WO2011045852A1

WO2011045852A1 - Playlist generation device, playlist generation method, playlist generation program, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2011045852A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/067779
Authority: WO
Inventors: 篤哉水上
Original assignee: パイオニア株式会社
Priority date: 2009-10-14
Filing date: 2009-10-14
Publication date: 2011-04-21

Abstract

A playlist generation device (100) extracts prescribed contents from a content group comprised of a plurality of contents and generates a playlist. A related key word is associated with each content in the content group. A key word display unit (101) displays a key word-related list (list of key words) on a display screen (110). A position modification unit (102) receives instructions to modify key word display positions on the display screen (110). An extraction unit (103) extracts contents from the content group based on the key word display positions. A determination unit (104) determines a reproduction sequence for the contents based on the key word display positions. A content display unit (105) displays a content-related display according to the reproduction sequence of the contents.

Description

PLAYLIST GENERATION DEVICE, PLAYLIST GENERATION METHOD, PLAYLIST GENERATION PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

The present invention relates to a playlist generation device, a playlist generation method, a playlist generation program, and a recording medium that generate a playlist that defines the playback order of content. However, use of the present invention is not limited to the above-described playlist generation device, playlist generation method, playlist generation program, and recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a content playback device that plays back music or the like, the storage capacity has been increasing. Along with this, it has become possible to use a large amount of content data that was difficult to carry in the past even on the go, and a method for effectively using these content data has been devised. Yes. As an example of such a technique, for example, a technique for automatically generating a playlist indicating the playback order of content is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). In Patent Document 1 below, a playlist that matches the user's preference is automatically generated based on information such as the number of times the content has been played.

JP 2008-204506 A

However, the user's mood and situation when viewing the content vary from time to time, and the content that the user wants to view varies naturally. In the above prior art, although it is possible to generate a playlist that matches the general preference of the user, it is not possible to generate a playlist that matches the user's mood and circumstances at that time. As an example. On the other hand, in order for the user to manually generate a playlist according to the mood of each time, it is necessary to select desired contents one by one from a huge number of contents, which is cumbersome Is given as an example.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a playlist generation apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 extracts a predetermined content from a content group consisting of a plurality of contents and generates a playlist. Each of the contents is associated with a related keyword, a keyword display means for displaying a display related to the keyword on a display screen, and a position change for receiving an instruction to change the display position related to the keyword on the display screen Extraction means for extracting the content from the content group based on the display position relating to the keyword on the display screen, and extracting means based on the display position relating to the keyword on the display screen. Playback of the content Determining means for determining the ordinal along the reproduction order of the content determined by said determining means, characterized in that it comprises a content display means for displaying an indication as to the content on the display screen.

The playlist generation method according to the invention of claim 8 is a playlist generation method for generating a playlist by extracting predetermined contents from a group of contents consisting of a plurality of contents, each of which is related to the contents. A keyword display step in which a keyword is associated and a display relating to the keyword is displayed on a display screen, a position changing step for receiving an instruction to change a display position relating to the keyword on the display screen, and a display relating to the keyword on the display screen An extraction step of extracting the content from the content group based on the position of the content, and a determination step of determining the reproduction order of the content extracted in the extraction step based on the display position of the keyword on the display screen And the above decision process Along the reproduction order of the content that is characterized by containing a content display step of displaying the indication as to the content on the display screen.

A playlist generation program according to the invention of claim 9 causes a computer to execute the playlist generation method according to claim 8.

Further, a recording medium according to the invention of claim 10 is characterized in that the playlist generation program according to claim 9 is recorded in a computer-readable state.

It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the playlist production | generation apparatus concerning Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the playlist production | generation process by a playlist production | generation apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a content reproduction apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the play list production | generation screen of a content reproduction apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining the detail of a timeline area | region and a timeline. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of operation in a play list production | generation screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of operation in a play list production | generation screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of operation in a play list production | generation screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of operation in a play list production | generation screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of operation in a play list production | generation screen. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the play list production | generation process by a content reproduction apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the play list edit process by a content reproduction apparatus.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of a playlist generation device, a playlist generation method, a playlist generation program, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the playlist generation device according to the embodiment. The playlist generation apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a keyword display unit 101, a position change unit 102, an extraction unit 103, a determination unit 104, a content display unit 105, and a region change unit 106, and a content group including a plurality of contents. A predetermined content is extracted from and a playlist is generated.

The playlist generated by the playlist generation device 100 is used, for example, to define the content playback order by a content playback device (not shown). For example, the playlist generation device 100 extracts predetermined content (in this embodiment, content related to a keyword specified by the user) from a content group composed of a plurality of contents recorded in the content reproduction device. , Generate a playlist. Further, the content group may be content stored in a content server that can communicate with the playlist generation device 100 and the content reproduction device, for example. The content specifically includes, for example, music, moving images, still images, information services, and the like.

