KR20150070605A - Contents service system and method based on user input gesture - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a content service system which is operated according to a user input gesture and a method thereof. According to the present invention, the system includes: a user terminal which recognizes the gesture input from a user through a pointing input means on the screen playing a first content and makes a content providing request corresponding to the recognized gesture; and a content service device which receives the content providing request according to the gesture recognized by the user terminal and provides a predetermined content to the user terminal according to the received content providing request. The present invention enables a user to directly input the gesture corresponding to a channel number to the screen playing the content without a remote controller to switch the channel. The user can switch the channel more easily by inputting the gesture registered in advance instead of inputting a formalized number. The user can also input the gesture onto the content playing screen of a device without a touch screen through a pointing input means such as a mouse and a touch pad to directly switch to a wanted channel. More specifically, the user can select and utilize a wanted content in a full-screen mode without calling a separate content switch menu or moving to a content switch page.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a content service system and a content service system according to a user input gesture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content service system and method according to a user input gesture, and more particularly, to a content service system and method for changing a content being played back to another content according to a gesture input from a user.

Various broadcast contents such as terrestrial broadcasting, cable broadcasting, or internet broadcasting are provided to users. The broadcast contents are generally provided to the users in accordance with a program table organized for each channel. Accordingly, the user selects a channel that he wants to watch and uses the broadcast content currently being broadcast on the channel.

There are various ways to change the channel that the user is currently watching to another channel. The channel can be changed relatively simply by directly inputting the channel number desired to be viewed through the remote controller. And can move to a neighboring channel of the channel being watched by using the channel up / down button. It is also possible to select and watch a desired channel on the channel schedule table.

However, in recent years, as shown in Korean Patent No. 10-1269031, the viewing of broadcast contents through mobile terminals such as smart phones and tablet PCs has been greatly increased. However, only a method of changing channels by using a channel up / down button or a channel schedule table There is no way of directly inputting the channel number memorized by the user and directly moving to the corresponding channel.

A method of changing a channel by using a channel up / down button or a channel schedule table in a situation where several tens to hundreds of broadcasting channel services are being performed is not limited to a method of directly inputting a channel number, There was an inconvenience such as taking more.

On the other hand, when the broadcast contents are used in full screen, there is a problem in that, in order to select other contents, it is necessary to first move to a page for selecting a content change or a page for selecting a content change, and then change the content.

KR 10-1269031 B

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a content service system and a method for providing a content that is being played back according to a gesture input from a user.

A method of controlling a user terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes playing a first content on a screen, receiving a gesture through a pointing input unit, recognizing the input gesture, And performing a content change operation according to the content.

The step of performing the content changing operation may include reproducing the second content of the channel corresponding to the recognized gesture.

The step of performing the content changing operation may include transmitting a keyword search request for a keyword corresponding to the recognized gesture to a content service system, outputting a keyword search result provided in the content service system, And reproducing the content of the selected channel or the second content corresponding to the VoD content in the search result.

The performing the content changing operation may further include displaying a preview screen for the second content.

At least one of size, position, and transparency of the preview screen can be changed according to the user setting.

The preview screen may be displayed on the background portion of the first content.

The method may further include displaying a gesture input area for receiving the gesture in a superimposed manner on a screen on which the first content is reproduced.

At least one of size, position, and transparency of the gesture input area may be changed according to the user's setting.

The gesture input area may be displayed in a background portion of the first content.

The gesture input area may be transparently positioned on an upper layer than a screen on which the first content is reproduced and may be always active.

Recognizing the input gesture may include capturing an image of the gesture input region on which the gesture is drawn, and performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the captured image of the captured gesture input region Step < / RTI >

If the recognition of the input gesture fails, the registration gesture may be displayed to the user and selected, and the input gesture may be converted into a database (DB) with the same gesture.

A gesture recognition unit for recognizing the input gesture; and a display unit for displaying the user's first content according to the content change according to the recognized gesture according to another embodiment of the present invention. And a control unit for performing an operation.

The control unit may cause the second content of the channel corresponding to the recognized gesture to be reproduced.

Wherein the control unit causes a keyword search request for a keyword corresponding to the recognized gesture to be transmitted to the content service system, causes a keyword search result provided by the content service system to be output, Or the second content corresponding to the VoD content can be played back.

The control unit may cause a preview screen for the second content to be displayed on the display unit.

The gesture recognition unit may capture an image of the gesture input area on which the gesture is drawn, and perform optical character recognition (OCR) on the image of the captured gesture input area.

