WO2013077040A1

WO2013077040A1 - Content providing apparatus, program to be executed by content providing apparatus, television receiver, and storage medium having program stored therein

Info

Publication number: WO2013077040A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/070449
Authority: WO
Inventors: 亜惟高野; 打木　寛; 雄介服部; 圭司坂
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2011-11-24
Filing date: 2012-08-10
Publication date: 2013-05-30
Also published as: JP2015039094A

Abstract

[Problem] In the prior art, there had been cases in which the settings for a viewing environment had been inappropriately configured when there were multiple users, since it could not be determined which viewer attribute the viewing environment should be set for. [Solution] In order to solve the abovementioned problem, the present invention proposes a content providing apparatus comprising: a camera unit that picks up an image of a viewer; a recognition information acquisition unit that acquires recognition information, which is information for recognizing the viewer, from the image pickup information acquired by the camera unit; a viewer attribute acquisition unit that acquires attribute information of the viewer, using the acquired recognition information; and a prioritized viewer determining unit that determines a prioritized viewer when there are multiple recognized viewers, using the attribute information of viewers acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit as well as a prescribed rule.

Description

Content providing apparatus, program executed by content providing apparatus, television receiver, and storage medium storing program

The present invention relates to a content providing apparatus, a program executed by the content providing apparatus, a television receiver, and a storage medium storing the program.

Conventionally, in devices that provide content, such as television receivers and personal computers, recommended content is automatically selected according to user attributes, and menu items are automatically set. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a television receiver that receives personal identification information from the outside and displays video, audio, and menus that are optimal for the user in accordance with the personal identification information. In Patent Document 2, by receiving information on each user and creating respective control information, viewing restriction is performed for each user, automatic setting of image quality / sound quality, and selection of a received program are performed. A television receiver capable of this is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 3, a receiving terminal capable of presenting a program guide screen appropriate for each user's situation by accepting input of personal information (such as age and sex) relating to the user's own personal situation. An apparatus is disclosed.

JP2009-218981 JP 2001-203951 A JP-A-10-42239

On the other hand, in general homes and the like, it is conceivable that users with different ages, such as children and elderly people, use the same content providing apparatus, but the appropriate viewing environment differs for each user. However, in the conventional technique, when there are a plurality of viewers, it may not be possible to determine which viewer attribute should be set according to the viewer's attributes, and an inappropriate setting may be made in the current situation. there were. Further, in the conventional technique, when there are a plurality of viewers, the user himself / herself needs to change the setting of the viewing environment, which places an extra burden on the user.

Therefore, the present invention provides a camera unit that captures an image of a viewer, a recognition information acquisition unit that acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from image capturing information of the camera unit, and viewing using the acquired recognition information. Viewer attribute acquisition unit for acquiring viewer attribute information and, when there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, preferential viewing using the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit and a predetermined rule A content providing device having a priority viewer determination unit for determining a user is proposed. The content provision further includes: a viewing service unit that provides a viewing service including content output; and a viewing service control unit that controls the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute determined by the priority viewer determination unit. Propose equipment.

In the present invention, when there are a plurality of viewers, the priority viewer is determined using the viewer's attribute information and a predetermined rule. As a result, even when there are a plurality of viewers, it is possible to provide a viewing service suitable for the situation on the spot.

The figure which shows the outline | summary of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a content provision apparatus The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer recognition process of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority viewer determination process of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewing-and-listening service control processing of Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the priority rule classified by time zone of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority viewer determination process of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewing history update process of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority rule update process classified by time zone of Embodiment 2. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 3. The figure which shows an example of the priority rule classified by content of Embodiment 3. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 3. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a priority viewer determination process according to the third embodiment (1). FIG. (2) showing an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing according to the third embodiment The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewing-and-listening history update process of Embodiment 3. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority rule update process classified by content of Embodiment 3. The figure which shows the outline | summary of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 4. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 4. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 4. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 4. The figure which shows the outline | summary of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 5. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of a content providing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 5. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority viewer determination process of Embodiment 5. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewing-and-listening service control processing of Embodiment 5. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 6. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 6. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 6. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 7. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 7. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 7. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 8. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 8. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 9. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewing-and-listening service control processing of Embodiment 9. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 10. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 10. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the viewer attribute acquisition process of Embodiment 10. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 11. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 11. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 12. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 12. The figure which shows an example of the flow of the priority viewer determination process of Embodiment 12. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the content provision apparatus of Embodiment 13.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a content providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. The mutual relationship between the embodiment and the claims is as follows. The first embodiment will mainly describe

claims

1, 2, 17, 18, 19, and 20, the second embodiment will mainly describe

claims

3, 5, 19, and 20, and the third embodiment will mainly claim claims. 4, 6, 11 and 12 will be described. In the fourth embodiment, claims 7, 19, and 20 will be mainly described. In the fifth embodiment, claims 8, 19, and 20 will be mainly described. In the sixth embodiment, mainly. In the seventh embodiment, the seventh embodiment mainly explains the tenth, nineteenth, and twentyth aspects, the eighth embodiment mainly explains the eleventh, nineteenth, and twentyth aspects, and the ninth embodiment Claims 12, 19, and 20 will be mainly described. In Embodiment 10, claims 13, 19, and 20 will be mainly described. In Embodiment 11, claims 14, 19, and 20 will be mainly described. Then, mainly claims 15 and 1 It describes 20 will be described primarily according to claim 16,19,20 In Embodiment 13. In addition, this invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

<< Embodiment 1 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information of the camera unit, and acquires the viewer's attribute information using the recognition information. Then, when there are a plurality of viewers, the priority viewer is determined using the viewer's attribute information and a predetermined rule. Thereby, for example, the viewing service can be controlled using the attribute of the priority viewer. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the example of this figure, there are children and adults as viewers, but the children are selected as priority viewers based on the rule that children are given priority over adults. Then, in the recommended program display, a recommended program for children is displayed, hiragana / katakana characters are displayed on a menu screen, and items unnecessary for children are deleted.

<Configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, “content providing device” 0200 includes “camera unit” 0201, “recognition information acquisition unit” 0202, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 0203, and “priority viewer determination unit” 0204. , “Viewing service control unit” 0205 and “viewing service unit” 0206. Here, the viewing service control unit and the viewing service unit are part of the functions of the content providing device. However, the viewing service control unit and the viewing service unit are not necessarily indispensable, and other devices may have these functions (also in the following embodiments). The same).

As the “content providing device”, a display device such as a television receiver, a general-purpose computer, or a screen display device can be mainly considered, but a dedicated device for notifying these display devices of attribute information of a priority viewer is also included. . In other words, devices that notify the priority viewer's attribute information to these display devices and control viewing services including content output are also included.

The “camera part” images the viewer area. That is, the light of the viewer and other objects from the viewer area is captured and the optical signal is recorded as an image. Here, light from viewers and the like includes light such as infrared rays and far infrared rays in addition to visible light, and the camera unit includes corresponding imaging means. The camera unit includes, for example, a condenser lens, a light receiving element, a signal amplification circuit, an A / D conversion circuit, a recording element, a processing arithmetic circuit, and the like. In addition, the camera part does not need to be singular, and a plurality of camera parts may exist.

The “recognition information acquisition unit” acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information of the camera unit. Here, recognizing the viewer means not only recognizing who the viewer is (which viewer ID has), but also recognizing whether the viewer is male or female, Recognizing whether the viewer is an adult or a child, recognizing whether the viewer is a viewer or a person passing by, and the like are also included. The information for recognizing the viewer is information for recognizing as described above. For example, information on the human body and face included in the captured image, information on landmarks (glasses, earrings, rings, etc.) Etc. Specifically, it extracts the coordinate information of the image area recognized as a human body or face, body size and body type, skin color, facial eyes, nose, mouth, ears, eyebrows, pupils, etc. Information such as the size of the hair, the length of the hair, the ratio of each part of the face.

“The viewer attribute acquisition unit” acquires the attribute information of the viewer using the acquired recognition information. Here, viewer attribute information acquired from the recognition information includes viewer ID, name, gender, age / age / age group, face image, whole body image, nationality, address, affiliation, occupation, career, likes Genre of video / music / literature, viewing time, wake-up time, attending school / working time, going home time, bedtime, sight, hearing, language used, understandable language, language skills, favorite sports / team / food / celebrity・ One or more information such as animals can be listed.

As processing for acquiring viewer attribute information using recognition information, the viewer's face image acquired as recognition information is compared with the face images of a plurality of people registered in the database, or men, women, adults, children The template image is compared to determine who the viewer is (with which viewer ID it has), whether it is male or female, adult or child, etc. Then, a process of acquiring information as the determination result as attribute information can be considered. Also, it is possible to determine which language the viewer is speaking from the movement of the viewer's mouth, and obtain information indicating which language range the person is. Specifically, table information in which the viewer's face image is associated with other attribute information is held in the storage means, and other attribute information of the viewer is extracted based on the comparison result of the imaging information and the face image It is also possible to do. For example, it is conceivable that the user's face image is associated with the user's ID, age group, gender, and the user's favorite video content genre. These table information can be appropriately input / updated by the user via the operation input means.

The “priority viewer determination unit” determines the priority viewer using the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit and a predetermined rule when there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized. Here, the priority viewer refers to a viewer that should be given priority as a criterion for determination when determining a provision method and provision contents of a viewing service to be provided. Note that the priority viewer need not be one person, and there may be a plurality of priority viewers. For example, when outputting one video content, a viewer with low vision and a viewer with low hearing can be determined as priority viewers, respectively.

As the predetermined rule, a priority rule for each time zone (described in detail in the second embodiment), which is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer according to the viewer's attribute information and the viewing time zone, , A priority rule for each content (detailed in the third embodiment) that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content. An operator priority rule (which will be described in detail in Embodiment 4) as a priority viewer is given as an example.

Further, as another example of the predetermined rule, there is a priority rule for each viewing service, which is information that defines an index indicating the priority level as a viewer according to the viewer's attribute information and the viewing service. In this case, the priority viewer determination unit determines the priority viewer based on the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit and the priority rule for each service. Further, a day-by-day priority rule, which is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the day of the week, is also possible.

“Viewing Service Department” provides viewing services including content output. Here, content output includes output of content video via a display and output of audio of content via a speaker. Content includes content received via a terrestrial digital / analog broadcast receiver or satellite broadcast receiver, content received from a content server via a network I / F, content acquired from an external storage device or internal storage device, Etc. are possible. In addition, as contents of contents, contents including video and audio are mainly considered, but contents including any one or more of video, audio, and characters are sufficient.

As a viewing service, a content display / audio output service, a content attribute information (title, performer, time frame, summary, etc.) service, a menu item display service, and recommended content information are displayed. Service, service for displaying electronic program guide (EPG), service for displaying content information recorded in external recording device or internal recording device, service for displaying information on content downloadable from content server, within predetermined time A service for notifying that the content starts, a service for notifying that the viewing / recording restriction is applied to the content, and the like.

The “viewing service control unit” controls the viewing service using the determined priority viewer attribute. Here, as control of the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute, the recommended content to be displayed can be changed based on the age group or gender of the priority viewer, or the content, menu screen, electronic program guide, etc. Adjust the size of the characters included based on the visual acuity of the priority viewer, and the font type and character notation (Hiragana notation, Katakana notation, Kanji notation, etc.) Change based on the age group of the priority viewer, control the volume of the output content based on the hearing of the priority viewer, etc., and the subtitle language and audio language of the output content to the priority viewer Based on the language used, and the content of the items included in the content menu screen based on the gender and age group of the preferred viewer, -Restrict output based on the priority viewer's age, authority, etc. for content that is subject to recording restrictions, delete the content item from the electronic program guide, and output content to the preferred viewer's favorite genre And determining the image quality, brightness, sound quality, and the like of the output content based on the preference setting of the priority viewer.

