Patent Application
20130101267
The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-094030, filed Apr. 20, 2011 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-094031, filed Apr. 20, 2011, are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic device, a playback device and a server device, especially concerning an electronic device recording movies on recording media, a playback device playing movies, and a server device transferring the recorded movies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, because of larger capacity of recording media, many users record images for long hours and watch long hours of images. In addition, because of improvement of recording technologies and communications technologies, many users record plural images and select an image to watch from the plural images. In other words, users have to search a desired position from the long hours of the image when watching the image, or have to search a desired image from the plural images and then search a desired position from the searched image. Chapter information is one of the information used for such a search.
When dividing chapters, an automatic division or a manual division can be applied as a dividing method.
In the automatic division, images are extracted periodically and a matching score is calculated between each extracted image and the previous or next image. If the matching score is low or almost mismatched, a scene is determined to be changed and a new chapter is allocated. However, when dividing chapters automatically, chapters cannot always be divided appropriately because the division of the chapters is determined only by elapsed time of a program or thumbnails of the extracted images.
On the other hand, in the manual division, chapters can be divided appropriately but users have to specify positions to divide the chapters. In other words, users have to watch the program once in order to find where to divide chapters.
Following technologies are known as related arts of the present invention.
Technologies for searching a desired scene from an image are disclosed in patent documents 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
According to the technology disclosed in patent document 1, by adding metadata associated with plural information to movie frame numbers, thumbnails of the associated scene are dynamically generated based on a searching of a user, and the user can select the desired scene by referring to the thumbnails.
According to the technology disclosed in patent document 2, a system to share the scene of a program introduced in message boards or the like between an introducer and readers can be provided.
According to the technology disclosed in patent documents 6 and 7, a characteristic parameter to show the characteristic of video/audio data and an accompaniment parameter to link to the video/audio data are acquired together with the video data, then a display space is generated with the characteristic parameter and the accompaniment parameter are taken as coordinate axes, and then each video data is displayed on the display space based on the parameters.
According to the technology for specifying a scene to extract disclosed in patent document 8, plural comment information related to each content are divided into plural words by using a morphological analysis, then an evaluation value of each word is calculated based on an accumulated appearance frequency of each word, and then the beginning time and the end time of the scene are extracted based on a distribution shape of the evaluation value concerning the word in the content.
According to the technology for properly displaying comments added on a movie content disclosed in patent document 9, evaluations or comments of each scene of the movie content added by users are displayed on a time-line as a marker indicating a frequency of comments and tendency of the content.
In addition, patent documents 3-5 are disclosed to improve the watching environment in connection with the internet that has grown remarkably recent years.
According to the technology disclosed in patent document 3, by dynamically accessing a server on a network when watching temporally services such as broadcastings or DVDs, flexible expressions can be obtained and interactivity can be achieved.
According to the technology disclosed in patent document 4, by monitoring the numbers of messages written on message board servers corresponding to a broadcast station or a broadcasting program, evaluations of other people about the currently broadcasted program can be provided to viewers.
According to the technology disclosed in patent document 5, by making a personal space for each user with a security key in a server connecting via the internet and instructing from a mobile device to a television tuner connected to the server, television programs can be recorded in the personal space for each user by using data compression technologies.
As explained above, the environment to divide chapters of recorded images are not enough for end users, and a technology to divide chapters effectively is desired.
The present invention provides an electric device, a playback device and server device which can allocate chapters effectively.
One aspect of the present invention provides an electronic device having a recording section that records a content extracted from broadcasting, comprising:
an acquiring section that acquires information related to the content from a network,
a classification section that analyzes and classifies the information, and
a chapter making section that specifies chapters to the content recorded in the recording section based on hourly fluctuation of a number of the information related to the content and associates the chapter with a classification of the information during the period of the chapter.
In the above composition, the recording section receives broadcasting such as television broadcasting and records a content included in the television broadcasting or the like in a recording media or the like. The acquiring section acquires information related to the content from a network during the content of the television broadcasting or the like is on the air. Specifically, the information acquired here can be contributions posted to a predefined contribution site and posted times of the contributions. Here, the predefined contribution site is corresponding with the content, and the contributions concerning the content such as a feedback of the content or a substance of the content are posted to the contribution site. The chapter making section specifies the chapter of the content by using this correspondence. In other words, the chapter making section specifies the chapter of the content recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information related to the content, and associates the chapter with a classification of the information during the period of the chapter. Specifically, the chapter making section calculates a number of contributions and an hourly fluctuation of the number of contributions in the contribution site, specifies the chapter of the content recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation, and associates a classification of the chapter by analyzing the contributions during the period of the chapter.
