Information processing systems, control methods, programs

Abstract

This invention provides a system, method, and program that allows users to check where they have played a video. [Solution] In a video viewing system in which a client terminal, an administrator terminal, and a video server are connected via a LAN, the video server 103 includes a viewing history table 317 that records user video playback history information in accordance with events related to the user's video playback, and the administrator terminal 102 includes a viewing status display unit 820 that identifies and displays the time range in which the user played the video out of the total playback time of the video, based on the recorded history information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, a control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In a video search system within a company, a part of a single video is cut out for each topic so that it can be viewed. Therefore, in a single video, there are cases where there are viewed parts and unviewed parts, and there is a problem that it is difficult to know which parts of the single video have been viewed.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses providing a video editing system capable of more efficiently selecting a target scene and thereby enhancing the asset value of a video archive.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Disclosure of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In Patent Document 1, it is not possible to know the viewed parts within a video. Therefore, there is a problem that the user cannot grasp the viewed parts by himself / herself, and when the user wants to watch again or watch the parts that have not been watched, it is necessary to search for the position of the video.

[0006] Therefore, it is desired to visualize the viewed parts within a single video and quickly grasp the user's viewing history.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that allows a user to confirm the location where a video has been played.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The information processing system of the present invention is characterized by comprising: recording means for recording historical information relating to the user's playback of a video in accordance with events relating to the user's playback of the video; and display means for identifying and displaying the time range in which the user played the video out of the total playback time of the video, based on the recorded historical information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to check the point in a video that the user has played. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the configuration of a video viewing system in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of client terminals 101, 102 and transmission server 103 in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the functional configuration of each hardware component in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This flowchart shows an example of video playback processing in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the login process. [Figure 6] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the video selection process. [Figure 7] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of event processing. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a video playback screen in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of an administrator screen in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of a group table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11]It is a diagram showing an example of a viewer information table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing an example of an affiliation table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing an example of a video information table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of a part information table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing an example of a viewing right table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] It is a diagram showing an example of a part importance table in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] It is a diagram showing an example of a viewing history table in an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a video viewing system in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] The client terminal 101, the administrator terminal 102, and the video server 103 are connected via the LAN 104. There are usually multiple client terminals 101 with respect to the video server 103, and there may also be multiple video servers 103.

[0014] The client terminal 101 plays back videos.

[0015] The administrator terminal 102 displays the viewing status by viewers. Also, the administrator terminal 102 can play back videos.

[0016] The video server 103 distributes videos to the client terminals and records the playback status at the client terminals.

[0017] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a client terminal 101, an administrator terminal 102, and a video server 103 in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] As shown in Figure 2, the information processing device is connected via a system bus 204 to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, input controller 205, video controller 206, memory controller 207, and communication I / F controller 208.

[0019] CPU201 provides comprehensive control over all devices and controllers connected to the system bus 204.

[0020] ROM202 or external memory211 holds the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and OS (Operating System), which are control programs executed by the CPU201, as well as computer-readable and executable programs and various necessary data (including data tables) for realizing this information processing method.

[0021] RAM203 functions as the main memory, work area, etc., of the CPU201. The CPU201 loads the necessary programs, etc., from ROM202 or external memory 211 into RAM203, and then executes the loaded programs to perform various operations.

[0022] The input controller 205 controls input from input devices such as a keyboard 209 or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown). If the input device is a touch panel, the user can give various instructions by pressing (touching with a finger, etc.) icons, cursors, or buttons displayed on the touch panel.

[0023] Furthermore, the touch panel may be a multi-touch screen or other touch panel capable of detecting the positions of multiple fingers touching it.

[0024] The video controller 206 controls the display to an external output device such as the display 210. The display may include the display of a notebook computer integrated with the main unit. The external output device is not limited to a display; for example, it may be a projector. Furthermore, for the aforementioned touch-enabled device, an input device is also provided.