The related keywords are associated with the contents constituting the content group. Examples of keywords include the genre of the content, the name of the artist who created or demonstrated the content, the name of the award that was awarded, the date of publication, and the region. Generally, a plurality of contents are associated with one keyword. A plurality of keywords may be associated with one content.

The keyword display unit 101 displays a display related to keywords (hereinafter referred to as “keyword display”) on the display screen 110. The keyword display is, for example, a graphic including a keyword text display. The keyword display part 101 changes the magnitude | size of the figure of each keyword display based on the user's preference degree with respect to each keyword, for example. More specifically, as the user's preference level for a keyword is higher, the size of the keyword display of the keyword is increased. Thereby, the keyword display of a keyword with a high user preference becomes easy to be located in the predetermined area | region mentioned later.

The position changing unit 102 receives an instruction to change the position of the keyword display on the display screen 110. The position changing unit 102 is, for example, a touch panel using the display screen 110, detects that a specific keyword display is touched by the user's finger, and detects the moving direction of the finger, thereby detecting the position of the keyword display. Accept change instructions. In addition, when there is an instruction to change the position of the keyword display to the position changing unit 102, the keyword display unit 101 moves the keyword display to the instructed position.

The extraction unit 103 extracts content from the content group based on the keyword display position on the display screen 110. For example, the extraction unit 103 identifies a keyword display located in a predetermined area of the display screen 110 and extracts content associated with the keyword. The predetermined area can be set to an arbitrary area of the display screen 110 by the area changing unit 106 described later. When the predetermined area is changed by the area changing unit 106, the extracting unit 103 extracts the content associated with the keyword located in the changed predetermined area. In addition, when the position changing unit 102 changes the keyword display position after extracting the content once, the extracting unit 103 re-extracts the content based on the changed keyword display position.

The determination unit 104 determines the playback order of the content extracted by the extraction unit 103 based on the display position regarding the keyword on the display screen 110. For example, the determination unit 104 determines the playback order of the content associated with each keyword based on a relative position with respect to the time axis of each keyword display using an arbitrary direction on the display screen 110 as a time axis. More specifically, for example, when the horizontal direction of the display screen 110 is defined as a time axis and the flow of time is defined from left to right, the determination unit 104 reproduces the content associated with the keyword on the left side of the display screen 110. To speed up.

Thus, the play list is completed by determining the playback order by the determination unit 104 for the content extracted by the extraction unit 103. In addition, when the position of the keyword display is changed by the position changing unit 102 after the content reproduction order is once determined, the determination unit 104 re-decides the content reproduction order based on the changed keyword display position.

The content display unit 105 displays a display related to the content (hereinafter referred to as “content display”) on the display screen 110 in accordance with the content reproduction order determined by the determination unit 104. The content display is a thumbnail of an image representing the content, an icon indicating the title of the content, or the like. For example, the content display unit 105 displays the content display on the time axis of the display screen 110 according to the reproduction order of the content. More specifically, for example, when the horizontal direction of the display screen 110 is taken as a time axis and the flow of time is defined from left to right, content displays whose playback order is earlier from the left of the display screen 110 are displayed.

The area changing unit 106 receives an instruction to change a predetermined area on the display screen 110. The area changing unit 106 receives an instruction to change a predetermined area, for example, by receiving an operation of moving an end of the predetermined area in a desired direction via a touch panel using the display screen 110.

Next, playlist generation processing by the playlist generation apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of playlist generation processing by the playlist generation device. First, the playlist generation device 100 displays a keyword display on the display screen 110 by the keyword display unit 101 (step S201).

Next, the playlist generating apparatus 100 determines whether or not a change of the keyword display position is instructed via the position changing unit 102 (step S202). When the change of position is not instructed (step S202: No), the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, when an instruction to change the position is given (step S202: Yes), the keyword display unit 101 changes the position of the keyword display to the designated position (step S203).

Subsequently, the playlist generating apparatus 100 extracts content from the content group by the extraction unit 103 (step S204). More specifically, a keyword display located in a predetermined area on the display screen 110 is identified, and content associated with the keyword is extracted. Next, in the playlist generation device 100, the determination unit 104 determines the content playback order (step S205). More specifically, the playback order of each content is determined based on the relative position of the keyword display with respect to the time axis defined in an arbitrary direction on the display screen 110.

Then, the playlist generation apparatus 100 displays the content display on the display screen 110 according to the reproduction order determined in step S205 (step S206), and ends the processing according to this flowchart. The user looks at the content display displayed in step S206 and confirms the content included in the playlist and the playback order. When a desired playlist cannot be obtained, the user can perform an operation on the position changing unit 102 and the like to regenerate the playlist. Even after the reproduction is started along the playlist, the contents of the playlist can be changed by operating the position changing unit 102 and the like.

