JP2014030122A - Digital signage apparatus, control program of the same, and digital signage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently display a content suitable for as many users as possible.SOLUTION: This digital signage apparatus comprises a display device, acquisition means, selection means, and control means. The acquisition means acquires one or more attributes relating to a predetermined object positioned in at least a portion of an area in which a display by the display device can be viewed. The selection means selects, from among plural conditions determined in association with each of plural groups, a condition formed by the one or more attributes acquired by the acquisition means, and selects a group associated with the selected condition. The control means controls the display device to display a content associated with the group selected by the selection means.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a digital signage apparatus, a control program thereof, and a digital signage system.

  Digital signage systems that acquire viewer attributes and display content suitable for the viewers are known.

  Conventionally, in such an apparatus, even when there are a plurality of viewers, for example, content suitable for one viewer whose attributes can be acquired first is displayed.

JP 2004-245856 A

  With the technology described above, there are cases where the content to be displayed is not suitable for the majority of viewers, and there is a risk that efficient content display cannot be performed.

  Under such circumstances, it has been desired that contents suitable for more viewers can be efficiently displayed.

  The digital signage apparatus according to the embodiment includes a display device, an acquisition unit, a selection unit, and a control unit. The acquisition unit acquires one or more attributes related to a predetermined object located in at least a part of an area where the display on the display device can be viewed. The selection means selects a condition established by one or more attributes acquired by the acquisition means from a plurality of conditions determined in association with each of the plurality of groups, and selects the group associated with the selected condition. elect. The control unit controls the display device to display the content associated with the group selected by the selection unit.

The figure which shows the structure of the digital signage system which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of a group table. The flowchart of CPU with which the digital signage apparatus in FIG. 1 is provided.

  An example of the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a digital signage system 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The digital signage system 100 is configured so that the digital signage device 1 and the server 2 can communicate with each other via a communication network 3.

  The digital signage device 1 is installed in a place where an unspecified number of viewers may exist, and displays content representing advertisement information and the like. The server 2 manages a plurality of contents to be displayed on the digital signage apparatus 1 and distributes these contents to the digital signage apparatus 1. The communication network 3 can be applied to any network that enables communication between the digital signage device 1 and the server 2, but is typically a local area network (LAN) or the Internet.

  A digital signage apparatus 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 10, a read-only memory (ROM) 11, a random-access memory (RAM) 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, a display device 14, a display interface 15, a camera 16, and a camera interface. 17 and communication device 18. Among these, the CPU 10, the ROM 11, the RAM 12, the auxiliary storage device 13, the display interface 15, the camera interface 17, and the communication device 18 are respectively connected to the bus line 19. The display device 14 is connected to the display interface 15. The camera 16 is connected to the camera interface 17.

  The CPU 10 executes a review process to be described later according to the operating system and application program stored in the ROM 11 and the auxiliary storage device 13.

  The ROM 11 stores the above operating system and application programs. The ROM 11 may store data necessary for the CPU 10 to execute various processes.

  The RAM 12 stores data necessary for the CPU 10 to execute various processes as necessary. The RAM 12 is also used as a work area when the CPU 10 performs various processes.

  The auxiliary storage device 13 is, for example, a hard disk drive, an SSD (solid state drive), or a nonvolatile rewritable memory. The auxiliary storage device 13 stores data used when the CPU 10 performs various processes and data generated by the processes performed by the CPU 10. The auxiliary storage device 13 may store the above application program. The auxiliary storage device 13 stores the group table.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the group table.

  The group table is a set of data records describing information about each of a plurality of groups.

  The data record includes group name, condition, and content address information. The group name information represents a name for identifying each of the plurality of groups. The condition information represents a condition for determining whether or not the corresponding group is included in the viewer group. The content address information represents an address for accessing the content associated with the group.

  The display device 14 is driven by the display interface 15 to display an image. As the display device 14, various known devices such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a liquid crystal projector can be used.

  The display interface 15 controls the display device 14 to display an image corresponding to the image data transferred under the control of the CPU 10.

  The camera 16 is provided with a photographing range so as to photograph at least a part of a region (hereinafter referred to as a viewing region) where a viewer of a display image on the display device 14 can exist, and images within the photographing range are displayed. The represented image data is generated. As the camera 16, for example, a known imaging device using a CCD sensor can be used.

  The camera interface 17 writes the image data output from the camera 16 in the RAM 12.