[0025] The video controller 206 can control the video memory (VRAM) used for display control. It can utilize a portion of the RAM 203 as the video memory area, or it can provide a separate, dedicated video memory.

[0026] The memory controller 207 controls access to the external memory 211. The external memory can include an external storage device (hard disk), a flexible disk (FD), or a CompactFlash® memory connected to a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter, which stores boot programs, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, and other data.

[0027] The communication interface controller 208 connects to and communicates with external devices via a network and performs communication control processing over the network. For example, it can communicate using TCP / IP, telephone lines such as ISDN, and 3G mobile phone lines.

[0028] Furthermore, the CPU 201 enables display on the display 210 by, for example, performing the process of expanding (rasterizing) outline fonts into the display information area in RAM 203. The CPU 201 also enables user input via a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210.

[0029] Figure 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of a video viewing system in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] The client terminal 101 and the administrator terminal 102 are configured to include a login request unit 301, a video list display unit 302, a video receiving unit 303, a video operation reception unit 304, and a video display unit 305. The administrator terminal 102 also includes a viewing status display unit 320.

[0031] The video server 103 consists of a login processing unit 306, a video list transmission unit 307, a video transmission unit 308, a playback status reception unit 309, and various tables (310-317) stored in a database, as well as a video database 318 for storing videos. The video database 318 may be located externally.

[0032] The processing using each functional unit and each table is explained below.

[0033] Next, using flowcharts from Figures 4 to 7, the processes executed by the client terminal 101 and video server 103 in the embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

[0034] The flowchart in Figure 4 shows an example of the main process of video playback, where the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 and the CPU 201 of the video server 103 read and execute a predetermined control program.

[0035] In step S401, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 and the CPU 201 of the video server 103 execute the login process. The details of the login process will be explained in detail using the flowchart in Figure 5.

[0036] In step S402, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 and the CPU 201 of the video server 103 execute the video selection process. The details of the video selection process will be explained in detail using the flowchart in Figure 6.

[0037] In step S403, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 determines whether an event has occurred. If an event has occurred, it proceeds to S404; otherwise, it executes step S403 again. Here, "event" is a general term for "viewer action" and "elapsed time." "Viewer action" refers to operations such as play, stop, and fast forward.

[0038] In step S404, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 executes event processing. The details of event processing will be explained in detail using the flowchart in Figure 7.

[0039] In step S405, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 sends the content of the event to the video server 103.

[0040] In step S406, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 records information in the viewing history table shown in Figure 17 according to the content received from the client terminal 101.

[0041] In step S407, if the viewer's action is to stop playback, the CPU 201 of client terminal 101 stops video playback. If playback is not stopped, step S403 is executed again.

[0042] The flowchart in Figure 5 illustrates an example of a detailed login process.

[0043] In step S501, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 accepts login requests from video viewers. Specifically, it accepts the input of login information such as the viewer ID and password.

[0044] In step S502, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 sends the login information to the video server 103.

[0045] In step S503, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 performs the login process based on the information received from the client terminal 101. Specifically, it checks whether the received login information is valid, and if it is not, it prompts the client terminal 101 to re-enter the information.

[0046] In step S504, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 uses the viewer ID from the login information as the key to create a list of viewable videos by referring to the membership table in Figure 12, the viewing permission table in Figure 15, and the video information table in Figure 13.

[0047] In step S505, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 sends a list of viewable videos to the client terminal 101.

[0048] In step S506, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 displays a list of videos based on the information received from the video server 103 (not shown).

[0049] The flowchart in Figure 6 illustrates an example of a detailed video selection process.

[0050] In step S601, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 receives the video selection from the video viewer and obtains the video ID.

[0051] In step S602, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 requests the viewing history from the video server 103 using the video ID of the selected video as the key.

[0052] In step S603, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 retrieves the viewing history of the logged-in viewer for the relevant video from the viewing history table in Figure 17, using the viewer ID and video ID as keys.

