JP2012169918A - Device, method and program for determining group behavior - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine whether a content is collectively viewed by a plurality of users or by a single person, with high accuracy without imposing a mental burden upon a user.SOLUTION: The power on/off states of a television receiver 1 are detected, and the reception intensity of a radio wave transmitted from a remote controller 2 is determined, and further, user biological information transmitted from the remote controllers 2 of the respective users is received and stored. The user biological information detected in a period when the power is on and the reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the remote controllers 2 is equal to or greater than a threshold value is read out, so that the variation thereof is calculated. Based on the calculation result of the variation, there is detected a period from a time point when the change timing of the biological information of the respective users is coincident to a time point when the biological information of at least one user is changed. The detected period is determined to be a period, a collective viewing period, in which the respective users are simultaneously viewing an identical television program.

Description

  The present invention relates to a collective behavior determination apparatus, method, and program for determining whether a user who is watching a broadcast program with a television receiver, for example, is watching in a group or alone.

  In recent years, television program recorders and the like equipped with a function of recommending a television program suitable for a user using a viewing history and a recording history have been commercialized. However, existing devices do not distinguish between viewing alone or as a group (for example, a couple). Therefore, there is a problem that the history of all users who use the device is mixed and the recommendation accuracy of a program suitable for an individual or a group is lowered.

  Therefore, a technique for estimating whether a television program is viewed alone or as a group has been proposed. In this technology, for example, a camera is installed in or around a television receiver, a person is recognized from an image captured by the camera, and the number of users who are viewing is estimated from the recognition result. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-157767 A

However, with the means using the camera, the user is always aware that the image is being taken, and feels psychological discomfort. In addition, when a photographed image of the camera leaks, it leads to a problem such as privacy leakage.
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and the purpose of this invention is to give a psychological burden to the user whether a plurality of users are viewing the contents as a group or alone. It is another object of the present invention to provide a collective action determination apparatus, method, and program that can be determined with high accuracy.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a content display device that displays content so that a plurality of users can view the content simultaneously, and a plurality of living bodies that detect and transmit the biological information of each of the plurality of users. When determining the collective behavior of the plurality of users in the collective behavior determination device connected to each of the information detection devices,
Based on the operation state of the content display device, it is determined whether or not the content display device is displaying content, and the content is received by the user from the reception quality of the signal transmitted from the biological information detection device. It is determined whether or not the display device is within the viewable range, further receives the user's biological information transmitted from the plurality of biological information detection devices, calculates the change characteristics thereof, and calculates the calculated It is determined whether the similarity of the change characteristics of each biological information satisfies a preset condition.
Then, it is determined that the content display device is operating to display content, the user is determined to be present in the viewable range with respect to the content display device, and the similarity of the change characteristics of the biological information is determined in advance. When it is determined that the set condition is satisfied, it is determined that the plurality of users are viewing the content as a group.

  Therefore, first, it is assumed that the content display device is in a content display operation and that the user is present at a position where the content displayed on the content display device can be viewed. If the change characteristics are similar within a predetermined range, it is determined that these users are viewing the content as a group. For this reason, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether a plurality of users are viewing the contents in a group or alone by using a camera or the like without giving a psychological burden to the users.

The first aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising the following embodiments.
In the first aspect, when the change characteristic of the biological information is calculated, the change amount of each biological information is calculated in time series, and the timing at which the calculated change amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value is detected. And based on the detection result of the timing of this change, the synchro period in which the change of said some biometric information is synchronizing is specified.

  In the second aspect, when the synchronization period is specified, the timing when the changes in the plurality of biological information occur within the same preset time is set as the start timing of the synchronization period. The timing when any one of the biological information changes is set as the end timing of the synchronization period.

  According to the first and second aspects, the similarity of biometric information among a plurality of users is detected as a synchronization period in which changes in biometric information occur synchronously, which makes it relatively easy and It is possible to accurately determine whether or not a plurality of users are viewing the same content together.

In a third aspect, the biological information inspection apparatus includes a pulse sensor that detects a user's pulse, and the change characteristic calculation unit calculates the change characteristic from the user's pulse detection data detected by the pulse sensor. .
In general, changes in human emotions such as fear, fun, and excitement are reflected in the pulse without causing individual differences, and the pulse can be detected with high sensitivity by an inexpensive sensor. For this reason, by using the pulse as the biometric information, it is possible to determine whether or not the user is viewing the content in a group with relatively high accuracy while having an inexpensive configuration.

