JP2009181644A - Audio player and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide "audio player and computer program" which select a recommended music so that a user enjoys listening music according to his or her mood. <P>SOLUTION: A recommended play list is created, in which albums related to images having similarity to an image 4102 related to an audio file or an album being reproduced are registered, and a list 4201 of the images related to each album registered in the recommended play list is displayed. When the playback of the recommended play list is instructed, each album registered in the recommended play list is successively played back. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for selecting and playing back music that meets user preferences in an audio playback apparatus that plays back recorded music.

  In the audio playback device that plays back the recorded music, as a technique for selecting and playing back music that matches the user's preference, the user's music preference is estimated from the user's music playback history, and matches the estimated preference. A technique for generating a playlist of music as a recommended playlist for use by a user is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, as a technique related to the present invention, a technique for calculating the similarity of images based on the commonality of keywords previously assigned to images and the commonality of image colors is known (for example, Patent Document 2). 3).
Special Table 2007-528038 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-158999 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-089176

According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the music included in the recommended playlist is the same music every time, but the tendency of the music that the user wants to listen to differs depending on the mood. Therefore, the recommended playlist does not always match the user's music preference.
Further, according to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the music included in the recommended playlist is approximately similar to the music, so that it is not interesting and lacks interest.
On the other hand, if music is recommended at random, there is a high probability that the recommended music is too large and deviates from the user's preference.
Then, this invention makes it a subject for a user to be able to listen to the music according to the mood at any time simply and with fun.

   In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a storage device that stores music and an image associated with the music, and an audio playback device that plays back the music stored in the storage device. Out of the stored music, recommended music extraction means for extracting, as a recommended music, music associated with an image similar to the image associated with the music being played, and the user instructs playback of the recommended music And a recommended music reproducing means for sequentially reproducing each recommended music. Here, it is also preferable that such an audio playback device is provided with recommended music related image display means for displaying a list of images associated with each music extracted as recommended music by the recommended music extraction means.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a storage device that stores an album of music and an image associated with the album, and an audio playback device that plays back the music stored in the storage device. From the album stored in the storage device, a recommended song extracting means for extracting, as a recommended album, an album associated with a song being reproduced or an image similar to an image associated with the album, from the user, And a recommended album playback unit that sequentially plays back each recommended album when playback of the recommended album is instructed. Here, it is preferable that such an audio playback apparatus is provided with recommended album related image display means for displaying a list of images associated with each album extracted as recommended music by the recommended album extracting means.

  According to such an audio reproducing apparatus, the recommended music and the recommended album are associated with an image similar to the image associated with the music or album being reproduced. These recommended music pieces and recommended albums have an impression similar to that of the associated image, and therefore have a high probability that the impression is similar to the music piece or album being reproduced. On the other hand, not all of the songs included in these recommended songs and recommended albums are necessarily close in impression to the associated images, and there are songs that have an unexpected impression on the associated images. May be included. Therefore, according to this audio playback device, when a song or album that matches the mood at that time is being played, the user can simply respond to the mood by instructing the playback of the recommended song or the recommended album. You will be able to listen to the music with fun.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a storage device that stores music and an image associated with the music, and is preset in an audio playback device that plays back the music stored in the storage device. A plurality of images are displayed, selection of an image from among the images displayed by the user is received, and an image similar to the image that has received the selection is associated from among the music stored in the storage device. Recommended music extraction means for extracting music as recommended music, and recommended music playback means for sequentially playing back each recommended music when the user gives an instruction to play the recommended music.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a storage device that stores a song album and an image associated with the album, and an audio playback device that plays back a song stored in the storage device. A plurality of predetermined images are displayed, selection of an image from among images displayed by the user is received, and an image similar to the selected image is associated from among the albums stored in the storage device. A recommended album extracting unit that extracts a current album as a recommended song, and a recommended song reproducing unit that sequentially reproduces each recommended album when the user gives an instruction to reproduce the recommended album.

