JP4006194B2 - Information providing apparatus, information providing program, and recording medium recording the program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to various information providing technologies using a computer system, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing information by a hyperlink technology between information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, systems that can enjoy information while walking between related information by a technology called hyperlink have been widely used. For example, in a homepage on the Internet, a link to related information is defined for a keyword in text information, and related information in a linked site can be extracted by specifying the keyword. By such hyperlink technology, a method for associating information is widely used, so that an information receiver can reach information desired by the user relatively easily. A system that can receive information about the subject in the video by applying this hyperlink technology to the video information and indicating the subject in the video is the document “Consideration of Data Model and Development Environment of Multimedia Application”. (Tetsuo Ikeda, Yasuhiro Hirano, Toru Yuguchi, Takashi Hoshi: Information Processing Journal, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 2-11, 1999).
[0003]
In the method in the above document, a rectangle surrounding a target subject on a moving image is defined as information for specifying subject information in a video, and information related to this rectangular information (frame number of video, rectangular coordinates). For example, by using a fish image of an aquarium as a key, a method that can extract detailed information about the fish by specifying the fish (more precisely, the rectangular area surrounding the fish) is realized. Yes.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional video hyperlink system as shown in the above document has the following problems.
[0005]
In the conventional method, the subject information and related information are fixedly defined for the video, and only unique information can be presented regardless of the playback state of the video and the viewing status of the viewer. .
[0006]
This is effective when it is possible for the viewer to correctly indicate the target subject and to obtain information about the subject. Depending on the case, it may not always be the purpose to obtain information about the instructed subject, and in this case, the above method is not effective. Moreover, there are many such scenes.
[0007]
For example, taking a car race video as an example, in the conventional technology, when link information is defined for a car shown in the video, when the car is correctly indicated, information about the car is displayed. However, in a car race video, the car is moving in the video at high speed, and scene switching is often performed. Even if there is a target car, the target is correct in normal playback conditions. It is considered very difficult to direct a car. For this reason, if the viewer is interested in the car itself, the viewer may perform an operation of slowly reproducing the video so that the car can be correctly indicated. Also, in this case, the general interest of viewers when instructing video in the normal playback state is "Which course is the race being performed" or "What is the current ranking?" As described above, it is often considered that the image is directed not to individual subjects but to the entire video.
[0008]
Thus, the center of interest when the viewer instructs the video is likely to change depending on the playback state of the video. In other words, even if a specific location in the video is indicated, it often has a different purpose depending on the situation, and simply providing related information only from the indicated area in the video It does not reflect the intention of
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. For example, in a video hyperlink or the like, when a viewer instructs a video or a subject in the video, the video playback state is set. Accordingly, an object is to provide an information providing apparatus, an information providing program, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded, which can provide related information according to the interests of the viewer by providing different link information.
[0010]
In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides an information providing apparatus that provides related information in accordance with a viewer's instruction for each scene or subject in a video, wherein the scene or subject in a preset video is provided. a storage means for previously storing the validity condition of the link information for, in response to an instruction of the viewer for each scene or object in images, extracting means for extracting a reproduction state of the image at that time, the images that are the extracted Search means for searching for effective conditions of the accumulated link information from the reproduction status and determining a link; and related information providing means for presenting related information defined in the determined link information, the effective The condition is a condition for limiting the video playback speed, and the information providing apparatus is characterized in that the video playback status is the video playback speed .
[0011]
Further, the information providing apparatus provides related information in response to a viewer's instruction for each scene or subject in the video, and accumulates valid conditions of link information for a preset scene or subject in the video. In response to viewer instructions for each scene or subject in the video, the storage means, extraction means for extracting the playback status of the video at that time, and the validity of the stored link information from the playback status of the extracted video A search means for searching for a condition to determine a link; and a related information providing means for presenting related information defined in the determined link information, wherein the effective condition is a condition that limits a video enlargement rate. The information providing apparatus is characterized in that the reproduction state of the video is an enlargement rate of the video .
[0012]
An information providing program for causing a computer to function as each means of the information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 is used as means.
[0013]
Furthermore, a computer-readable recording medium in which the information providing program according to claim 3 is recorded is used.
