JP2008146487A - Content display device and content display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively use the digital contents which are acquired and stored while being rarely used (viewed). <P>SOLUTION: This content display device is provided with a storage means for storing the digital contents, a display means for displaying the digital contents stored in the storage means on a display part, a specifying means for specifying a viewer viewing the digital contents displayed on the display part, an acquiring means for acquiring data associated to the viewer specified by the specifying means, and a retrieval means for retrieving the digital content from the storage means based on the data acquired by the acquiring means and associated to the viewer as a keyword. The display means displays the digital contents retrieved by the retrieval means on the display part from the digital content stored in the storage means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content display device, a content display system, and a content display method, and in particular, used to acquire (search) and display content such as images, videos, and information recorded and stored as digital data as necessary. And a suitable technique.

  In recent years, with the advancement of information technology, semiconductor technology, and electronic technology, digitalization of multimedia contents such as still images and moving images has rapidly spread. This is largely due to the development of devices that acquire digital content such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras. It can also be said to be the result of the development and popularization of devices that display digital contents such as PCs (Personal Computers), PDAs (Portable Digital Assistants), and mobile phones.

  These digital contents do not require a physical data medium, such as a negative film of a silver halide camera, for display, printing, and reproduction (copying). Therefore, there is an advantage that there is no deterioration due to reproduction, duplication, or passage of time, and the loss or damage of the data medium is extremely small. Also, because of its digital feature, the content storage method is changing.

  For example, in the “display device with a recognition function” described in Patent Document 1, the viewer is recognized and the channel is changed or turned off according to the viewer (for example, a display method using a screen saver or a random display method). Is described. Further, the “video information device” described in Patent Document 2 describes that video is processed, such as synthesizing subtitles in accordance with the viewer.

JP 2001-016514 A JP 2001-333335 A

  However, the display method using a screen saver or the random display method described in Patent Document 1 only displays content selected in advance by the user. For this reason, since contents other than the contents intended by the user are displayed and there is no unexpected discovery, there is a problem that is not interesting. In addition, there is a problem that there are many troublesome points because it is necessary for the user to actively perform display setting.

In addition, the conventional display has a problem in that the same content is continuously displayed unless the setting is periodically changed, and there are many unsatisfactory display methods.
In view of the above-described problems, the present invention makes it possible to eliminate the need for a user to make active display settings in advance, and to perform content display that can increase the chances of unexpected discovery. The purpose is to do.

  The content display device of the present invention is a storage means for storing digital content, a display means for displaying the digital content stored in the storage means on a display section, and a viewing of the digital content displayed on the display section. An specifying means for specifying a viewer, an acquiring means for acquiring data related to the viewer specified by the specifying means, and a storage keyword using the data related to the viewer acquired by the acquiring means as a search keyword Search means for searching digital contents from the display means, wherein the display means displays the digital content searched by the search means from the digital contents stored in the storage means on the display unit. And

  The content display method of the present invention includes a storage step of storing digital content in a storage unit, a display step of displaying the digital content stored in the storage unit on a display unit, and viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit. A search step for specifying a viewer for a viewer, an acquisition step for acquiring data related to the viewer specified in the specification step, and data related to the viewer acquired in the acquisition step, A search step of searching for digital content from the storage means, and in the display step, the digital content searched in the search step is displayed on the display unit from among the digital contents stored in the storage means. It is characterized by doing.

  The program of the present invention includes a storage step of storing digital content in a storage unit, a display step of displaying the digital content stored in the storage unit on a display unit, and viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit. A step of identifying a viewer who is present, an acquisition step of acquiring data related to the viewer specified in the specification step, and the storage using the data related to the viewer acquired in the acquisition step as a search keyword A search step of searching for digital content from the means, and in the display step, the digital content searched in the search step from the digital content stored in the storage means is displayed on the display unit. It is characterized by causing a computer to execute the display.

According to the present invention, digital content corresponding to the specified viewer is automatically searched and displayed.
As a result, it is possible to increase the chances of unexpected discovery without requiring the user to set in advance, and it is possible to effectively use digital content that has been rarely used only by being stored.
Further, according to another feature of the present invention, it is possible to provide digital content suitable for a situation in which the digital content is actually viewed by changing the search target according to the configuration of the viewer.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a content display device according to the first embodiment of this invention. In the present embodiment, a PC (personal computer) 10 constitutes a content display system.