A content service apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a communication unit that receives a content provision request according to a gesture input to a screen during reproduction of a first content from a user terminal, And a content providing unit for providing the content to the user terminal.

The content providing unit may provide the second content of the channel corresponding to the gesture to the user terminal as the predetermined content to be played back.

Wherein the predetermined content is a keyword search result for a keyword corresponding to the gesture and the content providing unit provides the user terminal with second content corresponding to the content of the channel selected in the keyword search result or the VoD content to be played .

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content service method comprising: receiving a content provision request according to a gesture input to a screen during reproduction of a first content from a user terminal; To the user terminal.

A computer-readable recording medium according to another embodiment of the present invention records a program for causing a computer to execute any one of the methods.

According to the present invention, a user can input a gesture corresponding to a channel number directly on a screen on which content is being reproduced, without using a remote controller.

Also, since the channel can be changed by inputting the gesture registered by the user in advance, there is an advantage that the channel can be changed more freely than the user can input a more regular number.

In addition, even in a device without a touch screen, a gesture can be input on a content playback screen through a pointing input means such as a mouse, a touch pad, and the like, so that the user can immediately switch to a desired channel.

In particular, even when a content is used in a full screen, there is an advantage that a desired content can be selected and used without moving to a separate menu call for content change or a page for content change.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for changing a channel of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a guidance page for a gesture input channel changing function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a gesture input area according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view illustrating a gesture input area according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram provided to illustrate a gesture input according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view illustrating a preview screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a channel of a user terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a diagram provided to illustrate a gesture input according to another embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in more detail.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a content service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a content service system according to the present invention may include a content service apparatus 200 and a user terminal 100. The content service apparatus 200 may be connected to the user terminal 100 through the broadcast communication network 10 to provide various contents.

The content service apparatus 200 is a device operated by a broadcasting company that provides a service to a user terminal 100 through a broadcast communication network 10. Here, the broadcasting company may include a terrestrial broadcasting service provider, a DMB broadcasting service provider, a cable broadcasting service provider, and may include a web-based broadcasting service provider that provides services based on the Internet.

The content service apparatus 200 can provide the content organized in the channel selected by the user. In addition, the content service apparatus 200 may provide the content selected by the user in a VoD manner. In addition, the content service apparatus 200 may provide content-related information in response to a request from the user terminal 100. [ The content-related information may include a title, a performer, a director, a plot, a genre, a poster image, a content-related article, and the like of the content. The content service apparatus 200 may also provide channel related information at the request of the user terminal 100. [ The channel related information may include a schedule table of the corresponding channel, content related information organized in the corresponding channel, content popularity ranking of the corresponding channel, and the like.

The broadcast communication network 10 allows the contents service apparatus 200 and the user terminal 100 to be connected to exchange various information and data.

The broadcast network 10 may be a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), Internet, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, WIBRO, A communication network, and the like, and it does not matter whether it is wired or wireless, and any communication method may be used. Also, the broadcasting network 10 may include a terrestrial broadcasting network, a satellite broadcasting network, and a cable broadcasting network. Here, the broadcasting network or the communication network does not depend on the wired and wireless, and any broadcasting or communication method may be used.

On the other hand, if the content service apparatus 200 is operated by a cable broadcasting service provider, the broadcast communication network 10 may be implemented as a cable network. The cable network includes a hybrid fiber coaxial cable having a configuration in which an optical line is used from the content service apparatus 200 to a subscriber optical network terminal unit (ONU: not shown), and a coaxial cable is used from the ONU to the user terminal 200 : HFC) can be used. The HFC network is capable of high-speed data transmission of more than 10Mbps at 750MHz (5MHz ~ 42MHz) and downward (54MHz ~ 750MHz) (Broadband), 500 MHz to 552 MHz (Internet band), and 552 MHz to 750 MHz (additional service band such as digital TV). Of course, The network may be implemented.

The user terminal 100 performs a function of receiving content from the content service apparatus 200 and playing the content on the screen and may be a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a workstation, a palmtop computer, an ultra mobile personal computer (UMPC) A mobile phone, a smart phone, an IPTV, and the like, and may be implemented as a terminal equipped with a microprocessor and having a computing capability.

According to the embodiment, the user terminal 100 is implemented as a set-top box and converts the content provided from the content service apparatus 200 through the cable network into a format that can be reproduced by an external video playback apparatus (not shown) Can be performed. In addition, the user terminal 100 may perform various functions by receiving various commands input from a user through a remote controller (not shown) to the content service apparatus 200 to provide a desired content to the user.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the user terminal 100 includes a communication unit 110, a display unit 120, a player 130, a control unit 140, an input unit 150, a gesture recognition unit 160, and a storage unit 170 . The user terminal 100 may change the currently playing content to another content according to the gesture input from the user. Here, the content change may include not only changing the channel of the currently playing specific channel to the content of another channel but also changing the content being played back on the current screen to a specific VoD (Video on Demand) content selected by the user .