As described above, the playlist generation apparatus 100 according to the embodiment determines the content to be included in the playlist and the playback order of the content based on the keyword display position on the display screen 110. Accordingly, the user can edit the playlist by changing the position of the keyword display on the display screen 110 without designating individual contents.

Also, the playlist generation device 100 generates a playlist using content associated with keyword display located in a predetermined area of the display screen 110. Thus, since keywords that are not included in the playlist can be displayed on the display screen 110, the contents of the playlist can be easily changed according to the user's mood and situation. In addition, since the predetermined area can be arbitrarily changed by the area changing unit 106, the keywords included in the playlist can be changed without changing the positional relationship between the keyword displays.

Also, the playlist generation apparatus 100 determines the content playback order based on the relative position between the time axis on the display screen 110 and the keyword display. For this reason, the user can change the playback order of the contents by changing the position of the keyword display. Further, the playlist generation apparatus 100 displays the content display on the time axis of the display screen 110 in accordance with the content reproduction order, so that the user can grasp the content reproduction order at a glance.

Also, the playlist generation device 100 uses a graphic including keyword text display as the keyword display, and changes the size of each keyword display graphic based on the user's preference for each keyword. Specifically, for example, the size of a display related to a keyword having a high user preference is increased. For this reason, a keyword with a high user preference can easily enter a predetermined area, and a content with a high user preference can be easily included in the playlist.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied with the portable content playback device 300 as the playlist generation device 100 will be described. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the playlist generation apparatus 100 is integrated in the content reproduction apparatus 300. In the present embodiment, the content is described as a moving image.

(Hardware configuration of content reproduction apparatus 300)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the content reproduction apparatus. A content reproducing apparatus 300 according to the embodiment includes a CPU 301, a ROM 302, a RAM 303, a recording / reproducing unit 304 for recording / reproducing various data, a recording unit 305 for recording various data, an audio I / F (interface) 306, a speaker 307, an input. A device 308, a video I / F 309, a display 310, and a communication I / F 311 are provided. The components 301 to 311 are connected by a bus 320.

The CPU 301 governs overall control of the content reproduction apparatus 300. The ROM 302 records programs such as a boot program and a content reproduction program. The RAM 303 is used as a work area for the CPU 301. That is, the CPU 301 controls the entire content reproduction device 300 by executing various programs recorded in the ROM 302 while using the RAM 303 as a work area.

The recording / reproducing unit 304 controls reading / writing of data with respect to the recording unit 305 according to the control of the CPU 301. The recording unit 305 records data written under the control of the recording / reproducing unit 304. As the recording / reproducing unit 304, for example, a magnetic disk drive or optical disk drive, and as the recording unit 305, for example, HD (hard disk), FD (flexible disk), flash memory, MO, SSD (Solid State Disk), memory card, etc. Can be used.

An example of information recorded in the recording unit 305 is content data. The content data is, for example, music data, still image data, moving image data, or the like. In this embodiment, the content data is moving image data. The content reproduction device 300 reproduces content data recorded in the recording unit 305 in accordance with a user operation. In addition to the main data constituting the content itself, the content data includes accompanying information such as the title name and player name of the content. Information on the content recorded in the recording unit 305 can be managed, for example, in a content database described later.

The audio I / F 306 is connected to a speaker 307 for audio output. The audio I / F 306 performs D / A conversion on the audio data of the content data instructed to be reproduced, and outputs the audio data from the speaker 307 as audio. Note that the speaker 307 may be detachable from the content reproduction apparatus 300, or may be located away from the main body of the content reproduction apparatus 300.

The input device 308 is configured by a remote controller, a keyboard, a touch panel, and the like provided with a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, various instructions, and the like. The input device 308 may be realized by any one of a remote controller, a keyboard, and a touch panel, or may be realized by a plurality of forms.

The video I / F 309 is connected to the display 310. Specifically, the video I / F 309 is output from, for example, a graphic controller that controls the entire display 310, a buffer memory such as a VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately, and a graphic controller. And a control IC for controlling the display 310 based on the image data to be processed. The display 310 displays icons, cursors, menus, windows, or various data such as characters and images. When the content to be played back by the content playback apparatus 300 is image data, the played back content image may be displayed on the display 310 or may be displayed on the video I / F 309 on another display (for example, than the display 310 of the content playback apparatus 300). A large display) may be connected and displayed on another display 310.

The communication I / F 311 is connected to the network via radio and enables data transmission / reception via the network. By using the communication I / F 311, the content reproduction device 300 can also acquire content data via a network.

