JP2012227631A - Information providing system and portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing system capable of facilitating the acquisition of information by displaying information related to a broadcast in a portable terminal device to be used by a user with the use of acoustic identification information.SOLUTION: A broadcast reproduction apparatus emits broadcast sound with identification information superimposed thereon. An identification information resolution server includes an identification information/address information correspondence table for storing the address information of contents for each time period so as to retrieve the table by using time information when the identification information is received from a portable terminal device, and returns the address information of the corresponding content. The portable terminal device includes: a sound collection part for collecting the broadcast sound emitted by the broadcast reproduction apparatus; a demodulation part for demodulating the identification information from the collected broadcast sound; an operation part for receiving an operation by a user; an identification information resolution part for transmitting the identification information to the identification information resolution server when the operation part is operated and acquiring the address information; and a content access part for accessing to the content by using the acquired address information.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing system for providing information related to a program during a program broadcast on a television or the like, and a portable terminal device used in the information providing system.

  In television broadcasting, a program that superimposes data broadcasting while broadcasting a program and provides various information related to the program by a remote control operation of the television has been put into practical use (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-288638 A

  However, data broadcasting only displays information and cannot accept access from further users. For example, in order to purchase articles or search for further information corresponding to information displayed in data broadcasting, the Internet and telephone shopping must be used separately, which is troublesome.

  The present invention provides an information providing system and a portable terminal device that facilitates acquisition of further information by displaying information related to broadcasting on a portable terminal device used by a user using identification information by sound. With the goal.

  The invention of claim 1 is an information providing system having a broadcast reproduction device, a portable terminal device, and an identification information resolution server, wherein the broadcast reproduction device is superimposed with an acoustic ID that is audified by modulating identification information. The identification information resolution server has an identification information / address information correspondence table storing address information of contents corresponding to the identification information for a plurality of time periods, and is identified from the portable terminal device. Receiving the information, searching the identification information / address information correspondence table of the identification information received using the time information at the time of reception, returning the address information of the content corresponding to the time information to the portable terminal device, The mobile terminal device collects the sound ID from the collected sound, and collects the identification information from the sound ID. A demodulator that demodulates the information, a storage unit that stores the demodulated identification information, an operation unit that accepts an operation by a user, and when the operation unit is operated, the identification information is transmitted to the identification information resolution server to obtain the address information And a content access unit that accesses the content using the acquired address information.

  In the invention of claim 2, the identification information is associated with a specific broadcast program reproduced by the broadcast reproduction device, and the identification information / address information correspondence table of the identification information resolution server includes the identification information A time zone during which a specific scene in the specific broadcast program that is associated is broadcast and address information of an Internet site that provides information related to the specific scene are stored in association with each other. To do.

  The invention according to claim 3 is a portable terminal device carried by the user, wherein the sound collecting unit for collecting the sound on which the acoustic ID obtained by modulating and sounding the identification information is superimposed, and the sound collected from the sound collecting unit When a demodulator that separates an acoustic ID and demodulates identification information from the acoustic ID, a storage that stores demodulated identification information, an operation unit that accepts an operation by a user, and the operation unit are operated, An identification information resolution unit that acquires the address information by transmitting the identification information stored in the storage unit to a predetermined server; and a content access unit that accesses the content server specified by the acquired address information. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for collecting a sound on which a sound ID obtained by modulating and acousticizing identification information is superimposed, and separating the sound ID from the picked-up sound. Means for demodulating the identification information, means for storing the demodulated identification information, means for accepting an operation by the user, and when the operation is performed by the user, the stored identification information is transmitted to a predetermined server. It functions as means for acquiring address information and means for accessing a content server designated by the acquired address information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately provide a user with information corresponding to a scene in a broadcast program.

The block diagram of the information provision system which is embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the example of the superimposition system of acoustic ID Partial block diagram of smartphone The figure which shows the example of the ID / URL correspondence table of ID resolution server Flow chart showing operation of smartphone and ID resolution server

  An information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing system.

  This information providing system is a system that provides information related to a plurality of scenes of a program broadcast on the television 1 to a user 6 (viewer) of the smartphone 2 who is a viewer of the television 1.

