Program Selection Support Device

• US 20070211158A1
• Filed: 06/08/2005
• Published: 09/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Icho, Keiji
• Granted Patent: US 8,402,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/333.20
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7328 Query by example, e.g. a complete video frame or video sequence graphical querying G06F16/7335
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/443 OS processes, e.g. booting an STB, implementing a Java virtual machine in an STB or power management in an STB
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8405 represented by keywords

Abstract

When searching for programs similar to a program designated by a viewer, a program selection support device not only searches for similar programs based on program-related information such as program contents, but also determines an algorithm used for similarity judgment based on viewer-related information, such as a program viewing history of a viewer, personal information of the viewer, evaluations by other viewers, and information added by a program producer, or based on a category of the designated program, and searches for similar programs using the determined algorithm. The program selection support device displays the programs found as a result of the search.

Claims

1. A program selection support device comprising:

a program information acquisition unit operable to acquire program information of each of a plurality of programs, the program information including an element used for a predetermined similarity judgment;

a viewer information acquisition unit operable to acquire viewer information relating to a viewer;

a program designation unit operable to designate a program;

a determination unit operable to determine an algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit;

a search unit operable to search for programs similar to the program designated by the program designation unit using the algorithm determined by the determination unit, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit; and

a display unit operable to display program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search unit, in an order of similarity based on the similarity judgment using the algorithm determined by the determination unit.

2. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the program designated by the program designation unit is made up of a plurality of segments having different playback times,

the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit further includes segment information for specifying each segment,

the program designation unit further designates segment information specifying a segment in the designated program,

the search unit searches for the programs that include segments similar to the segment specified by the segment information designated by the program designation unit using the algorithm determined by the determination unit, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit, and

the display unit displays the program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search unit, and segment identification information for identifying the segments similar to the specified segment.

3. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit is information created by a producer of a corresponding program.

4. The program selection support device of claim 1 further comprising:

a recording unit operable to record a program,

wherein if any of the programs found by the search unit has been recorded by the recording unit, the display unit displays recording information indicating that the program has been recorded, together with the program identification information.

5. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the search unit further extracts, for each of the programs found by the search unit, a reason why the program is similar to the program designated by the program designation unit, and

the display unit displays information showing the extracted reason, together with the program identification information.

6. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the display unit further displays a program guide, with parts of the program guide that show the programs found by the search unit being displayed in a different state from remaining parts that show other programs, and

the program designation unit designates the program on the program guide displayed by the display unit.

7. The program selection support device of claim 1 further comprising:

a viewing history acquisition unit operable to acquire viewing history information showing programs which have been viewed by the viewer,

wherein the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit is the viewing history information.

8. The program selection support device of claim 7,

wherein the viewing history information includes genres of the viewed programs, and

the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit shows a genre, among the genres included in the viewing history information, which has been viewed by the viewer with a frequency higher than a predetermined frequency.

9. The program selection support device of claim 7,

wherein the viewing history information includes keywords appearing in program information of the viewed programs, and

the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit shows a keyword, among the keywords included in the viewing history information, which appears at least a predetermined number of times in the program information of the viewed programs.

10. The program selection support device of claim 1 further comprising:

a personal information acquisition unit operable to acquire personal information of the viewer,

wherein the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit is the personal information.

11. The program selection support device of claim 10,

wherein the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit includes language information for specifying a language used in a corresponding program,

the personal information acquired by the personal information acquisition unit includes information about a language usable by the viewer, and

the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit shows the language usable by the viewer.

12. The program selection support device of claim 10,

wherein the determination unit determines the algorithm in accordance with a type based on the personal information of the viewer.

13. The program selection support device of claim 12 further comprising:

an evaluation acquisition unit operable to acquire evaluation information showing an evaluation of an other viewer on each of the plurality of programs,

wherein the algorithm determined by the determination unit indicates that an evaluation of an other viewer of a same type as the viewer is no less than a predetermined evaluation.

14. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit further includes area information for specifying an area where a corresponding program is broadcast,

the program selection support device further comprises:

a location acquisition unit operable to acquire location information about a location of the program selection support device, and

the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit shows whether the location shown by the location information acquired by the location acquisition unit belongs to the area specified by the area information.

15. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein if the program selection support device has a plurality of viewers, the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit is summarized viewer information obtained by summarizing viewer information of each of the plurality of viewers, and

the determination unit determines the algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the summarized viewer information.

16. The program selection support device of claim 1,

wherein the algorithm determined by the determination unit is for searching, as the programs similar to the program designated by the program designation unit, for programs which are selected using a predetermined algorithm based on the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit and which comply with the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit.

17. The program selection support device of claim 1, further comprising:

a category acquisition unit operable to acquire a category which is judged based on the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit and to which the program designated by the program designation unit belongs,

wherein the determination unit determines the algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit and the category acquired by the category acquisition unit.

18. A computer program for causing a program selection support device to perform a program search process, the program search process comprising steps of:

acquiring program information of each of a plurality of programs, the program information including an element used for a predetermined similarity judgment;

acquiring viewer information relating to a viewer;

designating a program;

determining an algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition step;

searching for programs similar to the program designated by the program designation step using the algorithm determined by the determination step, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition step; and

displaying program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search step, in an order of similarity based on the similarity judgement using the algorithm determined by the determination step.

19. A program search method used in a program selection support device, the program search method comprising steps of:

acquiring program information of each of a plurality of programs, the program information including an element used for a predetermined similarity judgment;

acquiring viewer information relating to a viewer;

designating a program;

determining an algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition step;

searching for programs similar to the program designated by the program designation step using the algorithm determined by the determination step, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition step; and

displaying program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search step, in an order of similarity based on the similarity judgment using the algorithm determined by the determination step.

20. An integrated circuit for a program selection support device, the integrated circuit comprising:

a program information acquisition unit operable to acquire program information of each of a plurality of programs, the program information including an element used for a predetermined similarity judgment;

a viewer information acquisition unit operable to acquire viewer information relating to a viewer;

a program designation unit operable to designate a program;

a determination unit operable to determine an algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the viewer information acquired by the viewer information acquisition unit;

a search unit operable to search for programs similar to the program designated by the program designation unit using the algorithm determined by the determination unit, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit; and

a display unit operable to display program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search unit, in an order of similarity based on the similarity judgment using the algorithm determined by the determination unit.

21. A program selection support device comprising:

a program information acquisition unit operable to acquire program information of each of a plurality of programs, the program information including an element used for a predetermined similarity judgment;

a program designation unit operable to designate a program;

a category acquisition unit operable to acquire a category which is judged based on the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit and to which the program designated by the program designation unit belongs;

a determination unit operable to determine an algorithm used for the similarity judgment, based on the category acquired by the category acquisition unit;

a search unit operable to search for programs similar to the program designated by the program designation unit using the algorithm determined by the determination unit, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit; and

a display unit operable to display program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search unit in an order of similarity based on the similarity judgment using the algorithm determined by the determination unit.

22. The program selection support device of claim 21,

wherein the program designated by the program designation unit is made up of a plurality of segments having different playback times,

the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit further includes segment information for specifying each segment,

the program designation unit further designates segment information specifying a segment in the designated program,

the search unit searches for the programs that include segments similar to the segment specified by the segment information designated by the program designation unit using the algorithm determined by the determination unit, with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit, and

the display unit displays the program identification information for identifying the programs found by the search unit, and segment identification information for identifying the segments similar to the specified segment.

23. The program selection support device of claim 21, further comprising:

a recording unit operable to record a program,

wherein if any of the programs found by the search unit has been recorded by the recording unit, the display unit displays recording information indicating that the program has been recorded, together with the program identification information.