1 uses the programs and data recorded in the ROM 302, RAM 303, recording unit 305, and the like in FIG. 3, and the CPU 301 executes predetermined programs to control each unit. To achieve this function.

(Outline of playlist generation processing)
Next, a playlist generation process based on the playback history by the content playback device 300 will be described. The content playback device 300 has a content playback function for playing back content such as music and videos. For content playback, the content specified by the user is played in the specified order, the random playback that plays back the randomly extracted content, the playlist playback that plays back the content along a pre-generated playlist, etc. There are various methods.

Among them, the playlist reproduction is that the user selects contents one by one from the content group recorded in the content reproduction apparatus 300, generates a playlist, and reproduces along the playlist. It is common. However, when the number of contents recorded in the content reproduction apparatus 300 is enormous, it is a very complicated task to generate a playlist by specifying individual contents. For this reason, the content reproduction apparatus 300 associates a keyword with each content, and generates a playlist using the content related to the keyword specified by the user. Thereby, the user can generate a playlist with a rough image suitable for the mood and situation of each occasion, instead of individually specifying the contents in the playlist.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a playlist generation screen of the content reproduction apparatus. When the generation of a playlist is instructed by the user, the content reproduction device 300 displays a playlist generation screen 400 on the display 310 as shown in FIG. On the playlist generation screen 400, a keyword display 410, a content display 420, and a timeline area 430 are displayed.

The keyword display 410 is a graphic (object) representing a keyword related to the content recorded in the content reproduction device 300. The keywords related to the content include, for example, the genre of the content, the name of the artist who created or performed the content, the name of the award winning, the date of announcement, and the region. Generally, a plurality of contents are associated with one keyword. Further, the number of keywords associated with one content is one in principle, but there may be a plurality of keywords.

4 is configured by a text display of each keyword and a circular figure. In addition, the shape of the keyword display in FIG. 4 is an example, and is not limited to this. In the example of FIG. 4, “CANDY LAUPER” (artist name), “professional volleyball”, “snowboard”, “major league”, “game”, “HIP HOP”, and the like are displayed as keywords.

The size of each keyword display 410 is determined by, for example, the user's preference for the keyword. More specifically, the size of the keyword display 410 of a keyword having a higher user preference is increased. As a result, as the keyword display 410 of a keyword having a higher user preference level, the occupied area on the playlist 400 becomes larger. As a result, the keyword display 410 of a keyword having a higher user preference is more likely to be positioned in the timeline region 430 described later.

The user's preference level is estimated based on, for example, the number of times content is viewed by the user. More specifically, it is determined that a keyword associated with a content having a large number of viewing times by the user is a keyword that matches the user's preference (the user's preference is high). Specifically, for example, a score is assigned to each keyword based on the number of times the content has been viewed (the keyword associated with the content with the highest number of views is increased), and the keyword with the higher total score is the user. It should meet the taste of Further, for example, the user's preference degree may be estimated in consideration of a keyword used for content search.

The content display 420 indicates the content included in the playlist generated or edited on the playlist generation screen 400 and the reproduction order thereof. In the example of FIG. 4, the flag S displayed on the left side of the playlist generation screen 400 is started to be reproduced, and the flag G displayed on the right side is terminated. The content display 420 is displayed in the reproduction order. . This is because the timeline in the timeline area 430, which will be described later, is set in the horizontal direction of the playlist generation screen 400, from left to right. Each content display 420 is, for example, a thumbnail image (may be a moving image) of the content.

In the example of FIG. 4, in order from the start of playback, the first content related to the professional volleyball (Pro Valley 1), the first content related to the snowboard (snowboard 1), the second content related to the snowboard (snowboard 2), and the third content related to the snowboard. Content (snobo 3), the first content (HIP1) related to the HIP HOP, and the second content (HIP2) related to the HIP HOP.

The timeline area 430 is an area that extends in the vertical direction from the horizontal center line of the playlist generation screen 400. A timeline 431 is set at the center of the timeline area 430, that is, on the horizontal center line of the play list generation screen 400. In the example of FIG. 4, the passage of time is expressed in the direction from left to right. In FIG. 4 and the subsequent drawings, the timeline 431 is displayed on the playlist generation screen 400 for convenience of explanation, but the timeline 431 is not displayed on the actual playlist generation screen 400. Also good.

The timeline area 430 is an area for setting a keyword used for generating a playlist. The content reproduction device 300 identifies the keyword where the keyword display 410 is located on the timeline area 430, and generates a playlist using the content associated with the keyword. As will be described later, the user can move the keyword display 410 on the playlist generation screen 400 to set a keyword used for generating the playlist. In the example of FIG. 4, keyword displays 410 of “Pro-Volleyball”, “Snowboard”, and “HIP HOP” are located on the timeline area 430. For this reason, the content included in the playlist is content related to professional volleyball, snowboarding, and HIP HOP.

