JP2008182392A - Television parental control method, television parental control apparatus and television parental control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television parental control technique which can limit viewing in details according to ages without setting a password or the like, can eliminate the need of presetting or registering the age and identification information or changing them with growth, and is excellent in operability. <P>SOLUTION: The face image of a television viewer acquired in an imaging means is stored in a face image storage means, and also the television viewing history information of the person is related to the face image and stored in a viewing history storage means. For the face image acquired in the imaging means, the person identified with a face image is specified by collating the face image storage means, the television viewing history information of the specified person is extracted from the viewing history storage means, the necessity of parental control is determined on the basis of the television viewing history information, and viewing is limited as required on the basis of the determination result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television viewing restriction technology that can perform appropriate viewing restriction based on the past viewing history of a person without the need to set age or the like in advance.

  Conventionally, as a television viewing restriction technique, if a video signal from a television broadcasting station includes restriction data, for example, data such as viewing restriction information under 20 years of age, and if this is detected to restrict viewing and a password is input The restriction has been lifted. However, in addition to the problem of forgetting the password, there is also a problem that if the password is known to the child, appropriate viewing restrictions cannot be made. Moreover, it is only determined whether or not the restriction is necessary based on the presence or absence of a password, and it is not possible to make a fine restriction according to the age.

  On the other hand, TV viewing restriction technology that omits password input includes an iris recognition camera that captures the iris pattern of the viewer's eyes and a viewer specification that identifies the viewer based on the iris pattern captured by the iris recognition camera. If the viewer is an infant or a minor, the viewing restriction is displayed when an unfavorable educational screen is displayed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  However, even with such a technique, it is necessary to preset and register the age of the person specified by the iris pattern in advance, and viewing restriction can be appropriately applied to a person who has not been registered. If the registered child grows up, it is necessary to change the settings accordingly, and it takes time and effort, especially if you want to make detailed settings for viewing restrictions according to age. The registration and change work becomes very complicated.

JP 2001-16514 A

  Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned situation, the present invention intends to solve the problem that it is possible to perform more detailed viewing restrictions according to the age without requiring an operation such as setting a password. There is no need to set / register or change according to the growth, and it is an easy to use television viewing restriction method, apparatus and program.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention stores a face image of a TV viewer acquired by the image pickup means in the face image storage means, and views TV viewing history information of the person in association with the face image. For the face image acquired by the imaging means, the face image obtained by the imaging means is stored and the face image storage means is matched to identify a person with a matching face image, and the TV viewing history information of the identified person is viewed. A TV viewing restriction characterized in that it is extracted from the history storage means, the necessity of TV viewing restriction is determined based on the TV viewing history information, and the required viewing restriction is performed on the requested program based on the determination result Provide a method.

  Here, the number of TV viewers acquired by the imaging means is determined, and in the case of one person, the face image is stored in the face image storage means and the TV viewing history information of the person is associated with the face image. When the number of television viewers stored in the viewing history storage means and acquired by the imaging means is one, the face image storage means is collated for the face image to identify a person with a matching face image. It is preferable.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the viewing history information is stored in the viewing history storage unit in association with the face image only when the viewing time is a predetermined time or more.

  Furthermore, as a specific determination method, points having different weights are set according to the viewing time zone, and the TV viewing history information is calculated based on the viewing time of the viewing time zone. Is stored in the viewing history storage means, and the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on the score.

  In addition, points having different weights are set according to the target age of the program to be viewed, and as the TV viewing history information, the score of the program is calculated based on the viewing time of the viewed program and stored in the viewing history storage means. It is also preferable to determine the necessity of the viewing restriction based on the score.

  Desirably, points with different weights according to the viewing time zone and points with different weights according to the target age of the program to be watched are set, respectively, and the television viewing history information is based on the viewing time of the viewing time zone. A total score obtained by adding the score of the program and the score of the program based on the viewing time of the viewed program is stored in the viewing history storage means, and the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on the total score.