The communication unit 110 may receive the content provided by the content service apparatus 200 through the broadcast communication network 10. [ To this end, the communication unit 110 may support a communication interface through which the user terminal 100 can exchange various information and data with the contents service apparatus 200.

The display unit 120 displays the contents received from the communication unit 110 and may be implemented as a display panel such as an LED panel, an LCD panel, and an OLED panel.

The player 130 performs a function of playing the content received from the content receiver 110 on the display unit 120 and playing the content. The player 130 may be an Adobe Flash player, a Gom player, a YouTube player, a KMPlayer, Or a dedicated video player provided by a Windows media player or a content service provider. Particularly, a flash player such as Adobe Flash Player can place a layer to receive a gesture from a user in an upper layer of the layer in which the content being played is displayed.

The input unit 150 can receive various commands related to the operation of the user terminal 100 from the user. In particular, the input unit 150 according to the present invention may receive a gesture from a user through pointing input means such as a touch pad, a mouse, a touch screen, and the like. Here, the gesture means a user action performed through the pointing input means. For example, a user can input a gesture by drawing a number, a letter, a graphic, a symbol, a code, a pattern, or a combination thereof on a screen through a pointing input means. A gesture can be distinguished not only by the results drawn on the screen, but also by the direction in which it is drawn. For example, dragging a mouse from right to left on the screen and dragging it from left to right can be distinguished by different gestures. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment, the user may continuously click the mouse for a predetermined time, or continuously touch the touch pad or the touch screen, may be included in the gesture. If the touch pad or touch screen can receive multi-touch input, the gesture can be inputted by the number of multi-touch points, and gesture input can be performed by enlarging or reducing the distance between the multi-touch points. Also, a gesture may include an action of selecting a specific object (e.g., an icon, a thumbnail image, a menu button, etc.) on the screen and dragging the selected object to move to another position.

The gesture recognition unit 160 recognizes a gesture inputted through the pointing input means. Specifically, the gesture recognition unit 160 may perform a function of determining which gesture matches a gesture previously registered in the gesture table through the pointing input unit. The gesture table is described in detail below.

The gesture recognition unit 160 may be configured to recognize numbers, characters, figures, symbols, symbols, patterns, or combinations thereof on the screen through the pointing input means in an optical character recognition (OCR) manner It is also possible.

For this, the gesture recognition unit 160 may include a capture unit (not shown) and an optical character recognition unit (not shown).

The capture unit performs the function of capturing an image of the gesture input area in which the gesture is drawn. The gesture input area image is described in detail below.

The optical character recognition unit performs optical character recognition on the captured gesture input region image in the capture unit. The optical character recognition unit compares a pattern drawn by a user with a gesture input area image with a pre-registered number, letter, figure, symbol, code, pattern or combination thereof to recognize the gesture input from the user .

The storage unit 170 may store various programs and data related to the operation of the user terminal 100. In particular, the storage unit 170 according to the present invention may store a channel list and a gesture table.

The channel list includes information on the channels provided by the content service apparatus 200. [ For example, the channel list basically includes a channel number and a channel name, and may additionally include channel property information. In the case of a sports channel, baseball, basketball, soccer, and the like may be included as attribute information of the channel, and in the case of a sports channel, , The political, economic, social, etc. may be included as attribute information of the corresponding channel. Of course, it is also possible to include channel attribute information of other contents.

The various types of gestures described above may be registered in the gesture table, and the instructions to be performed by the user terminal 100 may correspond to the registered gestures.

In the gesture table, the number of the channel number included in the channel list may be registered as a gesture, and a command for changing the content to a channel corresponding to the number may correspond to the gesture. In addition, the gesture table may have not only a number of a channel number but also a specific character, figure, symbol, sign or pattern registered in advance as a gesture, and may be changed to a specific channel corresponding to the corresponding character, figure, symbol, May be associated with each other. For example, the number '11' and the character 'M' may be registered in the gesture table corresponding to the command for changing the content to the channel number '11'.

The user can additionally register a specific gesture and a command to be executed in addition to the gesture registered by the content service apparatus 200 in the gesture table. It is also possible for the user to modify the gesture table.