  According to these audio playback devices, the user simply selects an image that matches the mood at that time from the displayed images, and a song or album associated with an image similar to the image is played. Here, these reproduced music pieces and albums are close in impression to the associated images, and therefore have a high probability of being close to the user-selected image. On the other hand, all of the songs included in these songs and albums do not necessarily have an impression similar to the associated image, and may include a song with an unexpected impression with respect to the associated image. . Therefore, according to the audio playback device, the user can simply listen to the music according to the mood with interest by simply selecting an image that matches the mood from the displayed images. It becomes like this.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user can easily listen to the music according to the mood of the moment with interest.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described taking application to an on-vehicle audio playback device as an example.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an audio playback apparatus according to this embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the audio recording / playback device according to the present embodiment is detachable from an audio processing device 1, a display device 2, an audio output device 3 such as a speaker or an audio amplifier device, an HDD 4, a portable HDD, or a portable music player. A removable drive 5 that is a storage device mounted on the audio playback device, a removable media drive 6 that reads data from a removable medium that is a removable storage medium such as a memory card, CD, or DVD, and an input device 7 And a communication device 8 for performing communication via the mobile communication network.

  The audio processing apparatus 1 is selectively connected to the CPU 11, the memory 12, the display interface 13 connected to the display apparatus 2, the audio output interface 14 connected to the audio output apparatus 3, the HDD interface 15 connected to the HDD 4, and the removable drive 5. A removable drive interface 16 to be connected, a removable media drive interface 17 to be connected to the removable media drive 6, an input interface 18 to be connected to the input device 7, a communication interface 19 to be connected to the communication device 8, and a bus 21 to connect the above-described parts. And. Here, the display interface 13, the audio output interface 14, the HDD interface 15, the removable drive interface 16, the removable media drive interface 17, the input interface 18, and the communication interface 19 are respectively connected between the connected device and the data processing device 1. It processes input / output.

Here, the HDD 4 stores an audio file management table, a playlist, an audio file storing audio data of music, and an image file storing image data, along with various programs and data.
The audio file management table is a table for managing all the audio files recorded on the HDD 4, and has an entry for each audio file as shown in FIG. 2a, and each entry is given to the audio file. The song ID as an identifier, the audio file path indicating the location of the audio file on the HDD 4, the album name of the album to which the audio file song belongs, the order of the songs in the album of the audio file song, the title, the artist name, etc. Audio meta information that is attribute information, an image file path that indicates the location on the HDD 4 of the image file associated with the audio file, and image meta information that is image attribute information of the image file associated with the audio file are registered. . Here, the image meta information includes the type of subject (male, female, child, dog) that appears in the image and the type of subject (background, sea, blue sky, grassland, city, etc.) that appears in the image. ), The overall color of the image (brilliant red, sunken green, etc.) and the tone of the image (lonely, sad, fun, etc.) are registered. The image file associated with the audio file is usually an image of the jacket cover of the album to which the music of the audio file belongs. In this case, the same image file is associated with the audio file of the music of the same album. .

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the playlist is a list of audio files, and a playlist name that is the name of the playlist is described. In the playlist, the music IDs of the audio files registered in the playlist are registered in the standard reproduction order.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2c, the audio file is a file storing the audio data of the music. In the audio file, audio meta information registered in the audio file management table is registered together with the audio data. .
As shown in FIG. 2d, the image file is a file storing image data. In the image file, image meta information registered in the audio file management table is registered together with the image data.
However, as shown in FIG. 2e, an audio file includes audio data as meta information, audio meta information, image data associated with the audio file, and audio file in which the image meta information is registered. Can be used.

