JP2019121204A - Content search device and content search method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a content search device and a content search method permitting a user to easily select a content desired by the user.SOLUTION: A content search device 1 includes: an attribute selection unit 14 which selects one or more attributes from a plurality of attributes in accordance with a use intended by a user; a content selection unit 15 which selects, from a plurality of contents and for each attribute, the one or more contents having any of the attributes selected by the attribute selection unit; and a screen display unit 16 which displays a recommend screen permitting a user to select either one of the one or more contents selected by the content selection unit 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a content search device and a content search method.

  BACKGROUND ART Content reproducing apparatuses for reproducing various contents such as music, video and radio broadcast are widely used. In the content reproduction apparatus, a method of displaying a list of titles and attributes of reproducible contents is used as a method for the user to search for a desired content from a plurality of reproducible contents.

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2002-222363

  However, in the above-described conventional method, as the reproducible content and the attribute thereof increase, the number of operations required for the user increases, and therefore, the method is not necessarily easy for the user. For example, 100 or more programs of DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) are broadcasted, and 30 or more program types (attributes) of the DAB broadcast are set. Therefore, in a tuner for reproducing DAB broadcasts, the user needs to select a desired program type from among 30 or more types, and select a desired radio program title from among 100 or more programs. As described above, when many titles and attributes are displayed as a list, in the conventional content reproduction apparatus, the user does not repeatedly perform the swipe operation and the scroll operation on the screen displayed as a list, and thus the desired content is displayed. Could not choose.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content search device and a content search method that allow a user to easily select desired content.

  The content search apparatus according to one embodiment selects, by the attribute selection unit, an attribute selection unit that selects one or more attributes according to the user's usage purpose from among a plurality of attributes, and a plurality of contents. A content selection unit that selects, for each of the attributes, one or more of the content having any of the attributes, and the user selects one of the one or more of the contents selected by the content selection unit. And a screen display unit for displaying a recommendation screen from which one can be selected.

  According to each embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to realize a content search device and a content search method that allow a user to easily select desired content.

The figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a content search device. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a content search device. A table showing an example of content information. A table showing an example of history information. A table showing an example of program type selection order. A table showing an example of selection order of radio programs. The figure which shows an example of a list screen. The figure which shows an example of a recommendation screen. The figure which shows the other example of a recommendation screen. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the content search device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In addition, regarding the description of the specification and drawings according to each embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to components having substantially the same functional configuration, and the overlapping description will be omitted.

  A content search device 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The content search device 1 according to the present embodiment is a device for searching for content desired by the user from among a plurality of pieces of content, and is mounted on the content reproduction device for reproducing the content. The content search device 1 recommends, to the user, content and attributes highly likely to be preferred by the user according to the purpose of use of the content search device 1 (content reproduction device).

  Types of content include music, video, and radio broadcasts. The content of music is music, the content of video is television programs and movies, and the content of radio broadcasts is radio programs. Hereinafter, although the case where the content search device 1 is mounted on an on-vehicle tuner for reproducing a radio program will be described as an example, the content search device 1 may be mounted on another content reproduction device such as a television or an audio device.

  First, the hardware configuration of the content search device 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content search device 1. The content search device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a read only memory (ROM) 102, a random access memory (RAM) 103, a hard disk drive (HDD) 104, and an input device 105. And a display device 106. The content search device 1 further includes a communication interface 107 and a bus 108.

  The CPU 101 executes each program to control each component of the content search device 1 to realize the function of the content search device 1.

  The ROM 102 stores programs executed by the CPU 101 and various data.

  The RAM 103 provides the CPU 101 with a work area.

  The HDD 104 stores programs executed by the CPU 101 and various data.

  The input device 105 inputs information corresponding to the user's operation into the content search device 1. The input device 105 includes a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, and a hardware button.

  The display device 106 displays a screen according to the user's operation. The display device 106 includes a liquid crystal display and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display.