  First, an outline of the present embodiment will be described. A television (TV) 1 which is a sound emitting device of the present invention emits an acoustic ID which is identification information of the present invention during the broadcast of a program. This acoustic ID corresponds to the program being broadcast, and is superimposed on the broadcast sound and emitted. The emitted sound ID is received by the smartphone 2 which is the mobile terminal device of the present invention. The smartphone 2 decodes and stores the acoustic ID, which is an audio signal, into an ID code. The user 6 who is watching the program operates the smartphone 2 (for example, presses a button) when a scene of interest is displayed while watching the program. Through the operation at this time, the smartphone 2 transmits the stored ID code to the ID resolution server 4. The ID resolution server 4 searches the ID / URL correspondence table 40 with the ID code received from the smartphone 2 and the reception time, and returns a corresponding URL to the smartphone 2. This corresponding URL is an Internet site that provides information related to the scene that was broadcast when the user 6 operated the smartphone 2 (that was displayed on the screen of the television 1 or played back by voice). URL. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a URL providing a travel guide when traveling a place of the landscape is associated with the time zone when the landscape was projected, and in the time zone when the woman was projected The URL of the mail order site of the clothes worn by the woman is associated. When the smartphone 2 receives the URL from the ID resolution server 4, the smartphone 2 accesses the content server 5 indicated by the URL and reproduces (displays) the content stored in the URL on the smartphone 2.

  Here, the acoustic ID is an ID code transmitted using sound waves, which are vibrations of a medium such as air, as a medium. In this embodiment, the sound ID is superimposed on the sound of the television program and emitted from the speaker of the television 1. As shown in FIG. 2, since the upper limit frequency of audio used for a television broadcast program is about 16 kHz, the acoustic ID is a frequency band in which the audio circuit and the speaker of the television 1 operate and can be reproduced above this frequency. It is superimposed on a certain 18-20 kHz band.

  Various methods can be adopted as the method of superimposing the sound ID on the program or sound, for example, as described in detail in an international patent application (WO 2010/016589 pamphlet) by the present applicant, A technique of spreading the ID with a spreading code and shifting the frequency to a frequency band of 18 to 20 kHz is preferable.

  Next, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, a television 1 is an example of a broadcast reproduction device (sound emitting device) that receives a television broadcast, displays video, and emits sound. A sound ID, which is an ID code that is sounded, is superimposed on the sound of the television broadcast. The acoustic ID is appropriately superimposed on the beginning of the program for which information is to be provided and on the audio in the program. A user 6 who is a viewer of a television program has a smartphone 2, and the smartphone 2 collects sound with an acoustic ID superimposed thereon.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing only the portion of the smartphone 2 related to the present invention. The smartphone 2 includes a microphone 21, a control unit 22, a network communication unit 25, a GPS positioning unit 26, a clock 27, an operation unit 28, and a display unit 29. The microphone 21 collects sound emitted from the speaker of the television 1. The network communication unit 26 is a functional unit that communicates with the ID resolution server 4 and the content server 5 via the network 3.

  The control unit 22 is provided with an acoustic ID processing unit 23 and a web browser 24 in cooperation with an application program. The acoustic ID processing unit 23 controls the network communication unit 25 and the processing unit that demodulates the ID code by passing the voice signal obtained by collecting the sound signal through a matched filter using the spreading code used for spreading modulation as a coefficient. The processing unit communicates with the ID resolution server 4 and the content server 5. This ID code demodulation process is described in detail in the pamphlet of International Publication No. 2010/016589. The web browser 24 accesses the URL acquired by the acoustic ID processing unit 23 and displays a web page.

  The GPS positioning unit 26 measures its own position using GPS, and inputs it to the URL acquisition unit 24 as position information. The clock 27 measures the time at the time of sound collection including the sound ID or the communication with the ID resolution server 4 and inputs the time as time information to the URL acquisition unit 24. The GPS positioning unit 26 and the clock 27 are used in a modified example described later. The operation unit 28 is a touch panel provided on the surface of the display unit 29, for example, and includes a button switch 28A. The button switch 28A is an operator that is operated when a scene of interest is projected when the user 6 is watching a program.

