WO2010142361A1

WO2010142361A1 - Method for organizing the play back of media pieces

Info

Publication number: WO2010142361A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/002419
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lisa Hassel; Frank Wolf
Original assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2009-06-08
Filing date: 2010-04-21
Publication date: 2010-12-16
Also published as: DE102009024570A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for organizing the play back of media pieces by a media play back system, comprising the steps of: playing back a media piece, recognizing a spoken command entered by a user entering speech during the play back of the media piece, comprising at least one generating command and one generating criterion, wherein the generating criterion designates at least one metadata category, determining the metadata value of said metadata category for the media piece currently being played back, generating a play back list having media pieces associated with the same metadata value in said metadata category, playing back the media pieces of the play back list so generated without substantially interrupting the play back of the currently played back media piece.

Description

Method for organizing the playback of media pieces

The invention relates to a method for organizing the reproduction of media pieces by a media playback system.

The vast plethora of media pieces (for example, MP3 songs) in many media databases available today (for example, music collection on a hard disk and / or in an online music store) wakes some users' desire for simple and efficient methods of personalization, i. to the organization adapted to own preferences or desires, the reproduction of selected media pieces.

In particular, methods which are based on filtering according to specific filter criteria are known from the prior art. Frequently used filter criteria are in particular different categories of so-called metadata, the media pieces - if they exist in certain standardized file formats - are assigned today for various reasons in the rule. For example, a metadata typically has at least values for the metadata categories "title", "artist", "album" and "genre" assigned to a piece of music (in the present case as an MP3 file), if appropriate also values for further metadata categories such as " Publishing year".

The implementation of said methods, however, comprises on the one hand usually a plurality of operating steps and therefore, for example, in the automotive environment, in which the operator concerned primarily with the driving task can devote only a fraction of his overall attention to the operation of the media playback system or practicable only in part. On the other hand, the service dialog of such methods usually requires a sound knowledge of the operator regarding the metadata values of the media pieces available in the media database. In other words, for example, the operator can only search for songs of a particular artist if he knows the name of the artist.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple and efficient method of organizing the playback of media pieces. This object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and developments of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims.

The invention allows the generation and instant play of a playlist based on a currently playing media piece or on a freely selectable metadata category thereof by a single simple voice command. The invention makes the media playback system very easy to use, since only a very small detail knowledge of the operator is required to enter a valid voice command. In particular, no knowledge of the metadata of the currently playing media piece is required.

Playlists are a widely used and popular tool for defining a limited selection of media pieces from a large media database. The invention is based on the availability of a media playback system capable of playing back media tracks based on playlists. Furthermore, the invention is based on the availability of a media playback system in which, from a plurality of media pieces available in a media database, a selection of media pieces is selectable from a metadata associated with the media pieces and assignable to a playlist. That it is possible to create a playlist by filtering according to certain filter criteria. Such media playback systems are known per se from the prior art.

In the known media playback systems of this type, however, the filter criteria for creating a playlist must be entered by the operator and / or selected from a set of possible filter criteria. In the invention, however, eliminates this requirement.

The method according to the invention comprises the steps:

Playing a piece of media, during the reproduction of the piece of media, recognition of a speech command input by speech input from an operator, comprising at least one generation command and a generation criterion, the generation criterion designating at least one category of metadata,

Determination of the metadata value of this metadata category for the currently playing media piece,

Create a playlist with media pieces that have the same metadata value in this metadata category.

- Playback of the media pieces of the playlist thus created without substantial interruption of the playback of the currently playing media piece.

To initiate the initial playback of a piece of media, any known per se operating method may be used, based for example on either a single selection of the media piece or on a playlist containing the media piece.

It is essential that during the reproduction of this piece of media the operator be given the opportunity to enter a voice command comprising at least one generation command and a creation criterion. The detection of the generation command according to the invention results in the generation of a playlist, but the generation command does not necessarily have to explicitly indicate in its wording the generation of a playlist. For example, possible word sounds are "Create playlist for", "More of this", or just "Take over." The create criterion is set as a parameter to the create command, which identifies a category of metadata So, if the operator does not specify the metadata value (in the Metadata category "Artist", this value could be "U2" or "Metallica") of the corresponding metadata category, but only the metadata category itself, eg "Artist", for example, a complete voice command could be: "Create playlist for artist." Upon detection of such a speech command, the metadata value of the specified metadata category is determined for the currently playing media piece, and a playlist is generated with media pieces that have the same metadata value associated therewith in that metadata category. Thus, if the generation criterion designates, for example, the metadata category "artist", the artist of the currently playing media piece is first determined and then in a manner known per se (see above) a playlist with media pieces of this interpreter is generated.