  The communication interface 107 connects the content search device 1 to a network such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network), and controls communication with an external device on the network. The content search device 1 communicates with an external device via the communication interface 107.

  The bus 108 mutually connects the CPU 101, the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the HDD 104, the input device 105, the display device 106, and the communication interface 107.

  The hardware configuration of the content search device 1 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 and may have another configuration. Further, in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that the content search device 1 is realized by one computer such as a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, and a microcomputer, but the content search device 1 , And may be realized by a plurality of computers connected via a network. In addition, the content search device 1 may share at least a part of the hardware configuration with the content reproduction device.

  Next, the functional configuration of the content search device 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the content search device 1. The content search device 1 of FIG. 2 includes a content information storage unit 11, a history information storage unit 12, a usage purpose specification unit 13, an attribute selection unit 14, a content selection unit 15, and a screen display unit 16. . The content information storage unit 11 and the history information storage unit 12 are realized by a storage medium such as the ROM 102, the RAM 103, and the HDD 104. The purpose of use specification unit 13, the attribute selection unit 14, the content selection unit 15, and the screen display unit 16 are realized by the CPU 101 executing a program.

  The content information storage unit 11 stores information (hereinafter referred to as “content information”) related to each content reproducible by the content reproduction apparatus. Content information includes content identification information, a title, an attribute, and an icon (logo). The attribute may be given to the content in advance or may be given by the user. When the type of content is a radio broadcast, a program type can be used as an attribute. When the type of content is music, genres of music, artist names, album names, etc. can be used as attributes. When the type of content is video, genres of television programs and movies can be used as attributes.

  FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of content information. Each record in FIG. 3 corresponds to content information of each radio program. In the example of FIG. 3, the content information includes a program ID (identification information) of a radio program, a broadcasting station name, a title, a program type (attribute), and an icon. For example, the broadcast station name of a program whose program ID is "001" is "AAA", the title is "aaa", the program type is "Nesw", and the icon is image data "aaa.jpg" is there.

  When the type of content is a radio broadcast, it is preferable that the content information storage unit 11 periodically acquire and update content information from a server (external device) that distributes a radio broadcast. Thus, the content information stored in the content information storage unit 11 can be updated to the content information of the latest content that can be reproduced at present.

  When the type of content is music and music data is input to the content reproduction apparatus by the user, the content information storage unit 11 extracts content information of each music from the music data input by the user. , May be stored. The same applies to the case where the type of content is video.

  The content information is not limited to the example shown in FIG. The content information may include any information according to the type of content, such as the broadcast station name in FIG.

  The history information storage unit 12 stores history information (reproduction history) of the content reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus. Each piece of history information includes identification information of a reproduced content, a title, an attribute, a reproduction date and time, and a reproduction time.

  FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the history information. Each record in FIG. 4 corresponds to history information of each content. In the example of FIG. 4, the history information includes the reproduction date and time of the radio program, the reproduction time, the program ID (identification information), the broadcast station name, the title, the program type (attribute), and the purpose of use. For example, the playback date and time of the first line record is "12/25 15:40", the playback time is "30:00", the program ID is "001", and the broadcast station name is "AAA". The title is "aaa", the program type is "Nesw", and the purpose of use is "holiday". The purpose of use will be described later.

  The history information storage unit 12 acquires content information of the reproduced content from the content information storage unit 11 each time the content is reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus, and updates the history information as shown in FIG. The history information is not limited to the example shown in FIG. The history information may include any information corresponding to the type of content, such as the broadcast station name in FIG.

  The usage purpose specification unit 13 specifies the usage purpose of the content search device 1 (content reproduction device) by the user. When the content reproduction apparatus is an on-vehicle tuner, it can be considered as a purpose of use such as vacation, business, and shopping. The purpose of use may be set by the user, or the purpose of use specification unit 13 may specify based on the information from the vehicle. As the latter method, a method of specifying the purpose of use based on the destination input to the car navigation system, the driver specified from the image taken by the on-vehicle camera, the traveling start date and time of the vehicle, and the like can be considered. The usage purpose specifying unit 13 preferably stores the specified usage purpose in the history information storage unit 12 as in the example of FIG. 4. In addition, the kind and identification method of utilization purpose are not restricted to said example.