The user registers the gesture that can be input more easily and freely than the number of the channel number given by the content service apparatus 200 in the gesture table in correspondence with the channel change command for the specific channel so that the content can be changed more quickly and conveniently . For example, in order to change the content to channel 17, it is much faster and more convenient to input gestures such as the letter "T", triangle, circle, and slash (/) rather than inputting the number 17 as a gesture have. Of course, it is also possible to register a specific symbol, code or pattern that the user can easily input as a gesture for content change to the channel '17'.

On the other hand, it is also possible to sequentially click a mouse for a predetermined time, or to register a gesture continuously touching the touch pad or the touch screen corresponding to a specific channel number. For example, if the user clicks three times continuously or touches the touch pad or the touch screen three times consecutively, the user can register the corresponding gesture when he or she wants to change the channel at a later time, in accordance with the channel number '17'.

Various types of gestures may be registered as a gesture for content change in addition to the example shown here.

It is also possible to input multiple gestures for one channel. For example, in the case of the channel '9', the number '9', the figure 'Δ', and the character 'K' may be simultaneously registered as a gesture for channel change.

Here, the channel list and the gesture table are separately described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the gesture table may be directly registered in the channel list without separately providing the gesture table. For example, assuming that channels 1 to 10 are included in the channel list, basically numbers 1 to 10 are registered in the channel list as a gesture, and a gesture for a specific channel is additionally registered in the channel list It is also possible to do.

The control unit 140 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 100. In particular, the control unit 140 according to the present invention changes the content currently being played back from the user terminal 100 to another content according to a gesture input from the user can do.

The control unit 140 may receive the content of the channel corresponding to the gesture inputted by the user from the content service apparatus 200 and reproduce the content through the player 130. [ It is also possible to provide a preview screen for the content without directly changing the content corresponding to the user input gesture according to the embodiment, and to implement the content change after receiving the final selection from the user.

In addition, the controller 140 may request the content service apparatus 200 to receive content-related information or channel-related information corresponding to a keyword corresponding to a gesture inputted by the user, and display the received content-related information or channel-related information on the screen. The control unit 140 may also receive the content selected by the user who has confirmed the content-related information or the channel-related information from the content service apparatus 200 and reproduce the content through the player 130. [

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for changing a channel of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the controller 140 can register a gesture related to channel change from the user (S210).

The control unit 140 may output a guidance page as shown in FIG. 4 on the screen when the user first uses the channel change function corresponding to the gesture input. If the user inputs a channel number of a specific channel as a gesture, the guide page may include a message saying that the channel change is performed on the channel, and the user may register the channel as a gesture for channel change in the content service apparatus 200 You can find the channel number on the guide page. The guidance page can be displayed on the screen not only when the channel change function according to the gesture input is used for the first time but also thereafter depending on the user's selection.

In addition, according to the embodiment, the content service apparatus 200 may perform step S210 so that the user can additionally register any gesture for channel change in addition to the channel number that is basically registered as a gesture in the content service apparatus 200. [

It is preferable to display a message on the screen that the same gesture has already been registered for another channel and receive another gesture from the user when the user tries to register the already registered gesture with respect to another channel. Of course, it is also possible to change the existing channel number in which the gesture is registered to a new channel number. Also, according to the embodiment, it is possible to allow the same gesture to be registered in duplicate on different channels, but to be processed according to a certain criterion when the gesture is input from the user later.

On the other hand, in order to increase the gesture recognition rate in step S210, the gesture to be registered by the user may be repeatedly inputted at least two or three times and registered with the same gesture.

On the other hand, if the user wishes to change the channel using only the gesture basically provided by the content service apparatus 200, step S210 may be omitted.

Of course, it is possible to implement a further input or change of gesture for channel change at any time according to the user's selection. To this end, the user terminal 100 may provide gesture information already registered according to a user's request to the user.

The user terminal 100 can reproduce an arbitrary first content on the screen of the display unit 120 through the player 130 (S220). When the user selects a specific channel, the content arranged on the channel can be received from the content service apparatus 200 and reproduced on the screen. If the VoD content viewing is selected, the VoD content is received from the content service apparatus 200 Can be reproduced.

Next, the gesture input mode may be selected from the user while the first content is being reproduced on the screen (S230).

The selection of the gesture input mode may be performed by a user clicking or touching a gesture input area activation button (not shown) provided by the player 130, a long clicking of the content playback screen with the mouse, or a long press Press operation or double clicking on the screen. Of course, it is also possible to implement the gesture input mode so that the user can select the gesture input mode from the list (not shown) displayed when the left mouse button is clicked. It is also possible to simply implement a mode in which a mouse cursor is brought to a content playback screen or a content playback screen is automatically changed to a gesture input mode in a normal mode when a user touches the content playback screen. The gesture input mode selection can be made in various other ways.

