HK1147370B - Contents watching device and contents recommending method - Google Patents

Description

Content viewing device and content recommendation method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a content viewing device capable of automatically recommending contents conforming to user preferences or automatically making a reservation recording of contents conforming to user preferences.

Background

In recent years, there has been a content viewing apparatus that recommends a content that matches the preference of a user (viewer, listener) using information such as EPG (electronic program information) provided by a television broadcasting station or a radio broadcasting station.

For example, a content viewing apparatus is generally known: a preference value proportional to the number of viewings is calculated for each keyword (title, category, performer, etc.) of content attributes included in EPG information, and the total of preference values of keywords included in the content is calculated as the fitness of the content and the user's preference, so that the content is recommended in descending order of fitness.

Patent document 1 discloses a program recommendation device that generates user preference information based on program preference information of a program whose viewing frequency exceeds a threshold value, and performs reservation setting for automatic recording of the program whose viewing frequency exceeds the threshold value.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2004-206679

Disclosure of Invention

However, in these conventional apparatuses, since the user preference degree of the content is calculated simply from the viewing frequency, the user preference degree of a program with a low viewing frequency but a high appearance frequency is higher than that of a program with a low appearance frequency but a high viewing frequency.

For example, even when the user is interested in fighting games broadcast only a few times per year, soccer games played by japan representatives, and the like, the evaluation of the result is often lower than that of a general program broadcast every week but with less interest if the calculation is appropriate for the user's preference.

In addition, as in the case of filtering programs by the accumulation method described in patent document 1 and performing automatic recording, programs that are frequently viewed but broadcast frequently are recorded preferentially, and as a result, programs that are rarely appeared but are always viewed are missed.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention proposes a content viewing apparatus having a function of calculating a preference value obtained by normalizing a viewing index indicating the number of viewing times of a content or the like by an appearance index indicating the number of viewing opportunities of the content or the like for each content attribute, acquiring a content attribute associated with the content to be a viewing recommendation target, and calculating viewing recommendation information using the preference value of the content attribute.

By utilizing the content viewing device, the viewing recommendation information of the content is calculated based on the preference value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index, so that the content which has higher viewing probability and better accords with the preference of the user can be recommended. In this way, for example, when a user wants to view a content even if the number of broadcasts is small, the user can be recommended to view the content as a content that meets the user's preference.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a difference between a conventional calculation method of a content attribute and a user preference appropriate for the content attribute and a calculation method of a content viewing device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of data of a content attribute group of a content viewed by the content viewing device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the preference value data held in the preference value holding unit of the content viewing apparatus according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a process flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a content viewing device according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a content viewing device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 4.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to embodiment 4.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 4.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 5.

Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a content viewing device according to embodiment 5.

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 5.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 6.

Fig. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a table for changing the degree of weighting according to the viewing time period when the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 6 calculates the preference value.

Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a content viewing device according to embodiment 6.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 6.

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a content viewing device according to embodiment 7.

Fig. 24 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to embodiment 7.

Fig. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing device according to embodiment 7.

Description of the reference symbols

0100 content receiving device

0101 audience index acquisition unit

0102 occurrence index acquisition unit

0103 preference value calculation section

0104 preference value holding part

0105 viewing recommendation information calculation unit

Detailed Description

Next, examples of the present invention will be described. The embodiments are described below in relation to the claims. Example 1 relates primarily to claim 1, claim 8, etc., example 2 relates primarily to claim 2, etc., example 3 relates primarily to claim 3, etc., example 4 relates primarily to claim 4, etc., example 5 relates primarily to claim 5, etc., example 6 relates primarily to claim 6, etc., example 7 relates primarily to claim 7, etc. The present invention is not limited to these examples, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Example 1

< summary >

A content viewer apparatus determines a user's preference level for each content attribute. In particular, a content whose number of contents broadcast is small and whose number of viewing times is not large can be determined as close as possible to the actual preference of the user. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a difference between a conventional calculation method in which the content attribute and the user preference are appropriate and a calculation method according to the present invention. For example, in the conventional example of fig. 1(a), since the professional boxing tournament which the user highly likes has been shown only twice in the past year, the calculated preference is lower than that of the morning drama in which the user adjusts the channel for time confirmation at the early stage. This is because the morning drama totaled 106 times in the past year. In the figure, the preference of the morning drama is calculated to be 1.06, and the preference of the professional boxing tournament is calculated to be 0.02. In the present invention shown in fig. 1(b), the professional boxing tournament has no overlook in the past two times in the year, and the audience rating (favorite value) is 100%. Since the morning drama frequently conflicts with news programs of other channels, 106 shows are watched out of 200 shows, and thus the rating (favorite value) is only 53%. In the present invention, since 100% is greater than 53%, the user preference for calculating the boxing tournament is high. In the figure, the preference of the morning drama is calculated to be 0.53, and the preference of the professional boxing tournament is calculated to be 1.00.