  In the fourth aspect, as a method for calculating the amount of change in biological information, the change direction of each biological information value obtained at two adjacent timings is represented by a cosine value, whereby the cosine similarity of each biological information value is obtained. A method of calculating and using the calculated cosine similarity as a change amount of the biological information between the two adjacent timings is used.

  If it does in this way, the change of the biometric information between each timing can be expressed using the parameter | index called cosine similarity. By using the cosine similarity, it is possible to detect a fine change as a smaller value and a large change as a larger value. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of noise caused by the detection accuracy of the biological information detection device and the surrounding environment.

  That is, according to the present invention, a collective behavior determination device that can determine with high accuracy whether a plurality of users are viewing content in a group or whether they are viewing alone without giving a psychological burden to the user, It becomes possible to provide a method and a program.

The figure which shows an example in case the change timing of biometric information used for description of the principle of this invention corresponds. The figure which shows the example of calculation of the biometric information variation | change_quantity using cosine similarity used for principle explanation of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the tuning determination result based on the change timing of biometric information used for the principle description of this invention. The figure which showed the effect of the synchronization determination by biometric information used for description of the principle of this invention by an experimental result. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the television receiving system provided with the collective action determination apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the more concrete structure of the television receiving system provided with the collective action determination apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the procedure and process content of the group action determination process by the system shown in FIG.5 and FIG.6. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which calculates the variation | change_quantity of biometric information among the collective action determination processing procedures shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of power supply information of the television receiver illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. The figure which shows an example of the electromagnetic wave intensity information from the remote controller managed in the television receiver shown in FIG.5 and FIG.6. The figure which shows an example of a user's biometric information managed in the television receiver shown in FIG.5 and FIG.6. The figure which shows an example of the television viewing-and-listening information by a group produced by the group action determination process shown in FIG.

[principle]
First, the principle of the present invention will be described.
For example, while watching a television broadcast program, if there are scary scenes or interesting scenes, the viewer will see changes in biometric information such as an increase in pulse and an increase in sweating. If a group, such as a couple, is watching such a scene at the same time, there is a high possibility that the timing (time) of changes in biometric information matches. That is, the change in the biometric information of the group is synchronized. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of changes in biometric information, for example, pulse, occurring in users A and B when user A and user B are watching the same program at the same time. As described above, when a plurality of users are watching the same program at the same time, it is expected that the change in the biological information is synchronized. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not a plurality of users were watching the same program at the same time by paying attention to the synchronization of changes in the biological information.

  However, it is not sufficient to synchronize the change in the biological information. This is because changes in biometric information of a plurality of users may coincide with each other by actions other than the viewing operation of the television broadcast program, or may coincide with each other by chance. Therefore, two factors, whether or not the power of the television receiver is turned on and whether or not there is a distance that can be viewed by the user with respect to the television receiver, are also used as criteria.

  By using information indicating whether or not the power of the television receiver is turned on, it is possible to determine whether or not the change in the biological information of the user is due to viewing of the television broadcast program. In other words, if the television receiver is not turned on in the first place, it is clear that the television broadcast program is not being watched, so it is tuned except when the television receiver is not turned on. It is possible to remove the time that is being used.

  Further, by using whether or not the distance between the television receiver and the user is short, whether or not the user is in a position where the user can view the television broadcast program, that is, the television receiver is installed. It is possible to determine whether a user exists in the room. Even if the power of the television receiver is turned on, it means that the user is not viewing unless the user is in a position where the user can view the television broadcast program. Therefore, by using the information on the distance between the television receiver and the user and the information on the power on / off state described above in combination, it is possible to further eliminate the time during which the television broadcast program was not viewed. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, the above two elements alone cannot cope with cases where only one user is watching even if both users are near the television receiver, and the other person is reading or doing housework. Therefore, information about the synchronization of the biological information described above is required. That is, when only one of the users is watching a television broadcast program, it is difficult for biometric information to be synchronized. Therefore, it is possible to make a highly accurate determination by using synchronization of biological information.

This invention pays attention to the above points,
(1) The television receiver is turned on.
(2) A plurality of users are all in a position where a television broadcast program can be viewed.
(3) The biometric information is synchronized among multiple users.
When all of the three conditions are satisfied, it is determined whether or not a plurality of users are simultaneously watching the television broadcast program, that is, whether or not the target group is simultaneously watching the television broadcast program.

