JP2002007478A - Audiovisual contents providing device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply take out the desired part of audiovisual contents using animation and a flozen frame to watch and listen to it. SOLUTION: A user sends a retrieving request to the retrieving engine 100 of a contents providing system 10 by using a client terminal 20. The engine 100 returns the list of pertinent sessions to the terminal 20 as a retrieving result list by referring to a contents database 101. The list includes thumbnail of a slide or the animation to facilitate understanding of the contents. The terminal 20 sends the sending request of streaming data and slide data of a desired session to the system 10 and receives the streaming data and the slide data from a streaming server 14 and an application server 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audiovisual content providing technique for providing audiovisual contents, and more particularly to a technique for searching for sessions and scenes of audiovisual contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conferences are held in order to make many customers understand the contents of information technology products in relation to information technology. Although such conferences are held in a wide area, there are still many customers who cannot participate in the conference for some reason. In view of such circumstances, the applicant has proposed to provide web-based audiovisual content to those who cannot participate in such conferences. This audiovisual content is provided, for example, via a web server. Those who want to view access a web server via a wide area communication network such as the Internet to receive moving images (streaming video) and still images (presentation slides). The moving image displays, for example, the speaker, and the still image describes the content. Audio information such as the speaker's audio and related sound effects are also received. By using such a system that provides audiovisual content, the latest information can be obtained at home or office without any modification.

[0003] Such audiovisual contents are not limited to those relating to conferences for information technology product guides, but can be used for various purposes such as education and entertainment.

[0004] By the way, there are a variety of people who receive audiovisual contents, and it is often inappropriate to passively view uniform contents. For example, a person who is interested only in a part of the provided content only needs to watch that part, and watching other parts wastes time.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object to provide an audiovisual content providing technique capable of searching a predetermined part of a series of audiovisual contents. The purpose is.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention employs the constitution described in the claims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

First, a supplementary explanation will be given in connection with the description of the claims.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-described object, a series of audiovisual content providing apparatuses comprising a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image contents and corresponding still image contents are provided. Means for sequentially transmitting moving image content, means for transmitting corresponding still image content in synchronization with the moving image content, means for searching for the session, and means for transmitting a search result list of the session specified by the search. Is provided.

[0009] In this configuration, it is possible to search for a session of the audiovisual content and use the search list, and to view the audiovisual content of a desired session based on the search list.

[0010] A session of audiovisual content is a set of content parts or scenes. Sessions may be arranged hierarchically. That is, a smaller session may be included as a subsession in the session. The audiovisual content is, for example, a moving image that displays a speaker or the like and a still image that displays a presentation slide (foil) that helps the speaker understand the presentation (some of which may include a moving image element or an audio element object). And audio information. The search of the session (scene) is performed using the name of the speaker, the title of the session, a keyword representing the content of the session, and the like.

The present invention can be realized as an apparatus or a system, or as a method. It is also possible to realize at least a part of the method as a computer program. A computer program package (recording medium) recording such a computer program, and a computer program package (recording medium) recording an installation program for installing such a computer program
Are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Further, the present invention can be realized in a client-server configuration via a network. Network, Internet, dedicated line, various IP
(Internet Protocol) A wide area communication network such as a network or L
AN or the like can be used. Alternatively, the audiovisual content may be locally stored in an information processing device such as a personal computer and browsed by a browsing program.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a conference content providing system will be described below. In this embodiment, the state of a conference held to provide product information and the like to a customer or the like is summarized as audiovisual content and provided to the user. Important elements of this audiovisual content are video information that shows the state of the lecturer's lecture, audio information of the lecturer's lecture, slides, animations, and other materials used by the lecturer (mainly, still images of slides). In the following, a still image will be described, and of course, an animation or a moving image may be included as a material.) In this example, the conference content providing system is described as a client-server system connected via a network, for example, the Internet, but the content may be browsed by a stand-alone browsing system. Of course, it may be used for applications other than conferences, for example, for education or entertainment.

FIG. 1 shows a computer network system in which a conference content providing system of this embodiment is used. In this figure, a conference content providing system 10 and a client terminal 20 are connected via a network 30. Have been. The network 30 is a LAN, the Internet, an IP (Internet Protocol) network provided by a communication carrier, a virtual LAN network, or the like. Here, the explanation is made with the Internet in mind. The print center 4 is associated with the conference content providing system 10.
0 is provided.