  As main components of a PC (personal computer) 10, an HDD 105 and a display panel (display unit) 110 are included. The HDD 105 stores application programs, digital contents, viewer information, and the like. A display panel (display unit) 110 displays the digital content itself, an application GUI, and the like. In addition, the image capturing apparatus 107 that acquires a viewer image for specifying a viewer, a CPU 101 that executes applications and software, a RAM 103 that is used as a work area at that time, and a ROM 102 that stores a startup program.

The operation of the content display apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
First, the viewer specifying operation executed by the person specifying application will be described. The viewer specifying operation is based on the premise that the PC 10 is powered on and the person specifying application has been started. In addition, all applications including the person specifying application are executed using the RAM 103 as a work area by using an application program loaded from the HDD 105 by the CPU 101. In FIG. 1, 111 is a keyboard, 112 is a mouse, 113 is a bus, and 114 is a HIF (human interface) control unit.

  The viewer specifying operation is an operation in which the viewer image acquired by using the imaging device 107 in FIG. 1 is matched with the face image data of the candidate viewer stored in the HDD 105 to specify the viewer. is there.

  FIG. 2 shows the data content of the candidate viewer data stored in the HDD 105. The viewer ID 201, the priority 203, the face image data 204, and the time stamp 202 together constitute the viewer candidate data 210. The viewer ID 201 uniquely identifies the viewer, and the priority 203 indicates the importance of the viewer. The face image data 204 is used for matching with the viewer image, and the time stamp 202 indicates “year / month / day” when the candidate viewer data is registered.

  The face image data 204 is an image used for specifying a viewer, and can be composed of a plurality of images such as a front image and left and right horizontal images in accordance with the specified detail level. The viewer candidate data has the same configuration, and a portion of a candidate who can be a viewer candidate is stored in the HDD 105.

Hereinafter, the viewer specifying operation will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, the person specifying application that executes the viewer specifying operation is started by the user and starts monitoring (monitoring) of the viewer (step S601). As soon as this person identification application is activated or when a monitoring start trigger is applied, the imaging device control unit 106 is controlled in step S602, and the viewer image of the PC 10 is acquired by the imaging device 107.

  The acquired viewer image is transferred to the RAM 103 by the DMAC 104. At that time, if conversion from acquired data to processed data is necessary, conversion is performed by the image processing unit 108 or a software program operating on the CPU 101. Subsequently, the viewer is specified in steps S603 to S606 based on the acquired viewer image. Steps S <b> 603 to S <b> 606 are performed by searching all or part of the candidate viewer data stored in the HDD 105. Since whether or not to use all or part of the candidate viewer data is set in advance by the user, the candidate viewer data to be used is determined here based on the set contents.

  Now, taking the candidate viewer data 210 of FIG. 2 as an example, the operation of steps S603 to S606 will be described. First, one candidate viewer data is selected at step S603, matching is performed within the viewer image using the face image data 204 at step S604, and the viewer candidate of the face image data 204 is currently viewed by the PC 10 at step S605. To determine if it exists as a person.

  As a result of this determination, if it is determined that matching is successful and exists, the viewer ID 201 is added to the viewer list in step S606. The viewer list is a list of viewer IDs used when searching for digital contents related to the viewer. Details will be described later.

  When matching of a plurality of viewer candidates is successful, the viewer list is composed of a plurality of viewer IDs. It is determined whether or not all searches have been completed for the target audience candidate data (step S607). If all the searches are not completed as a result of this determination, the process returns to step S603 and the above-described processing is repeated. If all the searches are completed as a result of the determination in step S607, the process proceeds to step S608, where it is determined whether matching is successful even if one viewer is alone (the viewer list is empty).

  If the result of this determination is that even one person has succeeded in matching (the viewer list is not empty), the process proceeds to step S609, and the digital content search application is activated. The digital content search application is an application for searching digital content related to a viewer based on a viewer list generated by the person specifying application.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S608, if it is determined that no matching has succeeded (the viewer list is empty) and if it exists, the search application is started (step S609), and then step S610 is performed. Proceed to step 1 to stop the operation.

  After that, for example, after a predetermined time has elapsed, or when display of all digital content to be displayed is completed by a digital content display operation described later, the imaging device 107 is operated. Then, when some change in the viewer configuration is recognized, the process returns to step S602, and the above-described viewer identification is performed again. Which timing or which event is used as a trigger to return to step S602 can be set by the user and operates as set in advance.