  By the way, in order to determine the synchronization of the biological information, it is necessary to calculate the amount of change of the biological information. For example, a method applying cosine similarity is used to calculate the amount of change. The cosine similarity is a technique for calculating the similarity between two data using a cosine value. The cosine similarity takes a value ranging from −1 to 1, and the closer to 1, the two data are considered to be similar. By using cosine similarity, it is possible to make fine changes to smaller values and large changes to larger values. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of noise caused by the accuracy of the sensor for detecting biological information such as a pulse and the surrounding environment.

Now, it is assumed that the biological information at the times t-1 and t 2 has values as shown in FIG. At this time, assuming that the angle formed by the pulse rate at time t-1 and the pulse rate at time t is θt, θt is as shown in FIG. Therefore, the similarity sim (t) between the pulse rate at time t 1 and the pulse rate at time t−1 can be expressed by the following equation.
sim (t) = cos (θt)

When the angle θ as shown in FIG. 2 is taken, the range of values that θ can take is from −π / 2 to π / 2. For this reason, the range of values that the similarity sim (t) can take is 0 to 1. The value to be calculated is a change amount, and “similar” is equivalent to “no change”. From the above two things, if the change amount is obtained by subtracting 1 from the similarity sim (t), a value closer to 0 is obtained as the change is smaller, and a value closer to 1 is obtained as the change is greater. Therefore, the amount of change var (t) at time t can be expressed by the following equation.
var (t) = 1-sim (t)

  If this change amount is less than a certain threshold value is “0” and more than the threshold value is “1”, the graph shown in FIG. 3 is obtained. When biometric information of a target group (user A and user B in FIG. 3) is compared in such a graph, the timing at which the change timings coincide is set as the start time of the biometric information synchronization period (synchronization period). The synchronization period continues until any one of the user's biometric information changes. In the example of FIG. 3, the three described sections are synchronized periods in which biological information is synchronized. By using this synchronization period detection information, it is possible to determine whether or not the target group is simultaneously watching a television program.

ここで、ωk は時刻k における加重値であり、そのとりうる範囲を０≦ωt ≦１とすることで、もともとの変化量がとりうる範囲を変えずに加重をかけることが可能となる。 In the above example, the amount of change in biological information is calculated using only the data at time t and the timing t-1 one sample before, but in order to make it more resistant to noise, the past multiples up to n sample timings before The amount of change may be obtained using the data. For example, when n = 5, the average value of var (t-4), var (t-3), var (t-2), var (t-1), var (t) is the time The amount of change in t. That is, the amount of change at time t is calculated using the following equation.

Here, ωk is a weighted value at time k 1, and by making the possible range 0 ≦ ωt ≦ 1, it is possible to apply the weight without changing the range that the original change amount can take.

[Grounds for obtaining effects by synchronizing biological information]
The verification of the possibility of the effect of the present invention was performed by paying attention to the synchronization of biological information.
Now, each married couple living with us was able to live with a commercially available pulse sensor. FIG. 4 shows the time when the synchronization occurred, the time when the television program was watched together, and the time when only one person was watching the television program together. According to FIG. 4, the time zone in which the television program was watched together is more frequently synchronized than the other time zones. From this result, it can be seen that the synchronization of biometric information (such as pulse) can be used as a criterion for determining whether or not a plurality of users are watching a television program together.

[Embodiment]
Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Device configuration)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a television receiving system provided with a collective behavior determining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
This television receiving system includes a television receiver 1 and a remote controller 2.

  The remote controller 2 includes a remote control signal generation unit (not shown) and an input / output interface unit 23. The remote control signal generation unit generates various remote control signals such as a channel selection signal and a volume control signal for the television receiver 1 in accordance with a user operation. The input / output interface unit 23 has a function of transmitting the remote control signal generated by the remote control signal generation unit to the television receiver 1 using, for example, infrared rays.

Furthermore, the remote controller 2 includes a biological information generation unit 21, a storage unit 22, a timer 24, and a proximity wireless module 25, which constitute a main part of the biological information detection device.
The timer 24 gives a biological information acquisition start trigger signal to the biological information generation unit 21 at a predetermined cycle. The biometric information generation unit 21 is activated by a biometric information acquisition start trigger given from the timer 24, detects the user's pulse from the user's hand holding the remote controller 2, for example, and counts the number of pulses per unit time. The pulse count value is associated with the measurement time, user ID, and biological information type information, and stored in the storage unit 22 as biological information.

  When the storage unit 22 is ready to transmit biological information, the storage unit 22 reads the stored biological information and transmits the read biological information from the input / output interface unit 23 to the television receiver 1. And it has a function which deletes transmitted biometric information from the memory | storage part 22 after this transmission completion. The proximity wireless module 25 has a function of transmitting radio waves continuously or intermittently while the remote controller 2 is operating. This transmission radio wave is used for the television receiver 1 to measure the reception intensity from the remote controller 2.