< Structure >

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In fig. 2, "content viewing apparatus" 0200 in the present embodiment includes an "viewing index acquisition unit" 0201, an "appearance index acquisition unit" 0202, an "taste value calculation unit" 0203, a "taste value holding unit" 0204, and an "viewing recommendation information calculation unit" 0205. The present invention may be implemented not only as an apparatus but also as a method. (the same applies throughout this specification.)

The "audience index acquisition unit" is configured to acquire an audience index indicating the number of times content is viewed or the like. The "viewing index" is an index indicating the degree of willingness of the user to view the content. In determining the rating index, information such as the number of times of recording, the date and time when the content was viewed, or the playback time of the content may be used in addition to the number of times of viewing the content. As a method of determining the rating index, for example, it is conceivable that a rating index of 0.5 is given to a content when a certain viewing time has elapsed since the content was viewed, and a rating index of 1.0 is given to the content until the content is viewed last. For content that is more than two hours old, it is also contemplated to have a rating index of 1.5 for the content.

The "appearance index acquisition unit" is configured to acquire an appearance index indicating the number of viewing opportunities of the content and the like. "number of viewing opportunities" means the number of times the user can have an opportunity to view the content. For example, a content that is normally broadcast by television indicates the number of times the content is broadcast; contents distributed On VOD (Video On Demand) indicate the number of days displayed On the viewing selection screen as viewable contents. In addition, when there is a viewing restriction on a certain content, it can be said that there is no opportunity for a user who is not allowed to view the content. In the case of specifying the "appearance index", information such as the rating of the content at the time of broadcasting, the broadcasting time of the content, the presence or absence of the viewing limit, and the number of past viewing or appearance may be used in addition to the number of viewing opportunities using the content. For example, it is also conceivable to take an appearance index of 1.0 when a content is allowed to be broadcast only once, and take an appearance index of 0.50 when the same content has been viewed in the past because the motivation for the user to view the program is considered to be reduced. In the case of broadcasting contents in a time zone with a low overall rating such as midnight, the chance of viewing by a user is considered to be small, and therefore, the appearance index of 0.25 may be used. Further, according to a method of determining the number of viewing opportunities, etc., even if the appearance index is not added, it is possible to consider that a situation where the viewing index is added together with viewing or the like occurs. In this case, the viewing index and the appearance index may be added to each other by the same value.

In addition, according to a method of determining the number of viewing opportunities, etc., even if the appearance index is not added, a situation in which the viewing index is added in addition to the viewing is considered. In this case, the appearance index may be added to the audience index and the same value may be added to the appearance index.

The "taste value calculation unit" is configured to calculate a taste value obtained by normalizing the audience rating by the appearance index for each content attribute. Fig. 3 is an example of data showing a content attribute group of content viewed by a content viewing device. In this example, the content attribute includes information such as a content ID, performers, genre, location, producer, date and time of production, sponsor, and language. Specifically, for a content whose < content ID > is 1a23B2007XA, information whose < title > is world news a, "performer" is shantian taro, "category" is news is described as content attribute information.

Returning to fig. 2, the "preference value holding unit" is configured to hold the calculated preference value in association with the content attribute. Fig. 4 shows an example of the preference value data held in the preference value holding unit of the content viewing/listening device. In this example, the "world news a" included in the < title > attribute has a preference value of 0.575, and the "shantian taro" included in the < performer > attribute has a preference value of 0.350. The preference value holding unit may hold, as preference value information, values of the audience rating index and the appearance index used when calculating the preference value, in addition to the preference values. For example, the "world news" preference value information included in the < title > attribute may be configured to hold the viewing index 1150 and the appearance index 2000 in addition to the preference value of 0.575.

Returning to fig. 2, the "viewing recommendation information calculation unit" is configured to acquire a content attribute associated with a content to be a viewing recommendation target, acquire the taste value held in the taste value holding unit using the content attribute as a keyword, and calculate viewing recommendation information using the acquired taste value. The "viewing recommendation" refers to extracting a content from a content group based on a certain condition and performing some action related to viewing the content to a user. For example, a viewing list of contents that match the user's preference may be displayed on a screen or automatically recorded, or the power of a content viewing device may be automatically turned on when the contents are shown.

In the description of the example of fig. 3, the "content attribute associated with the content" is a content attribute included in the XML data of the content. The phrase "acquiring the taste value held in the taste value holding unit using the content attribute as a keyword" means that the taste value 0.575 for "world news a" belonging to < title >, the taste value 0.350 for "shantian taro" belonging to < performer >, the taste value 0.286 for "news" belonging to < category > and the like are acquired from the taste value information shown in fig. 4. Here, in a case where the preference value information of all the content attributes is not necessarily held in the preference value holding section or the like, a part of the preference values of the content attributes associated with the content may be acquired.

