Information processing system, server, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To provide a server that can display effects in live distribution.SOLUTION: The server includes: a first receiving unit that receives information on gifts purchased from an EC site and purchase information indicating viewers having purchased the gifts; a second receiving unit that receives effects created by viewers from viewer terminals; an identification unit that identifies the effects on the basis of the purchase information; and a first transmission unit that transmits information on the effects identified by the identification unit to the distributors' terminals.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, a server, an information processing method, and a program for superimposing and displaying an effect on a distribution video.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the rapid development of the Internet, services for distributing videos to specific or unspecified viewers, including live distribution, have also become widespread. In such live distribution, even an ordinary person can perform a live broadcast for viewers using a smartphone, a personal computer, a tablet, or the like. Generally, viewers can select a distributor according to their preferences and watch the live distribution, and not only send messages in the chat window during the live broadcast, but also purchase a product (also referred to as a gift, present, or donation. The viewer does not have to be a digital gift) for the distributor, and can pour enthusiasm into the distributor in the form of so-called tipping.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying an effect in response to a viewer purchasing a digital gift for a distributor when the viewer sends a gift to the distributor. Here, an effect refers to adding some effect by performing image or audio processing on the live distribution video, and may be, for example, superimposing a predetermined image on the live distribution video or synthesizing and outputting a predetermined audio.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, although Patent Document 1 describes displaying an effect when purchasing a digital gift, this effect is prepared by a website, and there is a problem of low freedom.

[0006] In view of such problems, the present disclosure has been made, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing system, a server, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can display an effect with high freedom for viewers in the display of an effect in a live distribution.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] One embodiment of the present invention is an information processing system including a distributor terminal of a distributor who performs distribution, a viewer terminal of a viewer who views the distribution, a distribution server that relays a distribution video, and a server that performs effect processing. The server includes a first receiving unit that receives purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and information on a viewer who purchased the gift, a second receiving unit that receives an effect created by a viewer from the viewer terminal, a specifying unit that specifies an effect based on the purchase information, and a first transmitting unit that transmits information on the effect specified by the specifying unit to the distributor terminal. The viewer terminal includes a purchasing unit that purchases a gift from an EC site, a second transmitting unit that transmits an effect created by a viewer to the server, a third receiving unit that receives a distribution video from the distribution server, and a first display unit that displays a video with an effect superimposed on the distribution video. The distributor terminal includes a third transmitting unit that transmits a distribution video of the distributor to the distribution server, a fourth receiving unit that receives information on the effect specified by the specifying unit from the server, and a second display unit that, when receiving information on the effect, superimposes the information on the effect on the distribution video and displays it. The third transmitting unit transmits the effect superimposed on the distribution video to the distribution server when the fourth receiving unit has received information on the effect. In the above information processing system, the server may be characterized by including a registration unit that registers, as corresponding information associating information indicating a viewer and information including an effect, in a storage unit. In the above information processing system, the registration unit may be characterized by examining whether the effect indicated in the corresponding information is registrable, registering the corresponding information that has passed the examination in the storage unit, and not registering the corresponding information that has not passed the examination in the storage unit. In the above information processing system, the server may be characterized by including a fifth receiving unit that receives information including a comment from a distribution server, and a detection unit that detects a keyword set in advance from the comment, and the specifying unit may specify an effect from the corresponding information associating the keyword and the effect based on the keyword when the detection unit detects the keyword from the comment. In the above information processing system, the server may be characterized by setting a URL of an EC site for each distributor terminal, and the viewer accesses the URL set for the distributor terminal of the distribution video being viewed by the viewer, and inputs information necessary to purchase a gift to purchase the gift. In the above information processing system, the first display unit may be characterized by displaying a superimposed video including at least one of information indicating the nickname of the viewer who has purchased a gift and a comment, and the distribution video received together with the effect. In the above information processing system, the second display unit may be characterized by superimposing and displaying at least one of information indicating the nickname of the viewer who has purchased a gift and a comment on the distribution video received together with the effect. The server in the above information processing system includes a first receiving unit that receives purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and the viewer who purchased the gift, a second receiving unit that receives an effect created by the viewer from a viewer terminal, a specifying unit that specifies an effect based on the purchase information, and a first transmitting unit that transmits information on the effect specified by the specifying unit to the distributor terminal. An information processing method including: a first receiving step of a computer receiving purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and a viewer who purchased the gift; a second receiving step of receiving an effect created by the viewer from a viewer terminal; a specifying step of specifying an effect based on the purchase information; and a first transmitting step of transmitting information on the effect specified in the specifying step to a distributor terminal. A program for causing a computer to realize a first receiving function of receiving purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and a viewer who purchased the gift, a second receiving function of receiving an effect created by the viewer from a viewer terminal, a specifying function of specifying an effect based on the purchase information, and a first transmitting function of transmitting information on the effect specified by the specifying function to a distributor terminal.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, since an effect with a high degree of freedom set by the viewer can be superimposed on the distribution video, an effect expression with a high degree of freedom can be achieved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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Embodiment for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, the same or equivalent components, processes, and signals shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are omitted as appropriate. Also, some of the components that are not important for explanation in each drawing are omitted from the display.

[0011] <Summary> As shown in FIG. 1, the live distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a server terminal 100, a viewer terminal 200, a distributor terminal 300, an EC terminal 400, and a distribution server 500, which are communicably connected to each other via a network NW. In the live distribution system, the distribution video distributed from the distributor terminal 300 is relayed to the viewer terminal 200 via the distribution server 500. When viewing the distribution video, a viewer of the viewer terminal 200 can purchase a gift for the distributor via the EC site provided by the EC terminal 400. At this time, the server terminal 100 receives the purchase information that the viewer has purchased the gift. Also, the server terminal 100 identifies an effect using the purchase information. The effect 600 here may be an effect previously registered by a certain viewer in the server terminal 100, or an effect created by the viewer himself / herself. After registering information regarding the effect, the server terminal 100 transmits the information regarding the effect to the distributor terminal 300. The information regarding the effect registered in the distributor terminal 300 is superimposed on the distribution video and transmitted to the distribution server 500. In the live distribution system, since the viewer can place an effect created by himself / herself on the distribution video of the distributor, the viewer can set the effect with a high degree of freedom, and by showing the originality of the viewer, the viewer can impress the distributor. The effect in the present invention may be any of the freely set character type effects, shape / image type effects, audio type effects, and animation effects for the distributed video as described above, or a combination of two or more of these. Note that the effect here may be any of the character type effects, shape / image type effects, audio type effects, and animation effects prepared in advance by the server terminal 100, or a combination of two or more of these. This will be described in detail below.

[0012] Note that the server terminal 100 in the present embodiment may be realized by a single information processing device as shown in FIG. 1, or may be realized by distributed computing using a plurality of information processing devices connected to the network NW.

[0013] Also, the effect displayed in response to the purchase of a product is not limited to one. For example, even if a plurality of viewers purchase the same gift, the effect can also be displayed differently according to the settings of the viewers.

[0014] The distribution server 500 acquires the comment received from the viewer terminal 200 and the distributed video including the state and audio from the distributor terminal 300. Then, the distribution server 500 can perform a relay function and distribute the distributed video to a plurality of viewer terminals 200 at the same time.

[0015] The server terminal 100 obtains purchase information indicating that a gift has been purchased from the viewer terminal 200, and identifies the effect to be displayed based on the purchase information. Further, the server terminal 100 may review and register the effect created by the viewer and uploaded from the viewer terminal 200 as the effect.

[0016] The distributor terminal 300 can receive information about the effect from the server terminal 100, superimpose it on the distributed video, and transmit it to the distribution server 500.