The television receiver 1 includes a television receiver body 11 and an input / output interface unit 16.
The television receiver body 11 has a function of receiving a television broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station and outputting the video and audio. Further, the television receiver main body 11 monitors on / off of the power supply of the television receiver 1, and stores information indicating the on / off state of the power supply in association with the detection time in the storage unit 12 described later as power supply information. It also has a function.

  The input / output interface unit 16 receives the remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller 2 and gives it to the television receiver body 11. The input / output interface unit 16 also has a function of receiving biological information transmitted from the remote controller 2 and storing it in the storage unit 12 described later.

Furthermore, the television receiver 1 includes a storage unit 12, a group viewing determination unit 13, a timer 14, and a proximity wireless module 15, which constitute a main part of the group behavior determination device.
The proximity wireless module 15 receives the radio wave transmitted from the remote controller 2 and detects the reception intensity thereof, and information indicating the detected radio wave intensity is used as the measurement time, the user ID of the remote controller 2 as the transmission source, and It has a function of storing the information in the storage unit 12 in association.

  The timer 14 generates a determination start trigger signal at a predetermined cycle and supplies the determination start trigger signal to the group viewing determination unit 13. The group viewing determination unit 13 is activated by a determination start trigger signal generated from the timer 14. Then, based on the power supply information, the radio wave intensity information, and the biometric information stored in the storage unit 12, for example, a time zone in which a plurality of users such as family members and couples are watching the same program at the same time is determined. Based on the result, group viewing information is created and stored in the storage unit 12.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration for realizing the function of the television receiving system including the collective action determination device described above.
The remote controller 2 includes a central processing unit (CPU; Central Processing Unit) 211. A program memory 213, a data memory 214, a timer interface 215, an input / output interface 216, and a CPU 212 are connected to the CPU 211 via a bus 212. The pulse sensor 217 and the proximity wireless module 25 described above are connected.

  The program memory 213 stores an input / output control program 2131 and a biological information calculation program 2132. The input / output control program 2131 realizes the functions of the input / output interface unit 23 shown in FIG. 5 by controlling the input / output interface 216.

  The biological information calculation program 2132 realizes the function of the biological information generation unit 21 shown in FIG. 5 in cooperation with the pulse sensor 217, and a biological information acquisition start trigger generated from the timer 24 is transmitted via the timer interface 215. When notified, the user's pulse detection data is taken from the pulse sensor 217 and the number of pulses per unit time is counted. Then, the count value of the pulse rate is associated with the measurement time, the user ID, and the biometric information type information, and the biometric information is stored in the biometric information storage area 2141 in the data memory 214.

The data memory 214 is provided with a biological information storage area 2141. The biological information storage area 2141 is used to store biological information calculated by the biological information calculation program 2132.
Similarly to the remote controller 2 described above, the television receiver 1 also includes a central processing unit (CPU; Control Processing Unit) 111. The CPU 111 is in close proximity to the program memory 113 and the data memory 114 via the bus 112. The wireless module 15, the timer interface 115, and the input / output interface 116 are connected.

  The data memory 114 includes a power source information storage area 1141, a radio wave intensity information storage area 1142, a biological information storage area 1143, and a group viewing information storage area 1144 as storage areas necessary for carrying out the embodiment of the present invention. Is provided. The power information storage area 1141 is used for storing the power information described above. The radio wave intensity information storage area 1142 is used for storing the radio wave intensity information described above. The biometric information storage area 1143 is used to store the biometric information described above. The group viewing information storage area 1144 is used for storing the group viewing information described above.

  The program memory 113 stores an input / output control program 1131, a biological information synchronization calculation program 1132, and a group viewing determination program 1133 as application programs necessary for carrying out the embodiment of the present invention. Among these, the input / output control program 1131 realizes the function of the input / output interface unit 16 shown in FIG. 5 by controlling the input / output interface 116. The biological information synchronization calculation program 1132 and the group viewing determination program 1133 implement the function of the group viewing determination unit 13 shown in FIG.

