Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To increase the possibility of playing back a piece of music requested by a user.SOLUTION: An information processing device is provided, comprising a control unit configured to: acquire utterance of a user; search multiple sound sources for a first piece of music in response to the fact that a request for playing back the first piece of music was included in the utterance of the user; and play back the first piece of music provided by a first sound source that was searched.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known that music stored in a vehicle navigation system can be played back based on a user's speech (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-285416 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to increase the possibility of playing a song requested by a user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure is acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; The information processing device is provided with a control unit that executes the above.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure is The computer acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; This is an information processing method for performing the above.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure is On the computer, acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; This is a program that executes the above.

[0008] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a storage medium that non-temporarily stores the above-described program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to increase the possibility of playing a song requested by a user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle device and a music server that constitute a system according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an in-vehicle device. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of a music playback process in the in-car device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A technology for playing music stored in a vehicle navigation system based on a user's speech is known. However, if the music desired by the user is not stored in the navigation system, the music cannot be played. Therefore, an information processing device according to the present disclosure includes a control unit that acquires a user's speech, searches for the first music among multiple sound sources in response to a request to play a first music piece included in the user's speech, and plays the first music piece provided from the searched first sound source.

[0012] The control unit acquires the user's speech, for example, via a microphone. The request to play the first song may be a request specifying, for example, the song title, artist name, group name, genre, album name, or playlist name. The control unit searches for the first song requested by the user from multiple sound sources. The sound source is a device capable of providing song data, and includes, for example, a storage device such as a USB flash drive (USB memory), a mobile terminal equipped with a storage device, and a server on the Internet. The server on the Internet may be, for example, a server managed by a content provider that provides a music distribution service. There may be multiple such servers.

[0013] By searching for the first song from multiple sound sources, the probability of finding the first song requested by the user increases. Then, by retrieving and playing the song from the first sound source, it becomes possible to play the song that matches the user's request. In this way, it is possible to prevent music from being unavailable.

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments.

[0015] First Embodiment Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system 1 according to an embodiment. In the example of Fig. 1, the system 1 includes an in-vehicle device 100 mounted on a vehicle 10, a user terminal 20 carried by a user of the vehicle 10, a music server 30, and a USB memory 40. The music server is an example of a second sound source. The user terminal 20 and the USB memory 40 are examples of a third sound source and a third storage device.

[0016] The in-vehicle device 100 includes, for example, a navigation system or a multi-information display (MID). The in-vehicle device 100 plays music in response to a request from a user. The in-vehicle device 100 can search for music, for example, from a user terminal 20, a USB memory 40, and the Web. Note that it is not necessary to search all of these.

[0017] The user terminal 20 is a terminal owned by a user and can store, for example, music. The user terminal 20 can also provide music to the in-vehicle device 100 by connecting to it via a wired or wireless connection. The user terminal 20 can also download music from a music server 30 via the Internet, for example.

[0018] The music server 30 is, for example, a server that provides music via the Internet, either for a fee or free of charge. There may be multiple music servers 30. Each of the multiple music servers 30 is managed by a different content provider. The music server 30, for example, streams music. Music may be downloaded from the music server 30 and stored in the in-car device 100. The in-car device 100 can access one or more music servers 30. The user may register with the music server 30 in advance.

[0019] When a user requests playback of a song by speech, the in-car device 100 searches for and plays the song. When searching for a song, the in-car device 100 prioritizes a search for a sound source (hereinafter also referred to as an active sound source) that provides data of the song currently being played among multiple sound sources. For example, if a song stored in the USB memory 40 is currently being played and the user requests playback of another song, the in-car device 100 first searches the USB memory 40. If the requested song is not stored in the USB memory 40, the in-car device 100 searches another sound source (e.g., the music server 30). Here, if the sound source is different between the song currently being played and the song requested by the user, the user may feel uncomfortable. In response to this, obtaining and playing the song data from the same sound source can prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable. On the other hand, it is possible that the data of the song requested by the user does not exist in the active sound source. In such a case, searching another sound source can prevent the song from being unable to be played.

[0020] The in-vehicle device 100, the user terminal 20, and the music server 30 are interconnected by a network N1. The network N1 may be a global public communication network such as the Internet, and may be a WAN (Wide Area Network) or other communication network. The network N1 may also include a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone, or a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark). While FIG. 1 shows one music server 30 as an example, there may be multiple music servers 30. The in-vehicle device 100 and the user terminal 20 may be capable of short-range wireless communication or may be connected by wire.

[0021] Next, the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device 100 and the music server 30 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of each of the in-vehicle device 100 and the music server 30 that constitute the system 1 according to the embodiment.

