JP4599141B2 - Information providing system, information providing server, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing server, a user terminal, a playback device, and a computer program that provide information of a user who uses another user terminal to a user who uses one user terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an information providing service for providing information of another user to a user via a computer connected to the Internet has been performed. In such an information providing service, for example, a user registers information such as his / her name, age, hobby, favorite music genre, artist, favorite movie, etc. in the service provider's server in advance. When the conditions of other registered users that the user wants to provide information, such as age or favorite artist, are specified on the service provider's home page, other registered users that meet the specified conditions are registered in the server. Users are searched and information such as their names and email addresses are displayed on the computer screen. With such a service, the user can obtain information on other users who have the taste and hobbies of music.

JP 2003-99455 A JP 2002-297658 A

  However, in the information providing service described above, since the information that the user has registered in advance is used as a key to search for a user who meets the specified condition, the registered user's preference has actually changed since the time of registration. Users who do not meet the specified conditions are searched. Therefore, there is a possibility that information of a user who does not actually meet the request of the user who requested the information provision is provided. In addition, when a user searches for other users with a preference similar to his / her own with the above service, there is a possibility that a user who does not actually have his / her own preference is introduced.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide user information that actually meets the user's request for providing information. An object is to provide an information providing system, an information providing server, a user terminal, a playback device, and a computer program that can search for other users who have similar preferences to the user.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content and a user who is connected to the user terminals via a communication network and uses one user terminal are provided. An information providing system is provided that includes an information providing server that provides information about a user who uses another user terminal.

  The user terminal includes a content playback unit that plays back content, a usage history storage unit that stores usage history including identification information of content played back by the content playback unit, and a usage history stored in the usage history storage unit. A usage history transmission unit that transmits the information to the information providing server.

  The information providing server includes a usage history storage unit for each user that stores the usage history received from the user terminal in association with the user identification information, and a feature information storage unit that stores the characteristic information characterizing the content and the content identification information in association with each other. And the owned content storage unit that stores the identification information of the content owned by the user and the user identification information in association with each other, the usage history of the content stored in the usage history storage unit for each user, and the feature information storage unit A user preference estimation unit that estimates the user's preference based on the feature information of the content being stored, and a user preference storage unit that associates and stores the user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit and the user identification information And using one user terminal based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit A user search unit for searching for one or more other users who have similar preferences to the user, a list of contents owned by a user using one user terminal based on the stored content of the owned content storage unit, A user extraction unit that sequentially compares a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit, and extracts a predetermined number from the two or more users searched based on the comparison result; and a user extraction unit A user information transmission unit that transmits the user identification information extracted by the above to the user terminal.

  According to the above invention, the history of the content reproduced by the user on the user terminal is transmitted to and stored in the information providing server. In the information providing server, the preference of each user is estimated based on the accumulated history. Usually, since the user frequently uses favorite content, the user's content preference is reflected in the content reproduction history. In addition, changes in user preferences are also reflected in the content playback history. Therefore, if the user's preference is estimated based on the content reproduction history, the user's current preference can be estimated. The usage history may include a history of content acquisition, deletion, transfer, etc. in addition to the content playback history.

  Thereafter, in the information providing server, another user whose preference is similar to that of one user who requests information provision is searched based on the estimated preference. As described above, since the estimated preference is the preference of each user at the present time, a user whose preference is actually similar at the time of retrieval is retrieved. As a result, the information providing server can provide the user information that actually meets the desire of the user who requested the information provision. In addition, by using the information providing system according to the present invention, the user can search for other users who have similar preferences to the user. Similarities include the same.

  Furthermore, when a plurality of users are searched, the information providing server extracts a user who owns a content group having a large difference from the content group owned by the one user. The degree of difference can be expressed by the number of contents owned by only one user or the searched user. The information providing server transmits the extracted identification information of a predetermined number of users to the user terminal of one user. In addition, when transmitting the identification information of a some user, you may transmit with the ranking based on said degree of difference.

  According to such a configuration, the information providing server can preferentially provide one user with information about a user who owns more content not owned by one user and has similar preferences to the one user. With that information, one user can obtain information on content that he / she has yet to own, which is likely to meet his / her preference.

  Note that “to own content” means to store the content in the storage device of the user terminal. The content may be downloaded from a content server or the like that holds the content via a communication network, or may be copied from an external recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk).

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a user who is connected to two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content via a communication network and who uses one user terminal is notified to other users. An information providing server that provides information on a user who uses a terminal is provided. The information providing server stores a usage history reception unit that receives a usage history including identification information of content reproduced by a user terminal from the user terminal, and stores the received usage history and identification information of a user who uses the user terminal in association with each other. A user-specific usage history storage unit, a user preference storage unit that stores information relating to a user's preference using a user terminal and identification information of a user who uses the user terminal, and a user stored in the user preference storage unit A user search unit that searches for one or more other users whose preferences are similar to those of a user who uses one user terminal based on the user's preference information, and user identification information searched by the user search unit A user information transmitting unit that transmits the user information, and the user preference is estimated based on the usage history.

  According to the above invention, the history of the content reproduced by the user on the user terminal is received by the usage history receiving unit and accumulated in the usage history storage unit for each user. In addition, the user search unit searches for other users whose preferences are similar to those of one user who requests information provision based on the preference information of each user stored in the user preference storage unit. The user's preference is estimated based on the usage history. Thereafter, the identification information of the searched user is transmitted to the user terminal by the user information transmission unit. With this configuration, one user can acquire information on other users with similar preferences. In addition, since the user's preference is estimated based on the usage history that reflects the user's actual preference, one user can acquire information on other users who actually have similar preferences at the present time.

  The information providing server may include a preference information receiving unit that receives user preference information from the user terminal. The preference information received from the user terminal by the preference information receiving unit may be preference information estimated based on the user's content reproduction history in the user terminal.

  The information providing server stores a feature information storage unit that stores feature information that characterizes content and content identification information in association with each other, a content usage history stored in a user-specific usage history storage unit, and a feature information storage unit. A user preference estimation unit that estimates user preference based on the feature information of the content being stored, and the user preference storage unit stores user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit It may be. According to such a configuration, the user preference estimation unit estimates the preference of each user based on the accumulated usage history. Usually, since the user frequently uses favorite content, the user's content preference is reflected in the content reproduction history. In addition, changes in user preferences are also reflected in the content playback history. Accordingly, if the user's preference is estimated based on the usage history including the content reproduction history, the user's current preference can be estimated.

  The usage history includes information on the date on which the content was played, and the user preference estimation unit adds each of the usage history used for estimation of the preference based on the date information included in the usage history. You may weight. According to this configuration, for each usage history, the magnitude of the influence of the usage history on the preference estimation result can be adjusted. Therefore, for example, if the new usage history is weighted so as to affect the preference estimation result more than the old usage history, the user's preference can be estimated from the content that the user has recently used. It is possible to estimate the user's preference more accurately.

  The content is music content, and the feature information of the content may include one or a plurality of attribute data for specifying the rhythm and / or tone of the music included in the content. According to this configuration, the user preference estimation unit can estimate the user's preference based on the content usage history and the one or more attribute data included in the feature information of the content. Therefore, the user preference estimation unit can estimate the user's preference about the rhythm and tone of the music.

  The user preference estimation unit may estimate a user's preference for each of one or a plurality of attribute data, and the user preference storage unit may store user preference information for each attribute data.

  The attribute data is represented by numerical values, and the user preference estimation unit acquires feature information of a plurality of contents respectively specified by identification information included in a plurality of usage histories from the feature information storage unit, and each attribute data An average value of a plurality of contents may be calculated for each, and the average value of the plurality of contents may be set as a user preference for attribute data.

  The user search unit may weight each attribute data. According to this configuration, for each attribute data, the magnitude of the influence of the attribute data on the preference similarity determination can be adjusted.

  The content feature information may include content metadata.

  The information providing server includes a playlist receiving unit that receives a playlist including identification information of content arbitrarily selected by a user using the user terminal from the user terminal, and the user preference estimation unit is included in the playlist. The user's preference may be estimated based on content identification information and content feature information.

  The information providing server includes an owned content storage unit that associates and stores identification information of content owned by a user and user identification information, and a user who uses one user terminal based on the stored content of the owned content storage unit. A list of owned contents and a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit are sequentially compared, and a predetermined number is extracted from the two or more searched users based on each comparison result. A user extraction unit, and the user information transmission unit may transmit the user identification information extracted by the user extraction unit to the user terminal. According to such a configuration, the user information transmission unit obtains information on a predetermined number of users extracted by the user extraction unit as a result of considering the content group owned by each user in comparison with the content group owned by one user. Can be sent to the user terminal.