  Next, a digital content search operation executed by the digital content search application will be described. The digital content search operation is based on the premise that the PC 10 is powered on and the digital content search application has been started. Similarly to the person specifying application, an application program loaded from the HDD 105 by the CPU 101 is executed using the RAM 103 as a work area.

  The digital content search operation acquires a search keyword related to a registered viewer ID based on the viewer list generated by the viewer specifying operation, and searches for digital content from them. Is generated. Then, the digital content that matches the search formula is searched from the digital content group in the HDD 105.

First, a method for generating a search expression will be described, followed by a series of processing flows of a digital content search operation.
The search expression generation method is mainly composed of three items.
First item (A.1): Method for generating search expression for each viewer, Second item (A.2): Method for combining search expressions generated for each viewer, and third item (A .3): A search option in a combined search expression. Hereinafter, the search formula generated for each viewer by the first item (A.1) generation method is referred to as the viewer search formula, and the viewer search by the second item (A.2) combination method. A search expression generated by combining expressions is referred to as a combined search expression.

Before describing the first item (A.1) to the third item (A.3), the storage format of the search keyword table and digital content stored in the HDD 105 will be described.
The search keyword table is a table of data using the viewer ID as an index, and stores search keywords when searching for digital content related to the viewer indicated by the viewer ID.

  FIG. 3 shows a data storage format of the search keyword table. Each data includes an index 301, a search keyword 304, a priority 303, and a time stamp 302. The index 301 corresponds to the viewer ID of the viewer candidate data, and the search keyword 304 is related to the viewer ID. The priority 303 indicates the importance of the search keyword 304, and the time stamp 302 is the date when this data was added. It is possible to associate a plurality of search keywords with one viewer ID. In this case, a plurality of data having the same viewer ID are stored.

  On the other hand, the data storage format of the digital content is as shown in FIG. Each data includes a time stamp 401, owner information 402, an index keyword 403, and a digital content data body 404. The time stamp 401 indicates the date when the digital content was acquired, and the owner information 402 indicates the owner of the digital content file. The index keyword 403 indicates the contents of the digital content.

  The index keyword 403 is a keyword indicating the contents of the digital content. For example, the name and ID of the subject, the shooting date and time, the shooting location, the shooting event (athletic meet, family trip, etc.), and the like. The index keyword 403 is used when searching for digital content based on a search expression. When the index keyword matches the search expression, it is determined that the digital content matches the search expression. One digital content can also have a plurality of index keywords. In this case, if any one of the index keywords matches the search expression, it is determined that the index matches.

Now, the first item (A.1) to the third item (A.3), which are components of the search expression generation method, will be described.
First, the first item (A.1) searches and acquires a search keyword corresponding to the viewer ID for each viewer ID registered in the viewer list, and based on the search keyword. This is a method for generating a viewer search expression.

  This generation method is affected by various factors, and the digital content that conforms to the viewer search formula generated as a result changes greatly. For example, when there are a plurality of search keywords, there is a selection of whether to use all search keywords or only a part.

  Furthermore, when only a part is used, the selection is also affected by what policy is used. Use various search options such as search keywords that have been determined in advance, search keywords with high priority, search keywords that have been recently registered, search keywords that have been randomly selected, and combinations thereof. There is a technique.

  Further, after selection of search keywords, the search keywords remaining as candidates are combined by what combination condition to generate a viewer search expression. There are various join conditions such as AND condition, OR condition, NOT condition. And how to determine the combination of these factors is also important. In the present embodiment, selection candidates are randomly determined for all influencing factors each time, and search keywords for viewers are generated by connecting those search keywords according to specific search conditions.

  FIG. 5 shows specific states of the viewer candidate data 510, the search keyword table 520, and the digital content data group 530 in the HDD 105. Hereinafter, a case where “AAA0001” of the viewer ID 511 in FIG. 5 is registered in the viewer list as a result of the viewer specifying operation will be taken as an example. In this example, the process for generating the viewer search expression for the first item (A.1) described above will be specifically described with reference to two examples in which the selection candidates for the influence factors are changed.

  In addition, digital contents that match the viewer search formula generated in each example will be cited and the differences will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the viewer candidate data, the search keyword table, and the digital content data group have the contents shown in FIG. As a result of selecting the influence factors at random, the selection candidates are assumed to be combinations as shown in FIG.