  The acoustic ID processing unit 23 is realized by cooperation between the acoustic ID application and the control unit 22. The acoustic ID application realizes a function of separating and decoding the acoustic ID from the collected voice, and a function of acquiring the corresponding URL by transmitting the ID code to the ID resolution server 4 according to the operation of the user 6. Application software. The detailed operation of the acoustic ID processing unit 23 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The control unit 22 of the smartphone 2 decodes the acoustic ID by the acoustic ID processing unit 23 and stores it in the ID storage unit 22A. When the button switch 23 </ b> A is operated by the user 6, the stored ID code is transmitted to the ID resolution server 4 via the network 3. In response to the transmission of this ID code, the URL is received from the ID resolution server 4. The control unit 22 passes this URL to the web browser 24 to access the content server 5 and displays predetermined content.

  The ID resolution server 4 includes an ID / URL correspondence table 40. The ID resolution server 4 searches the ID / URL correspondence table 40 with the received acoustic ID and the reception time, reads the corresponding URL, and sends it back to the smartphone 2. In this way, by converting a short ID code such as a 4-digit number into a URL, it is possible to guide the smartphone 6 of the user 6 to a long URL even if the data is transmitted by sound with a high transmission rate. Become.

  If the web page is an Internet mail order site, the user 6 can use the site to purchase prizes, and if the web page is a hotel or restaurant reservation site, the user 6 reserves accommodation and meals using the site. can do. Further, if another URL or telephone number is linked to the web page, the user 6 can reach the information and make a call by accessing the link.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the ID / URL correspondence table 40. This ID / URL correspondence table 40 shows a table for one television program (travel program A). In this ID / URL correspondence table 40, the URL is stored in association with the ID “0000” of this television program and the reception time zone of the ID code. The time zone in each column is the time zone during which “landscape”, “female”, “meal”, and “accommodation” videos are displayed or the sound is emitted in the program, and these videos correspond to these time zones. Or “URL of a tourist guide to visit the scenery” related to audio, “URL of a mail order site for clothes worn by the woman”, “URL of a gourmet guide introducing the menu of the cafeteria”, “URL of the site that reserves the hotel” is stored.

  It is also possible to further subdivide the time zone of one scene and associate different URLs. That is, even in the same scene, different URLs may be guided according to the timing when the user operates the button switch 23A. Of course, each URL is preferably a URL that provides content related to the scene.

  In order for the ID resolution server 4 to convert the ID codes of a plurality of programs into URLs, a plurality of ID / URL conversion tables 40 shown in FIG. 4 may be provided corresponding to the plurality of programs.

  The operations of the smartphone 2 and the ID resolution server 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts showing the operation of the control unit 22 of the smartphone 2, and FIG. 5C is a flowchart showing the operation of the ID resolution server 4.

  FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing the acoustic ID reception operation of the control unit 22 of the smartphone 2. While the acoustic ID is not detected, the control unit 22 stands by at Step S1 (hereinafter, Step Sn is simply referred to as Sn). When the acoustic ID is detected (YES in S1), it is decoded (S2) and stored in the ID storage unit 22A (memory) (S3).

  FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing an operation corresponding to pressing of the button switch 23A of the control unit 22. The control unit 22 stands by in S11 while not detecting the pressing of the button switch 23A. When the pressing of the button switch 23A is detected (YES in S11), it is determined whether an ID code is stored in the ID storage unit 22A (S12). If the ID code is not stored (NO in S12), the process returns to S11 without doing anything. If an ID code is stored in the ID storage unit 22A (YES in S12), this ID code is transmitted to the ID resolution server 4 (S13). The ID resolution server 4 executes the process of FIG. 5C in response to the received ID code. When the transmitted ID code is valid, the ID resolution server 4 returns a corresponding URL, and when the ID code is out of time. Returns a message to that effect to the smartphone 2. Upon receiving this reply, the smartphone 2 determines whether the content is a URL or an electronic message indicating that the time has expired (S14). If the received content is a URL (YES in S14), the web browser 24, which is a standard application of the smartphone 2, is activated (S15), the received URL is passed to the web browser 24 (S16), and this URL is accessed. Then, the web page is displayed (S17). If the content received from the ID resolution server 4 is a message indicating that the ID has expired (NO in S14), that fact is displayed on the display unit 29 (S18).