In such a configuration, the CPU 11 executes an audio file storage process, a playlist creation process, an audio file reproduction process, and an automatic recommendation process as shown in FIG. 1 by executing a program stored in the HDD 4 in advance. And do.
First, in the audio file storing process, an audio file recorded on a removable medium mounted on the removable drive 5 or the removable media drive 6 is read and stored in the HDD 4 according to a user operation. Further, the image file associated with the audio file is attached to the removable drive 5 or the removable media drive 6 according to predetermined management information recorded on the removable media attached to the removable drive 5 or the removable media drive 6. If the image file exists on the removable medium, the image file is also read and stored in the HDD 4.

  Then, an entry for each audio file stored in the HDD 4 is created in the audio file management table, and the audio file path and audio meta information, which are the file paths of the audio file, and the image file related to the audio file are included in the entry. The image file path that is the path of the image and the image meta information of the related image data are registered. However, when the audio file includes the related image data in the meta information as shown in FIG. 2e, the path of the audio file is described as the image file path and the image meta information of the related image data is registered. Like that.

  If the audio file read from the removable drive 5 or the removable media drive 6 does not include audio meta information or has no related image file, the audio meta information of the audio file and the related image file are included. May be acquired from a server on the Internet accessed via the communication device 8.

The audio file stored in the HDD 4 may be downloaded from a server on the Internet accessed via the communication device 8.
Next, in the playlist creation process, a playlist in which the audio file selected by the user is registered is created.
Also, in this playlist creation process, every time an audio file is newly recorded or deleted in the HDD 4, the audio file on the HDD 4 having the same album name included in the audio meta information is displayed in the order of the songs included in the audio meta information. An album playlist that is a registered playlist and an artist playlist that is a playlist in which audio files on the HDD 4 having the same artist included in the audio meta information are registered according to title order are automatically created / updated. .

  Next, in the audio file playback process, the audio file specified by the user or each audio file registered in the playlist specified by the user is read out on an appropriate GUI, and the audio data is output from the audio output device 3. Perform playback processing.

  Here, in the audio file reproduction process, during reproduction of the audio file, a reproduction control window as shown in FIG. 4a is displayed on the display device 2, and the reproduction information window 410 in the reproduction information window displays the audio file management table. Audio meta information (artist, title, album name, etc.) 4101 of the audio file being reproduced, which is obtained by referring to the entry of the audio file being reproduced, and an image 4102 of the image file associated with the audio file being reproduced are displayed. To do. In the audio file playback process, a button group 420 for receiving playback control operations such as playback pause, playback start, playback skip, and volume change operation from the user is displayed in the playback control window. In accordance with the operation of the group 420, processing for controlling the playback state of the audio file is also performed.

Finally, in the automatic recommendation process, during the audio file reproduction process by the audio file reproduction process, a process for recommending the audio file to be reproduced is performed next.
FIG. 3 shows the procedure of this automatic recommendation process.
As shown in the figure, in this process, first, image meta information of an image associated with the audio file registered in the entry of the audio file being reproduced by the audio file reproduction process in the audio file management table is acquired ( Step 302). However, in step 302, the image meta information of the image associated with the audio file registered in the entry of the audio file registered at the head of the album playlist to which the audio file being reproduced belongs in the audio file management table. May be obtained.

  Then, the processing of steps 306 to 308 is performed for each of the predetermined recommendation keys (steps 304, 310, and 318). However, the recommendation key is one or a plurality of items that are selected in advance as items to be recommended music selection keys from the image meta information items.

  Next, among the album playlists created for each album, the content of the recommendation key is added to the entry of the audio file registered at the top of the album playlist in the audio file management table. All album playlists in which image meta information matching the information is registered are extracted (step 306). In other words, in this embodiment, an image associated with the first audio file in the album playlist is set as an image associated with the album. Then, in this step 306, an album playlist of an album in which the image associated with the album is similar to the audio file being reproduced or the image associated with the album is extracted.

And the playlist name of the extracted album playlist was registered. A recommended play list as shown in FIG. 2f is created (step 308).
Then, if the processing of steps 308 to 308 is performed for all the recommended keys, each created recommended playlist is associated with the album of each album playlist whose playlist name is registered in the recommended playlist. (The image of the image file associated with the audio file registered at the top of the album playlist) is displayed (step 312). The image file associated with the audio file can be obtained from the image file path of the audio file entry in the audio file management table.