When the gesture input mode is selected (S230-Y), the user terminal 100 can activate the gesture input area (S240). When the gesture input area is activated, the gesture input area 20 can be superimposed on the screen 10 on which the first content is reproduced, as illustrated in FIG.

The gesture input area 20 can be implemented so that transparency can be adjusted according to user settings. Transparency can be provided in three levels or more granular levels of transparency, translucency, and opacity. Of course, it is also possible to implement transparency ranging from 0 to 100% according to the user's selection.

If the transparency of the gesture input area 20 is 100%, the user may not recognize that the gesture input area is activated, so that the border of the gesture input area 20 may be displayed.

Meanwhile, the size and the display position of the gesture input area 20 can be changed according to user setting.

Depending on the embodiment, the user terminal 100 may automatically cause the gesture input area 20 to be displayed in the background portion of the first content, as illustrated in FIG. For this, the control unit 140 includes an object recognition function to recognize an object such as a person or a moving object on the screen of the currently viewed content, and to cause the gesture input area 20 to be displayed in the background part have.

The gesture input area 20 may be arranged to be transparent to the upper layer than the screen 10 on which the content is reproduced so that the gesture input area 20 is always active during the content reproduction as provided by the Adobe Flash player. Accordingly, when the content is played back on the entire screen, it is possible to directly input a gesture for content change without moving to a separate page for channel change or calling a menu for content change selection.

Then, the user can input a gesture related to the channel change in the gesture input area 20 through the pointing input means (S250). As illustrated in FIG. 7, the user may input a gesture for channel change in such a manner that a user draws a number, a character, a figure, a symbol, a code, or a pattern in the gesture input area 20. [ Of course, various user actions for changing channels through the pointing input means can be input as a gesture.

Next, the gesture recognition unit 160 recognizes the gesture inputted in the gesture input area 20 (S260). The gesture recognition unit 160 can determine whether the gesture inputted through the pointing input means best matches any gesture registered in advance.

The gesture recognition unit 160 may recognize the gesture through optical character recognition (OCR). To this end, the capture unit captures the gesture input area image in which the gesture is drawn, and the optical character recognition unit recognizes the gesture input in step S250 by performing optical character recognition on the captured gesture input area image in the capture unit .

If the gesture recognition fails (S270-N), the user terminal 100 displays a gesture recognition failure message on the screen (S290), and the gesture for channel change can be input again from the user (S250). A gesture recognition failure may occur in the following cases. There may be a case where the gesture inputted in step S250 is not recognized or there is no gesture corresponding to the gesture table or there is no gesture input for a predetermined time after the gesture input area 20 is displayed. According to the embodiment, when the gesture recognition fails, the gesture input area 20 may disappear from the screen without displaying a separate gesture recognition failure message.

According to the embodiment, when the gesture recognition fails due to no matching gesture, the registered gesture may be displayed to the user and the gesture to be input by the user may be confirmed. In this case, the gesture recognition rate can be increased by making the database (DB) with the same gesture as the gesture which the user has failed to recognize. Also, the gesture succeeded in recognition may be converted into a database (DB) in the storage unit 170 and used for gesture recognition, thereby increasing the recognition rate.

If the gesture recognition is successful (S270-Y), the controller 140 may perform a channel change operation corresponding to the gesture recognized in the step S260 by referring to the gesture table (S280).

Specifically, the control unit 140 may change the first content being reproduced on the content reproduction screen 10 to the second content of the channel corresponding to the gesture recognized in step S260 (S285). For example, when the number '5' is drawn in the gesture input area 20 as illustrated in FIG. 7, the control unit 140 receives contents arranged in the channel corresponding to the number '5' from the contents service apparatus 200 And can be reproduced on the screen.

The controller 140 controls the player 130 to preview the second content 30 of the channel corresponding to the gesture with the screen shown in Fig. 8 (S281), and a channel change command is input from the user who confirmed the preview screen 30 (S283). When the channel change command is input (S283-Y), the content to be played back on the screen 10 may be changed to change from the first content to the second content (S285). A real time broadcast screen of the second content may be displayed on the preview screen 30 or a poster image may be displayed on the preview screen 30 and various contents for supporting the user to confirm the content of the second content may be displayed .

On the other hand, if a channel change command is not input from a user who has confirmed the preview screen within a predetermined time or a channel change cancel command is input (S283-N), the user terminal 100 causes the preview screen to disappear, The first content can be continuously reproduced.

