JP2004221883A - User interface method and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform a user of the state of a system by a method which is intuitive and intimate for the user when content information on Internet radio broadcast and Internet television broadcast is received from a transmission source through a network such as the Internet or information is transmitted and received between the user and his/her opposite party. <P>SOLUTION: When a CPU 11 cannot be connected to a transmission source server 2, it reads first sound pattern data from a sound pattern storage part 29 and outputs the sound pattern of "za". When terminal equipment 10 does not correspond to a transmission system, a ciphering system or a compression system of the transmission source, second sound pattern data are read and the sound pattern of "sha" is outputted. When transmission from the transmission source breaks off, third sound pattern data are read and the sound pattern of "pu-pu" is outputted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a terminal device that receives content information such as Internet radio broadcasts and Internet TV broadcasts from a transmission source via a network such as the Internet, or transmits and receives information to and from a partner, and a user in the terminal device. Related to the interface method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Systems for distributing multimedia information such as radio audio and television images on the Internet and allowing the user terminals to receive the information have been widely used as Internet radio broadcasting and Internet television broadcasting.
[0003]
In this system, for example, when an Internet radio broadcast is received by a Web browser, the user interface of the user terminal is also very similar to the Web browser, and when the user inputs a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and connects to the transmission source. When a connection cannot be made to the transmission source, when there is no transmission source server, or when there is no Web site corresponding to the transmission source, a message as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display.
[0004]
In the case of a streaming reproduction application that reproduces content information distributed in a streaming manner in real time, a message as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed in the same case.
[0005]
Further, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-135350) discloses that, in a content distribution system using a network such as the Internet, when distribution is interrupted due to communication failure, "service is interrupted on a display of a user terminal. A message such as "service name: music distribution, content name: friend (song)" is displayed.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-135350.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional display of a text message as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 or as shown in Patent Document 1 indicates to the user that there is no Web site or communication has been interrupted. In the method of notifying the user, since the user must read the text and understand the contents, it is not possible to instantly and intuitively recognize the state of the system, and when receiving Internet radio broadcasting or Internet TV broadcasting, The operation feeling and the use feeling are different from those in the case of receiving a radio broadcast or a television broadcast by a general radio wave, and the user becomes less familiar.
[0008]
Therefore, the present invention enables the user to be notified of the state of the system in an intuitive and familiar manner.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user interface method comprising:
A user interface method in a terminal device connected to a transmission source on a network and receiving content information from the transmission source,
When communication with the transmission source is impossible, when there is no corresponding server or content information on the designated network address, when the content information from the transmission source cannot be reproduced by the terminal device, When the transmission is interrupted, a non-linguistic sound pattern or image pattern is output.
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user interface method comprising:
A user interface method in a terminal device that connects to and transmits information to and from a partner on a network,
When communication with the other party is impossible or when communication with the other party is interrupted, a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern is output.
[0011]
According to the user interface method of the present invention as described above, the user can instantly and intuitively recognize the state of the system, and can receive the same radio broadcast or television broadcast as general radio waves. A feeling of operation and a feeling of use are obtained, and the user is familiar. Moreover, unlike the case of outputting a text message or voice guidance, the user interface can be shared in all countries of the world.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows an example of the system of the present invention. An Internet radio system in which a source 1 distributes radio streaming audio information on the Internet 3 by a source server 2 and receives and reproduces the information on a terminal device 10 on the user side. Is the case.
[0013]
The transmission source server 2 and the terminal device 10 are connected to the Internet 3 respectively, and the transmission source server 2 distributes streaming audio information of radio on the Internet 3.
[0014]
The terminal device 10 includes a CPU 11, and a bus 12 includes a ROM 13 in which programs such as a reception and reproduction processing routine to be executed by the CPU 11 and various fixed data are written, and a RAM 14 functioning as a work area of the CPU 11. Connected.
[0015]
Further, a network communication unit 17, an encryption / decryption unit 18, and a compression / decompression unit 19 are connected to the bus 12.