[0053] In step S604, the CPU 201 of the video server 103 sends the viewing history to the client terminal 101.

[0054] In step S605, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 displays the video playback screen shown in Figure 8 using the received viewing history. The video playback screen will be described later.

[0055] The flowchart in Figure 7 illustrates an example of detailed event processing.

[0056] In step S701, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 determines the type of event. If the event is a stop operation, it executes S702; if it is a play operation, it executes S703; if it is a position selection operation, it executes S704; if it is a double-speed operation, it executes S705; and if a certain amount of time has elapsed, it executes S706.

[0057] In step S702, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 stops playing the video. After processing, the process proceeds to step S706.

[0058] In step S703, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 starts playing the video. After processing, the process proceeds to step S706.

[0059] In step S704, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 plays the video from the specified position. After processing, the process proceeds to step S706.

[0060] In step S705, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 doubles the playback speed. After processing, proceed to step S706.

[0061] In step S706, the CPU 201 of the client terminal 101 updates the display of the part bar 808 and the playback status bar 809 on the video playback screen in Figure 8. Here, the playback status is identified and the display content is determined based on the previous event (or the timing when the playback status changed in the previous event) and the current event. For example, if the previous event was a double-speed operation and the current event is a stop operation, the playback status for the time range from the previous event to the current event will be double-speed playback.

[0062] Figure 8 shows an example of a video playback screen. The video playback screen consists of an application window 801, an application bar 802, a video display area 803, a part list 804, a part title 805, viewing status 806, part importance 807, a part bar 808, a playback status bar 809, an indicator 810, a previous part button 811, a stop button 812, a next part button 813, a menu button 814, and a video length display 815.

[0063] The application window 801 and application bar 802 display the video playback screen. Their form varies depending on the operating system of the client terminal 101.

[0064] The video display area 803 plays and displays videos sent from the video server 103.

[0065] Part List 804 displays a list of parts in the video.

[0066] Part title 805 displays the title of the part.

[0067] Viewing status 806 displays the viewing status of each part of the video for logged-in viewers, including whether they have watched, not watched, or watched at double speed.

[0068] The part importance rating of 807 indicates the part importance of the video (must be watched, recommended to watch) for logged-in viewers.

[0069] Part Bar 808 displays the importance of different parts of a video using color-coded bars. Clicking on a part of the bar will start playback from the beginning of that part.

[0070] The playback status bar 809 displays the playback status, such as watched, not watched, and watched at double speed, using color-coded bars.

[0071] Indicator 810 displays the current viewing position. Moving the indicator with the mouse will restart playback from any desired position.

[0072] The previous part button 811 is used to play from the beginning of the previous part.

[0073] The stop button 812 stops video playback. While playback is in progress, it functions as a stop button, but when stopped, it becomes a start playback button, and pressing the start playback button will resume playback.

[0074] The next part button 813 is used to play from the beginning of the next part.

[0075] The menu button 814 is used to display the menu. From the displayed menu, you can perform operations such as changing the playback speed.

[0076] The video length display 815 shows the length of the video currently playing.

[0077] Figure 9 shows the viewing status list screen used by the administrator terminal 102 to check the viewing status of videos. The viewing status list screen consists of the video title 901, the viewing status list table 902, the viewer's name 903, the viewing status 904, and a button 905 to return to the video list.

[0078] Video title 901 displays the title of the video.

[0079] Viewing Status List 902 displays the viewing status for each viewer.

[0080] Viewer name 903 indicates the viewer of the video.

[0081] Viewing Status 904 displays the viewing status of the video. The upper bar for each viewer shows the importance of each part (must be watched, recommended to watch) in the same color coding as the part bar 808 on the video playback screen in Figure 8. The lower bar shows the playback status (watched, not watched, watched at double speed, etc.) in the same color coding as the playback status bar 809 on the video playback screen in Figure 8.

[0082] Button 905, which returns you to the video list, displays the video list screen for administrators.