As described above, by specifying the chapter based on the contributions or the like posted by the actual viewers, the chapters can be specified based on realistic responses of the viewers, and the classification is associated based on the feedback of the actual viewers. Accordingly, the chapter can be specified and classified automatically from the view point of the viewer.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that associates the chapter with the classification based on the emotional expressions included in the information during the period of the chapter.
As described above, by associating the chapter with the classification based on the emotional expressions, the viewer can understand the feeling concerning the chapter from the classification when watching the content recorded in the recording section. Accordingly, a standard of judgment for selecting the chapter can be provided to the viewer when playing the content.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides a memory section that memorizes correspondence between a word, a numeric characteristic of the word and a classification of the word, wherein
the chapter making section specifies the classification of each information by referring to the correspondence between the word included in the information during the period of the chapter and the numeric characteristic calculated from the word, and associates the chapter with a major classification included in the information during the period of the chapter.
As described above, when associating the chapter with the classification based on the correspondence between the word and the classification of the word, by using the numeric characteristic calculated from the word, a time for searching to specify the classification of the word can be shortened.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that specifies a beginning of the chapter by going back a certain amount of time from the time when a significant change is occurred to the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information indicating an increase of the number of the information.
Various types of change can be assumed as the significant change occurred to the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information. In any case, the increase of the number of the information is a feature to indicate a climax of the contribution site and is linked to a climax of the content. Specifically, the significant change is a feature showing a peak position of the increase of the number of the information (e.g. contributions), a feature showing the beginning of the increase of the number of the information, a feature showing the end of the increase of the number of the information, for example. Note that the significant change is occurred a certain length of time after the scene causing the climax is on the air. In addition, although the significant change is related to the scene causing the climax, but the chapter should not be started from the climax time. The chapter should be specified including an introduction scene before the climax time.
Accordingly, by specifying a beginning of the chapter by going back a certain amount of time from the time when a significant change is occurred, a gap between the climax time of the contributions and climax time of the content can be eliminated or the introduction scene before the climax time can be included in the chapter.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that associates the chapter with a major classification included in the information during the period when a significant change is occurred to the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information indicating an increase of the number of the information.
As described above, by associating the chapter with a major classification included in the information (e.g. contributions) during the climax time, the viewers can understand what a climax is included in each chapter when watching the content recorded in the recording section. Accordingly, a standard of judgment for selecting the chapter can be provided to the viewer when playing the content.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides a specified contributor recording section that records specified contributors who contemporary associate same classification of the information as the classification of the information associated by the user of the electronic device in a site on the network related to the content while the broadcasting is watched, wherein
the chapter making section specifies the chapter to the content recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information.
In the above composition, the specified contributor recording section accesses a site such as the contribution site related to the content when the user posted the contribution to the site by executing a certain operation while the broadcasting is watched, then searches and records specified contributors who contemporarily posted the contributions of same classification as the information (e.g. contribution) posted by the user. The specified contributors are assumed to feel similar emotion as the user of the electronic device and to have similar preference as the user of the electronic device. Therefore, the chapter making section specifies the chapter to the content recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information. As described above, by adding a heavier weight to the information (e.g. contributions) of the specified contributors, the chapter is specified automatically based on the similar preference as the user of the electronic device.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that associates the chapter with the classification based on a major classification included in the information during the period of the chapter calculated by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information.
As described above, by adding a heavier weight to the information (e.g. contributions) of the specified contributors, the chapter is associated with the classification automatically based on the similar preference as the user of the electronic device.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides a weight making section that adds a heavier weight to the information associated by the specified contributors to cause the significant change to the number of the information calculated by adding the heavier weight, if the number of the information in the site does not indicate a significant increase although the number of the information associated by the specified contributors indicates a significant increase during a neighborhood period where the information is associated with the site related to the content while the content is watched.