  The communication device 18 communicates with the server 2 via the communication network 3. As the communication device 18, for example, an existing LAN communication device or an Internet communication device can be applied. As the communication device 18, a wireless device may be used.

  The application program stored in the ROM 11 or the auxiliary storage device 13 includes a control program describing the review process. The digital signage apparatus 1 may be sold or transferred with the control program stored in advance in the ROM 11 or the auxiliary storage device 13, or may be removable such as a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, or a semiconductor memory. A control program recorded in a recording medium or sold or transferred by communication via a network may be arbitrarily written in the auxiliary storage device 13.

  The server 2 includes a CPU 20, a ROM 21, a RAM 22, an auxiliary storage device 23 and a communication device 24. The CPU 20, ROM 21, RAM 22, auxiliary storage device 23, and communication device 24 are connected to a bus line 25, respectively.

  The CPU 20 executes a well-known process for content management on the operation system and application program stored in the ROM 21 and the auxiliary storage device 23.

  The ROM 21 stores the above operation system and application programs. The ROM 21 may store data necessary for the CPU 20 to execute various processes.

  The RAM 22 stores data necessary for the CPU 20 to execute various processes as necessary. The RAM 22 is also used as a work area when the CPU 20 performs various processes.

  The auxiliary storage device 23 is, for example, a hard disk drive or an SSD (solid state drive). The auxiliary storage device 23 stores data used when the CPU 20 performs various processes and data generated by the processes in the CPU 20. The auxiliary storage device 23 may store the above application program. The auxiliary storage device 23 stores a plurality of contents to be displayed on the digital signage apparatus 1 in association with a plurality of groups. Therefore, the auxiliary storage device 23 functions as a storage device that stores a plurality of contents respectively associated with a plurality of groups.

  The server 2 can use, for example, a general-purpose server device or a computer device as basic hardware. At this time, the server 2 may be sold or transferred with the necessary application programs stored in the ROM 21 or the auxiliary storage device 23 in advance, or may be a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like. An application program recorded in a removable recording medium or sold or transferred by communication via a network may be arbitrarily written in the auxiliary storage device 23.

  Next, the operation of the digital signage system 100 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the CPU 10.

  The CPU 10 executes a review process as shown in FIG. 3 based on a control program stored in the ROM 11 or the auxiliary storage device 13 at each predetermined review timing. The review timing may be arbitrarily determined by the designer or user of the digital signage apparatus 1, but it is assumed that the review timing is, for example, a certain time interval.

  In step Sa1, the CPU 10 operates the camera 16 to photograph the viewing area. The image data output from the camera 16 is written into the RAM 12 by the camera interface 17.

  In step Sa2, the CPU 10 analyzes the image data written in the RAM 12 as described above, and extracts all predetermined objects included in the image represented by the image data. The object to be extracted here includes at least a human. In the present embodiment, animals other than humans are also objects to be extracted. An object that is possessed by the viewer and that is one of the features of the viewer may be included in the object to be extracted. An existing technique can be used to extract an object included in an image.

  In step Sa3, the CPU 10 acquires one or a plurality of attributes relating to each of the extracted objects. The attribute is, for example, the position of a person in the sex, age group, or viewing area. In addition to this, attributes such as height and clothes may be included. The gender and age group can be acquired using, for example, a well-known face recognition technique. Thus, the CPU 10 functions as an acquisition unit by executing the control program.

  In step Sa4, the CPU 10 selects one of the conditions included in the group table and not selected in the current review process.

  In step Sa5, the CPU 10 analyzes the attribute acquired in step Sa3 and checks whether or not the selected condition is satisfied. For example, when the condition “number of women> number of men” shown in FIG. 2 is selected, the CPU 10 counts the number of “female” and “male” included in the attribute acquired in step Sa3, and “female”. It is determined that the selected condition is satisfied when the number of is greater than the number of “male”. If the determination is YES because the currently selected condition is satisfied, the CPU 10 proceeds to step Sa6. If it is determined NO because the currently selected condition is not satisfied, the CPU 10 passes step Sa6 and proceeds to step Sa7.

  In step Sa6, the CPU 10 sets a group associated with the currently selected condition as a display group. That is, if the condition “number of women> number of men” is satisfied, the CPU 10 sets the group “female center” as the display group. Thus, the CPU 10 functions as selection means by executing the control program.

  In step Sa7, the CPU 10 checks whether or not there is no unselected condition. If it is determined NO because there are still unselected conditions, the CPU 10 returns to step Sa4 and repeats the above-described processing for the unselected conditions. If all the conditions included in the group table have been selected and it is determined YES in step Sa7, the CPU 10 ends the review process.