[0014]
In the present invention, for link information of information related to video, not only information indicating correspondence to the video such as position information and meta information, but also the playback state of video for which individual link information can be valid, etc. It is possible to automatically change the effective link information by extracting and acquiring the playback state of the video by the viewer and making a judgment against the effective condition of the link information.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0016]
The flowchart of FIG. 1 shows the principle processing procedure of the present invention. In the hyperlink information providing method according to the present invention, first, the link information set for the subject in the video and the playback speed of the video, the size of the displayed video, etc. as conditions for validating the link information are reproduced. Conditions are defined (set) and stored in the link information table of the storage means.
[0017]
Next, for example, when the viewer designates a certain place in the video (occurrence of an event), the target video is displayed together with the frame information at the time of designation and the position information of the designated point. Obtain information on the playback state (process 11).
[0018]
Next, the link information table is searched from the contents operated by the viewer (event type / content) and the display / playback state of the video (process 12).
[0019]
Next, a link that is effective at that time is determined by the above-described search, and a corresponding action (display of related information, etc.) is processed (process 13).
[0020]
According to this method, even when the same video is being viewed, it is possible to provide appropriate related information according to the display / playback state in response to the viewer's instruction.
[0021]
For example, in the case of sports images such as soccer, when individual players are small and move fast, information about the whole game is provided and displayed instead of information about individual players. However, if a place that corresponds to an individual player is indicated in a situation where the size is enlarged or the speed is reduced, information on the target player can be presented It becomes.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Part or all or a plurality of the components constitute the means of the present invention. In this embodiment, by interacting with a video stored in a video playback device while playing the video, it is possible to receive presentation of related information according to the viewing state of the video. It is.
[0023]
The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 includes a video storage unit 100 that stores video information to be displayed, a playback control unit 101 that controls playback of information such as stored video, and a video display that displays video information and the like. Set in the video, the input unit 103 that receives user input from the viewer, the information extraction unit 104 that extracts the display and playback status of the video, the search unit 105 that searches for link information, and the like. Link information storage unit 106 such as a database or a file for storing link information and conditions for enabling the link, and information such as related information to be presented and actions corresponding to each link information are stored. Appropriate link information that becomes effective when there is an input event by the user input from the viewer and the related information storage unit 107 such as a database or a file It consists determining event control unit 108..
[0024]
In the above configuration, the valid conditions of the link information for the scene or subject in the video set and defined in advance are stored in the link information table of the link information storage unit 106. The information extraction unit 104 extracts the playback state of the video at that time, triggered by an instruction input (input event) for each scene or subject in the video. The search unit 105 searches for valid conditions for link information in the link information table from the input event and the playback status of the extracted video, and searches for valid link information. The event control unit 108 determines a valid link from the search result, and presents and displays on the video display unit 102 related information and action information to be presented defined in the determined link in the related information storage unit 107. Or execute.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of storage in the link information storage means 106. Here, in the column of ID1, for an object represented by a rectangle in the video (a rectangle having coordinates (50, 100) and (300, 400) as diagonal vertices), it is called “object1.jpg”. The action of displaying a still image with a file name is associated, and this link is valid because the original video is played at a playback speed of less than 0.5 (for example, less than 15 frames per second) It shows that it is a case. Further, in the column of ID2, a moving image reproduction having a file name “object2.mpg” is associated with the same subject as ID1, and a video is reproduced at a reproduction speed of 0.5 or more (for example, 1). This indicates that the image is played back at 15 frames per second). Similarly, for ID3, an action is defined for a certain time interval in the video, and for ID4, a subject to which meta information “Yama X child” is assigned to the subject in the video. The effective conditions are defined together with conditions such as “normal speed playback (for example, 30 frames per second)” and “when the viewer doubles the size of the subject”. It shows that.
[0026]
The reproduction control unit 101 can reproduce the video information on the video display unit 102 while freely changing the size and reproduction speed. The input unit 103 can accept a user input such as a voice input from a pointing device such as a mouse or a voice input device.