Here, an example of a method of calculating viewing recommendation information using the preference value is shown. For example, a method of calculating a preference value sum of content attributes of each content based on preference value information may be considered. When the preference value of the content attribute is equal to or greater than a certain value, the preference value may be multiplied by a constant number and added to the sum. In the case where the preference value holding unit holds the audience rating index and the appearance index as preference value information, the preference value holding unit may be configured not to perform the weighting even if the preference value is equal to or more than a certain value when the appearance index is equal to or less than the reference value. A configuration that can be set by the user, such as a constant value or a constant-time value, is also conceivable.

< detailed construction >

Next, the operation of each hardware component of the content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the viewing index acquisition section, the appearance index acquisition section, the taste value calculation section, and the viewing recommendation information calculation section include "CPU" 0501 and "main memory" 0502. The preference value holding unit includes "storage device (or storage medium)" (0503). The television receiver further includes a "reception tuner" 0504 for receiving a video signal of a content broadcast and information related to a content attribute, a "signal processing circuit" 0505 for converting the video signal of the content broadcast into information viewable by a content viewing device, a "driver circuit" 0506 for performing electronic control and driving of a display screen, and a "display" 0507 for displaying a screen display or a viewing recommendation list of a content such as broadcast or playback. These circuits and devices are connected to each other via a data communication path of the "system bus" 0508, and perform transmission, reception, and processing of information. The video signal from the reception tuner is also transmitted to the display through a "video signal line" 0509.

The storage device stores various programs and the like executed by the CPU. In addition, the main memory provides a work area as an operation area when the CPU executes a program. A plurality of memory addresses are allocated to the main memory and the memory device, respectively, and programs executed by the CPU can mutually perform data exchange and processing by determining and accessing the memory addresses. In the following description, a configuration is adopted in which a program is developed in advance in a work area of a main memory and is held for a long time, but a configuration may be adopted in which the program is called from a storage device if necessary.

The appearance index acquiring program extracts a content attribute associated with a content when it is determined that the content appears based on electronic program information such as an EPG held in a storage device, for example. Then, the current appearance index information of each content attribute is acquired from the storage device, the numerical data is stored in a predetermined area of the memory, and the appearance index is added, thereby acquiring a new appearance index. The audience rating program judges that an audience is viewed when a video signal of a content is output from a driver circuit to a display, and extracts a content attribute associated with the content. Then, the current viewing index information of each content attribute is acquired from the storage device, the numerical data is stored in a predetermined area of the memory, and the viewing index is added to acquire a new viewing index.

Then, when it is judged that the viewing index or the appearance index of the content attribute held in the storage device has been updated, the preference value calculation program acquires the viewing index and the appearance index of the content attribute from the storage device and stores the numerical data in a predetermined area of the memory. Then, an arithmetic process is performed to normalize the audience rating by the appearance index, and a new taste value is calculated.

When it is determined from the electronic program information such as EPG held in the storage device that there is a content whose viewing recommendation information is to be calculated, the viewing recommendation information calculation program acquires a preference value of a content attribute associated with the content from a preference value holding unit of the storage device, stores the numerical data in a predetermined area of a memory, and performs addition processing of the preference value for each content.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The process flow of this figure includes the following steps. First, in step S0601, it is determined whether or not the content has a chance to be viewed. If it is determined that there is a chance to view the program, the process proceeds to step S0602. If it is determined that there is no chance of viewing, the process proceeds to step S0603. This processing is mainly performed by the appearance index acquisition section. In step S0602, the preference value is calculated based on the appearance index updated by the appearance index acquisition section, thereby updating the preference value. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. In step S0603, it is determined whether or not content viewing is performed. When it is determined that the viewing is performed, the process proceeds to step S0604. If it is determined that no viewing is performed, the process proceeds to step S0605. This processing is mainly executed by the audience rating acquisition unit. In step S0604, the preference value is calculated based on the viewing index updated by the viewing index acquisition unit, and the preference value is updated. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. In S0605, it is determined whether or not there is content for which viewing recommendation information is to be calculated. If it is determined that there is a case, the process proceeds to step S0606. If it is determined to be absent, the process returns to step S0601. In step S0606, viewing recommendation information is calculated for each content based on the content attribute information and the preference value. This processing is mainly executed by the viewing recommendation information calculation unit.

The above-described processing may be executed by a program for causing a computer to execute, or the program may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. (the same applies throughout this specification.)

< effects >

With the content viewing device of the present embodiment, the viewing recommendation information of the content is calculated based on the preference value of each content attribute after normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index, so that the content having a higher viewing probability and better conforming to the preference of the user can be recommended. In this way, for example, when the user wants to view a content even if the number of times of playback is small, the user can be recommended to view the content as a content that meets the user's preference.

Example 2

< summary >

The content recommendation apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as the apparatus of embodiment 1, but is different in that it has a list display unit that displays a list of viewable contents, and the number of times of display of a content ID in the list display unit is set as the number of times of viewing opportunities.