The media pieces of the playlist thus created are played back without substantial interruption of the playback of the currently playing media piece. The term "without substantial interruption" is to be understood as meaning that the reproduction of the currently reproduced piece of media, which is inherently contained in the generated playlist, is continued essentially independently of the above-described method steps Step back to the beginning of the media piece, nor is jumped to another piece of media of the generated playlist.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention, a slight (ie non-essential) interruption of the playback of the currently playing media piece may arise, for example, if the ascertained metadata value is audibly output after its determination and / or if the operator acoustically hears about the generation of the playlist and / or the The beginning of playback of the media pieces of the playlist is taught. Instead of interrupting the reproduction for this purpose, according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, only the volume of the playback of the currently displayed piece of media is temporary, i. for the duration of the acoustic output or information, reduced.

By, for example, acoustically outputting the ascertained metadata value after it has been determined, the operator, who had to be able to name only the metadata category (in addition to the generation command) for carrying out the method according to the invention, can be informed about the metadata value that may be unknown to him. Alternatively or additionally, by notifying the operator acoustically of the creation of the playlist and / or the beginning of playback of the playlist media pieces (eg, "Producing Artist's Playlist ... Starting Playlist Playback."), The operator becomes inconsequential In this way, any necessary corrective interventions are made possible for the user, which avoids superfluous multiple entries.

Preferably, the production of the playlist is made solely on the basis of the generation criterion.

However, according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the generation of the playlist can also be carried out additionally on the basis of filter criteria which have already been activated in advance of the recognition of the speech command. Thus, during the initial playback of the media track on which the playlist is based, if filter criteria (e.g., "year of release" == 2009) were active that did not conflict with the create criterion (z), both playlist generation criteria could be used.

In the simplest case, the generation criterion designates exactly one category of metadata, cf. the example already mentioned: "Create playlist for artist."

According to an advantageous development of the invention, the input of several metadata categories is optionally possible, at which the generation of the playlist is to be oriented, ie the generation criterion designates several metadata categories. Thus, for example, voice commands of the type "Create playlist for artist and album." Or "takeover artist and album," possible, which result in that for the currently playing piece of media the metadata values are determined for all the metadata categories specified in the voice command and that a Playlist of media pieces to which the corresponding metadata value is assigned in each of these metadata categories. The invention is applicable to various types of media playback systems. The media database can be part of the media playback system. The media database can also be connected only wirelessly to the media playback system.

The presented method can be applied very advantageously to an entertainment system in a motor vehicle. In the automotive environment, the operator is typically primarily concerned with the driving task and can devote only a fraction of his overall attention to the operation of the media playback system. The efficiency and simplicity of the presented method results in the operator still being able to organize the playback of media pieces in a personalized manner. It comes only to a small distraction from the driving task. In particular, there is no need for the driver to look away from the direction of travel.

The presented method has particular advantages when the media pieces are audio files, in particular MP3 files.

In order to activate the recognition of the voice command or the recognition of voice commands in general, depending on the embodiment of the invention, it may be necessary to carry out a specific operator action beforehand. In the motor vehicle, it may be necessary, for example in a manner known per se, to press a button provided specially for this purpose in the motor vehicle cockpit and / or on the steering wheel for a temporary activation of the voice input functionality.

The above embodiments of the invention assume that the media pieces of the generated playlist are played back without substantially interrupting the playback of the currently playing media piece. Alternatively, an interruption of the playback of the currently playing media track may be provided such that, upon completion of the generation of the playlist, jumping back to the beginning of the currently playing media track, or jumping to the beginning of another media track of the generated playlist. A first alternative thus represents a method for organizing the playback of media pieces by a media playback system, comprising the steps of:

- playing a piece of media,

during the reproduction of the piece of media, recognition of a speech command input by speech input from an operator, comprising at least one generation command and a generation criterion, the generation criterion designating at least one category of metadata,

- Playback of the media pieces of the playlist thus created, wherein the playback of the currently playing media piece is canceled and the generated playlist is reproduced from the beginning of another piece of media, especially from the beginning of the first piece of media of the generated playlist.