  Based on the comparison results of the list of owned contents, the user extraction unit determines that the degree of difference between the searched list of owned contents of the user and the list of owned contents of the user using one user terminal is higher than a predetermined level. If it is larger, the searched user may be excluded from the extraction target. If the degree of difference is larger than a predetermined level, the content that is common to both lists is not included at all, or a searched user has an extremely large amount of content compared to one user to be compared. If you own it. Specifically, for example, when an allowable value for the number of different contents in the list of owned contents is determined in advance and the number of different contents is larger than the allowable value, the degree of difference is larger than a predetermined value. The user is excluded from the extraction target. Alternatively, when a permissible value of the ratio of the number of common contents with respect to the total number of contents included in the searched user's owned content list is determined in advance and the ratio is equal to or less than the permissible value, the degree of difference is greater than the predetermined level The user is excluded from the extraction target. According to such a configuration, even if the user is estimated to be similar in preference as a result of the preference estimation by the user preference estimation unit, the user does not have any common content, Users who are highly likely not to have similar preferences can be excluded from the extraction targets. In addition, it is difficult for a user who owns and uses a large amount of all contents to narrow down the preference even by the user preference estimation unit. Therefore, even if it is estimated that the preference is similar to the one user as a result of the preference estimation by the user preference estimation unit, only a part of the content owned by the user is in line with the preference of the one user. According to such a configuration, such a user can be excluded from extraction targets.

  The user extraction unit, based on each comparison result of the list of owned contents, determines that two or more searched users are different from the list of owned contents of a user who uses a user terminal whose list of owned contents is one. Sorting may be performed in descending order, and a predetermined number may be extracted from the top of the sorting result.

  The user extraction unit sorts the two or more searched users in the order of possessing many contents not owned by the user using one user terminal based on the comparison results of the list of owned contents. , A predetermined number may be extracted from the top of the sorting result. According to such a configuration, the user information transmission unit preferentially receives information on users extracted by the user extraction unit and having more content not owned by one user and similar in taste to the one user. Can be provided to a single user. With that information, one user can obtain information on content that he / she has yet to own, which is likely to meet his / her preference.

  The user extraction unit sorts two or more searched users in the order of least overlap with the content owned by the user who uses one user terminal based on each comparison result of the list of owned content. A predetermined number may be extracted from the top. According to such a configuration, the user information transmission unit prioritizes information of users extracted by the user extraction unit and not having much content owned by one user and having similar preferences to the one user. Can be provided to a single user. With this information, one user can provide the introduced user with information on the content that the user has a high possibility of meeting the user's preference but does not yet possess.

  The information providing server may include an extraction condition receiving unit that receives an extraction condition from a user terminal, and the user extraction unit may further extract a predetermined number from two or more searched users based on the extraction condition.

  The information providing server includes a user information storage unit that stores user identification information and information about the user in association with each other, and the user information transmission unit acquires information about the user extracted by the user extraction unit from the user information storage unit. May be transmitted to the user terminal.

  The information providing server stores a feature information storage unit that stores feature information that characterizes content and content identification information in association with each other, a content usage history stored in a user-specific usage history storage unit, and a feature information storage unit. A user preference estimation unit that estimates the user's preference based on the feature information of the content that is stored, an owned content storage unit that stores the identification information of the content owned by the user and the user identification information in association with each other, and the owned content Based on the contents stored in the storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user who uses one user terminal is sequentially compared with a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit, A user extraction unit that extracts a predetermined number from two or more users searched based on the comparison result; A user information storage unit that stores information related to the user in association with the user preference storage unit, the user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit is stored, and the user information transmission unit is Information about the extracted user may be acquired from the user information storage unit and transmitted to the user terminal.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, a user terminal capable of reproducing content is provided. The user terminal is connected to an information providing server that provides information of a user who uses another user terminal to a user who uses one user terminal via a communication network, and a content reproduction unit that reproduces content, and content reproduction Usage history storage unit that stores usage history including identification information of content reproduced by the user, and user preference estimation that estimates user preference using the user terminal based on the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit Information, a preference information transmission unit that transmits information about the user's content preference estimated by the preference estimation unit to the information providing server, and identification information of users with similar preferences retrieved based on the transmitted preference information A user information receiving unit for receiving the information from the information providing server.

  According to the said invention, the log | history of the content which the user reproduced | regenerated with the user terminal is accumulate | stored in a utilization history memory | storage part. The user preference estimation unit estimates the user's content preference based on the accumulated usage history. Usually, since the user frequently uses favorite content, the user's content preference is reflected in the content reproduction history. In addition, changes in user preferences are also reflected in the content playback history. Accordingly, if the user's preference is estimated based on the usage history including the content reproduction history, the user's current preference can be estimated. The user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit is transmitted to the information providing server by the preference information transmitting unit, and the identification information of other users with similar preferences retrieved based on the preference information in the information providing server Is received by the user information receiving unit. With this configuration, a user who uses a user terminal can acquire user information similar to his / her preference at the present time.

  The usage history may include information on the date when the content was reproduced.

  The user preference estimation unit may weight each of a plurality of usage histories used for preference estimation based on date information included in the usage histories.

  The user terminal includes a feature information storage unit that stores the feature information that characterizes the content and the identification information of the content in association with each other, and the preference estimation unit estimates the user's preference based on the usage history and the feature information of the content. Also good.

  The content is music content, and the feature information of the content may include one or a plurality of attribute data for specifying the rhythm and / or tone of the music included in the content.

  The user preference estimation unit may estimate a user's preference for each of one or a plurality of attribute data, and the preference information transmission unit may transmit user preference information for each attribute data.

  The attribute data is represented by numerical values, and the user preference estimation unit acquires feature information of a plurality of contents respectively specified by identification information included in a plurality of usage histories from the feature information storage unit, and each attribute data An average value of a plurality of contents may be calculated for each, and the average value of the plurality of contents may be set as a user preference for attribute data.

  The content feature information may include content metadata.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, information of another user is provided by being connected to an information providing server that provides information of another user to one user via a communication network. A content playback device connectable to a user terminal is provided. The playback device includes a content playback unit that plays back content, a usage history storage unit that stores usage history including identification information of the content played back by the content playback unit, and a usage history stored in the usage history storage unit. A use history providing unit provided to the user terminal.

  According to the above invention, the history information of the content reproduced by the reproducing device can be provided to the user terminal by the usage history providing unit.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program that causes a computer to function as the information providing server, the user terminal, or the playback device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an information providing system, an information providing server, a user terminal, a playback device, and a computer program capable of providing user information that actually meets the user's request for requesting information provision Can be provided.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  Hereinafter, the information providing system according to the present invention will be described by applying it to an information providing system 1 that provides information of another user estimated to be similar in music preference to that user.

  Note that the content according to the present embodiment includes, for example, audio (Audio) content such as music, lectures, and radio programs, and still images or moving images constituting movies, television programs, video programs, photos, pictures, charts, and the like. All kinds of contents such as video contents, electronic books (E-books), games, software, etc. are included. The content data is, for example, digital data representing the contents of the various types of content, such as video data, audio data, electronic book data, electronic game data, and software data. In the following, examples will be described as examples of audio content (MP3 content, etc.), particularly music content ripped by a recording device, or music content distributed from a content server. It is not limited to.