As described above, the number of the information (e.g. contributions) of the specified contributors may indicate the climax (significant increase) even if the number of the information in the contribution site does not indicate the climax. In that case, the climax of the specified contributors who have similar preference as the user of the electronic device is assumed to be similar with the climax of the user. Therefore, by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information, the number of the information in the contribution site is adjusted to indicate the climax (significant increase) when the number of the information of the specified contributors indicates the climax (significant increase). As described above, by using the adjustment, the chapter is specified corresponding to the preference of the user of the electronic device.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that has a classification association method selection section that enables the selection of the following options:
to associate the chapter with the classification based on all the information related to the period of the chapter in the site, or
to associate the chapter with the classification based on the information of the specified contributors during the period of the chapter in the site.
As described above, the usability can be improved by enabling the selection to associate the chapter with the classification based on the information (e.g. contributions) of all contributions or based on the information of the specified contributors.
Another alternative aspect of the present invention provides the chapter making section that has a chapter making method selection section that enables the selection of the following options:
to specify the chapter to the contents recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding a same weight to all the information, or
to specify the chapter to the contents recorded in the recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information.
As described above, the usability can be improved by enabling the selection to specify the chapter based on the number of the information (e.g. contributions) calculated by adding a same weight to all contributors or based on the number of the information calculated by adding heavier weight to the specified contributors.
The usability can be improved by appropriately displaying the chapter recorded in the above explained electronic device when playing the content.
In other words, the usability can be improved by;
displaying the classification corresponding with each content on the screen to display plural contents recorded in the electronic device,
displaying the classification corresponding with each chapter on the screen to display the chapters of the content recorded in the electronic device, or
displaying the playback screen of the content recorded in the electronic device having a content display area, a contribution display area that displays the contributions during the content was broadcasted synchronizing with the content, and an emotional expressions display area that displays the emotional expressions of the contributions synchronizing with the content.
In addition, the present invention can be achieved as a server device that transfers the content of the broadcasting. In other words, by adopting the following compositions, same functions and effects as the above described electronic device can be achieved:
a server device that transfers the contents of broadcasting to a client device, comprising:
a recording section that records a content extracted from the broadcasting,
an acquiring section that acquires related information and related time from a site on the network related to the content during the content is on the air,
a classification section that analyzes and classifies the information,
a chapter making section that specifies chapters to the content recorded in the recording section based on hourly fluctuation of a number of the information in the site during the content is on the air and associates the chapter with a classification based on the information during the period of the chapter, and
a delivering section that delivers the content in which the chapter is specified to a client device in accordance with a request from the client device.
In addition, by adopting the following compositions, a server device having same effect as the above described electronic device can also be provided:
a specified contributor recording section that records specified contributors who contemporary associate same classification of the information as the classification of the information associated by the user of the electronic device in a site on the network related to the content while the content is playing by the client device, wherein
the chapter making section specifies the chapter to the content based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information.
In addition, the present invention can also be achieved as a server device that transfers chapter information concerning the content of the broadcasting. In other words, by adopting the following compositions, chapter information can be transferred from the server device and chapters can be adequately specified to the content when the client device plays the recorded content:
a server device that transfers chapter information concerning the content of the broadcasting comprising;
an acquiring section that acquires related information and related times from a site on the network related to the content,
a classification section that analyzes and classifies the information,
a chapter making section that specifies chapter information of the content based on an hourly fluctuation of a number of the information during the content is on the air and associates the chapter with a classification based on the information during the period of the chapter information, and
a delivering section that delivers the chapter information in accordance with a request from the client device.
In addition, by adopting the following compositions, a server device having same effect as the above described electronic device can also be provided:
a specified contributor recording section that records specified contributors who contemporary associate same classification of the information as the classification of the information associated by the user of the electronic device in a site on the network related to the content while the content is playing by the client device, wherein
the chapter making section specifies the chapter information based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of the information calculated by adding a heavier weight to the information of the specified contributors than other information.
In addition, the above described electronic devise can also be achieved in various ways, by being built into another device or by being executed together with other methods, for example. In addition, the present invention can also be achieved as a recording system and recording/playback system having the above described electronic device, a recording method having the process corresponding to the above described electronic device, a recording program having the function corresponding to the above described electronic device, or a computer readable recording media recording the recording program.
In the present invention, the association of the information is a concept including contribution. However, the method to associate the information is not limited to the contribution to the contribution site. The method includes any methods that associate a certain information with another information.
