JP2004282212A - Image likeness estimating method and image distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically generate digest images suited for distributing the images in a video on demand system, and to facilitate selecting image contents suited to the audience by introducing a measure instead of the audience rating showing the degree of popularity of image contents. <P>SOLUTION: Using audience points based on the behavior history of the audience, a fancy function is generated to numerically express portions which the audience viewed with more interest and other portions viewed without interest. Thus, the portion viewed by the audience with more interest can be automatically extracted using a threshold, thereby automatically generating digest images reflecting the liking of the audience. The cumulative audience value, i.e., the integrated value of an audience function is used as a measure of the interest the audience takes an interest in the image contents to thereby quantitatively express the image contents other audience viewed with interest, resulting in that image contents are more suitably selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for automatically generating digest information reflecting the preference of a viewer and the popularity of video content in video-on-demand video distribution.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In video-on-demand video distribution, which distributes video content over a network, as a method of knowing the content of the video content in advance, a document that describes the outline of the video content or a digest video that distributes a part of the video content is used. There is a method of providing (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0003]
Further, there is a method of registering the user's preference in advance so that the viewer can immediately find the video content according to the viewer's preference, and providing a video content that matches the preference ( For example, see Patent Document 2).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-374512 A [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2003-16093
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the invention of Patent Literature 1, viewer preference information is registered in advance, and video content that matches the preference information is extracted to allow the viewer to select a preferred video. Although a list of programs to be viewed can be obtained, it is not possible to specify which video is viewed with interest by other viewers. In a general system, the number of times that other viewers have selected video content may be used as an index indicating whether or not other viewers have been interested in watching the video content. There is a problem that it is not possible to distinguish between the case where the user has selected and immediately stopped viewing.
[0006]
In the invention of Patent Literature 2, digest information is obtained before viewing a video so that a viewer can appropriately select a favorite video. However, it is necessary to manually generate the digest information. If the preference of the creator of the information and the preference of the viewer do not match, inappropriate digest information is generated, and there is a problem that the viewer cannot select the desired video content.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to estimate the degree of interest of a viewer in video content based on actions performed by an unspecified number of viewers when viewing the video content, and to perform a digest based on the estimation. An object of the present invention is to automatically generate information and transmit more accurate information of video content to a viewer.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention records an operation performed by a viewer on a video distribution apparatus that distributes video content by streaming, and time information on the operation, and records a state transition due to the operation and the time information. Is a video preference estimating method for estimating a point of high interest in video content based on a video, and a viewer issues a preference function for giving a viewing score at an offset time from the beginning of the video content to a video distribution device. A first step of obtaining a command to be executed, a second step of obtaining an offset time from the beginning of the video content to which the command is issued, and a viewing score corresponding to a state transition generated by the command issued by the viewer. And the offset time from the beginning of the video content for which the previous command was issued, and the offset A fourth step of adding the viewing score to the value of the preference function in the section between the times and setting the resulting function as a new preference function; determining whether the viewer has finished viewing the video; If not, the method has a fifth step of returning to the first step. The video included in the section in which the value of the preference function is equal to or more than a certain threshold is highly interested in the viewer, and the video included in the section below the threshold is This is a method of estimating a video preference in which the interest of the viewer is considered to be low.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is the video preference estimation method according to claim 1, wherein the viewing score is weighted according to the type of state transition.
[0010]
A third aspect of the present invention is a video preference estimating method comprising the step of calculating a cumulative viewing value by integrating a preference function corresponding to each video content in a section from a video content start time to a video content end time. Is the way.
[0011]
Further, according to the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, a video distribution server storing video contents, a preference information server storing viewer preference information, and a list of video contents stored in the video distribution server are stored. A video information terminal, and a video display terminal. The video display terminal obtains list information from the program information server, obtains an operation on the video content selected by the viewer, and sends a video operation message to the video distribution server. Transmitting means, and script reproducing means for reproducing the video content according to the procedure information given from the program information server, wherein the video distribution server transmits the video content to the video display terminal according to the video operation message transmitted from the video display terminal And a means for transmitting a video operation message to the preference information server. Means for generating a preference function for each video content based on a video operation message and time information transmitted from the video distribution server, and time information of a section where the value of the preference function is larger than a threshold value given for each video content The program information server provides a threshold to the preference information server, obtains time information generated by the preference information server, and includes a script generation means for displaying a digest of each video content. And
[0012]
Also, in the invention of claim 5 of the present invention, the preference information server includes means for calculating a cumulative viewing value of a preference function of each video content, and the program information server arranges the video content having the largest cumulative viewing value in order. It is characterized by comprising means for generating program information.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the video distribution system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The video display terminal 11 includes a browser, a script execution unit, and a video distribution server control unit. The video distribution server 12 includes a video transmission unit and a log information transmission unit. The preference information server 13 includes a digest generation unit and a preference function generation unit. The program information server 14 includes a program information transmission unit and a script generation unit. Here, the video display terminal 11, the video distribution server 12, the preference information server 13, and the program information server 14 are connected by a network 15 and can communicate with each other. The communication protocol uses, for example, TCP / IP.