The conference content providing system 10 includes a web server 11, an application server 1,
2. Relational database management system (RDBMS) 1
3, a streaming server 14, a router 15, and the like. These various computer resources are connected to the LAN 16, and the web server 11 and the like are connected to the network 30 via the router 15. The conference content providing system 10 has a domain name system and a content production system, but these are ordinary ones, and therefore will not be particularly described here.

The web server 11 transmits conference contents to the client terminal 20 based on a request from the client terminal 20. The application server 12 provides various services to the client terminal 20 based on information sent from the client terminal 20 via the web server 11.
The relational database management system 13 includes a user information database 131, a conference database 132,
The slide file database 133 is stored and managed. The user information database 131 holds various kinds of information of users who have registered in the content providing system 10. In this example, the conference content is provided only to the user who has performed the user registration. To access the conference content providing system 10, it is necessary to input a user ID and a password. Of course, it is also possible to allow free access, or to distinguish security levels according to contents. The conference database 132 holds various information related to the contents of the conference. The slide file database 133 holds files of still images constituting a slide. The streaming server 14 accesses the streaming file database 141 based on a transmission request from the client terminal 20 received by the web server 11 and supplies streaming data (moving image data, audio data) to the client terminal 20.

The slide file database 13
Reference numeral 3 also holds a thumbnail (reduced image file) of a still image of a slide. If thumbnail information can be immediately acquired from a still image, it is not necessary to specially hold the thumbnail. The streaming database 141 also holds thumbnails of typical frames of a moving image. Of course, still image thumbnails and moving image frame thumbnails may be stored in another database or the like.

The web server 11, application server 12, relational database management system 13, streaming server 14, etc. of the content providing system 10 implement a video transmission (moving image, audio) function 10a and a slide (still image) transmission function 10b. .

The client terminal 20 is an information terminal such as a personal computer, a workstation or a portable terminal, and can execute browser software (for example, a web browser 21) for browsing contents. Conference Content Providing System 10
Is HTML (Hypertext Markup Langedge) or XML (Extensible Markup Langedge)
The client terminal 20 has a function of browsing these. Also, plug-in software for processing various objects such as moving image objects is installed.

The print center 40 prints out a destination address using a printer 41 based on a print request from the application server 12 of the conference content providing system 10, and prints out a shipping material related to the conference. The shipping material is delivered to the location (home or office) of the client terminal 20 by mail or the like. Information for printing by the printer 41 is stored in the content providing system 10.
May be received from the various databases, or a similar database may be provided in the print center 40. The print center 40 may be located at the same facility as the conference content providing system 10, or may be located at another facility.

FIG. 2 shows a client terminal 2 in this embodiment.
0, the content displayed on the screen 201 is simplified. In this figure, the window 202 includes the speaker 20.
A moving image showing the state of the lecture 2a is displayed. In the window 203, slides used by the speaker are displayed. The content of the slide also changes as the lecturer's lecture progresses.
This changes in the same way as the actual lecture. of course,
The speech of the lecture, background music, sound effects, and the like are also output via the speaker of the client terminal 20. In some cases, the text is displayed at the lower position of the screen. Further, the title of the lecture, the title of the session, the name of the speaker, and the like may be displayed at the upper position on the screen. The shipping instruction button 204 for instructing the shipping of materials related to the conference will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows the story of the conference along the time axis. The story is constituted by associating a moving image file, an audio file, and a still image file. The association of various files can be performed by a script or a dedicated program.

In FIG. 3, a moving image file MO, a still image file ST, and an audio file SO are transmitted at designated timings. In this example, at timing t1, the moving image file MO1 and the audio file SO1 are supplied as streaming data. Here, the delay in data transmission is not considered, but transmission may be performed in advance in consideration of such a delay. Still image ST1 is also transmitted at timing t1. As a result, one scene of the conference using the speaker's appearance (movie MO1), the speaker's voice and background sound (audio file SO1) at that time, and the slide (still image file ST1) used at that time is displayed by the viewer (client Terminal 20). Furthermore, slide still image files ST2, ST3. . . Are the timings t2, t3. . . Sent by The same applies hereinafter.

The content transmitted in this manner is viewed by the browser 21 of the client terminal 20. The content mimics a conference lecture,
Further, since auxiliary information is displayed in an orderly manner, it is easy to understand.