Also, in the timeline area 430, the importance of the keyword can be set according to the distance from the timeline 431. Specifically, for example, a keyword closer to the timeline 431 is increased in importance, and a lot of contents associated with the keyword are included in the playlist. In the example of FIG. 4, the snowboard, the HIP HOP, and the professional volleyball are in descending order of distance from the time line 431 (in this embodiment, the distance between the end of the keyword display 410 and the time line 431). For this reason, the number of content related to snowboard is 3, the number of content related to HIP HOP is 2, the number of content related to professional volleyball is 1, and the content of the keyword close to the timeline 431 is larger. In the example of FIG. 4, in the timeline area 430, the closer to the timeline 431, the deeper the gradation is, so that the user can intuitively recognize the keyword importance level setting.

Also, the playback order of content in the playlist is determined by the position with the keyword display 410 in the timeline 431 direction. In the example of FIG. 4, the time line 431 represents the passage of time from left to right, and in the timeline area 430, the keyword display 410 located on the left side is followed by professional volleyball, snowboard, and HIP HOP. Yes. For this reason, the content playback order is in the order of content related to professional volleyball, content related to snowboarding, and content related to HIP HOP.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the details of the timeline region and the timeline. In FIG. 5, the X coordinate is taken in the horizontal direction of the playlist generation screen 400, and the left end of the playlist generation screen 400 is X ₀ and the right end is X _n . Further, the Y coordinate is taken in the vertical direction of the playlist generation screen 400, the vertical center point is Y ₀ , the upper end is Y _n , and the lower end is Y _−n .

The time line 431 is a line segment with Y = Y ₀ . The timeline area 430 is an area within Y = Y _k to Y _−k . Here, Y _k and Y _−k can be arbitrarily changed by the user. That is, the user can arbitrarily determine which range the timeline region 430 is set to. In the present embodiment, the absolute values of the coordinates (Y _k , Y _−k ) that define the timeline region 430 are the same. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vertical coordinates can be arbitrarily determined. May be.

Further, the importance level of the keyword is determined by the distance between the position of the keyword display 410 and the timeline 431. Specifically, the upper time line 431 (line segment Y = Y ₀₎ and the priority 100%, boundary lines of the time line area 430 on the (Y = Y _k or Y _-k) and priority 0% . A priority is set continuously or stepwise between 0 to 100% between Y _k and Y ₀ to Y _−k . Then, the priority is determined depending on where the keyword display 410 is located. Since the keyword display 410 has a predetermined area, the priority differs depending on the position. For example, the value of the highest priority position where the keyword display 410 is located is set as the priority of the keyword. be able to.

The content playback order is determined by the X coordinate of the keyword display 410. Specifically, the closer the coordinate of the center point of the keyword display 410 is to X ₀ (left side), the faster the playback order of the content associated with the keyword. The user can change the playback order of the contents by moving the position of the keyword display 410 in the X direction.

(Specific examples of operations)
An example of the operation described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 will be specifically described. 6 to 10 are explanatory diagrams showing examples of operations on the play list generation screen. First, with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, an operation of changing the content playback order will be described. In FIG. 6, the keyword display 410 of “snowboard” is moved rightward ( _Xn direction) by the user's finger F. Keyword display 410 of "snowboard" after movement, although the X _n-side as compared with FIG. 4, in X ₀ side of the keyword display 410 of "HIP HOP".

As a result of this movement, the playback order of part of snowboard-related content (snobo 2 and snowboard 3) moves to the latter half of the playlist, and the playback order of part of HIP HOP content (HIP1) in the second half of the playlist Move to the first half. Then, the content display 420 of a part of snowboard-related content (snobo 2 and snowboard 3) moves in the right direction, and the content display 420 of a part of content related to the HIP HOP (HIP1) moves in the left direction.

In FIG. 7, following the operation of FIG. 6, the keyword display 410 of “HIP HOP” is moved leftward (X ₀ direction). As a result, the keyword display 410 of “HIP HOP” is moved to the X ₀ side from the keyword display 410 of “snowboard”. For this reason, the playback order of all contents (HIP1 and HIP2) related to the HIP HOP moves to the first half of the playlist, and the playback order of all contents related to the snowboard (snowboards 1 to 3) moves to the second half of the playlist. Then, the content display 420 of all the contents related to the HIP HOP (HIP1 and HIP2) moves to the left, and the content display 420 of all the contents related to the snowboard (snowboards 1 to 3) moves to the right.