  From the plurality of program types (attributes) stored in the content information storage unit 11, the attribute selection unit 14 selects N (N ≧ 1) program types according to the purpose of use of the user. N is an arbitrary value, may be a preset fixed value, or may be changeable by the user. The program type selected by the attribute selection unit 14 is a program type recommended by the user on a recommendation screen described later. Since the program type preferred by the user is considered to differ depending on the purpose of use, the attribute selection unit 14 recommends N program types highly likely to be preferred by the user to the user according to the purpose of use. Select as program type. In addition, the attribute selection unit 14 gives a priority of recommendation to the selected program type.

  The attribute selection unit 14 may set the selection order of program types in advance for each use purpose. In this case, the attribute selection unit 14 may assign priority to each program type in the order of selection according to the selection order.

  FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the selection order of program types set for each usage purpose. The program type i in FIG. 5 is a program type in which the selection order is set to the i-th. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, “Pop Music”, “Rock Music”, “Jazz Music”, and “Light Classical” are set as the program types 1 to 4 corresponding to “Houraku”, respectively. Therefore, when the purpose of use is "confortable", the attribute selection unit 14 selects and selects N program types in the order of "Pop Music", "Rock Music", "Jazz Music", and "Light Classical". Assign priorities to each program type in the order in which

  When there is a program type not included in the program types of currently playable radio programs among the program types having the selection order up to the N-th, the attribute selection unit 14 does not select the program type, and the unselected program is selected. Among the types, the program type having the next highest selection order may be selected. For example, if a radio program having program type 1 is currently unreproducible (is not distributed), the attribute selecting unit 14 selects and selects program type 2 to program type (N + 1) as N program types. The priority may be given to each program type in the order in which it was done.

  The table as shown in FIG. 5 may be set by the user or may be set by an external device. As the latter method, a method may be considered in which the popularity ranking of the program type for each usage purpose acquired from the server (external device) distributing the radio broadcast is used as the selection order of the program type for each usage purpose.

  On the other hand, the attribute selection unit 14 may select N program types according to the purpose of use of the user based on the history information, and may give priorities to the selected program types. For example, the attribute selection unit 14 refers to the history information of a predetermined period, tabulates the number of reproductions of the radio program for each program type, selects N program types in descending order of the number of reproductions, and selects each program in the selected order. Types may be prioritized. In addition, the attribute selection unit 14 refers to the history information of a predetermined period, tabulates the reproduction time of the radio program for each program type, selects N program types in descending order of reproduction time, and selects each program in the selected order. Types may be prioritized. As a result, it is possible to accurately select a program type that is highly likely to be preferred by the user. Furthermore, when selecting the program type based on the history information, the attribute selecting unit 14 may select the program type with reference to all the history information of the predetermined period, and the history information of the predetermined period may be selected. The program type may be selected with reference to only the history information whose usage purpose matches. By the latter method, it is possible to accurately select a program type highly likely to be preferred by the user for each use purpose.

  If there is a program type not included in the program types of currently playable radio programs among the program types up to the N-th reproduction, the attribute selecting unit 14 does not select the program type, and the unselected program is selected. Among the types, the program type having the next highest number of times of reproduction may be selected. Similarly, when there is a program type not included in the program types of currently playable radio programs among the program types up to the N-th playback time, the attribute selection unit 14 does not select the program type and is not yet selected. Among program types of selection, a program type having the next longest reproduction time may be selected. In any case, the attribute selection unit 14 may give priority to each program type in the order in which the program types are selected.