  The present invention also provides an imaging means for acquiring a face image of a television viewer, a face image storage means for storing the face image, and a viewing history storage for storing the TV viewing history information of the person in association with the face image. A face recognizing means for collating the face image storage means based on the face image acquired by the imaging means and identifying a person of the matching face image, and a TV viewing history of the person specified by the face recognizing means Information is extracted from the viewing history storage means, a judging means for determining the necessity of television viewing restriction based on the television viewing history information, and a necessary viewing restriction for the requested program based on the result of the judging means There is also provided a television viewing restriction apparatus characterized by comprising viewing restriction means.

  Here, it is preferable that the viewing history information includes information regarding a watched time zone and a watched program.

  Specifically, points with different weights are set according to the viewing time zone, and the viewing history storage means calculates the score of the time zone based on the viewing time of the time zone viewed as the TV viewing history information. Stored in the viewing history storage means, and the determination means determines the necessity of the viewing restriction based on the score included in the extracted TV viewing history information, or the target age of the program to be viewed In accordance with the above, a score with different weights is set, and the viewing history storage means calculates the score of the program based on the viewing time of the program viewed as TV viewing history information and stores it in the viewing history storage means. Preferably, the determination unit determines the necessity of the viewing restriction based on the score included in the extracted TV viewing history information.

  The present invention is a viewing restriction program for causing a computer to execute each procedure in the above-described television viewing restriction method, and stores a face image of the television viewer acquired by the imaging means in the face image storage means. In addition, a procedure for storing the TV viewing history information of the person in association with the face image in the viewing history storage unit, and a face image that matches the face image acquired by the imaging unit by collating with the face image storage unit A procedure for identifying the person in question, a procedure for extracting the TV viewing history information of the identified person from the viewing history storage means, a procedure for determining the necessity of TV viewing restriction based on the TV viewing history information, and a result of the determination There is also provided a television viewing restriction program that executes a necessary viewing restriction procedure for a requested program.

  The television viewing restriction device according to the present invention as described above extracts the television viewing history information of the person specified from the face image from the viewing history storage means and needs to restrict the viewing of the television based on the television viewing history information. Since the necessary viewing restriction is performed based on the determination result, the conventional password setting operation is unnecessary, and more detailed viewing restriction according to age can be performed. In addition, since it is determined based on past viewing history, it is not necessary to set and register the person's age and identification information in advance, or to change according to growth, and can automatically perform appropriate viewing restrictions. It is possible to provide a TV viewing restriction technology that is very easy to use. In other words, instead of managing it centrally based on the individual's age and identification information, it is possible to appropriately determine the necessity of viewing restriction based on past viewing history by using face recognition.

  Further, the number of TV viewers is determined, and in the case of one person, the face image is stored in the face image storage means, and the TV viewing history information of the person is stored in the viewing history storage means in association with the face image. When the number of TV viewers acquired by the image pickup means is one, the face image storage means is identified for the face image to identify a person with a matching face image. Thus, it is possible to accurately restrict viewing on the person.

  In addition, since the viewing history information is stored in the viewing history storage means in association with the face image only when the viewing time is a predetermined time or longer, the viewing history closer to the person's hobby, taste, age, etc. is left and viewed. The accuracy of determining the necessity for restriction can be increased.

  In addition, points having different weights are set according to the viewing time zone, and the TV viewing history information is calculated based on the viewing time of the viewing time zone and stored in the viewing history storage means. Based on the score, the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined, or a score having a different weight is set according to the target age of the program to be viewed, and the TV viewing history information is based on the viewing time of the viewed program. Since the score of the program is calculated and stored in the viewing history storage means, and the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on the score, more detailed determination can be made based on the size of the score.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a television viewing restriction device according to the present invention. FIGS. 1 to 7 show typical embodiments, in which reference numeral 1 denotes a television viewing restriction device, 2 denotes an imaging camera, and 13 denotes Each shows a television receiver.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the television viewing restriction device 1 of the present invention is a computer to which a storage device 11, an imaging camera 2, and a television receiver 13 are connected, with a processing device 10 as the center. It is mainly composed of a microprocessor, and has a storage unit composed of a RAM and a ROM (not shown), and stores programs and processing data for defining procedures of various processing operations. In this example, a stationary television set installed in a house or the like is illustrated as the television receiver 13, but a portable television, for example, a notebook personal computer or a mobile phone with a built-in TV tuner may be used. Further, the television viewing restriction device 1 may be built in the television receiver 13 or may be a separate configuration.