The biological information tuning calculation program 1132 is activated when a determination start trigger signal generated from the timer 14 is notified via the timer interface 115, and executes the following processing.
(1) A process of reading power information at a determination target time from the power information storage area 1141 of the data memory 114 for each user ID and determining whether or not the power of the television receiver 1 is turned on.
(2) When it is determined that the power of the television receiver 1 is turned on at the determination target time, the radio wave intensity information at the determination target time is read from the radio wave intensity information storage area 1142, and the remote controller 2 The process of determining whether or not the received electric field intensity from the above is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.
(3) When it is determined that the received electric field intensity at the determination target time is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the biological information at the determination target time is read from the biological information storage area 1143 and the change amount of the read biological information is calculated. To do.
(4) The calculated amount of change in the biometric information is compared between a plurality of users A and B, and the time when the amount of change equal to or greater than the predetermined amount is detected (start time) and any one thereafter Processing for detecting a time (end time) when it is detected that one of the biological information has changed by a predetermined amount or more.

  The group viewing determination program 1133 associates the start time and end time detected by the biological information synchronization calculation program 1132 with the IDs of the corresponding users A and B. Then, a process of storing this information in the group viewing information storage area 1144 as group viewing information indicating a period during which the users A and B are simultaneously viewing the same program is performed.

(Operation)
Next, an operation for determining a television program viewing period in a group by the system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure and processing contents.

(1) Detection of power supply information In the television receiver main body 11, the power supply on / off operation of the television receiver 1 is monitored. When power on / off is detected, information indicating the power on / off state is stored in the power information storage area 1141 in the data memory 114 as power information together with the detection time. FIG. 9 shows an example. As shown in the figure, the power supply information is stored as a set of information indicating the date and time and information indicating whether the power of the television receiver 1 is on or off.

(2) Detection of radio wave intensity information In the remote controller 2, the close proximity wireless module 25 transmits radio waves continuously or intermittently during a period in which the remote controller 2 is operating. On the other hand, in the television receiver 1, the proximity wireless module 15 periodically monitors the reception quality of the radio wave transmitted from the remote controller 2. Then, the detection value of the reception intensity of the radio wave is associated with the detection date and the identification information (for example, user ID) of the remote controller 2 that is the transmission source, and this is used as the radio wave intensity information. The data is stored in the storage area 1142. FIG. 10 shows an example. As shown in the figure, the radio field intensity information is stored as a set of date and time, a user ID possessing the remote controller 2 serving as a transmission source, and a detected value of the radio field intensity.

(3) Acquisition of biometric information In the remote controller 2, every time a biometric information acquisition start trigger is generated from the timer 24 at a constant period, the pulse sensor 217 detects the pulse of the user under the control of the biometric information calculation program 2132. The pulse rate per unit time is counted based on the detected data. Then, the count value of the pulse rate is associated with the measurement time, the user ID, and the biometric information type information, and then stored as biometric information in the biometric information storage area 2141 in the data memory 214.

  In the remote controller 2, when the biological information can be transmitted, the biological information is read from the biological information storage area 2141 under the control of the biological information calculation program 2132. The read biometric information is transmitted from the input / output interface unit 23 to the television receiver 1. Note that the transmitted biometric information is deleted from the biometric information storage area 2141 after the transmission is completed.

  On the other hand, in the television receiver 1, the biological information transmitted from the remote controller 2 is received by the proximity wireless module 15, and the received biological information is stored in the biological information storage area 1143 in the data memory 114. FIG. 11 shows an example. As shown in the figure, the biometric information is a set of date and time, the ID of the user who owns the remote controller 2, information indicating the type of biometric information (pulse in this embodiment), and a count value of the pulse rate. One data is stored.

(4) Group viewing determination process The group viewing determination process is performed in the television receiver 1 under the control of the biological information synchronization calculation program 1132 and the group viewing determination program 1133 as follows.
That is, first, in step S11, power supply information corresponding to the determination target time is read from the power supply information storage area 1141, and the television receiver 1 is turned on at the determination target time based on the read power supply information. It is determined whether it was on or off. If the result of this determination is OFF, the process proceeds to step S19, where it is determined whether or not an undetermined time remains. If it remains, the process returns to step S11, and if it does not remain, the process ends.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the television receiver 1 is turned on as a result of the power on / off determination. In this case, the group viewing determination program 1133 proceeds to step S12. In step S12, among the radio wave intensity information corresponding to each user to be determined, the power intensity information corresponding to the determination target time is read from the radio wave intensity information storage area 1142. Then, based on the read radio wave intensity information, it is determined whether or not each determination target user is within the range in which the television receiver 1 can be viewed at the determination target time. This determination process is performed by determining whether or not the radio wave intensity is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value.

  In order to perform the determination process more accurately, the intensity of the radio wave transmitted by the proximity wireless module 25 is measured between the remote controllers 2 used by the determination target user, and a condition is added that the radio wave intensity is equal to or greater than a threshold value. May be. In this way, it is possible to more accurately determine that a plurality of users are watching the television together.

