JP3448709B2 - Content reproduction apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for reproducing contents according to a predetermined schedule, and particularly, it is possible to reproduce contents selected by a user.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART The present applicant proposes to reproduce and display content for promoting sales of merchandise on a display at a sales floor in a retail store such as a drug store. In this proposal, for example, the content and schedule are transmitted in advance from the content management side to each store using satellite communication or a communication channel of the Internet, and the content is reproduced according to the schedule. The content is prepared in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or XML (Extensible Markup Language) and includes text, images, audio files, and the like. By selecting a desired content according to the relationship with the product in the sales floor or the time period, it becomes possible to promote the sales of the product.

By the way, in addition to the above-mentioned display in the sales floor of the retail store, contents are reproduced according to the schedule in the same manner as described above on the display provided in the table of the restaurant, the coffee shop, the karaoke shop, etc. It is also possible to supply information about the service and advertise.

However, a display arranged in a restaurant or the like is suitable not only for providing contents unilaterally but also for providing contents interactively. For example, it is also desired to provide fortune information, weather forecast information, and other various genres of information under the user's selection, and print out a hard copy thereof. Further, there is a case where it is desired to connect to the Internet as an information source to obtain desired information. Therefore, in restaurants and the like, how to harmonize the content played back according to the schedule and the interactive content played back based on the user's operation is an issue.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and the content to be reproduced according to the schedule and the content selected based on the interactive operation of the user are harmonized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content reproduction technology capable of reproducing both contents while having them.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the structure as described in the claims is adopted. Here, before describing the invention in detail, the description of the claims will be supplementarily described.

[0007] That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the content reproduction apparatus: means for storing a predetermined content reproduction schedule irrelevant to a user's operation; Means for sequentially reproducing a plurality of contents on a content reproduction screen according to a schedule; means for selecting contents according to a user operation; and replacing the selected content with the content reproduced on the content reproduction screen, A means for reproducing is provided on the content reproduction screen. Then, after the reproduction of the selected content is completed, the reproduction of the content according to the content reproduction schedule is resumed on the content reproduction screen.

In this configuration, it is possible to provide the one-sided content provision and the interactive content provision in a coordinated manner.

The content reproduction apparatus may be capable of displaying the content reproduction screen and the selection operation screen at the same time, and the interactive content reproduction may be started by the user's operation on the selection operation screen.

Further, when a user operation is performed on the content reproduction screen while the predetermined content is being regenerated according to the content reproduction schedule, the content corresponding to the predetermined content is reproduced. You may

In this case, a new content can be selected from the content being reproduced.

The contents are text information, voice information,
Image information and the like, which can be described in various languages such as HTML, XML, BML (broadcast markup language). Content is transmitted and reproduced using various transmission paths such as a bus in computer resources, a local area communication network (LAN), a wide area communication network, the Internet, and a satellite communication channel. For reproducing the content, various reproducing means can be adopted, and as the display device, a liquid crystal display device, a CRT,
A plasma display or the like can be used.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the content reproduction apparatus includes: a means for reproducing a plurality of contents on a content reproduction screen according to a predetermined content reproduction schedule; and a user. Means for reproducing the content selected by the user on the content reproduction screen in place of the content displayed on the content reproduction screen based on the operation of; and when the reproduction of the content selected by the user is completed, A means for reproducing the predetermined content on the content reproduction screen until the reproduction start time of the content having the next reproduction timing; and from the reproduction disclosure time of the content having the next reproduction timing, instead of the predetermined content. , The content whose playback timing arrives next is the content above. And it is provided with a means for reproducing the tool playback screen.

In this configuration, it is possible to provide the one-sided content provision and the interactive content provision in a coordinated manner, and in particular, there is a merit that the joint between the two contents smoothly shifts.

The present invention can be realized not only as an apparatus or system, but also as a method. Further, it goes without saying that a part of such an invention can be configured as software. Further, it goes without saying that a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows, as a whole, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a store system in a family restaurant, for example, in which a store 10 includes a satellite communication receiver 101, a web server 102, and an application server. 103, database management system 104, proxy server 105, checkout server 106, print server 107, content reproduction terminal 1
20 _{1 to} 120 _{N and the} like are provided. Computer resources in the store 10 are connected to the LAN 108.