The site means any information sources which can be accessed via the network. The internet is one of the network, but the network is not limited to the internet. However, large-scale network is suitable in general. In general, the site can accept the contributions from the contributor if the site is opened on the network and allows general users to associate the information.
The recording is a concept including an image recording. However, the recording is not limited to the image recording. The recording includes a recording of sounds and image data itself, for example.
The broadcasting is a concept including a television broadcasting. However, the broadcasting is not limited to the television broadcasting. The broadcasting includes a transfer of movies via the network, for example.
As explained above, the present invention can provide the electronic device that can specify the chapter and classification in accordance with the viewer's preference.
In addition, the following effects can be assumed.
A standard of judgment for selecting the chapter can be provided to the viewer when playing the content.
The searching to specify the classification of the word can be efficiently executed.
The beginning of the chapter can be specified so that the gap between the climax time of the information and climax time of the content can be eliminated or the introduction scene before the climax time can be included in the chapter.
The electronic device that specifies the chapter automatically based on the similar preference as the user of the electronic device can be provided.
The electronic device that associates the chapter with the classification automatically based on the similar preference as the user of the electronic device can be provided.
The chapter can be specified corresponding to the preference of the user of the electronic device.
The usability can be improved.
In addition, the playback device can improve the usability when plays the content.
In addition, the server device that efficiently specifies the chapter and associates the classification which are adequate for the viewer can be provided.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained in the following order.
1. Configuration of the first embodiment:
2. Process of specifying chapters:
3. Playback of contents:
4. Configuration of the second embodiment:
5. Various examples:
The image recording section 21 has a broadcast receiving section 21a and a recording section 21b. The broadcast receiving section 21a is composed of a tuner, an image processing section that executes processes for extracting contents from the broadcasting signals, a control section that controls each section, for example. If the broadcasting is a digital terrestrial broadcasting, the processes executed in the image processing section should be demodulation, demultiplexing, decoding of MPEG files, and so on. The broadcast receiving section 21a receives the television broadcasting and extracts the contents of the broadcast station concerning a channel number selected by a remote controller (not illustrated) or the like. The recording section 21b is composed of a recording media, a control section that controls a recording of the recording media, for example. The recording section 21b records the broadcast signals extracted by the broadcast receiving section 21a in the recording media.
Note that the type of the recording media and a recording method are not limited in particular. As well as currently known recording media, any kinds of recording media created in the future can be adopted. For example, a hard disk using a magnetic disk, a solid state drive using a semiconductor memory, a recordable CD and DVD including a blue lay disk using an optical disk are currently known as the recording media. In addition, the recording media can be built into the STB 20, connected to the STB 20 externally, or connected to the STB 20 via a wired/wireless network.
In addition, the television broadcasting received by the broadcast receiving section 21a can be not only the broadcastings transmitted through airwaves but also broadcastings of cable television sent via exclusive cables or broadcastings sent via generalized communication cables. Furthermore, the broadcasting can be a public broadcasting that transfers the broadcasting signals uni-directionally from the broadcasting station or an on-demand broadcasting that transfers the broadcasting signals bi-directionally in accordance with a request of the user. Specifically, the broadcasting can be analog terrestrial broadcasting, digital terrestrial broadcasting, cable television broadcasting, satellite broadcasting such as broadcasting satellite and communication satellite broadcasting, or on-demand broadcasting, for example.
Note that each control section that is explained as a component of each section can be realized as a software by executing a certain program on a CPU or a RAM, or realized as a hardware by using an IC such as an ASIC. In addition, each section of the STB 20 can be controlled by a single subject, or controlled by plural subjects separately set for each section and connected so as to communicate with each other via a bus communication or the like. Furthermore, each section of the device can also be controlled by a single subject, or controlled by plural subjects separately set for each section and connected so as to communicate with each other via a bus communication or the like. Of course, the subject can be composed together with other components or composed separately.
The communication section 22 is composed of an interface and a control section, for example. The communication section 22 is connected to a certain network such as the internet, and establishes communication according to the protocol of the network. Note that the type of the interface is not limited in particular. Any wired/wireless interfaces capable of connecting and communicating through network can be adopted.