[0017] Thus, in the live distribution system according to this embodiment, viewers can freely set effects on the viewer terminal 200. Note that the distributor terminal 300 can superimpose effects (for example, not only can use the effects set by the viewers themselves, but also can select the effects already prepared in the server terminal 100) on the distribution video of the distributor, and then display the superimposed video on the display units of the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300 via the distribution server 500.

[0018] Next, the effects created by the viewers will be described below. The character type effect consists of just a combination of each character. When setting the character type effect, it is possible to set the character format. Specifically, the font, size, bold, italic, underline of the text, and the color of the text can be changed.

[0019] The shape / image type effect means that the viewer may set the shape and image on the viewer terminal 200. As an example, while following each design tool installed in the server terminal 100, the viewer can freely design the shape and image using points, lines, and planes. At this time, the colors of the points, lines, and planes, and the thickness of the dotted line can be freely set.

[0020] Next, the audio type effect is an effect in which the viewer freely uploads the audio to the server terminal 100. It may be the audio pre-recorded by the viewer, or the viewer may set the effect and record it at the same time.

[0021] The animation effect is an effect in which the viewer creates an animation using the tools installed in the server terminal 100 or external applications other than the functions installed in the server terminal 100, and uses it as an effect. As an example of the animation effect, the animation set by the viewer himself / herself may be used as an effect, or the viewer can upload existing animations, pictures including images, etc. on the Internet to the server terminal 100 as effects.

[0022] <Configuration> <Server terminal 100> As shown in FIG. 2, the server terminal 100 includes a receiving unit 110, a first control unit 120, a first transmitting unit 130, and a storage unit 140. The server terminal 100 is a computer including a processor and a memory, and the first control unit 120 may correspond to the processor, and the storage unit 140 may correspond to the memory. The processor executes a program stored in the memory to realize the functions that the server terminal 100 should realize. While processing various information (including effect information, purchase information, comment information, etc.) received from the receiving unit 110, the first control unit 120 can transmit the processed information to the distributor terminal 300 via the first transmitting unit 130. That is, various information can be associated for each information source via the server terminal 100 (for example, after viewer A creates effect a, the first control unit 120 associates effect a with viewer A and manages the information as a set).

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving unit 110 is divided into a first receiving unit 111, a second receiving unit 112, and a fifth receiving unit 113 to function. The receiving unit 110 can receive information from each terminal (not limited to purchase information of a gift purchased from an EC site, effect information uploaded by a viewer, etc., but also personal information of a viewer or a distributor, a message transmitted from a viewer (which may be a so-called comment from a viewer to a distributor)).

[0024] The first receiving unit 111 in the receiving unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 can receive information on a gift purchased from an EC site and information on a purchaser who purchased the gift. The first receiving unit 111 may pass the received information to the first control unit 120.

[0025] The second receiver 112 in the receiver 110 shown in FIG. 2 is an effect to be displayed on the distribution video when the viewer gives a gift to the distributor, and receives information on the effect created by the viewer himself / herself. Further, the second receiver 112 may receive, as the effect to be displayed, information on an effect selected from a plurality of effects prepared in advance in the server terminal 100.

[0026] The first control unit 120 shown in FIG. 2 is a processor having a function of controlling each part of the server terminal 100. The first control unit 120 executes various programs stored in the storage unit 140, refers to various data stored in the storage unit 140, and performs the functions of the server terminal 100. The first control unit 120 functions as a URL allocation unit 121, a registration unit 122, a specifying unit 123, and a detection unit 124.

[0027] The URL allocation unit 121 can allocate a product purchase URL of an EC site to be used for each distributor when the viewer sends a gift. By uniquely allocating a product purchase URL to each distributor, even if the viewer purchases a gift for one of the distributors while watching a plurality of distributions at the same time, the first control unit 120 can specify for which distributor the viewer has purchased the gift.

[0028] The purchase URL is the URL of the EC site that sells the product to be given to the distributor when the viewer accesses the distribution URL. Further, this purchase URL is a URL on the EC site provided by the EC terminal 400, and the server terminal 100 allocates a unique purchase URL according to each distributor. When the viewer makes a gifting to the distributor, the viewer purchases the product to be given to the distributor by accessing the purchase URL corresponding to the distributor.

[0029] When a viewer attempts to give a gift to a streamer, it is preferable to freely set and review the effects corresponding to the gift. To prepare for the review of the effects by the first control unit 120, the effects created by the viewer and transmitted from the viewer terminal 200 are temporarily stored in the information storage database provided in the storage unit 140.

[0030] Alternatively, the effects set by the viewer may be reviewed by the registration unit 122 before being transmitted to the streamer terminal 300. When the registration unit 122 receives a registration request for effect information from the viewer terminal 200, it reviews whether the effect indicated by the effect information is registrable, and only the effects that pass the review rules can be registered in the registration unit 122. Also, when the viewer permits other viewers to use the effect, the registration unit 122 may register it in the storage unit 140 as freely usable effect information. The review may be, for example, a review in which strings or images (so-called prohibited words and prohibited images) indicating expressions that violate public order and good customs, such as expressions that are not registrable in advance, are learned in advance, and the effect cannot be registered if it corresponds to these, and can be registered if it does not correspond, and may be realized by pattern matching or the like. In addition, there may be a function to deliberately avoid the previously prepared prohibited words and prohibited images, detect pronunciations similar to the prohibited words, or images that are likely to be imagined or associated by others and violate the review rules. Alternatively, the review may be one in which an operator (i.e., a censor) of the server terminal 100 actually views and reviews the effect.

[0031] As review criteria, for example, effects that include information violating public order and good customs, such as slander against the streamer or other viewers in the stream room, information that can be interpreted as obscene, and unnecessary promotional advertisements, may be considered not to meet the review criteria. Also, effects from viewers who violate the rules and manners during the stream by more than a predetermined amount may not be reviewed or registered. Violating the rules and manners during the stream by more than a predetermined amount may mean that the number of times the viewer has violated the rules and manners defined by the server terminal 100 as rules during the stream exceeds a predetermined number of times.

[0032] Note that the registration unit 122 of the first control unit 120 mounted on the processor has a function of reviewing effects, and can also delete information that does not meet the review criteria.

[0033] As an example of an embodiment related to the review, the registration unit 122 may create a learning model for review based on the information stored in the storage unit 140. Specifically, the learning model for review is a learning model assumed to be used as a program that is part of artificial intelligence software, and stores data that can be used for setting and modifying review criteria while being based on the analysis target characters and images registered in advance through technologies related to machine learning such as pattern matching. The learning model may be stored in the storage unit 140 in advance, and this learning model may be created by a device other than the server terminal 100.

[0034] In addition, the server terminal 100 reviews the effects temporarily stored in the information storage database of the storage unit 140 according to a predetermined review criterion through technologies such as morphological analysis and shape recognition. The method of reviewing the effects is not limited to morphological analysis and shape recognition technologies, and the effects may also be reviewed by humans. That is, the effects received by the first control unit 120 of the server terminal 100 are output, and the operator of the server terminal 100 may determine whether the output of the effects is acceptable for distribution by looking at (or listening to) the output of the effects.

[0035] In the review method according to an embodiment of the present invention, when reviewing the uploaded effects using techniques such as morphological analysis and shape recognition, when the viewer sets a character-type effect, the server terminal 100 divides the character-type effect according to the subject and predicate, and reviews the words (so-called natural language) of each subject and predicate while following the review criteria. For example, after the viewer uploads the character-type effect A, the character-type effect A is divided into B (subject) + C (predicate) by the morphological analysis method. If a part of the divided natural language units B (subject) and C (predicate) matches or partially matches the preset criteria, the reception of the character-type effect may be blocked. In addition, when using word collocations among the divided natural language units B (subject) and C (predicate), it is also possible to detect natural language units that match or partially match the review criteria.