< Structure >

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewing device" 0700 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 0701, an "appearance index acquisition section" 0702, a "taste value calculation section" 0703, a "taste value holding section" 0704, an "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 0705, and a list display section 0706, and the "appearance index acquisition section" has a "list display number acquisition unit" 0707.

The "list display unit" is configured to display a list of the viewable contents. By "viewable content," what is meant is content that a user can view in a content viewing device. For example, there may be considered content stored as data inside a content viewing apparatus, content acquired from an electronic device to which the content viewing apparatus is connected, content receivable through an antenna or the like, content on a network acquired through an electric communication line, and the like. However, even contents corresponding to these contents may be configured to include contents that are not limited to viewing or contents that need to be separately registered for viewing. The "list display count acquisition means" is for acquiring a list display count, which is the count of the number of times the content ID list is displayed on the list display section, as the number of viewing opportunities. Here, the number of times of list display may be obtained by extracting for each content ID, but may also be obtained by extracting for each other content attribute. For example, when the same content attribute (for example, a performer or genre) is included in a plurality of contents having different content IDs, the total of the number of times of list display of the plurality of contents including the content attribute may be calculated, and the number of times of list display as the content attribute may be acquired. The number of times of list display may be added to only the content IDs displayed on the display screen in a viewable state among the content IDs. For example, when all the content IDs cannot be displayed on the screen at once because there are many content IDs included in the list, a configuration may also be adopted in which the list display count is added only to the content IDs that the user sees through screen operation. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which the number of times of display of the content title is used as the number of times of display of the list instead of the number of times of display of the content ID. When the user views a content that is not displayed in a list, a configuration may be considered in which the viewing index of the content attribute associated with the content is added to the appearance index.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the display of the apparatus of the present embodiment has a function as a list display section, and has a list display number acquisition program as one of appearance index acquisition programs. The list display count acquisition program extracts a content attribute associated with a content, for example, when it is determined that the driver circuit outputs a video signal of the content to the display, based on electronic program information such as an EPG stored as a content list in the storage device. Then, information on the number of times of current list display for each content attribute is acquired from the storage device, the numerical data is stored in a predetermined area of the memory, and the number of times of list display is added and stored in the storage device as a new appearance index. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S0901, it is determined whether or not the content is displayed on the list display unit as a content that can be viewed. If it is determined that the display is present, the process proceeds to step S0902. If it is determined that the process is not shown, the process proceeds to step S0903. This processing is mainly performed by the appearance index acquisition section. In step S0902, the preference value is calculated based on the appearance index updated by the appearance index acquiring unit, and the preference value is updated. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. Since the other processing flow is the same as that in the content viewing device of embodiment 1, the description thereof will be omitted.

< effects >

In the content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment, for a content for which the user does not have a viewing opportunity because the list display portion does not display the content ID, it is not necessary to add the appearance indexes of the content attributes unnecessarily, and a more realistic appearance index can be obtained. According to the content viewing device of the embodiment, the viewing recommendation information of the content can be calculated based on the preference value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by using the appearance index, so that the content which has higher viewing probability and better accords with the preference of the user can be recommended.

Example 3

The content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as the apparatus of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, except that the appearance index acquisition section has a recommendation calculation count acquisition means for acquiring a recommendation calculation count, which is the count of the content viewing recommendation information calculated by the viewing recommendation information calculation section, as the number of viewing opportunities.

< Structure >

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewing apparatus" 1000 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 1001, an "appearance index acquisition section" 1002, a "taste value calculation section" 1003, a "taste value holding section" 1004, and a "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 1005, and the "appearance index acquisition section" has a "recommendation calculation number acquisition means" 1006.