FIG. 4 shows a list of the contents of the conference. When the client terminal 20 accesses the conference content providing system 10, the conference selection screen is displayed after the user is authenticated. When the conference is selected, the list shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. The contents of the conference are categorized, hierarchized into scenes of tracks, sessions, and slides, and the list displays the contents of the sessions for each track.
The display contents include a title, a speaker, a lecture time, the number of slides, and the like. When the user selects a desired session by a click operation or the like, the content (moving image, still image, sound) of the session is provided. This has been described with reference to FIG.

Next, the retrieval of a session will be described. FIG. 5 schematically shows a system for performing a session search. In FIG. 5, the search engine 100 that has received a search request (with a keyword or a keyword attribute as an argument) from the client terminal 20 searches the keyword database 101. To identify the relevant session and output a list of hit sessions. The search engine 100 is specifically realized by the web server 11, the application server 12, and the like, and the keyword database is realized by the conference database 132 and the like. The database 101 includes, for example, a session ID, attributes (speaker, words in the title,
It holds a tuple 102 consisting of words in the summary) and a keyword, outputs a hit session ID as a search operation result, and accesses the session master 103 based on the session ID to access session information such as a track name and a session name. The number, title, speaker, presentation time, number of slides, etc. are output to form a session list. The session master 103 is realized by, for example, a conference database 132 or the like. The thumbnail location specifies a storage position of a thumbnail (reduced image) of a slide or a moving image frame representing a session. Using this, thumbnail information is extracted, and a reduced image of a slide or a moving image is displayed as described with reference to the drawings after FIG. When the thumbnail information can be directly extracted from the still image, the storage location of the still image is defined.

The document of the search result list (see FIGS. 8 to 12) is sent to the client terminal 20, and the reproduction of the session is requested using the document. Specifically, the client terminal 20 requests the streaming server 14 to transmit streaming data (moving image, audio). Also, transfer of slide data is required. See Figure 2 for this.
The session is played back in the manner described above. Note that predetermined streaming data may be automatically output from the search engine 100 to the streaming server 14 according to the search result. In this case, the slide data is also automatically transmitted.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a search instruction screen. In this example, you can search by speaker, words in the title, and words in the summary. Specifically, a keyword input form 21
1 and click the search execution button 212. The search mode (for example, search from the title) and the keyword are passed to the search program of the search engine 100 as arguments, and the search is executed.

FIG. 8 shows a display mode of a list of search results. In this example, a record 214 of a track name, a session number, a title, a speaker, a talk time, and the number of slides is displayed for each session together with a thumbnail 213 of a slide representing the session. A plurality of representative slides, for example, two slides, and two thumbnails may be arranged. In a conference, usually, the same speaker is used, and characteristic information is often not included in the video. On the other hand, the characteristics of the slide content appear, so the user can easily see the thumbnail of the still image on the slide. You can select a session.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which a thumbnail 215 of a frame (image of a speaker) included in a moving image is used as a part of a list. This is effective when there are a plurality of speakers.

FIG. 10 shows a thumbnail 21 showing either an image in a moving image or a still image (slide) for each session.
5 or 213 is individually designated. FIG. 11 shows both of them as thumbnails.

The user of the client terminal 20 is configured as shown in FIGS.
By clicking on a predetermined session from the search results as shown in FIG. 11, the content of the session can be viewed by requesting the conference content providing system 10 to transmit the content of the session.

In this example, when a session is selected, thumbnails 213 of all or some slides included in the session are displayed in a tile shape as shown in FIG. 12, and a thumbnail 213 of a desired slide is clicked. By operating and selecting, the user can instruct viewing of the content from the scene or of the scene. When a plurality of slides cannot be displayed on one screen, the slides may be displayed on a plurality of screens.