The satellite communication receiving device 101 is provided with contents
From the content transmission server 201 of the service site 20
Tents satellite communication channel (transmission equipment 202, communication satellite
50, the receiving equipment 203).
The received content is the content of the web server 102.
It is stored in the tool storage unit 102a. Proxy server 1
05 is the content reproduction terminal 120₁~ 120_NFrom etc.
Requesting access to another Internet 30
Is. Content reproduction terminal 120₁~ 120 _NEtc.
Public on the Internet 30 via the Roxy server 105
Web from open web servers 301, 302, etc.
You can get the page and play it.

As the arrangement in the store 10, the content reproduction terminals 120 _{1 to} 120 _N are arranged on the table in the customer service area 10a. Preferably one for each table. Satellite communication receiver 101, web server 1
02, application server 103, database management system 104, proxy server 105,
The checkout server 106, the print server 107, etc. are arranged in the store management area. The checkout server 106 includes a receipt printer (not shown), and
It is preferably used together with a payment device such as an OS.
The print server 107 includes a color printer 107a and executes print jobs from the content reproduction terminals 120 _{1 to} 120 _N.

The web server 102 uses HTTP (hyper
-Text transfer protocol)
Therefore, the client (content reproduction terminal 120₁~ 1
20 _NEtc.) and receives the request
The document (which may be an XML document or the like) is returned to the client.
The application server 103 is the web server 102.
The program name sent by the client via
Various processes are executed based on the argument. Up
Web server 102 instead of application server 103
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) Pro
Grams may be used. Database management system 10
4 manages various databases. data
The base is various types of information used to search for change information, for example,
Holds member information and usage history.

It should be noted that although a router, a DNS (Domain Name System) server, an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server, a POP3 (Post Office Protocol Version 3) server, etc. are not shown in the drawing, they may be used as necessary. Of course. Note that various servers may be mounted on one host if possible.

FIG. 2 shows the content reproduction terminals 120 ₁ to ₁ 1.
A schematic diagram of a 20 _N configuration is shown in this figure:
Each of the content reproduction terminals 120 _{1 to} 120 _N is configured to include computing hardware 121, an operating system 122, an application 123 and the like. Computing hardware 1
Reference numeral 21 is based on an ordinary personal computer, personal digital assistant, or the like. The computing hardware 121 particularly includes a touch panel 121a and a liquid crystal display device 121b. Web browser 1 for application 123
23a, a schedule management unit 123b, a user event monitoring unit 123c, a console display control unit 123d, and the like.

FIG. 3 shows the content reproduction terminals 120 ₁ to 120 _1.
20 shows an outline of the appearance of a 20 _N liquid crystal display device 121b. In this figure, the liquid crystal display device 121b has a content reproduction area A in the upper portion and a console area B in the lower portion.
have. The liquid crystal display device 121b is provided with a touch panel 121a that covers the liquid crystal display device 121b as shown by a broken line, and the touch panel 121a can be used to point the content reproduction area A and the console area B.

FIG. 4 shows the content reproduction terminals 120 ₁ to 120 _1.
20 _N (which may be referred to as a content reproduction terminal 120 as a representative of these) is schematically shown. In this figure, each of the content reproduction terminals 120 _{1 to} 120 _N includes a web browser 123a and schedule management. It includes a section 123b, a user event monitoring section 123c, a console display control section 123d, and the like. The schedule management unit 123b supplies the network address of the content to the web browser based on the schedule data. The schedule data is composed of a pair of a content reproduction start time and a content URL (uniform resource locator) as shown in FIG. 6, for example. The web browser 123a is accessed from the schedule management unit 123b by U.
Upon receiving the RL, the content is retrieved from the internal web server 102 of the store or the external web servers 301 and 302 and reproduced by using a browsing request such as GET. Hereinafter, the content reproduced based on the schedule as described above may be referred to as promotion content for convenience. The user event monitoring unit 123c receives an event (pointing information) input via the touch panel 121a and activates various routines to perform various controls. The console screen is sequentially generated based on the predetermined sequence data and is passed to the console display control unit 123d to change the display of the console area B. Further, the schedule management unit 123b is prohibited from passing the URL to the web browser 123a based on the user event. This prohibition state is released when there is no user event for a predetermined time. The web browser 123a receives the URL from the user event monitoring unit 123c.
In the case of receiving, the corresponding content is retrieved from the web server 102 inside the store or the external web servers 301 and 302 and reproduced by using the browsing request such as GET.
Hereinafter, the reproduced content that is interactively reproduced based on the event of the user may be referred to as interactive content for convenience.