In step S283, the channel change command input may be input in such a manner that the user selects channel change from the command list displayed after the user double-clicks the preview screen 30 or clicks the right button of the mouse. Alternatively, the channel change confirmation button (not shown) may be automatically displayed together with the preview screen 30 to be selected from the user. Of course, the channel change command input may be implemented by various other methods besides the method described herein.

According to the embodiment, when the number '1' corresponds to the channel A and the number '11' corresponds to the channel B, the control unit 140 displays the content of the channel A when the number '1' is drawn in the gesture input area 20 If the user further draws '1' into the gesture input area 20 while the number '1' is drawn and changes to the number '11' in the preview screen 30, The preview screen 30 may be changed with the content of the channel.

The gesture input area 20 activated in step S240 is made to disappear when the gesture recognition succeeds in step S270 or when a channel change command or a channel change cancel command is inputted in step S283, It is also possible to implement it to disappear along with.

On the other hand, as described above, it is preferable to implement the same gesture such that different channels are not registered in duplicate. However, when the duplicate registration is allowed, the following process can be performed. A channel corresponding to a small number among channels duplicated in the corresponding gesture may be implemented. Of course, the opposite can also be implemented.

On the other hand, like the gesture input area 20 described above, the preview screen 30 can be changed in transparency, size, and display position by user setting, and can be automatically displayed on the background portion of the first content.

Although the embodiment of FIG. 3 has described a method in which a user terminal performs a channel change through a gesture input corresponding to a channel provided by a content service apparatus, the present invention can also change various contents.

For example, the gesture input from the user is processed as a content-related information or a keyword for searching for channel-related information, and the content-related information or the channel-related information is provided as a keyword search result for the keyword from the content service apparatus 200 It is possible.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a content changing method of a user terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the user can select a gesture input mode (S810) while the first content is being reproduced on the screen (S805).

If the gesture input mode is selected (S810-Y), the user terminal 100 can activate the gesture input area (S820).

Then, the user can input a predetermined gesture into the gesture input area 20 through the pointing input means (S830).

The gesture input mode selection step (S810) to the gesture input step (S830) may be implemented in the same manner as steps S230 to S250 in the embodiment of FIG.

Next, the gesture recognition unit 160 recognizes the gesture inputted in the gesture input area 20 (S840).

Thereafter, the controller 160 transmits a search request to the content service apparatus 200 using the keyword corresponding to the gesture recognized in step S840 as a keyword (S850). For example, when a movie, a movie, a drama, or the like is input as a gesture, a search request using keywords such as 'movie', 'movie', 'drama', etc. may be transmitted to the content service apparatus 200.

According to the embodiment, it is also possible to transmit a keyword search request to the content service apparatus 200 even when the gesture for channel change for a specific channel is registered and the corresponding gesture is input, as in the embodiment of FIG. 3 Do. For this purpose, the content change according to the gesture input may be divided into the channel change mode and the keyword search mode and selected from the user. When the mode is set to the channel change mode, the channel change according to the embodiment of FIG. 3 is performed. When the mode is set to the keyword search mode, a search using a channel name and channel attribute information of the corresponding channel is requested. For example, when a gesture corresponding to the entertainment, music and entertainment channel 'Mnet' is inputted, a search request using keywords 'Mnet', 'Entertainment', 'Music' and 'Entertainment' is implemented in the content service apparatus 200 It is possible.

Next, the controller 160 receives the keyword search result from the content service apparatus 200 according to the keyword search request and outputs the keyword search result to the screen (S860). The keyword search result provided by the content service apparatus 200 may include content related information related to the keyword or channel related information. The content-related information may include a title, a performer, a director, a plot, a genre, a poster image, a content-related article, and the like of the content. The content service apparatus 200 may also provide channel related information at the request of the user terminal 100. [ The channel related information may include a schedule table of the corresponding channel, content related information organized in the corresponding channel, content popularity ranking of the corresponding channel, and the like.

The control unit 160 can stop the reproduction of the first content and display the keyword search result directly on the screen 10 or on the preview screen 30. [

The content related information or the channel related information page provided as a keyword search result preferably includes a user interface through which a user can select a specific channel or a specific VoD content.

Next, when the user selects a specific channel or a specific VoD content from the keyword search result (S870-Y), the control unit 160 requests the content of the corresponding channel or the corresponding VoD content to the content service apparatus 200, 10 (S880).