[0016]
The network communication unit 17 transmits a connection request to the transmission source server 2 under the control of the CPU 11 and receives streaming audio information transmitted from the transmission source server 2 in response to the connection request. And encrypts a signal transmitted from the terminal device 10 to the transmission source server 2 and sends it to the network communication unit 17, and decodes and decodes streaming audio information transmitted from the transmission source server 2 and received by the network communication unit 17. The compression / decompression unit 19 compresses a signal transmitted from the terminal device 10 to the transmission source server 2 and sends the signal to the encryption / decryption unit 18. It expands and decodes the streaming audio information decoded by the unit 18.
[0017]
An operation input unit 21 including a keyboard and a mouse is connected to the bus 12 via an interface 22, and a display unit 23 such as a liquid crystal display is connected to the bus 12 via a display control unit 24.
[0018]
An HDD (hard disk drive) 27 having a hard disk therein is connected to the bus 12. However, the streaming audio information received from the transmission source server 2 is reproduced in real time without being loaded on the hard disk.
[0019]
Further, a sound pattern storage unit 29 is connected to the bus 12, and an audio output unit 30 including a D / A converter 31, an audio amplifier circuit 32 and a speaker 33 is connected to the bus 12.
[0020]
The sound pattern storage unit 29 can be a partial area of the ROM 13 or a partial area of the hard disk in the HDD 27, in which data of three kinds of nonlingual sound patterns are written in advance. A non-verbal sound pattern is a mimic or repetitive sound that has no meaning in itself, as described below.
[0021]
When the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2 can be received by the network communication unit 17, can be decrypted by the encryption / decryption unit 18, and can be expanded and decoded by the compression / expansion unit 19, the digital audio signal after the expansion and decoding is The analog audio signal is converted into an analog audio signal by the D / A converter 31, and the converted analog audio signal is amplified by the audio amplifier circuit 32 and supplied to the speaker 33. Is output.
[0022]
On the other hand, (1) when the connection to the transmission source server 2 cannot be made because the user inputs the address (URL) of the transmission source server 2 by mistake in the operation input unit 21 when connecting to the transmission source server 2 Or, when the target server or the content information does not exist at the input address, the CPU 11 detects that the target server or the content information does not exist, reads out first sound pattern data described later from the sound pattern storage unit 29, and outputs the sound output unit. 30 outputs a first sound pattern.
[0023]
(2) The connection with the transmission source server 2 is possible, and the target streaming audio information is transmitted from the transmission source server 2. However, since the network communication unit 17 does not support the transmission method of the transmission source server 2, When the streaming audio information cannot be received by the network communication unit 17 or the streaming audio information can be received by the network communication unit 17, the encryption / decryption unit 18 does not support the encryption method of the transmission source server 2. When the streaming audio information cannot be decrypted and decrypted by the encryption / decryption unit 18, or the streaming audio information can be decrypted and decrypted by the encryption / decryption unit 18, but the compression / expansion unit 19 does not support the compression method of the transmission source server 2. When the compression / expansion unit 19 cannot expand and decode the streaming audio information, the CPU 11 That is detected, a second sound pattern data described later from the sound pattern storage unit 29 is read out, the second sound pattern is outputted by the audio output unit 30.
[0024]
(3) When streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2 is interrupted due to a stop of Internet radio broadcasting or the like, the CPU 11 detects the interruption, and stores the third sound pattern data (described later) from the sound pattern storage unit 29. Is read out, and the sound output unit 30 outputs the third sound pattern.
[0025]
2 and 3 show an example of the reception / reproduction processing routine to be executed by the CPU 11 as described above.
[0026]
In the reception / reproduction processing routine 40 of this example, in step 41, the user inputs a source address (URL) and instructs connection to the transmission source.
[0027]
Accordingly, the CPU 11 activates the Web browser in step 42, transmits a connection request to the transmission source server 2 by the network communication unit 17, and then proceeds to step 43 to determine whether or not the transmission source exists. to decide. The case where the transmission source does not exist is the case of the above (1).
[0028]
Then, if the transmission source exists, that is, if the transmission source server 2 can be connected and the streaming audio information is transmitted from the transmission source server 2, the process proceeds from step 43 to step 44, where the transmission from the transmission source server 2 is performed. The transmission system, encryption system and compression system of the transmission source are detected from the signal thus transmitted, and the transmission system of the network communication unit 17, the encryption system of the encryption / decryption unit 18 and the compression system of the compression / decompression unit 19 are detected.