  By the way, the CPU 10 executes display control processing based on the control program as processing of a task different from the above review processing. In this display control process, the CPU 10 acquires content associated with the display group from the server 2 via the communication network 3 and controls the display device 14 to display the content. When there are a plurality of display groups, the CPU 10 controls the display device 14 so as to display a plurality of contents associated therewith in a time-sharing manner for every predetermined unit time. Alternatively, the CPU 10 may control the display device 14 to divide the display area of the display device 14 into a plurality of pieces and display a plurality of contents at the same time. Thus, the CPU 10 functions as control means by executing the control program.

  As described above, according to the digital signage apparatus 1, it is determined which group the viewer group belongs to based on the attribute of the object currently located in the viewing area. Instead of the conditions, the conditions determined for each group are used, all the groups meeting the conditions are selected as the groups to which the viewer group belongs, and all the corresponding groups are set as the display groups. Then, any content associated with each display group is displayed on the display device 14. For example, if the audience group is “there are more women than men but also couples with animals other than humans”, and the group table is as shown in FIG. Three groups of “center”, “couple”, and “pet owner” are set as display groups, and contents associated with each of these groups are displayed on the display device 14.

  As a result, the viewer can view content suitable for a larger number of viewers included in the viewer group, and the content can be displayed efficiently.

  This embodiment can be variously modified as follows.

  The content may be stored in the auxiliary storage device 13.

  At least a part of the processing from step Sa2 to step Sa7 may be performed by the CPU 20.

  The function of the server 2 may be realized by distributed processing of a plurality of servers.

  The attribute acquisition method can be arbitrarily changed. For example, it is conceivable to use RFID technology. In other words, the viewer's attributes may be stored in a storage medium built in the member card or mobile phone possessed by the viewer, and the attributes may be collected from within the viewing area using RFID technology.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Digital signage system, 1 ... Digital signage apparatus, 2 ... Server, 3 ... Communication network, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... ROM, 12 ... RAM, 13 ... Auxiliary storage device, 14 ... Display device, 15 ... Display interface, 16 ... Camera, 17 ... Camera interface, 18 ... Communication device, 23 ... Auxiliary storage device.

Claims (6)

A display device;
Obtaining means for obtaining one or more attributes relating to a predetermined object located in at least a part of an area where the display on the display device can be viewed;
A selection that selects a condition that is satisfied by one or more attributes acquired by the acquisition means from a plurality of conditions that are determined in association with each of a plurality of groups, and that selects a group that is associated with the selected conditions Means,
A digital signage apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the display device so as to display content associated with the group selected by the selection means.   The said control means controls the said display device so that the some content linked | related with the said several group may be displayed on a time division, when the said selection means elects several groups. The digital signage device according to 1. A camera for photographing at least a part of an area where the display on the display device can be viewed;
3. The digital according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires one or a plurality of attributes relating to one or a plurality of predetermined objects reflected in the image from an image captured by the camera. Signage device.   The said object contains a human, The said acquisition means acquires the attribute regarding the said human by recognizing the human face reflected in the said image, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Digital signage device. A display device;
Obtaining means for obtaining one or more attributes relating to a predetermined object located in at least a part of an area where the display on the display device can be viewed;
A computer in a digital signage device comprising a computer,
A selection that selects a condition that is satisfied by one or more attributes acquired by the acquisition means from a plurality of conditions that are determined in association with each of a plurality of groups, and that selects a group that is associated with the selected conditions Means,
A control program for causing a function associated with the display device to display content associated with the group selected by the selection means. Including a digital signage device and a server capable of communicating with each other;
A display device provided in the digital signage apparatus;
A storage device that is provided in the digital signage apparatus or the server and stores a plurality of contents respectively associated with the plurality of groups;
An acquisition unit that is provided in the digital signage apparatus or the server and acquires one or a plurality of attributes related to a predetermined object located in at least a part of an area where the display on the display device can be viewed;
A condition established by one or more attributes acquired by the acquisition means is selected from a plurality of conditions provided in the digital signage device or the server and associated with each of the plurality of groups. A selection means for selecting a group associated with the selected condition;
Control means provided in the digital signage apparatus or the server, for controlling the display device so as to display the content stored in the storage device in association with the group selected by the selection means;
The digital signage system, wherein the server includes at least one of the storage device, the acquisition unit, the selection unit, and the control unit.

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