The "recommendation calculation number acquisition means" is configured to acquire, as the viewing opportunity number, a recommendation calculation number that is the number of times the viewing recommendation information calculation unit calculates the content viewing recommendation information of the content. Here, the number of recommended computations may be obtained by extracting each content ID, but may also be obtained by extracting each other content attribute. For example, when a plurality of contents having different content IDs include the same content attribute (for example, a performer or genre), the total of the number of recommendation calculations for the plurality of contents including the content attribute may be calculated, and the number of recommendation calculations for the content attribute may be acquired. When the user views a content for which the recommendation calculation has not been performed, a configuration may be considered in which the viewing index of the content attribute associated with the content is added to the appearance index. Further, when the user instructs to calculate the content viewing recommendation information, the user may acquire the information as the number of viewing opportunities in consideration of the opportunity of generating new viewing content due to the information updated by the instruction. When the recommendation calculation is performed again for the same content, the content is displayed again as viewing recommendation information on a display or the like, and therefore, the number of viewing opportunities can be acquired as a new number of viewing opportunities for the recommendation calculation again. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the apparatus of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, the description thereof is omitted.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the apparatus of the present embodiment has a recommended operation number acquisition program as one of the appearance index acquisition programs. When it is determined that the CPU performs arithmetic processing for calculating viewing recommendation information for a content, the recommendation arithmetic number acquisition program extracts a content attribute associated with the content based on electronic program information such as EPG stored in the storage device. Then, information on the current recommended operation frequency of each content attribute is acquired from the storage device, the numerical data is stored in a predetermined area of the memory, the value of the recommended operation frequency is added, and the added value is stored in the storage device as a new appearance index. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S1201, it is determined whether or not there is content for which viewing recommendation information is to be calculated. If it is determined that there is any case, the process proceeds to step S1202. If it is determined to be none, the process proceeds to step S1204. In step S1202, viewing recommendation information is calculated for each content based on the content attribute information and the preference value. This processing is mainly executed by the viewing recommendation information calculation unit. In step S1203, the preference value is calculated based on the appearance index updated by the appearance index acquisition section, thereby updating the preference value. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. In step S1204, it is determined whether or not content viewing has been performed. If it is determined that the viewing is performed here, the process proceeds to step S1205. If it is determined that the viewing is not performed, the process is terminated. This processing is mainly executed by the audience rating acquisition unit. In step S1205, the preference value is calculated based on the viewing index updated by the viewing index acquisition unit, and the preference value is updated. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section.

< effects >

With the content viewing device of the present embodiment, for the content that is not determined to be in accordance with the preference of the user, unnecessary addition of the appearance index of the content attribute included in the content is not required, so that a more realistic appearance index can be obtained, and the recommendation information of the content is calculated based on the preference value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by using the appearance index, so that the content that is higher in the probability of viewing by the user and in accordance with the preference of the user can be recommended.

Example 4

The content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as any one of embodiments 1 to 3, except that it has a user operation history acquisition section that acquires a user operation history relating to viewing, and the viewing index acquisition section has a viewing index calculation section that calculates a viewing index based on the acquired user operation history.

< Structure >

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewing apparatus" 1300 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 1301, an "appearance index acquisition section" 1302, a "taste value calculation section" 1303, a "taste value holding section" 1304, a "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 1305, and a "user operation history acquisition section" 1306, and the "viewing index acquisition section" has "viewing index calculation means" 1307.

The "user operation history acquisition unit" is configured to acquire a user operation history related to viewing. Here, the "viewing-related user operation history" includes information such as a selection operation or a recording operation for viewing content, a date and time when the operation was performed, and viewing time. The audience index calculation unit is used for calculating the audience index according to the acquired user operation history. As the audience rating calculation means, for example, the following means may be considered: that is, when a certain viewing time (for example, 10 minutes) has elapsed since the selection operation for viewing the content, since it is judged that the user has a desire to continue viewing the content, the viewing index is calculated as 0.5, and when the user has viewed the content until the end of the content, the viewing index is calculated as 1.0. The following units may also be considered: that is, when the selection operation for viewing the same content is performed again after a certain period of time has elapsed (for example, after one week), since it is judged that the user's will to view the content is strong, the audience rating index of 1.5 is calculated by weighting. In addition, there may be a unit that calculates the video recording operation as the audience index of 0.5. Since the other structures are the same as those of the apparatus described in any one of embodiments 1 to 3, the description thereof is omitted.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the apparatus of the present embodiment includes an "I/O" 1410 as a user operation history acquisition section, and has an audience rating calculation program as one of audience rating acquisition programs. When the user performs the operation related to the content viewing through the I/O, the operation information is transmitted to the storage device, and the user operation history information stored in the storage device is updated. Then, the viewing index calculation program extracts, from the electronic program information such as EPG stored in the storage device, a content attribute associated with the content on which the user operation related to viewing has been performed. Then, the current viewing index information and the operation history information of each content attribute are acquired from the storage device, numerical data representing the information is stored in a predetermined area of the memory, and calculation processing for calculating a new viewing index is performed. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S1503, it is determined whether or not there is a user operation for viewing. If it is determined that there is any case, the process proceeds to step S1504. If it is determined to be absent, the process proceeds to step S1505. This processing is mainly executed by the operation history acquisition section. In step S1504, based on the user operation history, the audience rating index of the content attribute associated with the content is calculated. This processing is mainly executed by the audience rating acquisition unit. In step S1505, the preference value is calculated based on the viewing index updated by the viewing index acquisition unit, and the preference value is updated. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. Since the other process flow is the same as that in any one of the apparatuses in embodiments 1 to 3, the description thereof is omitted.

< effects >

With the content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment, since the viewing index can be calculated from the operation history related to viewing by the user, a more realistic viewing index can be calculated, and the recommendation information of the content can be calculated based on the preference value normalized by the appearance index, so that the content having a higher viewing probability and better conforming to the preference of the user can be recommended.