The reproduction output from the web browser 123a is reproduced in the content reproduction area A of the liquid crystal display device 121b, and the reproduction output from the console display control section 123d is reproduced in the console area B of the liquid crystal display device 121b.

FIG. 5 shows the content reproduction terminals 120 ₁ to 120 _1.
20 shows the transition of the operating state of 20 _N. As shown in FIG. 5, while the promotion content is being played,
When a reproduction start request (schedule event) is generated according to the schedule, the next promotion content is reproduced. Further, in this state, when pointing is performed at an arbitrary position in the content reproduction area A, the interactive content corresponding to the promotion content is reproduced. When the pointing is performed on the selected object area of the console area B, the interactive content corresponding to the selected object is reproduced.

When the anchor area of the content reproduction area A or the selected object area of the console area B is selected while the interactive content is being reproduced, the interactive object corresponding to the anchor area or the selected object area is reproduced.

Further, if there is no event for a predetermined time while the interactive object is being reproduced, the idle state is entered. The idling state is for displaying the idling content having the display content such as "please wait for a while". Of course, the corresponding image display may be accompanied by audio output. When the reproduction start time of the next content arrives according to the schedule in the idling state, the corresponding URL is sent from the schedule management unit 123b to the web browser 123a, and the promotion content reproduction mode is set.

Further, this embodiment will be described in detail.

FIG. 7 shows an aspect of content acquisition. As shown in this figure, the content of the web server 102 in the store 10 is accessed via the LAN.
Also, web servers 301, 30 on the Internet 30
The second content is accessed via the proxy server 105 and the Internet 30. Note that the checkout server 106 performs charge control using a coin shooter or the like, and records an access log to the content.
You can manage billing with.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the reproduction operation of the promotion content and the like. In this figure, the promotion content is taken out and reproduced according to the schedule data (,). The above operation is repeated according to the schedule data. When the content reproduction area A is pointed to while the promotion content is being reproduced, the interactive content corresponding to the promotion content is extracted and reproduced. The promotion content includes an advertisement content and a program content that guides a program (interactive content) selected in the console area B. The interactive content corresponding to the advertisement content is, for example, the advertiser's home page or a specially prepared web page. is there. As a result, it is possible to carry out commercial transactions using the Internet or the like. The interactive content corresponding to the program content is the interactive content that constitutes the program.

Internet 3 via program content
When 0 is accessed, the user may be charged based on the access log. When accessing the Internet 30 via the advertising content, the advertiser or the advertising client may be charged according to the access log.

As described above, the predetermined content can be selected and reproduced only by pointing the content reproduction area A.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are for explaining the reproduction of the interactive contents forming the program. In FIG. 9, when a selected object on the console is pointed, the interactive content corresponding to the object is reproduced, and by pointing the selected object area of the interactive content, it is possible to transition to another interactive content. By this transition, it is possible to receive a predetermined service such as information acquisition or print service. In the examples of FIGS. 9 and 10, a coloring book can be acquired.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the "HOME" button on the console is selected to browse the explanation of the program, and then the contents of each program are changed. When the user's operation is not performed for the predetermined time (timeout process), the screen returns to the promotion screen.

FIG. 10 shows a case where a program is selected using the channel (program) selection button in the console area B. In this example, “Coloring” of “Character 3” is finally selected, and when the “Print” button is selected in this state, the print job is sent to the print server 107, and the “Coloring” of “Character 3” is printed by the printer 107a.
Printed by. Also in this case, when the user's operation is not performed for the predetermined time, the screen returns to the promotion screen.

FIG. 11 shows an example of contents. The example of FIG. 11 illustrates a configuration example of the interactive content of “CH.1”. In this example, the content is described in HTML. The same applies to other contents.

FIG. 12 shows the transition between the reproduction of the promotion content and the reproduction of the interactive content. When the user's event is input, the reproduction of the interactive content is started immediately instead of the reproduction of the promotion content. . On the other hand, when the reproduction of the interactive content is ended due to the non-input state for a predetermined period, the reproduction of the promotion content is started after the idling state. The idling state continues until the playback start of the subsequent promotion content, and the promotion content does not start halfway.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be further described using a flow chart.