  First, the outline | summary of the information provision system 1 concerning this embodiment is demonstrated. In the information providing system 1, in response to a request from one user registered in the information providing service provided by the information providing system 1, the same user and music preferences are received from other registered users. The user who is estimated to be suitable is searched, and the information of the searched user is provided to one user. Furthermore, in the information providing system 1, a predetermined number can be extracted from the users searched as described above, and only the extracted user information can be provided to one user. The extraction of users is performed based on the content ownership status of each user. In this embodiment, content ownership means that content is stored in a storage device provided in a user terminal 20 or a playback device 30 described later that is used by the user. The content that can be owned by the user is downloaded to the user terminal 20 from the content server 40 to be described later via the communication network 50, or copied from an external recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk) to the user terminal 20 or the playback device 30. And those acquired from the user terminal 20 of another registered user via the communication network 50, and the like. In the present embodiment, the user registered in the information providing service can freely download the content stored in the content server 40 without performing a charging process or the like. Note that a charging server, a license issuing server, or the like may be provided when charging processing or license issuance is performed when content is downloaded. In addition, as means for providing an alternative to the content, a content server for trial listening that provides content for trial listening, a content metadata server that provides text information of the content, and the like may be provided.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram simply showing an overview of the information providing system 1 described above. The user X and the user Y are users registered in the information providing service provided by the information providing system 1. A registered user is given a user ID uniquely identified in the information providing service. The user X and the user Y appreciate the music using the user terminal 20 and the playback device 30, respectively. Specifically, the user terminal 20 or the playback device 30 plays the content, and the music is played by the content data included in the content. The history of the reproduced content (hereinafter also referred to as a reproduction history) is accumulated in the information providing system 1 as a content usage history, and is used to estimate the user's X or Y's music preference. Each user's playlist may also be stored in the information providing system 1. A playlist is a list that includes identification information of content arbitrarily selected by a user using a user terminal. Specifically, for example, there is a list arranged in the order of selecting and reproducing the content frequently played by the user X or the user Y (that is, favorite music frequently heard).

  In the information providing system 1, the user's X music preference is estimated from the accumulated usage history of the user X, and the user's Y music preference is similarly estimated from the accumulated usage history of the user Y. When the user X requests the information providing system 1 to provide information, the information providing system 1 searches for other registered users having similar preferences to the user X based on the estimated preferences of each user. A predetermined number of users are extracted from the acquired users based on the content ownership status. According to the example shown in the figure, the user Y is extracted, and the user Y information, for example, the user ID and the name is provided to the user X. The user X can refer to the registered profile of the user Y based on the acquired information of the user Y, and can communicate with the user Y by e-mail or chat.

  The outline of the information providing system 1 has been described above. Next, two embodiments of the configuration of the information providing system 1 for realizing the above-described functions will be described. A first embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 2 to 23, and a second embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 24 and 25. FIG.

(First embodiment)
First, the overall configuration of the information providing system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The information providing system 1 includes, for example, an information providing server 10, user terminals 20-1, 20-2, 20-3,... (Hereinafter simply referred to as a user terminal 20) and playback devices 30-1 and 30. -2, 30-3,... (Hereinafter simply referred to as the playback device 30), a content server 40, and a communication network 50.

  The information providing server 10 is an information processing apparatus having a function of providing information of a user who uses another user terminal 20 to a user who uses one user terminal 20. The information providing server 10 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 20 via the communication network 50, receives a request for providing information from the user terminal 20, and other users estimated to have similar music preferences to the user who received the request. Is provided to the user terminal 20 that has received the request. The information providing server 10 is connected to the content server 40 via the communication network 50, and acquires content ownership information of each user who uses the user terminal 20 from the content server 40.

  The user terminal 20 is an information processing apparatus capable of reproducing content. The user terminal 20 may be any information processing apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the information providing server 10 via the communication network 50. For example, a personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or the like may be used. Examples include mobile computers and television receivers.

  The user terminal 20 is connected to the information providing apparatus 10 via the communication network 50, requests the information providing apparatus 10 to provide user information, and receives the user information from the information providing apparatus 10. The user terminal 20 is connected to the content server 40 via the communication network 50 and receives content from the content server 40. In addition, the user terminal 20 may include a CD drive, a USB port, and the like, and acquire content recorded on the external recording medium from an external recording medium that can be connected to the CD or USB port.

  The playback device 30 is an information processing apparatus capable of playing back content. The playback device 30 is connected to the user terminal 20 and acquires content from the user terminal 20. In addition, the content reproduction history is provided to the user terminal 20. Therefore, the playback device 30 may or may not be connectable to the communication network 50. When the user cannot use the user terminal 20, it is desirable that the playback device 30 is of a size that can be easily carried by the user so that the content can be used by using the playback device 30 even when moving or away from home. Examples of the playback device 30 include a portable music player, a game device capable of playing music, and a mobile phone.

  The content server 40 is an information processing apparatus that has content and has a function of receiving a request from the user terminal 20 and transmitting the content to the user terminal 20. In addition, the content server 40 transmits content ownership information of each user who uses the user terminal 20 to the information providing server 10. Specifically, when the content server 40 transmits content to the user terminal 20, the content server 40 receives the user ID that is identification information of the user who provided the content and the content ID that is identification information of the provided content. It transmits to the information providing server 10.

  The communication network 50 is a telephone line, a dedicated line, or the like capable of bidirectional communication, and has a function of distributing usage history, content, user information, and the like in this embodiment. The communication network 50 includes the Internet and may be wired or wireless.

  By configuring the information providing system 1 as described above, a user who uses one user terminal 20 has a similar music preference to that of the other user transmitted from the information providing server 10 to the user terminal 20. You can meet other users.

  The overall configuration of the information providing system 1 has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the information providing server 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The information providing server 10 includes, for example, an owned information receiving unit 100, an owned content updating unit 102, a usage history receiving unit 104, an extraction condition receiving unit 106, a user search unit 108, a user extracting unit 110, and user information. A transmission unit 112, a feature information storage unit 114, a user-specific usage history storage unit 116, a user preference storage unit 118, an owned content storage unit 120, a user information storage unit 122, and a user preference estimation unit 124 are provided.

  The ownership information receiving unit 100 acquires content ownership information from the content server 40. Specifically, the content ID and the user ID are received from the content server 40 and provided to the owned content update unit 102. When the owned content update unit 102 acquires the content ID and the user ID from the owned information receiving unit 100, the owned content update unit 102 associates them and writes them in the owned content storage unit 120. The possession information receiving unit 100 receives the content ID and the user ID from the content server 40 at the timing when the content server 40 transmits the content to the user terminal 20. With this configuration, the owned content storage unit 120 is updated each time a user acquires new content from the content server 40, and the content ownership status of each user can be kept up-to-date.

  The owned content update unit 102 updates the stored contents of the owned content storage unit 120. Specifically, as described above, the content ID and the user ID are acquired from the ownership information receiving unit 100, and are associated with each other and written in the owned content storage unit 120. Further, the content ID and the user ID are acquired from the usage history receiving unit 104, and are associated with each other and written in the owned content storage unit 120.

  Here, the owned content storage unit 120 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the owned content storage unit 120 stores a user ID 400 and a content ID 402 in association with each other. This indicates that the user specified by the user ID 400 owns the content specified by the content ID 402. Therefore, for example, when the owned content storage unit 120 is searched using the ID of the user A as a key, the content (contents A, B, C, D, E) owned by the user A can be extracted. Further, when the owned content storage unit 120 is searched using the ID of the content A as a key, users (users A and B) who own the content A can be extracted.

  Returning to FIG. The usage history receiving unit 104 receives content usage history from the user terminal 20. The content usage history includes a playback history of content played on the user terminal 20 or the playback device 30. In addition, a history of content deleted from the user terminal 20, a history of content transferred to another person, and the like may be included. Each history includes a content ID and a usage time. When receiving the usage history, the usage history receiving unit 104 stores the usage history in the user-specific usage history storage unit 116. Specifically, the content ID included in the usage history is written in the usage history storage unit 116 for each user in association with the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal 20 that transmitted the usage history.

  Further, the usage history receiving unit 104 provides the owned content update unit 102 with the content ID received from the user terminal 20 and the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal 20. Since the user terminal 20 may acquire content from other than the content server 40, such as an external recording medium or another user terminal 20, the information of the acquired content is reflected in the owned content storage unit 120. is there. The usage history receiving unit 104 receives the usage history from the user terminal 20 at the timing when the user terminal 20 is connected to the information providing server 10. Or you may receive periodically for every predetermined period. Alternatively, it may be received each time content is played on the user terminal 20.

  Here, the user-specific usage history storage unit 116 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the user usage history storage unit 116 stores a user ID 400, a content ID 402, and a usage time 404 in association with each other. This indicates that the user specified by the user ID 400 reproduced the content specified by the content ID 402 at the date and time stored at the use time 404. The usage time 404 is used to adjust the influence on the estimation result depending on the usage history used when the user preference estimation unit 124 estimates the user preference. Note that the information stored at the use time 404 may be only date information. Further, the use time 404 may be omitted.

  Returning to FIG. The user preference estimation unit 124 is registered in the information providing service provided by the information providing system 10 and estimates the preference of each user who uses the user terminal 20. Specifically, based on the usage history of each user stored in the usage history storage unit 116 for each user and the feature information of each content stored in the feature information storage unit 114, each user's music preference And the estimated preference information is written in the user preference storage unit 118.