  As a result of the determination of the radio field intensity, if at least one of the determination target users does not exist within the range where the television receiver 1 can be viewed, the process proceeds to step S19, where is an undetermined time left? It is determined whether or not. If it remains, the process returns to step S11, and if it does not remain, the process ends.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination of the radio wave intensity, it is assumed that each determination target user is within a range where the television receiver 1 can be viewed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S13, and a process for calculating the amount of change in the biological information for each determination target user is executed. This biometric information change amount calculation processing will be described in detail later.

  When the change amount of the biological information is calculated for each determination target user, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, it is determined whether the change amount of the biometric information of each determination target user calculated in step S13 is “1” or “0”. This determination of “1” or “0” is performed on data obtained by binarizing the amount of change in biological information based on a preset threshold value. As a result of the determination, if both the change amounts of the biometric information of the respective determination target users are “1”, the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, it is determined whether or not the timings of changes in the biometric information of the respective determination target users determined to be “1” are synchronized. Whether or not they are synchronized is determined by reading the latest group viewing information from the group viewing information storage area 1144 out of the group viewing information created before the current determination target time, and the end time of the read information is blank. If there is, it is determined that they are synchronized. As a result of this determination, if the timing of change of the biometric information of each determination target user is synchronized, the process proceeds to step S19, and if not, the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S17, group viewing information at the current determination target time is created for each determination target user. In this case, the current determination target time is inserted as the group viewing start time, and the ID of the determination target user (for example, user01 and user02 as shown in FIG. 12) is stored as the user ID. Note that the end time is left blank.

  On the other hand, in step S14, it is assumed that at least one of the change amounts of the biometric information of each determination target user is not “1”. In this case, in step S16, it is determined whether only one of the change amounts of the biometric information of each determination target user previously calculated in step S13 is “1” and is in a synchronized state. As a result of this determination, if only one is “1” and is in a synchronized state, it is determined that one of the determination target users has left the viewing state by the group, and the process proceeds to step S18. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S19. Transition. Whether or not it is in a synchronized state is read out from the group viewing information storage area 1144 of the latest group viewing information among the group viewing information created before the current determination target time, as in the determination process in step S15. This determination is made based on whether or not the end time of the read information is blank.

  In step S18, a process for describing information indicating that the synchronization of the biological information has been completed in the group viewing information is performed. In this process, for example, the latest group viewing information of the group viewing information created before the current determination target time is read from the group viewing information storage area 1144, and the current determination target time is inserted at the end time of the read information. It is done by doing.

(5) Biological Information Change Calculation Processing The biometric information change calculation processing in step S13 is performed as follows under the control of the biological information tuning calculation program 1132. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure and processing contents.
That is, first, in step S131, the biometric information is read from the biometric information storage area 1143 in the data memory 114 before or after n seconds from the determination target time of the determination target user. Note that the value of n is preset and is performed based on this value. However, it is necessary to set a value that includes at least the data before one sampling.

  Subsequently, in step S132, the biometric information with the oldest time is selected from the read biometric information. The selected biological information and the read whole biological information are held in the work memory.

Next, in step S133, it is determined whether or not there is biometric information at a newer time than the currently selected biometric information in the read all biometric information. If it does not exist, the process proceeds to step S136.
In step S134, the amount of change between the currently selected biometric information and the biometric information at a time that is newer and closest to the biometric information currently selected from among all the read biometric information is calculated. For example, the following formula is used to calculate the amount of change var (k) at time k.
var (k) = 1-cos (θk)

Here, θk represents an angle made up of the currently selected biometric information and the biometric information at a time that is newer and closest to the biometric information currently selected from among all the read biometric information. For example, assuming that the read biometric information is biometric information from time t-4 to t, and the currently selected biometric information is biometric information at time t-4, The biometric information that is newer and closest to the biometric information currently selected in the biometric information is time t-3. The angle formed by these two pieces of biological information is θ _t−3 , and the cosine value is the amount of change. When calculating the angle, the horizontal axis is calculated as 1 sampling rate, and the vertical axis is calculated as 1 beat / minute if the pulse is 1. This calculated change amount is held in the working memory.

  Next, in step S135, the biometric information that is newer and closest to the currently selected biometric information is selected as a new selection destination from among the read biometric information. For example, if the biometric information at time t-4 is selected, the biometric information at time t-3 becomes a new selection destination.