[0022] The in-vehicle device 100 has a computer configuration. The in-vehicle device 100 has a processor 11, a main memory unit 12, an auxiliary memory unit 13, a communication unit 14, a microphone 15, a speaker 16, an input terminal 17, and a display 18. These are interconnected by a bus. The processor 11 is an example of a control unit.

[0023] The processor 11 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc. The processor 11 controls the in-vehicle device 100 and performs various information processing operations. The main memory 12 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The auxiliary memory 13 is an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive, etc. Disk drives (HDD, Hard Disk Drive), removable media, etc. The memory unit 13 stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc. The processor 11 loads the programs stored in the auxiliary memory unit 13 into a working area of ​​the main memory unit 12 and executes them, and the various components are controlled through the execution of these programs. This allows the in-vehicle device 100 to realize functions that meet a predetermined purpose. The main memory unit 12 and the auxiliary memory unit 13 are computer-readable recording media.

[0024] The communication unit 14 is a communication means for connecting the in-vehicle device 100 to the network N1. The communication unit 14 is also a means for performing short-distance wireless communication with the user terminal 20. The communication unit 14 may be, for example, a mobile communication service (for example, a telephone communication network such as 6G (6th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), 4G (4th Generation), 3G (3rd Generation), or LTE (Long Term Evolution)), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark) Lo This is a circuit for communicating with other devices (such as the user terminal 20 or the music server 30) using a wireless communication network such as wEnergy, NFC (Near Field Communication), or UWB (Ultra Wideband).

[0025] The microphone 15 is a device for inputting sound. Sound input to the microphone 15 includes the user's voice. The speaker 16 is a device for outputting sound. Sound includes music. The input terminal 17 is an interface for connecting external devices. The input terminal 17 includes, for example, a USB terminal and an AUX terminal. A USB memory 40 can be inserted into the USB terminal. The USB memory 40 is a USB flash drive, and is a storage device equipped with a USB connector and a flash memory chip. The display 18 is a means for presenting information to the user, and includes, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an EL (Electroluminescence) panel.

[0026] The music server 30 has a computer configuration. The music server 30 has a processor 31, a main memory unit 32, an auxiliary memory unit 33, and a communication unit 34, which are interconnected by a bus. The processor 31, the main memory unit 32, the auxiliary memory unit 33, and the communication unit 34 of the music server 30 are similar to the processor 11, the main memory unit 12, the auxiliary memory unit 13, and the communication unit 14 of the in-car device 100, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0027] The user terminal 20 is a small computer such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a personal information terminal, a wearable computer (such as a smart watch), or a personal computer (PC). The user terminal 20 has a processor, a main memory unit, an auxiliary memory unit, and a communication unit similar to those of the in-vehicle device 100. The user terminal 20 can store music in the auxiliary memory unit.

[0028] Next, the functions of the in-vehicle device 100 will be described. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the in-vehicle device 100. The in-vehicle device 100 includes a control unit 101 and a storage unit 110 as functional components. The processor 11 of the in-vehicle device 100 executes the processing of the control unit 101 according to a computer program stored in the main storage unit 12. However, any of the functional components, or part of the processing, may be executed by a hardware circuit.

[0029] The storage unit 110 includes a main storage unit 12 and an auxiliary storage unit 13. The storage unit 110 stores content provider data 111 and speech data 112.

[0030] The content provider data 111 is data relating to content providers that are available to the user or for which the user has completed user registration. The content provider data 111 includes information relating to the music server 30 and information relating to user registration. The information relating to the music server 30 includes, for example, information such as the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) ​​of the music server 30, and information relating to whether the music server 30 is available for free. The information regarding user registration includes, for example, information regarding a user ID and password required to acquire music data from the music server 30. The user ID and password are input by the user into the in-vehicle device 100.

[0031] The control unit 101 receives a request to play music from the user via the microphone 15. The control unit 101 constantly monitors the user's speech, and determines that a music request has been made when a specific speech is made. The specific speech may include, for example, " <1> "" <1> Play " <1> Examples include "let it flow." <1> For example, the information corresponds to a song title, an artist name, a music genre, an album name, a playlist name, or a combination thereof. The utterance data 112 stores information about utterances made by a user when requesting the playback of a song. The control unit 101 compares the user's utterance with the information stored in the utterance data 112 to determine whether the user has requested the playback of a song.

[0032] Furthermore, the control unit 101 identifies the music piece requested by the user. <1> The song corresponding to the user's voice is identified. A known technique can be used to identify the song. Alternatively, a machine learning model that inputs a user's speech and outputs the song name may be used to identify the song. In a similar manner, the artist name, music genre, album name, playlist name, etc. can also be identified.

[0033] The control unit 101 then searches for the music requested by the user. At this time, a priority is set for each sound source. For example, the active sound source may be given the highest priority. The next highest priority may be set for the default sound source. The default sound source may be designated in advance by the user, for example.