  Here, the feature information storage unit 114 and the user preference storage unit 118 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The feature information storage unit 114 stores the content ID 402 and the feature information of the content specified by the content ID 402 in association with each other. The feature information includes a plurality of attribute data for specifying the rhythm and tone of the music reproduced by the content data included in the content, and content metadata.

  Examples of attribute data include tempo 406, high / low range 408, and long / minor key 410, as shown. The tempo 406 stores a numerical value of the music tempo, the high / low range 408 stores the numerical value of the musical range, and the major / minor key 410 stores the musical scale. Stored value is stored. For example, the smaller the value stored in the tempo 406, the slower the tempo of the music, and the larger the value, the faster the tempo of the music. The smaller the numerical value stored in the high / low range 408 is, the smaller the musical range is, and the larger the numerical value is, the larger the musical range is. The smaller the numerical value stored in the major / minor key 410, the darker the music is closer to the minor scale, and the higher the numerical value, the brighter the music is closer to the higher scale. Other examples of attribute data include speed, tempo variance, major chord ratio, brightness, emotional level, loudness, percussion instrument ratio, attack hardness, etc. The obtained value may be stored in the feature information storage unit 114. Note that the attribute data may be one or more as in the present embodiment.

  As metadata, as shown in the figure, an announcement age 412 and a genre 414 can be exemplified. In addition, examples of metadata include the number of albums and singles on which songs included in the content are recorded, the popularity ranking of the songs, and the like.

  The user preference storage unit 118 stores the user ID 400 and user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit 118 in association with each other. User preferences are estimated for each piece of music attribute data and metadata. Specifically, the average value of the tempo, the average value of the high / low range, and the average value of the long / minor key are estimated as the user's preference for the attribute data. In addition, the average value of the announcement period and the maximum value of the genre are estimated as the user's preference for the metadata. According to the example shown in the figure, the music preference of the user A is represented by tempo = 54, high / low range = 20, major / minor = 34, announcement age = 1974, and genre = jazz.

  Returning to FIG. The extraction condition receiving unit 106 receives the extraction conditions from the user terminal 20. Specifically, a user condition for providing information from the information providing server 10 to the user terminal 20 is received from the user terminal. As conditions, for example, the user's sex, age, content feature information, and the like can be considered. In this embodiment, the content ID is received.

  When the user search unit 108 receives the notification that the extraction condition is received from the extraction condition reception unit 106 and recognizes that there is a request for information provision from the user terminal 20, the user search unit 108 is stored in the user preference storage unit 118. Based on the preference information of each user, the user preference storage unit 118 is searched for a user whose preference is similar to the user who uses the user terminal 20 that has received the extraction condition.

  The user extraction unit 110 extracts a predetermined number of users from the users searched by the user search unit 108. The extraction of the user is performed based on the content ID received by the extraction condition receiving unit 106 and the content ownership status of each user stored in the owned content storage unit 120. Details will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The user information transmission unit 112 transmits the user information extracted by the user extraction unit 110 to the user terminal 20 that is the transmission source of the extraction condition. The user information to be transmitted may be only the user ID or information stored in the user information storage unit 122 may be transmitted. As shown in FIG. 10, for example, a user ID 402, a handle name 426, and a user introduction page URL 428 are stored in the user information storage unit in association with each other. The handle name 426 is a name registered by the user specified by the user ID when registering the information providing service. The URL of the user introduction page is location information of a file in which information arbitrarily registered by each user at the time of registration of the information providing service is posted.

  The functional configuration of the information providing server 10 has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the user terminal 20 according to the present embodiment will be described based on FIG.

  The user terminal 20 includes, for example, a usage history transmission unit 200, a usage history acquisition unit 202, a content acquisition unit 204, an extraction condition transmission unit 206, a user information reception unit 208, a usage history storage unit 210, and a usage history. An update unit 212, a content reproduction unit 214, a content storage unit 216, an extraction condition input unit 218, a date acquisition unit 220, and the like are provided.

  The content acquisition unit 204 acquires content by receiving content from the content server 40 or another user terminal 20 via the communication network 50. Further, the content is acquired by reading the content recorded on the external recording medium. After acquiring the content, the content acquisition unit 204 stores the content in the content storage unit 216. The content storage unit 216 stores a plurality of contents together with content IDs. The content ID is uniquely assigned to each content in the content server 40.

  The content playback unit 214 plays back the content stored in the content storage unit 216. The user terminal 20 is provided with an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel, for example. The user selects content to be reproduced via the input device, and the content reproduction unit 214 reproduces the content selected by the user. To do. When the content reproduction unit 214 reproduces the content, the content reproduction unit 214 provides the content ID of the reproduced content to the usage history update unit 212. By reproducing the content by the content reproduction unit 214, the user can listen to the music included in the content selected by the user.

  When the usage history update unit 212 acquires the content ID from the content reproduction unit 214, the usage history update unit 212 acquires the date information from the date acquisition unit 220, and associates the content ID with the date information and writes them in the usage history storage unit 210. In addition, the usage history update unit 212 acquires the content ID and date information from the usage history acquisition unit 202 and writes the content ID and date information in the usage history storage unit 210 in association with each other.

  In response to a request from the usage history update unit 212, the date acquisition unit 220 acquires the system time of the user terminal 20 and provides it to the usage history update unit 212 as date information.

  The usage history acquisition unit 202 receives the usage history of content in the playback device 30 from the playback device 30. Specifically, the content ID played back by the playback device 30 and the playback date information are received and provided to the usage history update unit 212.

  The usage history storage unit 210 stores a plurality of usage histories in which content IDs and date information are associated. The date / time information includes the date and time. The date may be used alone.

  The usage history transmission unit 200 transmits the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit 210 to the information providing server 10 via the communication network 50. The transmission timing may be when the user terminal 20 is connected to the information providing server 10 or may be at predetermined intervals. Alternatively, the usage history storage unit 210 may be updated by the usage history update unit 212.

  The extraction condition input unit 218 acquires the extraction condition input by the user via the input device and provides it to the extraction condition transmission unit 206. Specifically, arbitrary content is selected by the user, and the content ID of the selected content is provided to the extraction condition transmission unit 206.

  The extraction condition transmission unit 206 transmits the extraction condition acquired from the extraction condition input unit 218, specifically, the content ID to the information providing server 10.

  The user information receiving unit 208 receives user information from the information providing server 10. Specifically, after the extraction condition is transmitted to the information providing server 10 by the extraction condition transmitting unit 206, the information providing server 10 searches for and extracts users based on the extraction condition, and the extracted user information is stored in the user terminal. 20 is transmitted. The user information receiving unit 208 receives user information transmitted from the information providing server 10 to the own apparatus. After receiving the user information, the user terminal 20 displays the information on a display device such as a display provided in the user terminal 20.

  The functional configuration of the user terminal 20 has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the playback device 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The playback device 30 includes, for example, a usage history providing unit 300, a content acquisition unit 304, a usage history storage unit 310, a usage history update unit 312, a content playback unit 314, a content storage unit 316, and a date and time acquisition unit 320. Etc.

  The content acquisition unit 304 acquires content from the user terminal 20. In addition, the content may be acquired by receiving the content from the content server 40 or another user terminal 20 via the communication network 50. Further, the content may be acquired by reading the content recorded on the external recording medium. After acquiring the content, the content acquisition unit 304 stores the content in the content storage unit 316. The content storage unit 316 stores a plurality of contents together with content IDs.

  The content playback unit 314 plays back the content stored in the content storage unit 316. The playback device 30 includes input devices such as a scroll button, a keyboard, and a touch panel, for example. The user selects content to be played back via the input device, and the content playback unit 314 selects the content selected by the user. Reproduce. When the content reproduction unit 314 reproduces the content, the content reproduction unit 314 provides the content ID of the reproduced content to the usage history update unit 312. When the content is reproduced by the content reproduction unit 314, the user can listen to the music included in the content selected by the user.

  When the usage history storage unit 310 acquires the content ID from the content playback unit 314, the usage history storage unit 310 acquires the date information from the date acquisition unit 320 and writes the content ID and the date information in the usage history storage unit 310 in association with each other.

  The date acquisition unit 320 receives the request from the usage history update unit 312, acquires the system time of the playback device 30, and provides it to the usage history update unit 312 as date information.

  The usage history storage unit 310 stores a plurality of usage histories associated with content IDs and date information. The date / time information includes the date and time. The date may be used alone.