[0036] On the other hand, when the viewer sets effects such as shapes and images with dotted lines, the server terminal 100 can use machine learning techniques such as shape recognition to perform the review while comparing the uploaded shape / image-type effect with the pre-registered pattern. Specifically, before reviewing the shape / image-type effect, the server terminal 100 stores and digitizes malicious images and shapes and sets a threshold. For example, after identifying what the image or shape shown in the effect uploaded by the viewer is (that is, identifying the pattern of the uploaded effect), the matching degree of the effect is calculated for each pixel or pixel unit. Then, the matching degree of the shape / image-type effect is compared with the threshold preset in the server terminal 100. If it exceeds the threshold, the shape / image-type effect does not meet the review criteria, and the effect is deleted from the storage unit 140. Conversely, if the matching degree of the shape / image-type effect is lower than the threshold, the shape / image-type effect is considered to be in line with the review criteria, and the effect is recognized as being able to be specified and registered.

[0037] The effects that have passed the review are registered in the information storage database of the storage unit 140 through the registration unit 122, and preparations are made to display them on the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300. The correspondence of each piece of information (effects and purchaser information) registered in the registration unit 122 may be performed on the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300.

[0038] The information regarding the effects registered by the registration unit 122 may be transmitted to the distributor terminal 300 via the server terminal 100. On the other hand, if the review by the registration unit 122 has not been passed, the effects are deleted from the information storage database of the storage unit 140, and the server terminal 100 does not transmit any effect information to the distributor terminal 300.

[0039] The specifying unit 123 can specify the effects set by the viewer himself or the effects stored in the server terminal 100 from the purchase information indicating that the viewer has purchased a product. Specifically, the purchase information may include a viewer identifier capable of identifying the viewer who purchased the gift, a distributor identifier indicating which distributor the gift is for, and further a gift identifier indicating what gift was purchased. The specifying unit 123 extracts the viewer identifier from the purchase information and specifies the effect information associated with the viewer identifier in the storage unit 140. This effect information may be effect information created in advance by the viewer and registered in the server terminal 100 by the viewer. In addition, when the specifying unit 123 receives designation information for designating any one of a plurality of effects prepared by the server terminal 100 and a display request for the effect designated by the designation information from the viewer terminal 200 or the distributor terminal 300, the specifying unit 123 may specify the effect based on this designation information. Also, by storing various conditions in the distribution in the storage unit 140 as predetermined conditions and associating and storing the effect information to be used when each condition is satisfied, the specifying unit 123 can specify the effect when the predetermined condition is satisfied. For example, the fireworks effect may be specified on the condition that the number of viewers watching the distributed video exceeds a predetermined number.

[0040] As described above, the first control unit 120 shown in FIG. 2 can identify an effect by the function of the identification unit 123 based on the information received by the reception unit 110. That is, the identification unit 123 can identify an effect from the purchase information of a viewer when one viewer makes a gifting to one distributor, and can also identify the effect individually even when multiple viewers each gift a gift to a distributor who they are watching at the same time. For example, assume that viewer A and viewer B have purchased gift a and gift b respectively. At this time, the server terminal 100 receives purchase information A1 including a viewer identifier indicating viewer A and a distributor identifier indicating a distributor associated with the URL of the EC site where viewer A purchased the gift from the EC terminal 400. Similarly, the server terminal 100 receives purchase information B1 including a viewer identifier indicating viewer B and a distributor identifier indicating a distributor associated with the URL of the EC site where viewer B purchased the gift from the EC terminal 400. The identification unit 123 extracts the viewer identifier of the viewer who purchased the gift based on the purchase information A1, and identifies the effect α associated with the viewer identifier from the storage unit 140. Similarly, the identification unit 123 extracts the viewer identifier of the viewer who purchased the gift based on the purchase information B1, and identifies the effect β associated with the viewer identifier from the storage unit 140. The effect α identified by the identification unit 123 in this way will be transmitted to the distributor terminal 300, and the identified effect β will be transmitted to the distributor terminal 300. Also, it is possible to integrate the identified information as a set and store it in the storage unit 140.

[0041] In the above, the server terminal 100 superimposes the effect created by the viewer on the distribution video and displays it on the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300 triggered by the fact that the viewer has purchased a gift for the distributor. However, the display timing of the effect is not limited to this. For example, the server terminal 100 may superimpose the superimposed video with the effect on the distribution video on the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300 triggered by the fact that the viewer who is watching the distribution opens the effect display menu and selects the effect.

[0042] Also, for example, the server terminal 100 may be configured to display an effect triggered by the fact that the viewer has commented with a specific keyword in the comment column. Specifically, the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100 stores in advance in a table that associates a specific keyword with the effect to be displayed when the specific keyword is commented. Subsequently, since the fifth receiving unit 113 of the server terminal 100 can receive the viewer's comment from the distribution server 500, after receiving the viewer's comment from the distribution server 500, the detection unit 124 of the first control unit 120 of the server terminal 100 performs morphological analysis on the comment sent by the viewer based on the keyword stored in the storage unit 140, and divides the comment into the smallest unit of the expression element having meaning. A word that matches the keyword stored in the storage unit 140 is detected in the divided words.

[0043] Then, the first control unit 120 determines whether the extracted word corresponds to any of the specific keywords in the table stored in the storage unit 140. When the word corresponds to any of the specific keywords, the specifying unit 123 of the first control unit 120 specifies the effect associated with the specific keyword. Then, the information regarding the effect specified by the first control unit 120 is transmitted to the distributor terminal 300 via the first transmission unit 130. In this way, the server terminal 100 may be configured to display an effect triggered by a comment made by a viewer or a distributor. The specific keyword may be any keyword, but it is a phrase often used in distribution or the like, and may be a phrase such as a greeting or encouragement. As a specific example, phrases such as "like", "good morning", "thank you for your hard work", "fight!", "come on", "stand by", etc. may be used as keywords, but it is not limited to these. By configuring in this way, the viewer can display an effect on the distribution video just by making a comment without selecting an effect.

[0044] For example, as shown in FIG. 19, a viewer inputs a phrase such as "like" in the comment input field 705 on the viewer terminal 200. When the send button is pressed, the phrase is first transmitted to the distribution server 500. When the distribution server 500 receives this phrase, it transfers this comment to the server terminal 100. Then, it is checked whether the phrase is among the phrases corresponding to the effects stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100. If not, this phrase is directly displayed in the comment fields of each viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300. When the phrase is stored in the server terminal 100 in association with an effect, the effect 708 corresponding to the phrase such as "like" can be simultaneously displayed on the displays of the distributor and each viewer.

[0045] The first transmission unit 130 transmits the information regarding the effect registered in the registration unit 122 to the distributor terminal 300. Specifically, the first transmission unit 130 may transmit information regarding a specified effect to the distributor terminal 300 based on an instruction from the first control unit 120. Here, the information regarding the effect is information for generating a video in which the effect is superimposed on the distributed video at the distributor terminal 300. As an example, the information regarding the effect may be information in which the effect specified by the specifying unit 123 is displayed on a transparent layer superimposed on the distributed video. In this case, the distributor terminal 300 can generate a distributed video with the effect superimposed by superimposing the layer on the distributed video. Further, when the distributor terminal 300 holds information on the effect to be displayed, the information regarding the effect may be information indicating any one of those effects (identification information of the effect). Further, the information regarding the effect may be information including the effect to be displayed and its display instruction (command).