  Note that the method of selecting the program type by the attribute selection unit 14 is not limited to the above example. The attribute selection unit 14 can also select, for example, a program type according to the usage purpose using other information together with the history information. As other information, a destination input to a car navigation system, a driver specified from an image captured by an on-vehicle camera, a travel start date and time of a vehicle, weather information, and the like can be considered.

  The content selection unit 15 selects M (M ≧ 1) of any of the plurality of radio programs (content) whose content information is stored in the content information storage unit 11 and having any one of the program types selected by the attribute selection unit 14. Choose a radio program). The content selection unit 15 selects a total of (N × M) radio programs in order to select M radio programs for each program type. M is an arbitrary value, may be a preset fixed value, or may be changeable by the user. The radio program selected by the content selection unit 15 is a radio program recommended to the user on a recommendation screen described later. The content selection unit 15 selects, for each program type, M radio programs highly likely to be preferred by the user as the radio programs to be recommended to the user. Further, the content selection unit 15 gives a priority order of recommendation to the selected radio program.

  The content selection unit 15 may preset the selection order of the radio program for each program type. In this case, the content selection unit 15 may give priority to each radio program in the order of selection according to the selection order.

  FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of the selection order of radio programs set for each program type. The program i in FIG. 6 is a radio program whose selection order is set to the i-th. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, “ddd”, “eee”, “fff”, and “ggg” are set as programs 1 to 4 corresponding to “Pop Music”, respectively. Therefore, when the program type is "Pop Music", the content selection unit 15 selects M radio programs in the order of "ddd", "eee", "fff", and "ggg" and selects the selected program in the order of selection. Prioritize each radio program.

  If the radio program up to the M-th selection order is not currently playable, the content selection unit 15 does not select the radio program, and selects the radio program having the next highest selection order among the unselected radio programs. do it. For example, when the program 1 is currently unreproducible (is not distributed), the content selection unit 15 selects program 2 to program (M + 1) as M program types, and selects each radio program in the selected order. Priority should be given.

  The table as shown in FIG. 6 may be set by the user or may be set by an external device. As the latter method, a method may be considered in which the popularity ranking of radio programs for each program type acquired from a server (external device) for distributing radio broadcasts is used as a selection order of radio programs for each program type.

  In addition, since the radio programs preferred by the user are considered to be different depending on the purpose of use, the content selection unit 15 recommends, to the user, M radio programs according to the purpose of use for each program type. Is preferably selected as This can be achieved by setting a table as shown in FIG. 6 for each use purpose.

  On the other hand, the content selection unit 15 may select M radio programs according to the program type based on the history information, and may assign priorities to the selected radio programs. For example, the content selection unit 15 refers to history information of a predetermined period, counts the number of times of reproduction of radio programs for each program type, selects M radio programs in descending order of the number of times of reproduction, and selects each radio in the selected order. Programs may be prioritized. In addition, the content selection unit 15 refers to the history information of a predetermined period, tabulates the reproduction time of the radio program for each program type, selects M radio programs in descending order of reproduction time, and selects each radio in the selected order. Programs may be prioritized. This makes it possible to select a radio program with high possibility of preference by the user with high accuracy. Furthermore, when selecting the radio program based on the history information, the content selection unit 15 may select the radio program with reference to all the history information of the predetermined period, and the history information of the predetermined period may be selected. The radio program may be selected with reference to only the history information whose usage purpose matches. By the latter method, it is possible to select radio programs highly likely to be preferred by the user with high precision for each use purpose.

  If the radio program whose number of times of reproduction is up to N includes a radio program which can not currently be reproduced, the content selection unit 15 does not select the radio program, and the number of times of reproduction among the unselected radio programs is next. It is sufficient to select many radio programs. Similarly, when the radio program whose reproduction time is up to the Mth includes a radio program which can not be reproduced at present, the content selection unit 15 does not select the radio program, and the reproduction time of the radio programs which are not selected. Then select the longer radio program. In any case, the content selection unit 15 may assign priorities to the respective radio programs in the order in which the radio programs are selected.