[0029]
Further, the process proceeds to step 45, where it is determined whether or not the network communication unit 17 supports the transmission method of the transmission source (the network communication unit 17 can receive streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2).
[0030]
When the network communication unit 17 supports the transmission method of the transmission source, the process proceeds from step 45 to step 46, where the encryption / decryption unit 18 corresponds to the encryption method of the transmission source. It is determined whether or not the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2 can be decrypted.
[0031]
When the encryption / decryption unit 18 corresponds to the transmission source encryption method, the process proceeds from step 46 to step 47, where the compression / expansion unit 19 corresponds to the transmission source compression method (the compression / expansion unit 19). It is determined whether the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2 can be expanded and decoded.
[0032]
When the compression / expansion unit 19 supports the compression method of the transmission source, the process proceeds from step 47 to step 51, in which the network communication unit 17 receives the streaming audio information, and further proceeds to step 52, where the streaming audio information is received. It is determined whether or not the streaming audio information is continuously received, and if it is continuously received, the process proceeds from step 52 to step 53 where the received streaming audio information is decrypted and decrypted by the encryption / decryption unit 18 and compressed / decompressed. After the data is decompressed and decoded by the unit 19 and output as audio by the audio output unit 30, the process proceeds to step 54, where it is determined whether or not the reproduction has been completed. Then, the streaming audio information is received.
[0033]
On the other hand, when it is determined in step 43 that the transmission source does not exist, the process proceeds to step 56, where the first sound pattern data is read from the sound pattern storage unit 29, and the first sound pattern is output by the sound output unit 30.
[0034]
Specifically, the first sound pattern is generated when a radio receiver (FM receiver or AM receiver) that receives a radio broadcast by a general radio wave such as “Zar” is not synchronized at all. A noise-like sound similar to Thus, the user can instantly and intuitively recognize that there is no transmission source, such as a failure to connect to the transmission source server 2.
[0035]
When the network communication unit 17 determines in step 45 that the transmission method is not compatible with the transmission method of the transmission source (the network communication unit 17 cannot receive the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2), the encryption / decryption unit 18 determines in step 46 When it is determined that the encryption method does not correspond to the encryption method of the transmission source (the encryption / decryption unit 18 cannot decrypt and decode the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2), or in step 47, the compression / expansion unit 19 sets the compression method of the transmission source. If the compression / decompression unit 19 determines that the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2 cannot be decompressed and decoded, the process proceeds to step 57, where the second sound pattern data is read from the sound pattern storage unit 29. The second sound pattern is output by the audio output unit 30.
[0036]
Specifically, the second sound pattern is a sound such as “shah” that is higher than the sound “za”. Thus, the user can instantly and intuitively recognize that the terminal device 10 cannot receive or reproduce the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2.
[0037]
On the other hand, when the terminal device 10 can receive and reproduce the streaming audio information from the transmission source server 2, when it is determined in step 52 that the transmission from the transmission source has been interrupted, the process proceeds to step 58 and the sound pattern storage unit 29 stores Third sound pattern data is read out, and the sound output unit 30 outputs a third sound pattern.
[0038]
Specifically, the third sound pattern is a repetitive sound such as a telephone busy tone, such as “Poop”. This allows the user to instantly and intuitively recognize that the transmission from the transmission source has been interrupted.
[0039]
As described above, in this example, when connecting to a transmission source and receiving Internet radio broadcasts, the user interface for connection and reception and playback of streaming audio information uses a radio receiver to transmit radio broadcasts by general radio waves. Since it is similar to the case of receiving, it is easy for the user to get close to.
[0040]
The above-described example is a case where an Internet radio broadcast is received, but the same configuration can be applied to a case where an Internet TV broadcast is received.
[0041]
In this case, a non-linguistic sound pattern may be output as in the above-described example, or a non-linguistic image pattern may be output (displayed). The non-verbal image pattern may be a still image or graphics, but is preferably a random pattern or a noise-like pattern. Also in this case, it is desirable to change the image pattern to be output according to the case according to the above (1), (2) and (3).