[0046] <Viewer terminal 200> As shown in FIG. 3, the viewer terminal 200 is an information processing device having a processor and a memory. By the processor executing a program stored in the memory, the functions of four components, namely, a third reception unit 210, a purchase unit 220, a second transmission unit 230, and a first display unit 240, can be realized. Further, as an example, the viewer terminal 200 may be realized by a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a notebook PC, or the like. The viewer terminal 200 may include configurations other than the above-described units, such as an input unit for inputting comments and a control unit for storing comment information in the viewer terminal 200 and reviewing the comments. In this case, a configuration such as a storage / review unit for storing and reviewing viewer comment information may be provided in the server terminal 100 or may be provided in the distribution server 500.

[0047] The third receiving unit 210 shown in FIG. 3 can receive the distribution video transmitted from the distribution server 500. Further, the third receiving unit 210 may receive information other than the distribution video, for example, a URL for product purchase by the EC terminal 400, from the server terminal 100 or the distribution server 500. The third receiving unit 210 transmits the received information to a control unit (not shown) of the viewer terminal 200. Thereby, based on an instruction from the control unit, the distribution video is displayed on the display of the viewer terminal 200 by the first display unit 240.

[0048] The purchasing unit 220 of the viewer terminal 200 is connected to an external EC site by the EC terminal 400. The viewer can purchase an item of interest on the EC site corresponding to the distributor of the distribution video being viewed via the purchasing unit 220. The viewer terminal 200 may view the distribution video via an application for viewing the distribution video distributed by the distribution server 500 or a specific website set for the distributor, and a button for giving a gift to the distributor may be provided on the application or the website. When the viewer of the viewer terminal 200 presses (clicks) the button when trying to give a gift to the distributor, the purchasing unit 220 accesses the purchase URL associated with the distributor and accesses the distributor-specific EC site of the EC terminal 400. Thereby, the purchasing unit 220 can display the distributor-specific EC site corresponding to the distributor on the first display unit 240, and the viewer can recognize the products that can be purchased from the distributor.

[0049] On the EC site of each distributor, the products sold by the EC terminal 400 may be determined, or it is also possible to determine the products sold by the server terminal 100. Further, it may be determined that the distributor itself intends to sell the products. The prices of these products can also be set arbitrarily.

[0050] In the EC terminal 400 in this embodiment, it is possible to sell products related to the distribution activities of the distributor (usually, gifts that can be given to the distributor during live distribution are only digital gifts or stamps. The products sold in the present invention are not limited to digital products or stamps, and may be real gifts). The server terminal 100 provides the viewer with a dedicated product purchase URL for each distributor.

[0051] As a result, one distributor has a unique distribution URL and a unique product purchase URL, and when the viewer makes a gift to the distributor, it is possible to prevent confusion due to multiple URLs.

[0052] In this embodiment, after the viewer purchases a gift, the effect that the viewer created in advance and registered in the server terminal 100 is transmitted to the distributor terminal 300 and superimposed on the distribution video at the distributor terminal 300. The effect to be superimposed on the distribution video may be set (determined) by the viewer at the timing of purchasing the gift. This determination may be made either before or after paying the money for the product. This determination of the effect may be to select an effect created by oneself, or to select an effect prepared in advance by the server terminal 100. The specification of the effect may be performed via an input unit (not shown) such as a mouse or keyboard of the viewer terminal 200.

[0053] The first display unit 240 shown in FIG. 3 can display, on the viewer's display, a video in which information regarding an effect designated by the server terminal 100 is superimposed on the distribution video. This effect may be an effect created by the viewer, as described above. When the viewer comments, the first display unit 240 not only displays the superimposed video having information regarding the effect, but may also simultaneously display at least either the viewer's nickname or the comment on the viewer's display. As an example, when the viewer inputs a comment including a keyword in the comment field, the first display unit 240 may simultaneously display the viewer's nickname and the superimposed video having information regarding the effect associated with the keyword on the viewer's display, or the first display unit 240 may simultaneously display the viewer's nickname, the comment including the keyword, and the superimposed video having information regarding the effect associated with the keyword on the viewer's display. Further, the first display unit 240 may display the distribution video without the effect superimposed thereon on the display. Further, the first display unit 240 may display the distributor's EC site on the display.

[0054] <Distributor terminal 300> As shown in FIG. 4, the distributor terminal 300 is an information processing apparatus having a processor and a memory, and when the processor executes a program stored in the memory, the distributor terminal 300 includes a third transmission unit 310, a microphone 320 that collects sound including the voice of the distributor, a camera 330 that images the distributor or the distributor's monitor, etc., a fourth reception unit 340, a second display unit 350, and a second control unit 360. Further, the distributor terminal 300 may be realized by, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a notebook PC, etc. However, the distributor terminal 300 is not limited to the above six parts, and additional installation of devices that enhance the effect of live distribution (for example, recording equipment for recording, or equipment that performs new functions that can be used during distribution such as AR·VR) is also possible.

[0055] The third transmitting unit 310 can transmit the audio and image (video) acquired from the microphone 320 and the camera 330 to the distribution server 500. The distributor terminal 300 may transmit the audio and the image to the distribution server 500 together, or may transmit them to the distribution server 500 separately.

[0056] Also, the method of transmitting the audio and the image to the distribution server 500 is determined by the distributor. For example, the audio and video acquired by the microphone 320 and the camera 330 may be immediately transmitted to the distribution server 500, or the distributor may check the content and then transmit it to the distribution server 500. That is, the time point at which the audio and image are transmitted to the distribution server 500 in the distributor terminal 300 can be freely set.

[0057] When the fourth receiving unit 340 receives information regarding an effect from the server terminal 100, the fourth receiving unit 340 passes the received information regarding the effect to the second control unit 360. The second control unit 360 superimposes the received information regarding the effect on the distribution video. The third transmitting unit 310 can transmit the superimposed video including both the distribution video and the information regarding the effect to the distribution server 500. On the other hand, when the fourth receiving unit 340 does not receive the information regarding the effect, the fourth receiving unit 340 of the distributor terminal 300 does not receive anything, and the third transmitting unit 310 transmits only the distribution video to the distribution server 500.

[0058] The second display unit 350 of the distributor terminal 300 shown in FIG. 4 can display on the distributor's display a superimposed video obtained by superimposing information about the effect registered in the registration unit 122 of the server terminal 100 on the distribution video. When a viewer comments, the second display unit 350 may not only display a superimposed video having information about the effect, but also display at least either the viewer's nickname or the comment on the viewer's display at the same time. As an example, when a viewer enters a comment including a keyword in the comment field, the second display unit 350 may display the viewer's nickname and a superimposed video having information about the effect associated with the keyword on the viewer's display at the same time, or the second display unit 350 may display the viewer's nickname, the comment including the keyword, and a superimposed video having information about the effect associated with the keyword on the viewer's display at the same time. Further, the second display unit 350 may display on the display a distribution video on which no effect is superimposed (that is, when the fourth receiving unit 340 has not received information about the effect).

[0059] Also, the distribution server 500 generates a dedicated URL for distribution used to distribute the distribution video and a dedicated URL for viewing used to view the distribution video. The distribution server 500 can generate a dedicated URL for distribution used to distribute the distribution video and transfer it to the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300. In this case, it is necessary to transfer a distributor-specific URL to the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300 so that the viewer can receive the distribution video smoothly. That is, the distribution video from the distributor terminal 300 is uploaded to the dedicated URL set for the distributor, and the distribution video of the distributor is provided to the viewer terminal via the dedicated URL for viewing provided corresponding to the distributor. Note that the dedicated URL for distribution and the dedicated URL for viewing may be the same URL.

