JPH02283191A - Tv individual viewing rating survey system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a data with high reliability with a light load to object person of survey by comparing individual information stored in a characteristic storage section in advance with a characteristic data of a viewer so as to discriminate automatically who is a TV viewer. CONSTITUTION:A control arithmetic section (q) in an individual data processing section 8 fetches data from a picture processing section 4 and an ultrasonic wave echo processing section 5, references the information of a characteristic storage section 12 and a time data (p) and applies individual decision who a viewer is. That is, an object moving in the incoming direction around the exit and entrance stored in a room information memory (t) of the storage section 12 is judged by a picture processing data and an ultrasonic wave echo processing data. The characteristic data of the result is prepared to seek a person concerned in an individual information memory (u). Moreover, while a person who is difficult of decision in the 1st step, his habit of movement or his seated position or the like is used for the decision and the result is stored in a study information memory (v) as a surer data. The result of decision of the individual person is sent to a data processing section together with a TV reception channel data and the content is corrected respectively depending on the content of information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an individual television audience rating survey system, and more particularly to a survey system that improves the method for identifying viewers when surveying television viewership ratings.

(Prior art) Television viewership ratings can be broadly divided into (1) household viewership surveys, and (2) individual viewership surveys. (1) Household viewership ratings (ml) are based on the time and channel on which a sampled household's television is on. The individual audience rating survey in (2) collects information on when and on what channel the program was watched, as well as information on who watched the program, i.e., the people in the sample (survey). Information such as the subject's gender, age, rape occupation, and level of interest in the program is also collected.

However, regarding the household audience rating survey in (1), data can be collected by simply detecting the on/off status of the TV and the status of the receiving channel over time, so it has traditionally been mechanized or electronic. A system has been proposed and implemented in which a measuring device is installed on the televisions of sample households and the data is sent online to a center via telephone lines.

However, in [2] individual audience rating surveys, automatic surveys are rarely conducted because it is virtually impossible to identify individuals by mechanical, electrical, or electronic means. Currently, surveys are conducted using a writing-in method called a "diary method," or a method called a "push-button method," in which the viewer inputs the fact that he or she is currently watching into a measuring device by pressing a button. It is.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, these “diary-type” and “push-button-type” surveys place a heavy burden on the survey subjects, and are prone to errors, omissions, and pressing the wrong button. There was also a problem with the reliability of the data as it was easy to forget.

As described above, in conventional individual audience rating surveys, there is no method that can automatically collect data with sufficient accuracy, and the realization of an innovative method has been awaited.

The present invention was proposed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to reduce the burden on survey subjects, obtain highly reliable data, and automatically collect data. The objective is to provide a personal television audience rating survey system that allows for

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an on/off detection unit that detects the on/off state of the power of the television, and a reception channel that detects the reception channel when the television is in the on state. A channel detection unit that discriminates, a timer unit that generates calendar data indicating the date and time, and an infrared sensor that is installed at a position where the faces of all TV viewers can be monitored from the front and obtains infrared image information of the viewers. An image processing unit that captures infrared image information from the infrared sensor and creates an image pattern of the viewer, and an image processing unit that is installed near the TV to monitor the viewer's movements and the distance between the TV and the viewer and collect this echo information. an ultrasonic echo sensor that obtains the information, an ultrasonic echo processing unit that takes in echo information from the ultrasonic echo sensor and creates an echo pattern related to the viewer, and personal information including the members of the sample household and appearance characteristics of each member; An image pattern and an ultrasonic echo pattern are taken in from a characteristic storage section that stores information such as the room where the television is installed, the image processing section and the ultrasonic echo processing section, and characteristic data of the viewer is created. a personal data processing unit that determines who the television viewer is by comparing the data with data in the characteristic storage unit; and personal data, channel data, and calendar information from the personal data processing unit, channel detection unit, and timer unit. In addition to capturing data and accumulating it as time data and audience rating data at that point,
It is characterized by comprising a data processing unit that sends data to the center via a telephone line at predetermined time intervals.