In FIG. 7, when the keyword display 410 of “HIP HOP” is moved, the display position of the keyword display 410 of “major league” is passed. In such a case, the keyword display 410 of “major league” automatically moves in a direction not overlapping with the keyword display 410 of “HIP HOP” (downward in the example of FIG. 7), and the keyword display 410 of “HIP HOP”. Returns to the original display position. Thus, on the playlist generation screen 400, the display position of the keyword display 410 is automatically changed so that the keyword displays 410 do not overlap each other. This is to prevent the keyword display 410 from being overlapped and thereby making it difficult for the keyword to be visually recognized or determining the priority order of the keyword.

Next, in FIG. 8 to FIG. 10, a keyword importance setting operation will be described. In FIG. 8, the keyword display 410 “CANDY LAUPER” is moved upward (Y direction) by the user's finger F. After the movement, the keyword display 410 of “CANDY LAUPER” is almost in the center of the timeline area 430 (on the timeline 431). By this movement, the importance of the content related to CANDY LAUPER becomes the highest, and the content from the start of reproduction to the third content in the playlist becomes the content related to CANDY LAUPER (CANDY1, CANDY2, and CANDY3). Since the keyword display 410 of “CANDY LAUPER” is on the leftmost side (X ₀ side) in the timeline region 430, the playback order of the content related to CANDY LAUPER is the earliest. In this way, the importance of each keyword can be set by moving the keyword display 410 in the Y direction.

Also, instead of moving the keyword display 410, the importance of the keyword can be changed by setting the range of the timeline area 430. 9 and 10, a pointer 440 for changing the width of the timeline area 430 is displayed. The pointer 440 is displayed by pressing a predetermined point on the playlist generation screen 400, for example.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the pointer 440 is moved away from the timeline 431, the width of the timeline area 430 is widened. As a result, many keyword displays 420 are positioned in the timeline area 430. . In the example of FIG. 9, all keyword displays 410 in the playlist generation screen 400 are located in the timeline area 430. For this reason, the content display 420 in FIG. 9 includes content relating to all keywords.

Also, as shown in FIG. 10, when the pointer 440 is moved closer to the timeline 431, the width of the timeline area 430 becomes narrower. As a result, the number of keyword displays 420 positioned in the timeline area 430 is reduced. Less. In the example of FIG. 10, the keyword display 410 of “CANDY LAUPER” and the keyword display 410 of “snowboard” are located in the timeline area 430. The area displayed in the timeline area 430 is overwhelmingly larger in the keyword display 410 of “CANDY LAUPER”. Therefore, in the content display 420 of FIG. 10, the first five are content related to CANDY LAUPER, and the remaining one is content related to snowboard.

Thus, since the range of the timeline area 430 can be changed by the pointer 440, the user can change the priority order among the keywords without changing the priority relationship in the playlist. The keyword of the content to be included can be changed.

(Playlist generation process and edit process flow)
Next, a description will be given of the procedure of playlist generation processing and playlist editing processing by the content reproduction device 300. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of playlist generation processing by the content reproduction apparatus. In the flowchart of FIG. 11, the content reproduction device 300 stands by until there is a playlist editing instruction from the user (step S1101: No loop). The determination in step S1101 is performed, for example, by determining whether “playlist editing” in the operation menu is selected.

If there is an instruction to edit the playlist (step S1101: Yes), it is determined whether or not the playlist stored in the content reproduction device 300 is read and edited (step S1102). The determination in step S1102 is performed by, for example, displaying a list of saved playlists and operation buttons for instructing creation of a new playlist and determining which one has been selected.

When the saved playlist is read and edited (step S1102: Yes), the saved playlist (saved list) is read (step S1103), and the process proceeds to the editing process shown in FIG. Step S1104), the process according to this flowchart is terminated.

On the other hand, when the stored playlist is not edited (step S1102: No), the content reproduction device 300 creates a new playlist (step S1105). Note that it may be possible to directly instruct the creation of a new playlist without performing the processing of steps S1101 and S1102. First, the content reproduction device 300 extracts a keyword having a high user preference based on the user's content viewing history (step S1106). At this time, the size of the keyword display described later is also determined based on the user's preference level.

Next, the content reproduction device 300 extracts the content associated with the keyword extracted in step S1106 (step S1107). The number of contents extracted in step S1107 (the number of contents in the play list) may be automatically determined by the content reproduction device 300 or may be determined by the user. In addition, it is possible to set a time (playlist playback time) for which content playback is desired, and to extract content that can be played back within the set time in consideration of the playback time of each content. Furthermore, when the content playback device 300 can be connected to a route search device or the like, the playlist playback time may be determined in accordance with the time required to reach the destination point of the route set in the route search device. .