[0060] <Data> The figure shown in FIG. 5 is a figure showing the attributes of viewers, which is information stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100. The attributes of viewers may be divided into viewer basic information shown in FIG. 5(a), purchaser basic information shown in FIG. 5(b), effect information shown in FIG. 5(c), product basic information shown in FIG. 5(d), and additional information shown in FIG. 5(e). Note that the attributes of viewers are not limited to this classification method.

[0061] The viewer basic information is data that identifies and verifies the owner of the virtual account by using personal information (which may include, for example, nickname, email address, name, contact information, etc.) when the viewer creates an account for viewing. Note that the viewer basic information may be stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100, or the data input by the viewer may also be stored in the viewer terminal 200.

[0062] Also, the purchaser basic information is the purchase information input by the viewer on the e-commerce site. Among them, except for the viewer's name and contact information, the purchaser's address, personal authentication information (that is, information indicating that the purchaser is the person himself / herself when purchasing a product), and payment means (for example, credit card payment or QR code (registered trademark) payment, etc.) may also be included. On the other hand, other information (such as name, address, etc.) is stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100 as identification information, and these information do not need to be displayed when the viewer makes a gift.

[0063] Also, the effect information is additional data superimposed on the distributed video, and may be information including images or sounds. The effect may be image data superimposed and displayed on the distributed video, may be an animation represented by a plurality of consecutive image data, or may be a video. These images, animations, and videos may include sounds. Also, the effect may be only sound. Such effect data such as images, animations, videos, and sounds transmitted from the viewer terminal 200 are stored in the storage unit 140.

[0064] The product basic information is information about products sold on the EC site, and may include, for example, product name, purchase price of the product, purchase product image, purchase quantity, purchase product description, etc. The additional information is information about the distributor that can be obtained from the server terminal 100 when the viewer is watching the distribution, and may include, for example, distributor information, distributor-related EC site, distributor-related gift information, distribution video information. When the viewer is watching the distribution, in order to complete the purchase procedure of the product while referring to the product basic information and the additional information, it is possible to grasp in advance the information associated with the distributor as the viewer.

[0065] The figure shown in FIG. 6 is a figure showing the attributes of the distributor, and is information stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100. The attributes of the distributor are divided into the distributor basic information shown in FIG. 6(a), the distribution video information shown in FIG. 6(b), the product basic information shown in FIG. 6(c), and the recipient basic information shown in FIG. 6(d).

[0066] The distributor basic information includes information about the distributor (for example, stage name, name, address, contact information, personal authentication information, bank account information, etc.), and is information registered in the server terminal 100 when the distributor creates an account for distribution, and is data used to identify and confirm the owner of the account. Note that the distributor basic information may be stored in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100, or the data input by the distributor may be stored in the storage unit (not shown) of the distributor terminal 300.

[0067] The distribution video information is information constituting the distribution video distributed by the distributor (for example, including distributor voice information, screen information on the distributor side (which may be character information)). By displaying the distribution video information on the viewer terminal 200, the viewer can watch and recognize the distributor. Also, the distributor can appeal to the viewer through the distribution video. The distribution video information may be stored in the server terminal 100 or can be stored in the distributor terminal 300.

[0068] The product basic information is information about the product of the distributor sold on the EC site, and includes, for example, product name, purchase product price, purchase product image, number of purchased products, purchase product description, etc. The distributor's recipient basic information is information necessary for the distributor to receive the physical product purchased by the viewer, and may include, for example, stage name, name, address, contact information, personal authentication information. After the viewer inputs the information for purchasing a gift on the EC site, the viewer's purchase information is passed to the server terminal 100. In this case, the operator of the server terminal 100 procures the actual product purchased by the viewer. Then, the operator sends the procured actual product to the distributor based on the recipient basic information. The distributor's recipient basic information may be stored in the server terminal 100, or may be stored in the storage unit (not shown) of the distributor terminal 300.

[0069] When the viewer makes a gift to the distributor through the purchase unit 220 installed in the viewer terminal 200, it is assumed that the viewer cannot recognize the address of the distributor. Therefore, when purchasing a physical product, the viewer can make a purchase without entering the delivery address. Accordingly, when the viewer purchases a physical product as a gift, the operator of the server terminal 100 may obtain the physical gift based on the purchase information purchased by the viewer and send it to the address of the distributor indicated by the recipient basic information. Alternatively, when the server terminal 100 receives the purchase information from the EC terminal 400, the server terminal 100 may read the address information of the distributor indicated by the purchase information from the recipient basic information and send it to the EC terminal 400. The EC terminal 400 may send the product indicated by the purchase information with the received address information as the delivery address.

[0070] When the viewer makes a gift to the distributor, based on the information of the products displayed on the EC terminal 400 (including, for example, product price, product diagram, brief introduction of the product, etc.), the viewer can purchase a product that the viewer is interested in and make a gift to the distributor.

[0071] FIG. 7 is a data conceptual diagram of information held by the EC terminal 400, which shows the purchase history of viewers. As shown in FIG. 7, the information showing the purchase history is information in which a viewer ID, a gift name, a gift number, and a quantity are associated with each other. The viewer ID is unique identification information that can uniquely identify the purchaser who purchased the product (gift). The gift name is information indicating the name of the gift purchased by the purchaser indicated by the corresponding viewer ID. For example, it may include digital stamps such as "GG" and "Large Psyllium", and real gifts. The gift number is unique identification information associated with the gift to uniquely identify the gift indicated by the corresponding gift name on the information processing system. The quantity is information indicating the number of gifts indicated by the corresponding gift name purchased by the purchaser indicated by the corresponding viewer ID. The distribution URL is information indicating the URL used by the distributor during distribution, and is information that can identify which distributor's distribution activity the viewer is watching. Based on the information shown in FIG. 7, the EC terminal 400 generates and transmits purchase information to the server terminal 100 that includes at least the viewer ID and the distribution URL or the distributor ID specified from the distribution URL each time a product is purchased, and may also include information on the gift number and the purchased quantity.

[0072] The information shown in FIG. 8 is information held by the server terminal 100, and is a data conceptual diagram of information showing the effect by the viewer ID. The viewer ID is unique identification information that can uniquely identify the viewer, and is information referred to when identifying the effect based on the viewer ID shown in the purchase information received by the server terminal 100 when purchasing a product (gift). The effect is the expression effect set by the viewer when purchasing a product, and is information that appears in the distribution video of the distributor. Also, the effect information is divided into two types, there is an effect pre-stored in the server terminal 100, or it may be an effect set by oneself.

[0073] <Operation> Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 9, the setting of the effect of the information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the interaction between the server terminal 100 and the viewer terminal 200, which shows an example of the process from the free setting to the registration of the effect according to the present embodiment.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 9, the viewer terminal 200 creates an effect based on the input from the viewer (step 9-1). Regarding the creation of the effect, for example, the viewer may create it as an image using drawing software such as an illustration tool installed on the viewer terminal 200. When creating an effect on the viewer terminal 200, there is basically no restriction on the content of the effect. After creating the effect, the viewer terminal 200 transmits the effect created by the viewer to the server terminal 100 (step 9-2).

[0075] When the effect is transmitted from the viewer terminal 200 to the server terminal 100, the server terminal 100 receives the effect (step 9-3). The server terminal 100 stores the effect received from the viewer terminal 200 in the information storage database of the storage unit 140 (step 9-4).