The chapter making section 23 is composed of a control section 23a and a recording media 23b. The control section 23a realizes functions corresponding to a contribution acquiring section M1, an emotional expressions extracting section M2, a statistic section M3 and a chapter making section M4 by executing certain control processes. Note that the contribution acquiring section M1 can acquire any information other than the contribution. In such a sense, the contribution acquiring section M1 composes an acquiring section in the present embodiment. The recording media 23b is composed of a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, for example. The recording media 23b preliminary records emotional expressions classification database D4, and records a contribution data management database D1, emotional expressions statistics information D2 and contribution amount statistics information D3 after the control processes are executed by the control section 23a. Note that the recording media 23b composes a memory section in the present embodiment. Various functions realized by the chapter making section 23 are explained below by referring to
During the process of specifying chapters, it is repeatedly judged whether the recording is executed or not (S10). If the recording is finished (S10: No), the process of specifying chapters is finished. If the recording is continued (S10: Yes), steps S20 to S100 are executed repeatedly.
When the recording is continued, the contribution acquiring section M1 accesses a predefined contribution site (S20), and acquires the contributions concerning the recording program from the contribution site (S30). The contribution site from which the contributions are acquired may be one site or plural sites. The contribution site means the site from which contributions posted by general public and posted times of the contributions can be output. For example, Twitter (registered trademark), a social networking service, or a bulletin board site is one of the contribution sites. In addition, the contribution site explained later as the second embodiment can output identification information that is given to each contribution in order to distinguish a contributor.
At first, the contribution acquiring section M1 acquires program identification information to access the predefined contribution site. The program identification information is identification information to specify the contributions concerning the recording program from plural contributions. For example, a program identifier given to each contribution such as a hash code, or a URL of a bulletin board established for each program is one of the program identification information.
The contribution acquiring section M1 specifies the program identification information by accessing a predefined URL, for example. Specifically, the contribution acquiring section M1 acquires the hash code to specify the recording program or the URL of a bulletin board as the program identification information from a site providing program identification information such as a web page prepared by the broadcasting station, a web page prepared by the manufacturer or vendor of the STB 20, a television program list made by a volunteer, or the like.
If the contribution site has multiple bulletin boards, names of the bulletin boards are acquired sequentially, and then the URLs of the bulletin boards which contain the recording program name in their name are acquired as the program identification information. In case the bulletin boards are categorized (e.g. television, radio), time to acquire the program identification information can be shortened by acquiring only the bulletin boards included in the category of the program. In the social networking service, the program identification information can also be acquired by using the same method as the bulletin board. Note that certain information required for accessing the contribution site such as an account name and a password is recorded in the recording media of the STB 20 by the manufacturer, the vendor or the user of the STB 20.
Of course, in case the program identification information is fixed or predetermined, the program identification information can be preliminarily recorded in the recording media and can be acquired from it. Furthermore, in case a preparation order of the program identification information is predetermined, the program identification information can be generated automatically according to the preparation order.
Then, the emotional expressions extracting section M2 extracts emotional expressions from the contributions acquired by the contribution acquiring section M1 (S40). In other words, the emotional expressions extracting section M2 judges whether or not the emotional expressions are included in the contributions. In the present embodiment, the emotional expressions classification database D4 is preliminary prepared. In the emotional expressions classification database D4, the words indicating the emotional expressions are registered. Therefore, the emotional expressions are extracted by referring to the database.
Note that the present embodiment is based on Japanese language, but it can also be applied to foreign languages by assigning double digit numbers to consonant sounds as the horizontal line and assigning single digit numbers to vowel sounds as the vertical line, and thus the sum of letter values can be calculated for the combination of consonant sounds and vowel sounds.
After the emotional expressions are extracted, the contributions are registered in the contribution data management database D1.
Then, the statistic section M3 calculates statistics of the emotional expressions during a certain period (S50). In other words, emotional expressions extracted from each contribution are counted with respect to each period, then a major emotional expression in the period is decided, and then the major emotional expression is recorded as the emotional expressions statistics information D2.
Then, the statistic section M3 detects an amount of change of the number of contributions (S60). In other words, the number of contributions is counted periodically and the rate of increasing number is detected being compared to the previous period.