(Function) With the above configuration, according to the present invention, the image processing unit captures infrared image information from the infrared sensor to create an image pattern of the viewer, and the ultrasonic echo processing unit captures infrared image information from the ultrasonic echo sensor. By incorporating image and echo information to create an echo pattern of the viewer's movement, characteristic data of the viewer is created from these image patterns and echo patterns, and personal information stored in advance in the characteristic storage section is created. By comparing the characteristics data of the viewer and the viewer, it is possible to automatically determine whether the TV viewer is a protector, so there is no need for the survey target to perform any operations, and there is a low This method has the advantage that highly reliable data can be obtained without any effort.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail along with drawings showing examples. Note that the embodiments are merely illustrative, and it goes without saying that various changes and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the individual television audience rating survey system of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the television on/off detection unit I3 detects the current value flowing through the power cord of the television station (hereinafter referred to as "television") 14, and turns on/off the television 14.
A method for determining whether the television 14 is off or by coupling and inputting horizontal deflection pulses leaking from the television 14.
Whether the television 14 is on or off is detected by a method of determining whether the television 14 is on or off.

The channel detection unit 9 may also couple and input a local frequency leaking from near the tuner of the television 14 and determine the reception channel based on that frequency, or input the audio signal of the television 14 and detect the channel. Compared with the audio signal of the channel independently received by section 9,
The receiving channel of the television 14 is detected by a method of determining the receiving channel. Then, the television on/off detection section 13 detects whether the television 14 is on or off, and if the television 14 is on, outputs the reception channel at that time to the personal data processing section 8, which will be described later.

The timer unit 11 creates calendar data indicating one hour of a date within a data input unit.

Next, the infrared sensor part 1 consists of an infrared camera, etc., and is installed at a position where it can monitor the face of the TV viewer from the front, and captures infrared image information of the viewer.
Performs image processing. At this time, background processing is used to distinguish between a stationary background and a moving person, and temperature distribution processing is used to cut out images other than the person. When what is determined to be a human face is within the TV viewing range, its coordinate area, temperature, and movement are constantly tracked. The processing result data includes the x/y coordinates and area of the image that is determined to be a person's face,
The presence or absence of glasses, the temperature, the direction of movement, and the period of movement are periodically output to a personal data processing unit 8, which will be described later.

° The ultrasonic echo sensor 2 captures ultrasonic echo information to monitor the movement and distance of a person.
The ultrasonic echo processing unit 5 converts the data into an echo pattern to create an echo pattern, distinguishes between a moving person and a stationary background, and constantly monitors the distance of the person judged to be a person, the size of the echo, and the movement. Chase. The processing result data, including the distance of the person believed to be the person, the magnitude of the echo, the direction of movement, and the period of movement, is periodically output to the personal data processing section 8, which will be described later.

Note that the reference numeral 3 is the main body of the measuring device, which mainly includes an image processing section 4 and an ultrasound echo processing section 5. Modem 6゜Data processing section 71 Personal data processing section 8. Channel detection section 9. Sub TV interface department lO.

Timer section 11, characteristic storage section 12. It consists of a television on/off detection section 13.

The personal data processing section 8 obtains information from the infrared sensor 1 and the ultrasonic echo sensor 2, processes the information through the image processing section 4 and the ultrasonic echo processing section 5, inputs the data, and inputs the data to the characteristic storage section 12. Determine who the TV viewers are by referring to the information. The data processing unit 7 inputs personal data and channel data from the personal data processing unit 8 and the channel detection unit 9, and stores the data as audience rating data together with the time data at that time. It has the ability to send data to a center (not shown) via a network.

The characteristic storage unit 12 stores reference information for determining who the viewer is by the personal data processing unit 8, such as the members of the sample household, each person's age and occupation, holidays, height, whether or not they wear glasses, Personal information such as the day of the week and time of day at home, whether or not the target TV is watched or not, and viewing habits, and room information such as the viewing range of the target TV, entrances and exits for one person, 5 work places for housework, reading, etc., are stored in advance. It is also possible to store temporary information in case of temporary travel, hospitalization, etc. In addition, the viewer's sitting position, movement habits, etc. are obtained using the learning function of the personal data processing unit 8 and stored.

An example of an image pattern and an ultrasound echo pattern is shown in FIG. 2 (<) and (0).

Now, when a person enters from doorway A, A, the image on the image pattern changes to image B on the ultrasonic echo pattern, and if the direction of movement is ``entering J'', the area of the image increases,
On the contrary, the distance MB' of image B becomes smaller. The entrance/exit should be a clear location such as a door (but it is also fine). Since the area of position 1 and the distance from the sensor have been obtained, the presence or absence of the position is compared with the data in the characteristic storage unit 11 to determine who it is.

If it is difficult to make a determination based on the above conditions, the person's habits, sitting position, time of day at home, viewing habits, etc. are also taken into consideration while tracking the person's movements. In addition, if there are no applicable household members, they will be treated as customers.