[0034] The following describes a case where the USB memory 40 and one or more music servers 30 can be used as sound sources. For example, when a song stored in the USB memory 40 is currently being played and the user requests to play another song, the control unit 101 first searches the USB memory 40. If the data of that song is stored in the USB memory 40, the control unit 101 plays the song stored in the USB memory 40.

[0035] On the other hand, if the music data is not stored in the USB memory 40, the music server 30 is accessed to search for music. If multiple music servers 30 are available, the music servers 30 are prioritized and searched in order. For example, music servers 30 that provide music free of charge may be prioritized higher than music servers 30 that provide music for a fee, music servers 30 designated in advance by the user may be prioritized higher, or music servers 30 that are used more frequently by the user may be prioritized higher. Alternatively, music servers 30 may be searched in alphabetical order. In this case, the names of content providers are sorted alphabetically for search.

[0036] Furthermore, for example, when the data of the song currently being played is provided by the song server 30 and the user requests playback of another song, the control unit 101 first prioritizes the song server 30 that provides the data of the song currently being played. If the song is found on that song server 30, the control unit 101 obtains the song data from that song server 30 and plays it. On the other hand, if the song is not found on that song server 30, the control unit 101 searches for a song according to the priority order. For example, a sound source inside the vehicle 10 may be prioritized higher than an external sound source, or a sound source connected via a wired connection may be prioritized higher than a wireless sound source. Because a sound source connected wirelessly from outside the vehicle 10 may experience sound interruptions or noise depending on the communication status, the control unit 101 prioritizes a sound source inside the vehicle 10 or a sound source connected via a wired connection. In this case, the USB memory 40 has a higher priority, so the USB memory 40 is searched next. If the song data is not stored in the USB memory 40, another song server 30 is searched.

[0037] Furthermore, if a user requests that a song be played when no song is currently being played, the default sound source may be given the highest priority, for example. Alternatively, a free sound source may be given a higher priority than a paid sound source, or a sound source that is used more frequently by the user may be given a higher priority. Furthermore, for example, an internal sound source may be given a higher priority than an external sound source, or a wired sound source may be given a higher priority than a wireless sound source.

[0038] It is not always necessary to give the highest priority to an active sound source, and a search may be performed by setting the priority as described above regardless of whether the sound source is active or not.

[0039] Alternatively, the control unit 101 may search for music among all available sound sources regardless of the priority order. Then, for example, a list of sound sources that can provide music may be displayed on the display 18 of the in-car device 100. Furthermore, the user may be allowed to select a sound source from which to play music. This selection may be made using a touch panel or by voice.

[0040] When searching for a song on the song server 30, the control unit 101 transmits, for example, song information to the song server 30. The song information includes information on the song title, artist name, music genre, album name, playlist name, etc. The song server 30 searches for the song based on the song information. If the song is found on the song server 30, data for playing the song is transmitted to the in-car device 100. The control unit 101 performs streaming playback of the song based on the data transmitted from the song server 30.

[0041] On the other hand, if no song is found in the music server 30, information to that effect is transmitted to the in-car device 100. At this time, information regarding recommended songs or playlists may be transmitted from the music server 30 to the in-car device 100. If no song is found in all the sound sources, the control unit 101 may notify the fact that no song was found by voice from the speaker 16 or display on the display 18. Furthermore, if no song is found in all the sound sources, the control unit 101 may, for example, play back a recommended song or playlist received from the music server 30 that was first searched.

[0042] If the user specifies a specific audio source in their speech, the search will be performed only on that specific audio source, and not on other audio sources. <1> When an utterance such as "Play this song" is acquired, the music server 30 is searched for, rather than searching for music in the USB memory 40 or the user terminal 20. There may also be cases where the user does not specify a music piece. For example, <1> In this case, recommended songs from the specified content provider may be acquired and played.

[0043] Next, a description will be given of the music playback process in the in-car device 100. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of the music playback process in the in-car device 100 according to the embodiment. The process shown in Fig. 4 is executed by the in-car device 100 at predetermined time intervals.

[0044] In step S101, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a specific utterance has been made. The control unit 101 determines whether or not a specific utterance has been made based on input from the microphone 15. This determination can be made using a known voice recognition technique. For example, the control unit 101 <1> "" <1> Play " <1> If an utterance such as "play this" is made, it is determined that a specific utterance has been made. If the determination in step S101 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S102, and if the determination is negative, the present routine is terminated.