[Example 1]
The search keyword table 520 of FIG. 5 is searched using “AAA0001” of the viewer ID 511 as an index, and all search keywords having the viewer ID “AAA0001” as an index are acquired. The obtained results are the following three.
(1) "A field B man" (from keyword number 521)
(2) “Family Travel 2004” (from keyword number 523)
(3) "Athletic meet 2005" (from keyword number 525)

Next, when all of the acquired search keywords are combined under OR conditions, a viewer search expression is generated as follows.
Search formula: ("A field B man" OR "Family travel 2004" OR "Athletic meet 2005")
When the digital content group in FIG. 5 is searched using the search formula, the following five digital contents are matched.
(A) Content number 531 ("A field B man" is suitable)
(B) Content number 533 ("A Field B Male" and "Family Travel 2004" fit)
(C) Content number 534 ("Family Travel 2004" is applicable)
(D) Content number 535 ("Athletic meet 2005" is applicable)
(E) Content number 536 ("A field B man" and "Athletic meet 2005" conform)

[Example 2]
The search keyword table 520 of FIG. 5 is searched using “AAA0001” of the viewer ID 511 as an index. Then, among the search keywords having the viewer ID “AAA0001” as an index, a search keyword having a priority of “9” or higher is acquired. The obtained results are as follows.
(1) "A field B man" (from keyword number 521)
(2) "Athletic meet 2005" (from keyword number 525)

Next, when all of the obtained search keywords are combined with an AND condition to generate a viewer search expression, the result is as follows.
Search formula: ("A field B man" AND "Athletic meet 2005")
When the digital content group in FIG. 5 is searched using the search formula, the following one digital content is matched. In other words, the content number 536 (“A field B man” and “Sports day 2005”) matches.

  As can be seen from the digital content searched in the first and second examples, by changing the condition according to various factors in the stage of generating the viewer search formula for the first item (A.1), Changes also appear in digital content.

Next, a method for combining the second items (A.2) will be described.
The second item (A.2) combines one viewer search expression generated for each viewer registered in the viewer list by the first item (A.1), thereby performing one combined search. This is a method for generating an expression. This generation method is also affected by various factors, and the digital content that matches the combined search expression generated as a result changes greatly.

  For example, if there are a plurality of viewers and a plurality of viewer search formulas are generated by the first item (A.1), are all viewer search formulas used or only a part is used? There is a choice. Furthermore, when only a part is used, the selection is also affected.

  Use viewer search formulas for high-priority viewers. Use the viewer search formula for new viewers at the registered date and time. Depending on the combination of viewers, a viewer search formula for a specific viewer is used preferentially, and vice versa. Use viewer search formulas for viewers selected at random. There are various sorting methods such as combinations thereof.

  Furthermore, there is a factor that a specific keyword is added or deleted depending on a combination of viewers. Furthermore, after selecting a plurality of viewer search formulas, what kind of join conditions the viewer search formulas remaining as candidates are combined to generate a final combined search formula to be influenced.

  There are various join conditions such as AND condition, OR condition, NOT condition. And how to determine the combination of these factors is also important. In the present embodiment, selection candidates are randomly determined for all influencing factors each time, and one combined search expression is generated by combining them.

In the following, as a result of the viewer specifying operation, “AAA0001” of the viewer ID 511 and “AAA0002” of the viewer ID 512 in FIG. An example of the case where it is generated will be described. The generation process of the combined retrieval formula of the second item (A.2) described above will be specifically described with three examples in which the selection factors of the influence factors are changed.
Search formula for viewers of "AAA0001": ("A field B man" OR "Athletic meet 2005")
Search formula for viewers of "AAA0002": ("Ada C child")

  Also, the digital contents that match the combined search formula generated in each example will be cited and the differences will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the viewer candidate data, the search keyword table, and the digital content data group have the contents shown in FIG. As a result of selecting the influence factors at random, the selection candidates are assumed to be combinations as shown in FIG.

[Example 1]
When all the search formulas for viewers generated by the first item (A.1) are combined under the OR condition and a combined search formula is generated, the result is as follows.
Search formula: (("A field B man" OR "athletics 2005") OR ("A field C child"))
When the digital content group in FIG. 5 is searched using the search formula, the following five digital contents are matched.