Meanwhile, if there is no specific channel or specific VoD content selection or a keyword search result screen removal command is selected within a predetermined time from the user who confirmed the content related information or the channel related information page provided as a keyword search result (S870-N) 100 may cause the keyword search result to disappear and the first content to be continuously reproduced on the screen.

On the other hand, according to the embodiment, a gesture input for requesting a content and / or a channel recommendation request based on the first content is received in the first content playback screen, and a recommended content and / or channel information is received from the content service apparatus 200 It is also possible to do. A content that matches the first content with a genre, a performer, a director, a plot, or the like may be recommended, or another content viewed by a user who has viewed the first content may be recommended. It is also possible to recommend the 'Mnet' channel when the first content currently watched by the user is music video, and recommend the 'tvN' channel if it is entertainment content.

The gesture input for the content and / or channel recommendation request may be selected by selecting a recommended content information request command from a command list appearing after double-clicking or right-clicking the first content playback screen, And selecting a recommended content request icon from among the icons displayed by the user, and may be performed by various other methods.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the user selects a specific channel region 51 among a plurality of channel regions included in the channel list region 50 displayed together with the content reproduction screen 10 on which the first content is reproduced, It is also possible to perform the channel change by the operation of dragging to the playback screen 10. In this case, a channel name for each channel may be displayed in the channel list area 50, and a poster image or a real-time broadcast screen of the corresponding channel may be displayed as a thumbnail instead of a channel name according to an embodiment.

11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in more detail.

11, the contents service apparatus 200 basically includes a contents providing unit 210 and selectively includes a receiving unit 230, a keyword searching unit 250, and a managing unit 270 according to an embodiment .

The content providing unit 210 performs a function of providing a predetermined content according to a content providing request received from the user terminal 100. [ Specifically, the content providing unit 210 may provide the content of the channel requested by the user terminal 200 or specific VoD content, and may provide a keyword search result according to the keyword search request of the user terminal 100 It is possible.

The receiving unit 230 may receive a content provision request from the user terminal 100. [ Here, the content providing request may be a request for a content of a specific channel or a keyword search request for a specific keyword. For example, when a specific gesture is input to the screen of the user terminal 100, the receiving unit 230 may be requested from the user terminal 100 to provide the contents of the channel corresponding to the gesture, A keyword search result for a keyword corresponding to the gesture may be requested.

The keyword searching unit 250 may extract the content related information or channel related information related to the keyword from the database (not shown) in response to the keyword search request from the user terminal 100 to generate a keyword search result. To this end, the content service apparatus 200 can construct a database for storing content-related information or channel-related information, and in some embodiments, extracts content-related information or channel-related information from an external database, .

The management unit 270 controls the overall operation of the content service apparatus 200 according to the present invention. In particular, the management unit 270 according to the present invention distributes contents according to a content provision request received from the user terminal 100, (Not shown).

Embodiments of the present invention include a computer-readable medium having program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. This medium records a program for executing the content service method and the user terminal control method described above. The medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., alone or in combination. Examples of such media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD and DVD, programmed instructions such as floptical disk and magneto-optical media, ROM, RAM, And a hardware device configured to store and execute the program. Or such medium may be a transmission medium, such as optical or metal lines, waveguides, etc., including a carrier wave that transmits a signal specifying a program command, data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, Of the right.

Claims (29)