If it is difficult to determine, treat the person as a customer and create maintenance data that is separate from audience rating data based on the person's characteristics, such as estimated height, whether or not they wear glasses, and length of stay. Inquire of households and correct household characteristics.

In this way, the person who is able to determine who the person is is able to track the person's movements and continue to monitor the person until the person leaves the TV viewing area, and collects the person's personal code and TV channel. The information is output to the processing unit 7, and the habits, sitting position, viewing habits, etc. of the person obtained during the monitoring are stored in the characteristic storage unit 12 as learning results. - Once a person has been identified, there is no need to measure their height or face area; instead, we only need to monitor their movements, and from the monitoring results of their movements and facial images, we can determine the degree to which they are watching TV. You can also get information such as how obsessed you are with TV programs and whether you watch them while doing housework.

If the person leaves the TV viewing area, the person is tracked and monitored from the moment they enter, so even if you do not know their height or face, you can easily find out who has left.

Next, the sub-TV interface unit 10 is connected by wire or wirelessly to the measuring device installed on the second and third TVs (hereinafter referred to as sub-TVs), and inputs the measurement results of the sub-TVs. .

A measurement device similar to that used on the main TV is installed on the sub-TV to detect TV channels and judge viewers, and the measurement results are sent to the sub-TV interface section lO each time.
Data is transmitted via. The main body of the measuring device installed in the sub-TV does not need to perform data transmission with the center, and the modem 6 can be omitted.

Furthermore, it is impossible for a person watching television to watch another television at the same time, and such erroneous determinations can also be prevented.

The data processing unit 7 receives the manually input TV viewing channel information from the personal data processing unit 8, the personal information, and the timer unit 1.
Organize and accumulate the time data input from 1.
As described above, data is sent from the modem 6 to a center (not shown) via a telephone line at predetermined time intervals.

Furthermore, the timer section 11 can be calibrated and the contents of the characteristic storage section 12 can be corrected by commands from the center.

Next, a method for determining who the viewer is will be explained in detail.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a circuit related to individual determination.

The image processing unit 4 includes a field memory e that stores an infrared image input from an infrared sensor l, and a background memory that stores a background image obtained by image processing. It is composed of an image processing memo 989 that stores three or more pages of images for processing, and a control calculation section that performs arithmetic processing of the images and performs overall control.

The field memory e stores the unprocessed image input from the infrared sensor l until the processing is completed, and inputs the next image when the processing is completed. Further, the control calculation unit f subtracts the background image in the background memory h from the input image, selects objects that are close to the body temperature of the human body, and selects one object in the image processing memory g.
Memorize on the page. Then, the next manually generated image is similarly processed and stored in the second page of the image processing memory g.

Similarly, images are sequentially stored in all pages of the image processing memory g.

The image processing memory g stores images that change sequentially, and the control calculation unit f periodically performs a comparison calculation on all pages of the image processing memory, and calculates the apparent area of the object, that is, the area on the memory. The number of dots, the x/y coordinate position, the amount and direction of movement, the speed, the presence or absence of glasses, the direction of IIl, etc. are output to the personal data processing section 8. The presence or absence of glasses is determined based on whether there is a concavity greater than a specified value in the image.

Furthermore, when there is no moving object for a long time, there is a strong possibility that it is the background, and the contents of the background memory h are checked and corrected.

The ultrasonic echo processing section 5 includes an oscillation output section 1 that creates a transmission wave for the ultrasonic echo sensor 2, a receiving section 1 that receives and amplifies the echoes received by the ultrasonic echo sensor 2, and an A/ D conversion t le A/D 811m
, An echo pattern is created and processed by an iI control calculation unit n, a background memory that stores an unmoving background pattern, an echo pattern memory j that stores 3 or more pages of echo patterns for processing, and echo pattern calculation processing and overall processing. It is composed of a control calculation section n that performs control.

The Nicol pattern memory J stores 3 echo patterns that are manually changed in sequence, and 1lill all
ll calculation unit periodically performs comparative calculations on all pages of the echo pattern memory J, and outputs the magnitude and change of echoes, distance and movement direction to the personal data processing unit 8.

Also, if there is nothing moving for a long time, there is a strong possibility that it is the background, so check and correct the contents of the background memory.

The personal data processing unit 8 performs data input/output with the data processing unit 7.
It consists of a data person/output unit 0 that performs output, a time data input unit p that inputs time data, a channel data input unit r1 that inputs the TV reception channel, and a control calculation unit q that performs individual judgment and overall control. ing.