[0042]
[Second embodiment]
In the above-described embodiment, a connection is made to a transmission source via a network such as the Internet, and content information such as streaming audio information of a radio is received from the transmission source. To mutually transmit and receive information such as audio information and image information between terminals.
[0043]
FIG. 4 shows a system configuration in that case, and the terminal devices 5 and 6 are respectively connected to a wide area network 7 such as the Internet. Each of the terminal devices 5 and 6, for example, has a configuration similar to the terminal device 10 in FIG. 1, and can transmit and receive audio information.
[0044]
When the terminal device 5 cannot connect to the terminal device 6 at the time of connection from the terminal device 5 to the terminal device 6, the terminal device 5 outputs a sound pattern such as “Peepy”. When the communication is interrupted during the communication between the terminal device 5 and the terminal device 6, the terminal devices 5 and 6 output a sound pattern such as “Poopy”.
[0045]
Therefore, also in this example, the user can instantly and intuitively recognize the state of connection and communication, and the user interface for connection and communication becomes friendly to the user.
[0046]
The terminal devices 5 and 6 may transmit and receive information such as image information. Also, a configuration may be adopted in which a non-linguistic image pattern is output instead of a non-linguistic sound pattern.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to inform the user of the state of the system in a way that is intuitive and familiar to the user, and to make the user interface common throughout the world.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of an example of a reception / reproduction processing routine executed by a terminal device of the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of an example of a reception / reproduction processing routine executed by a terminal device of the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the system of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional user interface method.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional user interface method.
[Explanation of symbols]
Since the main parts are all described in the figure, they are omitted here.

Claims (8)

A user interface method in a terminal device connected to a transmission source on a network and receiving content information from the transmission source,
When communication with the transmission source is impossible, when there is no corresponding server or content information on the designated network address, when the content information from the transmission source cannot be reproduced by the terminal device, A user interface method for outputting a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern when transmission is interrupted. The method of claim 1, wherein:
When communication with the transmission source is impossible, or when the corresponding server or content information does not exist on the designated network address, the first sound pattern or the image pattern is output;
When content information from a transmission source cannot be reproduced by the terminal device, a second sound pattern or an image pattern different from the first sound pattern or the image pattern is output;
A user interface method for outputting a third sound pattern or image pattern different from the first and second sound patterns or image patterns when transmission from a transmission source is interrupted. Storage means for storing data of a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern;
A communication means for connecting to a source on the network and receiving content information from the source;
Playback means for playing back the content information received by the communication means;
When communication with the transmission source is impossible, when there is no corresponding server or content information on the designated network address, when the content information from the transmission source cannot be reproduced by the reproducing means, When transmission is interrupted, control means for outputting a non-linguistic sound pattern or image pattern by pattern data stored in the storage means,
A terminal device comprising: The terminal device according to claim 3,
The storage means stores first, second, and third pattern data of different patterns,
When communication with the transmission source is not possible or when there is no corresponding server or content information on the designated network address, the control means controls the first sound pattern or the image by the first pattern data. A second sound pattern or an image pattern is output according to the second pattern data when the content information from the transmission source cannot be reproduced by the reproduction means, and when the transmission from the transmission source is interrupted, A terminal device for outputting a third sound pattern or an image pattern according to the third pattern data. A user interface method in a terminal device that connects to a partner on a network and transmits and receives information to and from the partner,
A user interface method for outputting a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern when communication with the other party is impossible or when communication with the other party is interrupted. The user interface method according to claim 5,
When communication with the other party is not possible, a first sound pattern or an image pattern is output,
A user interface method for outputting a second sound pattern or image pattern different from the first sound pattern or image pattern when communication with the other party is interrupted. Storage means for storing data of a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern;
Communication means for connecting to and receiving information from the other party on the network,
When communication with the other party is impossible, or when communication with the other party is interrupted, control means for outputting a non-verbal sound pattern or image pattern by pattern data stored in the storage means,
A terminal device comprising: The terminal device according to claim 7,
The storage means stores first and second pattern data of different patterns.
The control means causes the first pattern data to output a first sound pattern or an image pattern when communication with the other party is impossible, and when the communication with the other party is interrupted, A terminal device for outputting a second sound pattern or an image pattern according to the pattern data.

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