  The usage history providing unit 300 provides the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit 310 to the user terminal 20. The timing of provision may be when the playback device 30 is connected to the user terminal 20 or when the usage history storage unit 310 is updated by the usage history update unit 312 at a predetermined interval when the playback device 30 is always connected. Good.

  The functional configuration of the playback device 30 has been described above. Next, based on FIG. 11, the flow of processing in which the user terminal 20 acquires content from the content server 40 will be described.

  First, the user terminal 20 is connected to the content server 40 via the communication network 50 (S102). Next, in response to a content download instruction or the like by the user via the input device, the user terminal 20 transmits a content acquisition request to the content server 40 (S104). When the content server 40 receives a content acquisition request from the user terminal 20 (S106), the content server 40 transmits user ownership information to the information providing server 10 (S108). Specifically, the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal 20 that is the transmission source of the content acquisition request and the content ID of the content requested to be acquired are transmitted to the information providing server 10. When receiving the ownership information, the information providing server 10 updates the stored content of the owned content storage unit 120 (S110). Specifically, the user ID received from the content server 40 and the content ID are associated and written into the owned content storage unit 120.

  After transmitting ownership information to the information providing server 10 in step S108, the content server 40 transmits the content requested by the user terminal 20 to the user terminal 20 (S112), and the user terminal 20 receives the content (S114). .

  Heretofore, the flow of processing in which the user terminal 20 acquires content from the content server 40 has been described. Next, a flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 acquires a usage history from the user terminal 20 will be described based on FIG.

  First, the user terminal 20 is connected to the information providing server 10 (S202). When the user terminal 20 detects the connection with the information providing server 10, the user terminal 20 transmits a use history to the information providing server 10 (S204). Note that the user terminal 20 may transmit all the usage histories stored in the usage history storage unit 210, only the usage histories added after the previous transmission, only a predetermined number from the latest one, or Only the usage history having a date within a predetermined period (for example, within a period from one day before the transmission date) may be transmitted.

  The information providing server 10 receives the usage history transmitted from the user terminal 20 (S206), and updates the stored contents of the owned content storage unit 120 and the user-specific usage history storage unit 116 (S208, S210). Specifically, the content ID and date / time information received as the usage history are written in the user-specific usage history storage unit 116 in association with the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal 20 that is the transmission source. In addition, the received content ID is written in the owned content storage unit 120 in association with the user ID. By writing the content ID received as the usage history in the owned content storage unit 120, the content information acquired by the user terminal 20 from other than the content server 40 can be reflected in the user's content ownership status.

  The information providing server 10 updates the stored contents of the owned content storage unit 120 and the user-specific usage history storage unit 116, and then transmits a completion notification to the user terminal 20 (S212), and the user terminal 20 receives the completion notification ( S214) A series of processing ends.

  As above, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 acquires the usage history from the user terminal 20 has been described. Next, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 estimates the user's preference will be described based on FIG.

  First, the user preference estimation part 124 of the information provision server 10 detects that the timing which updates a user preference has arrived (S302). Examples of the timing for updating the user preference include when the load on the CPU provided in the information providing server 10 is low, or when the user-specific usage history storage unit 116 is updated at predetermined intervals. After the detection, the user preference estimation unit 124 acquires a content list recently used by the user with reference to the user-specific usage history storage unit 116 (S304). Specifically, for each user ID, the content ID associated with the user ID is extracted from the user usage history storage unit 116. All content IDs may be acquired, but in order to acquire a list of recently used content by the user, the date and time information included in the usage history is new (for example, from the time of processing to one month before Extract only the content ID of the date). Furthermore, weighting may be performed according to the freshness of the usage history. For example, the usage history of the date from the time of processing to one week ago has a weighting of 2 so that the estimation result of the user's preference is greatly affected, and the weighting is 1 for others.

  After acquiring the content ID from the user-specific usage history storage unit 116, the user preference estimation unit 124 refers to the feature information storage unit 114 and acquires feature information of each content (S306). Specifically, the content ID identical to the content ID acquired in step S304 is searched from the feature information storage unit 114, and the feature information (each attribute data and each metadata value) associated with the content ID is acquired. To do. This is performed for all content IDs acquired in step S304.

  Thereafter, the user preference estimation unit 124 calculates the average value or the maximum value of each attribute data and each metadata value acquired in step S306, and obtains the user preference (S308). This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In order to obtain the preference of the user X, first, in step S304, the content ID of the content (contents A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) recently used by the user X is extracted. Thereafter, feature information of the contents A to I is acquired in step S306. In step S308, for each attribute data and metadata, an average value is calculated for data represented by numerical values, and the largest value is derived for non-numeric values. According to the example shown in the figure, the average value of the numerical values of the contents A to I is set as the preference of the user X in the tempo 406 represented by numerical values, the high / low range 408, the long / minor key 410, and the announcement age 412. For the genre 414 not represented by a numerical value, “pops”, which is the most common genre in the contents A to I, is regarded as a preference of the user X.

  Further, when weighting is performed according to the freshness of the usage history as described above, the weighting is reflected in the preference estimation result. Specifically, in the case of the above example, the usage history with a weight of 2 is counted twice when calculating the average value or deriving the maximum value (that is, assuming that there are two identical usage histories, By counting the values of attribute data and metadata), the influence on the preference estimation result can be made larger than the usage history having a weight of 1.

  Further, when calculating the average value, the distribution state of the numerical values to be calculated may be taken into consideration. For example, referring to the tempo 406 of each content in FIG. 14, “2” of the content H is an extremely small value compared to the numerical values of other content. Therefore, when obtaining the user's preference regarding the tempo, “2” of the content H is excluded from the average value calculation target. In this way, the calculated average value is not affected by numerical values that are extremely far from other numerical values, so the average value can be calculated more accurately and more accurate user preferences can be obtained. Can do.

  The user preference is obtained as described above, and the user preference estimation unit 124 updates the stored content of the user preference storage unit 118. The processing from step S304 to step S310 is performed for all users registered in the information providing service.

  Heretofore, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 estimates the user's preference has been described. Next, a flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 provides user information to the user terminal 20 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the user designates an extraction condition and executes a search (S402). Specifically, for example, the user uses the input device or display device of the user terminal 20 to select a desired piece of music and presses a “user search” button or the like. When a song is selected by the user and the button is pressed, the user terminal 20 acquires the content ID of the content including the selected song as content data by referring to the content storage unit 216 or the like. Thereafter, the user terminal 20 transmits the content ID as an extraction condition to the information providing server 10 (S404).

  The information providing server 10 receives the extraction condition transmitted from the user terminal 20 (S406), and refers to the user preference storage unit 118 for a user whose preference is similar to the user who uses the user terminal 20 that is the transmission source of the extraction condition. To search (S408). The process of step S408 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The information providing server 10 stores preference information of a user who uses the user terminal 20 that is the transmission source of the extraction condition (the user who executed the search, hereinafter referred to as a search execution user to distinguish it from other users). It acquires from the user preference memory | storage part 118 (S422), and also acquires the information of the preference of the other user memorize | stored in the user preference memory | storage part 118 (S424). Thereafter, the information providing server 10 sequentially compares the preference information of the search execution user with the preference information of other users (S426). As a comparison method, for example, the sum of differences between attribute data and metadata included in the preference information of the search execution user and other users is obtained. A specific example will be described below.

The estimated preference of the search execution user is
Tempo = 50
High / low range = 55
Major / minor = 69
Announcement age = 1989
The genre is pop, and the estimated preference of the user being compared is
Tempo = 40
High / low range = 80
Major / minor = 25,
Announcement age = 1970
When genre = jazz, the following calculation is performed and the difference between them is calculated.
Tempo = (50-40) ² = 100
High / low range = (55-80) ² = 625
Major / minor = (69-25) ² = 1936
Year of publication = (1989-1970) ² = 361
The difference between genre = pop and jazz is set to 400. The difference between each attribute data and metadata calculated above is added to obtain a difference in preference between the search execution user and the comparison target user.

  Also, each attribute data or metadata may be weighted. For example, among the attribute data and metadata that characterize content music, especially if there are differences in the preference for that feature among users, Weighting is performed so as to greatly influence the calculated preference difference. This will be described using the above example. For example, when the announcement age is an important feature, the difference 361 between the announcement dates is multiplied by the coefficient 5 to obtain 1805. As a result, the difference in preference between the search execution user and the comparison target user is larger than the above case.