[0027]
Assume that the video information is reproduced and displayed at a reproduction speed of 1.0. At this time, if the user designates a certain point on the screen (for example, a point of coordinates (100, 200) on the display screen) at a certain time (t0), the information extracting unit 104 then displays the video display unit. A playback state such as a playback position, a displayed size or a playback speed of the playback video in 102 is acquired. Here, information such as time t0, display frame 10, playback speed 1.0, and designated coordinates (100, 200) is acquired.
[0028]
The search unit 105 is created and stored in advance in the link information storage unit 106 based on the contents of the user input received by the input unit 103 and the display state of the video acquired at that time acquired by the information extraction unit 104. Search for link information.
[0029]
In the example of FIG. 3, the subjects of ID1 and ID2 match the conditions from the information of the designated coordinates, but ID3 and ID4 are excluded from the display frame information and meta information. Further, regarding ID1 and ID2, since the reproduction speed of the moving image here is 1.0, ID1 is invalid and only the link information of ID2 is valid.
[0030]
The event control unit 108 determines an action using the related information stored in advance in the related information storage unit 107 based on the search result, and the playback control unit 101 is determined by the event control unit 108. Information is presented according to the content of the action. Here, the “object2.mpg” material defined as action information is reproduced.
[0031]
As described above, by using not only the user interaction information but also the video playback state as an effective condition, it is possible to present related information according to the video display / playback state.
[0032]
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the said embodiment example, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment example, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, various changes are possible. For example,
(1) Video storage unit 100
In the above embodiment, the case where the video to be reproduced is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk has been described. However, the information is not limited to the stored video, and depending on the field to which the present invention is applied, a communication line may be used. Or information transmitted and received using broadcast waves.
[0033]
(2) Input unit 103
As for the input unit 103 in the above-described embodiment, there are various means such as a mouse click, direct instruction on the screen using a touch screen device, keyword input from a keyboard, voice input, etc. It is not limited to this method.
[0034]
(3) Information extraction unit 104
Regarding the information extraction unit 104 in the above embodiment, the information acquired here is the number of frames and time information from the top position of the video, or the physical position on the display unit such as the CRT of the displayed video, for example There is a method of using various information such as the number of dots from the upper left corner in the right direction and the number of dots in the downward direction, alone or in combination, and is not limited to any means.
[0035]
It goes without saying that the processing procedure shown in FIG. 1 can be executed by a computer, or that all or a part of the functions shown in FIG. 2 can be realized by using a computer. For storing or storing or providing or distributing a program for realizing the processing of each part by a computer in a computer-readable storage medium, for example, a storage medium such as FD, MO, memory, or CD It is possible to The program can be provided or distributed through a network such as the Internet or electronic mail.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, different related information can be provided according to the playback state or display state of the video. For example, content closer to the viewer's intention can be created.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of link information according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Video storage part 101 ... Playback control part 102 ... Video display part 103 ... Input part 104 ... Information extraction part 105 ... Search part 106 ... Link information storage part 107 ... Related information storage part 108 ... Event control part

Claims (4)

An information providing device that provides related information in response to a viewer instruction for each scene or subject in a video,
Storage means for storing effective conditions of link information for a scene or subject in a preset video;
Extraction means for extracting the playback status of the video at that time, triggered by the viewer's instruction for each scene or subject in the video,
Search means for determining a link by searching the validity condition of the stored link information from the reproduction state of the image which is the extraction,
Related information providing means for presenting related information defined in the determined link information ,
2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the valid condition is a condition for limiting a video playback speed, and the video playback status is a video playback speed . An information providing device that provides related information in response to a viewer instruction for each scene or subject in a video,
Storage means for storing effective conditions of link information for a scene or subject in a preset video;
Extraction means for extracting the playback status of the video at that time, triggered by the viewer's instruction for each scene or subject in the video,
Search means for searching effective conditions of the accumulated link information from the reproduction status of the extracted video and determining a link;
Related information providing means for presenting related information defined in the determined link information ,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the effective condition is a condition for limiting a video enlargement rate, and the reproduction state of the video is a video enlargement rate . The information provision program which makes a computer function as each means of the information provision apparatus of Claim 1 or 2 . The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the information provision program of Claim 3 .

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