Example 5

The content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as any one of embodiments 1 to 4, except that it has a decreasing unit that decreases the preference value as the time elapsed since the last viewing of the content having the content attribute associated with the preference value is longer when the preference value is calculated by the preference value calculating unit, and the preference value holding unit has a deleting unit that deletes information relating to the preference value whose value is a certain value or less as a result of the gradual decrease of the preference value by the decreasing unit.

< Structure >

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewing apparatus" 1600 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 1601, an "appearance index acquisition section" 1602, a "taste value calculation section" 1603, a "taste value holding section" 1604, and a "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 1605, the "taste value calculation section" has a "decreasing unit" 1606, and the "taste value holding section" has a "deleting unit" 1607.

The "decreasing unit" is configured to, when calculating the preference value, make the preference value smaller as the time elapsed since the last viewing of the content having the content attribute associated with the preference value is longer. In this case, for a unit that gradually decreases the preference value of the content attribute with the passage of time, various ways are considered. For example, the preference value of the content attribute may be gradually decreased as a linear function or an exponential function with the elapsed time as a variable. A unit may be considered in which the preference value of the content attribute is gradually decreased in stages after a certain time has elapsed. The "deleting unit" is used for deleting information related to the preference value whose value is below a certain value as a result of the preference value being gradually decreased by the decreasing unit. Here, the following structure may also be adopted: that is, even if the preference value is equal to or less than a certain value, when there is room for the storage area of the preference value holding unit, the information of the preference value is not deleted, and when there is no room for the area, deletion is started from the information of the content attribute having a small preference value. The setting of the constant value may be set by the user. Since the other structures are the same as those of the apparatus described in any one of embodiments 1 to 4, the description thereof is omitted.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the apparatus of the present embodiment has a "timer portion" 1710 that measures the elapsed time since the last viewing of a content having a content attribute associated with a taste value, and a decreasing taste value calculation program that is one of the taste value calculation programs, and has a deletion program that deletes a taste value equal to or less than a certain value. When the program for calculating the decreasing taste value judges that the viewing index or the appearance index of the content attribute held in the storage device is updated, the program acquires the viewing index and the appearance index of the content attribute from the storage device, stores the numerical data in a predetermined area of a memory, and performs arithmetic processing for normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index. Then, the elapsed time since the last viewing of the content having the content attribute is acquired from the timer unit, the normalized value and the numerical data of the elapsed time are stored in a predetermined area of the memory, and the preference value is gradually decreased by arithmetic processing, thereby calculating a new preference value. When the deletion program judges that the preference value of the content attribute held in the storage device has been updated, the deletion program acquires the preference value from the storage device, stores the numerical data in a predetermined area of the memory, and performs arithmetic processing for judging whether the value is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Here, when the deletion program judges that the preference value of the content attribute is equal to or less than a certain value, the deletion program deletes information related to the preference value from the storage device. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S1805, the preference value of the content attribute is gradually decreased based on the elapsed time since the content having the content attribute to be viewed last. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. In step S1806, information related to the preference value of the content attribute having the preference value equal to or less than a predetermined value is deleted. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value holding section. Since the other process flow is the same as that in any one of the apparatuses in embodiments 1 to 4, the description thereof is omitted.

< effects >

With the content viewing device of the present embodiment, the preference value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index is gradually reduced according to the time elapsed since the last viewing of the content having the content attribute associated with the preference value, so that the state of gradual change with the elapsed time preferred by the actual user can be reproduced, and the recommendation information of the content is calculated based on the preference value, so that the content having a higher viewing probability and better conforming to the preference of the user can be recommended.

Example 6

The content viewing apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as any one of embodiments 1 to 5, except that the taste value calculation section has viewing time period dependency calculation means for calculating the dependency of the taste value on the viewing time period of the content related to the viewing index used for calculating the taste value, and the calculated taste value is relatively higher in the time period in which the total rating is lower.

< Structure >

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewer apparatus" 1900 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 1901, an "appearance index acquisition section" 1902, a "taste value calculation section" 1903, a "taste value holding section" 1904, and a "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 1905, and the "taste value calculation section" has a "viewing period dependency calculation unit" 1906.

The "viewing period dependency calculation unit" is configured to calculate the dependency of the preference value with respect to the viewing period of the content to which the viewing index for calculating the preference value relates, the calculated preference value being relatively higher for a period in which the overall rating is lower. For example, when viewing a content in a time zone in which the overall rating is low, it is considered that the user has a strong desire to view the content, and therefore, a value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index may be weighted and the value thus calculated may be used as the preference value. Fig. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a table for making the degree of weighting change according to the viewing time period when calculating the preference value. Here, since the total audience rating is generally low in the time period from 0 point to 3 points, the value obtained by normalizing the audience rating index by the appearance index is multiplied by 2.0, and the value thus calculated is used as the taste value. In the time period of 12 to 15 points or 18 to 21 points, in which the general audience rating is high, the value obtained by normalizing the audience rating index by the appearance index is used as the taste value without weighting. In addition, as the time zone for weighting the preference value, a time zone for showing live contents or a time zone for reserving recording of contents may be adopted in addition to the viewing time zone of the contents. Since the other structures are the same as those of the apparatus described in any one of embodiments 1 to 5, the description thereof is omitted.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the apparatus of the present embodiment has a viewing period dependency calculation program as one of the preference value calculation programs. When the viewing period dependency calculation program judges that the appearance index of the content attribute held in the storage device is updated, the viewing period dependency calculation program acquires the viewing index and the appearance index of the content attribute from the storage device, stores the numerical data in a predetermined area of a memory, and performs an operation process of normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index, thereby calculating a new taste value.