In this example, a material dispatch instruction button 204 is displayed on the screen shown in FIG. 2 or the like, and a material relating to the conference can be obtained by giving a dispatch instruction using this button. Specifically, the user ID and material information are stored in the print center 40.
The destination is printed using the user master (database 131) and the material is printed. After that, it is sent to the user by mail or home delivery. Also, electronic materials may be transmitted via a communication network by attaching to electronic mail. When the material dispatch instruction button 204 is clicked, a material selection menu is displayed, and a desired material may be selected. In this case, information on the content or session being viewed may be used as the selection information.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG.
The material for the conference and the attached file described in L, XML, or the like may be recorded in the recording medium 222 such as a ROM, and may be browsed by the web browser 221 of the personal computer 220. in this case,
For example, an object for displaying a moving image or a still image can be described and displayed in an HTML document. In this example, for example, a streaming (moving image, audio) reproduction program 223, a slide reproduction program 224, and a search program 225 are realized by a plug-in or a script on the web browser 221. These programs are stored in a streaming file database 227, a slide file database 228, and a keyword database 22 stored in a recording device (hard disk or CD-ROM drive) 226 of the personal computer 220.
9, the content is reproduced and searched. The document file 130 is a document such as HTML or XLM displayed on the web browser 221.

[0036]

According to the present invention, contents such as conferences can be searched in a session or a scene, so that desired information can be easily obtained without waste. In addition, since the reduced image of the image of the slide or the moving image frame is also displayed on the search list, the selection is further facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention as a whole.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a browsing screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the overall operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a session list at the start of browsing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a search operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a search operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a search result list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a search result list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a search result list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a search result list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a scene (slide) selection screen according to this embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Conference Content Providing System 10a Video Transmission Function 10b Slide Transmission Function 11 Web Server 12 Application Server 13 Relational Database Management System 14 Streaming Server 15 Router 16 LAN 20 Client Terminal 21 Web Browser 30 Network 40 Print Center 41 Printer 100 Search Engine 101 Keywords Database 102 Tuple 103 Session Master 131 User Information Database 132 Conference Database 133 Slide File Database 141 Streaming File Database 201 Screen 202 Video Window 202a Speaker 203 Slide Window 204 Material Shipping Instruction Button 211 Input Form 212 Search Form 212 Search Button 213 slides thumbnail 214 session record 215 video thumbnail 220 personal computer 221 the web browser 222 recording medium 223 streaming playback program 224 slides reproducing program 225 search program 226 recording apparatus 227 streaming file database 228 slide file database 229 keyword database 230 the document file

Claims (9)

[Claims] An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using video content and a corresponding still image content, means for sequentially transmitting a series of video content, Means for synchronously transmitting the corresponding still image content; means for searching for the session; and means for transmitting a search result list including a reduced image of the still image of the session specified by the search. Audiovisual content providing device. 2. The audiovisual content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the searching means performs the search using a speaker of the session, a keyword representing the content, and a title. 3. An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image contents and corresponding still image contents, means for sequentially transmitting a series of moving image contents, An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising: means for synchronously transmitting a corresponding still image content; means for searching for the session; and means for transmitting a search result list of the session specified by the search. 4. The audiovisual content providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the search result list includes at least one of a reduced image of the still image and a reduced image of a specific frame image of the moving image. 5. An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image contents and corresponding still image contents, means for sequentially transmitting a series of moving image contents, Means for synchronously transmitting the corresponding still image content; means for searching for the session; means for transmitting a search result list of the session specified by the search; and means included in the session selected from the search result list Means for transmitting data for displaying a plurality of still images on at least one screen, and means for transmitting the audiovisual content from a corresponding scene based on information of the still images displayed on the screen and selected by the user. An audiovisual content providing device, comprising: 6. The audiovisual content providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of still images displayed on the one screen are reduced images of the still image content. 7. An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising a combination of a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image contents and corresponding still image contents, means for sequentially displaying a series of moving image contents, An audiovisual content providing apparatus comprising: means for synchronously displaying a corresponding still image content; means for requesting a search for the session; and means for displaying a search result list of the session specified by the search. . 8. An audiovisual content providing method comprising a combination of a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image contents and corresponding still image contents, wherein: a step of sequentially transmitting a series of moving image contents; A method for providing audiovisual content, comprising: synchronously transmitting a corresponding still image content; searching for the session; and transmitting a search result list of the session specified by the search. 9. A computer-readable recording medium recording a computer program used to provide audiovisual content obtained by combining a plurality of sessions for providing information to a viewer using moving image content and corresponding still image content. , A step of sequentially displaying a series of moving image contents, a step of displaying corresponding still image contents in synchronization with the moving image contents, a step of requesting a search for the session, and a search result of the session specified by the search. And a computer-readable recording medium for causing a computer to execute the steps of displaying a list.