If the climax time is detected as explained above, statistics of emotional expressions during a climax period are acquired from the emotional expressions statistics information D2 (S80), and contributions during the climax period are acquired from the contribution data management database D1 (S90). If the climax time is detected as explained in
Then, the chapter making section M4 allocates a chapter to the currently recording program based on the climax time (S100). The time to start the chapter is decided based on the standard explained in
By referring to the contribution data management database D1 corresponding to the period of the chapter specified as explained above, the climax time of the chapter can be specified, and the chapter can be associated with the contributions and the emotional expressions during the period of the chapter. Of course, the contributions and the emotional expressions corresponding to the climax time of the chapter can be extracted, associated and recorded.
In the present embodiment as explained above, the STB 20 for recording the contents of television broadcasting can efficiently allocate chapters by having the following components:
the image recording section 21 that receives the television broadcasting and records contents such as videos and sounds of the program extracted from the received television broadcasting in the recording media,
the communication section 22 that communicates with the contribution sites related to the program received by the image recording section 21 and recorded in the recording media, and
the chapter making section 23 that acquires the contributions and posted times of the contributions via the communication section 22, specifies chapters to the contents recorded in the image recording section 21 based on an hourly fluctuation of the contributions, and associates the chapter with the emotional expressions included in the contributions during the period of the chapter.
By referring to
In the playback of the contents shown in
In the content selection screen shown in
After the content is selected, a chapter selection screen is displayed (S210).
The users can search the desired chapter by using a remote controller (not illustrated) or the like.
After the chapter is selected, the content starts playing (S220).
When extracting the contributions or emotional expressions from the contribution data management database D1 while the content is played, the time is converted as shown in
By playing the contents as explained above, the content selection screen, the chapter selection screen, and the contents playback screen can be displayed based on the emotional expressions helping the user to select the desired screen. Furthermore, in the contents playback screen, contributions and emotional expressions synchronized with the playback position can be stimulatory displayed helping the user to increase a sense of presence.
In the first embodiment described above, in case the preference of the user is different from that of a population (contributors of the contribution site), chapters may be specified or emotional expressions may be associated without matching the user' preference. To avoid the above problem, the judgment of the climax time and the decision of emotional expressions associated with the chapter are corrected to match the user's preference. Specifically, by adding a weight to the contributions posted by the contributors who have similar preference with the user, the number of the contributions is increased corresponding to the user's preference and emotional expressions corresponding to the user's preference become major at the climax time.
The weight making section 524 is composed of a control section 524a and a recording media 524b. The control section 524a realizes each function of the weight making section 524 by executing certain control processes. The control section 524a and the recording media 524b can be shared with the control section and the recording media of the chapter making section 523. The recording media 524b preliminary records an emotional expressions classification database D54, and records a contribution data management database D51, emotional expressions statistics information D52, contribution amount statistics information D53, and a user information database D55 after the control processes are executed by the control section 524a in same procedure as the above explained first embodiment. The functions realized by the weight making section 524 are explained below by referring to the
4-1. Process of Making a Weight:
In the steps S310 to S350, firstly the contribution of the user is acquired and the emotional expressions are extracted from the acquired contribution (S310). In other words, the weight making section 524 judges whether or not the contribution includes any elements indicating the emotional expressions. More specifically, the emotional expressions are extracted by referring to the emotional expressions classification database D54 that is similar to the emotional expressions classification database D4 explained in the first embodiment. If the contribution includes the emotional expressions (S320: Yes), the weight is changed by using a process of calculating the weight (S330). The process of calculating the weight is explained later.
If the process of calculating the weight is finished or the contribution doesn't include the emotional expressions (S320: No), the contribution of the user is recorded (S340). More specifically, an identifier is added to the contribution to indicate the contribution is posted by the user, and then the contribution is recorded in the contribution data management database D51. After the process of making a weight is finished as explained above, the contribution is posted to the contribution site (S350). Of course, a timing to post to the contribution site can be changed if needed.
4-2. Process of Calculating the Weight:
Then, the contributions matching with a “classification (user's preference)” of the emotional expressions included in the contribution of the user are acquired (S410). In other words, the emotional expressions classified in the same classification as the emotional expressions extracted in the step S310 are extracted from the contributions acquired in the step S400. The identifiers of the contributors are acquired, and then the identifiers are checked by referring to the user information database D55 (S420). In the identifiers of the contributors acquired in the step S420, if there are any identifiers which are not registered in the user information database D55, the identifiers are registered in the in the user information database D55 (S430). Note that the default value of the weight added to the newly registered user may be a certain default value such as “1”, or a certain additional value can be added to the default value according to the number of correspondences with the user's preference. The recording media 524b that records user information database D55 composes a specified contributor recording section in the present embodiment.