When the viewing period dependency calculation program judges that the viewing index of the content attribute held in the storage device is updated, the viewing index and the appearance index of the content attribute are acquired from the storage device, the numerical data are stored in a predetermined area of a memory, and the viewing index is normalized by the appearance index. Then, information of the viewing time zone of the content attribute is acquired from a storage device, numerical data representing the information and the normalized value are stored in a predetermined area of a memory, and a new preference value is calculated by performing arithmetic processing. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S2204, the dependency of the preference value on the viewing time period of the content is calculated, and the calculated preference value is relatively higher in the time period in which the overall viewing rate is lower. This processing is mainly performed by the preference value calculating section. Since the other process flow is the same as that in any one of the apparatuses in embodiments 1 to 5, the description thereof is omitted.

< effects >

With the content viewing device of the present embodiment, the value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index is weighted, and the lower the overall viewing rate is, the greater the relative weighting is, so that the value is calculated as the preference value, and thus the preference value depending on the viewing time period can be obtained.

Example 7

The content viewer apparatus of the present embodiment is basically the same as that of any one of embodiments 1 to 6, except that it further includes an editing unit for editing the information held in the preference value holding unit.

< Structure >

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The "content viewing apparatus" 2300 of the present embodiment includes a "viewing index acquisition section" 2301, an "appearance index acquisition section" 2302, a "taste value calculation section" 2303, a "taste value holding section" 2304, a "viewing recommendation information calculation section" 2305, and an "editing section" 2206.

The "editing unit" is configured to edit the information held in the preference value holding unit. For example, the user may edit the taste value to suit his taste, or edit the viewing index and the appearance index when the taste value holding unit holds the viewing index and the appearance index as the taste value information. Specifically, when there is a content that is missed although the user desires to view the content, the preference value is reduced because the viewing indices of the content attributes associated with the content are not added, but the appearance indices are added. In this case, the user can edit the preference value or the like of the content attribute (for example, the content title, the performer, and the genre) of the content desired to be viewed to a value that matches his preference. The user can also edit the preference value of each content attribute in advance to make the content attribute accord with the preference of the user, and then viewing recommendation information is calculated based on the preference value information. Further, the favorite value information that is not supposed to be held in the favorite value holding unit may be edited by deletion, and the favorite value information that is supposed to be held in the favorite value holding unit may be edited by addition. Since the other structures are the same as those of the apparatus described in any one of embodiments 1 to 6, the description thereof is omitted.

< detailed construction >

Fig. 24 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This configuration is basically the same as the hardware configuration of the apparatus of embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 5. However, the apparatus of the present embodiment has "I/O" 2410 as an editing unit. The user can perform an operation input for editing through the I/O, transmit the operation information to the storage device as an editing signal, and update the preference value information stored in the storage device. Since other specific configurations are the same as those of the content viewing apparatus of embodiment 1, descriptions thereof are omitted.

< treatment Process >

Fig. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In step S2505, it is determined whether or not the edit operation is performed on the preference value information held in the preference value holding unit. If it is determined not to be done here, the process proceeds to step S2507. If it is determined here that the editing operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S2506. In step S2506, the preference value information is updated in accordance with the editing operation. Since the other process flow is the same as that in any one of the apparatuses in embodiments 1 to 6, the description thereof is omitted. This process is mainly executed by the editing unit.

< effects >

By using the content viewing device of the embodiment, the preference value obtained by normalizing the viewing index by the appearance index can be further edited to conform to the preference of the user, and the recommendation information of the content is calculated based on the preference value, so that the content which has higher viewing probability and better conforms to the preference of the user can be recommended.

Claims (13)

1. A content viewing device, comprising:

an audience rating index acquisition unit that acquires an audience rating index indicating the number of times content is viewed;

an appearance index acquisition section that acquires an appearance index indicating the number of viewer opportunities for the content;

a preference value calculation section that calculates, for each content attribute, a preference value obtained by normalizing the audience rating index by the appearance index;

a preference value holding unit that holds the calculated preference value in association with the content attribute;

an audience recommendation information calculation unit that acquires a content attribute associated with a content to be an audience recommendation target, acquires the taste value held in the taste value holding unit using the content attribute as a keyword, and calculates audience recommendation information using the acquired taste value; and

a list display section that displays a list of viewable contents,

the appearance index acquisition section has a list display count acquisition unit that acquires a list display count, which is the number of times the content ID is displayed on the list display section, as the number of viewer opportunities.