FIG. 13 shows the operation of reproducing the promotional content, the details of which are as follows.
This process is activated each time the reproduction start time of the content arrives. [Step S10]: It is determined whether or not the interactive content or the idling content is being reproduced. If it is being reproduced, the processing ends. If the promotion content is not reproduced, the reproduction of the promotion content is not prohibited, and thus the process proceeds to step S11. [Step S11]: The URL of the interactive content whose reproduction start time has come is extracted. [Step S12]: URL in the web browser 123a
give. [Step S13]: Web browser 123a receives GET
Retrieve interactive content on request. [Step S14]: The extracted content is reproduced on the liquid crystal display device or the like.

FIG. 14 shows the operation when the interactive content is reproduced in response to the user's operation (user event), and the details are as follows. This process is activated when a user event occurs. [Step S20]: Step S2 when the pointing area is the selected object area of the console area B
If it is the content reproduction area A, go to step S2.
Go to 4. Otherwise, do nothing. [Step S21]: Play the interactive content corresponding to the selected object in the console area B. [Step S22]: User event monitoring processing is performed.
Details of this processing will be described with reference to FIG. [Step S23]: After exiting the user event monitoring processing routine in response to the user event, it is determined whether or not the anchor area is pointed. If the anchor area is not pointed, step S2
Return to 2. When the anchor area is pointed, the process proceeds to step S24. [Step S24]: UR embedded in anchor region
L is passed to the web browser 123a. [Step S25]: Web browser 123a receives GET
Retrieve the corresponding interactive content on request. [Step S26]: The extracted content is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 121b. [Step S27]: User event monitoring process (FIG. 15)
See). Note that a predetermined interactive object is also played back when the selected object in the console area B is pointed, but since it can be easily understood from the above, the description is omitted here for convenience.

FIG. 15 shows the operation of the user event monitoring process, the details of which are as follows. Fired when a user event is input. [Step S30]: It is determined whether or not the user event has not been input for a predetermined time. When input, the process ends. If not input, the process proceeds to step S31. [Step S31]: Transition to the idle state and reproduce the idling content. [Step S32]: It is determined whether or not the reproduction start time of the subsequent promotion content has come. If not, the process is repeated, and if it has arrived, the process proceeds to the process of the schedule event of FIG.

This is the end of the description of the embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the promotion content and the interactive content can be reproduced in harmony. Moreover, since the plurality of content reproduction terminals synchronously reproduce the promotion content, it is easy to harmonize with the music in the store and the guide broadcast, and the promotion content can be selected according to the time zone.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the content reproduction area A and the console area B are arranged in a tile shape, but they may be overlapped. A button for instructing an interactive operation may be provided in the content reproduction area A, and interactive content may be reproduced by operating this button. Further, the control may be performed by a mechanical operation button.

Further, although the schedule data is provided to the content reproduction terminal from the server in the store or from the content providing site and managed by the schedule management unit of the content reproduction terminal, the schedule data is held outside the content reproduction terminal. The content may be pushed to the content reproduction terminal based on this. In this case, the content may be transmitted individually, or by multicast or broadcast. The content may be broadcast content, for example.

Further, the schedule can be designated by absolute time or relative time, and the order of reproducing the contents may be designated. Further, control information (generation start command) for starting reproduction may be externally transmitted to the content reproduction terminal to perform reproduction start control.

Further, in the embodiment, the reproduction of the interactive content is prioritized over the reproduction of all the promotion contents, but a predetermined standard may be set and fine priority control may be performed. For example, the promotion content of a predetermined class may be inferior only to the predetermined interactive content, may be prioritized over the other interactive content, and the promotion content may be continuously reproduced. In this case, it is preferable that a message such as “please wait for a while” is displayed.

The place where the content reproduction terminal is arranged can be selected variously, and is not limited to a family restaurant or the like. It is also suitable for other restaurants, coffee shops, karaoke stores, and also suitable for retail stores such as stores of financial institutions, gas stations, convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores, drug stores, and the like. It may be placed in the facilities of public institutions.

Further, although it is preferable to arrange a plurality of such facilities in a facility such as a store, only one may be arranged according to the purpose of use.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, the content to be reproduced according to the schedule and the content to be reproduced according to the user's selection can be reproduced in harmony.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention as a whole.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a content reproduction terminal of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an appearance of the content reproduction terminal of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of the content reproduction terminal of FIG.