  In step S426, after obtaining a difference in preference between all users registered in the information providing service and the search execution user, a user whose difference value is a predetermined value or less is similar to the search execution user and the music preference. Is selected as a user (S428).

  Returning to FIG. In step S408, a user whose preference is close to a predetermined value and a preference similar to that of the search execution user is selected, and then the process proceeds to step S410. Note that the information providing server may transmit the information of all the users selected in step S408 to the user terminal 20 without proceeding to the process of step S410. A user ID or the like is transmitted as user information.

  In step S410, the information providing server 10 sorts the users searched in step S408 in descending order of the owned content with the search execution user. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  The information providing server 10 acquires a list of content owned by the search execution user (S442). Specifically, the owned content storage unit 120 is searched using the user ID of the search execution user as a key, and all associated content IDs are acquired. In addition, the information providing server 10 sequentially acquires a list of contents owned by each user whose music preference is close to that of the search execution user, that is, the user searched in step S408 in FIG. 15 (S444). Then, the information providing server 10 sequentially compares the list of owned contents of the searched user with the list of owned contents of the search execution user, and based on the comparison result, the degree of difference in the list of owned contents. The users are sorted in descending order (S446).

  The order in which the degree of difference in the list of owned contents is large includes the order in which more contents not owned by the search execution user are owned, and the order in which the overlap of owned contents with the search execution users is less. Note that the information providing server 10 may sort based on the extraction condition transmitted from the user terminal 20. Specifically, the content ID that is the same as the content ID received as the extraction condition is included in the owned content list and the content of the same genre as the content specified by the content ID is owned content. Sorting may be performed in descending order of the degree of difference.

  FIG. 18 is a specific example in which contents that are not owned by the search execution user are sorted in the order of possession based on the extraction conditions. The user X is a search execution user, and the user terminal 20 specifies the content ID “000001” as an extraction condition and requests the information providing server 20 to search for the user. The content specified by the content ID “000001” includes the genre “Rock” in the feature information. Reference numeral 502 denotes a list of owned contents belonging to the genre “Rock” by the user X who is the search execution user. “K” in the figure indicates that the content ID “000001” is designated as the extraction condition.

  User Y and user Z are users searched as users with similar preferences to user X. Both the user Y and the user Z own the content with the content ID “000001” specified as the extraction condition. Reference numeral 504 is a list of owned contents of the content belonging to the genre “Rock” of the user Y, and reference numeral 506 is a list of owned contents of the contents belonging to the genre “Rock” of the user Z. The owned content list 502 of the user X is compared with the owned content lists 504 and 506 of the user Y or the user Z, respectively. As a result of the comparison, one content (content ID = 000030) is included in the owned content list 504 of the user Y, and the content not included in the owned content list 502 of the user X is included in the owned content list 506 of the user Z. It can be seen that 10 (content ID = 000011-00000020) are included. Therefore, as a result of the sorting, the user Z is higher than the user Y, the user Z is preferentially introduced to the user X, and the information on the user Z is provided to the user X.

  FIG. 19 is a specific example of sorting based on the extraction condition in the order of few overlapping contents owned by the search execution user. The user X is a search execution user, and the user terminal 20 specifies the content ID “000001” as an extraction condition and requests the information providing server 20 to search for the user. The content specified by the content ID “000001” includes the genre “Rock” in the feature information. Reference numeral 602 denotes an owned content list of content belonging to the genre “Rock” of the user X who is the search execution user. “K” in the figure indicates that the content ID “000001” is designated as the extraction condition.

  User Y and user Z are users searched as users with similar preferences to user X. Both the user Y and the user Z own the content with the content ID “000001” specified as the extraction condition. Reference numeral 604 is a list of owned contents of content belonging to the genre “Rock” of the user Y, and reference numeral 606 is a list of owned contents of contents belonging to the genre “Rock” of the user Z. The owned content list 602 of the user X is compared with the owned content lists 604 and 606 of the user Y or the user Z, respectively. As a result of the comparison, content that overlaps with the content owned by user X, that is, content that is included in user X's owned content list 602 is included in user Y's owned content list 604 (content ID = 000004). It can be seen that the content list 606 owned by the user Z includes two (content ID = 000009, 000010). Therefore, as a result of the sorting, the user Y is higher than the user Z, and information on the user Y is provided to the user X in order to introduce the user X preferentially to the user Y.

  In addition, the information providing server 10 may sort the users in the order in which the content owned by the search execution user is less owned, as another example of the order in which the degree of difference of the owned content is larger. According to the example in FIG. 19, there are eight contents that are included in the owned content list 602 of the user X who is the search execution user and are not included in the owned content list 604 of the user Y. On the other hand, seven contents are included in the owned content list 602 of the user X and not included in the owned content list 606 of the user Z. Therefore, as a result of sorting, user Y is higher than user Z.

  Note that, after S444 in FIG. 17, the information providing server 10 searches the list of owned contents of the searched user and the list of owned contents of the user who uses one user terminal based on the comparison results of the owned contents list. When the degree of difference from the above is larger than a predetermined level, a process of removing the searched user from the extraction target may be performed. A specific example will be described below.

  For example, the content list owned by the user X, which is one user, includes five contents, and the content list of the content owned by the user Y, the user Y who has been searched as having similar preferences, It is assumed that the content list of Z includes 1000 contents. Both the user Y and the user Z own the five contents owned by the user X.

  In this case, according to the sorting process described above, the user Z has higher content than the user Y because the user Z owns more content that the user X does not own. However, when there are a lot of owned contents and various contents are used, it is difficult to narrow down the user's preference by estimating the preference based on the usage history. That is, the user Z's preference for music is not narrowed down by estimation based on the usage history, and there is a high possibility that the preferences of the user Z and the user X are not similar. Accordingly, it is considered that only a part of the 1000 contents owned by the user Z is in line with the user X's preference.

Therefore, the information providing server 10 determines an allowable value of the ratio of the number of common contents with respect to the number of all owned contents in advance, and excludes the user from the extraction target when the ratio is smaller than the allowable value. For example, when the allowable value is 3%, in this example, the following is obtained.
User Y: 5 (number of common contents) / 100 (number of owned contents) × 100 = 5%
User Z: 5 (number of common contents) / 1000 (number of owned contents) × 100 = 0.5%
As a result, the user Z is excluded from the extraction target. Note that, instead of the allowable value of the ratio, an allowable value of the number of different contents may be determined, and the user may be excluded from the extraction target when the number of different contents is larger than the allowable value.

  Returning to FIG. After sorting the users in step S410, the information providing server 10 extracts a predetermined number of users from the top (S412), and transmits user information extracted as a search result to the user terminal 20 (S414). The user terminal 20 receives the search result (S416) and displays the result on a display device such as a display. A user who has executed a search from the user terminal 20 can refer to the profile of the user as a search result based on the displayed information, or can contact the user by communication means such as e-mail or chat.

  According to the said structure, the user who performed the search from the user terminal 20 can obtain the information of the user with whom the taste of music is similar to self. In addition, among users who have similar tastes of music with those of themselves, it is possible to obtain information on users who own a lot of content that they do not own. As a result, the search execution user can obtain more information from the search result user that is a song that the user has not heard yet and that is highly likely to meet the user's preference. Alternatively, it is possible to obtain information on users who do not own much of the content that they own, even among users who have similar music preferences with their own. As a result, the search execution user should provide the search result user with more information on the music that has not been heard by the user of the search result and is likely to meet the user's preference. Can do. Therefore, it is possible to provide a user and a user who has performed the search with an opportunity to have a beneficial encounter between the users.

  Heretofore, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 provides user information to the user terminal 20 has been described. Next, based on FIG. 20, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 provides the user terminal 20 with more detailed information of the search result user will be described.

  First, the search execution user selects a user who wants to obtain detailed information from the users of the search results transmitted from the information providing server 10 to the user terminal 20 by using an input device provided in the user terminal 20 ( S502). The user terminal 20 transmits the user ID of the user selected by the search execution user to the information providing server 10 (S504). The information providing server 10 receives the user ID transmitted from the user terminal 20 (S506), and acquires the information of the user from the user information storage unit 122 using the received user ID as a key (S508). Thereafter, the acquired detailed information of the user is transmitted to the user terminal 20 (S510), and after receiving the information (S512), the user terminal 20 displays the information on the display device.