  The storage device 11 stores a face image storage unit 11a that stores the face image of the TV viewer input from the imaging camera 2 and TV viewing history information including information about a watched time zone and a watched program. It is composed of a hard disk or the like provided with at least a viewing history storage unit 11b for storing in association and a weighting table storage unit 11c in which points having different weights are set according to time zones and program contents.

  The processing device 10 functionally associates a face image acquired by the imaging camera 2 in the face image storage unit 11a with the face image storage processing unit 10a, and associates the TV viewing history information with the face image of the person. A face recognition process for collating the face image storage unit 11b based on the face image acquired by the imaging camera 2 with the view history storage unit 10b stored in the view history storage unit 11b and identifying a person with a matching face image Unit 10c, a determination processing unit 10d that extracts the TV viewing history information of the identified person from the viewing history storage unit 11b, and determines necessity of TV viewing restriction based on the TV viewing history information, and the determination processing unit At least a viewing restriction processing unit 10e that performs necessary viewing restrictions on the requested program based on the determination result of 10d. It is revealed.

  The face image storage processing unit 10a records the face image acquired by the imaging camera 2 in the face image storage unit 11a. Specifically, when a person with a matching face image is not specified by the face recognition processing unit 10c described later, the acquired face image of the TV viewer and the numerical data analyzed by the face recognition processing unit 10c are used. Record.

  The viewing history storage processing unit 10b stores information related to a watched time zone and a program in the viewing history storage unit 11b as television viewing history information. Specifically, the time zone being watched and the score of the program (weight value) are extracted from the weighting table storage unit 11c, respectively, and a numerical value calculated from these scores, for example, the total score is linked to the face image. And recorded in the viewing history storage unit 11b.

  The face recognition processing unit 10c analyzes the acquired face image, recognizes and digitizes the position, shape, mutual relationship, etc. of the face outline, eyes, ears, etc., and based on the numerical data, the face image storage unit The numerical data of each person in 11a is collated to identify a person with a matching face image. Conventionally known methods can be applied to this face recognition process, and it is preferable to perform correction that eliminates the effects of differences in the angle of the face image, presence or absence of makeup, differences in hairstyle, and the like.

  The determination processing unit 10d calculates a past viewing history recorded in the viewing history storage unit 11b of the person specified by the face image, for example, an integrated value per predetermined time (specific period) of the total score, The necessity such as necessity and degree of viewing restriction is determined according to the magnitude of the value.

  When the determination processing unit 10d determines that viewing restriction is necessary, the viewing restriction processing unit 10e performs viewing restriction on the requested program according to the degree. For example, depending on the size of the integrated value, it is not possible to view a program having a specific weight, or a time zone having a specific weight is not viewable, or otherwise based on the contents of the weighting table, For specific programs such as broadcasts with viewing age restrictions, programs for adults (adult designation), viewing under 18 years old (R18 designation), viewing under 15 years old (R15 designation), viewing under 12 years old (R12 designation) TV programs are not available for viewing these programs, or for programs that are not intended to be shown to children by guardians, etc., or for a specific time period. A restriction signal is transmitted to the device to perform processing for restricting viewing.

  Hereinafter, the procedure of the television viewing restriction method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when a user who wants to watch a television program turns on the television from a remote controller or the like and requests the program, the imaging camera 2 mounted on the television receiver 13 takes an image of the user who wants to watch the television ( S101). Then, the face recognition processing unit 10c analyzes the acquired face image and specifies the number of television viewers (users) (S102).