  FIG. 5C is a flowchart showing the operation of the ID resolution server 4. It waits in S21 until ID is received from the smart phone 2 which is a terminal device. When the ID is received (YES in S21), the time at that time is read (S22), and the ID / URL correspondence table 40 is searched with this reception time and the received ID (S23). As a result of the search, when the reception time is included in the valid time zone of the received ID (YES in S24), the URL in that column is read out and transmitted to the smartphone 2 as the ID is valid (S25). If they do not match (NO in S14), it is sent back to the smartphone 2 that the ID has expired, assuming that the ID has been sent out of the valid time zone (S26).

  Through the above processing, when a scene of interest is displayed on the TV 1 while watching a TV program, the user 6 operates the smartphone 2 at hand to display information related to the scene on the smartphone 2. It can be displayed in real time.

  In the above flowchart, the ID resolution server 4 that has received the ID from the smartphone 2 reads the reception time and searches the ID / URL correspondence table 40, but the smartphone 2 sends the acoustic ID to the ID resolution server 4. You may make it transmit the received time information. Even in this case, this time information corresponds to “time information at the time of reception” in the present invention.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the smart phone 2 is illustrated as a portable terminal device, a portable terminal device is not limited to the smart phone 2. FIG. In this embodiment, the television broadcast is described as an example. However, the broadcast is not limited to the television broadcast. For example, the broadcast may be a radio broadcast, a disaster prevention broadcast in the area, a private broadcast in the facility, or the like.

  The speaker of the television 1 and the microphone of the smartphone 2 may be a vibrator and a vibration pickup, respectively. The medium from which the acoustic ID is emitted is not limited to air, but may be a solid, liquid, or the like as long as the sound wave is propagated.

1 TV (sound emitting device)
2 Smartphone (mobile terminal device)
3 Network 4 ID Resolution Server 5 Content Server 6 User 40 ID / URL Correspondence Table

Claims (4)

An information providing system having a broadcast reproduction device, a portable terminal device, and an identification information resolution server,
The broadcast reproduction device emits a broadcast sound on which an acoustic ID obtained by modulating and identifying the identification information is superimposed,
The identification information resolution server has an identification information / address information correspondence table storing address information of content corresponding to the identification information for a plurality of time periods, receives the identification information from the portable terminal device, Search the identification information / address information correspondence table of the identification information received using the time information of, and return the address information of the content corresponding to the time information to the portable terminal device,
The portable terminal device includes: a sound collection unit that collects broadcast sound emitted by the broadcast reproduction device; a demodulation unit that separates the acoustic ID from the collected broadcast sound and demodulates identification information from the sound ID; A storage unit for storing the identification information, an operation unit for receiving an operation by a user, and when the operation unit is operated, the identification information stored in the storage unit is transmitted to the identification information resolution server to obtain the address information. An information providing system comprising: an identification information resolving unit that performs access to the content using the acquired address information. The identification information is associated with a specific broadcast program reproduced by the broadcast reproduction device,
The identification information / address information correspondence table included in the identification information resolution server relates to a time zone in which a specific scene in the specific broadcast program with which the identification information is associated is broadcast and the specific scene. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein address information of an Internet site that provides information is stored in association. A device carried by the user,
A sound collection unit that collects sound on which the acoustic ID obtained by modulating and acousticizing the identification information is superimposed;
A demodulator that separates the acoustic ID from the collected voice and demodulates the identification information from the acoustic ID;
A storage unit for storing the demodulated identification information;
An operation unit that accepts user operations;
When the operation unit is operated, an identification information resolution unit that acquires the address information by transmitting the identification information stored in the storage unit to a predetermined server;
A content access unit that accesses the content server specified by the acquired address information;
A mobile terminal device. Computer
Means for picking up a sound on which an acoustic ID obtained by modulating and acousticizing identification information is superimposed;
Means for separating the acoustic ID from the collected voice and demodulating the identification information from the acoustic ID;
Means for storing demodulated identification information;
Means for accepting user operations;
Means for transmitting stored identification information to a predetermined server and obtaining address information when an operation by the user is performed;
Means for accessing the content server specified by the acquired address information;
Program to function as.

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