[0083] The group table 1000 in Figure 10 is a table that associates group IDs with group names, and consists of the fields group ID 1001 and group name 1002.

[0084] Group ID 1001 is an item used to uniquely identify the group, and the group ID is registered there.

[0085] Group name 1002 is the field for the group name used for display, and the group name is registered there. For example, you can register the name of a department in a company.

[0086] The viewer information table 1100 in Figure 11 is a table that associates viewer IDs with viewer names, and consists of the fields viewer ID 1101 and name 1102.

[0087] Viewer ID 1101 is an item used to uniquely identify a viewer, and the viewer ID is registered there.

[0088] Name 1102 is the field for the viewer's name used for display, and the viewer's name is registered there.

[0089] The affiliation table 1200 in Figure 12 is a table that defines the group to which a viewer belongs, and consists of the fields Viewer ID 1201 and Group ID 1202.

[0090] Viewer ID 1201 is an entry for a viewer belonging to a group, and the viewer ID is registered there.

[0091] Group ID 1202 is the item for the group to which the viewer belongs, and the group ID is registered there.

[0092] To accommodate situations where a single viewer belongs to multiple groups, this table will be separate from viewer information table 1100.

[0093] The video information table 1300 in Figure 13 is a table that stores information about a video, and consists of the following items: video ID 1301, video file name 1302, title 1303, and video length 1304.

[0094] Video ID 1301 is an item used to uniquely identify a video, and the video ID is registered there.

[0095] The video file name 1302 is an item indicating the location where the video is stored, for example, the full path name of the file system is registered. The video server 103 retrieves the video file with the file name 1302 and passes it to the client terminal 101.

[0096] Title 1303 is the entry for the video title to be displayed, and the video title is registered there.

[0097] The video length of 1304 is recorded as the time it takes to play the entire video.

[0098] The part information table 1400 in Figure 14 is a table that holds information about the parts of a video, and consists of the following items: video ID 1401, part ID 1402, part start position 1403, part end position 1404, and part title 1405.

[0099] Video ID 1401 will have a video ID registered to it.

[0100] Part ID 1402 is an item that uniquely identifies a part within a video, and the part ID is registered there. The pair of video ID 1401 and part ID 1402 allows the part to be uniquely identified within the system.

[0101] The part start position 1403 records the start position of the part, that is, the time from the start of the video to the start of that part.

[0102] The end position of the part, 1404, is where the end of the part is recorded, that is, the time from the start of the video to the end of that part.

[0103] Part title 1405 is where the title of the display part is registered.

[0104] The viewing permission table 1500 in Figure 15 is a table that defines the permission for viewing parts of a video for the group to which the viewer belongs, and consists of the fields Video ID 1501, Part ID 1502, and Group ID 1503.

[0105] Video ID 1501 will have a video ID registered to it.

[0106] Part ID 1502 will have a part ID registered to it.

[0107] Group ID 1503 will contain the group ID of the group that is permitted to view the video.

[0108] Furthermore, the right to view may be granted not only to the group to which the viewer belongs, but also directly to the viewer.

[0109] The part importance table 1600 in Figure 16 is a table that defines the importance of video parts for each group of viewers, and consists of the following items: video ID 1601, part ID 1602, importance 1603, and group ID 1604.

[0110] Video ID 1601 will have a video ID registered to it.

[0111] Part ID 1602 will have a part ID registered to it.

[0112] Importance level 1603 registers the importance level relative to the group to which the viewer belongs.

[0113] The group ID will be registered to group ID 1604.

[0114] Furthermore, the importance of each video segment can be set not only by the viewer's group, but also directly by the viewer themselves.

[0115] The viewing history table 1700 in Figure 17 is a table that records viewing history and consists of the following items: viewer ID 1701, video ID 1702, viewing date and time 1703, viewing start position 1704, viewing end position 1705, and playback speed 1706.

[0116] Viewer ID 1701 will contain the viewer's ID.