[0076] After the server terminal 100 receives the effect from the viewer terminal 200, it examines whether the effect can be registered, that is, whether it is an effect that can be used in distribution (step 9-5). The server terminal 100 can delete bad effects by its algorithm or AI (so-called AI review), and it is also possible to realize the review of the effect content by a reviewer belonging to the server terminal 100 (so-called human review).

[0077] When the effect does not conform to the review criteria for registering the effect of the server terminal 100, the effect set by the viewer is deleted from the information storage database in the storage unit 140. At this time, the viewer may be able to reset (re-create) the effect. Also, when the same viewer uploads an effect that does not conform to the review criteria more than a predetermined number of times (the number of times can be set in advance in the server terminal 100), the registration unit 122 can also limit the function for the viewer to upload the effect. When the effect conforms to the review criteria, the server terminal 100 associates the viewer ID with the effect and registers it in the information storage database in the storage unit 140 from the registration unit 122 of the server terminal 100 (step 9-6).

[0078] Figure 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the interaction between each device in the distribution. The distribution server 500 can execute the function of relaying the distribution video received from the distributor terminal 300 and transmitting it to the viewer terminal 200. Specifically, the distributor terminal 300 acquires the distribution video of the distributor received by the microphone 320 and the camera 330 on the distributor side and transmits it to the distribution server 500 (step 10-1). When the distribution server 500 receives the distribution video from the distributor terminal 300, it transmits the received distribution video to the viewer terminal 200 that views the distribution video (step 10-2). The viewer terminal 200 receives the video from the distribution server 500 (step 10-3).

[0079] When a viewer who is watching a distributed video tries to give a gift to the distributor, the viewer terminal 200 accesses the EC site corresponding to the distributor and purchases a product (step 10-4). The EC terminal 400 receives the purchase from the viewer (step 10-5). In response to the purchase of the product by the viewer's action, the EC terminal 400 transmits purchase information including the viewer ID, the product purchased by the viewer, and the distributor ID to the server terminal 100 (step 10-6). Here, the purchase of the product may be a charge or a tip for the distributor. In this case, instead of the purchase information from the EC terminal 400, the distribution server 500 may transmit purchase information indicating that a charge or a tip has been made to the server terminal 100. The server terminal 100 receives the purchase information transmitted from the EC terminal 400 in response to the viewer terminal 200 purchasing a product (step 10-7). Next, the server terminal 100 identifies an effect from the purchase information. Information regarding the identified effect is transmitted to the distributor terminal 300 (step 10-8). After receiving the information regarding the identified effect (step 10-9), the distributor terminal 300 superimposes the information regarding the effect on the distributed video at the distributor terminal 300 to generate a superimposed video. The distributor terminal 300 transmits the distributed video with the information regarding the effect superimposed thereon to the distribution server 500 (step 10-10). At the same time, the distributor terminal 300 causes the video with the information regarding the effect superimposed thereon to be displayed and played back on the second display unit 350. When the viewer comments, at least one of the viewer's nickname and the comment may be displayed and played back on the second display unit 350 (step 10-13). Thereafter, the distribution server 500 relays the distributed video with the information regarding the effect superimposed thereon and transmits the superimposed video to the viewer terminal 200 (step 10-11). On the other hand, the viewer terminal 200 also receives the superimposed video from the distribution server 500 in the same manner (step 10-12). The received superimposed video is displayed on the first display unit 240 of the viewer terminal 200. When the viewer makes a comment, at least one of the viewer's nickname and the comment may be displayed and played on the first display unit 240 together with the superimposed video. (Step 10-14). As a result, triggered by the viewer purchasing a gift, the effects previously created by the viewer himself / herself are superimposed on the distribution video and displayed on the viewer terminals 200 of all viewers watching the distribution. Therefore, since the information processing system according to the embodiment can use the effects created by the viewer in the distribution, the degree of freedom of effect expression in the distribution can be improved as compared with the prior art.

[0080] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the process when the viewer comments on the distributor. The viewer transmits a comment on the distribution on the viewer terminal 200 (step 11-1). The distribution server 500 receives the comment transmitted from the viewer terminal 200 (step 11-2). In addition, the distribution server 500 transmits information regarding the received comment to the server terminal 100 (step 11-3). The server terminal 100 receives information regarding the comment from the distribution server 500 (step 11-4).

[0081] The server terminal 100 processes the information regarding the received comment, and when detecting a keyword previously stored in the storage unit 140 from the viewer's comment, identifies an effect from the detected keyword (step 11-5). On the other hand, when no keyword previously stored in the storage unit 140 is detected from the viewer's comment, the server terminal 100 simply executes the function of receiving the comment. In addition, the effect identified from the extracted keyword is transmitted to the distributor terminal 300 (step 11-6). The distributor terminal 300 receives the effect specified from the server terminal 100 (step 11-7). The distributor terminal 300 superimposes the effect specified from the keyword on the distribution video, and at the same time transmits the superimposed video to the distribution server 500 (step 11-8). Meanwhile, the second display unit 350 of the distributor terminal 300 plays and displays the superimposed video on the distributor-side display. When the viewer inputs a comment in the comment field, at least one of the viewer's nickname and the comment may be displayed and played on the second display unit 350 together with the superimposed video. (Step 11-13). After receiving the video after superimposition (step 11-9), the distribution server 500 transmits the superimposed video to the viewer terminal 200 (step 11-10). When the viewer terminal 200 receives the superimposed video from the distribution server 500 (step 11-11), the first display unit 240 plays and displays the superimposed video on the viewer-side display. When the viewer inputs a comment in the comment field, at least one of the viewer's nickname and the comment may be displayed and played on the first display unit 240 together with the superimposed video (step 11-12).

[0082] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the process when a viewer purchases a gift on the viewer terminal 200. As shown in FIG. 12, when the viewer of the viewer terminal 200 is watching the distribution video and intends to give a gift to the distributor, the viewer presses the gift purchase button shown on the application that displays the distribution video (step S101). The gift purchase button is a button that executes an access process to the dedicated URL of the EC site associated with the distributor of the displayed distribution video. When the pressing of the gift purchase button is received, the purchase unit 220 of the viewer terminal 200 accesses the dedicated URL corresponding to the distributor of the EC terminal 400 (step S102). The first display unit 240 of the viewer terminal 200 that accesses the dedicated URL displays the website of the dedicated URL on the web browser (it may also be displayed in an area different from the area for displaying the distribution video of the application for displaying the distribution video) (step S103). The viewer terminal 200 receives input information indicating the product that the viewer intends to give to the distributor, the number thereof, and the viewer's purchase procedure from the viewer who has viewed the displayed website (step S104). The viewer terminal 200 transmits the received input content to the EC site (step S105). Thereby, the purchase of the gift by the viewer of the viewer terminal 200 is completed. Note that at this time, this gift is only a contract that has been purchased by the viewer. After that, the purchase information is sent from the EC site to the server terminal 100, and the operator of the server terminal 100 who has viewed the content purchases the product and delivers it to the distributor.

[0083] Also, before purchasing a gift, the viewer inputs their purchase information (for example, full name, email address, billing address, contact information, etc.) to the EC site. The information input by the viewer is related to the effect and can be used to authenticate the identity of the purchaser as information that cannot be avoided when performing gifting.