Specifically, when the age group is an elderly person, the size of the characters included in the contents and menu screens should be larger than the prescribed size, or when the age group is a child, all the character notation will be hiragana notation or katakana notation. When the age group is less than the viewing age limit, the content display output is limited, or the corresponding content item in the electronic program guide is not displayed and output.

As an example of the viewing service control means using the priority viewer attribute, table information in which the priority viewer attribute and the control content of the viewing service are associated is held in the storage means, and the priority viewer attribute is stored. This can be done by determining the control content of the viewing service using the information and the table information. The table information can be appropriately updated by the viewer. It is also conceivable to store in the storage means a control program having a priority viewer attribute value (sight, hearing, etc.) as a parameter.

<Specific configuration>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a specific hardware configuration of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the content providing apparatus includes “CPU” 1, “RAM” 2, “nonvolatile memory” 3, “camera unit” 4, “camera signal processing unit” 5, “tuner”. / Demodulation / separation unit 6, video signal processing unit 7, EPG / OSD / BML processing unit 8, audio signal processing unit 9, video output conversion unit 10, audio The output conversion unit 11, the communication unit 12, the remote control light receiving unit 13, the antenna 14, and the like.

The “content providing apparatus” according to the present embodiment receives a digital broadcast via a “receiving antenna”. In addition, the “tuner / demodulation / separation unit” tunes the received digital broadcast signal and demodulates and separates the tuned digital signal. Further, the “video signal processing unit” decodes the separated video signal and performs still image processing. The “EPG / OSD / BML processing unit” performs processing of the separated electronic program guide (EPG), OSD processing such as menus, and display processing of data broadcasting. Further, the “video output conversion unit” mixes information from the video signal processing unit and the EPG / OSD / BML processing unit and converts the information into a video output signal. In addition, the “audio signal processing unit” decodes the separated audio signal and performs audio output processing such as a built-in sound. In addition, the “voice output conversion unit” converts the signal into a voice output signal. In addition, the “camera unit” inputs video signals. In addition, the “camera signal processing unit” processes the video signal input by the “camera unit”. The “remote control light receiving unit” receives a remote control signal in a remote control operation by the user.

The “CPU” performs overall processing, face detection processing from the data acquired by the camera signal processing section, processing for determining whether or not the user is a registered user, processing for comparing priority indexes, and remote control operations. A person's judgment process is performed, or a time zone comparison process is performed from time information acquired by a broadcast wave of digital broadcasting. The “RAM” is a semiconductor memory that can be read and written by designating an arbitrary address, stores program data and execution data as a program execution area, and extracts content data and electronic programs extracted by a separation unit. Table data, information on whether or not the user has been detected, and the calculation result of each user's priority index are stored. The non-volatile memory stores registered viewer attribute information (viewer ID, sex, age group, favorite genre, etc.), program information, acquired electronic program guide information, TV receiver setting information, and the like. . The communication unit controls communication with a network such as a LAN, and exchanges data with other television receivers.

<Process flow>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium. First, in step S0401, the content providing apparatus images a region where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S0402, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S0403, the content providing apparatus acquires viewer attribute information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquiring step). Next, in step S0404, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S0405A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S0405B. In step S0405A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute information. In step S0405B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and a predetermined rule (priority viewer determination step). In step S0406B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the determined priority viewer attribute (viewing service control step). Note that the above processing can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a specific operation is performed), and when a new viewer is added or there is no existing viewer. Even so, it is possible to determine the most appropriate priority viewer in the situation. Further, after step S0403, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the member configuration of the viewer (whether or not the viewer is newly added or disappeared). Processing may be performed, and if there is no change in the member configuration, processing returning to step S0401 may be performed.

<Specific examples of viewer recognition processing>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of viewer recognition processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S0501, a content provision apparatus images the viewer side of a content provision apparatus with a camera apparatus, and acquires imaging data. Next, in step S0502, the content providing apparatus extracts an image area recognized as the face of the viewer from the imaging data output from the camera apparatus, and holds the coordinate data of the area in the RAM. In step S0503, the content providing apparatus increments the number of viewers. Next, in step S0504, the content providing apparatus determines whether the processes in steps S0502 and S0503 have been performed for all areas of the imaging data. If it is determined that the processing has been performed for all the areas, the viewer recognition process is terminated. If it is determined that an area that has not been processed remains, the process returns to step S0502.

<Specific example of viewer attribute acquisition processing>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of viewer attribute acquisition processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S0601, pattern matching is performed between the registered viewer's face image read into the RAM and the viewer's face image area recognized in the viewer recognition process. Next, in step S0602, it is determined from the pattern matching result whether or not the viewer is a registered viewer. If it is determined that the viewer is not a registered viewer, the process advances to step S0603A. If it is determined that the viewer is a registered viewer, the process proceeds to step S0603B. In step S0603A, a viewer registration screen is displayed, an operation input related to the viewer's attribute information is received, and stored in the RAM and nonvolatile memory together with the viewer's face image. It is also possible to accept an operation input indicating that viewer registration is not performed. In step S0603B, the attribute information (viewer ID, name, age, sex, favorite genre, etc.) of the corresponding registered viewer is read from the nonvolatile memory to the RAM. Next, in step S0604, it is determined whether or not the processing in steps S0601 to S0603 has been performed for all viewers recognized in the viewer recognition processing (excluding viewers who have not performed viewer registration). If it is determined that processing has been performed for all viewers, the viewer attribute acquisition processing is terminated. If it is determined that there are still viewers that have not been processed, the process returns to step 0601. In the above, it is set to perform viewer registration when an unregistered viewer is detected. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the viewer registration is performed in advance and the unregistered viewer is performed. May be processed so that the viewer is not considered.

<Specific example of priority viewer decision processing>
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing in the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. In step S0701, the content providing apparatus determines whether the number of viewers is plural. If it is determined that there are a plurality of items, the process advances to step S0702. If it is determined that there are not a plurality of viewers, the priority viewer determination process ends. In step S0702, the content providing apparatus obtains the viewer ID acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process and an ID priority rule that is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the viewer ID. To obtain the viewing priority index of the viewer. Next, in step S0703, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not the priority index has been acquired for all viewers who have acquired the viewer ID in the viewer attribute acquisition process. If it is determined that the priority index has been acquired for all viewers, the process advances to step S0704. If it is determined that there are still viewers who have not acquired the priority index, the process returns to step 0702. In step S0704, the content providing apparatus compares the priority indexes of a plurality of viewers for which the priority indexes have been acquired. In step S0705, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer and holds the attribute information of the viewer in the RAM.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of viewing service control processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S0801, the priority viewer attributes (like genre, age group, visual acuity, hearing ability, etc.) determined by the priority viewer determination process are acquired. In step S0802, information relating the priority viewer attribute and the content of the viewing service is read from the non-volatile memory to the RAM, and the content of the viewing service (the content of the recommended content, the notation of the notation) is read according to the acquired priority viewer attribute. Type, character size of output content, volume size, etc.). Next, in step S0803, devices (display, speaker, etc.) related to the viewing service are controlled so that the content of the determined viewing service is obtained. Next, in step S0804, it is determined whether or not all viewing services to be controlled have been controlled according to the priority viewer attribute. If it is determined that all have been performed, the viewing service control process ends. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to step S0802.

<Effect>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of viewers, determines the preferred viewer using the viewer's attribute information and a predetermined rule, and therefore can provide a viewing environment preferable to the situation at hand. become.

<< Embodiment 2 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as the content providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, except that the viewer is in accordance with the viewer's attribute information and current time, and the viewer's attribute information and viewing time zone. The priority viewer is determined based on the priority rule for each time zone, which is information defining an index indicating the degree of priority.

<Configuration>
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, “content providing device” 0900 includes “camera unit” 0901, “recognition information acquisition unit” 0902, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 0903, and “priority viewer determination unit” 0904. , “Viewing service control unit” 0905 and “viewing service unit” 0906, and “priority viewer determination unit” includes “time zone priority rule holding unit” 0907 and “time zone priority determination unit” 0908 ”. Hereinafter, the “time zone priority rule holding unit” and the “time zone priority determination unit” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

“Time zone priority rule holding means” is a time zone priority rule that is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the viewing time zone. Hold. Here, although the way of dividing the viewing time zone is arbitrary, it is possible to divide every 3 hours from 0 o'clock or divide every 6 hours. It is also possible to add day information to the viewing time zone. Further, the index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer refers to providing a viewing service with priority given to a person with a large or small index.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of priority rules according to time zones. In the example of this figure, according to the age group and gender, viewers are classified into C1 (0-12 year old children), C2 (13-19 year old children), F1 (20-34 year old women), F2 (35-49 years old). Old women), F3 (women over 50), M1 (men aged 20-34), M2 (men aged 35-49), and M3 (men over 50). In addition, the time zone is divided into 6 to 12 o'clock, 12 to 18 o'clock, 18 to 24 o'clock, and 24 to 6 o'clock the next day. A priority index that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer is assigned according to the time zone and the classification of the viewer. There are as many types of priority indexes as the number of viewer categories, and are A, B,..., H in descending order of priority index.

The “time zone priority determination means” determines the priority viewer based on the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit, the current time, and the time zone priority rule which is a predetermined rule. . In the example of FIG. 10, when the audience classification is C2, F2, M2, and the current time is a time zone from 18:00 to 24:00, the priority index of C2 is the highest. The viewer becomes the priority viewer. In addition, when the viewer category is C2, F2, and M2 and the current time is a time zone from 18:00 to 18:00, the priority index of F2 is the highest, so the viewer of F2 is the priority viewer. It becomes.

The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment may further include “attribute-based viewing history holding unit” and “time-period priority rule updating unit” described below. With this configuration, it is possible to update the priority rules for each time zone according to the viewing history of the viewer, and it is possible to select a more appropriate priority viewer.

The “attribute-based viewing history holding unit” holds a viewing history by attribute that is a viewing history according to the attribute of the viewer. Here, the viewing history corresponding to the viewer's attributes can be a viewing history for each viewer ID, or a viewing history for each gender / age group of the viewer. The contents of the viewing history include viewing date / time / day of the week / time zone information, viewing content genre information, viewing time information, viewing count information, viewer ID of people who watched together. In addition, the update of the viewing history by attribute is performed when there is a change in the attribute of the viewer acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit, when the viewing time zone is changed, or when the attribute of the viewing content is changed. It is possible to do it. For example, when a new viewer is added and a viewer ID is added or when there is no specific viewer, processing for updating the viewing history of each viewer is performed. When the viewing time zone is switched from 9:00 to 9:30 to the viewing time zone from 9:30 to 10:00, a process for updating the viewing history regarding each viewing time zone is performed. Further, when the content changes from a sports program to a comedy program, a process for updating the viewing history regarding each genre attribute is performed. When the viewing content is recorded content, the viewing history may be updated not in the actual viewing time zone but in the recorded time zone. In this way, for example, when a child band program aired at 9-10 o'clock on a certain day is recorded and viewed by a child at 17-18 o'clock, the child's viewing history update was viewed at 9-10 o'clock. Therefore, when a child views the same program at 9-10 o'clock the next time, a priority viewer determination process reflecting the viewing history that the child watched at 9-10 o'clock last time is performed. Therefore, it is possible to perform processing more suitable for the viewer's attributes.

“The time zone priority rule update means” updates the time zone priority rule based on the attribute-specific viewing history. Here, the update process can be performed by detecting that the attribute-specific viewing history has been updated, or may be performed when a predetermined time interval or a predetermined date and time arrives. As the update process of the priority rules for each time zone, the viewing history of each viewer attribute in the past predetermined period is compared with respect to the viewing time zone in which the viewing history is updated, and the highest priority is given in order from the viewer attribute with the longest viewing time. It is conceivable to assign an index and update the time-based priority rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium. First, in step S1101, the content providing apparatus images a region where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S1102, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S1103, the content providing apparatus acquires the attribute information of the viewer using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step). Next, in step S1104, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S1105A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S1105B. In step S1105A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute information. In step S1105B, the content providing apparatus indicates a degree of priority as a viewer according to the viewer attribute information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step, the current time, the viewer attribute information, and the viewing time zone. A priority viewer is determined using a priority rule for each time zone, which is information defining an index (priority viewer determination step: priority determination processing for each time zone). In step S1106B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the determined priority viewer attribute (viewing service control step). Note that the above processing can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a specific operation is performed), and when a new viewer is added or there is no existing viewer. Even so, it is possible to determine the most appropriate priority viewer in the situation. Further, after step S1103, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the member configuration of the viewer (whether or not the viewer is newly added or disappears). Processing may be performed, and if there is no change in the member configuration, processing may be returned to step S1101.