Content number 531 ("A field B man" fits)
Content number 532 ("A field C child" conforms)
Content number 533 ("A Field B Male" and "Family Travel 2004" fit)
Content number 535 ("Ada C child" and "Athletic meet 2005" are compatible)
Content number 536 ("A field B man" and "Athletic meet 2005" fit)

[Example 2]
From the search formula for viewers generated in the first item (A.1), the corresponding viewer candidate data with a time stamp after 2001 is combined using an AND condition, and a combined search formula is generated: become that way.
Search formula: ("A field C child")
When the digital content group in FIG. 5 is searched using the search formula, the following two digital contents are matched.
Content number 532 ("A field C child" conforms)
Content number 535 ("A C C child" conforms)

[Example 3]
All the viewer search formulas generated in the first item (A.1), and the viewer IDs “AAA0001” and “AAA0002” are in the viewer list. Therefore, when the search keyword “family trip 2004” is further added to these, all are combined under the OR condition, and a combined search expression is generated, the result is as follows.
Search formula: (("A field B man" OR "Athletic meet 2005") OR ("A field C child") OR "family trip 2004")

When the digital content group in FIG. 5 is searched using the search formula, the following six digital contents are matched.
Content number 531 ("A field B man" fits)
Content number 532 ("A field C child" conforms)
Content number 533 ("A Field B Male" and "Family Travel 2004" fit)
Content number 534 ("Family Travel 2004" fits)
Content number 535 ("Ada C child" and "Athletic meet 2005" are compatible)
Content number 536 ("A field B man" and "Athletic meet 2005" fit)

  As can be seen from the digital content searched by [Example 1], [Example 2], and [Example 3], in the stage of generating the combined search expression of the second item (A.2), the conditions are determined by various factors. By changing, the digital content of the search result also changes. Also, as in [Example 3], when a search keyword is added depending on the combination of viewers, more digital content than in the case of [Example 1] in which all viewer search expressions are combined with OR conditions. May fit.

  Next, the search option for the third item (A.3) will be described. The third item (A.3) is used as a search option when performing a search using the viewer search formula generated by the second item (A.2).

  Specifically, an option for narrowing down the search target of digital content, for example, digital content excluding (or only) the digital content of a specific owner is set as the search target.

  Digital content excluding (or only) digital content having a specific search keyword as an attribute is set as a search target. Only digital contents having a timestamp that is newer (or older) than a specific date are searched. Only digital contents with a resolution higher (or lower) than a specific resolution are searched.

  In addition, only digital contents in a specific format are targeted for search. This search option is mainly used when it is desired to limit the search target of digital contents in advance under specific conditions at the intention of the user or administrator. Furthermore, it is also used when there is a limit in the performance of the system and apparatus, such as the maximum display resolution of the display panel 110 and the corresponding file format of the image processing unit 108. It is assumed that the search option in this embodiment is set in advance by the administrator.

  Now, a series of processing flow of the digital content search operation using the above-described method for generating a digital content search formula from the viewer list will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, a digital content search application that executes a digital content search operation is activated by the person identification application (step S609 in FIG. 6) and starts operating (step S701). At this time, the viewer list is notified from the person specifying application simultaneously with the activation.

  When started, first, based on the viewer ID registered in the viewer list in steps S702 to S707, the viewer ID is generated by the above-described method for generating the viewer search expression for the first item (A.1). A search expression for viewers of digital contents is generated every time.

  Next, in step S702, one viewer ID is selected from the viewer list. In step S703, the viewer candidate data corresponding to the viewer ID is searched from the HDD 105, and in step S704, the viewer candidate data is searched. Search keyword is extracted from.

  In step S705, it is determined whether all search keywords are used or only a part is used. If only a part is used as a result of this determination, search keywords are selected in step S706. The selection policy at this time is determined randomly.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S705, for the search keyword group determined to be used, the process proceeds to step S707 to combine the search keywords to generate a viewer search expression. The coupling conditions at this time are also determined randomly.

  Thereafter, in step S708, it is determined whether or not the processing in steps S702 to 707 has been executed for all the viewer IDs registered in the viewer list. If there is a viewer ID that has not been executed as a result of this determination, the process returns to step S702 and the process is repeated. If it is determined in step S708 that the processes in steps S702 to 707 have been executed for all viewer IDs, the process proceeds to step S709.

  In steps S709 to 711, the viewer search formulas are combined from the plurality of viewer search formulas corresponding to the generated viewer IDs by the search formula combining method of the second item (A.2) described above, It is put together in one combined search expression. First, it is determined whether to use all or only a part of the viewer search expressions generated in step S709.