  Here, for each recommended playlist, an image associated with the album of each album playlist registered in the recommended playlist (an image file associated with the audio file registered at the top of the album playlist) The image) is displayed as follows, for example.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4a, a recommended playlist album image display area 4201 corresponding to each recommended playlist is provided in the recommended information area 420 provided in the playback control window, and corresponding to each recommended playlist album image display area 4201. Register the images associated with the albums of each album playlist registered in the recommended playlist (image files associated with the audio file registered at the top of the album playlist) in the recommended playlist. Arranged in the order of the album list.

  Here, if the image of the image file associated with the audio file registered at the top of each album playlist is the image of the album cover corresponding to the album playlist, the recommended playlist album image In the display area 4202, an image of the jacket cover of the album of each album playlist registered in the corresponding recommended playlist is arranged side by side.

  In addition, each image displayed in each recommended playlist album image display area 4202 is an item represented by an image of an image file associated with the audio file or album being played and a recommendation key corresponding to the corresponding recommended playlist. Have similarities or commonality.

  That is, it is assumed that the image of the image file associated with each audio file of each album playlist is the image of the jacket cover of the album corresponding to the album playlist, and the subject subject of the image meta information as the recommendation key And an item of the type of the subject that is the background, and the image of the image file associated with the audio file being played is the subject to be the subject as shown in the image 4102 of FIG. 4a. When a dog is included and a blue sky is included as a subject as a background,

  That is, in this case, two recommendation playlists are created corresponding to each recommendation key. Then, as shown in the two recommended playlist album image display areas 4201 in FIG. 4a, the album playlist of the album cover jacket album including the dog as the subject is registered as the first recommended playlist. In the second recommended playlist, an album playlist of an album with an image of a jacket cover including a blue sky as a subject as a background is registered.

  Returning to FIG. 3, if the image for each recommended playlist is displayed as described above (step 312), then the selection of the recommended playlist from the user (step 314) and the audio file are performed. The occurrence of a change in the audio file being played back by the playback process (step 316) is monitored, and if the user selects a recommended playlist (step 314), the recommendation selected for the audio file playback process The reproduction of the playlist is instructed (step 320), and the process returns to the monitoring of steps 314 and 316. On the other hand, when a change in the audio file being reproduced by the audio file reproduction process occurs (step 316), the process returns to step 302.

Note that the selection of a recommended playlist from the user is accepted by a selection button 4202 provided for each recommended playlist album image display area of each recommended playlist, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A.
Here, in the audio file playback processing, when playback of the recommended playlist is instructed from the automatic recommendation processing, playback processing based on the recommended playlist is performed. That is, the respective audio files registered in the album playlist to be reproduced are sequentially reproduced while the album playlists registered in the recommended play list instructed to be reproduced are sequentially reproduced. As a result, an album similar to the image of the image file associated with the audio file being reproduced is associated with the album (image similar to the image of the image file associated with the audio file being reproduced is the first audio file). The associated albums) are played sequentially. That is, when an image of a jacket cover is associated with each audio file, an album having a similar image to the album being reproduced and the image of the jacket cover is sequentially reproduced.

  Here, in the audio file reproduction process, when the reproduction process based on the recommended playlist is performed, a reproducing recommended playlist album image display area 4203 is generated in the reproducing music information area 410, and the reproducing recommended playlist album is reproduced. In the image display area 4203, an image associated with the album of each album playlist registered in the recommended playlist being played (the image file associated with the audio file registered at the top of the album playlist). The images corresponding to the album playlist in which the audio file being reproduced is registered are arranged in an order of the album list registered in the recommended playlist.