In addition, the amount of change of the number of contributions before and after the posting of the user is acquired (S440). The amount of change of the number of the contributions can be calculated by referring to the contribution amount statistics information D53 specified in the step S400. More specifically, the amount of the change can be calculated by using the same method as the step S60 in the first embodiment described above.
In the neighborhood period of the contribution of the user, if the amount of change is increased exceeding a predefined rate compared to the previous period (S450: Yes), the posted time of the user is judged to match the climax time of the contribution site and then go to a process of adding a weight for associating the emotional expressions (S460). In other words, because the preference of the user matches that of the major contributors in the contribution site, there is no need to correct the climax time judged based on all the number of the contributions. On the other hand, if the amount of change is not increased exceeding a predefined rate compared to the previous period (S450: No), the posted time of the user is judged without matching the climax time of the contribution site, and then go to a process of adding a weight for judging the climax time (S470). Unless the judgment of the climax time is corrected by using the weight, the chapter may be specified without matching the user's preference.
4-3. Process of Adding a Weight for Associating the Emotional Expressions:
Then, a number of a major emotional expression “Esmax” that is major in the emotional expressions statistics information of the specified contributors is compared to a number of major emotional expressions “Eamax” that is major in the emotional expressions statistics information of all contributors (S530). If the Esmax is larger than the Eamax (S530: No), the process in
On the other hand, if the Esmax is smaller than the Eamax (S530: Yes), the Esmax should be corrected to exceed the Eamax by adding a heavier weight to the specified contributors because the classification of the emotional expressions that is major in the specified contributors is not corresponding to that of all the contributors. The weight for associating the emotional expressions for the specified contributors is increased in a certain amount (S540) and the judgment of the step S530 is repeated. Note that the numbers of the major emotional expressions Esmax and Eamax are calculated by adding the weight specified in the user information database D55 to the contributions of the specified contributors who are registered when the calculation is executed. By adjusting the weight as explained above, the classification of the emotional expressions associated to the content recorded when the contribution is posted by the user (when the climax time) matches the user's preference.
4-4. Process of Adding a Weight for Judging the Climax Time:
If the posted time of the contribution of the user corresponds with the climax period for the specified contributors, the number of contributions for the specified contributors is corrected to increase the weight of the specified contributors when calculating the number of the contributions for judging the climax time (S630-S650). In other words, the weight for specified contributors for judging the climax time registered in the user information database D55 is increased in a certain amount (S630), then the number of contributions of all contributors during the neighborhood period is calculated by using the corrected weight (S640), and then the correspondence between the climax time of the contributions and the neighborhood period is judged (S650). If the climax time of the contributions is not corresponding with the neighborhood period (S650: No), the correction is repeated until the climax time for the specified contributors corresponds with the neighborhood period (S630 to S650). If the climax time of the contributions is corresponding with the neighborhood period (S650: Yes), the process is finished because the correction is completed. As explained above, by adjusting the weight for judging the climax time for the specified contributors, the climax time judged by the number of all the contributions can be corrected to match the user's preference.
4-5. Process of Specifying Chapters Concerning the Second Embodiment:
When the weights of the specified contributors are specified as explained above, the process of specifying chapters is basically same as the above described first embodiment but differs in the following points.
At first, when the emotional expressions statistic information is calculated in the step S50, the contributor of each contribution is identified by the identifier, and then the number of contributions is calculated with the weight is added to the contributions of the specified contributors. For example, if the contributor who has the weight of “1.5” for associating the emotional expressions in the category of the recording program posted contributions 5 times during a certain period, the number of contributions of the contributor is corrected as “7.5” times. Therefore, the classification of the contributors who have similar preference with the user is strongly reflected to the classification and is likely to be judged as major in the period.
In addition, when detecting the amount of change of the number of contributions to judge the climax time in the step S60, the number of contributions is calculated with the weight is added to the contributions of the specified contributors. For example, if the contributor who has the weight of “1.8” for judging the climax time in the category of the recording program posted contributions 4 times during a certain period, the number of contributions of the contributor is corrected as “7.2” times. Therefore, the climax time of the contributors who have similar preference with the user is likely to become the climax time in all the contributions.