2. A content viewing device, comprising:

an audience rating index acquisition unit that acquires an audience rating index indicating the number of times content is viewed;

an appearance index acquisition section that acquires an appearance index indicating the number of viewer opportunities for the content;

a preference value calculation section that calculates, for each content attribute, a preference value obtained by normalizing the audience rating index by the appearance index;

a preference value holding unit that holds the calculated preference value in association with the content attribute; and

an audience recommendation information calculation unit that acquires a content attribute associated with a content to be an audience recommendation target, acquires the taste value held in the taste value holding unit using the content attribute as a keyword, and calculates audience recommendation information using the acquired taste value;

the viewing recommendation information calculation section has an instruction calculation unit that receives an instruction to calculate recommendation information from a user and calculates viewing recommendation information,

the appearance index acquisition unit has a recommended operation number acquisition unit that acquires a recommended operation number, which is the number of times the content viewing recommendation information of the content is calculated by the instruction calculation unit, as the viewing opportunity number.

3. The content viewing device of claim 1,

has a user operation history acquisition section that acquires a user operation history related to viewing,

the audience rating acquisition unit has an audience rating calculation unit that calculates an audience rating based on the acquired user operation history.

4. The content viewing device of claim 2,

has a user operation history acquisition section that acquires a user operation history related to viewing,

the audience rating acquisition unit has an audience rating calculation unit that calculates an audience rating based on the acquired user operation history.

5. The content viewing device of any one of claims 1 to 4,

the preference value calculating section has a decreasing unit that decreases the preference value as the time elapsed since the last viewing of the content having the content attribute associated with the preference value is longer when calculating the preference value,

the preference value holding unit includes a deleting unit that deletes information relating to a preference value whose value is equal to or less than a predetermined value as a result of the preference value being gradually decreased by the decreasing unit.

6. The content viewing device of any one of claims 1 to 4,

the preference value calculation unit includes viewing time period dependency calculation means for calculating the dependency of the preference value on the viewing time period of the content related to the viewing index used for calculating the preference value, and the calculated preference value is relatively higher in the time period in which the total viewing rate is lower.

7. The content viewing device of claim 5,

the preference value calculation unit includes viewing time period dependency calculation means for calculating the dependency of the preference value on the viewing time period of the content related to the viewing index used for calculating the preference value, and the calculated preference value is relatively higher in the time period in which the total viewing rate is lower.

8. The content viewing device of any one of claims 1 to 4,

the information processing apparatus further includes an editing unit for editing the information held in the preference value holding unit.

9. The content viewing device of claim 5,

the information processing apparatus further includes an editing unit for editing the information held in the preference value holding unit.

10. The content viewing device of claim 6,

the information processing apparatus further includes an editing unit for editing the information held in the preference value holding unit.

11. The content viewing device of claim 7,

the information processing apparatus further includes an editing unit for editing the information held in the preference value holding unit.

12. A content recommendation method, comprising:

an audience rating index acquisition step of acquiring an audience rating index indicating a number of times of content audience rating;

an appearance index acquisition step of acquiring an appearance index indicating the number of times of viewing opportunities for the content;

a preference value calculation step of calculating a preference value in which the viewing index is normalized by the appearance index for each content attribute;

a preference value holding step of holding the calculated preference value in association with the content attribute;

a viewing recommendation information calculation step of acquiring a content attribute associated with a content to be a viewing recommendation target, acquiring the taste value held in the taste value holding step using the content attribute as a keyword, and calculating viewing recommendation information using the acquired taste value; and

a list display step of displaying a list of the viewable contents,

the appearance index acquisition step acquires the number of times the content ID is displayed in the list display step, that is, the number of times the content is displayed, as the number of times of viewing opportunities for the content.

13. A content recommendation method, comprising:

an audience rating index acquisition step of acquiring an audience rating index indicating a number of times of content audience rating;

an appearance index acquisition step of acquiring an appearance index indicating the number of times of viewing opportunities for the content;

a preference value calculation step of calculating a preference value in which the viewing index is normalized by the appearance index for each content attribute;

a preference value holding step of holding the calculated preference value in association with the content attribute; and

a viewing recommendation information calculation step of acquiring a content attribute associated with a content to be a viewing recommendation target, acquiring the taste value held in the taste value holding step using the content attribute as a keyword, and calculating viewing recommendation information using the acquired taste value;

the viewing recommendation information calculating step is characterized by receiving an instruction for calculation of recommendation information from a user, and calculating viewing recommendation information,

the appearance index acquiring step acquires the number of times of viewing recommendation information of the content calculated by the viewing recommendation information calculating step, that is, the number of recommendation calculations, as the number of viewing opportunities of the content.