Subsequently, the content reproduction device 300 determines the reproduction order of the content extracted in step S1107 (step S1108). The content playback order is determined based on, for example, the user's preference level for the keyword. Specifically, for example, the content is reproduced in order from the content related to the keyword having a high user preference. Through the processing so far, the contents of the playlist (contents included in the playlist and the playback order) are determined.

Next, the content reproduction device 300 determines the display position of the content display 420 in the timeline region 430 based on the content reproduction order determined in step S1108 (step S1109). In the example described above (see FIG. 4 and the like), the display position is determined on the timeline 431 so that the content display is arranged from left to right in order from the content display 420 of the content whose playback order is early.

Subsequently, the content reproduction device 300 determines the display position of each keyword display 410 based on the display position of the content display 420 (step S1110). Specifically, for example, the X coordinate of the display of each keyword display 410 is the median value of the X coordinates of the content display 420 of content related to the keyword (when there are a plurality of content displays 420, for example). Further, the Y coordinate of the display of each keyword display 410 is determined by determining the distance from the timeline 431 based on the relative degree of preference with other keywords.

Then, the content reproduction apparatus 300 displays the keyword display 410 and the content display 420 at the positions determined in steps S1109 and S1110 (step S1111). The user grasps the contents of the playlist by using the displayed content display 420 and the like, and determines whether or not to play back the displayed contents (step S1112). When playing back the displayed content (step S1112: Yes), the playlist generated this time is saved (step S1113), the content is played back along the playlist (step S1114), and the processing according to this flowchart is performed. finish. Note that what is saved in step S1113 includes the content used in the playlist and the playback order, as well as the keywords used to generate the playlist, the position and size of the keyword display, and the preference value for the keyword. .

On the other hand, if the user is dissatisfied with the contents of the play list and determines not to reproduce the displayed contents (step S1112: No), the process proceeds to the editing process shown in FIG. The process by is terminated.

Next, the playlist editing process will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of playlist editing processing by the content reproduction apparatus. In the flowchart of FIG. 12, the content reproduction device 300 first displays a playlist to be edited on the playlist generation screen 400 (step S1201). Next, the content reproduction device 300 determines whether or not the keyword display 410 on the playlist generation screen 400 has been moved (step S1202). The keyword display 410 is moved, for example, by moving a finger on the touch panel (display 310).

When the keyword display 410 is moved (step S1202: Yes), it is determined whether or not the moving direction of the keyword display is the X direction (step S1203). When the moving direction is not the X direction (step S1203: No), the process proceeds to step S1207. On the other hand, when the moving direction is the X direction (step S1203: Yes), the content reproduction device 300 changes the position of the keyword display 410 according to the movement of the user's finger (step S1204). Further, the content reproduction device 300 changes the content reproduction order based on the relative relationship between the position of the keyword display 410 changed in step S1204 and the position of the other keyword display 410 (step S1205). Then, the content reproduction device 300 changes the display position of the content display 420 based on the reproduction order changed in step S1205 (step S1206).

If the moving direction of the keyword display is the Y direction (step S1207: Yes), the content reproduction device 300 changes the position of the keyword display 410 in accordance with the movement of the user's finger (step S1208). On the other hand, when the moving direction of the keyword display is not the Y direction (step S1207: No), the process proceeds to step S1211.

Next, the content reproduction apparatus 300 determines whether the content in the playlist is based on the positional relationship between the keyword display 410 changed in step S1208 and the timeline area 430, the distance from the timeline 431 (whether importance is high), or the like. The content is changed (step S1209). Then, the content reproduction device 300 changes the content display 420 of the playlist generation screen 400 to the content display 420 of the content changed in step S1209 (step S1210). When the movement direction of the keyword display 410 extends in both the X direction and the Y direction (when the keyword display 410 is moved obliquely), the processing from step S1207 may be performed after the processing in step S1206 is finished.

If the keyword display 410 is not moved in step S1202 (step S1202: No), the content reproduction device 300 determines whether or not the range of the timeline area 430 has been changed (step S1211). Whether or not the range of the timeline area 430 has been changed is determined based on whether or not the pointer 440 on the playlist generation screen 400 has been moved in the Y direction.

When the range of the timeline area 430 is changed (step S1211: Yes), the content reproduction device 300 changes the area display range of the timeline area 430 (step S1212). Next, the content reproduction device 300 changes the content in the playlist based on the keyword display 410 located in the changed timeline region 430 and the distance between each keyword display 410 and the timeline 431 (step S1213). . Then, the content reproduction device 300 changes the content display 420 of the playlist generation screen 400 to the content display 420 of the content changed in step S1213 (step S1214). On the other hand, when the range of the timeline region 430 is not changed in step S1211 (step S1211: No), the process proceeds to step S1215.