  When the automatic recommendation process instructs the reproduction of the recommended playlist selected for the audio file reproduction process (step 320), the audio file reproduced by the audio file reproduction process is changed (step 316), and the automatic recommendation process is performed. Returns to the processing of step 302.

The automatic recommendation process has been described above.
By the way, in the audio reproducing apparatus as described above, the CPU 11 performs the recommendation processing shown in FIG. 5 according to the program stored in the HDD 4 when the audio reproducing apparatus is activated or when a recommendation request is issued from the user. You may do it.
As shown in the figure, in this process, first, images of a plurality of image files stored in advance for recommendation processing in the HDD 4 are displayed as shown in FIG. 4B, for example (step 502). Here, the plurality of image files stored for the recommendation processing are created so that the contents of the items of the image meta information are various contents. That is, for example, the images of the plurality of image files stored for the recommendation processing include images having various overall colors and images having various impressions.

Then, selection of an image from the displayed images is accepted (step 504), and image meta information of the image file of the accepted image is acquired (step 506).
An album playlist associated with an image similar to the selected image, that is, an album playlist created for each album, is registered at the head of the album playlist in the audio file management table. All album playlists in which image meta information whose similarity with the image meta information acquired in step 506 is greater than a predetermined level are registered in the audio file entry are extracted (step 508).

  Then, a recommended playlist in which the playlist name of the extracted album playlist is registered is created (step 510), and playback of the recommended playlist selected for audio file playback processing is instructed to play back the created recommended playlist. (Step 512), the process ends.

  In each of the above embodiments, image meta information of an image of each image file may be generated by analyzing an image indicated by image data in an audio reproduction device. For example, the overall color of the image and the tone of the image impression are determined by the color distribution of the image (for example, the overall color is determined by the area area of each hue color and the average brightness / saturation, etc. The tone can be determined from the average brightness, contrast, etc.). In addition, the type of subject as the subject and the type of subject as the background can be determined by applying an appropriate image recognition process for recognizing the type.

  In the above embodiment, the image of the image file associated with the first audio file of the album is the image associated with the album, but this is the case of the image file associated with any audio file in the album. The image may be an image associated with the album. Further, when information that directly associates an image file with an album is stored in the HDD 4, the image of the image file associated with the album based on the information may be an image associated with the album. .

In the above embodiment, an audio file to be reproduced in the recommended playlist is selected in units of albums. However, an audio file to be reproduced in the recommended playlist may be selected in units of audio files.
That is, in this case, an audio file in which image meta information whose contents of the recommendation key match the image meta information acquired in step 302 is registered in the entry of the audio file management table in step 306 of the automatic recommendation processing. In step 308, a recommended playlist in which the extracted audio file is registered is created. In step 312, for each recommended playlist, an image associated with each audio file registered in the recommended playlist. Displays an image of the file. Then, in the audio file reproduction process, the audio files registered in the recommendation playlist instructed to be reproduced from the automatic recommendation process are sequentially reproduced.

  In the recommendation process, in step 508, all audio files in which image meta information whose similarity with the image meta information acquired in step 506 is greater than a predetermined level are registered in the entries of the audio file management table are extracted. A recommended playlist in which the audio file extracted in step 510 is registered is created. Then, in the audio file reproduction process, the audio files registered in the recommendation playlist instructed to be reproduced from the automatic recommendation process are sequentially reproduced.

  As described above, according to the automatic recommendation process according to the present embodiment, the recommended playlist includes an album associated with an audio file being reproduced or an image similar to the album. Here, there is a high probability that the music of each audio file or album is similar in impression to the associated image. On the other hand, all of the music pieces of the audio file reproduced by the recommended playlist are not necessarily close to the image associated with the audio file or the album to which the audio file belongs, and are associated with each other. Music that has an unexpected impression on the image may be included. Therefore, according to this automatic recommendation process, when an audio file or album that matches the mood at that time is being played, the user can simply select and play the recommended playlist and respond to the mood. You will be able to listen to albums and audio files with fun.