<Specific example of priority viewer decision processing>
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S1201, the content providing apparatus determines whether the number of viewers is plural. If it is determined that there are a plurality of items, the process advances to step S1202. If it is determined that there is not more than one, the priority viewer determination process ends. In step S1202, the content providing apparatus determines the viewer's gender / age group (or viewer ID, the same applies hereinafter) acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process, the current time, the viewer's gender / age group, and viewing. The viewing priority index of the viewer is acquired using the time-based priority rule, which is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the time period. Next, in step S1203, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not a priority index has been acquired for all viewers who have acquired gender and age groups in the viewer attribute acquisition process. If it is determined that the priority index has been acquired for all viewers, the process advances to step S1204. If it is determined that there are still viewers who have not acquired the priority index, the process returns to step 1202. In step S1204, the content providing apparatus compares the priority indexes of a plurality of viewers for which the priority indexes have been acquired. In step S1205, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer and stores the attribute information of the viewer in the RAM.

<Specific example of viewing history update processing>
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of viewing history update processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S1301, the content providing apparatus determines whether there is a change in the viewer ID acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process. If it is determined that the viewer ID has changed, the process advances to step S1302. If it is determined that there is no change, the process advances to step S1303. In step S1302, the content providing apparatus starts or stops counting the viewing time of the viewer ID that has changed. That is, when a new viewer is added, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID is started, and when there is no specific viewer, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID is stopped. Next, in step S1303, the content providing apparatus determines whether the viewing time zone has been switched. If it is determined that the viewing time zone has been switched, the process proceeds to step S1304. If it is determined that the viewing time zone has not been switched, the process proceeds to step S1305. In step S1304, the content providing apparatus starts or stops counting the viewing time of each viewer ID with respect to the newly started viewing time zone and the finished viewing time zone. That is, for a newly started viewing time zone, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID in the viewing time zone is started, and for the finished viewing time zone, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID in the viewing time zone is started. To stop. In step S1305, the viewing time information for each viewing time zone in the viewing history of each viewer is updated.

<Specific example of priority rule update processing by time zone>
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of priority rule update processing for each time zone in the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S1401, the content providing apparatus determines whether the viewing history has been updated. If it is determined that the viewing history has been updated, the process proceeds to step S1402. If it is determined that the viewing history has not been updated, the time-based priority rule update processing ends. In step S1402, the content providing apparatus, regarding the viewing time zone in which the viewing time information is updated in the viewing history, for each gender / age group (or each registered viewer, etc.) in the past predetermined period (for example, the past one week) (Same)) average viewing time (or average viewing times, etc.). Next, in step S1403, the content providing apparatus compares the calculated average viewing time (or average number of times of viewing, etc.) of each gender / age group, and prioritizes in descending order of gender / age group having the largest average viewing time. Assign an exponent. Next, in step S1404, the content providing apparatus updates the time zone priority rule stored in the nonvolatile memory based on the allocation result in step S1403. Here, the updating process of the priority rule for each time zone is performed when the viewing history is updated. However, the update processing is not limited to this example. For example, the time zone is changed every predetermined time (for example, every other day). A priority rule update process may be performed.

<Effect>
When there are a plurality of viewers, the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment determines a priority viewer using information that defines an index indicating a degree of priority as a viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the viewing time zone. To do. This makes it possible to determine an appropriate priority viewer according to the time zone and provide the viewing service in a preferable manner.

<< Embodiment 3 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but viewing is performed according to the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content, and the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content. The priority viewer is determined based on the priority rule for each content, which is information defining an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer.

<Configuration>
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 1500 includes a “camera unit” 1501, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 1502, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 1503, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 1504. , “Viewing service control unit” 1505, “viewing service unit” 1506, and “content attribute acquisition unit” 1507, and “priority viewer determination unit” includes “content priority rule holding unit” 1508, , “Content priority determination unit” 1509. Hereinafter, the “content attribute acquisition unit”, “content priority rule holding unit”, and “content priority determination unit” which are different from the first and second embodiments will be described.

“Content attribute acquisition unit” acquires attribute information of viewing content. The viewing content attribute information includes index information for identifying the content, detailed content information of the content, broadcast event history information, content genre (classification information), content format information, and the like. More specifically, content index information includes content title, performer, director, original author, production company information, number of stories, and the like. The detailed content information includes content start time / end time, content time, commercial start time / end time, summary description, keyword, shooting location, music used, and the like. The broadcast event history information includes initial broadcast date and time, broadcast channel name, live broadcast flag, audience rating information, number of broadcasts, and the like. Examples of content genres (classification information) include genre codes (news, sports, etc.), purpose categories (entertainment, education, etc.), viewing target codes (children, general, etc.), and the like. The content format information includes a video sampling rate, an audio bit rate, a resolution, a recording limit flag, a viewing count limit flag, and the like.

The “content-specific priority rule holding means” is a content-specific priority rule that is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content. Hold. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a priority rule for each content. In the example of this figure, according to the age group and gender, viewers are classified into C1 (0-12 year old children), C2 (13-19 year old children), F1 (20-34 year old women), F2 (35-49 years old). Old women), F3 (women over 50), M1 (men aged 20-34), M2 (men aged 35-49), and M3 (men over 50). Also, the genre codes of content are divided into news / report information / wide show, sports, drama, music, variety,..., Hobbies / education / welfare. A priority index that defines an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer is assigned according to the category of the content and the classification of the viewer. There are as many types of priority indexes as the number of viewer categories, and are A, B,..., H in descending order of priority index.

The “content priority determination unit” is based on the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit, the attribute information of the viewing content acquired by the content attribute acquisition unit, and the content-specific priority rule that is a predetermined rule. To determine the preferred audience. Referring to the example of FIG. 16, when the viewer classification is F1, M1, and M3 and the content genre code is sports, the priority index of M3 is the highest, so the viewer of M3 has priority. Become a viewer. When the viewer classification is F1, M1, and M3 and the content genre code is drama, the priority index of F1 is the highest, so the viewer of F1 becomes the priority viewer.

The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment may further include the “attribute-based viewing history holding unit” described in the second embodiment and the “content-specific priority rule updating unit” described below. With this configuration, it is possible to update the priority rule for each content according to the viewing history of the viewer, and to select a more appropriate priority viewer.

“Content priority rule update means” updates content priority rules based on attribute-specific viewing history. Here, the update process can be performed by detecting that the attribute-specific viewing history has been updated, or may be performed when a predetermined time interval or a predetermined date and time arrives. As the update processing of the priority rule for each content, the viewing attribute of each viewing attribute of the past predetermined period is compared with respect to the content attribute whose viewing history is updated. It is possible to update the priority rules for each content by assigning a higher priority index in order.

<Process flow>
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium. First, in step S1701, the content providing apparatus captures an image of an area where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S1702, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S1703, the content providing apparatus acquires viewer attribute information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step). Next, in step S1704, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S1705A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S1705B. In step S1705A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute information. In step S1705B, the content providing apparatus acquires viewing content attribute information. In step S1706B, the content providing apparatus acquires the viewer attribute information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step, the viewing content attribute information acquired in the content attribute acquisition step, the viewer attribute information, and the viewing content attribute. A priority viewer is determined using a content-specific priority rule that is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the information (priority viewer determination step: content-specific priority determination processing). In step S1707B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the determined priority viewer attribute (viewing service control step). Note that the above processing can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a specific operation is performed), and when a new viewer is added or there is no existing viewer. Even so, it is possible to determine the most appropriate priority viewer in the situation. Further, after step S1703, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the member configuration of the viewer (whether or not the viewer has newly added or disappeared). If the member configuration has changed, the process proceeds to step S1704. Processing may be performed, and if there is no change in the member configuration, processing returning to step S1701 may be performed.

<Specific example of priority viewer determination process 1>
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S1801, the content providing apparatus determines whether the number of viewers is plural. If it is determined that there are a plurality of items, the process advances to step S1802. If it is determined that there is not more than one, the priority viewer determination process ends. In step S1802, the content providing apparatus determines the viewer's age / sex (or viewer ID, the same applies hereinafter) acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process, the content attribute information acquired in the content attribute acquisition process, The viewer's viewing priority index is acquired using the content-specific priority rule, which is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer according to the age / sex of the viewer and the genre of the viewing content. Next, in step S1803, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not a priority index has been acquired for all viewers who have acquired age and sex in the viewer attribute acquisition process. If it is determined that the priority index has been acquired for all viewers, the process advances to step S1804. If it is determined that there are viewers who have not acquired the priority index, the process returns to step S1802. In step S1804, the content providing apparatus compares the priority indexes of a plurality of viewers whose priority indexes have been acquired. In step S1805, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer and stores the attribute information of the viewer in the RAM.

<Example 2 of priority viewer decision processing>
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S1901, the content providing apparatus determines whether the number of viewers is plural. If it is determined that there are a plurality of items, the process advances to step S1902. If it is determined that there is not more than one, the priority viewer determination process ends. In step S1902, the content providing apparatus according to the viewer attribute acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition processing, the content attribute acquired in the content attribute acquisition processing, the viewer attribute, and the genre of the viewing content. The viewer's viewing priority index (1) is acquired using the content-specific priority rule, which is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer. Next, in step S 1903, the content providing apparatus prioritizes the viewer according to the viewer attribute acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process, the current time, the viewer attribute, and the viewing time zone. The priority index (2) of the viewer is acquired by using the priority rule for each time zone, which is information that defines an index indicating. In step S1904, the content providing apparatus calculates a priority index by adding the priority index (1) and the priority index (2). Next, in step S1905, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not the priority index has been calculated for all viewers whose attributes have been acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process. If it is determined that the priority index has been calculated for all viewers, the process advances to step S1906. If it is determined that viewers who have not calculated the priority index remain, the process returns to step 1902. In step S1906, the content providing apparatus compares the priority indexes of a plurality of viewers whose priority indexes are calculated. In step S1907, the content providing apparatus determines whether there is one viewer who has the maximum priority index. If there are a plurality of viewers having the maximum priority index, the process advances to step S1908. If it is determined that there is only one viewer having the maximum priority index, the process proceeds to step S1909. In step S1908, the content providing apparatus is based on the viewing time, the total length of time that it has become a priority viewer, the number of times it has become a priority viewer, the elapsed time since it has recently become a priority viewer, and the like. Select one viewer from the viewers with the highest priority index. In step S1909, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer and holds the viewer's attribute information in the RAM.

<Specific example of viewing history update processing>
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of viewing history update processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S2001, the content providing apparatus determines whether the viewer ID acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process has changed. If it is determined that the viewer ID has changed, the process proceeds to step S2002. If it is determined that there is no change, the process proceeds to step S2003. In step S2002, the content providing apparatus starts or stops counting the viewing time of the viewer ID that has changed. That is, when a new viewer is added, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID is started, and when there is no specific viewer, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID is stopped. Next, in step S2003, the content providing apparatus determines whether the viewing content attribute acquired in the content attribute acquisition process has changed. If it is determined that there has been a change, the process advances to step S2004. If it is determined that there is no change, the process proceeds to step S2005. In step S2004, the content providing apparatus starts or stops counting the viewing time of each viewer regarding the content attribute that has changed. That is, when a new content attribute is added, counting of the viewing time of the viewer ID related to the content attribute is started. Stop counting. In step S2005, the content providing apparatus updates viewing time information for each content attribute in the viewing history of each viewer.