5 is a transition diagram of an operation state of the content reproduction terminal of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating schedule data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a content acquisition mode of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of reproducing the promotion content according to the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for selecting interactive content by the console area according to the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for selecting interactive content by the console area according to the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of interactive content according to the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating in detail the transition between the promotion content reproduction state and the interactive content reproduction state of the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a reproduction operation of the promotion content described above.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a user event occurs.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a user event monitoring process.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 stores 10a Customer service area 20 Contents providing site 30 Internet 50 communication satellites 101 Satellite communication receiver 102 Web server 102a content storage unit 103 application server 104 database management system 105 Proxy server 106 Checkout server 107 print server 107a color printer 120 content playback terminal 121 Computing Hardware 121a touch panel 121b liquid crystal display device 122 operating system 123 applications 123a Web browser 123b Schedule Management Department 123c User input processing unit 123d console display controller 201 Content transmission server 202 Transmission equipment 203 Reception equipment 301, 302 External web server

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Yoshihide Tsuda 3-16-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Within Brandu Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP 2000-201120 (JP, A) JP 11-98216 (JP, A) JP 11-98217 (JP, A) JP 11-164276 (JP, A) JP 10-304301 (JP, A) JP 11-275550 (JP, A) (JP 58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N ⁷ / 10,7 / 16-7/173

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A means for reproducing a plurality of contents on a content reproduction screen according to a predetermined content reproduction schedule, and a content selected by the user based on a user operation is replaced with the content displayed on the content reproduction screen. And a means for reproducing on the content reproduction screen, and according to the predetermined content reproduction schedule when the reproduction of the content selected by the user is completed.
Multiple content to be played on the above content playback screen.
The content selected by the user above will end playing.
Means for playing a predetermined content on the content playback screen until the playback start time of the content whose playback timing first comes after the completion of the playback of the content selected by the user.
From the time of disclosure of the reproduction of the content whose reproduction timing comes first, instead of the predetermined content, the user
Content reproducing apparatus according to claim content playback of the selected content arrives initially reproduction timing after completing it and means for reproducing the above content reproduction screen. 2. A content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined content reproduction schedule which is set by the time. Wherein said content reproduction screen side by side with the content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the content is selected based on the user operation on the content selection screen to be reproduced. 4. The content according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined content includes a content indicating to a user that the user is waiting .
2. The content reproduction device described in 2 or 3 . 5. A step of displaying a plurality of contents on a content reproduction screen according to a predetermined content reproduction schedule, and replacing the content selected by the user based on the user's operation with the content displayed on the content reproduction screen. Te, and displaying on the content reproduction screen, when the display of the selected content the user has been completed, according to the predetermined content reproduction schedule
Multiple content to be played on the above content playback screen.
The content selected by the user above will end playing.
According to the predetermined content reproduction schedule, the step of displaying the predetermined content on the content reproduction screen until the reproduction start time of the content whose reproduction timing comes first after the completion.
Multiple content to be played on the above content playback screen.
The content selected by the user above will end playing.
Instead of the above predetermined content from the playback disclosure time of the content whose playback timing comes first after
According to the above specified content playback schedule
Of multiple contents played on the content playback screen
Of these, the playback of the content selected by the above user is finished.
On the content of the first regeneration timing comes in after
And a step of displaying the content on a content reproduction screen. 6. A step of displaying a plurality of contents on a content reproduction screen according to a predetermined content reproduction schedule, and replacing the content selected by the user based on the user's operation with the content displayed on the content reproduction screen. According to the predetermined content playback schedule when the step of displaying on the content playback screen and the display of the content selected by the user are finished.
Multiple content to be played on the above content playback screen.
The content selected by the user above will end playing.
After the end of the reproduction, the step of displaying the predetermined content on the content reproduction screen until the reproduction start time of the content whose reproduction timing comes first, and the step of displaying the predetermined content according to the predetermined content reproduction schedule.
Of multiple contents played on the content playback screen
Of these, the playback of the content selected by the above user is finished.
The playback time of disclosure of the content initially reproduction timing arrives after the, instead of the predetermined content, the
According to the specified content playback schedule,
Content playback screen
The content selected by the user has finished playing
Computer program using a content initially reproduction timing arrives later in order to execute a step of displaying on the <br/> content reproduction screen to the computer
A recording medium in which is recorded so that it can be read by a computer .