When the repetitive processing in steps S133 to S135 is completed, that is, when all the read biometric information is from time t-4 to t, when biometric information at a new time t is selected in step S133, In step S136, the final change amount at the determination target time is calculated by integrating the change amounts calculated in steps S133 to S135. For example, the following equation is used to calculate the change amount sumvar (t) at the determination target time t 1.

  Subsequently, in step S137, the amount of change calculated in step S136 is binarized based on a preset threshold value. As a result, among the calculated change amounts, those greater than or equal to the threshold value are converted to “1”, and those less than the threshold value are converted to “0”. Then, the biometric information change amount data converted into the binarized data is stored in the work memory.

Finally, in step S138, it is determined whether there are any determination target users who have not yet calculated the biological information change amount at the determination target time. As a result of the determination, if there is a corresponding determination target user, the user is selected as a determination target, and the process returns to step S131 to execute the processes in steps S131 to S137 described above. On the other hand, if there is no determination target user who has not yet calculated the biological information change amount, the biometric information change amount calculation process ends.
Thus, the amount of change in biometric information using the cosine similarity is calculated.

  As described in detail above, in this embodiment, the power on / off state of the television receiver 1 is detected, the reception intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the remote controller 2 is determined, and further transmitted from the remote controller 2 of each user. Each user's biometric information is received and stored. Then, the user's biometric information detected during a period when the power is on and the reception intensity of the radio wave from the remote controller 2 is equal to or greater than a threshold value is read and the amount of change is calculated, and the amount of change is calculated. Based on the result, a period from when the change timing of the biometric information of each user coincides to when the biometric information of at least one user changes is detected, and each user simultaneously plays the same television program during this period. The viewing period, that is, the group viewing period is determined.

  Therefore, it is assumed that the television receiver 1 is receiving television broadcasts and that the user is present at a position where the user can view the television program displayed on the television receiver 1. Thus, it is determined whether or not each user is watching the television program in a group based on the timing of the change of the biometric information of each user or more. For this reason, it becomes possible to determine the group viewing period with high accuracy without giving a psychological burden to the user using a camera or the like.

  In addition, the amount of change in biological information is calculated using cosine similarity. That is, the cosine similarity of each biometric information value is calculated by expressing the change direction of each biometric information value obtained at two adjacent timings by a cosine value, and the calculated cosine similarity is calculated as the adjacent 2 The amount of change in biological information between two timings is set. For this reason, changes in biometric information between timings can be expressed using an index called cosine similarity, which makes it possible to detect fine changes as smaller values and large changes as larger values. . Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of noise caused by the detection accuracy of the biological information detection device and the surrounding environment.

  Furthermore, the user's pulse is detected as biometric information, and the amount of change is calculated from the pulse detection data. In general, changes in human emotions such as fear, fun, and excitement are reflected in the pulse without causing individual differences, and the pulse can be detected with high sensitivity by an inexpensive sensor. For this reason, by using the pulse as the biometric information, it is possible to determine whether or not each user is watching the television program in a group with relatively high accuracy while having an inexpensive configuration.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the function of the collective behavior determination device is provided in the television receiver 1 has been described as an example. However, the collective behavior determination device is provided separately from the television receiver 1 and this collective behavior determination device is provided. You may make it connect between a behavior determination apparatus, the television receiver 1, and the remote controller 2 with a signal cable or a radio link. Further, a function for realizing the collective action determination device may be accommodated in a storage medium such as a flash memory or a USB memory, and these memories may be mounted on the television receiver 1 or the remote controller 2.

  In the embodiment, the case where the television receiver 1 is used as a content display device has been described as an example. However, video content or game content distributed from a website or stored in a storage medium is reproduced. It may be a device or a device that displays video content on a screen or display device in a movie theater or hall.

  Moreover, although the case where the biological information detection device is provided in the remote controller 2 has been described as an example in the above-described embodiment, the biological information is also included in a portable communication terminal such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, or an electronic book terminal, You may make it incorporate a detection apparatus. In addition, the biological information detection device is not built in the remote controller or the like, but is configured as an independent device having only the biological information sensor and the wireless interface function, and this device is attached to the biological information detection target part of the user's body. May be.

  In addition, the types and configurations of the content display device and the biological information detection device, the group viewing period determination processing procedure, the processing content, and the like can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In short, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Television receiver, 2 ... Remote controller, 11 ... Television receiver main body, 12, 22 ... Memory | storage part, 13 ... Collective viewing determination part, 14, 24 ... Timer, 15, 25 ... Proximity wireless module, 16, 23 ... Input / output interface unit, 21 ... Biometric information generation unit, 111,211 ... CPU, 112,212 ... Bus, 113,213 ... Program memory, 114,214 ... Data memory, 115,215 ... Timer interface, 116,216 ... Input / output interface, 217 ... Pulse sensor, 1131,131 ... Input / output control program, 1132 ... Biometric information tuning calculation program, 1133 ... Group viewing determination program, 1141 ... Power supply information storage area, 1142 ... Radio wave intensity information storage area, 1143 ... Biological information storage area, 1144 ... Group viewing information Storage area, 2132 ... biological information calculation program, 2141 ... biometric information storage area.