<Specific example of priority rule update processing by content>
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the priority rule update process for each content in the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S2101, the content providing apparatus determines whether the viewer's viewing history has been updated. If it is determined that the viewing history has been updated, the process proceeds to step S2102. If it is determined that the viewing history has not been updated, the priority rule update process for each content is terminated. In step S2102, the content providing apparatus relates to content attributes (genre, title, etc.) whose viewing time has been updated in the viewing history, for each gender / age group (or each registered viewer) in the past predetermined period (for example, the past month). Etc., the same applies hereinafter) and the average viewing count (or the average viewing time, etc.). Next, in step S2103, the content providing apparatus compares the calculated average number of viewing times of each gender / age group, and assigns a higher priority index in order from the gender / age group having the largest average number of viewing times. Next, in step S2104, the priority rule for each content stored in the nonvolatile memory is updated based on the allocation result in step S2103. Here, the priority rule for each content is updated when the viewing history is updated. However, the processing is not limited to this example. For example, the priority rule for each content is set every predetermined time (for example, every other day). The update process may be performed.

<Effect>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of viewers, is a content-specific priority rule that is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content Is used to determine the preferred viewer. Accordingly, it is possible to determine an appropriate priority viewer according to the attribute of the viewing content and provide the viewing service in a preferable mode.

<< Embodiment 4 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires operator information that is information indicating whether or not the viewer is a remote control operator as the attribute information of the viewer. The priority viewer is determined based on the operator information and the operator priority rule with the remote control operator as the priority viewer.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an outline of the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the example of this figure, there are A and B as viewers, but A, which is a remote control operator, is selected as a priority viewer based on the rule that the remote control operator is given priority. As a result, a menu screen is configured according to A.

<Configuration>
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 2300 includes a “camera unit” 2301, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 2302, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 2303, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 2304. , “Viewing service control unit” 2305 and “viewing service unit” 2306, “viewer attribute information acquisition unit” has “operator information acquisition unit” 2307, and “priority viewer determination unit” Includes an “operator priority rule holding unit” 2308 and an “operator priority determination unit” 2309. Hereinafter, “operator information acquisition means”, “operator priority rule holding means”, and “operator priority determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

“Operator information acquisition means” acquires operator information, which is information indicating whether or not the viewer is a remote control operator, as the attribute information of the viewer. Here, for the operator information acquisition process, for example, when it is detected that a remote control operation has been performed, an area where the remote control device exists in the captured image is specified, and the position closest to the position of the remote control device is specified. It is conceivable to determine that the viewer is a remote control operator. Further, when it is possible to detect the angle at which the signal from the remote control device is received, a process of specifying the remote control operator may be performed based on the angle information and the information of the captured image.

The “operator priority rule holding means” holds, as a predetermined rule, an operator priority rule with the remote control operator as the priority viewer. It is also possible to hold a rule in which a remote control operator who has performed a specific operation is a priority viewer. For example, a remote control operator who performs an operation to switch the content to be output is regarded as a priority viewer, but when other operations (for example, an operation to increase or decrease the volume) are performed, even the remote control operator has priority. It is also possible to adopt rules that are not considered viewers.

The “operator priority determination means” determines the priority viewer based on the operator information acquired by the operator information acquisition means and the operator priority rule which is a predetermined rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium. First, in step S2401, the content providing apparatus images a region where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S2402, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S2403, the content providing apparatus acquires viewer attribute information including operator information, which is information indicating whether or not the viewer is a remote control operator, using the acquired recognition information ( Viewer attribute acquisition step: operator information acquisition process). Next, in step S2404, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S2405A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S2405B. In step S2405A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the determined priority viewer attribute. In step S2405B, the content providing apparatus uses the viewer priority information including the operator information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the operator priority rule using the remote control operator as the priority viewer as the priority viewer. Is determined (priority viewer determination step). In step S2406B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Note that the above processing can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a remote control operation is performed), and even when the remote control operator changes, it is most appropriate in that situation. A preferred viewer can be determined. Further, after step S2403, it is determined whether or not the operator information has changed (whether another viewer has become a remote controller operator or whether or not the viewer member configuration has changed), and the operator information is included in the operator information. When there is a change, the process of step S2404 may be performed, and when there is no change in the operator information, the process of returning to step S2401 may be performed.

<Specific example of viewer attribute information acquisition processing (operator information acquisition processing):>
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of viewer attribute information acquisition processing (operator information acquisition processing) in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S2501, the content providing apparatus determines whether a remote control signal has been received. If it is determined that a remote control signal has been received, the process advances to step S2502. If it is determined that the remote control signal has not been received, it waits. Next, in step S2502, the content providing apparatus performs pattern matching between the captured image from the camera apparatus and the remote control image read from the nonvolatile memory to the RAM, and extracts an image area recognized as the remote control. To do. Next, in step S2503, the content providing apparatus identifies the viewer who is closest to the remote control among the viewers recognized by the viewer recognition process. In step S2504, the content providing apparatus stores, in the RAM, operator information indicating that the viewer closest to the remote controller is the remote controller operator as attribute information of the viewer.

<Specific example of priority viewer decision processing>
In the priority viewer determination process in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, the remote control operator is set as the priority viewer based on the operator priority rule with the remote control operator as the priority viewer. Further, the attribute information of the remote control operator is held in the RAM as the attribute information of the priority viewer.

<Effect>
When there are a plurality of viewers, the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment determines a priority viewer using an operator priority rule in which the remote controller operator is a priority viewer. As a result, it is possible to determine an appropriate priority viewer by detecting the remote control operator and to provide a viewing service in a preferable manner.

<< Embodiment 5 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but a plurality of contents can be displayed in a multi-window. Information indicating which window is being viewed is acquired, and the priority viewer is determined for each window by further using the information.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an outline of the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In the example of this figure, different contents are provided on two screens, A viewing the left screen and B viewing the right screen. In this case, it is determined which screen the viewer is viewing on the camera device, a menu screen corresponding to A is displayed on the left screen, and a menu screen corresponding to B is displayed on the right screen.

<Configuration>
FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 2700 includes a “camera unit” 2701, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 2702, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 2703, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 2704. , “Viewing service control unit” 2705 and “viewing service unit” 2706, “viewer attribute information acquisition unit” has “viewing window information acquisition unit” 2707, and “priority viewer determination unit” Includes a “window-specific determination unit” 2708, and the “viewing service unit” includes a “multi-display unit” 2709. Hereinafter, “multi-display means”, “viewing window information acquisition means”, and “window-specific determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

“Multi-display means” displays multiple contents in multiple windows. Here, multi-window display of a plurality of contents means that a plurality of window areas are provided inside the display and contents are displayed in each window, or the display is divided into a plurality of areas and each divided area is displayed. This means displaying content. For example, the display is divided into left and right areas, the content X is displayed and output in the left area, and the content Y is displayed and output in the right area.

The “viewing window information acquisition means” acquires viewing window information, which is information indicating which window the viewer is viewing in the multi-window, as the attribute information of the viewer. As the viewing window information acquisition processing, the position of the viewing center and the line of sight is detected from the viewer's image by specifying the position of the center of the body, the left and right eyes, pupils and nostrils, and any window in the multi-window is detected. It may be possible to determine whether the user is watching. In consideration of the case where one viewer is watching a plurality of windows in a multi-window, or when the viewer is moving beyond the display, a specific window has been watched within the past predetermined time range. If it is determined, it is possible to determine that the user is a viewer in the window.

“The window-specific determining means” further determines the priority viewer for each window by further using the acquired viewing window information. Here, it is mainly considered that one priority viewer is determined for each window. However, when a plurality of viewing services are controlled, a plurality of priority viewers may be determined for one window. . For example, in the case where there are a plurality of viewers who view a single window, a viewer with weak eyesight is regarded as a priority viewer with respect to the size of characters included in the content, etc. Weak viewers are given priority viewers.

<Process flow>
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium. First, in step S2801, the content providing apparatus images a region where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S2802, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S2803, the content providing apparatus uses the acquired recognition information, and the viewer attributes including viewing window information, which is information indicating which window the viewer is viewing in the multi-window. Information is acquired (viewer attribute acquisition step: viewing window information acquisition process). In step S2804, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S2805A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of recognized viewers, the process proceeds to step S2805B. In step S2805A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the priority viewer attribute information. In step S2805B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer for each window using the viewer attribute information including the viewing window information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and a predetermined rule (priority viewer determination). Step). In step S2806B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute of the priority viewer determined for each window (viewing service control step). Note that the above process can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a specific operation is performed), and even if the viewer changes the viewing window, the situation The most appropriate priority viewer can be determined. Further, after step S2803, it is determined whether or not the viewing window information has changed (whether the viewer has changed the viewing window or the viewer's member structure has changed), and the viewing window information has changed. If there is, the process of step S2804 may be performed, and if there is no change in the viewing window information, the process of returning to step S2801 may be performed.

<Specific example of viewer attribute acquisition processing (viewing window information acquisition processing)>
FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of viewer attribute acquisition processing (viewing window information acquisition processing) in the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. First, in step S2901, the content providing apparatus determines whether a plurality of contents are displayed in a multiwindow. If it is determined that the multi-window display is not performed, the process waits. If it is determined that multi-window display is being performed, the process advances to step S2902. In step S2902, the content providing apparatus identifies position coordinates such as the center of the body, left and right eyes, pupils, and nostrils from the image of one viewer, and detects the viewing position and line-of-sight direction of the viewer. Next, in step S2903, the content providing apparatus determines which window in the multi-window is being viewed from the viewing position and line-of-sight direction of the viewer detected in step S2902. Next, in step S2904, the content providing apparatus stores viewing window information, which is information indicating which window in the multi-window the viewer is viewing according to the determination result in step S2903, in the RAM as attribute information. Hold. In step S2905, the content providing apparatus determines whether viewing window information has been acquired for all viewers. If it is determined that it has been acquired, the viewing window information acquisition process ends. If it is determined that there are still viewers that have not been acquired, the process returns to step S2902.

<Specific example of priority viewer decision processing (window-specific decision processing)>
FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of priority viewer determination processing (window-specific determination processing) in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. In step S3001, the content providing apparatus determines whether the number of viewers is plural. If it is determined that there are a plurality of items, the process proceeds to step S3002. If it is determined that there is not more than one, the priority viewer determination process ends. In step S3002, the content providing apparatus selects one window and extracts the ID of the viewer who is viewing the window using the viewing window information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition process. Next, in step S3003, the content providing apparatus obtains the viewer ID extracted in step S3002 and an ID priority rule that is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the viewer ID. To obtain the viewing priority index of the viewer. Next, in step S3004, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not a priority index has been acquired for all viewers who have acquired the viewer ID extracted in step S3002. If it is determined that the priority index has been acquired for all viewers, the process advances to step S3005. If it is determined that there are still viewers who have not acquired the priority index, the process returns to step 3003. In step S3005, the content providing apparatus compares the priority indexes of a plurality of viewers for which priority indexes have been acquired. In step S3006, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer for the selected window, and retains the viewer's attribute information in the RAM. Next, in step S3007, the content providing apparatus determines whether priority viewers have been determined for all windows. If it is determined that the priority viewer has been determined for all windows, the priority viewer determination process is terminated. If it is determined that there remains a window for which the priority viewer has not been determined, the process returns to step S3002.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of viewing service control processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S3101, the content providing apparatus selects one window and extracts an attribute related to the viewing service of the priority viewer determined by the priority viewer determination process for the window. Next, in step S3102, the content providing apparatus reads information relating the attribute of the priority viewer and the content of the viewing service of the specific window from the nonvolatile memory to the RAM, and according to the extracted attribute of the priority viewer. The content of the viewing service of the selected window is determined. Next, in step S3103, the content providing apparatus controls devices (display, speaker, etc.) related to the viewing service of the selected window so that the content of the determined viewing service is obtained. Next, in step S3104, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not the control has been performed on all viewing services to be controlled for the selected window according to the priority viewer attribute. If it is determined that everything has been done, the process advances to step S3105. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to step S3102. In step S3105, the content providing apparatus determines whether viewing service is controlled for all windows. If it is determined that the viewing service control has been performed for all windows, the viewing service control process ends. If it is determined that there remains a window for which the viewing service is not controlled, the process returns to step S3101.