  Similarly, according to the recommendation processing according to the present embodiment, the user simply selects an image that matches the mood at that time from among the displayed images, and an album or audio file corresponding to the mood can be easily obtained. Can be heard with interest.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the audio reproduction apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the memory content of HDD of the audio reproduction apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the automatic recommendation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the audio reproduction apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the recommendation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Audio processing apparatus, 2 ... Display apparatus, 3 ... Audio output device, 4 ... HDD, 5 ... Removable drive, 6 ... Removable media drive, 7 ... Input device, 8 ... Communication apparatus, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Memory, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Display interface, 14 ... Audio output interface, 15 ... HDD interface, 16 ... Removable drive interface, 17 ... Removable media drive interface, 18 ... Input interface, 19 ... Communication interface, 21 ... Bus, 410 ... Music information area during reproduction 420 ... Recommendation information area, 4202 ... Recommended playlist album image display area, 4203 ... Reproduced recommended playlist album image display area.

Claims (8)

An audio playback device that includes a storage device that stores a song and an image associated with the song, and that plays back the song stored in the storage device,
A recommended music extracting means for extracting, as recommended music, music associated with an image similar to the image associated with the music being played out of the music stored in the storage device;
An audio reproducing apparatus comprising: a recommended music reproducing unit that sequentially reproduces each recommended music when the user gives an instruction to reproduce the recommended music. The audio playback device according to claim 1,
An audio playback apparatus comprising: a recommended music related image display means for displaying a list of images associated with each music extracted as recommended music by the recommended music extraction means. An audio playback device that includes a storage device that stores an album of music and an image associated with the album, and that plays back the music stored in the storage device,
A recommended music extraction means for extracting, as a recommended album, an album associated with an image similar to an image associated with the music being reproduced or the album from among the albums stored in the storage device;
An audio reproducing apparatus comprising: a recommended album reproducing unit that sequentially reproduces each recommended album when reproduction of a recommended album is instructed by a user. The audio playback device according to claim 3,
An audio playback apparatus comprising: a recommended album related image display means for displaying a list of images associated with each album extracted as recommended music by the recommended album extracting means. An audio playback device that includes a storage device that stores a song and an image associated with the song, and that plays back the song stored in the storage device,
A plurality of predetermined images are displayed, selection of an image from among the images displayed by the user is received, and an image similar to the image that has received the selection is associated with the music stored in the storage device. A recommended music extraction means for extracting the current music as recommended music,
An audio reproducing apparatus comprising: a recommended music reproducing unit that sequentially reproduces each recommended music when the user gives an instruction to reproduce the recommended music. An audio playback device that includes a storage device that stores an album of music and an image associated with the album, and that plays back the music stored in the storage device,
A plurality of predetermined images are displayed, selection of an image from among images displayed by the user is received, and an image similar to the selected image is associated from among the albums stored in the storage device. A recommended album extracting means for extracting a current album as a recommended song,
An audio reproducing apparatus comprising: a recommended music reproducing unit that sequentially reproduces each recommended album when a user gives an instruction to reproduce the recommended album. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
The computer,
A storage device for storing an album of music and an image associated with the album;
Playback means for playing back music stored in the storage device;
A recommended music extraction means for extracting, as a recommended album, an album associated with an image similar to an image associated with the music being reproduced or the album from among the albums stored in the storage device;
A computer program that functions as an audio playback device including a recommended album playback unit that sequentially plays back each recommended album when a user instructs playback of the recommended album. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
The computer,
A storage device for storing an album of music and an image associated with the album;
Playback means for playing back music stored in the storage device;
A plurality of predetermined images are displayed, selection of an image from among images displayed by the user is received, and an image similar to the selected image is associated from among the albums stored in the storage device. A recommended album extracting means for extracting a current album as a recommended song,
A computer program that functions as an audio playback device having recommended music playback means for sequentially playing back each recommended album when a user instructs playback of the recommended album.