The user grasps the contents of the playlist by using the displayed content display 420 or the like, and determines whether or not to play back the displayed contents (step S1215). When playing back the displayed content (step S1215: Yes), the playlist generated this time is saved (step S1216), the content is played back along the playlist (step S1217), and the processing according to this flowchart is performed. finish. As in the case of FIG. 11, in step S1216, the content and playback order included in the playlist, the keywords used for generating the playlist, the position and size of the keyword display, and the keywords are stored. A preference value is also included.

On the other hand, if the user is dissatisfied with the contents of the playlist and determines not to reproduce the displayed contents (step S1215: No), the process returns to step S1202, and the editing process is performed until a playlist that satisfies the user is obtained. repeat.

As described above, the content playback device 300 determines the content to be included in the playlist and the playback order of the content based on the position of the keyword display 410 on the playlist generation screen 400. Thus, the user can edit the playlist by changing the position of the keyword display 410 on the playlist generation screen 400 without specifying individual contents.

Also, the content reproduction device 300 generates a playlist using the content associated with the keyword display 410 located in the timeline area 430 of the playlist generation screen 400. Thus, since keywords that are not included in the playlist can be displayed on the playlist generation screen 400, the contents of the playlist can be easily changed in accordance with the user's mood and situation. Further, since the timeline area 430 can be arbitrarily changed by the pointer 440, the keywords to be included in the playlist can be changed without changing the positional relationship between the keyword displays 410.

Also, the content reproduction apparatus 300 determines the content reproduction order based on the relative position between the timeline 431 (timeline region 430) on the playlist generation screen 400 and the keyword display. Therefore, the user can change the playback order of the content by changing the position of the keyword display 410. In addition, the content reproduction device 300 displays the content display 420 on the timeline 431 of the playlist generation screen 400 in the content reproduction order, so that the user can grasp the content reproduction order at a glance.

Also, the content reproduction apparatus 300 uses a graphic including a keyword text display as the keyword display 410, and changes the size of the graphic of each keyword display 410 based on the user's preference for each keyword. Specifically, for example, the size of the keyword display 410 having a higher user preference is increased. For this reason, a keyword with a high user preference can easily enter the timeline region 430, and content with a high user preference can be easily included in the playlist.

Note that the playlist generation method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, and a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. The program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Playlist production | generation apparatus 101 Keyword display part 102 Position change part 103 Extraction part 104 Determination part 105 Content display part 106 Area change part 110 Display screen

Claims

A playlist generation device that extracts a predetermined content from a content group consisting of a plurality of contents and generates a playlist,
Each content has associated keywords,
Keyword display means for displaying a display relating to the keyword on a display screen;
Position changing means for receiving an instruction to change the display position relating to the keyword on the display screen;
Extraction means for extracting the content from the content group based on a display position relating to the keyword on the display screen;
A determining unit that determines a reproduction order of the content extracted by the extracting unit based on a display position related to the keyword on the display screen;
Content display means for displaying a display related to the content on the display screen in accordance with the playback order of the content determined by the determination means;
A play list generating apparatus comprising:
The playlist generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit identifies a display related to the keyword located in a predetermined area of the display screen, and extracts the content associated with the keyword. .
An area changing means for receiving an instruction to change the predetermined area on the display screen;
The extraction unit, when the predetermined region is changed by the region changing unit, extracts the content associated with the keyword located in the predetermined region after the change. The play list production | generation apparatus as described in.
The determining means sets the playback order of the content associated with each keyword based on a relative position between the display related to each keyword and the time axis, with an arbitrary direction on the display screen as a time axis. The playlist generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the playlist generating apparatus determines the playlist.
5. The playlist generating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the content display means displays the display related to the content on the time axis of the display screen along the reproduction order of the content.
The display related to the keyword is a figure including a text display of the keyword,
2. The playlist generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the keyword display unit changes the size of the graphic of the display related to each keyword based on a user's preference degree for each keyword.
7. The playlist generating apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the keyword display means increases the display size of the keyword as the user's preference for the keyword increases.
A playlist generation method for generating a playlist by extracting predetermined content from a content group consisting of a plurality of contents,
Each content has associated keywords,
A keyword display step for displaying a display relating to the keyword on a display screen;
A position changing step of accepting an instruction to change the position of display related to the keyword on the display screen;
An extraction step of extracting the content from the content group based on a display position relating to the keyword on the display screen;
A determination step of determining a playback order of the content extracted in the extraction step based on a display position relating to the keyword on the display screen;
A content display step of displaying a display related to the content on the display screen in accordance with the playback order of the content determined in the determination step;
A play list generation method characterized by including:
A playlist generation program that causes a computer to execute the playlist generation method according to claim 8.
A computer-readable recording medium on which the playlist generation program according to claim 9 is recorded.