  Heretofore, the flow of processing in which the information providing server 10 provides the user terminal 20 with more detailed information on the search result user has been described. Next, a flow of processing in which the user terminal 20 acquires a usage history from the playback device 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the user terminal 20 detects that it is time to acquire the usage history from the playback device 30 (S602). Examples of the timing include when the playback device 30 is connected to the user terminal 20, every predetermined interval, or when an instruction is given from the user via the input device. After the detection, the user terminal 20 transmits a usage history acquisition request to the connected playback device 30 (S604). The playback device 30 receives the request from the user terminal 20 (S606), and provides the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit 310 to the user terminal 20 (S608). The usage history to be provided may be all the usage histories stored in the usage history storage unit 310, only the usage histories added since the last provision, only the usage histories within a predetermined period, and have a predetermined date. Only usage history may be used. The user terminal 20 receives the usage history provided from the playback device 30 (S610), and writes the received usage history in the usage history storage unit 210 of the user terminal 20 (S612). According to such a configuration, the history of the content used by the user on the playback device 30 can also be transmitted to the information providing server 10 via the user terminal 20, and is reflected in the preference estimation.

  The flow of processing for the user terminal 20 to acquire the usage history from the playback device 30 has been described above. Next, based on FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, another example of the user preference estimation method by the information providing server 10 and another example of the preference similarity determination between users will be described.

  In this example, first, the average value of each attribute data and metadata of content is calculated from the usage history in the same manner as described above. Thereafter, the calculated value is represented by a numerical value in the range of 0-100. The preference similarity between users is determined by the distance between the centroids of each value expressed above.

  This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. According to the example of FIG. 22, the tempo, major / minor key, beat, age, and genre in the feature information of the content are A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Based on the usage history of each user and the feature information of the content, the preference for the feature information (A to E) of each user is represented by a numerical value in the range of 0 to 100. User X has A (tempo) = 25, B (long / minor) = 25, C (beat) = 75, D (age) = 100, and E (genre) = 100. The center of gravity for each numerical value of the feature information of user X is indicated by reference numeral 712. Similarly, the user Y and the user Z express their preference for feature information by numerical values within the range of 1 to 100, and their centroids are denoted by reference numerals 714 and 716, respectively.

  When determining the preference similarity, the above-mentioned center of gravity is used. As shown in FIG. 23, for user X and user Z, the center of gravity 716 of user Z is closer to the center of gravity 714 of user Y than the center of gravity 712 of user X. It is determined that the preference is more similar to user Y than user X. In the above, the user preference estimation method by the information providing server 10 and other examples of the preference similarity determination between users have been described.

(Second Embodiment)
The information providing system according to the second embodiment is different in that a part of the functions provided in the information providing server in the first embodiment is provided in the user terminal. Hereinafter, functional configurations of the information providing server and the user terminal, which are different from the first embodiment, will be described with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the information providing server 80 according to the second embodiment includes, for example, an owned information receiving unit 100, an owned content storage unit 102, a preference information receiving unit 804, an extraction condition receiving unit 106, and a user. A search unit 108, a user extraction unit 110, a user information transmission unit 112, a user preference storage unit 118, an owned content storage unit 120, a user information storage unit 122, and the like are provided. Components having the same functions as those of the information providing server 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The preference information receiving unit 804 receives preference information from the user terminal 20. In the second embodiment, the function of estimating the user's preference from the user's usage history is provided on the user terminal side. Therefore, the information providing server 80 may receive the user preference information created by the user terminal 20 from the user terminal 20 via the communication network and store the received preference information in the user preference storage unit 118.

  Next, the user terminal 90 according to the second embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 25, the user terminal 90 includes, for example, a preference information transmission unit 900, a user preference estimation unit 902, a usage history acquisition unit 202, a content acquisition unit 204, an extraction condition transmission unit 206, and user information. Receiving unit 208, feature information storage unit 114, usage history storage unit 210, usage history update unit 212, content playback unit 214, content storage unit 216, extraction condition input unit 218, date and time acquisition unit 220, and the like Is provided. Components having the same functions as those of the user terminal 20 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Since the feature information storage unit 114 has the same function as that provided in the information providing server 10 according to the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted by attaching the same reference numerals. Note that the feature information of each content stored in the feature information storage unit 114 may be received from the information providing server 80 via the communication network, or acquired by reading the feature information recorded on the external recording medium. May be. Alternatively, the user terminal 90 is further provided with a function of extracting and calculating content feature information from each content, and the content information stored in the content storage unit 216 is extracted and calculated by the user terminal 90 itself. It may be stored in the feature information storage unit 114.

  The user preference estimation unit 902 performs music of the user who uses the user terminal 90 based on the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit 210 and the feature information of each content stored in the feature information storage unit 114. Estimate the preference. The preference estimation method is the same as in the first embodiment. Examples of the timing for estimating the preference include when the storage content of the usage history storage unit 210 is updated at every predetermined interval, when the user terminal 90 is connected to the information providing server 80, and the like.

  The preference information transmission unit 900 transmits the user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit 902 to the information providing server 80. As the timing of transmission, when the user terminal 90 is connected to the information providing server 80, for example, immediately after the user preference is estimated by the user preference estimation unit 902 at every predetermined interval.

  According to the information providing system according to the second embodiment, each user terminal only needs to estimate the preference of a user who uses the user terminal, and the preference of all users is estimated in the information providing server. The load on the information providing server is reduced compared to The information providing system according to the second embodiment has been described above.

  According to the information providing system according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, a user who has performed a search can be introduced to a user who has a similar music preference to that of the user. The preference is estimated based on the usage history of each user, and can be said to be the preference of each user at the time of search. Therefore, the user who has the taste of the music of the search execution user at the time of the search and the taste that is actually similar at the time of the search is introduced. Therefore, it is possible to introduce users who actually meet the desired conditions of the user who executed the search. In addition, among users with similar music preferences, users who own many songs that they have never heard of are introduced, and users who have performed a search are highly likely to follow their preferences. Can be obtained from the introduced users. Or the user who performed the search can provide the information of the unknown music with high possibility of following the user's preference to other users with similar music preference.

  Further, if the information providing system according to any one of the above embodiments is used, the following user introduction service can be realized.

  As an example of the user introduction service, a service that introduces “a user who has recently used a content specified by the content ID” can be exemplified by specifying a desired content ID and executing a search. Specifically, the information providing server searches for a user whose specified content ID is included in the usage history, and extracts a user whose usage history time information is the latest from the searched users. Then, the user information is provided as a search result to the user terminal of the user who executed the search. Based on the information provided, the users who have performed the search can contact the introduced users by e-mail or the like, and introduce each other's recommended music. According to such a service, the user can be introduced to a user who has recently listened to his favorite music.

  As another example of the user introduction service, it is possible to exemplify a match service that introduces users who have similar preferences unilaterally from the information providing system, instead of introducing other users in response to a search request from the user. . Specifically, for example, each user registers the conditions (for example, age, gender, etc.) of the person whom he / she wants to introduce together with his / her profile when registering for the service. In the information providing system, at a predetermined timing, based on the profile and conditions of each user, users who match the conditions are searched. After the search, users having similar preferences are further extracted based on the music preference of each user, and the other party's information is provided to each user terminal. According to such a service, the user can be introduced to other users who are in a desired condition and have similar music tastes by simply registering with the service.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention is applicable to an information providing system that provides information of a user who uses another user terminal to a user who uses one user terminal, and in particular, a user introduction system that allows users to meet each other in a virtual space on the Internet. It is applicable to.