[0045] In step S102, the control unit 101 extracts music information. That is, the control unit 101 extracts the music information included in the specific utterance determined in step S101. <1> In step S103, the control unit 101 identifies the sound source (active sound source) when music is currently being played. In step S104, the control unit 101 extracts sound sources available to the user. The control unit 101 extracts available sound sources such as the USB memory 40 connected to the input terminal 17, the user terminal 20 connected via short-range wireless communication, and the music server 30 connectable via the network N1.

[0046] In step S105, the control unit 101 sets priorities for the sound sources extracted in step S104. For example, the control unit 101 sets the highest priority for an active sound source, followed by the default sound source. Furthermore, the priorities are set in alphabetical order.

[0047] In step S106, the control unit 101 searches for a song corresponding to the song information in the sound source with the highest priority. In step S107, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a song is found. If the determination in step S107 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S108, where the control unit 101 acquires and plays back data of the song found as a result of the search. In this case, the control unit 101 does not search for a song in the sound source with an even lower priority.

[0048] On the other hand, if the determination in step S107 is negative, the process proceeds to step S109, where the control unit 101 determines whether or not a search for music has been performed in the sound source with the lowest priority. That is, it determines whether or not a search for music has been performed in all available sound sources. If the determination in step S109 is positive, the process proceeds to step S110, where the control unit 101 notifies the user that no music was found in any sound source. For example, the user may be notified by playing a sound from the speaker 16 that no music was found. Alternatively, for example, recommended music transmitted from the music server 30 may be played. In this case, the user may be notified by sound, for example, that recommended music from the music server 30 will be played.

[0049] On the other hand, if a negative decision is made in step S109, the process proceeds to step S111, where the control unit 101 searches for a song in the sound source with the next highest priority, and then the process returns to step S107.

[0050] As described above, according to the embodiment, when searching for a song based on a user's utterance, songs are searched from multiple sound sources, increasing the likelihood of finding a song. Furthermore, when searching for a song, songs are searched for preferentially from the sound source that is currently playing the song. This prevents the sound source from changing, thereby preventing the user from feeling uncomfortable.

[0051] <Other embodiments> The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the disclosure.

[0052] The processes and means described in this disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0053] Furthermore, a process that has been described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process that has been described as being performed by different devices may be executed by one device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) by which each function is realized can be flexibly changed. For example, in a vehicle-mounted device, The music server 30 may have some of the functions of the device 100 .

[0054] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example in which the in-vehicle device 100 plays music has been described. However, as an alternative, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case in which the user terminal 20 plays music. For example, if music data is stored in the auxiliary storage unit of the user terminal 20 and the user terminal 20 can acquire the music data from the music server 30 via the network N1, the music may be searched for according to priority. In this case, the user does not need to be in the vehicle 10.

[0055] In the above embodiment, the USB memory 40 has been described as an example of a medium for storing music data, but the medium for storing music data is not limited to this. For example, music data may be stored on a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disc (CD-ROM, DVD disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), or a flash memory card, and the in-car device 100 may read the music data from these media. In this case, the in-car device 100 is provided with an interface corresponding to each medium.

[0056] The present disclosure can also be realized by providing a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus or via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk), a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1 System 10 vehicles 11 processors 12 Main memory 13 Auxiliary storage 14 Communications Department 15. Mike 16 speakers 17 Input terminal 18 Display 20 User terminal 30 Music Server 40 USB memory 100 Onboard equipment 101 Control section 110 Storage section

Claims

1. acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; a control unit that executes the When searching for the first music piece among the plurality of sound sources, the control unit prioritizes searching for a music piece that is currently being played among the plurality of sound sources. Information processing device.

2. Acquiring a user's utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; a control unit that executes the the plurality of sound sources include sound sources available for a fee and sound sources available free of charge; when searching for the first music piece among the plurality of sound sources, the control unit searches preferentially among the sound sources that are available for free; Information processing device.

3. The computer acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; An information processing method for performing The computer When searching for the first music piece among the plurality of sound sources, the search is performed with priority given to a sound source that provides the music piece currently being played among the plurality of sound sources. Information processing methods.

4. A computer comprising: acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; An information processing method for executing the plurality of sound sources include sound sources available for a fee and sound sources available free of charge; When the computer searches the plurality of sound sources for the first musical piece, the computer searches preferentially among the sound sources that are available for free. Information processing methods.

5. On the computer, acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; A program for executing The computer, When the first music piece is searched for among the plurality of sound sources, the search is performed with priority given to a sound source that is providing a music piece that is currently being played. program.

6. A computer, acquiring a user utterance; In response to the user's utterance including a request to play a first song, searching a plurality of audio sources for the first song; playing the first music piece provided by the retrieved first music source; A program for executing the plurality of sound sources include sound sources available for a fee and sound sources available free of charge; When causing the computer to search the plurality of sound sources for the first music piece, the computer is caused to search the sound source that is available for free with priority. program.

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