[0084] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the relay function of the distribution server 500. The distribution server 500 receives the distribution video from the distributor terminal 300 (step S201). This distribution video may or may not have an effect superimposed. Specifically, when the server terminal 100 transmits information regarding the effect to the distributor terminal 300, the distribution video received by the distribution server 500 will have the effect superimposed. On the other hand, when the server terminal 100 does not transmit information regarding the effect to the distributor terminal 300, the distribution video received by the distribution server 500 is not the superimposed video with the effect superimposed, but simply the distribution video itself. After receiving the distribution video, distribution server 500 executes a relay function and transmits the distribution video to viewer terminal 200 (step S202). After that, if the distributor's distribution activity has not yet ended (NO in step S203), the process returns to step S201. On the other hand, when the distributor stops the distribution activity, the distribution server 500 does not receive the distribution video from the distributor terminal 300 (YES in step S203), and the transmission of the distribution video to the viewer terminal 200 is stopped.

[0085] FIG. 14 is a flow chat showing an example of an operation in which the server terminal 100 transmits information related to an effect to the distributor terminal 300. As shown in FIG. 14, the server terminal 100 first determines whether or not to receive comments from viewers from the distribution server 500 (step S301). When the second receiving unit 112 of the server terminal 100 receives a comment from the distribution server 500 (YES in step S301), the detection unit 124 of the server terminal 100 determines whether the received comment contains the keyword set in the memory unit 140 (step S302). When the detection unit 124 of the server terminal 100 detects a keyword (YES in step S302), the identification unit 123 identifies the effect set by the viewer from the keyword (step S303). The first transmitting unit 130 of the server terminal 100 transmits information A about the effect corresponding to the keyword to the distributor terminal 300 (step S304). If the detection unit 124 of the server terminal 100 does not detect the keyword (NO in step S302), the server terminal 100 will not process the comment and will not transmit anything to the distributor terminal 300.

[0086] On the other hand, when the second receiving unit 112 of the server terminal 100 has not received a comment from the distribution server 500 (NO in step S301), the first control unit 120 determines whether the first receiving unit 111 has received purchase information transmitted by the EC terminal 400 (step S305). If the purchase information has not been received (NO in step S305), that is, if the viewer neither comments on nor gifts the distributor, the process proceeds to the process of step S308. If the purchase information has been received (YES in step S305), that is, if the viewer has gifted the distributor, the specifying unit 123 can specify an effect from the purchase information (step S306). That is, the specifying unit 123 extracts the viewer ID from the information included in the purchase information, and if it matches the viewer ID in the table shown in FIG. 7, the effect is specified according to the viewer ID. Then, the first control unit 120 instructs the first transmitting unit 130 to transmit information regarding the specified effect to the distributor terminal 300. In accordance with the instruction, the first transmitting unit 130 transmits information B regarding the specified effect to the distributor terminal 300 (step S307). As a result, on the distributor terminal 300, the video with the effect superimposed on the distribution video is relayed via the distribution server 500, so that the distribution video with the effect superimposed thereon is displayed on the first display unit 240 of the viewer terminal 200 and the second display unit 350 of the distributor terminal 300. When the viewer comments, not only the superimposed video including the information regarding the effect but also at least either the viewer's nickname or the comment may be simultaneously displayed on the second display unit 350 together with the superimposed video. Finally, when the distributor stops uploading the distribution video to the distribution server 500, the server terminal 100 also ends the distribution simultaneously (YES in step S308). If the distribution does not end (NO in step S308), the server terminal 100 returns to the process of step S308 and executes the subsequent processes.

[0087] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a process in which the distributor terminal 300 uploads a distribution video to the distribution server 500. As shown in FIG. 15, the microphone 320 provided in the distributor terminal 300 can acquire the distribution voice of the distributor, and the camera 330 can acquire an image of the appearance or face of the distributor. The distributor terminal 300 transmits the distribution video composed of the acquired voice and appearance of the distributor to the distribution server 500 (step S401).

[0088] In addition, the distributor terminal 300 determines whether it has received information regarding an effect from the server terminal 100 (step S402). When receiving the information regarding the effect (YES in step S402), the second control unit 360 of the distributor terminal 300 superimposes the information regarding the effect on the distribution video and then transmits it to the distribution server 500 (step S403). When not receiving the information regarding the effect (NO in step S402), the distributor terminal 300 transmits a simple distribution video (a distribution video without an effect superimposed) to the distribution server 500. Then, the distributor terminal 300 determines whether the distributor continues the distribution activity (step S404). Finally, when the distributor terminal 300 once stops acquiring information such as voice and appearance for distribution from the distributor, the distribution also ends simultaneously (YES in step S404). When the distribution of the distributor does not end (NO in step S404), the server terminal 100 returns to step S401 and continues to transmit the distribution video to the distribution server 500.

[0089] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a process in which the server terminal 100 determines whether an effect created by a viewer conforms to the review criteria. As shown in FIG. 16, the second receiving unit 112 of the server terminal 100 first receives the effect created by the viewer from the viewer terminal 200 (step S501). Then, the second receiving unit 112 passes the received effect to the first control unit 120. The first control unit 120 temporarily stores the received effect in the information storage database of the storage unit 140 (step S502). Not all of the effects stored in the information storage database are registered. It is determined whether the effect can be registered according to the examination criteria (step S503). Specifically, the registration unit 122 determines whether the effect conforms to the examination criteria by using a predetermined algorithm or learning model as described above. If the effect does not violate public order and good customs and conforms to the examination criteria (YES in step S503), the registration unit 122 formally registers the effect in the storage unit 140 (step S504). If the effect does not conform to the examination criteria (NO in step S503), the temporarily stored effect is deleted from the storage unit 140 (step S505). Note that when the effect does not conform to the examination criteria, the server terminal 100 may notify the viewer terminal 200 to that effect and give an opportunity for correction. Alternatively, the registration unit 122 of the server terminal 100 may transmit information indicating the reason why the effect cannot be registered to the viewer terminal 200. In this case, the viewer terminal 200 may display the received information, whereby the viewer can recognize the reason why the effect was not registered.

[0090] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an EC site provided to the viewer terminal 200 by the EC terminal 400. FIG. 17(a) is a screen diagram showing an example in which products are displayed, and FIG. 17(b) is a screen diagram showing an example of a purchase screen. As shown in FIG. 17(a), gifts 501, 502, 503,... may be displayed as products. Although not shown, the appearance and price of these gifts may be displayed. These gifts may be physical products or digital gifts such as stamps for supporting the distributor. The display example in FIG. 17 is just an example, and the form of the EC site is not limited thereto.

[0091] Also, when the purchaser is purchasing the products placed in the cart 601, the purchaser can input the purchasing means and their personal information (e.g., nickname, contact information, billing address, etc.) on the purchase page. Also, the information 602 of the gift that the viewer is attempting to purchase is re-displayed on the EC site, and the purchaser can re-check the price and quantity of the products purchased.

[0092] When the viewer purchases a gift from the EC site and sends the information of purchasing the gift to the server terminal 100 after inputting their personal information, only the inputted nickname can be displayed. In this case, since only the effect and the nickname are displayed on the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300, the personal information of the viewer can be protected.

[0093] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of gift purchase and effect display when the viewer gives a gift to the distributor. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 18, the viewer can view the distribution screen 704 of the distributor 701 relayed from the distribution server 500. Also, a comment column 702 including the comment 703 made by the viewer viewing the distribution screen 704 may be displayed on the displays of the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300 according to the time when the comment was sent. When the viewer is not gifting the distributor, no effect is displayed on the distribution screen 704.

[0094] When the viewer wants to gift the distributor, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 18, the viewer presses a button related to the gift on the viewer screen, switches to the product purchase screen, and can select the gift that the viewer is interested in. Then, as shown in the middle part of FIG. 18, the viewer terminal 200 accesses the corresponding EC site of the distributor of the distribution video being viewed.