It is explanatory drawing explaining the outline | summary of the information provision system concerning embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the information provision system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information provision server concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the user terminal concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the utilization log | history memory part classified by user concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the possession content memory | storage part concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the characteristic information storage part concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the user preference memory | storage part concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the user information storage part concerning the embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of the process in which the user terminal concerning the embodiment acquires a content from a content server. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of the process in which the information provision server concerning the embodiment acquires a utilization log | history from a user terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in which the user preference estimation part concerning the embodiment estimates a user preference. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of user preference estimation concerning the embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of the process in which the information provision server concerning the embodiment provides a user's information to a user terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in which the information provision server concerning the embodiment searches for a user. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process for the information provision server concerning the embodiment to extract a user. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the user extraction process by the information provision server concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the user extraction process by the information provision server concerning the embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of the process in which the information provision server concerning the embodiment provides a user's detailed information to a user terminal. It is a timing chart which shows the flow of a process in which the user terminal concerning the embodiment acquires a usage history from a playback device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of user preference estimation by the information provision server concerning the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of user preference estimation by the information provision server concerning the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information provision server concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the user terminal concerning the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information provision system 10 Information provision server 20 User terminal 30 Playback apparatus 40 Content server 50 Communication network 104 Usage history reception part 106 Extraction condition reception part 108 User search part 110 User extraction part 112 User information transmission part 114 Feature information storage part 116 User Separate usage history storage unit 118 User preference storage unit 120 Owned content storage unit 122 User information storage unit 124,902 User preference estimation unit 200 Usage history transmission unit 202 Usage history acquisition unit 206 Extraction condition transmission unit 208 User information reception unit 210, 310 Usage history storage unit 214, 314 Content playback unit 300 Usage history providing unit 804 Preference information receiving unit 900 Preference information transmitting unit

Claims (13)

Two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content, and information that is connected to the user terminal via a communication network and that provides information about a user who uses the other user terminal to a user who uses the one user terminal An information providing system comprising a providing server:
The user terminal is
A content playback unit for playing back the content;
A usage history storage unit for storing a usage history including identification information of the content reproduced by the content reproduction unit;
A usage history transmission unit that transmits the usage history stored in the usage history storage unit to the information providing server;
The information providing server includes:
A user-specific usage history storage unit that stores the usage history received from the user terminal in association with the identification information of the user;
A feature information storage unit that stores the feature information that characterizes the content and the identification information of the content in association with each other;
An owned content storage unit that associates and stores the identification information of the content owned by the user and the identification information of the user;
A user preference estimation unit that estimates the user preference based on the content usage history stored in the user-specific usage history storage unit and the content feature information stored in the feature information storage unit When;
A user preference storage unit that associates and stores the user preference information estimated by the user preference estimation unit and the user identification information;
A user search unit for searching for one or more other users having similar preferences to the user using the one user terminal based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit;
Based on the stored contents of the owned content storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user who uses the one user terminal, and a list of contents each owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit A user extraction unit that sequentially compares and extracts a predetermined number from the two or more searched users based on the comparison result;
A user information transmission unit that transmits the user identification information extracted by the user extraction unit to the user terminal;
An information providing system comprising: An information providing server that is connected to two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content via a communication network and provides a user who uses one user terminal to a user who uses another user terminal. :
A usage history receiving unit that receives from the user terminal a usage history including identification information of content reproduced by the user terminal;
A user-specific usage history storage unit that associates and stores the received usage history and identification information of a user who uses the user terminal;
A user preference storage unit that associates and stores information on preference of the user using the user terminal and identification information of the user using the user terminal;
A user search unit for searching for one or more other users having similar preferences to the user using the one user terminal based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit;
A user information transmission unit that transmits identification information of the user searched by the user search unit to the user terminal;
An owned content storage unit that associates and stores the identification information of the content owned by the user and the identification information of the user;
Based on the stored contents of the owned content storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user using the one user terminal and a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit A user extraction unit that sequentially compares and extracts a predetermined number from the two or more searched users based on each comparison result;
The user preference is estimated based on the usage history ,
The information providing server, wherein the user information transmitting unit transmits user identification information extracted by the user extracting unit to the user terminal .   The user extraction unit determines a degree of difference between the searched list of owned contents of the user and the list of owned contents of the user using the one user terminal based on each comparison result of the list of owned contents. The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein if it is larger than a predetermined value, the searched user is excluded from extraction targets.   The user extraction unit is configured to identify the two or more searched users based on each comparison result of the owned content list, and the owned content list is different from the owned content list of the user using the one user terminal. 3. The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein sorting is performed in descending order, and a predetermined number is extracted from the top of the sorting result.   The user extraction unit owns two or more searched users based on each comparison result of the owned content list, and a lot of content not owned by a user using the one user terminal. The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein the information providing server sorts in order and extracts a predetermined number from the top of the sorting result.   The user extraction unit sorts the two or more searched users based on the comparison results of the list of owned contents in the order of less overlap with the owned contents of the user using the one user terminal, The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein a predetermined number is extracted from the top of the sorting result. A feature information storage unit that stores the feature information that characterizes the content and the identification information of the content in association with each other;
A user preference estimation unit that estimates the user preference based on the content usage history stored in the user-specific usage history storage unit and the content feature information stored in the feature information storage unit When;
An owned content storage unit that associates and stores the identification information of the content owned by the user and the identification information of the user;
Based on the stored contents of the owned content storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user using the one user terminal and a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit A user extraction unit that sequentially compares and extracts a predetermined number from the two or more searched users based on each comparison result;
A user information storage unit that stores the identification information of the user and information related to the user in association with each other;
In the user preference storage unit, information about the user preference estimated by the user preference estimation unit is stored,
The information providing server according to claim 2, wherein the user information transmission unit acquires information about the user extracted by the user extraction unit from the user information storage unit and transmits the information to the user terminal. An information providing server that is connected to two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content via a communication network, and that provides information about a user who uses another user terminal to a user who uses one user terminal. :
A usage history reception process for receiving from the user terminal a usage history including identification information of the content reproduced by the user terminal;
A user-specific usage history storage process for associating the received usage history with identification information of a user who uses the user terminal and storing it in a user-specific usage history storage unit;
A user preference storage process in which user preference information using the user terminal is associated with identification information of a user using the user terminal and stored in a user preference storage unit;
A user search process for searching for one or more other users having similar preferences to the user using the one user terminal based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit;
A user information transmission process for transmitting the identification information of the user searched by the user search process to the user terminal;
Owned content storage processing for storing the identification information of the content owned by the user and the identification information of the user in association with the owned content storage unit;
Based on the stored contents of the owned content storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user using the one user terminal and a list of contents owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit A user extraction process of sequentially comparing and extracting a predetermined number from the two or more searched users based on each comparison result;
The user preference is estimated based on the usage history ,
The computer program characterized in that the user information transmission process transmits user identification information extracted by the user extraction unit to the user terminal .   In the user extraction process, the degree of difference between the list of owned contents of the searched user and the list of owned contents of the user using the one user terminal is determined based on each comparison result of the list of owned contents. The computer program according to claim 8, wherein if it is larger than a predetermined value, the searched user is excluded from extraction targets.   In the user extraction process, based on each comparison result of the list of owned contents, the two or more searched users are different from a list of owned contents of a user who uses the one user terminal. 9. The computer program according to claim 8, wherein sorting is performed in descending order, and a predetermined number is extracted from the top of the sorting result.   In the user extraction process, based on each comparison result of the list of owned contents, the searched two or more users own a lot of contents not owned by the user using the one user terminal. 9. The computer program according to claim 8, wherein the computer program is sorted in order and a predetermined number is extracted from the top of the sorting result.   The user extraction processing sorts the two or more searched users based on the comparison results of the list of owned content in the order of the least overlap with the owned content of the user using the one user terminal, 9. The computer program according to claim 8, wherein a predetermined number is extracted from the top of the sorting result. An information providing server that is connected to two or more user terminals capable of reproducing content via a communication network, and that provides information about a user who uses another user terminal to a user who uses one user terminal. :
A usage history reception process for receiving from the user terminal a usage history including identification information of the content reproduced by the user terminal;
A user-specific usage history storage process for associating the received usage history with identification information of a user who uses the user terminal and storing it in a user-specific usage history storage unit;
A user preference storage process in which user preference information using the user terminal is associated with identification information of a user using the user terminal and stored in a user preference storage unit;
A user search process for searching for one or more other users having similar preferences to the user using the one user terminal based on the user preference information stored in the user preference storage unit;
A user information transmission process for transmitting the identification information of the user searched by the user search process to the user terminal;
A feature information storage process in which feature information characterizing the content and the identification information of the content are associated and stored in a feature information storage unit;
User preference estimation processing for estimating the user preference based on the usage history of the content stored in the usage history storage unit for each user and the feature information of the content stored in the feature information storage unit When;
Owned content storage processing for storing the identification information of the content owned by the user and the identification information of the user in association with the owned content storage unit;
Based on the stored contents of the owned content storage unit, a list of contents owned by a user who uses the one user terminal, and a list of contents each owned by two or more users searched by the user search unit A user extraction process of sequentially comparing and extracting a predetermined number from the two or more searched users based on each comparison result;
Executing a user information storage process in which the identification information of the user and the information about the user are associated and stored in the user information storage unit;
The user preference is estimated based on the usage history ,
The user preference storage unit stores information about the user preference estimated by the user preference estimation process,
The computer program characterized in that the user information transmission process acquires information about the user extracted by the user extraction unit from the user information storage unit and transmits it to the user terminal .

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