  If only a part is used as a result of this determination, the viewer search formula is selected in step S710. The selection policy at this time is determined randomly. Then, in step S711, the viewer search formula determined to be used is combined with the viewer search formula to generate one combined search formula. The coupling conditions at this time are also determined randomly.

  In step S712, the digital content group in the HDD 105 is narrowed down by the search option for the third item (A.3) set in advance by the administrator. Thereafter, in step S713, the digital content that matches the combined search expression generated in step S711 is searched from the narrowed digital content group.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S714, where all the digital contents suitable for the search are registered in the list file in step S713, and a digital content list is generated. This digital content list is a list of digital contents to be displayed. And it is a list for notifying a digital content display application that displays digital content registered based on this digital content list. Finally, in step S715, the digital content display application is activated, the digital content list is notified, and this operation is terminated.

Next, a digital content display operation executed by the digital content display application will be described.
The digital content display operation of the present embodiment is based on the premise that the PC 10 is powered on and the digital content display application has been started.

  Similarly to the person identification application and the digital content search application, an application program loaded from the HDD 105 by the CPU 101 is executed using the RAM 103 as a work area.

  The digital content display operation is an operation in which the digital content registered in the digital content list is transferred to the VRAM 109 using the DMAC 104 in a specific order and displayed on the GUI of the display application on the display panel 110. The displayed digital content is digital content registered in the digital content list generated by the digital content search operation.

  At this time, if special image processing is required from the original data in the HDD 105 of the digital content to the display data, it is converted by the image processing unit 108 or a software program operating on the CPU 101.

  The display order when there are a plurality of registered digital contents includes a sequential display for displaying a fixed time one by one from the top of the list, and a shuffle display for displaying in a random order regardless of the registration order of the list. In addition, the number displayed simultaneously is displayed in a single display for displaying one by one, a multi-display for displaying a plurality of candidates at the same time by dividing a display area finely.

  Further, there is a display form such as a repeat display in which all the digital contents registered in the digital content list are displayed after the display is completed. These display forms can be selected in advance or dynamically by the administrator and the user through a human interface such as the keyboard 111 and the mouse 112.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the viewer of the PC 10 is specified, and the digital multimedia content searched based on the specified viewer is displayed. By doing so, it is possible to increase the chances of unexpected discovery without requiring the user to set in advance, and it is possible to effectively use digital content that has been rarely used just by being stored. Furthermore, by changing the search target according to the configuration of the viewer, it is possible to provide digital content that is more suitable for the field.

  Further, by automatically searching for and displaying digital content corresponding to the specified viewer, it is possible to increase the chances of unexpected discovery without requiring the user to set in advance. In addition, it is possible to effectively use digital contents that are rarely used just by being stored. Furthermore, by changing the search target according to the configuration of the viewer, it is possible to provide digital content that is more suitable for the field.

Furthermore, since digital content related to the viewer can be provided, the digital content can be effectively utilized.
Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the viewer is identified once, and then the viewer is identified again after a predetermined time. Therefore, when the configuration of the viewer is changed, the viewer after the change is changed. Relevant digital content can be periodically changed and provided.

  Furthermore, since the viewer is specified again after displaying all the searched digital content data, it is possible to provide digital content related to the viewer after the configuration of the viewer has changed. It becomes possible. In addition, the problem of repeatedly providing the same digital content can be solved.

  Furthermore, when a change in the viewer configuration is detected, the viewer is identified again, so that digital content related to the viewer after the change is provided in response to the change in the viewer configuration. can do.

Subsequently, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration according to the second embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the content display system of this embodiment has a display device 801 for displaying given multimedia content.

  In addition, it has a viewer specifying device 802 that is installed in the immediate vicinity of the display device 801 and recognizes and specifies the viewer of the display device 801 by means of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification System). Further, it has a search device 803 for searching for information related to the person specified as the viewer and related digital multimedia contents via the network.

  In addition, a person database 804 that stores information on various persons and a digital content database group 811... 81N that stores digital multimedia contents of various persons are included. The search device 803, the person database 804, and the digital content database group 811... 81N are connected via the Internet 800. The display device 801 and the viewer identification device 802 are directly connected to the search device 803.