  If it is determined in S102 that the number of users is not one (a plurality), TV viewing is permitted without performing the viewing restriction process in S108, and the process is terminated. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to an example in which viewing is not restricted when the user is not alone, and no viewing history is recorded, and necessary restriction is performed if there is something that requires restriction even by one person. Or the TV viewing history of each person may be updated.

  When it is determined in S102 that there is only one user, a matching person is specified from the face image storage unit 11a based on the numerical value data of the face image analyzed by the face recognition processing unit 10c (S103). FIG. 3 shows an example of the face image storage unit 11a, in which numerical data “002, 011,021, 007” such as the contour of the face analyzed as the numerical face data is recorded, and is recorded by the face recognition processing unit 10c. A person is identified by extracting the face ID (person identification number) of the numerical data that matches the numerical data of the analyzed face image.

  In S103, if a matching person cannot be specified, viewing is permitted as a new person (S109). If the viewing time exceeds a predetermined time (S110), the face image storage unit 10a Data) is newly registered in the table (FIG. 3) of the face image storage unit 11a, and the viewing history storage processing unit 10b records the viewing history data in the table (FIG. 4) of the viewing history storage unit 11b.

  The viewing history storage processing unit 10b extracts the watched time zone and the program score from the weighting table storage unit 11c, and records an added value corresponding to each viewing time. FIG. 5 shows an example of the weighting table storage unit 11c, in which (a) shows an example of a time zone weighting table and (b) shows an example of a program weighting table. The point measurement is added every time the television viewing starts and every certain time (for example, one hour).

  For example, if a certain A watched an animation program under the target age of 12 at 16:00, the time zone point “2” and the target age point “5” are added at regular intervals, and the added value until the end of viewing Are recorded in the table of the viewing history storage unit 11b, and when Mr. B is watching news for all ages at 23:00, the time zone point “0” and the target age point “0” are added at regular intervals, respectively. The added values until the end of viewing are recorded in the table of the viewing history storage unit 11b.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 5, as a time zone weighting table, a time zone with a high possibility of being viewed by a child is set with a large value, and as a program weighting table, a program for children has a larger value. The weights are set at, and the possibility that the child is watching becomes higher as the measured point is larger.

  If a matching person can be identified in S103, the history information of the person with the ID is extracted from the table of the viewing history storage unit 11b of FIG. 4 based on the identified face ID (S104), Specifically, the integrated value of the time zone points and program points in the past fixed period is calculated, and the necessity of TV viewing restriction is determined based on the integrated value (S105). In this example, an integrated value per 100 hours of viewing time is calculated, and as shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether the value is 300 or less, 301 to 500, or 501 or more (S105). Based on the determination result, in S106, viewing restriction is not performed if the integrated value is 300 or less, and if it is 301 to 500 or less, the possibility of being a child is high. If it is above, since it is highly possible that the child is younger, viewing after 21:00 is restricted, and viewing history information is updated for viewing time permitted for viewing (S107).

  In this example, only the viewing time zone is limited, but it is of course possible to limit viewing according to the contents of the program as described above. In this example, the content of the viewing restriction is determined directly from the integrated value of the points, but the estimated age of the TV viewer (user) is calculated from the magnitude of the value, and the content of the restriction is determined according to the estimated age. Of course, it may be determined. In this example, it can be estimated that the age is lower as the integrated value is larger, and the higher the integrated value is, the more restrictive viewing is.

  In this example, the point integrated value per 100 hours of viewing time is used, but the point integrated value of viewing information for a certain past period may be used. For example, in the case of the past 30 days, every time new viewing history information (points) is recorded, old information is deleted from the history information, and the total number of points recorded in the history information is determined at the time of determination. It is preferable to calculate.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall system including a television viewing restriction device according to the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of a television viewing-and-listening apparatus similarly. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a face image memory | storage part. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a viewing history memory | storage part. (A) And (b) is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a weighting table memory | storage part. Explanatory drawing which shows the criterion of viewing restrictions. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the television viewing-and-listening restriction method concerning the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 TV viewing restriction device 2 imaging camera 10 processing device 10a face image storage processing unit 10b viewing history storage processing unit 10c face recognition processing unit 10d determination processing unit 10e viewing restriction processing unit 11 storage device 11a face image storage unit 11b viewing history storage unit 11c Table storage unit 13 Television receiver