<Effect>
When there are a plurality of viewers, the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires viewer attribute information including information indicating which window the viewer is viewing in the multi-window, and uses the information. A priority viewer is determined for each window. This makes it possible to provide a viewing service in a manner that is favorable for the situation at the moment.

<< Embodiment 6 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires information (line-of-sight information) indicating the degree to which the viewer's line of sight is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus. The priority viewer is determined so as to give priority to the viewer who has the maximum degree.

<Configuration>
FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 3200 includes a “camera unit” 3201, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 3202, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 3203, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 3204. , “Viewing service control unit” 3205 and “viewing service unit” 3206, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “line-of-sight information acquisition unit” 3207, and “priority viewer determination unit” , “Line-of-sight priority rule holding means” 3208 and “line-of-sight dependency priority determination means” 3209. An object of the present embodiment is to make it possible to select a viewer who has the most line of sight toward the content providing apparatus as a priority viewer. This is to cope with the case where the viewer who has the most eyes on the content providing apparatus is the viewer who views the content most eagerly and therefore should be the most preferred viewer. belongs to. Hereinafter, “line-of-sight information acquisition means”, “line-of-sight priority rule holding means”, and “line-of-sight dependency priority determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

The “line-of-sight information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “line-of-sight information” as viewer attribute information. “Gaze information” refers to information indicating the degree to which the viewer's gaze is directed toward the screen of the content providing apparatus. It is possible to determine whether or not the viewer's line of sight is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus using a known line-of-sight recognition technique. For example, the front image information of the viewer's face is registered in the database in advance, and the viewer corrects the image on the screen by collating with the viewer's face image captured by the camera unit provided near the screen of the content providing apparatus. It may be determined whether or not they are facing each other, and if it is determined that they are facing each other, it may be determined that the line of sight is directed. Or, more precisely, the center position of the eyeball (exposed part; the same applies hereinafter) and the center position of the pupil are detected from the face image captured by the camera unit. You may make it judge that it is carried out. In any method, it is possible to recognize which viewer the captured face image belongs to by comparing the captured face image with a pre-registered face image. This imaging is performed for every viewer for all viewers. The “degree” at which the line of sight is directed can be measured, for example, by the time that the viewer's line of sight is directed (determining that the degree is greater as the time is longer).

The “line-of-sight priority rule holding means” is configured to hold the “line-of-sight priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “line of sight priority rule” is information that prioritizes a viewer whose degree of line of sight is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus in the line of sight information. As specific contents of the line-of-sight priority rule, for example, priority may be given to the viewer with the longest time for which the line of sight is directed.

The “line-of-sight dependent priority determining means” is configured to determine the priority viewer based on the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition means and the line-of-sight priority rule that is a predetermined rule. For example, when there are a plurality of viewers A to C, if the time indicated by the viewer A's line-of-sight information among the line-of-sight information indicated by the time when the line of sight is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus is longest, Viewer A is determined as the priority viewer based on the priority rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. The processing described below is realized by a program executed by the content providing apparatus, and the program can be stored in a storage medium (the same applies to the following embodiments). First, in step S3301, the content providing apparatus images a region where the viewer is present (imaging step). Next, in step S3302, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information (recognition information acquisition step). Next, in step S3303, the content providing apparatus acquires viewer attributes including line-of-sight information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step: includes line-of-sight information acquisition processing). Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, sex, age group, face image, and line-of-sight information as viewer attributes using the acquired recognition information. Next, in step S3304, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S3305A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S3305B. In step S3305A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S3305B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the line-of-sight information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the line-of-sight priority rule (priority viewer determination step). In step S3306B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, the viewer who has the most line of sight on the screen of the content providing apparatus is determined as the priority viewer, and the viewing service corresponding to the attribute of the viewer is provided.

Alternatively, in step S3303, the content providing apparatus acquires the attributes of viewers that do not include line-of-sight information in place of the above processing, and each viewer is only determined when there are a plurality of viewers recognized in step S3304. May be acquired (the same applies to the following embodiments). This is because it is not necessary to compare the degree of line of sight between viewers if there is only one viewer.

The above processing can be performed at a predetermined timing (for example, at a certain time interval or when a specific operation is performed), and when a new viewer is added or there is no viewer Even so, it is possible to determine the most appropriate priority viewer in the situation. Further, after step S3303, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the member configuration of the viewer (whether or not the viewer is newly added or disappeared). If there is a change in the member configuration, the process proceeds to step S3304. If the member configuration is not changed, the process may return to step S3301 (the same applies to the following embodiments).

<Specific example of viewer attribute acquisition processing (gaze information acquisition processing)>
FIG. 34 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of viewer attribute acquisition processing (line-of-sight information acquisition processing) in the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. First, in step S3401, the content providing apparatus captures a viewer's face image with, for example, a camera unit provided near its own screen. Next, in step S3402, the content providing apparatus detects the viewer's line of sight by, for example, detecting the center position of the eyeball and the center position of the pupil from the captured face image. This imaging and line-of-sight detection are performed for a certain time (for example, 5 minutes) from the start of content display, for example. Further, this imaging / detection may be performed continuously a plurality of times (for example, 20 minutes), or intermittently performed a plurality of times (for example, 5 minutes of imaging / detection is performed four times at intervals of 1 minute). Good. Next, in step S3403, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not the viewer's line of sight is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus by determining whether the detected center position of the eyeball and the center position of the pupil are substantially the same. . Here, the criterion for “substantially coincidence” may be determined in advance such that when the difference between the positions of the two is within what percentage of the diameter of the eyeball, it is judged that they are almost coincident. Next, in step S3404, the content providing apparatus acquires the degree that the line of sight is directed to the screen, for example, by measuring the time when the substantially matching state as described above is detected. The above processing is performed for each viewer for all viewers who have captured face images. By performing the line-of-sight information acquisition process for all the viewers, it is possible to compare the magnitudes of the extent that the line of sight is directed to the screen among the viewers.

<Specific example of priority viewer determination processing (line-of-sight priority determination processing)>
Next, based on the degree to which each viewer's line of sight acquired by the above process is directed, the content providing apparatus prioritizes the viewer with the highest degree of priority (the line-of-sight priority determination process). )I do. The determination of who is the viewer whose degree of gaze is the largest is, for example, by comparing the time when the gaze of each viewer is aimed at the screen within a predetermined time, The viewer may be determined as the priority viewer. Or you may make it determine a person with the highest ratio for the time when the eyes | visual_axis was aimed among the time when the face image was imaged within predetermined time as a priority viewer.

This process may be performed only once at a predetermined timing (for example, 5 minutes after the start of content display), and the result may be reflected in all viewing service control processes until the end of content display thereafter. Alternatively, it is repeated a plurality of times (for example, after 5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes, etc.) at a predetermined timing, and the contents of the viewing service control process are updated each time. You may do it. In addition, this priority determination process may be performed every time a change occurs in the constituent members or when a program is switched.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
The flow of the viewing service control processing in this example is basically the same as that described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the priority viewer is assumed that the degree of gaze is the maximum. The content of the viewing service is determined in accordance with the determined viewer attributes. For example, in accordance with the age group, visual acuity, and hearing as the viewer attributes determined as the priority viewer, the size and volume of the output content are determined as the content of the viewing service, and a service according to this is provided. In order to control devices such as displays and speakers. For example, if the priority viewer is an elderly person, control is performed to display the characters of the content in a large size or to output at a high volume. Further, it is determined whether or not all viewing services to be controlled are controlled according to the attribute of the priority viewer. If it is determined that all viewing services have been controlled, the viewing service control process is terminated. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to the step of determining the content of the viewing service.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, the viewer who has the largest degree of gaze on the screen of the content providing apparatus can be set as the priority viewer, and thus the probability that the content is eagerly viewed. It is possible to perform viewing service control processing corresponding to the highest viewer attribute.

<< Embodiment 7 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but obtains information indicating the low degree of movement of the viewer, and gives priority to the viewer with the smallest degree of movement. The preferred viewer is determined.

<Configuration>
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 3500 includes a “camera unit” 3501, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 3502, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 3503, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 3504. , “Viewing service control unit” 3505 and “viewing service unit” 3506, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “movement information acquisition means” 3507, and “priority viewer determination unit” “Movement priority rule holding means” 3508 and “Movement dependency priority determination means” 3509 are provided. The purpose of the present embodiment is when the viewer who has the least movement in front of the content providing apparatus is the viewer who is watching the content most eagerly, and therefore is the viewer who should be given the highest priority. It is for correspondence. For example, small children are likely to be close to their parents if they are watching TV, but move around the TV if they are not interested in TV programs. Therefore, the smaller the movement in front of the content providing apparatus, the higher the probability that the viewer is eagerly viewing the content, and it can be considered that the viewer should be given the highest priority. Hereinafter, “movement information acquisition means”, “movement priority rule holding means”, and “movement dependence priority determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

The “movement information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “movement information” as the attribute information of the viewer. “Movement information” refers to information indicating a degree of a small movement of the viewer. A known image recognition technique may be used to determine whether or how much the viewer has moved. For example, the viewer's face and body image information is registered in advance, and the imaging region is divided into a plurality of image blocks, and the positions of a plurality of images captured by the camera unit at regular intervals (for example, the center of the face) It is only necessary to detect whether the position is over a plurality of image blocks. For example, if the position is not over a plurality of image blocks, it is determined that the position is not moved. When there is a movement, it is determined how many blocks have been moved based on the position information of each image block. In order to enable quantitative comparison of these movements, for example, when there is no movement, “0” is indexed, and when there is a movement to an image block that is one block away, “1” is indexed, and the like. You may make it acquire the sum total of the numerical value in time as a "degree of movement."

The “movement priority rule holding means” is configured to hold a “movement priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “movement priority rule” is information determined to prioritize the viewer with the smallest viewer movement in the movement information. As specific contents of the movement priority rule, for example, the degree of movement obtained by indexing as described above is compared, and the viewer with the smallest numerical value is given priority as the viewer with the least movement. Conceivable.

The “movement-dependent priority determination means” is configured to determine the priority viewer based on the movement information acquired by the movement information acquisition means and the movement priority rule that is a predetermined rule. For example, when there are a plurality of viewers A to C, the movement information indicated by the sum of numerical values within a predetermined time is “0” for viewer A, “15” for viewer B, and viewer C. Is “33”, the viewer A is determined as the priority viewer based on the movement priority rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 36 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S3601 and step S3602 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S3603, the content providing apparatus acquires the attributes of the viewer including the movement information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step: includes movement information acquisition processing). Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, gender, age group, face image, and movement information as viewer attributes using the acquired recognition information. In step S3604, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S3605A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S3605B. In step S3605A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S3605B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the movement information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the movement priority rule (priority viewer determination step). In step S3606B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, the viewer with the least degree of movement is determined as the priority viewer, and the viewing service according to the attribute of the viewer is provided.

<Specific example of viewer attribute acquisition processing (movement information acquisition processing)>
FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of viewer attribute acquisition processing (movement information acquisition processing) in the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. First, in step S3701, the content providing apparatus captures a viewer's body image, for example, with a camera unit provided near its own screen. Next, in step S3702, the content providing apparatus detects in which image block the captured body image is located in the imaging region. Next, in step S3703, the content providing apparatus captures the body image again, and in step S3704, detects the location of the image block. Next, in step S3705, the content providing apparatus compares the presence or absence of a change in the position of the image block where the two images detected in steps S3702 and S3704 are located, and determines whether or not the viewer has moved. The above imaging, detection, and determination are repeatedly performed a plurality of times at regular intervals (for example, every 5 minutes) from the start of content display, for example. Next, in step S3706, the content providing apparatus acquires movement information based on these determination results. For example, the degree of movement can be quantitatively grasped by summing up the numerical values of the movement information represented by indices. By performing this acquisition process for all viewers, the degree of movement can be compared between viewers.