[0095] Here, for example, the viewer selects and purchases Gift 7. Then, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 18, in response to the viewer purchasing a gift for the distributor, on the display units of the viewer terminal 200 and the distributor terminal 300, a video with the effect 706 created by the viewer superimposed on the distribution video is displayed. At this time, in the comment input field 705, after the viewer selects and purchases a gift and then inputs a comment in the comment input field 705 and presses the send button, the content of the input comment may be displayed together with the effect 706. The send button is a button for sending the input comment. Also, as fixed text, the viewer's nickname may be displayed together, and furthermore, information indicating the product name of the gift given by the viewer to the distributor may be displayed. Note that the screen example shown in FIG. 19 is just an example, and its layout and displayed items can be arbitrarily set by the operator of the server terminal 100.

[0096] <Supplementary Note> Although the information processing system according to the present invention has been described in the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications will be described below.

[0097] (1) In the above embodiment, the comment input by the viewer may exhibit an advertising function. The storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100 stores cooperation keywords related to products and services of other companies that are pre-linked with the distribution activity. When the viewer transmits a comment to the distributor, if a cooperation keyword is detected from the comment, an effect corresponding to the cooperation keyword appears. As an example, the server terminal 100 stores the products and services of Company A as "a" in the storage unit 140 of the server terminal 100 in advance. If the viewer comments "It's recommended! 'a'", the detection unit 124 of the server terminal 100 identifies and extracts "a" in the viewer's comment. The specifying unit 123 may specify the effect corresponding to the phrase "a" from the storage unit 140, or may specify the effect designated by Company A. The server terminal 100 transmits information regarding a specified effect to the distributor terminal 300 while superimposing it on the distribution video at the distributor terminal 300. Thereafter, the superimposed video is transmitted to the viewer terminal 200 via the distribution server 500 and reproduced and displayed on the first display unit 240 of the viewer terminal 200 and the second display unit 350 of the distributor terminal 300. As in the above example, the effect corresponding to the phrase "a" is not limited to characters or drawings, and may be a short video or a poster promoting the products or services of other companies with which it is linked. In the present embodiment, by means of a trigger that is a viewer's comment, in order to promote the products or services of Company A to viewers who are watching the distribution in the form of an effect during distribution (that is, so that more people know about the products or services of Company A), an advertising function can be realized. At this time, since the server terminal 100 has advertised to other viewers based on the viewer's comment or the distributor's comment, it may bill Company A for the advertising fee. That is, the server terminal 100 may be provided with a charging unit that charges the advertising fee for advertising Company A. The charging may be a fixed amount or a per-unit charge according to the number of times the effect is displayed.

[0098] (2) The embodiment in which the viewer gives a gift to the distributor is not limited to this, and smartphones and tablet terminals can also be used for the viewer to give a gift to the distributor.

[0099] (3) In the embodiment, a visual effect is used for the explanation, but it is not limited to this. For example, an audio-type effect in which an effect is set by voice may be described, or an effect may be configured by an arbitrary combination of an image, voice, and characters.

[0100] (4) The technical idea according to the embodiment can be controlled and processed by the server terminal 100, or the display of the distribution video or the like may be realized in the viewer terminal 200 or the distributor terminal 300 instead of the server terminal 100.

[0101] (5) In the functions of each component described in this specification, control procedures, and particularly in the processing procedures described using flowcharts and block diagrams, some of the processing methods and procedures may be omitted, or alternatively, a new part may be added, replaced between procedures, or the order may be changed. As long as such omissions, additions, or order changes do not deviate from the spirit of this exhibition, the processing procedures are included in the scope of this disclosure.

[0102] (6) At least some of the functions realized by the server terminal 100 (for example, the function of superimposing a screen and an effect, purchasing a gift) may be realized by a structure other than the server terminal 100, for example, by the viewer terminal 200 or the distributor terminal 300.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0103] 100 Server Terminal 110 Receiver 111 First Receiver 112 Second Receiver 113 Fifth Receiver 120 Control Unit 121 URL Allocation Unit 122 Registration Unit 123 Identification Unit 124 Detection Unit 130 First Transmitter 140 Storage Unit 200 Viewer Terminal 210 Third Receiver 220 Purchase Unit 230 Second Transmitter 240 First Display Unit 300 Distributor Terminal 310 Third Transmitter 320 Microphone 330 Camera 340 Fourth Receiver 350 Second Display Unit 360 Second Control Unit 400 EC Terminal 600 Effect

Claims

1. An information processing system including a distributor terminal of a distributor who performs distribution, a viewer terminal of a viewer who views the distribution, a distribution server that relays a distribution video, and a server that processes effects, wherein the server includes a first receiving unit that receives purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and a viewer who purchased the gift, a second receiving unit that receives an effect created by a viewer from the viewer terminal, a specifying unit that specifies the effect based on the purchase information, and a first transmitting unit that transmits information on the effect specified by the specifying unit to the distributor terminal, wherein the viewer terminal includes a purchasing unit that purchases a gift from the EC site, a second transmitting unit that transmits an effect created by the viewer to the server, a third receiving unit that receives the distribution video from the distribution server, and a first display unit that displays a video in which an effect is superimposed on the distribution video, wherein the distributor terminal includes a third transmitting unit that transmits the distribution video of the distributor to the distribution server, a fourth receiving unit that receives information on the effect specified by the specifying unit from the server, and a second display unit that, when receiving the information on the effect, superimposes the information on the effect on the distribution video and displays it, wherein the third transmitting unit transmits the effect superimposed on the distribution video to the distribution server when the fourth receiving unit receives the information on the effect, the information processing system.

2. wherein the server includes a registration unit that registers, in a storage unit, as association information, information indicating the viewer and information on the effect associated with each other. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that.

3. wherein the registration unit examines whether the effect indicated in the association information is registrable, registers the association information that has passed the examination in the storage unit, and does not register the association information that has not passed the examination in the storage unit. The information processing system according to claim 2, characterized in that.

4. wherein the server includes a fifth receiving unit that receives information including comments from the distribution server, and a detection unit that detects a keyword set in advance from the comments, wherein the specifying unit specifies an effect from association information associating a keyword with an effect based on the keyword when the detection unit detects the keyword from the comments. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that...

5. The server sets the URL of the EC site for each of the distributor terminals, and the viewer accesses the URL set for the distributor terminal of the distribution video being viewed by the viewer, inputs information necessary to purchase a gift, and purchases the gift. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that...

6. The first display unit displays a superimposed video including information indicating at least the nickname of the viewer who purchased the gift and either one of the comments and the distribution video received together with the effect. The information processing system according to claim 4, characterized in that...

7. The second display unit superimposes and displays at least either information indicating the nickname of the viewer who purchased the gift and either one of the comments on the distribution video received together with the effect. The information processing system according to claim 4, characterized in that...

8. A first receiving unit that receives purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and the viewer who purchased the gift; A second receiving unit that receives an effect created by a viewer from a viewer terminal; An identifying unit that identifies the effect based on the purchase information; A first transmitting unit that transmits information on the effect identified by the identifying unit to a distributor terminal. Server.

9. A computer executes a first receiving step of receiving purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and the viewer who purchased the gift; a second receiving step of receiving an effect created by a viewer from a viewer terminal; an identifying step of identifying the effect based on the purchase information; a first transmitting step of transmitting information on the effect identified by the identifying step to a distributor terminal. Information processing method.

10. A computer is caused to realize a first receiving function of receiving purchase information indicating information on a gift purchased from an EC site and the viewer who purchased the gift; a second receiving function of receiving an effect created by a viewer from a viewer terminal; an identifying function of identifying the effect based on the purchase information; a first transmitting function of transmitting information on the effect identified by the identifying function to a distributor terminal. Program.

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