Claims (11)

The face image of the television viewer acquired by the imaging means is stored in the face image storage means, and the TV viewing history information of the person is stored in the viewing history storage means in association with the face image,
For the face image acquired by the imaging means, the face image storage means is collated to identify a person with a matching face image,
Extract TV viewing history information of the identified person from the viewing history storage means,
Based on the TV viewing history information, determine the necessity of TV viewing restriction,
A television viewing restriction method, wherein necessary viewing restriction is performed on a requested program based on the determination result.   The number of television viewers acquired by the imaging means is determined, and in the case of one person, the face image is stored in the face image storage means, and the television viewing history information of the person is associated with the face image and stored in the viewing history. When the number of television viewers stored in the means and acquired by the imaging means is one, the face image storage means is collated for the face image to identify a person with a matching face image. Item 2. The television viewing restriction method according to Item 1.   The television viewing restriction method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the viewing history information is stored in the viewing history storage means in association with the face image only when the viewing time is a predetermined time or more.   Scores with different weights are set according to the viewing time zone, and as the TV viewing history information, the time zone score is calculated based on the viewing time of the viewing time zone and stored in the viewing history storage means, The television viewing restriction method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on a score.   Scores with different weights are set according to the target age of the program to be viewed, and as the TV viewing history information, the score of the program is calculated based on the viewing time of the viewed program and stored in the viewing history storage means, The television viewing restriction method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on a score.   Points with different weights according to the time zone to be watched and points with different weights according to the target age of the program to be watched are set, and the time zone based on the viewing time of the time zone watched as TV viewing history information And a total score obtained by adding the score of the program based on the viewing time of the viewed program is stored in the viewing history storage means, and the necessity of the viewing restriction is determined based on the total score. The television viewing restriction method according to any one of? Imaging means for acquiring a television viewer's face image;
A face image storing means for storing a face image;
Viewing history storage means for storing TV viewing history information of the person in association with the face image;
Face recognition means for collating the face image storage means based on the face image acquired by the imaging means and identifying a person with a matching face image;
Determining means for extracting the TV viewing history information of the person specified by the face recognition means from the viewing history storage means, and determining the necessity of TV viewing restriction based on the TV viewing history information;
Based on the result of the determination means, viewing restriction means for restricting viewing required for the requested program;
A television viewing restricting device characterized by comprising:   The television viewing restriction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the viewing history information includes information related to a watched time zone and a watched program.   Points with different weights are set according to the viewing time zone, and the viewing history storage means calculates the score of the time zone based on the viewing time of the time zone viewed as the television viewing history information, and stores the viewing history memory. 9. The television viewing restriction apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the television viewing restriction device is stored in a means, and the judgment means judges the necessity of the viewing restriction based on the score included in the extracted television viewing history information.   Scores with different weights are set according to the target age of the program to be viewed, and the viewing history storage means calculates the score of the program based on the viewing time of the program viewed as TV viewing history information, and stores the viewing history. 10. The storage device according to claim 7, wherein the determination unit determines the necessity of the viewing restriction based on the score included in the extracted TV viewing history information. TV viewing restriction device.   A viewing restriction program for causing a computer to execute each procedure in the television viewing restriction method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a face image of a television viewer acquired by an imaging unit is displayed as a face A procedure for storing the television viewing history information of the person in association with the face image and storing the information in the viewing history storage unit, and checking the face image storage unit for the face image acquired by the imaging unit. A procedure for identifying a person with a matching face image, a procedure for extracting television viewing history information of the identified person from the viewing history storage means, a procedure for determining the necessity of television viewing restriction based on the television viewing history information, A television viewing restriction program for executing a procedure of performing necessary viewing restriction on a requested program based on the determination result.

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