<Specific example of priority viewer determination processing (line-of-sight priority determination processing)>
Next, the content providing apparatus gives priority viewing to the viewer who has the largest degree of movement (in other words, the smallest degree of movement) based on the movement information of each viewer acquired by the above processing. Person determination processing (movement-dependent priority determination processing) is performed. The determination of who is the viewer with the smallest degree of movement is made by comparing the movement information indicating the degree of movement with an index by the above processing, for example, and determining the person with the smallest number as the priority viewer. . This process may be performed twice at a predetermined timing (for example, at the start of content display and after 5 minutes), and the result may be reflected in all viewing service control processes until the end of content display thereafter. Alternatively, it is repeated a plurality of times at a predetermined timing (for example, at the start of content display, after 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.), and the contents of the viewing service control process are updated and reflected each time. Also good. In addition, this priority determination process may be performed every time a change occurs in the constituent members or when a program is switched.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
The flow of the viewing service control process in this example is basically the same as that described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the degree of movement is the largest (the degree of movement is the smallest). The contents of the viewing service are determined in accordance with the attributes of the viewer determined as the priority viewer. Specific examples thereof are the same as those described in the first embodiment. Further, it is determined whether or not all viewing services to be controlled are controlled according to the attribute of the priority viewer. If it is determined that all viewing services have been controlled, the viewing service control process is terminated. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to the step of determining the content of the viewing service.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, the viewer who has the least movement in front of the content providing apparatus can be set as the priority viewer. Therefore, the viewer who has the highest probability of watching the content eagerly. It is possible to perform viewing service control processing corresponding to the attribute.

<< Embodiment 8 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires information for specifying the viewer in association with the content operator, and the viewer specified by the information is reproduced. In the case of an operator such as a recorder of the content being recorded, the priority viewer is determined so as to give priority to the viewer.

<Configuration>
FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 3800 includes a “camera unit” 3801, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 3802, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 3803, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 3804. , “Viewing service control unit” 3805 and “viewing service unit” 3806, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “content operator information acquisition means” 3807, and “priority viewer determination unit” Includes a “content operator priority rule holding unit” 3808 and a “content operator priority determination unit” 3809. The purpose of this embodiment is when the viewer of the content has the highest interest in the content when there is an operator such as a recorder of the content. Therefore, it is for dealing with the case where it is considered that the viewer should be given the highest priority. Hereinafter, “content operator information acquisition means”, “content operator priority rule holding means”, and “content operator priority determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

The “content operator information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “content operator information” as viewer attribute information. “Content operator information” refers to information for specifying a viewer in association with a content operator. The content operations described here include recording, recording reservation, viewing reservation, reproduction (reproduction start), and the like.

The following may be considered as a configuration for specifying the viewer in association with the content operator. For example, when an operator performs an operation using a remote control, an operation button on the remote control is separately provided for each user, and operator identification information associated with the pressed operation button is transmitted together with the operation command. Then, the transmitted identification information of the operator is stored in association with the content to be operated. Alternatively, instead of providing a button for each user on the remote controller, a configuration in which a user identification number is input prior to pressing the operation button using a numeric button or the like may be used. Furthermore, the operator may be specified by associating information related to the remote control operator specified by the method described in Embodiment 4 with the content that is the operation target.

The “content operator priority rule holding means” is configured to hold a “content operator priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “content operator priority rule” is a preferential viewing of a viewer when the viewer specified by the information acquired by the content operator information acquisition means is an operator such as a recorder of the content being played back. It is intended to be a person. If there are two or more operators, an order of priority may be provided. For example, when the content is recorded by A but B presses the playback start button, or when the content that A has reserved for viewing is recorded based on the recording reservation performed by B, It is conceivable to set rules such that the video player has priority over the video recorder, or the viewing reservation user has priority over the video recorder. Alternatively, the priority order may be uniquely determined so that, for example, A always has priority.

The “content operator priority determination means” is configured to determine a priority viewer based on the content operator information acquired by the content operator information acquisition means and the content operator priority rule that is a predetermined rule. Yes. For example, when there are a plurality of viewers A to C, it is determined whether or not there is an operator of the content, and if that is the case, for example, the viewer A is determined as the priority viewer. When there are a plurality of operators, such as when there are a recorder A and a player B, for example, the priority viewer may be determined according to the order defined in the content operator priority rule as described above. On the other hand, when there is no content operator among viewers, priority viewer determination processing based on this rule is not performed.

<Process flow>
FIG. 39 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S3901 and step S3902 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S3903, the content providing apparatus acquires the attributes of the viewer including the content operator information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step: includes content operator information acquisition processing). Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, gender, age group, face image, and content operator information as viewer attributes using the acquired recognition information. Next, in step S3904, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S3905A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S3905B. In step S3905A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S3905B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the content operator information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the content operator priority rule (the priority viewer). Accordingly, if there is a content operator among a plurality of viewers, that person is determined as the priority viewer. In step S3906B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, if there is a content operator among viewers, the viewer is determined to be a priority viewer, and a viewing service according to the attributes of the viewer is provided.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
The flow of the viewing service control process in the present embodiment is basically the same as that described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the viewer who is determined as the priority viewer as the content operator. The content of the viewing service is determined in accordance with the attributes of. Specific examples thereof are the same as those described in the first embodiment. Further, it is determined whether or not all viewing services to be controlled are controlled according to the attribute of the priority viewer. If it is determined that all viewing services have been controlled, the viewing service control process is terminated. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to the step of determining the content of the viewing service.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of this embodiment, when there is an operator such as a recorder of the content among the viewers of the content, the viewer can be set as a priority viewer. It is possible to perform viewing service control processing corresponding to the attributes of the viewer who has the highest probability of viewing.

<< Embodiment 9 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires information indicating that the viewer is the owner of the content providing apparatus, and is the owner of the content providing apparatus based on the information. A viewer indicated to be present is determined as a priority viewer.

<Configuration>
FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 4000 includes a “camera unit” 4001, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 4002, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 4003, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 4004. , “Viewing service control unit” 4005 and “viewing service unit” 4006, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “owner information acquisition unit” 4007, and “priority viewer determination unit” , “Owner priority rule holding means” 4008 and “owner priority determination means” 4009. An object of the present embodiment is to make it possible to select an owner as a priority viewer when there is an owner of a content providing apparatus among a plurality of viewers. Hereinafter, “owner information acquisition means”, “owner priority rule holding means”, and “owner priority determination means” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

“Owner information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “owner information” as attribute information of the viewer. “Owner information” refers to information indicating that the viewer is the owner of the content providing apparatus. As a specific configuration for acquiring the owner information, for example, information for identifying the owner is registered in advance in the content providing device or the remote control, and the identification information is triggered by power-on or remote control operation. What is necessary is just to acquire by reading. Here, the “owner” does not necessarily have a legal meaning (a person who has full control over the object), but a person who is registered as an owner in the content providing apparatus or the like. For example, if a child A is registered as an owner for a television set in the room of the child A, the owner becomes the child A. If a plurality of persons are registered as owners, the plurality of persons become owners.

The “owner priority rule holding means” is configured to hold the “owner priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “owner priority rule” is that the content providing apparatus owner is a priority viewer. For example, when there are two or more owners, such as when multiple persons (husbands, wives, and children) are registered as owners on a TV set in the living room, priority is given to wives, children, and husbands first. A priority order may be provided.

The “owner priority determination unit” is configured to determine the priority viewer based on the owner information acquired by the owner information acquisition unit and the owner priority rule which is a predetermined rule. For example, in the case where there are a plurality of viewers A to C, it is determined whether or not there is an owner, and if so, that person is determined as a priority viewer. When there are a plurality of owners and an order is defined in the owner priority rule, the priority viewer is determined according to this. On the other hand, when there is no owner among viewers, priority viewer determination processing based on this rule is not performed.

(Example of determining the priority viewer according to the viewing history while giving priority to the owner)
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment further includes an attribute-specific viewing history holding unit that holds a viewing history by attribute that is a viewing history according to the viewer's attribute, and responds to the viewing history while giving priority to the owner. The priority viewer may be determined. In this case, for example, content providing devices owned by a plurality of viewers are connected via a network such as a home LAN, and viewing history acquired for each content providing device is shared. For example, there is a TV registered with the husband as the owner in the husband's study, a TV registered with the child as the owner in the child's room, and a TV registered with the wife, child, and husband as the owner in the living room. When each is installed, each television is connected via a network, and the viewing history is shared by all televisions, regardless of who views which television. When acquiring the viewing history, even if the same person watches the same program for the same time, if watching on a self-owned TV, the weight is given so that it is watched more than on another person's own TV. It is possible to do so.

Then, the owner priority determination means determines a priority viewer based on a rule (owner / viewing history priority rule) that considers the owner and the viewing history with a predetermined weight instead of the owner priority rule. For example, the weight of the living room TV owner is set to wife: child: husband = 1: 0.7: 0.5, and the weight of the other TV owner is set to owner: non-owner = 1: 0. At the same time, as the weighting of the viewing history, the viewing history on the self-owned television is weighted twice as much as the viewing history on the television owned by another person. Therefore, for example, when a husband, wife, or child views the same program together in the living room, the priority viewer is determined using the owner / viewing history priority rule. As a result, for example, when all the members have watched only the TV in the living room in the past time period, the weight of the owner is reflected and the wife is determined as the priority viewer. If a child is watching twice the time of his wife on his television, the child will be determined as the preferred viewer.

<Process flow>
FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S4101 and step S4102 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S4103, the content providing apparatus acquires the attributes of the viewer including the owner information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step: includes owner information acquisition processing). Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, gender, age group, face image, and owner information as the attributes of the viewer using the acquired recognition information. Next, in step S4104, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S4105A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S4105B. In step S4105A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S4105B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the owner information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the owner priority rule (priority viewer determination step). ). Therefore, if there is an owner among a plurality of viewers, that person is determined as the priority viewer. In step S4106B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, if there is an owner among viewers, the viewer is determined as a priority viewer, and a viewing service according to the attributes of the viewer is provided.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of this embodiment, when the owner of the content providing apparatus is among the viewers of the content, the owner can be selected as the priority viewer. It is possible to perform viewing service control processing corresponding to viewer attributes.

<< Embodiment 10 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires information indicating the degree of the detection time of the viewer, and gives priority to the viewer with the longest detection time. The preferred viewer is determined.

<Configuration>
FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 4200 includes a “camera unit” 4201, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 4202, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 4203, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 4204. , “Viewing service control unit” 4205 and “viewing service unit” 4206, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “detection time information acquisition unit” 4207, and “priority viewer determination unit” , “Detection time priority rule holding means” 4208 and “detection time dependency priority determination means” 4209. The purpose of this embodiment is the person with the longest time detected by the camera, that is, the viewer with the longest time in front of the content providing device has the highest interest in the content. This is to cope with the case where it is considered that the viewer should be given the highest priority. For example, a viewer who has been watching the TV program from the beginning may think that the viewer is watching the program more eagerly than a viewer who has come from the middle or has started to enter or exit the middle. it can. Hereinafter, “detection time information acquisition unit”, “detection time priority rule holding unit”, and “detection time dependency priority determination unit” which are different from the first embodiment will be described.

The “detection time information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “detection time information” as the attribute information of the viewer. “Detection time information” refers to information indicating the extent of the detection time of the viewer. As a specific configuration for acquiring the detection time information, for example, image information of a viewer's face and body is registered in advance, and viewing that exists in a predetermined range around the content providing apparatus on the camera unit is performed. A method may be considered in which a person is imaged, analyzed and collated using image recognition technology to recognize which viewers are present, and the detection time of the recognized viewers is measured. At that time, from the viewpoint of viewers' enthusiasm for the content, it can be considered that a viewer who has a face facing the screen of the content providing apparatus should be given priority over a viewer who does not. Therefore, for example, in the case of imaging with a camera unit installed near the screen of the content providing apparatus, the detection time is determined by distinguishing the time when the front image of the face is detected and the time when other than the front image of the face is detected. You may make it acquire. Based on the same idea, for example, even if the detection time is the same, people who are watching while going in and out from the beginning of the content come along the way, but those who continue to watch after that ( The latter is more eagerly watched but is more likely), so instead of simply acquiring the total detection time, it should be acquired together with the number of detection and non-detection switching. It may be.