  Note that the method of selecting a radio program by the content selection unit 15 is not limited to the above example. The content selection unit 15 can also select, for example, a radio program according to the purpose of use using history information and other information. As other information, a destination input to a car navigation system, a driver specified from an image captured by an on-vehicle camera, a travel start date and time of a vehicle, weather information, and the like can be considered.

  The screen display unit 16 displays various screens in accordance with the user's operation on the display device 106. The screens displayed by the screen display unit 16 include a home screen, a setting screen, a list screen, a reproduction screen, and a recommendation screen.

  The list screen is a screen for displaying a list of currently playable radio programs. The user can select a desired radio program from the radio programs displayed on the list screen. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the list screen. The list screen shown in FIG. 7 includes a home button for displaying a home screen, a list button for displaying a list screen, a recommendation button for displaying a recommendation screen, a setting button for displaying a setting screen, and reproduction available. A list of radio program titles and program types is displayed. The user can search for and select a desired radio program by repeating the swipe operation and the scroll operation. On the list screen, as the number of radio broadcasts that can be played back increases, the number of swipe operations and scroll operations increases, so it takes time to select a radio program.

  The recommendation screen is a screen for recommending to the user a radio program that is highly likely to be preferred by the user. Specifically, on the recommendation screen, the radio program selected by the content selection unit 15 is displayed for each program type selected by the attribute selection unit 14. The user can select any one radio program from the radio programs displayed on the recommendation screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the recommendation screen. On the recommendation screen of FIG. 8, a home button, a list button, a recommendation button, a setting button, an icon for selecting a reproducible radio program, and a program type of the reproducible radio program are displayed. ing.

  In the example of FIG. 8, N is 4 and M is 3. That is, four program types that are highly likely to be favored by the user are selected, and three radio programs that are likely to be favored by the user are selected for each program type.

  The screen display unit 16 sets areas R for each program type on the recommendation screen, and arranges the areas R in accordance with the priorities assigned to the corresponding program types. In addition, the screen display unit 16 displays the corresponding program type in each area R.

  In the example of FIG. 8, in the recommendation screen, a region R1 corresponding to "Pop Music", a region R2 corresponding to "Rock Music", a region R3 corresponding to "Jazz Music", and a region corresponding to "Light Classical" It is assumed that R4 is set and the priority is higher in the order of "Pop Music", "Rock Music", "Jazz Music" and "Light Classical".

  The screen display unit 16 displays an icon of a radio program of a corresponding program type in each area R. The user can select a radio program corresponding to the icon by selecting the icon by a tap operation or the like. Further, the screen display unit 16 displays the icon of the radio program selected for each program type larger as the priority assigned to the corresponding radio program is higher.

  In the example of FIG. 8, the icons “bbb”, “ddd” and “ooo”, which are radio programs “Pop Music”, are displayed in the area R1, and “bbb”, “ddd” and “ooo” are displayed. The case where priority is high in order of "is assumed. Therefore, the icons are displayed large in the order of "bbb", "ddd" and "ooo".

  Thus, on the recommendation screen, icons of radio programs that are highly likely to be preferred by the user are displayed on one screen for each program type. Therefore, even when there are many playable radio programs, the user can easily search for a desired radio program by confirming the recommendation screen. In addition, when the icon of the desired radio program is displayed on the recommendation screen, the user can easily select the desired radio program with a single tap operation or the like. As a result, when using the recommendation screen, the user can easily search for and select a desired radio program as compared to the case where a list screen is used. Also, by displaying the icons of radio programs with higher priorities in a larger size, it is possible for the user to easily find the icons of radio programs that are highly likely to be preferred by the user.

  The recommendation screen is not limited to the example shown in FIG. For example, as in the example of FIG. 9, the screen display unit 16 may list and display the titles of radio programs that the user is highly likely to prefer, for each program type. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, it is preferable to arrange the titles in the descending order of the priority of the radio programs. Even in the example of FIG. 9, as in the example of FIG. 8, the user can easily search for and select a desired radio program on the recommendation screen.