In addition, the time to allocate the chapter in the steps S80 to S100 is decided based on the climax time corrected by the weight for judging the climax time. Furthermore, the classification of the emotional expressions is associated based on the climax time corrected by the weight for associating the emotional expressions. Therefore, the chapter is specified corresponding with the user's preference, and the chapter is associated with the classification of the emotional expressions corresponding with the user's preference.
In addition, when calculating the number of the contributions in order to judge the climax time, it is possible to let the user select one of the following option: to calculate the number by adding the weight for judging the climax time to the specified contributors as explained above or to calculate the number without adding the weight for judging the climax time to the specified contributors. For example, it can be selectable by preparing an item to select the method for specifying chapters on a menu screen that is displayed when operating a certain key of a remote controller (not illustrated). The item to select the method of specifying chapters composes a chapter making method selection section in the present embodiment. Similarly, as for the classification associated with each chapter, when calculating the number of the contributions in order to decide a major classification of the contributions, it is possible to let the user select one of the following option: to calculate the number by adding the weight for associating the emotional expressions to the specified contributors as explained above or to calculate the number without adding the weight for associating the emotional expressions to the specified contributors. It can also be selectable by preparing an item to select the method for associating the chapter with the classification on the menu screen that is displayed when operating a certain key of a remote controller (not illustrated). The item to select the method for associating the chapter with the classification composes a classification association method selection section in the present embodiment.
As explained above, the second embodiment is composed of:
a playback section that plays contents extracted from broadcasting signals of the television broadcasting,
the STB 520 having the image recording section 521 that records the contents extracted from the television broadcasting in a recording media,
the user information database D55 that records the specified contributors who contemporarily posted the contributions of same classification as the contribution posted from the STB 520 to contribution site related to the contents while the contents are played by the playback section, and
the chapter making section 523 that specifies the chapter to the contents recorded in the image recording section based on the hourly fluctuation of the number of contributions calculated by adding a heavier weight to the contributions of the specified contributors and specifies the classification of the chapter based on the contributions during the period of the chapter.
In other words, by increasing the weight to the specified contributors who has similar preference with the user of the STB 520 than the other contributors when calculating the number of the contributions, the chapters specified based on an hourly fluctuation of the contributions are likely to be reflected by the user's preference.
The processes of recording contents and specifying chapters explained above can also be executed on a server device that is connected to the network, and the contents and the chapter information can be transferred in accordance with a request from a client device.
The client device 220 can request the server device 210 to transfer the contents anytime. If the request is received, the server device 210 specifies thumbnails, contribution data, emotional expressions, and other information, and then transfers them to the client device 220. On the client device 220, the user can request the content and the chapter to the server device 210 by operating an operating section to select the content and the chapter. The server device 210 transfers the requested content together with the contributions posted to the contribution server 240 when the content is broadcasted and the emotional expressions specified by the statistics of the contributions. The client device 220 plays the content together with its contributions and emotional expressions. As explained above, the present invention can be achieved as the server device.
The server device 210 may be the device only to specify chapters. In that case, the client device records the contents, and receives the data of the chapters from the server device when needed. By dividing the function of the recording contents with the function of specifying chapters as explained above, loads of the client device and the contribution server can be reduced. In case the server device only specifies the chapter, the acquiring of the contributions continues from the beginning to the end of the broadcasting time. The statistics and the specifying of the chapter can be executed when the contributions are acquired or can be executed separately later.
When transferring the data of chapters from the server device to the client device, whether to transfer the chapters specified on the server or to transfer the chapters preliminary specified in the contents may be decided by the user of the client device. The data of chapters specified on the server means the chapters specified by the same process as the embodiment explained above. On the other hand, the data of chapters preliminary specified means the chapters specified in the provider of the content such as the broadcast station. By using the variation example 3, the usability can be improved.
In the embodiment described above, the emotional expressions are judged by referring to the letters included in the contributions, but the emotional expressions can also be judged by referring to face marks in case the face marks are available in the contribution sites. In the variation example 4, the data indicating the correspondence between the face marks and the letter codes of emotional expressions is recorded as the emotional expressions classification database explained in the embodiment above.
Note that, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Although it is to those skilled in the art, the following are disclosed as the one embodiment of this invention.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the sprit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-094030 | Apr 2011 | JP | national |
| 2011-094031 | Apr 2011 | JP | national |