The control calculation unit q includes an image processing unit 4 and an ultrasound echo processing unit 5.
The viewer inputs data from , and makes an individual determination as to who the viewer is by referring to the information in the characteristic storage section 12 and time data.

The first step in personal identification is when a person enters the TV viewing range, and the direction of the person is to move around the entrance/exit stored in advance in the room information memory t of characteristic record 1.0 section 12. A moving object is determined from image processing data and ultrasonic echo processing data. Then, if it is determined to be a human face,
Characteristic data such as estimated height, face area, presence or absence of glasses, etc. are created, and a search is made to see if the corresponding person exists in the personal information memory U. When making a determination, the contents of the temporary information memory S and the contents of the learning information memory V are also referred to.

The second step of individual identification is to track down people who are difficult to identify in the first step, and to check their movement habits and sitting position.

Judgments are made for individuals by taking into consideration factors such as time at home and viewing habits.

In addition, while tracking the person who was determined in the first step, the system also monitors the person's movement habits and sitting position for more reliable determination. Information obtained during monitoring is organized and stored in the learning information memory U. The learned information will be used for subsequent personal judgment as part of Hazuten's viewing habits.

The individual judgment result is output to the data processing section 7 together with the TV reception channel data. In addition, the personal data processing unit 8 receives commands to modify the characteristic information sent from the center via the data processing unit 7, and the respective memory contents are modified for each content such as temporary information and personal information. .

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention includes an on/off detection section that detects whether the television is powered on or off, a channel detection section that determines the receiving channel when the television is on, and a date and time and a timer unit that generates calendar data indicating the time; an infrared sensor that is installed in a position that can monitor the heads of all TV viewers from the front and obtains infrared image information of the viewers; and an infrared image from the infrared sensor. An image processing unit that takes in information and creates an image pattern of the viewer, and an ultrasonic echo sensor that is installed near the TV to monitor the viewer's movements and the distance between the TV and each viewer and obtain echo information from them. An ultrasonic echo processing unit that takes in echo information from the ultrasonic echo sensor and creates an echo pattern related to the viewer, members of the sample household and personal information including appearance characteristics of each member, and a room where the television is installed. a characteristic storage unit that stores information, etc.;
The image pattern and the ultrasonic echo pattern are taken in from the image processing section and the ultrasonic echo processing section, and characteristic data of the viewer is created and compared with the data in the characteristic storage section, thereby determining who the television viewer is. A personal data processing unit that determines whether the It is equipped with a data processing unit that stores data and sends the data to the center via telephone line at predetermined time intervals, thereby automatically determining who the TV viewer is and collecting data. Therefore, it is possible to obtain highly reliable data with a light burden on the subject.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the individual TV audience rating survey system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 (A). (+7) is a diagram showing an example of an image pattern and an ultrasonic echo pattern, respectively, and FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram related to determining who is a viewer. l...Infrared sensor 2...Ultrasonic echo sensor 4...Image processing section 5...Ultrasonic echo processing section 7...Data processing section 8...Personal data processing section 9...Channel detection unit 11...Timer unit 12...Characteristic storage unit 13...On/off detection unit 14...TV Figure 1 Figure 3 (A) 2 Diagram (b) (Mu 4 zero ° 7-re) (B Tetsuzaka scene J-ha 07-en)

Claims (1)

[Claims] an on/off detection section that detects whether the television is powered on or off; a channel detection section that determines the receiving channel when the television is on; a timer section that generates calendar data indicating the date and time; An infrared sensor installed in a position where the faces of all TV viewers can be monitored from the front and obtains infrared image information of the viewers, and image processing that captures the infrared image information from the infrared sensor and creates an image pattern of the viewers. an ultrasonic echo sensor installed near the television that monitors the movement of the viewer and the distance between the television and the viewer and obtains echo information; an ultrasonic echo processing unit that creates an echo pattern; a characteristic storage unit that stores personal information including the members of the sample household and the appearance characteristics of each member; information on the room where the television is installed; and the image The image pattern and the ultrasonic echo pattern are taken in from the processing unit and the ultrasonic echo processing unit, and the viewer's characteristic data is created and compared with the data in the characteristic storage unit to determine who the television viewer is. A personal data processing unit that determines the personal data, and a personal data processing unit that captures personal data, channel data, and calendar data from the personal data processing unit, channel detection unit, and timer unit, and stores them as time data and audience rating data at that time, and A personal TV audience rating survey system comprising: a data processing unit that sends data to a center via a telephone line at intervals.