  Next, the operation of the content search device 1 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the content search device 1. The content search device 1 executes the following operation when the recommendation button is selected.

  First, the usage purpose specifying unit 13 specifies the usage purpose of the content search device 1 (content reproduction device) by the user (step S101). The method of specifying the purpose of use is as described above. The usage purpose specifying unit 13 notifies the attribute selection unit 14 of the specified usage purpose. Note that the timing of specifying the purpose of use is not limited to after the selection of the recommendation button. The purpose of use specification unit 13 may periodically specify the purpose of use, or may use the purpose of use at a predetermined timing such as the timing when the destination is input to the car navigation system or the timing when the content search device 1 is activated. It may be specified.

  Next, the attribute selection unit 14 selects N program types according to the user's usage purpose from the program types of the currently playable radio programs whose content information is stored in the content information storage unit 11 ( Step S102). The program type selection method is as described above. The attribute selection unit 14 notifies the content selection unit 15 of the selected N program types.

  Subsequently, the content selection unit 15 selects M radio programs having any of the program types selected by the attribute selection unit 14 from the currently playable radio programs whose content information is stored in the content information storage unit 11. A program is selected for each of N program types (step S103). The method of selecting a radio program for each program type is as described above. The content selection unit 15 notifies the screen display unit 16 of the (N × M) selected radio programs.

  Then, the screen display unit 16 displays a recommendation screen on which the plurality of radio programs notified from the content selection unit 15 are displayed for each program type (step S104). The image display unit 16 may display a recommendation screen as shown in FIG. 8 or may display a recommendation screen as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, when the user selects a radio program on the recommendation screen and reproduces it, history information of the reproduced radio program is added to the history information storage unit 12. As the history information stored in the history information storage unit 12 increases, the attribute selection unit 14 and the content selection unit 15 can select the program type and the radio program according to the purpose of use with high accuracy.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown here, such as combinations with other elements in the configurations and the like described in the above embodiments. These points can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

1: Content search device 11: content information storage unit 12: history information storage unit 13: purpose of use specification unit 14: attribute selection unit 15: content selection unit 16: screen display unit

Claims (10)

An attribute selection unit that selects one or more attributes according to the user's usage purpose from among a plurality of attributes;
A content selection unit that selects, for each of the attributes, one or more of the contents having any of the attributes selected by the attribute selection unit from among a plurality of contents;
A screen display unit for displaying a recommendation screen that allows the user to select any one of the one or more pieces of content selected by the content selection unit;
Content search apparatus comprising: The content search device according to claim 1, wherein the screen display unit displays an icon of the one or more contents in an area set for each of the attributes in the recommendation screen. Each of the one or more pieces of content has a priority,
The content search device according to claim 2, wherein the screen display unit displays the icon larger as the content having the higher priority. The content search device according to claim 1, wherein the screen display unit displays a list of titles of the one or more pieces of content for each of the attributes. Each of the one or more pieces of content has a priority,
5. The content search device according to claim 4, wherein the screen display unit arranges and displays the titles of the content in the descending order of the priority. The content search device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the content selection unit selects the one or more pieces of content based on a reproduction history of each content for each of the attributes. The content search device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the content selection unit is preset with the one or more pieces of content to be selected for each of the attributes. The content according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the attribute selection unit selects the one or more attributes on the basis of a reproduction history of the content having each attribute for each use purpose. Search device. The content search device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the attribute selection unit is preset with the one or more attributes to be selected for each use purpose. An attribute selection step of selecting one or more attributes according to the purpose of use of the user from a plurality of attributes;
A content selection step of selecting, for each of the attributes, one or more pieces of content having any of the attributes selected in the attribute selection step from among a plurality of pieces of content;
A screen display step of displaying a recommendation screen that allows the user to select any one of the one or more pieces of content selected in the content selection step;
A content search method comprising:

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