  Hereinafter, the digital content search / display operation in the content display system of the present embodiment will be described. These operations are performed based on the viewer information specified by the viewer specifying device 802. Specifically, digital multimedia content is searched for and acquired from one or a plurality of databases 81N via a network including the Internet 800 by the search device 803 and displayed on the display device 801.

  The operation of the content display system of this embodiment will be described in detail using the flowchart of FIG. At this time, the viewer specifying device 802 is assumed to be turned off in the initial state. The viewer of the display device 801 has an RFID IC tag that can be specified by the viewer specifying device 802, and ID data that can uniquely specify the viewer is stored in the IC tag. Then, when a search is performed in the person database based on the ID data, the viewer can specify, so it is assumed that a search keyword related to the viewer can be acquired.

In the present embodiment, the digital content automatic search / display operation is started at the same time when the power of the viewer specifying device 802 is turned on.
First, in step S901, the user turns on the power of the viewer specifying device 802. The viewer identification device 802 turned on starts identifying the viewer of the display device 801. In step S902, the viewer specifying device 802 detects one or more IC tags present in the vicinity, and determines whether or not at least one IC tag has been detected in step S903.

As a result of this determination, if it has been detected, the process further proceeds to step S904, and one detected IC tag is selected.
In step S905, the stored viewer ID data is acquired from each detected IC tag and added to the viewer list. In step S906, it is determined whether or not ID data has been acquired from all detected IC tags. If not, the process returns to step S904 to repeat the above-described process, thereby completing the viewer list. .

  If the viewer list is completed as a result of the determination in step S906, the process proceeds to step S907. In step S907, the generated viewer list is transmitted from the viewer specifying device 802 to the search device 803.

  In step S908, the search device 803 selects one ID data from the received viewer list. In step S909, for each ID data registered in the viewer list, the person database 804 is inquired for a search keyword related to the viewer of the ID data via the network.

  Next, in step S910, it is determined whether acquisition of search keywords for all ID data has been completed. If the result of this determination is that it has not been completed, processing returns to step S908 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S910, if it is completed, the process proceeds to step S911, and a search expression is generated based on the acquired search keyword. The search formula at this time is generated for each viewer by the viewer search formula generation method for the first item (A.1) as in the first embodiment. Further, a combined search expression is generated by combining the viewer search expressions generated by the combined search expression generation method of the second item (A.2). Further, the search option of the third item (A.3) is related to the search expression.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S912, and a suitable digital content is acquired from the digital content database group 811... 81N based on this search formula. When the digital content search / acquisition is completed, the search device 803 transfers the acquired digital content to the display device 801 in step S913.

  The display device 801 that has received the digital content displays the received digital content (step S914). At this time, when there are a plurality of digital contents, the display order is the sequential display, the shuffle display, etc., the multiple display is used for the multiple display, the repeat display is used for the repeated display, etc. Display is performed according to the display form. When the digital content is displayed in step S914, the process proceeds to step S915, and this operation is temporarily stopped.

  Thereafter, for example, immediately after the display is completed, or after a certain period of time has elapsed, when a change in the viewer's configuration is recognized, the process returns to step S902 to specify the viewer again. In this case, the imaging device 107 is always operated. Which timing or which event is used as a trigger to return to step S902 can be set by the user and operates as set in advance.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the viewer of the display device 801 is specified by the viewer specifying device 802, and the digital multimedia content searched based on the viewer's personal information acquired from the person database is stored. Displayed. As a result, it is possible to increase the chances of unexpected discovery without requiring the user to set in advance, and it is possible to effectively use digital content that has been rarely used only by being stored. Furthermore, by changing the search target according to the configuration of the viewer, it is possible to provide digital content that is more suitable for the field.

  In the second embodiment described above, the viewer specifying device 802 is premised on starting monitoring when the user turns on when the power is off. However, for example, a configuration in which monitoring is started by receiving an instruction to start monitoring from a user using a remote controller or the like may be used. Further, even when the digital content data searched by the search device 803 is being displayed on the display device 801, the display of the digital content is stopped when a viewer specifying instruction is received from the remote controller or the like. Then, the viewer may be identified again and the digital content searched based on the viewer may be displayed. This can also be applied to the first embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the display device 801 and the viewer identification device 802 are directly connected to the search device 803, but these are also connected via a network such as the Internet 800. However, the present invention can be applied.