The “detection time priority rule holding means” is configured to hold a “detection time priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “detection time priority rule” is information that prioritizes the viewer with the longest viewer detection time in the detection time information. In this case, the priority may be determined simply by the length of the detection time, but if the detection time is acquired in such a way that the eagerness can be reflected as described above, a rule corresponding to this should be determined. Therefore, it is possible to prioritize eager viewers. For example, a rule that counts the detection time only when the front image of the face is detected, or a rule that counts the time when the image other than the front of the face is detected as half the actual time, is set. May be. In this way, the “detection time” referred to in the present embodiment is not limited to the actual time, and may be a time corrected based on a certain rule. Similarly, a rule of reducing a certain time (for example, 1 minute) every time switching from detection to non-detection may be established.

The “detection time-dependent priority determination means” is configured to determine a priority viewer based on the detection time information acquired by the detection time information acquisition means and a detection time priority rule that is a predetermined rule. . For example, if the detection time of the viewer A is the longest among the plurality of detected viewers, the viewer A is determined as the priority viewer based on the detection time priority rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 43 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S4301 and step S4302 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S4303, the content providing apparatus acquires the viewer attribute including the detection time information using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquisition step: includes detection time information acquisition processing). Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, sex, age group, face image, and detection time information as viewer attributes using the acquired recognition information. Next, in step S4304, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S4305A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S4305B. In step S4305A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S4305B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the detection time information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the detection time priority rule (priority viewer determination step). ). In step S4306B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, the viewer with the longest detection time is determined as the priority viewer, and the viewing service according to the attribute of the viewer is provided.

<Specific example of viewer attribute acquisition processing (detection time information acquisition processing)>
FIG. 44 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of viewer attribute acquisition processing (detection time information acquisition processing) in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment. First, in step S4401, the content providing apparatus starts capturing an image of a viewer using, for example, a camera unit provided near its own screen. Next, in step S4402, the content providing apparatus acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer based on the captured image. Next, in step S4403, it is determined whether an image of the viewer recognized by the recognition information acquired in the above step is continuously detected in the captured image. If it is determined that it has been detected, the content providing apparatus determines whether or not a predetermined imaging time (for example, 5 minutes from the start of the program) has elapsed in step S4404. If it is determined that it has not elapsed, step S4403 Then, it is determined again whether an image of the viewer recognized by the recognition information is detected in the image being captured. These steps are repeated until it is determined that a viewer image recognized by the recognition information is not detected in the image being captured, or until it is determined that a predetermined imaging time has elapsed. When it is determined that the viewer image recognized by the recognition information is not detected in the image being captured, or when it is determined that the predetermined imaging time has elapsed, the content providing apparatus ends the imaging. In step S4405, detection time information indicating the time during which the viewer has been detected is acquired. Note that, when an image of a viewer that is no longer detected is detected again within a predetermined imaging time, detection of the viewer is started again, but the detection time information is acquired based on the recognition information. It is possible to acquire the total time as the detection time of the same viewer. The content providing apparatus performs this process for all detected viewers.

<Specific example of priority viewer determination processing (detection time-dependent priority determination processing)>
Next, the content providing apparatus performs priority viewer determination processing (detection time-dependent priority determination processing) that prioritizes the viewer with the longest detection time based on the detection time information of each viewer acquired by the above processing. . This processing may be performed only once at a predetermined timing (for example, for 5 minutes from the start of content display), and the result may be reflected in all viewing service control processing until the end of content display thereafter. Alternatively, it is repeated a plurality of times (for example, after 5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes, etc.) at a predetermined timing, and the contents of the viewing service control process are updated each time. You may do it. In addition, this priority determination process may be performed every time a change occurs in the constituent members or when a program is switched.

<Specific example of viewing service control processing>
The flow of the viewing service control process in the present example is basically the same as that described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, the viewing that has been determined as the highest priority viewer by assuming the longest detection time. The content of the viewing service is determined according to the attributes of the viewer. Specific examples thereof are the same as those described in the first embodiment. Further, it is determined whether or not all viewing services to be controlled are controlled according to the attribute of the priority viewer. If it is determined that all viewing services have been controlled, the viewing service control process is terminated. If it is determined that there is a viewing service that is not controlled, the process returns to the step of determining the content of the viewing service.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, the viewer who is longest in front of the content providing apparatus can be set as the priority viewer. Therefore, the attribute of the viewer who has the highest probability of watching the content eagerly. It is possible to perform viewing service control processing corresponding to.

<< Embodiment 11 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the third embodiment, but acquires the viewing history and content title information according to the viewer's attributes, and the viewing according to the viewing history and title information. The priority viewer is determined according to a rule that defines an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer.

<Configuration>
FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 4500 includes a “camera unit” 4501, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 4502, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 4503, a “content attribute acquisition unit” 4504, A “priority viewer determination unit” 4505, a “viewing service control unit” 4506, and a “viewing service unit” 4507. The “viewer attribute acquisition unit” includes an “attribute-specific viewing history acquisition unit” 4508. The “content attribute acquisition unit” has “title information acquisition unit” 4509, the “priority viewer determination unit” includes “viewing history-dependent content-specific priority rule holding unit” 4510, and “viewing history-dependent content type”. Priority determination means "4511. The purpose of this embodiment is, for example, that a viewer who is watching a program broadcast as a band program every time is more enthusiastic about the content than a viewer who only occasionally sees the program. In view of the fact that it is possible to determine the viewer's enthusiasm from the viewing history and content title according to the viewer's attributes, such viewers can be selected as priority viewers. Is to make it. Hereinafter, “attribute-based viewing history acquisition means”, “title information acquisition means”, “viewing history-dependent content-specific priority holding means”, and “viewing history-dependent content-specific priority determination means”, which are the differences from the third embodiment. explain.

“Attribute-specific viewing history acquisition means” is configured to acquire an attribute-specific viewing history that is a viewing history corresponding to the viewer's attribute. Specifically, for example, when a certain viewer watches a band program called “XX” that is aired on a regular basis every day, the attribute of the viewer, the title of the band program, The viewing history (viewing date and time) is acquired as the viewing history by attribute of the viewer.
The “title information acquisition means” is configured to acquire content title information as attribute information of viewing content.
The “viewing history-dependent content priority rule holding means” is configured to hold a “viewing history-dependent content priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “viewing history-dependent content priority rule” is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to the viewing history according to the viewer attribute and the content title information. For example, a rule that gives a higher priority index to a plurality of viewing histories than a single viewing history even for viewing histories of content having the same title information “XX”.
“Viewing history-dependent content priority determination means” is a viewing history corresponding to the attributes of the viewer acquired by the attribute-specific viewing history acquisition means, content title information acquired by the content attribute acquisition unit, and predetermined rules. The priority viewer is determined based on the viewing history-dependent content priority rule.

<Process flow>
FIG. 46 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the content providing apparatus of this embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S4601 and step S4602 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S4603, the content providing apparatus acquires the attributes of the viewer including the viewing history for each title of the content using the acquired recognition information (viewer attribute acquiring step: includes viewing history acquisition processing). . Specifically, the content providing apparatus acquires information such as the viewer's name, sex, age group, face image, and the viewing history for each title of the content as the viewer's attributes using the acquired recognition information. Next, in step S4604, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S4605A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S4605B. In step S4605A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S4605B, the content providing apparatus acquires content title information as attribute information of the viewing content. In step S4606B, the content providing apparatus includes viewer attribute information including the viewing history for each title acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step, and title information that is attribute information of the viewing content acquired in the content attribute acquisition step. The priority viewer is determined using the viewing history-dependent content priority rule (priority viewer determination step: viewing history-dependent content priority determination processing). In step S4607B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, for the content of the title, for example, the viewer who has watched the program most often in the past is determined as the priority viewer, and a viewing service according to the attribute of the viewer is provided. .

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, it is most likely that the content is eagerly viewed by judging the viewer's eagerness from the viewing history and content title according to the viewer's attributes. Viewing service control processing corresponding to the attributes of the viewer can be performed.

<< Embodiment 12 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but acquires information indicating the age group and gender of viewers and ages that occupy a predetermined ratio among a plurality of viewers The preferred viewer is determined according to a rule that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to the viewer according to sex.

<Configuration>
FIG. 47 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 4700 includes a “camera unit” 4701, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 4702, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 4703, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 4704. , “Viewing service control unit” 4705 and “viewing service unit” 4706, “viewer attribute acquisition unit” has “age group / gender information acquisition unit” 4707, and “priority viewer determination” The “part” includes “age group / gender ratio priority rule holding means” 4708 and “age group / gender ratio priority determination means” 4709. The purpose of this embodiment is to make it possible to select, as a priority viewer, a person who occupies a large number of viewers mainly by age group or gender. Hereinafter, “age group / gender information acquisition unit”, “age group / gender ratio priority rule holding unit”, and “age group / gender ratio priority determination unit” which are differences from the third embodiment will be described.

The “age group / sex information acquisition means” is configured to acquire “age group / sex information” as the attribute information of the viewer. “Age group / sex information” refers to information indicating the age group and / or gender of a viewer. The age group may be roughly divided such as old people, adults, and children, or may be finely divided such as every five years.
The “age group / sex ratio priority rule holding means” is configured to hold an “age group / sex ratio priority rule” as a predetermined rule. The “age group / gender ratio priority rule” is information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to viewers according to age group / sex information that occupies a predetermined percentage of the age group / sex information of multiple viewers. is there. As the “predetermined ratio”, the rule that priority is given to the age group / gender who typically occupies the largest number can be considered. It may be a rule. Further, all viewing services may be given priority for those who occupy a predetermined ratio, but viewing services to be given priority may be distributed according to the ratio.
The “age group / gender ratio priority determination means” is a priority viewer based on the age group / gender information acquired by the age group / gender information acquisition means and the predetermined rule of age group / gender ratio priority rule. Is configured to determine.

<Process flow>
FIG. 48 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Among these, the processing in step S4801 and step S4802 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S4803, the content providing apparatus acquires age group / gender information as viewer attribute information together with information such as the viewer's name and face image, using the acquired recognition information. In step S4804, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S4805A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized, the process proceeds to step S4805B. In step S4805A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S4805B, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information including the age group / sex information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and the age group / sex ratio priority rule ( Priority viewer decision step). In step S4806B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, for example, the viewer of the age group with the highest proportion of the viewer is determined as the priority viewer, and the viewing service corresponding to the attribute of the viewer is provided.

(Combination of each embodiment)
In each of the above embodiments, the configuration for determining the priority viewer using various priority rules has been described. The priority viewer may be determined by selecting any one of these rules, or the priority viewer may be determined by combining these rules. In this case, for example, a score may be given to the priority based on each rule, and a viewer having the maximum total score may be determined as a priority viewer. At that time, the priority rule may be weighted.

FIG. 49 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of priority viewer determination processing in the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, and shows an example of the flow of processing for determining the priority viewer by combining a plurality of priority rules. is there. This figure demonstrates the case where a some priority rule is a priority rule (1) and a priority rule (2). The priority rule (1) corresponds to a viewer attribute (1), which will be described later, and is, for example, a line-of-sight priority rule. The priority rule (2) corresponds to a viewer attribute (2), which will be described later. It is a rule. However, the number of priority rules to be combined is not limited, and more priority rules may be combined.