[0014]
Hereinafter, the operations of the video display terminal 11, the video distribution server 12, the preference information server 13, and the program information server 14 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0015]
(Selection of video data by viewer)
The viewer operates the browser of the video display terminal using a means such as a remote controller, and requests program table data (program information data) from the program information server (201).
[0016]
Upon receiving the program guide data request, the program information server transmits the corresponding program information data to the terminal. The browser of the video display terminal displays the received program information data on the screen (202).
[0017]
(Video operation)
When the viewer operates the remote controller to select a video content included in the program information data, a video transmission request is transmitted to the video distribution server (203). When the viewer performs another operation (pause, fast forward, rewind, etc.) during playback, a request message designating the operation is similarly transmitted to the video distribution server.
[0018]
Upon receiving the request from the video reproduction terminal, the video distribution server transmits control log information to the preference information server (204). The control log information includes at least a video content identifier, an offset time from the beginning of the video content that received the request, and an operation type for the video content.
[0019]
When the preference information server receives the control log information, the preference function generation unit executes the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 to generate a preference function (205).
[0020]
Hereinafter, the preference function generation processing performed by the preference information server will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0021]
When the control log information is received, a preference function F corresponding to the video content controlled by the viewer is obtained. The preference function F is a function of the time T, and the initial value is F (T) = 0 (31). From the control log information, the type of operation performed by the viewer and the offset time from the beginning of the video content where the operation was performed are acquired (32, 33).
[0022]
Next, points are determined with reference to the state transition table shown in FIG. 4 (34). On the vertical axis of the state transition table, operations performed by the viewer before are described, and on the horizontal axis, operations performed by the viewer this time are described. In each element in the table, a viewing point given to a section from the last operation time to the current operation time is described. The viewing point corresponding to each transition is weighted in consideration of what judgment the viewer's operation is based on.
[0023]
For example, when transitioning from forward playback to slow playback, the viewer determines that the video content has been viewed in more detail, and gives more viewing points than in normal forward playback.
[0024]
When the viewer performs forward playback at offset time T1 = 5 from the beginning of the video content and then performs slow forward playback at position T2 = 10, an area indicated by 41 in FIG. 4 is selected. Is done. The number of viewing points in this area is calculated as 2, and the preference function F (T) is updated to F '(T) shown below.
[0025]
F '(T) = F (T) {0 <T <= T1, T2 <T <= end of video content} and F' (T) = F (T) + viewing point {T1 <= T <= T2 Next, this F ′ (T) is set to F (T) (35), and the procedure from 32 is repeated until the viewer finishes viewing the video.
[0026]
When F (T) is updated by repeating the above operation, a preference function like F (T) shown in FIG. 5 is obtained. The part where the value of the preference function is high is the part that the viewer has watched with more interest, and the part where the value is low is assumed to be relatively meaningless for the viewer.
[0027]
Next, when the viewer transmits a digest information acquisition request to the program information server from the browser of the video reproduction terminal (207), the program information server transmits a digest generation request to the preference information server (208). The digest generation request includes at least the identifier and the threshold of the video content. The preference information server acquires the identifier and the threshold from the digest generation request, and searches the identifier for the preference function F (T) corresponding to the video content. I do.
[0028]
The script generation unit of the preference information server calculates the time during which the preference function F (T) exceeds the threshold, and generates the time information (209). For example, when the preference function is indicated by F (T) in FIG. 5, assuming that the threshold value is represented by a dotted line in FIG. 5, the time information in which the value of the preference function exceeds the threshold value is indicated by regions 51 and 52 in FIG. become. The script generation unit generates a script for automatically reproducing the video content of the time information, and transmits the generated script to the video display terminal (210). When the video display terminal receives the script, the script is executed and a digest video is displayed (211).
[0029]
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a video distribution system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The video reproduction terminal 61, the video distribution server 62, the program information server 64, and the network 65 in FIG. 6 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The preference information server 63 includes a digest generator, a preference function generator, and a cumulative viewing value generator.
