproduction pattern regularity indexing step in the time zone registration unit. 4. Safety confirmation method. The reproduction pattern regularity determining step selects a common time zone from the reproduction time zones of the reproduction operation of the reproduction terminal for each day of the week for a certain period detected in the reproduction operation presence / absence detection step, and this common time zone The safety confirmation method according to claim 5, wherein the step of adding the longest front-rear width time to the common time zone and determining the added time zone as a time zone having regularity of a reproduction pattern is provided. .

Images