In particular, this first alternative can have the effect of making it particularly clear to the operator that a new playlist has been generated and is now being played back. In addition, the new playlist will be presented "as a whole".

The embodiments and developments of the invention given in the dependent claims and the description are also applicable as embodiments and developments of this first alternative.

A second alternative is a method of organizing the playback of media pieces by a media playback system, comprising the steps of: - playing a piece of media,

- playback of the media pieces of the playlist thus created, wherein the playback of the currently playing media piece is canceled and the generated playlist is played from the beginning of the currently playing media piece.

This second alternative may also have the effect of making it clear to the operator that a new playlist has been created and is now being played back. Nevertheless, even after entering the voice command, the previously played media piece is played back. The operator thus does not "lose" this piece of media and the new playlist is presented "as a whole".

The embodiments and developments of the invention given in the dependent claims and the description are also applicable as embodiments and further developments of this second alternative.

The invention is based on the following considerations:

Personalizable sources for media playback exist in the prior art (eg AA / player, personal radio, iPod, media or entertainment server, etc.). The personalization of these audio / video sources is that the operator selects the media to be played back according to certain filter criteria (hereafter referred to as "categories") These categories include the name of the genre, the album, the artist, year of publication, etc.

On the basis of these arbitrarily combinable categories, it is known that the operator can create so-called playlists or playlists. After selecting the desired categories, he can z. For example, listen to a playlist of titles from the '80s, titles from the genre "Pop", or albums from, say, "Pink Floyd."

Such methods are useful and user-friendly if the operator knows and can precisely identify the criteria to be set. If he can not, then he can not use the filter options.

If the operator listens to a particular song and wants to create a new playlist on the basis of the current state of the art, then this is very cumbersome: Even if the operator knows the necessary filter criteria, setting the filter and applying a filter criterion from the current one will require reproduced medium several steps. To set one of the existing filter criteria to the value of the currently playing medium, you must

In general, the current filter will be deleted, the selection criterion will be searched, the playlist will be created with the desired criteria.

This cumbersome process is also completely unsuitable to create a playlist based on the music just heard while driving in a motor vehicle. The operator would have to turn his eyes away from the road for many operations, which would be associated with security risks.

These disadvantages can be eliminated by combining several operating steps with a voice command. To operate this feature, the operator only needs to know the available (metadata) categories (namely, genre, album, artist, etc.). He does not need to know the possible contents of these categories. While listening to any piece of music, in a preferred embodiment of the proposed method, the operator may speak the following voice command: "accept X", where X represents the desired category.

Thereupon the following technical steps are initiated or carried out - imperceptible to the operator:

The (metadata) value of the (metadata) category X is determined from the currently playing title. A new search filter is created by: o all filter criteria (for the categories) are reset / deleted, o the filter criterion for category X is filled with the determined value, o a playlist is created with the result of this filtering.

• The newly created playlist will be played from the last track played. This title was the basis for the creation of the new playlist and is therefore included in it.

The presented method facilitates the operation and learnability of modern media playback systems. The operator of an entertainment system in a motor vehicle is less distracted while driving. Further, the operator "experiences" fewer restrictions on the use of the media playback system, resulting in improved acceptance and satisfaction.

Claims

claims

A method of organizing the playback of media pieces by a media playback system, comprising the steps of:

- playing a piece of media,

- creating a playlist with media pieces that have the same metadata value in this metadata category,

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the generation of the playlist is made exclusively on the basis of the generation criterion.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the generation of the playlist on the basis of the generation criterion and in addition based on temporally already activated before the recognition of the voice command filter criteria.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the generating criterion denotes exactly one metadata category.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the generating criterion denotes a plurality of metadata categories.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the media playback system is an entertainment system in a motor vehicle and / or that the media pieces audio files, in particular MP3 files are.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the media database is part of the media playback system.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the media database is wirelessly connected to the media playback system.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the determined metadata value is issued acoustically after its determination.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the operator is informed acoustically about the generation of the playlist and / or the beginning of the playback of the media pieces of the playlist.