  In the second embodiment, personal data and digital content data are exchanged via a network including the Internet 800. At this time, the embodiment does not take security measures such as encryption, but the present invention can be applied even when the security measures are taken and encrypted data is exchanged.

(Other embodiments according to the present invention)
Each step of the content display apparatus, each means constituting the content display system, and the content display method in the embodiment of the present invention described above can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable storage medium storing the program are included in the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. Moreover, you may apply to the apparatus which consists of one apparatus.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 9) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to the system or apparatus. To do. In addition, this includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, and the like.

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. In addition, there are magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. It can also be supplied by downloading the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function from a homepage to a storage medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a content display device according to a first embodiment of this invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows the data structure of viewer candidate data. It is a figure which shows the data structure of a search keyword table. It is a figure which shows the data structure of digital content. It is a figure which shows the storage content of the viewer candidate data in the HDD of FIG. 1, a search keyword table, and digital content data. It is a flowchart which shows the viewer specific operation | movement by a person specific application. It is a flowchart which shows the digital content search operation | movement by a digital content search application. It is a figure which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a system configuration. It is a flowchart explaining the digital content search and display operation in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the result of having selected the influence factor at random. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the result of having selected the influence factor at random.

Explanation of symbols

10 PC
101 CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 DMAC
105 HDD
106 Imaging Device Control Unit 107 Imaging Device 108 Image Processing Unit 109 VRAM
110 Display Panel 111 Keyboard 112 Mouse 113 Bus 114 HIF Control Unit

Claims (12)

Storage means for storing digital content;
Display means for displaying the digital content stored in the storage means on a display unit;
Specifying means for specifying a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit;
Obtaining means for obtaining data related to the viewer identified by the identifying means;
Search means for searching for digital content from the storage means, using the data related to the viewer acquired by the acquisition means as a search keyword,
The content display apparatus, wherein the display means displays the digital content searched by the search means from the digital content stored in the storage means on the display unit.   The search means combines the search keywords according to a specific search condition to generate a search expression, and searches the digital content stored in the storage means based on the generated search expression. Item 2. The content display device according to Item 1. The specifying means specifies each of a plurality of viewers who are viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit,
The search means generates a search expression by combining the search keywords for each viewer who specified the search keyword according to a specific search condition, and searches the digital content stored in the storage means based on the generated search expression. The content display device according to claim 1.   The specifying unit re-identifies a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit after all the digital content data searched by the search unit is displayed on the display unit. The content display device according to claim 1, wherein the content display device is a content display device. Further comprising a detecting means for monitoring a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit and detecting a change in the viewer configuration;
The content display according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the change of the viewer configuration is detected by the detection unit, the specification unit re-specifies the viewer. apparatus. An accumulation process for accumulating digital content in an accumulation means;
A display step of displaying the digital content stored in the storage means on a display unit;
A specifying step for specifying a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit;
An acquisition step of acquiring data related to the viewer specified in the specifying step;
A search step of searching for digital content from the storage means using data related to the viewer acquired in the acquisition step as a search keyword,
In the display step, the digital content searched in the search step is displayed on the display unit from the digital content stored in the storage means.   In the search step, a search expression is generated by combining the search keywords according to a specific search condition, and the digital content stored in the storage means is searched based on the generated search expression. The content display method according to claim 6. In the identifying step, each of a plurality of viewers who are viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit is identified,
In the search step, a search expression is generated by combining the search keywords for each viewer who specified the search keyword according to a specific search condition, and the digital contents stored in the storage means are searched based on the generated search expression. The content display method according to claim 6, wherein:   In the specifying step, after all the digital content data searched in the searching step is displayed on the display unit, the viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit is specified again. The content display method according to claim 6, wherein the content display method is performed. Further comprising a detection step of monitoring a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit, and detecting a change in the viewer configuration;
The content according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein, in the specifying step, the viewer is specified again when a change in viewer configuration is detected in the detecting step. Display method. An accumulation process for accumulating digital content in an accumulation means;
A display step of displaying the digital content stored in the storage means on a display unit;
A specifying step for specifying a viewer who is viewing the digital content displayed on the display unit;
An acquisition step of acquiring data related to the viewer specified in the specifying step;
Using the data related to the viewer acquired in the acquisition step as a search keyword, let the computer execute a search step of searching for digital content from the storage means,
In the display step, the program is executed by a computer so that the digital content searched in the search step is displayed on the display unit from the digital content stored in the storage unit.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 11.

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