[0030]
Hereinafter, the operations of the video display terminal 61, the video distribution server 62, the preference information server 63, and the program information server 64 will be described with reference to FIG. The process until the viewer operates the video display terminal to generate the preference function F (T) in the preference information server 63 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.
[0031]
When the viewer transmits a viewing ranking acquisition request to the program information server (701), the program information server transmits a cumulative viewing value generation request to the preference information server (702). Upon receiving the total viewing value generation request, the preference information server obtains the total viewing value of each video content held in the preference information server (703).
[0032]
The cumulative viewing value is generated in the following procedure shown in FIG. The procedure for generating the preference function (81 to 86) is the same as the procedure described in the first embodiment, and thus the description is omitted. When the viewer finishes viewing the video content, the integrated value of the preference function generated by the cumulative viewing value generation unit of the preference information server is calculated, and this is stored as the cumulative viewing value. Since this value includes the number of times the viewer has viewed the video content, the frequency of viewing the video content in detail by slow playback, and the like, it is estimated that the viewer has more interest in viewing as the cumulative viewing value is larger. be able to.
[0033]
A total viewing value is held for each video content, and this value is transmitted to the program information server (704). The program information server generates program information data arranged in the order of the video content having the highest cumulative viewing value, and transmits it to the video display terminal (705).
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a preference function is generated using a viewing point based on a viewer's action history, and a portion that the viewer has more interested in viewing and a portion that is not are numerically calculated. Can be expressed as As a result, it is possible to automatically extract a portion that the viewer has watched with more interest using the threshold value, and it is possible to automatically generate a digest video reflecting the viewer's preference.
[0035]
In addition, in on-demand distribution over a network, each viewer views the same content at different times, so the conventional concept of audience rating of television broadcasting could not be applied. By using a certain cumulative viewing value as a measure of the interest that the viewer has shown for the video content, it is possible to quantitatively represent the video content that other viewers have watched with interest, and to select the video content. Can be performed more accurately.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall system configuration in Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication sequence in Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a preference information server in Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a preference function generator of FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state transition table for calculating a viewing point based on a state transition by a viewer operation in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a preference function according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of a preference function generation unit of the preference information server according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 shows an example of a preference function and a cumulative viewing value according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS
11, 61 Video display terminal 12, 62 Video distribution server 13, 63 Preference information server is 14, 64 EPG server 15, 65 Network

Claims (5)

An operation performed by a viewer on a video distribution device that distributes video content in a streaming manner, and information on a time when the operation is performed is recorded. A first step of obtaining a command issued by a viewer to a video distribution apparatus for a preference function that gives a viewing score at an offset time from the beginning of video content. A second step of obtaining an offset time from the beginning of the video content to which the command has been issued, a third step of obtaining a viewing score corresponding to a state transition generated by the command issued by the viewer, A section between the offset time from the beginning of the video content to which the command was issued and the offset time A fourth step of adding the viewing score to the value of the preference function and setting the resulting function as a new preference function; and determining whether or not the viewer has finished viewing the video. The method includes the fifth step of returning to the step. When the video included in the section in which the value of the preference function is equal to or more than a certain threshold value has high viewer interest, the video included in the section in which the value is equal to or less than the threshold value has low viewer interest. Video preference estimation method to consider. The method according to claim 1, wherein the viewing score is weighted according to a type of the state transition. A video preference estimating method comprising: calculating a cumulative viewing value by integrating the preference function corresponding to each video content in a section from a video content start time to a video content end time. A video distribution server storing video content, a preference information server storing viewer preference information, a program information server storing list information of video content stored in the video distribution server, and a video display terminal. Wherein the video display terminal obtains the list information from the program information server, obtains an operation on a video content selected by a viewer, and transmits a video operation message to the video distribution server; Script playback means for playing back video content according to procedural information given from a server, wherein the video distribution server transmits video content to the video display terminal according to the video operation message transmitted from the video display terminal; Means for transmitting the video operation message to the preference information server Means for generating the preference function for each video content based on the video operation message and time information transmitted from the video distribution server; and Means for generating time information of a section where the value of is large, the program information server gives a threshold to the preference information server, acquires the time information generated by the preference information server, and digests each video content. A video distribution system comprising a script generation unit for displaying. The preference information server includes a unit that calculates the total viewing value of a preference function of each video content, and the program information server includes a unit that generates program information arranged in order from the video content with the largest total viewing value. The video distribution system according to claim 4, wherein:

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