Reproducing the first content on the screen,
Receiving a gesture through a pointing input means,
Recognizing the input gesture, and
Performing a content change operation according to the recognized gesture
Gt; a < / RTI > The method of claim 1,
The step of performing the content change operation includes:
Reproducing the second content of the channel corresponding to the recognized gesture
Gt; a < / RTI > The method of claim 1,
The step of performing the content change operation includes:
Transmitting a keyword search request for a keyword corresponding to the recognized gesture to a content service apparatus,
Outputting a keyword search result provided by the content service apparatus, and
Reproducing the second content corresponding to the content of the channel selected in the keyword search result or the VoD content
Gt; a < / RTI > 3. The method according to claim 2 or 3,
The step of performing the content change operation includes:
Displaying a preview screen for the second content
Further comprising:
Changing at least one of a size, a position, and a transparency of the preview screen according to a user setting, or displaying the preview screen on a background portion of the first content. 3. The method according to claim 2 or 3,
Displaying a gesture input area for receiving the gesture on a screen on which the first content is reproduced
Further comprising:
Changing at least one of a size, a position, and transparency of the gesture input area according to a user's setting, or displaying the gesture input area on a background part of the first content. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the step of recognizing the input gesture comprises:
Capturing an image of the gesture input area from which the gesture is drawn, and
Performing optical character recognition (OCR) on the image of the captured gesture input region
Gt; a < / RTI > The method of claim 1,
Wherein the registration gesture is selected and displayed to the user when the recognition of the input gesture fails, and the input gesture is converted into a database (DB) with the same gesture in the selected registration gesture. A display unit for reproducing the first content on the screen,
An input unit for receiving a gesture through a pointing input unit,
A gesture recognition unit for recognizing the input gesture, and
A controller for performing a content changing operation according to the recognized gesture;
Lt; / RTI > 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein,
Wherein the second content of the channel corresponding to the recognized gesture is played. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein,
The content service apparatus transmits a keyword search request for a keyword corresponding to the recognized gesture to a content service apparatus, causes a keyword search result provided by the content service apparatus to be output, Thereby causing the corresponding second content to be played back. The method according to claim 9 or 10,
Wherein,
A preview screen for the second content is displayed on the display unit,
Changing at least one of a size, a position, and a transparency of the preview screen according to a user setting, or displaying the preview screen on a background portion of the first content. The method according to claim 9 or 10,
Wherein,
A gesture input area for receiving the gesture is displayed in a superimposed manner on a screen on which the first content is reproduced,
Changing at least one of size, position and transparency of the gesture input area according to a user setting, or causing the gesture input area to be displayed in a background portion of the first content. The method of claim 12,
The gesture recognizing unit recognizes,
Wherein the gesture input region captures an image of the gesture input region on which the gesture is drawn and performs optical character recognition on the captured gesture input region image. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the registration gesture is selected and displayed to the user when the input gesture fails to be recognized, and the gesture input to the selected registration gesture is converted into a database by the same gesture. A communication unit for receiving a content provision request according to a gesture input to the screen during reproduction of the first content from the user terminal;
A content providing unit for providing a predetermined content to the user terminal according to the content providing request;
And a content server. 16. The method of claim 15,
The content providing unit,
And a second content of a channel corresponding to the gesture is provided to the user terminal as the predetermined content to be reproduced. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the predetermined content is a keyword search result for a keyword corresponding to the gesture,
The content providing unit,
And a second content corresponding to the content of the channel selected in the keyword search result or the VoD content is provided to the user terminal and played back. 17. The method according to claim 16 or 17,
Wherein the second content provided by the content providing server is displayed on a preview screen on the user terminal,
Wherein at least one of size, position and transparency is changed according to a user setting or displayed on a background portion of the first content. 17. The method according to claim 16 or 17,
A gesture input area for receiving the gesture is superimposed on the screen on which the first content is reproduced,
Wherein the gesture input area changes at least one of a size, a position, and a transparency according to a user setting, or is displayed on a background portion of the first content. 20. The method of claim 19,
Wherein an image of the gesture input area on which the gesture is drawn is captured and optical character recognition (OCR) is performed on the image of the captured gesture input area. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the registration gesture is displayed and selected by the user when the recognition of the input gesture fails, and the input gesture is converted into a database (DB) with the same gesture as the selected registration gesture. Receiving from the user terminal a content provision request according to the gesture input to the screen during reproduction of the first content, and
Providing a predetermined content according to the content providing request to the user terminal
/ RTI > The method of claim 22,
And a second content of a channel corresponding to the gesture is provided to the user terminal as the predetermined content to be reproduced. The method of claim 22,
Wherein the predetermined content is a keyword search result for a keyword corresponding to the gesture,
And providing the user terminal with a second content corresponding to the content of the selected channel or the VoD content in the keyword search result. 24. The method of claim 23 or 24,
Wherein the second content is displayed on a preview screen on the user terminal,
Wherein the preview screen has at least one of size, position, and transparency changed according to user settings, or displayed on a background portion of the first content. 24. The method of claim 23 or 24,
A gesture input area for receiving the gesture is superimposed on the screen on which the first content is reproduced,
Wherein the gesture input area changes at least one of a size, a position, and a transparency according to a user setting, or is displayed on a background portion of the first content. 26. The method of claim 26,
Wherein an image of the gesture input area on which the gesture is drawn is captured and optical character recognition (OCR) is performed on the image of the captured gesture input area. The method of claim 22,
Wherein the registration gesture is displayed and selected by the user when the recognition of the input gesture fails, and the input gesture is converted into a database (DB) with the same gesture as the selected registration gesture. A user terminal for recognizing a gesture input from a user through a pointing input means on a screen during reproduction of the first content and making a content provision request corresponding to the recognized gesture,
And receives a content provision request according to a gesture recognized by the user terminal, and provides a predetermined content to the user terminal in accordance with the received content provision request.

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