Claims (7)

A collective behavior determination device connected to a content display device that displays content so that a plurality of users can view the content simultaneously, and a plurality of biological information detection devices that detect and transmit the biological information of each of the plurality of users. And
First determination means for determining whether or not the content display device is displaying content based on an operation state of the content display device;
Second determination means for determining whether or not the user is present in the viewable range with respect to the content display device from the reception quality of the signal transmitted from the biological information detection device;
Change characteristic calculation means for receiving user biometric information transmitted from the plurality of biometric information detection devices, respectively, and calculating change characteristics of each received biometric information;
Third determination means for detecting the similarity of the calculated change characteristics of each biological information and determining whether the detected similarity satisfies a preset condition;
It is determined by the first determination means that the content display device is displaying content, the second determination means determines that the user is within the viewable range for the content display device, and When it is determined by the third determination means that the similarity of the change characteristics of each biological information satisfies a preset condition, it is determined that the plurality of users are viewing the content in a group A group action judging device comprising: group judging means for performing The change characteristic calculation means calculates a change amount of each received biological information on a time series, detects a timing at which the calculated change amount is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value,
The collective behavior determination device according to claim 1, wherein the third determination unit specifies a synchronization period in which changes in the plurality of pieces of biological information are synchronized based on the detection result of the timing.   The third determination means sets the timing when the change of the plurality of pieces of biological information occurs within the same preset time as the start timing of the synchronization period, and any one of the plurality of pieces of biological information is 3. The collective behavior determination apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the timing when the change occurs is set as an end timing of the synchronization period.   2. The biometric information inspection apparatus includes a pulse sensor for detecting a user's pulse, and the change characteristic calculation unit calculates the change characteristic from user pulse detection data detected by the pulse sensor. The collective behavior determination device described.   The change characteristic calculation means calculates a cosine similarity of each biometric information value by expressing a change direction of each biometric information value obtained at two adjacent timings by a cosine value, and the calculated cosine similarity The collective behavior determination device according to claim 2, wherein the change amount of the biological information between the two adjacent timings is used. Collective behavior executed by devices connected to a content display device that displays content so that a plurality of users can view the content simultaneously, and a plurality of biological information detection devices that detect and transmit the biological information of each of the plurality of users A determination method comprising:
A first determination step of determining whether or not the content display device is in a content display operation based on an operation state of the content display device;
A second determination step of determining whether or not the user is present in the viewable range with respect to the content display device from the reception quality of the signal transmitted from the biological information detection device;
Process means for receiving user biometric information transmitted from the plurality of biometric information detection devices, respectively, and calculating change characteristics of each received biometric information,
A third determination step of detecting the similarity of the calculated change characteristics of each biological information and determining whether or not the detected similarity satisfies a preset condition;
It is determined in the first determination process that the content display device is in operation to display the content, and in the second determination process, it is determined that the user is within the viewable range for the content display device; and When it is determined by the third determination process that the similarity of the change characteristics of each biological information satisfies a preset condition, it is determined that the plurality of users are viewing the content in a group A collective action judging method comprising the steps of: Determination including a computer connected to a content display device that displays content so that a plurality of users can view the content simultaneously, and a plurality of biological information detection devices that detect and transmit the biological information of each of the plurality of users For equipment
A first determination process for determining whether or not the content display device is in a content display operation based on an operation state of the content display device;
A second determination process for determining whether or not the user is present in the viewable range with respect to the content display device from the reception quality of the signal transmitted from the biological information detection device;
Processes for receiving user biometric information transmitted from the plurality of biometric information detection devices, respectively, and calculating change characteristics of each received biometric information,
A third determination process for detecting the similarity of the calculated change characteristics of each biological information and determining whether the detected similarity satisfies a preset condition;
It is determined in the first determination process that the content display device is in operation to display the content, and in the second determination process, it is determined that the user is within the viewable range for the content display device; and When it is determined by the third determination process that the similarity of the change characteristics of each biological information satisfies a preset condition, it is determined that the plurality of users are viewing the content in a group A program that executes processing to be performed.

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