The processing in step S4901 and step S4902 is the same as that described in the sixth embodiment. Next, in step S4903, the content providing apparatus uses the acquired recognition information, as viewer attribute information, together with information such as the viewer's name and face image, viewer attribute (1) (eg, line-of-sight information). And the viewer attribute (2) (for example, movement information) is acquired. Next, in step S4904, the content providing apparatus determines whether there are a plurality of recognized viewers. Here, when the number of viewers recognized is one, it progresses to step S4905A. If it is determined that there are a plurality of recognized viewers, the process proceeds to step S4905B. In step S4905A, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the viewer attribute. In step S4905B, the content providing apparatus acquires a priority index using the viewer attribute (1) and the priority rule (1) which is a predetermined rule. Next, in step S4906B, the content providing apparatus acquires a priority index using the viewer attribute (2) and the priority rule (2) that is a predetermined rule. This is performed for all viewers (step S4907B).

When all priority indexes that should be determined in combination are acquired for all viewers, in step S4908, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer using a predetermined rule (priority viewer determination step). The predetermined rule here is, for example, a rule that a viewer who has the maximum numerical value obtained by adding the respective priority indexes is set as a priority viewer. Alternatively, the priority index may be added after weighting. Further, in step S4909B, the content providing apparatus controls the viewing service using the attribute information of the priority viewer (viewing service control step). Through these processes, a combination of a plurality of criteria is used to determine the viewer who should be given the highest priority by comprehensive judgment, and a viewing service corresponding to the viewer's attributes is provided. Will be.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, among the plurality of viewers, those who occupy the majority by age group or gender can be set as the priority viewers, so viewing service control corresponding to such viewer attributes Processing can be performed.

<< Embodiment 13 >>

<Overview>
The content providing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but holds information indicating the priority viewer determined by the priority viewer determination unit for a predetermined period, and prioritizes the viewer indicated by this information. It is characterized by being determined as a viewer.

<Configuration>
FIG. 50 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the content providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “content providing device” 5000 includes a “camera unit” 5001, a “recognition information acquisition unit” 5002, a “viewer attribute acquisition unit” 5003, and a “priority viewer determination unit” 5004. , “Viewing service control unit” 5005, “viewing service unit” 5006, and “priority viewer information holding unit” 5007, and “priority viewer determination unit” Person determination means "5008. The purpose of this embodiment is that a person who has been determined as a priority viewer may return immediately even if he / she removes his / her seat. In some cases, the determination that a viewer is a priority viewer is not changed. Hereinafter, the “priority viewer information holding unit” and the “priority viewer information-dependent priority viewer determination unit” which are different from the third embodiment will be described.
The “priority viewer information holding unit” is configured to hold priority viewer information, which is information indicating the priority viewer determined by the priority viewer determination unit, for a predetermined period. Further, the “priority viewer information-dependent priority viewer determination means” is configured to determine a viewer indicated by the priority viewer information held by the priority viewer information holding unit as a priority viewer.

<Process flow>
The flow of processing for determining the priority viewer in the present embodiment is basically the flow of the processing described in the above embodiments (for example, the processing of steps S0401 to S0405B described with reference to FIG. 4 in the first embodiment). Flow). On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the content providing apparatus stores the priority viewer information determined in this way in the storage device. In addition, a rule that determines how long the priority viewer information is retained is stored in the storage device in advance. Therefore, the content providing apparatus retains the priority viewer information according to this rule, and discards it when the period has elapsed. Further, when the priority viewer is determined again through the same processing flow (for example, S0401 to S0404) as described above, the content providing apparatus does not immediately perform the priority viewer determination similar to step S0405B. First, it is determined whether priority viewer information is held. Therefore, when the determination result that the content is held is obtained, the content providing apparatus reads the priority viewer information and controls the viewing service using the attribute of the priority viewer specified by the information. . On the other hand, when the determination result that the content is not held is obtained, the content providing apparatus determines a priority viewer by the same process as in step S0405B, and controls the viewing service using the attribute of the priority viewer. To do.

<Effect>
According to the content providing apparatus of the present embodiment, a viewer who has been determined as a priority viewer may return soon even if he / she removes his / her seat, and the viewer for a certain period of time. By not changing the determination that the viewer is a priority viewer, it is possible to perform a viewing service control process corresponding to the attribute of such a viewer as a priority viewer.

0200 ... Content providing device, 0201 ... Camera unit, 0202 ... Recognition information acquisition unit, 0203 ... Viewer attribute acquisition unit, 0204 ... Priority viewer determination unit, 0205 ... Viewing service control unit, 0206 ... Viewing service unit, 0907 ... Time Band-specific rule holding means, 0908 ... Time zone priority determining means, 1507 ... Content attribute acquisition unit, 1508 ... Content-specific rule holding means, 1509 ... Content priority determination means, 2307 ... Operator information acquisition means, 2308 ... Operator Priority rule holding means, 2309 ... operator priority determination means, 2707 ... viewing window information acquisition means, 2708 ... window-specific determination means, 2709 ... multi-display means, 1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... non-volatile memory, 4 ... Camera unit, 5... Camera signal processing unit, 6. Tuner / demodulation / separation unit, 7. Signal processing unit, 8 ... EPG / OSD / BML processing unit, 9 ... Audio signal processing unit, 10 ... Video output conversion unit, 11 ... Audio output conversion unit, 12 ... Communication unit, 13 ... Remote control light receiving unit, 14 ... Antenna, 15 ... System bus

Claims

A camera unit;
A recognition information acquisition unit that acquires recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information of the camera unit;
A viewer attribute acquisition unit that acquires the attribute information of the viewer using the acquired recognition information;
A priority viewer determination unit that determines a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit and a predetermined rule when there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized;
A content providing apparatus.
A viewing service section that provides a viewing service including content output;
A viewing service control unit that controls the viewing service using the attribute of the priority viewer determined by the priority viewer determination unit;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, a time zone priority rule holding means for holding a time zone priority rule that is an information indicating an index indicating a degree of priority as a viewer according to the viewer attribute information and the viewing time zone;
Time zone priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on the viewer attribute information acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit, the current time, and a time zone priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
A content attribute acquisition unit for acquiring attribute information of the viewing content;
The priority viewer decision section
Content-specific priority rule holding means for holding a content-specific priority rule that is an information indicating an index indicating the degree of priority as a viewer according to the attribute information of the viewer and the attribute information of the viewing content as the predetermined rule;
By content that determines the priority viewer based on the attribute information of the viewer acquired by the viewer attribute acquisition unit, the attribute information of the viewing content acquired by the content attribute acquisition unit, and the priority rule for each content that is a predetermined rule Priority determination means;
The content providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:
An attribute-specific viewing history holding unit for holding an attribute-specific viewing history that is a viewing history corresponding to the viewer's attribute;
The priority viewer decision section
The content providing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a time zone priority rule updating unit that updates the time zone priority rule based on the attribute-based viewing history.
An attribute-specific viewing history holding unit for holding an attribute-specific viewing history that is a viewing history corresponding to the viewer's attribute;
The priority viewer decision section
The content providing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a content-specific priority rule updating unit configured to update the content-specific priority rule based on the attribute-specific viewing history.
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
Operator information acquisition means for acquiring operator information which is information indicating that the viewer is a remote control operator as the attribute information of the viewer;
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, an operator priority rule holding means for holding an operator priority rule with a remote control operator as a priority viewer;
Operator priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on operator information acquired by the operator information acquisition means and an operator priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewing service department
Having a multi-display means for displaying a plurality of contents in a multi-window;
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
As attribute information, it has viewing window information acquisition means for acquiring viewing window information that is information indicating which window in the multi-window the viewer is viewing.
The priority viewer decision section
The content providing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a window-specific determining unit that further determines the priority viewer for each window by further using the acquired viewing window information.
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
Line of sight information acquisition means for acquiring line of sight information, which is information indicating the degree to which the line of sight of the viewer is directed to the screen of the content providing apparatus, as the attribute information of the viewer;
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, line-of-sight priority rule holding means for holding a line-of-sight priority rule, which is information determined to prioritize a viewer whose degree of line-of-sight is directed to the screen of the content providing device with line-of-sight information,
Gaze-dependent priority determining means for determining a priority viewer based on the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquiring means and a gaze priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
As the viewer attribute information, it has movement information acquisition means for acquiring movement information which is information indicating the degree of the movement of the viewer,
The priority viewer decision section
A movement priority rule holding means for holding a movement priority rule, which is information determined to prioritize the viewer with the smallest viewer movement in the movement information as a predetermined rule;
Movement-dependent priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on movement information acquired by the movement information acquisition means and a movement priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
A content operator information acquisition unit that acquires content operator information that is information for specifying the viewer in association with the content operator as the attribute information of the viewer;
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, when the viewer specified by the information acquired by the content operator information acquisition means is an operator such as a recorder of the content being played back, the content having that viewer as the priority viewer Content operator priority rule holding means for holding operator priority rules;
Content operator priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on content operator information acquired by the content operator information acquisition means and a content operator priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
Owner information acquisition means for acquiring owner information, which is information indicating that the viewer is the content providing apparatus owner, as the attribute information of the viewer,
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, an owner priority rule holding means for holding an owner priority rule with the content providing device owner as a priority viewer;
Owner priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on the owner information acquired by the owner information acquisition means and the owner priority rule which is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
As the viewer attribute information, it has detection time information acquisition means for acquiring detection time information which is information indicating the degree of the detection time of the viewer,
The priority viewer decision section
Detection time priority rule holding means for holding a detection time priority rule that is information determined to prioritize the viewer with the longest viewer detection time in the detection time information as a predetermined rule;
Detection time-dependent priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on detection time information acquired by the detection time information acquisition means and a detection time priority rule that is a predetermined rule;
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
It further includes attribute-specific viewing history acquisition means for acquiring a viewing history by attribute that is a viewing history according to the attribute of the viewer,
The content attribute acquisition unit
It further has title information acquisition means for acquiring title information of content as attribute information of viewing content,
The priority viewer decision section
As a predetermined rule, a viewing history-dependent content priority rule that is an information that defines an index indicating a degree of priority as a viewer according to the viewing history according to the viewer attribute and the title information of the content History-dependent content priority rule holding means,
Priority is given based on the viewing history corresponding to the attribute of the viewer acquired by the viewing history acquisition means by attribute, the title information of the content acquired by the content attribute acquisition unit, and the priority rule based on the viewing history dependent content that is a predetermined rule Viewing history-dependent content priority determination means for determining viewers,
The content providing apparatus according to claim 4, which is dependent on claim 4 or claim 6, which is dependent on claim 4.
The viewer attribute acquisition unit
As attribute information of the viewer, there is an age group / sex information acquisition means for acquiring age group / sex information which is information indicating the age group and / or gender of the viewer,
The priority viewer decision section
Age group / gender ratio, which is an information that defines an index indicating the degree of priority given to viewers according to age group / gender information occupying a predetermined percentage of age group / sex information of multiple viewers as a predetermined rule Age group / gender ratio priority rule holding means holding priority rules,
An age group / gender ratio priority determination means for determining a priority viewer based on the age group / gender information acquired by the age group / gender information acquisition means and the predetermined age group / gender ratio priority rule; ,
The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
A priority viewer information holding unit that holds, for a predetermined period, priority viewer information that is information indicating the priority viewer determined by the priority viewer determination unit;
The priority viewer decision section
A priority viewer information-dependent priority viewer determination unit that determines a viewer indicated by the priority viewer information held by the priority viewer information holding unit as a priority viewer;
The content provision apparatus as described in any one of Claim 1 to 15.
In a content providing apparatus having a camera unit,
A recognition information acquisition step of acquiring recognition information that is information for recognizing the viewer from the imaging information of the camera unit;
Viewer attribute acquisition step of acquiring viewer attribute information using the acquired recognition information;
A priority viewer determination step of determining a priority viewer using the viewer attribute information acquired in the viewer attribute acquisition step and a predetermined rule when there are a plurality of viewers to be recognized;
A program for running
The program according to claim 17, further causing the content providing apparatus to execute a viewing service control step of controlling a viewing service including content output using the priority viewer attribute determined in the priority viewer determining step.
A television receiver which is the content providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 16.
A storage medium storing the program according to claim 17 or 18.