[0117] Video ID 1702 will contain the video ID of the video that the viewer has watched.

[0118] The viewing time 1703 will record the date and time the viewer watched the content.

[0119] The viewing start position 1704 registers the starting position within the video that the viewer has watched.

[0120] The viewing end position 1705 registers the end position of the portion of the video that the viewer watched.

[0121] The playback speed of 1706 is registered as the playback speed of the portion the viewer watched.

[0122] Furthermore, if the same viewer watches the same section of the same video multiple times, multiple records may be registered in this table, the new viewing history may overwrite the duplicate section, or the slower playback speed may be retained. The method for recording this history information should be determined by how the playback status is displayed in the screens shown in Figures 8 and 9 when the video is viewed multiple times.

[0123] In summary, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to confirm the point in a video that the user has played.

[0124] The present invention can take the form of, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium. Specifically, it may be applied to a system consisting of multiple devices, or to an apparatus consisting of a single device.

[0125] Furthermore, the program in this invention is a program that allows a computer to execute the processing methods of each flowchart, and the storage medium of this invention stores the program that allows a computer to execute the processing methods of each flowchart. Note that the program in this invention may also be a program for each processing method of each device in each flowchart.

[0126] As described above, it goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by supplying a recording medium containing a program that realizes the functions of the embodiments described above to a system or device, and by having the computer (or CPU or MPU) of that system or device read and execute the program stored on the recording medium.

[0127] In this case, the program read from the recording medium itself realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium on which that program is recorded constitutes the present invention.

[0128] For recording media used to supply programs, examples include flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, DVD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, EPROMs, silicon disks, and the like.

[0129] Furthermore, it goes without saying that the functions of the aforementioned embodiments are realized not only by the computer executing the program it has read, but also by the operating system (OS) running on the computer performing some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of that program, thereby realizing the functions of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0130] Furthermore, it goes without saying that this also includes cases where, after a program read from a recording medium is written to the memory of a function expansion board inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to a computer, the CPU or other components of the function expansion board or function expansion unit perform some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code, and the functions of the aforementioned embodiments are realized through that processing.

[0131] Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a system consisting of multiple devices or to a device consisting of a single device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied when the results are achieved by supplying a program to a system or device. In this case, by reading a recording medium containing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or device, the system or device can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

[0132] Furthermore, by downloading and reading the program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or device can enjoy the effects of the present invention. It should be noted that configurations combining the above-described embodiments and their variations are all included in the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0133] 100 Video Viewing Systems 101 Client terminals 102 Administrator Terminal 103 Video Server 104 Network

Claims

1. A recording means for recording the user's video playback history information in accordance with events related to the user's video playback, A display means that identifies and displays the time range during which the user played the video, out of the total playback time of the video, based on the recorded history information, An information processing system characterized by comprising the following features.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means updates and identifies the playback time range in accordance with the event while the video is being played.

3. The system includes a means for identifying the playback status between events in accordance with the aforementioned events, The information processing system according to claim 2, characterized in that the display means updates and identifies and displays the replayed time range based on the time range between events and the identified replay status.

4. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means identifies and displays the time range of the parts included in the video.

5. The information processing system according to claim 4, characterized in that the display means identifies and displays the importance of the part.

6. The information processing system according to claim 4, characterized in that the display means displays the reproduced time range and the time range of the part in comparison.

7. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the display means identifies and displays the playback speed at which the user played the video.

8. The information processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the event related to playback is at least one of playback operation, playback stop operation, playback start position specification operation, playback speed change operation, and elapsed time.

9. A method for controlling an information processing system, A recording step in which the recording means records history information related to the user's playback of the video in accordance with events related to the user's playback of the video, Display step: The display means identifies and displays the time range in which the user played the video, out of the total playback time of the video, based on the recorded history information. A control method characterized by comprising:

10. A program for causing at least one computer to function as one of the means of an information processing system described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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